Hello everybody! Yes, this is a speedy update I put up here. Boy, writing up seventeen pages in less than twenty-four hours is definitely a hard thing to do. But I just had to finish up this case because it was all in my mind driving me nuts.

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed the first chapter. I really tried to make it so that you could try and figure things out on your own before you read on. For those of you who don't like doing that, I at least managed to format it so that it would be a seamless story. Don't forget to leave a review before you leave. They are very helpful.

Here are the recap of the evidence. And just to say, I'll post the new evidence and people introduced in this chapter at the bottom so that there won't be any spoilers at the beginning. Remember, any new evidence you run into will be posted at the bottom, and you'll know if they are evidence if the name is capitalized.


Evidence:

Attorney's Badge: Nobody would believe that Sonic was a defense attorney if he didn't have it pinned proudly upon his chest. He earned it after passing the bar exam almost a month ago.

Crime Scene Photo: Depicts a gruesome scene at Mobius Harbor. The victim is seen lying stomach down on the floor with his arms above his head, a large cargo container crushing him below the waist. The Mobius Harbor office can be seen in the background, the word 'OFFICE' clearly written along the wall and above the windows.

Mr. O'Altraids's Autopsy Report: A report detailing Mr. O'Altraid's death. He was killed on 2/2 at nine in the evening. Blood loss due to severance and crushing of entire lower body was the cause of death. There was a chance he survived for a few minutes after the initial impact.

First Aid Kit: A red box containing medical supplies for certain emergencies. One was found next to the victim and is clearly seen in the photo. They can only be retrieved from the Mobius Harbor office building.

Victim's Note: Found inside the Mobius Harbor main office building underneath the desk where the office phone is located. "Blue Ocean" is written from the victim's blood. It's believed to point to the true killer.

Profiles:

Sonic Hedgehog: A seventeen-year-old blue furred male hedgehog. Passed the bar exam with flying colors, allowing him to earn his Attorney's Badge years earlier than he was supposed to. Has a likable and confident attitude about him, but gets nervous easily when in the courtroom.

Miles Prower: The suspect in the case. A twelve-year-old yellow furred fox who has two tails instead of one, resulting him in being constantly teased by others and not having many friends in the process. Sees Sonic as an older brother figure. Loves the nickname "Tails" Sonic gave him when they first met.

Dr. Robotnik: A fifty-five-year-old defense attorney of some renown. He owns his own law firm, albeit a small business version, and hired Sonic to be his understudy. He's usually too busy working on some kind of case to be seen in the office much.

Vector Crocodile: A twenty-year-old crocodile prosecutor. Taking charge of the current case at hand. Loves the gold chain necklace on him and listening to music through his headset, including during his time in the courtroom. Can sometimes be a bit rash in making decisions and has a sort of stubborn side. Also does not seem to hold a lot of respect for Sonic.

Jak O'Altraids: The victim in this case. A thirty-year-old man who is definitely a jack of all trades. He prefers to work on part-time jobs that nobody would usually want to work, such as the job as a harbor cargo loader and inspector he was working as before his death.


"Well, that definitely wasn't how I thought the trial would turn out," Sonic grumbled as he was seated on one of the lobby's chairs. "It's not as easy as I thought, but I did think it'd be a lot simpler. Eh, I guess I shouldn't be worried too much about it so long as I continue pointing out contradictions and make that prosecutor look like an idiot. Oh, I so loved the look on his face when I pointed out the Victim's Note," he added with a smug grin.

"Just make sure that the contradictions you do point out end up helping me get out of this mess," Tails reminded as he took a sip of water he helped himself to earlier. "If Prosecutor Vector's new witness really can prove that the note is an unreliable piece of evidence, we'll be in a lot of trouble. You probably should be using this recess wondering how you're going to prove it points to the real killer."

"…Yeah, I don't think I really have anything like that on me right now," the cobalt hedgehog replied as his grin quickly turned sheepish. "I think I might actually have to wait and see what this new witness has to say if I'm going to prove you innocent. Until then, let's just think about what we know and how we can use it later. And speaking of which, do you think you can tell me a little something before we go back inside?"

"It depends if it's something I have the answer for," the young fox simply replied as he tossed his now empty cup into a nearby trash bin.

"Well, I kind of want to know just where exactly you were standing when the murder happened. I know that you were outside, but do you mind giving me a more definite position? Here, you can mark it with this pen on this diagram of the harbor."

Taking out a red pen and a folded piece of paper, Sonic handed both off to the other in order to mark down the information he asked for. When Tails unfolded it, he saw that it was an overhead view of the portion of the harbor where the murder took place. It had details already on it like where the victim was killed and where the office was located. It even went so far as to show the placement of cargo crates that were there at the time waiting to be transported and the spots that were available to walk through.

After marveling at what the Mobius Harbor Diagram held, he took the pen and marked a spot on the left side of the office with an X on it next to a symbol that represented the window. He then drew a line around the crates towards where the victim was killed before he was finished with the illustration.

"I was standing around here when I heard the crate falling," the fox stated as he passed back both the pen and diagram to the other. "This may not be exactly right, but it shows the general path I took to get over to where I found the victim. I was afraid I might get a bit lost since I couldn't see over the crates where exactly I was going."

"And we already know what happened after you got there," Sonic said more to himself as he carefully examined the new markings. "And you said that the door to the office was locked before this all happened. Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"What part of 'locked' did you not understand? It wouldn't open even if I tried throwing my weight against it. It wasn't until I went back to try and call for help was I able to get in without any trouble. It sounds like the prosecution was right in saying that one of the dock workers had went in and left it unlocked during the time I was gone."

"And you are sure that there wasn't anybody inside the office when you first tried to go in and wait for your mysterious caller?"

"I couldn't see through the window because it was so high up, but I didn't get any answer when I knocked. Besides, I did say I arrived a little before nine, and the workers were changing shifts during that time."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," the cobalt hedgehog admitted with a small smile as he saw the bailiff nearby signal to his watch as if saying that their time was almost up. "I think it's almost time to continue on with the show. You ready?"

"I think that you should be asking yourself that," Tails responded with a small shrug of his shoulders. He then added with a small snigger, "You know, it's kind of funny to see you actually acting all serious for a change. That definitely doesn't sound like the Sonic I remember becoming friends with."

"Hey, would you rather I be serious and win this case for you or goof around and have it be thrown out like yesterday's trash?"

Before the young fox could respond, the bailiff made a move towards the courtroom doors and opened them up. He then stood beside the doorway with an arm motioning inside, an indicator that he had wanted them to go in.

"And like clockwork, recess is over," the hedgehog simply responded. "Come on, Tails; let's go and get your name cleared. It's time to show them all how wrong they are to think of you as a murderer!"

"Good luck with that, Sonic," the fox said as he went in first to his assigned seat with the bailiff following close behind him. The hedgehog followed suit a second later and took his spot behind his assigned desk. He noticed that the prosecutor and Judge had already since took their respective positions, so it seemed that they were all waiting for him to come in so they could continue on with the proceedings.

"Court will now reconvene!" the Judge announced after a few seconds with a pound of his gavel, quickly silencing what little chatter was still going on. "Prosecutor Vector, is your witness ready to be called upon the stand?"

"As ready as he'll ever be, Your Honor," Vector responded coolly as he placed the left portion of his headset over his ear. "I don't know about the defense, but I certainly didn't waste my recess time doing nothing."

"Very well then; let the prosecutor's next witness take the stand!" the old man instructed as the bailiff walked outside for a moment before returning. Following behind him was a man who looked rather young with a good crop of black hair on top of his head. He was dressed in a greenish-blue jumper suit that had an insignia sewn on to the front along with a pair of simple brown work boots. It was clear this was his work uniform and that he was most likely pulled out of work in order to testify before them.

"Will the witness please state his name and profession for the court?" the prosecutor asked the witness, as it was customary for him to do so.

"I don't see why not," the man responded as he took his spot by the witness podium that Tails had taken residency to a few minutes ago. Sonic made sure to prepare himself for whatever it was this man had to say. "My name is Naeco Eulb, and I am a dock worker down at Mobius Harbor. I was the one assigned to oversee things on the night this incident occurred. I suppose you could interpret that as me being the boss at the time."

"So as far as we're concerned, you were the designated supervisor for that particular evening," the crocodile replied succinctly. "Would you kindly explain to the court what it was that you saw on the night of the murder?"

"Well, I saw the defendant cause the crane to malfunction and allow the cargo crate to fall on top of Mr. O'Altraids," Naeco simply stated, causing the audience to mutter amongst themselves upon hearing this. The hedgehog could only stare back at the man in shock as he announced his accusation.

"Order!" the Judge loudly commanded as he managed to quell the gallery. "Mr. Eulb, this is an extremely grave claim that you've presented to us! Are you absolutely sure that this was what you saw?"

"I don't think I'd be in this courtroom if I wasn't, Your Honor," the witness replied without any sort of indifference, his attitude reflecting his sureness at what he saw that night. "The boy was simply loitering around the area when I first caught sight of him. It wasn't until a little bit after that when this whole mess came about. He was the only strange person there who looked suspicious, was clearly out of place, and had the clear opportunity to have performed this rather extravagant murder."

"If that's the case, then please provide the court your testimony with regards to this matter!" the old man commanded with a pounding of his gavel. "Tell us why you believe that it could only be the defendant to have caused the crane to malfunction."

We haven't even been back in session for ten minutes and things have already taken a turn for the worse! the hedgehog thought with a frustrated mental groan at the change of pace. But I know that Tails is innocent, so that either means this man is mistaken or just plain lying. I better listen carefully to what he has to say about what he saw and find a contradiction in it or I'll be screwed.

What I Witnessed

I believe that it was a little bit before nine when Mr. O'Altraids was tragically killed, probably even just a couple minutes before. I was heading to the office so as to begin my shift as the evening superior. When I arrived, I saw the defendant loitering around the building. I was about to approach him and ask what he was doing before something else caught my attention. As such, I wasn't paying much heed to the boy. Unfortunately, it was during that time he managed to force a cargo container that was in the middle of being loaded onto a ship to fall. I heard the resulting crash and shouts of concern from fellow dock workers before seeing the boy run to where the container fell.

End Witness Testimony

"So you're saying that you did not directly witness my client doing something that caused the container to fall," Sonic surmised once the testimony was finished. "Mr. Eulb, you failed to mention one key detail in your testimony. Mainly, you left out the part where you say you saw Mr. Prower physically doing something to make the crane malfunction! I think that was your purpose for coming up here today."

"I must agree with the defense on this one," the Judge stated with a nod of his head. "It was by the recommendation of Prosecutor Vector that I allowed you to take the stand today. However, it sounds like from your own testimony that you didn't see the defendant perform the crime with his own hands. I can't see how this is going to be of much help to the prosecution's arguments."

"If that's the case, then how about we go ahead and move on to the cross-examination?" Vector suggested with a smile as if the concerns raised by the court were nothing to worry about. "While I agree that it isn't as concrete as I would've liked, Mr. Eulb has directly witnessed the events moments before the murder happened. In the scope of things, it just so happens to place the defendant in a rather questionable position for that evening.

"For those of you who are still skeptical, I'm sure you'll be swayed into knowing just how reliable this witness is once the defense goes about with their dissection of his statements," he added with a very sure and cocky smile directed at the hedgehog. "After all, I doubt that he'll be able to find a single contradiction in this flawless testimony."

"I suppose that we don't have much of a choice in the matter," the old man responded with a sigh. "Even though it is circumstantial at best, the testimony does seem to put the defendant in a rather difficult position. However, the defense does have a right to perform a cross-examination if that's what they so wish to do. Would I be right in assuming that to be the case, Mr. Sonic?"

"Of course, Your Honor," the hedgehog replied with a nod of his head as he prepared himself to ask the key questions he needed answers to. He then added silently to himself, To not take up this opportunity is basically telling Tails that I've given up on him. You'd have to catch me dead and in a grave before I let that happen!

Begin Cross-Examination

"Mr. Eulb, you said earlier that you were heading towards the office in order to begin your shift as the evening supervisor," Sonic began the cross-examination as he recalled the testimony given a couple minutes ago. "Do you mind telling me what it was you were doing before that and where you were coming from?"

"Well, I was conducting some routine maintenance work on a fuse box that was located all the way on the other side of the harbor," Naeco explained. "The area had been off-limits for a good week already since the lights were refusing to turn on. This was all because of a blown-out fuse that everybody has been procrastinating on getting repaired. You don't know how dangerous it is for us harbor workers to be working at night next to a bunch of cargo with varying values. There are always a lot of shady characters hanging around up to no good in those blind spots. It's especially bad around the harbor where people are always wanting to try stealing cargo from incoming ships. Needless to say, getting those lights back to working order was a high priority on our list."

"So you had just returned from your maintenance duties from the far end of the harbor," the Judge surmised with a thoughtful look on his face. "And you say that you were heading towards the office to start on your next assignment?"

"That's correct," the witness replied with a smile. "I'm sure this was already mentioned to the courts earlier, but I was the supervisor for that evening. It was important for me to make my presence known inside the office so as to oversee everything that went on in the harbor. I was also there in order to receive any calls that might come in. Never know when the higher-ups might make a last-minute change and have us prep a cargo container."

"Do you happen to have any proof that you were working on the fuse box up until the few minutes before the murder?" the hedgehog asked, hoping that he would be able to find an opening in that line of thought. "Were there any witnesses around you at the time or a security camera catching you at work with the maintenance?"

"The other workers collaborated with the witness's claim when the police questioned them about it," Vector answered as he picked up a piece of paper lying on his desk. "This is a sworn affidavit from all the workers there saying that the lights had been out of order until sometime before the murder took place. They all said they saw the lights at the far end of the harbor suddenly turn on."

"But did they any of them say anything about seeing Mr. Eulb fixing the fuse box with their own eyes?" the other repeated. "You still haven't fully answered my question. Seeing him working on the repairs and only seeing the lights suddenly turn on are two entirely different things to be witnessing."

"It appears I wasn't terribly clear for you the first time around," the prosecutor said with a sigh before shaking his head. "I suppose I should've said that all of the workers that were assigned to work at the harbor that night have sworn to this affidavit. The only one who didn't swear by it is the witness himself. It should be clear to you by process of elimination that the witness was the one who fixed the fuse box that night."

"The prosecution does raise a valid point on this," the Judge merely agreed. "Mr. Sonic, I suggest that you move on with a different question now."

"Yes, Your Honor," the attorney answered with a scowl before coming up with another suitable question. "How about we move onto the moment you first arrived at the office? I believe you said that you saw the defendant 'loitering around' the building. Could you tell me exactly what it was you observed him doing?"

"Well, he was just kind of switching from pacing back and forth and leaning against the wall," Naeco explained as he recalled what he saw. "It might've been just me at the time, but he appeared to be a bit nervous with his constant fidgeting. I was going to confront him as to what he was doing there, but one of my coworkers called me saying that he had something he wanted to speak to me about."

"And it was in those few moments of distraction that the murder was allowed to take place?" the old man asked, his voice showing curiosity as to how such a short window of time could allow the defendant the time to commit murder. "Isn't it amazing how one moment of distraction could be enough time to allow a crime to be committed?"

"I never thought that I would have the power to prevent something like this only to have been distracted from doing so," the witness said with a sad sigh leaving his lips. "Jak was a pretty model employee, too. He was somebody I'm sure every boss wished they had on their team. It's such a shame that a man such as him had to go and die in such a terrible fashion. I'm sure the working world will be sad to see him gone."

"If you don't me asking, just how did you deduced that it was my client who caused the crate to fall without confronting him?" Sonic continued on, mentally wondering if he simply imagined that small hint of sarcasm in the witness's words just now. "I believe that the only time you really approached him was in the minutes after the murder when he ran into the office so as to call for help."

"Oh, that's something that can easily be explained. You see, there is a button that controls the grappling mechanism of the crane situated along the wall the boy was loitering around. It's only meant to be used for emergencies such as an earthquake or electrical shortage, something that has the potential to knock out electricity during the transport of the cargo containers. During such moments, we would immediately clear the area before pressing the emergency button so as to prevent any fatal accidents. After all, it's our policy to rather have collateral damage than fatal injuries if we can so avoid it."

"In other words, it's an emergency switch that would allow whatever is on the crane to fall to the ground should something happen with the electricity," Vector repeated in basic terms. "As he just stated, the area would've been cleared before such a system was activated. Still, he made it clear that it served as a safety feature in order to prevent any injuries to those who are nearby during such a precarious situation."

"And it's on this reasoning alone you say that you knew beyond a doubt my client was the one to have caused Mr. O'Altraids's untimely death?" Sonic asked, wanting to make sure he had all the facts straight. "By what you've already told us, it seems like he's the only person you're choosing to implicate."

"I don't think 'choose' would be the right word for this," Naeco replied with a frown while loosely crossing his arms. "The defendant was the only person I saw the whole evening who had the opportunity to pull this off. I'm in no position to be picking who I want to point my finger at and accuse of this crime.

"However, that's beside the point. In the current scope of things, I can't see how anybody would have the time and chance to make this happen apart from the boy. My guess is that he had probably planned to do Jak for quite a while. That would explain why he was so fidgety just seconds before."

"And how do you propose the defendant had planned to 'do Jak in' as you so nicely phrased?" the hedgehog asked, silently hoping that this question will be able to grant him the contradiction he had been desperately digging around for.

"Well, the boy would've had to somehow get the man to stand at the exact spot he was killed," the man explained. "Once that was done, he would then patiently wait over by the emergency button where he'll then be a safe distance away from the crash. Once he saw that the cargo container was hovering over the poor man, all he'd have to do is push the button and be done with it. I don't see any other way how he could've crushed the man to death with frighteningly good accuracy."

"Hmm, that sounds like a rather strong possibility," the Judge responded with furrowed eyebrows as he allowed the idea to roll around his head for a bit. "It's also a good way to ensure that he doesn't get caught in the potential debris flow and be injured. Does the defense have any problems with this explanation of things?"

"…Well, I do have one notable concern about all this. Even if what the witness said is the truth, what possible motive could Mr. Prower have for wanting to kill Mr. O'Altraids in the first place? I don't think I need to say that performing a murder of this complexity is more trouble than it is actually worth, so he must have had a good reason to do this. The prosecution has failed to make any mention of plausible motive!"

"Objection, Your Honor!" the crocodile countered as he messed around with his gold chain. "The question this case has provided us doesn't involve why the defendant chose to enact such a convoluted plan for murder; it's whether or not he was the one responsible for an innocent man's untimely death!"

"But that still leaves the question about motive hanging in the air!" Sonic countered back with a small snarl at the other's tendency to sidestep his original questions. "Just what exactly is in my client's recent history with the victim that would drive him to want to commit murder? I don't think I need to point out to the court that the two never even seen each other until just after the victim was crushed."

"Unfortunately, I have to concede to you on that," the prosecutor simply replied with little resistance. "As of this moment, I have yet to find anything that can hold any semblance of motive in the defendant's eyes. However, this fails to change the fact that our witness here saw the defendant loitering around next to the emergency button just before the victim was crushed! He even said that he saw him acting all nervous and suspicious just moments before. Even if motive hasn't been established yet, it's clear to anybody that only the defendant could've had the chance to commit this murder!"

"That's enough, you two!" the old man commanded with a slam of his gavel that immediately quieted the two attorneys. "While I agree with the defense in regards to the lack of a clear motive, the prosecution has adequately proven that the defendant had both the time and opportunity to commit the crime. As such, I ask that the defense put a stop on their argument concerning motive."

"…As you say, Your Honor," the hedgehog growled out as he failed to keep his end of the argument as persuasive as it could have been. It was infuriating at how on every turn his questions were being passed off as useless.

"Now that we've settled this little problem, are there any more questions that the defense would like to have answered by the witness? If there isn't, then I would like to call an end to this cross-examination now."

End Cross-Examination

"…I do have one more thing I'd like to have addressed," Sonic replied after recovering from his frustration and realizing that there was something off with the evidence at hand and the witness's testimony. "When I asked Mr. Eulb earlier as to how my client would've went about committing the murder, I understood that he was merely giving us his opinion on the matter. Nevertheless, I have to point out a small problem with the explanation that contradicts the evidence at hand!"

"And what exactly are you claiming is the witness's testimony contradicting?" Vector asked with an eyebrow raised at the sudden claim. "I'm failing to see exactly where you're planning on going with this, if it's even anywhere to begin with. Do you mind enlightening us as to what it is you supposedly just discovered?"

Without saying anything, the hedgehog picked up the Mobius Harbor Diagram and placed it under the overhead projector for all to see. He then used a red laser pointer to show the mark that Tails had made during the break.

"During the recess, I had my client mark on this diagram where he was standing on the night of the murder," he explained while circling the mark. "He said that he was standing around here waiting for whoever it was that called him to that specific location. It wasn't until after the murder happened did he move from that spot. You were there then, Mr. Eulb; is Mr. Prower correct in his statement on where he was at?"

"…That appears to be around the right area," Naeco responded after giving it a bit of thought while studying the red markings. "The emergency button is situated on the wall he's next to, so it'd make sense."

"Well, it's good to know that we're in agreement on this. You don't know how much easier this makes my job now."

"Can you please get on with whatever your line of logic is leading up to, amateur?" the crocodile asked as he was clearly starting to become frustrated. "As much as I am curious on what you're cooking up in that head of yours, you're starting to try my patience with your constant questions!"

"Like I said earlier, my questions help me in pointing out a contradiction with the witness's explanation of things. As such, I would like to quote him on something. 'Once he saw that the cargo container was over the man's head, all he'd have to do is push the button.' By this statement alone, one would reasonably insinuate that Mr. Prower would've needed a pretty clear view of everything if he were to execute this plan perfectly."

"I don't think there's any room for dispute on that regard," the Judge admitted as he looked at the map in confusion. "However, I'm confused as to what you're getting at with this, Mr. Sonic. Can you please provide an explanation as to what this has to do with the Mobius Harbor Diagram?"

"Well, the witness has already said that the marker where my client said he was standing is accurate. And since there's no discrepancy in this regard, I can say without a doubt that it was impossible for my client to have killed the victim!"

"It's about time you finally got around to your main point," Vector responded without any kind of surprise in his voice. He simply covered both his ears and lightly bobbed his head to the music. "I can't say that it was an easy process waiting for you to just say that seeing as how you went skirting around it. At least now I know that you have absolutely nothing to go with your so-called contradiction."

"Are you sure there's nothing important on it?" Sonic asked with a sort of triumphant grin working its way onto his face. "Why don't you take a closer look? If you still don't see it, then try looking at the containers piled in-between the defendant and victim. With these things in the way, there's no humanly possible way that Mr. Prower could've made an accurate aim for Mr. O'Altraids from where he was standing!"

"And how can you come to that conclusion just by looking at this diagram?" the prosecutor merely asked with a small yawn. "It's true that it shows a bunch of containers between the two people. However, they could've been at a low enough level at the time that anybody would be able to see over them. You can't prove that it wasn't stacked up so high on that particular night."

"Then allow me to present a piece of supporting evidence showing that I'm right," the hedgehog added as he replaced the diagram with the Crime Scene Photo. "This photo was taken by the investigators sometime after the murder had been called in. I would assume then that the Mobius Harbor Diagram was created based on the layout of that evening. With that in mind, I'd like to direct your attention towards the background in this photograph. Do you notice how the containers are stacked up pretty high up?"

"Oh, no!" the crocodile exclaimed as he finally figured out the contradiction the defense attorney was bringing up.

"It sounds like you finally know where I'm going with this, Prosecutor Vector. With this in mind, there's no humanly possible way that my client would've been able to see the victim standing directly under the container when it came around. And even if he high enough to see over the containers, he'd most likely have missed his opportunity to press the button as I'm sure there's only a two-second window at best from the moment he sees it ready to drop to actually pressing the button."

"B-but he didn't need to see in order to just press the emergency button! He could've easily said something that would ensure that Mr. O'Altraids wouldn't move from that specific spot. You can't say that wasn't a possibility!"

"I'll admit that it's a possibility, but then I believe it's your job to prove it since you brought it up. So do you have anything to prove that my client just decided to randomly press the button under the impression that he knew beyond a doubt that the victim was simply standing still? Don't forget that this isn't like trying to shoot someone with a gun. He only had one chance to properly hit his mark; this plan had no room for mistakes! Because of this plan's complexity and the lack of sight from his spot near the button, I find it hard to believe that Mr. Prower was the one to have committed this murder!"

Upon making this statement, the entire courtroom began talking amongst themselves about the new revelation. Vector merely gritted his teeth and growled in frustration at having been thoroughly stymied by a complete rookie of the law. It was clear that he was unable to come up with a suitable counterargument nor could he adequately prove his own version of things was in fact the truth.

"Order in the court!" the Judge attempted to shout over the gallery while repeatedly banging his gavel. Once he managed to calm everybody down, he said, "The defense has made a very valid point here. Nobody could possibly see if the container was at its destination if they stood right next to the button. It's doubtful with the amount of planning that one would just randomly press the button and hope for the best. I'm also ready to concede the fact that even if the defendant were on high ground, he'd have lost his opportunity to commit the murder. It's highly improbable that the defendant pressed that button."

"But I don't believe that there's anything saying that he didn't do so," Naeco suggested after having been quiet during the past exchange. "I understand that the defense attorney brought up this contradiction based off what I said. However, let me remind you all that I was only stating my opinion in the matter. It's hardly a proven fact that the defendant did what I had speculated. It's still highly possible that the boy simply decided to blindly press the button after making such careful plans and seeing that he couldn't get around the sight problem. If that's so, then he simply just got lucky here."

"I couldn't have said it any better myself," Vector quickly agreed as he quickly regained his cocky attitude. "While you did raise a valid contradiction, it was merely on a statement that was meant as an opinion. I hardly find that as grounds to be casting doubt on your client's lack of participation in this, amateur!"

"I-I suppose you're right about that," Sonic begrudgingly admitted before pursing his lips in thought. "But whether or not this was an opinion isn't what's important! In fact, I think the next question I have for the witness is what we should be concentrating on."

"And what exactly is it you want me to talk about next?" the witness asked before loosely crossing his arms.

"Throughout this entire proceeding, we've been referring to this button as an emergency button," the hedgehog explained. "I would assume from this that there is another button that performs the same duties somewhere in that harbor."

"Well, you'd be right in that assumption. Apart from the emergency button, there's only one other button that can control the release mechanism on the crane. However, I really doubt that it has anything to do with this case. After all, the only one who was near any kind of button was the defendant."

"While that may be the truth, you have to admit that it casts a bit of a shadow in the prosecution's argument. Now that we know of the existence of another button that performs the same actions, I don't think there's anything stopping us from saying that somebody else is the true murderer. It's very possible that somebody was standing beside the second button and pressed it while my client was standing next to the emergency one."

"And I object to that, amateur," Vector stated with an amused chuckle. "Don't you think that you're jumping to conclusions with this so-called revelation? Even I had already figured out through the past cross-examination that there must've been another button that functioned in the same manner. However, that's beside the current point. There hasn't been any evidence presented that proves there was somebody standing beside this other button. You're clearly grasping at straws with this claim!"

"I'm afraid I have to agree with the prosecution on this regard," the Judge admitted as he shook his head in disappointment. "You don't seem to be doing a good job with keeping up your side of the argument in this, Mr. Sonic. Beside from that, I truly see no relations with the second button in this case."

"Th-then how about we have the witness give an explanation about it?" Sonic stuttered out as he tried to come up with a plausible counter-argument. "It might just be a dead-end for us, but to not take the time to look over the details just wouldn't be right. We should at least listen to some things regarding this other button!"

"And what would you like Mr. Eulb talk about next?" the prosecutor asked with irritation lacing his voice. "Just remember that what you suggest better have something to do with the case. I'm sure I also speak for the Judge on this that being random isn't going to make your current standing any better."

"Well…, we could have him talk about where the second button is and how accessible it is," the hedgehog suggested as he struggled to come up with a suitable line of attack. "We need to know if there somebody was able to gain access to it that night. At the least, it could prove the possibility of somebody else being the true culprit. We should hear about this before discrediting it as a waste of time."

"… … …It seems as though we're going to have to keep you here for a little longer, Mr. Eulb," the Judge stated after contemplating Sonic's suggestion for a few seconds. "If you don't mind, please testify to the court as to the whereabouts of this other button and how accessible it is to people at the harbor."

"If that's what you want," the witness said with an annoyed sigh. "To be honest, it sounds like just a waste of time."

"Believe me; you're not the only one feeling like that," the crocodile agreed with a frustrated sigh. "Nevertheless, please give your testimony so that we can finally appease the defense attorney's desperate attempts at trying to win."

The Second Switch

Well, there are two buttons that control the crane's grappling mechanism. The first is the one I saw the defendant standing next to. The second is located inside the main office. However, that switch is inaccessible to anybody who doesn't have the office key. Only the supervisor is allowed to have it, and I was the one chosen to be supervisor that night. However, the only chance I had to go in was after the murder happened. That was when I saw the defendant and kept watch over him until the police arrived.

End Witness Testimony

"So the door can only be opened by someone who has the key to the office door?" the Judge asked as he tried to remember the important details. "Is it proper procedure to keep the doors locked like that?"

"It's to make sure that nothing gets stolen out of the office while it's unattended," Mr. Eulb responded with a nod of his head. "Apart from the occasional personal effects of some of the workers, we have some important pieces of machinery and documents that cannot afford to be stolen. It wouldn't look good on us if they suddenly went missing. We always strive for prevention on top of anything else."

"And incidentally, the witness had the office key on him when the police initially questioned him back on the scene," Vector added as he fiddled around with his headset cord, answering and unvoiced question that was in Sonic's mind. "That was to be expected since he was to be the next supervisor that evening."

"In other words, the chances of somebody having hidden themselves inside that office just before the murder is close to impossible," Sonic groaned as he started to worry about how the trial was starting to take a turn for the worse. He then said after clearing his throat in an attempt to sound confident, "Regardless, I'd still like to cross-examine the witness and see if there's anything new we can learn from it. You never know where we'll end up unearthing a new angle that we can look through."

"Of course," the old man replied with a nod. "I do hope, for your sake, that we do end up discovering something new in respects to this trial. Rookie or not, wasting the court's time with irrelevant topics will land you in big trouble."

"I can't wait to see what you're going to provide us for your next cross-examination performance, amateur," the crocodile stated sarcastically with a huff of his breath much to the attorney's irritation. "I'm sure it'll be one to remember."

Begin Cross-Examination

"So you're saying that the other button that controls the crane is located inside the main office," Sonic repeated as he tried to come up with a question that did not sound random or a waste of time. "Can you tell us where exactly it's located inside? I don't think we've heard much in relations to the placement of things inside."

"If you would so kindly mark it on that diagram of yours," Naeco said, pointing at the white sheet that still held the image of the Mobius Harbor Diagram. "It was on the machines located along the northern wall. It's on a control panel, but it's clearly labeled from the rest so that there wouldn't be any confusion."

"Alright," the hedgehog murmured to himself as he made a mark with his red pen and labeled it "Main Crane Button". He then noticed that it was situated underneath a window that faced the same direction as where the victim was killed. That was when another question popped into his mind. "Is the main office a building that's on the same level as the ground, or is it elevated somewhat?"

"Objection!" Vector exclaimed before the witness had a chance to say anything. "This has nothing to do with your question about the button. This is just another one of your attempts at wasting the court's time," he added as he placed the headset over his ears again while smiling contentedly for no apparent reason. "I thought we already had our little talk about wasting the court's time with unrelated topics."

"This will be my only warning to you, Mr. Sonic," the Judge said in a threatening tone as he cast a glance that reflected the same sentiments. "If you continue to waste the court's time with questions that do not pertain to the topic at hand, I'll force an end to the cross-examination and announce my verdict based on your inadequate performance as a defense attorney. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Your Honor," the defense attorney answered with a forced smile. He then thought to himself, I guess they aren't going to be tolerating anymore questions that has nothing to do with the current testimony. Oh, this just keeps getting harder and harder by the minute. I'll be amazed if I can still pull this off.

"How many keys are there in total that have the ability to open the office door?" he asked, hoping that he was not setting himself to be flagged down. "I don't believe you actually specified how many there were earlier."

"Oh, I thought I already did," Naeco innocently replied without so much as hesitating. "I guess it accidentally slipped my mind. Sorry about that.

"For security purposes, there are only two keys in existence that can open that door," he explained. "You already know that one of them was with me at the time; the second is with the owner of the harbor. However, he's been on vacation with his family since the start of last week. I was one of the few who saw him off at the airport, and he isn't scheduled to be back for another week. If he did decide to come back early for whatever reason, then his wife would never let him hear the end of it."

"Alright," the attorney simply said, feeling terribly constricted in what he could and could not say thanks to the Judge's threat hanging over his head and ready to chop him down to size. "And when the murder happened, I would assume that you used that key to unlock the door and go inside to call the police."

"Actually, I had went straight towards the spot of the crash and check if anybody was hurt. It was after that did I decide to run back to the office and call for help. Of course, that was after I noticed the fox inside. He's correct in saying that he was next to the phone, but I cannot vouch that he actually did call the police nor how long he was on it."

"Regardless, it was during this time that you managed to keep the defendant from leaving until the police arrived," the old man surmised. "Whether or not he is the true perpetrator in this, I thank you for making sure that he at least stayed at the scene. Witnesses are always key to solving closing heinous crimes such as this."

"…Hold on a second!" Sonic exclaimed as a thought suddenly appeared in his head. "Something about this doesn't sound right. I remember the witness stating earlier that the door to the main office was to be kept locked whenever there wasn't anybody inside in order to prevent things from being stolen. If that's the case, then how did my client managed to get inside the main office while it was devoid of people? With things the way they are now, it's practically impossible!"

"…As much as I'd like to raise an objection, I'm afraid I have to agree with the amateur," the crocodile begrudgingly admitted, clearly not willing to have concede defeat on that particular matter. "Even I can't help but to go against my own witness here. Can you please explain how the defendant managed to make his way into the office, Mr. Eulb?"

"…That's actually a very good question," the witness stated with the slightest bit of hesitancy in his words. "I don't really know how he managed to get inside." After spending a couple of seconds thinking on it, his face suddenly lit up in realization. "Oh, I think I remember now! I was in the process of unlocking the door and had just done so when the container fell. The shock of the moment must've made me forgot about locking it back. As such, anybody had the power to go in and out during that time."

"So you were in the process of unlocking the door just as the murder was taking place," the old man surmised after listening to the explanation. "You then forgot to lock it back up because of all the confusion. I suppose that would make sense considering everything that was going on then."

"And you stand firm on the fact that you entered the office only after you ran to the scene of the murder to see what was happening?" the hedgehog asked as he tried to gather as much information he could with his restricted questions.

"I can't see what I would gain from lying about something that's this small. But if it makes you feel better, then I'll repeat it once more: I only set foot in the office that night after everything had come to pass. Is that good enough for you, or would you like for me to get a notarized letter saying the same thing?"

"I assure you, that won't be necessary," Vector responded with his tongue making a clicking sound. He then looked at the defense attorney with a scowl, "Stop asking the witness to repeat himself every other second. He isn't a parrot that needs to be trained in stating certain sentences. That and it's getting annoying."

End Cross-Examination

"I just wanted to make sure that the court was clear on the witness's line of thought, Prosecutor Vector," Sonic explained with a smile that was slowly growing. "The evidence clearly hasn't been doing us much good as of now. All we have to go on in order to form the foundation of the truth is the witness's own words. After all, it's the only way that I'll be able to catch him in the middle of a telling a lie. In fact, I believe I can say with full confidence that I've caught him in one just now!"

"Excuse me?" Naeco calmly asked despite having just been accused lying under oath. "I fail to see how you construed what I said to be a lie. The only time I had entered the office that night was after I ran back from the scene to call for help. That was when I saw the defendant already loitering around inside and kept him until the police arrived."

"I see that you're going to stand firm with that story," the hedgehog sighed before taking a piece of paper that had notes regarding the First Aid Kit he heard of earlier. "So let's say for the sake of argument that you really did enter the office when you did. If that's so, then how did the First Aid Kit make its way to the scene of the murder?!"

"Th-the what?" the man stuttered slightly as his eyes widened a fraction. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do. During the trial before you came to testify, I was led to believe that this could only be received from the office building. That's the only place in that harbor they can be located. And as we just discussed, that office door was locked with you having the only available key."

"And you're saying that by the witness's own testimony, only he could've had access to the First Aid Kit!" the Judge finished once he realized where this was going. He then said in a sterner tone, "What is the meaning of this, Mr. Eulb? Why would you lie about something as trivial as this?"

"Objection, Your Honor!" Vector quickly objected before the witness had a chance to explain. "This doesn't have anything to do with the current cross-examination. So what if Mr. Eulb was the only one who had access to that medical kit? I don't see how this proves anything in regards to the second switch!"

"That's because you're not looking hard enough," the defense attorney disagreed. "How do you think this medical kit made its way out to the scene of the murder? It was in a room that was to be kept locked at times when there wasn't anybody in the office, and there was only one person on this particular night who had access to that building. That would be our witness here. Since he's the only one who can enter that office freely, he's the only one who could've taken the kit out of there. Therefore, this is proof that he lied about having entered that office only once after the murder happened!"

"That's what you call proof of my witness lying?" the prosecutor asked with an amused scoff. "I'm afraid you're overlooking one other explanation of things. Don't forget that the defendant himself was also in that office where he was ultimately kept from leaving by our witness. He could've easily came by, took the bag out, and ran back to the scene of the crime under the guise as a Good Samaritan."

"That's an impossibility! If things really happened that way, then my client would've ran into the witness when he entered the office a second time. The witness already said earlier that he saw Mr. Prower running towards the fallen container before he followed suit. That would mean he had to have made two trips to the office if he did as you said.

"However, the witness has also testified that he went to check up on the accident before running back to the office," Sonic continued on. "He never once said anything about making a second trip back to the murder scene. I even gave him a chance to say something to that effect, but he stood firm in saying he went inside only once when the defendant was already there. Therefore, it's impossible that my client was the one to have transported that First Aid Kit out of that office. If he did, then the conditions regarding Mr. Prower's apprehension by Mr. Eulb would have been completely reversed! He would have come in sometime after the witness, and we already know that isn't the case!"

"Y-you little…!" the crocodile growled as he began scratching at his gold chain. It was clear that he had just been beaten in this war of words and was failing to find a suitable way to recover from it. The gallery started lightly talking amongst themselves about what they just heard. The Judge also seemed a bit lost in thought as he did not appear bothered by the slight discord that was taking place.

"…And what's keeping you from saying that I merely forgot about that little detail?" Naeco suddenly spoke up, his voice taking on a slight defensiveness to it. "I don't think I need to remind you just how hectic things were in the moments after that container fell. I could've easily forgotten about the fact that I ran in to take the First Aid Kit and brought it to the murder scene. In fact, that's exactly what I'm saying what happened; I forgot about having went in and taking that medical kit to where Jak was killed."

"Do you understand just how coincidentally convenient it all sounds right now?" the hedgehog countered as he stared daggers at the witness. "I just caught you in the middle of a contradiction, and you're now trying to create some form of an excuse. I dare say that you're now trying to play yourself off as a man who has a selective memory."

"But you can't say that I didn't simply make an honest mistake!" the man quickly bit back, clearly not willing to go down without a fight. "It's simply a part of human nature to forget all types of details. After all, I did forget about the fact that I left the office door unlocked. I will confess to that. I suppose I should give credit to the chaos that was the murder for making me forget more about that moment than I would've liked."

"And I guess I should give you credit for trying to cover up your blatant lies by telling us more of them. How about you try telling us the truth about what you really remember happening that night? I'm sure I speak for almost everyone in this courtroom in that we'd love to hear about these 'small details' you conveniently forgotten about."

"That's enough, Mr. Sonic!" the Judge exclaimed once he recovered from his stupor and banged his gavel to restore order. "This is a court of law, not a playground at an elementary school. While you're in this courtroom, you will present yourself as professionally as possible and conduct your cases in an orderly fashion. I suggest that you keep a check on both your tongue and attitude if you wish to further yourself into the career of law.

"However, I must agree with your skepticism in regards to the inconsistency in the witness's testimony," he quickly admitted before turning his attention to Naeco. "Mr. Eulb, I'm having trouble believing that you simply forgot about this particular detail concerning the First Aid Kit. Still, there isn't any evidence that suggests otherwise. As such, I'll allow you to testify once more so you can clear up any confusion regarding that particular moment. This time, make sure that you don't leave any details out."

"…Of course, Your Honor," the witness replied with a rather stiff nod. "I assure you, however, that what I left out was not done on purpose."

"I doubt the defense is going to be believing that anytime soon," Vector growled while adjusting his headphones. "Regardless, they managed to buy themselves some time with this. I'd love to see what other trivial matters they're going to exploit next."

"Exploitation is a bit of a strong word, Prosecutor Vector. I prefer calling it as pointing out the inconsistencies and using them to advance my case. I'm pretty sure you point such things out that you seem intent on calling as exploiting."

With another scoff of annoyance, the crocodile positioned his headphones over his ears as he waited for Naeco to get on with his new testimony.

The Forgotten Details

As I admitted earlier, I was the one who left the office door unlocked when I went to see what was happening. And as we've just discussed, I forgot about having taken the First Aid Kit myself. It's all still a blur, but I believe I ran inside to get it before heading to the murder scene. Like you already explained, it's impossible for the defendant to have taken it; I suppose that only leaves me who could've done it. I also remember making a call to the police after I entered the office a second time and made sure he had no way of escaping.

End Witness Testimony

"And are you sure that this is everything you did that night?" Sonic asked, his skepticism clearly being vocalized. "There's nothing else that you forgot or purposefully left out because it would be to your benefit?"

"I see that you're not going to let me hear the end of this," Naeco sighed while shaking his head. "I promise you that this truly is everything that I remember about that night. However, I could also tell you about my trip to the bathroom and what I did in there if you believe that to be relevant."

Ugh, nobody wants to hear about that! the hedgehog thought as his face contorted into disgust. How can that ever be relevant to anything?

"If you're so intent on trying to catch the witness in a lie, then why don't you hurry up and get on with your cross-examination?" Vector said with slight amusement at the other's reaction. "You already got him to testify about the menial details don't have any real bearing to the case. And I dare say you don't want him adding in things regarding his bathroom breaks as well unless you're secretly a pervert."

"Alright, that's enough jabs at one another," the Judge announced as he pound his gavel. "Let's just go ahead and get on with the cross-examination. I will say, however, that I agree with the prosecution in that these details seem trivial at best. I can't possibly see what the defense can obtain from this."

"Must you always show what little faith you have in my abilities, Your Honor?" the defense attorney groaned. "I know I'm a rookie, but shouldn't you be giving me more credit after what I've already done?"

Begin Cross-Examination

"Anyway, I'm still having a hard time believing that you simply forgot about the fact that you were the one to have taken the First Aid Kit, Mr. Eulb," Sonic repeated as he ignored the prosecutor's earlier jab. "I mean, you clearly were the only one in the entire harbor who had access to it. And even if you did lose yourself during all the chaos and was working mainly on autopilot, you still would've come to the conclusion that you took it with you later on down the line. You simply forgetting is completely illogical!"

"And yet I still managed to forget about it until a few minutes ago when you brought it to our attention," Naeco replied with a shrug of his shoulders as if the problem he had presented was nothing more than a simple mistake. "I don't know how your particular mind works during moments of crisis, Mr. Sonic; not everybody is able to think as clearly as you would like for me to have done. I just happen to be one of those people who can't remember things well during times of absolute chaos."

"But what about the fact that you had the only key to the office on you?" the hedgehog fought back in an attempt to blow a hole in the testimony. "That should've been enough for you to put everything together!"

"He obviously wasn't in the correct state of mind to be that analytical," Vector responded as he mindlessly fiddled with his headset cord. "It's just like the witness already explained; not everybody is able to discern the obvious either during or after a catastrophic incident such as this. We should consider ourselves lucky that he's managed to remember this much and testify to us about it. As such, I ask that you stop harassing the witness on this and move on to whatever else you want to ask of him."

"Fine," the defense attorney quickly submitted from his question that he begrudgingly admitted was nothing more than harassment. "There's something else I find to be of better interest, anyway. Do you remember seeing or hearing anything during your trek to and from the crime scene? Was there anything strange or out of place during those moments? I understand you said that everything then was blurred together, but I'd like you to try remembering even the smallest of details."

"…I'm afraid that nothing worth mentioning happened," the witness stated after thinking on it for a moment. "There were a couple of dock workers who ran past me towards the same direction, but everything else apart from what I just testified is a complete blur. My body was pretty much running on autopilot. It wasn't until I thought about calling the police did I regain my senses. I don't even remember the defendant having passed by me, but he must have if he managed to beat me back to the office."

"And that was when you said you found and kept him from leaving until you saw the police arriving," the Judge completed. "If you don't mind me asking, around what time was it when you made that call? I don't believe we've heard on that regard."

"Oh, now that's something I can definitely remember. I made the call to the police a little before nine. The harbor whistle always goes off every hour, so we use it as a makeshift clock of sorts. That's how I can be so sure on this. I distinctively remember hearing it go off right after I hung up."

"And in case you're planning on trying to dispute the call, I have a copy of the Phone Records of all calls made from the Mobius Harbor to the police that night," the prosecutor quickly spoke up as he took a piece of paper and showed it to the court. "If you'll all look closely at this record, you'll notice that only one call was made from the harbor to the police on the night in question. I believe this should help prove to the defendant that Mr. Eulb is in fact telling the truth on this."

When Sonic quickly skimmed through the Phone Records, he noticed a single line of numbers highlighted in yellow. It indicated a single call being logged from the Mobius Harbor at around the time the murder took place.

"So you ran back to the office in an attempt to get some help for the victim," Sonic surmised as he tried to keep his meager offensive movement going. "Did you do anything else while you were in there?"

"Nothing more apart from making sure the defendant didn't decide to disappear on me," Naeco replied with a shrug. "A couple of my coworkers came by wondering what was going on and if we should call the police. I had them set up a makeshift perimeter around the crime scene until the authorities showed up."

"If I might be allowed to say; I'm starting to tire of listening to this cross-examination," the crocodile interrupted. "To be perfectly frank, I find this to be nothing more than a waste of time. The only new thing you managed to unearth was that the witness made a call to the police right after this incident occurred. And let's not forget that you didn't seem to be able to follow up on your so-called contradiction with the First Aid Kit."

Damn, Vector's right about that! Sonic thought as he kept a stoic exterior. I knew the First Aid Kit was going to be a long shot, but I didn't think it'd lead me to more trouble. I can't find a single thing wrong here!

"…Does the defense have anything else they wish to ask the witness?" the old man asked after noticing the silence that enshrouded the courtroom. It was clear by his tone he was starting to wonder if there was any point in further continuing the cross-examination. "I'm afraid just thinking to yourself isn't going to be procuring any results."

"It appears as though he's finally run out of gas," the witness stated with an oddly cocky smile. "I believe their silence is proof enough that what I testified to was nothing more than the truth. Just because I merely forgot a few details doesn't mean I was purposefully trying to leave something out. In fact, they just helped prove I was doing everything in my power to save Jak by taking the initiative and calling the police. I understand that the defendant told you at one point that he was the one to have made that call, but it should be clear now he's simply lying in order to portray himself as a mere bystander."

…Wait a minute! the hedgehog thought as he suddenly remembered something. He then began properly reading through the Phone Records in search of that one detail that he felt would help supplement is current line of thought. Once he discovered it, he began grinning like an idiot that caught the attention of both Vector and the Judge.

"Is there something you find amusing about all this, Mr. Sonic?" the Judge asked with a raised eyebrow. "Especially for someone in your position, I fail to find anything that's worth smiling over."

"Perhaps he's finally realized he can't gain anything more from this," Vector huffed while giving off a triumphant smile. "Either that or he's cracked under the pressure of trying to prove me wrong. Not that it matters much to me since both possible reactions signifies that he's finally conceded defeat."

"It's about time he's seen how wrong he was. To be honest, I'm starting to get tired standing here testifying to you all. If there's nothing else that you'd like to ask of me; I'd like to leave now. I've got a lot of work that needs to be done, not to mention the report I now have to fill regarding all this."

End Cross-Examination

"Before you leave, I have one more question I'd like for you to answer," Sonic stated as he finally found the contradiction he needed to sway things into his favor. "Are you sure that you made the call to the police a little before nine?"

"…I'm not even going to bother repeating myself on this," Naeco deadpanned before performing a face-palm. "With the amount of times you made me repeat myself today; I could easily mistake you for a deaf person!"

"Oh, I heard you loud and clear the first time around. I just wanted to give you the chance to make any amendments before we continue on. Don't want a repeat of what happened during the last cross-examination."

"What are you trying to get at, amateur?" Vector irritably snapped. "I'm not in the mood for any more of your ridiculous nonsense!"

"I don't think you'll find it ridiculous once I show you this!" the hedgehog exclaimed as he placed the Phone Records onto the projector for all to see. Mr. Eulb, you claimed to have made the call to the police just before nine. However, the Phone Records that the prosecution has just submitted directly contradicts that statement! According to this, a single call was made to the police after nine! What do you have to say about that?"

"B-but that's impossible!" the witness stuttered as he stared at the document. Even the crocodile seemed shocked at this revelation, most likely because it was his own evidence being used against him in for the basis of this contradiction. "I remember making that call myself before nine! The sound of that whistle going off was burned into my mind! Are you sure there isn't a typo on that report?"

"I doubt that Prosecutor Vector would've presented it to us if he thought it contained a flaw of sorts. That means everything on here is as correct as it can be! On the other hand, what you've just testified to is the complete opposite.

"You were quite adamant this entire time that you were in the main office before the whistle went off. I'll admit that it's most likely the truth due to the fact the First Aid Kit is sitting at the scene of the crime. The question we should ask ourselves now is why there isn't a phone call registered before nine? It's clear you didn't make the call when you first went inside to take the medical kit, so when exactly did you do it?"

"Uh, well… I-I'm not sure about… I mean, I think I…! Grrr!"

"Will the witness please answer the question?" the Judge commanded, ignoring the sound of frustration and eager to hear what the explanation was. "When exactly that evening did you put in a call to the police?"

Instead of supplying the court with an answer, Naeco kept quiet as though he were afraid to say something wrong. It was clear that he had no plausible excuse and was desperately trying to fish around for one.

"If you're not going to give us an answer, then I'll go ahead and make it for you," Sonic calmly stated. "I'm sure it's clear to us all that you weren't the one who called the police. Your current reaction alone is enough to tell us that much."

"Then who are you saying made that call?" Vector asked, his headset now lying along his neck as his facial expression turned into complete seriousness. "Someone had to have done it during all the confusion."

"Well, I believe our answer lies in the first piece of testimony my client gave at the start of this trial. I'm sure you remember what Mr. Prower testified to earlier today about what he remembered seeing and doing that night?"

"I believe he said something about running towards the crime scene when the container fell," the Judge stated as he looked at a piece of paper handed to him by the bailiff that was most likely the court transcript. "After spending a few moments there, he ran back to the office in order to call the police. Oh!"

"And that's exactly what happened, Your Honor!" the hedgehog concluded. "While it was true that Mr. Eulb entered the office before nine, he only did so in order to get the First Aid Kit. After that, he was on his way to the crime scene where he most likely heard the whistle going off! With him now away from the office, my client is the only one left who could've called the police after it was past nine. And since the door was left unlocked, he was in more than a comfortable position to do so."

"Objection!" the prosecutor loudly exclaimed as he slammed a fist against the table. "You think that you can turn the case in your favor with a pitiful story like that? So what if the witness wasn't the one who called the police? It doesn't matter in the slightest! Everybody was going crazy at the time. The confusion could've easily tricked his mind into believing something that didn't happen. He's already testified to us about details he forgotten about; I wouldn't put it past him to have remembered something that didn't happen due to the same event."

"Wow, your explanation of things can't possibly be the truth. I'm ready to admit that he probably did forget about certain details when he first testified to us. However, it's not starting to seem more like a pattern apart from simple forgetfulness. And don't forget how he reacted when we caught him lying about calling the police. You can't say that reaction was induced by him suddenly remembering something.

"But better yet, do you have any proof that Mr. Eulb merely forgot about another key detail?" the defense attorney asked. "You were the one who brought up the objection; it's on your shoulders to justify your claim! Do you have anything along those lines?"

"…Damn!" he cursed after hearing his explanation get shot down with no hopes of recovery.

At this point, the audience began talking amongst themselves once more. The Judge was busy pounding away at his gavel in an effort restore order to the courtroom. He even had to threaten to kick everybody out if things did not calm down. It apparently worked as everybody quieted down once more.

"Mr. Sonic, why would the witness lie about this?" he asked as he glared daggers at Naeco who was now biting his bottom lip in frustration. "From what I've gathered during his testimony, he doesn't have any reason to lie on this."

"I think that there's a simple answer to this, Your Honor. He's clearly trying to hide something from us. Why else would he go through all this trouble to 'conveniently' forget key details and add in bits that never took place?"

"So now you're saying I've something to hide?" Naeco loudly asked, his face twisted into a snarl and his voice sounding somewhat strained. "Hah, I never heard of anything as crazy as that in my life! Just what in the world could I benefit from lying that I would risk landing myself in hot water with the court?"

"I don't know the answer to that now, but I intend to figure it out before you leave the stand! I'm sure that any person trained to be a supervisor would immediately call the police if an incident like last night were to occur. There shouldn't be any reason for you not to call as I'm sure it's proper procedure to do so. The only thing I can come up with is that you somehow already knew what was happening before you went into the office."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Vector asked in frustrated confusion. "Are you saying Mr. Eulb knew that the cargo container was going to fall and that Mr. O'Altraids was going to be the unfortunate victim? How exactly do you plan on proving that without going to say that our witness is a clairvoyant?"

"Before I go about proving it, there's something that I would first like to have clarified," Sonic calmly stated. "Mr. Eulb, did you tell us earlier that you were the one to fix a broken fuse earlier that evening?"

"That's exactly what I said!" Naeco angrily replied as he tried to stare daggers at Sonic. Needless to say, he was beginning to seem desperate.

"And Prosecutor Vector, you said that you had a sworn affidavit from every worker that were on duty that night saying that they saw the lights turn back on in that darkened area of the harbor. I believe you made a show of it during my client's testimony."

"Don't tell me you're going that far back into this case," the crocodile said in disbelief as he placed his headset over his ears. "What does delving into the past have anything to do with the witness lying about calling the police?"

"It has everything to do with it provided that we look at things from a slightly different perspective," the hedgehog explained as he tried to ignore the death glares he was getting. "You say that everybody swore to the fact that they saw the lights turn back on. Since the affidavit is in your hands, do you think you can tell me if the victim's name is on it?"

"Do I even need to answer that? The victim's name can't possibly be on this piece of notarized crap! It was created after he was killed!"

"Then how can we know for sure that Mr. Eulb was the one who fixed the fuse box? We have the witness here claiming he did it himself and the victim whom we know nothing about in terms of his movements on that particular night."

"Mr. Sonic," the Judge immediately cut in so as to put a stop to the exchange. "I'm afraid that you have completely lost me on this. Do you mind explaining fully just what it is you're getting at?"

"I'm sorry, Your Honor," Sonic apologized as he tried to hurry along his explanation. "What I'm trying to say is that Mr. Eulb might have been lying about where he said he was before the accident. He claimed that he was out making repairs to a broken fuse box, but what's stopping us to say that it wasn't in fact Mr. O'Altraids who did the repairs himself? And if that really was the case, then his death would only serve to benefit our witness here in the creation of his alibi! After all, there isn't anybody left alive who can say anything different."

"Oh, you got to be kidding me!" the witness exclaimed as he all but exploded in anger. "You're saying that I was somewhere else in the minutes leading up to the murder rather than coming back from fixing a damned fuse box? Do you have any evidence to say that that's what happened here? I'll bet my entire year's pay that you don't have anything like that! You're just trying to bluff your way through like you've been doing this whole time. This proves that you're nothing but a third-rate rookie who doesn't know what he's doing!"

"...Who was it that held the position of supervisor before you?" the hedgehog simply asked as he ignored the anger-fueled insults.

"Jak had that post before me, but what does...!" The man quickly trailed off as he seemed to notice what he just said.

"That's what I figured on. If Jak was the one acting as the supervisor before you, then you must have met with him sometime before his death. There's no other explanation as to how the office key came to be in your possession. And since there's no evidence showing that you were really coming back from a repair job, I'm inclined to believe that you were somewhere else entirely. With the key now with you unbeknownst to everybody else as well as having them fooled into thinking you were replacing a faulty fuse on top of the First Aid Kit at the murder scene, there's only one place you could've been. Naturally, I'm saying that you were inside the main office before and during the time of the murder!"

"Objection, Your Honor!" Vector exclaimed as he tore his headset off his head in frustration and threw them onto the table. "The defense has hardly used any evidence to substantiate this outrageous claim! So what if the witness had the key earlier than it was expected for him? You can't just go about saying that he was hiding out in the main office without first proving to us a plausible reason he would have for doing so. Without it, nothing you've said makes any sense!"

"As much as I don't agree with the prosecution's tone, I must side with him on this point," the Judge agreed. "It seems quite farfetched to think that Mr. Eulb would do as you had suggested, Mr. Sonic. While we have firmly established that he did have the key on him during the time when it was still to be with Mr. O'Altraids, you have yet to provide the court with any evidence that supports your claim. Do you have anything that shows the witness was inside the office at the time of the murder?"

For a couple of seconds, Sonic was quiet as he mulled over all the details he had heard throughout the course of the trial. While he admitted that he did not have any evidence to show his version of Naeco's actions that night was the truth, he was not about to say that out loud. Doing so was just as bad as admitting defeat! He needed another way to go about this, some way that did not involve the use of direct evidence yet something that could easily be connected with what they had on them.

"…The door to the main office was locked," he suddenly spoke up, confusing everybody in the courtroom in the process. "My client had stated as such during his testimony earlier. Nobody answered when he knocked on the door. That was to be expected seeing how the victim was already further into the harbor unknowingly waiting for his death. And we've already showed that it would've been impossible for my client to have killed the victim from where he was standing due to the lack of a visual field. By process of elimination, that only one other place where the murder could've happened. From this, we'll be able to see where the real killer was at just before the cargo container fell."

"The real killer?" the crocodile repeated, staring at the hedgehog with unreadable eyes. His face then suddenly seem to be awash with realization as he shifted his gaze over towards the witness who now had his hands balled into tight fists. "Are you saying that…that the man who's testifying before us right now is…?"

"I see you finally caught on to what I'm thinking, Prosecutor Vector," the hedgehog responded with a smirk on his face. "With all the evidence we've scrutinized combined with the testimony that has been heard, he's the only person who's had the chance to be inside the office at the time the murder happened. And since that's where the second switch is located, I think my reasoning here is more than sound. As such, I'm formally indicting Mr. Eulb for the murder of Mr. Jak O'Altraids!"

"You… You WHAT???!!!!!" Naeco shouted, his shock at being accused causing him to nearly fall over in shock. This also caused the gallery to talk loudly amongst themselves. The Judge had to repeatedly pound at his gavel to try and quell the uproar. He almost had to suspend the trial for a few minutes when they were taking far too long to calm, but that thankfully did not have to happen.

"Mr. Sonic, are you absolutely sure about what you're saying?!" he sternly asked while casting a gravely serious gaze at the hedgehog. "Indicting someone of murder, much less one of our witnesses, is not to be taken lightly!"

"I'm as sure as I'll ever be, Your Honor!" the defense attorney calmly replied as he tried not to panic from the immense change in atmosphere. "Allow me to explain what I believed happened in the moments leading up to the murder.

"Mr. Eulb made his way to the main office early where the victim, Mr. O'Altraids, was most likely located. After exchanging words for some time, they soon agree to switch places earlier than expected. This leaves our witness with the office key and free access to everything in that room. This is most likely when the victim then agreed to go ahead and take care of the broken fuse box despite not having been assigned to it. It's clear that he completed this job as we have a sworn affidavit from all the employees working at the time saying they saw the lights suddenly turn on a little before the murder.

"After taking care of the repairs, the victim heads off to the area where he is later killed by the cargo container. While I have no evidence showing why he was even there, I have reason to believe that it was Mr. Eulb who said something to him about meeting there after the repairs were complete. Unbeknownst to Mr. O'Altraids, the witness was watching his every move from his position inside the office. Even though he'd most likely hid himself from the windows, he took added precautions and locked the door to prevent anyone from walking in and seeing that he was inside. Once he saw that the victim and the container were at their correct position, he pressed the switch. What happened after that has already been discussed through testimonies and cross-examinations."

"Are you sure you properly passed the bar exam?" Vector asked once Sonic was done with his explanation. His hands were wrapped around his chain so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Your explanation is the most farfetched thing I've ever heard! Let's say for argument's sake that you're right about this. How the hell could Mr. Eulb know whether or not the container was directly over Mr. O'Altraids's head? You've already proven that it would've been impossible for your client to have seen anything from his position. Are you going to claim next that our witness has x-ray vision?"

"I believe I have an answer that's a little less…impossible than what you've just suggested. Why don't you take another look at the Crime Scene Photo and tell me what it is you see in the background?"

"In the background?" the crocodile mumbled as he took a look at the picture put up onto the white sheet. What he saw caused him to pale a bit. "W-wait a minute! You're not saying that…?"

"And that's my answer to your question. In the background is a building with the word 'OFFICE' written on top. And just below those words is a set of windows with a bird's-eye view of where the victim was standing! Because of this, I deem that it was more than possible for Mr. Eulb to have known when to release the container at the right time! All he had to do was sneak a quick glance to see if everything was in place. What do you have to say about everything I've said thus far, Mr. Eulb?"

"…I say that you managed to cook up a rather interesting story in such a short amount of time," Naeco responded through gritted teeth as his eye was twitching a bit from the frustration he was no doubt feeling. "But that's all it is at the end of the day. All you have to support this is the fact that I had the office key on me earlier than I was supposed to. Where's your concrete evidence that I was indeed hiding out in the office, attorney? Considering that it was even touched that evening, what's there proving that I was the one to pressed the second switch? I've yet to hear anything explaining all that!"

"And yet everything I've managed to prove up to this point just so happens to place you in the middle of all this. You had access to where the second switch was located; you also had both the time and vantage point to commit this murder. Are you really going to try and say that this is another one of those many coincidences that happen to put you under the spotlight? I doubt that even the members of the gallery would believe that at this point. You're now just lying in an attempt to cover up the mistakes you've made today!"

"Objection, Your Honor!" the prosecutor loudly exclaimed in an attempt to lessen the assault upon his witness. "The defense has done nothing but use baseless conjecture to form an equally baseless accusation! Without any harden evidence proving his argument, this is all amounting to nothing more than harassment!"

"I'm warning you, Mr. Sonic," the Judge warned as he cast the defense attorney a stern glare. "You're treading on dangerously thin ice with this subject. Unless you can show the court some evidence proving that the witness indeed pressed that switch, I'm afraid that you'll have to pull back your indictment."

For a moment, Sonic stood silent as he looked over the evidence and profiles of people sitting right in front of him. This was his moment to prove that the person standing right in front of them was the person who pushed that button. This was his chance to show that Tails never pushed any button, regardless whether or not he could see the victim from his position. This was his one chance to make everything right.

"Very well, if it's proof that you all want, then I'll happily show you what I've got with me," the hedgehog responded with a smile on his face, although it was really just a bluff in an attempt to by some more time. He then said as if to put more drama to everything, "I'll really have to thank the victim for passing this onto me when I get the chance."

"And what does the victim have anything to do with proving the witness pushed that switch?" Vector asked, clearly picking up on the defense attorney's hesitation and regaining some of his previous composure.

"Umm," he stuttered as he tried to stall a bit to find something that would be able to back up his rather stupidly announced bluff. As he carefully considered all the evidence in front of him, he soon came across something interesting. It was not much of a lead to go on, but it was the best he could do at this point. "Well, like I said before," he said with a smile on his face, "I'll have to thank the victim for giving me the key piece of evidence I need. And by that, I mean this note he wrote out."

"That piece of paper again?" the crocodile asked exasperatedly as he slouched over a bit. "I thought we were already clear on the fact that that's nothing but a piece of useless trash! Just what is it going to prove?"

"In response to what you were objecting to earlier, this note is going to be the hardened piece of evidence proving my claims to be the truth. As of now, all of you are probably only seeing the message written on this. However, we'll all need to see past the words if we're to see the hidden truth within it."

"And what exactly do the words 'Blue Ocean' have to do with me?" Naeco asked in a belligerent manner, although his face showed that he seemingly knew what Sonic was trying to get at. "If Jak really was the one who wrote that message, then only he'll know what it means. To us, it's nothing more than baseless gibberish from a dying man."

"I'm sure no one in this court has taken notice of this before, but you have a rather interesting name with equally interesting spelling," the defense attorney stated as he placed the profile of the witness and the Victim's Note on the overhead projector at his table side by side. "Naeco Eulb. Even you must admit to the fact that you don't run into a name of this particular spelling and caliber every day."

"And what exactly does his name have anything to do with the Victim's Note?" the Judge asked with raised eyebrows as he stared at the two pieces of paper. "I don't see how you can make any kind of connection with this."

"You're not alone in that sentiment, Your Honor. Then again, he's done this more than once and somehow managed to get a valid point across." Strangely enough, Vector's voice appeared to have the slightest hints of excitement and curiosity in his tone, something that had not been heard since the beginning of the trial. "Do you mind giving us a quick rundown of what's going on in that head of yours, amateur?"

"Well, if you would all take the time to spell out that phrase backwards, I'm sure you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Do so and you'll finally see the truth that's been cleverly hidden within."

"…And you managed to surprise us yet again," the crocodile actually complimented, although he still held a sense of skepticism in terms of Sonic's line of thought. "I'll admit that seeing things this way makes it seem interesting, but how can you say that this is actually a legit message from the victim?"

"What are you trying to get at, Prosecutor Vector?" the old man asked as he tried to figure out the meaning of the message for himself. After spending a few more seconds studying the note, he finally discovered what had made the crocodile excited and became surprised himself. "Why, the victim's name spelled backwards is exactly the same as the note the victim left us, blue ocean!"

"Under the current scope of things, I doubt this can hardly be considered a coincidence," Sonic simply explained. "As Mr. O'Altraids was dying, he must've been able to figure out that the container falling on him wasn't just some random accident. Putting together everything that happened before that, he clearly came to the conclusion that Mr. Eulb was the one to have done this. And having obviously figured out the intricacies concerning the witness's name, he wrote out the words 'blue ocean' and passed it on to the first person that came by. As we've already heard, that ended up being my client.

"So with his dying breath, the victim wrote out the name of who he thought killed him and hoped that somebody would be able to find it," he concluded as he watched the witness looking really uncomfortable. "With all the evidence we've fully examined, I'd say he hit it right on the nose. Seeing how your name backwards created the phrase, he wrote it backwards in hopes that you will just see it as gibberish if it somehow came into your possession. While I'll admit that I don't have any evidence showing why he would want to implicate you, the fact that this even exists shows whatever it is to be the truth!"

"B-but you can't just say that you know for sure Jak wrote that damn note!" Naeco stuttered as he tried to feebly defend himself from this accusation. "For all we know, that stupid kid could've written it in an attempt to throw you all off the track."

"That's impossible, Mr. Eulb," Vector surprisingly countered his own witness in a calm voice. "There was never any mention of blood being found on Mr. Prowers's person when he was initially apprehended. Even if we were to disregard that and say he indeed wrote the phrase, it would still be impossible. By your testimony alone, there was only a couple of minutes from when you went to see what was happening to keeping my client from leaving the main office. Under such conditions, he never would've had the time to wash his hands or properly dispose of any soiled pieces of clothing. There also isn't any evidence suggesting that he threw anything away. As such, this note was legitimately written by the victim's own hand! What do you have to say about this?"

"…Answer the question, Mr. Eulb," the Judge insisted after a few seconds of silence, his tone seemingly indicating that he was now accepting Sonic's view of things on the current topic. Said hedgehog was currently staring at the prosecutor in shock over what had just happened. "The defense has posed a valid concern that's been backed by the prosecution. Do you have anything else to say that can possibly express your innocence in all this?"

"… … …I don't," the witness finally replied after a long silence, his shoulders slumping in apparent defeat. "Even though this was the defense attorney's first case, he's done a good job keeping his end of this trial intact. I probably would've been able to keep myself from his prying suspicions if I didn't make all those rookie mistakes."

"I suppose that we can take this as a confession then?" the crocodile asked as he hardly seemed phased by the sudden change in attitude.

"I don't see what else I can do now that I've been exposed. Everything that the defense has managed to point out has been the truth. I was the one to have killed Jak. If only he learned to keep his nose out of my business."

"It sounds like we're getting to your motive now. Mind going into detail with it? You've already admitted to this much; you might as well come clean."

"…Working at the Mobius Harbor granted me certain privileges that worked in tangent with my true line of work. Using the guise as a dock worker as a front, I smuggle off priceless goods off any ships that come by. You might believe it to be hard with so many others around me, but security is lax and thus makes it all too painfully easy. The risks were low and yielded a rather healthy payout when put through the correct crowd.

"Unfortunately, Jak caught me one day as I was stowing some stolen goods in one of my secret caches," Naeco continued on as he allowed a seething scowl appear on his face upon mention of the victim's name. "As he was supposed to have done, he immediately confronted me about it. He then decided to just let me go so long as I didn't try taking out the big ticket items. I would've been fine with his 'warning' if he didn't later go so far as to threaten me into giving him a cut of whatever amount of money I get for the job. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have even considered wanting him dead."

"And it was because of his attempts at blackmailing you did you begin hatching this crazy plan to kill him," Sonic concluded once he had heard enough to formulate the motive. "That's when you went and called the defendant in order to lure him out to the harbor in hopes of having him take the fall."

"That's right. I've heard of him through the newspapers and learned that he had an exceptionally excelled mind. Feeling confident that such a well-known person might be gullible, I managed to get the kid to the harbor and in a position where he could easily be blamed for this. I'll admit that certain things could've been better executed, but it was an overall good plan. I never expected the defense to be so talented on this…"

"…It sounds like we've finally wrapped up all the loose ends," Sonic spoke after the explanation was completed. "But there's still one thing I don't understand. Why did you choose Mr. Prower to be your fallout guy? In the scope of things, any one of your fellow coworkers would've better suited to frame."

"Sorry, but there are some things about this that I'd rather keep to myself," Naeco cryptically responded much to the hedgehog's dislike. "Just because you won doesn't mean I'm obligated to tell you everything that went through my head. You already proved that I did it, and I already provided you all with my motive as to why I did it. I don't think I'm obligated to answer anything else that you're curious to know at this point. But let me give you something to think on for after this is officially over; nothing is ever as it seems. Some things are simply meant to be a part of a larger picture."

"What are you talking about, Mr. Eulb?" the defense attorney asked but only received silence as an answer.

"It seems like he's now enacting his right to remain silent," the Judge took note before slamming down his gavel. "Bailiff, if you would please escort the witness to his cell. I believe it's appropriate to arrest him under current circumstances.

"I must admit, I've never seen a defense attorney put up such a spirited fight," he added as the two men were leaving the courtroom. "For you first case, you sure made quite the impression. What an exceptional performance today, Mr. Sonic."

"Humph, I suppose there is more to you than what meets the eye," Vector replied as he rested his headset along the back of his neck. "You may progress things slow, but you're definitely not a fluke. It may sound crazy coming from me, but I'm honestly expecting some great things from you."

"If you don't mind, Prosecutor Vector, could you please continue on with your praise outside? I would like to call and end to this trial now. After observing all the evidence and deliberating over the given testimony, I'm ready to render a verdict.

"The court finds the defendant, Mr. Miles Prower, not guilty in the murder of Mr. Jak O'Altraids," the Judge announced before banging his gavel one last time so as to officiate his ruling. "With this ruling comes the end of this trial. Court is now adjourned!"

Giving his gavel one final pound, the Judge officially put an end to the case before getting up from his chair. As soon as he did so, everybody else got up and began filing out of the courtroom, including the two attorneys and the defendant.

"Wow, you were really great in there, Sonic!" Tails happily exclaimed once they were out in the lobby. He was practically grinning from ear to ear and looked ready to go on an excited high. "I knew that you would be able to get me out of that mess!"

"Nice to know that you already had so much confidence in me from the beginning," Sonic admitted with a huge sigh as he immediately dropped his professional front and switched back to his laid back style. He had the manila folder filled with the evidence and profiles he used in court held tightly in his hands. "To be honest, there were a couple of points during the trial where I thought I wasn't going to be able to keep up my end of the case. You'd think that I was the one on trial with all the pressure they put on me. I never thought it'd be that hard just to get one simple point across to both the prosecutor and Judge. That croc definitely isn't somebody to take for granted when facing off against him."

"I wasn't really that bad in there, was I?" a voice suddenly cut into the conversation. Surprised, both turned around and saw the prosecutor standing behind them with a smile on his face, his left hand gripping at his folder of evidence.

"P-Prosecutor Vector!" the hedgehog stuttered when he saw him standing less than three feet in front of him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I figured I come around and congratulate you on your first career win," Vector replied as he patted the hedgehog on the shoulder. "It's not every day I get my butt whooped by somebody's first day in court."

"Uh, thanks," the defense attorney said with a confused look on his face as Tails stood by with a small smile on his face. "I can't say that I did as good a job as you, though. You were on the ball with everything I said that didn't make any sense."

"Even so, you managed to bounce back and use what I said in order to help you come up with a new line of attack. And being that this was your first case, you really picked up on things quickly. You definitely earned my respects.

"And sorry kid for pressing the thought that you went and killed the victim," he apologized as he fixed his gaze on the fox. "I was just doing my job as a prosecutor hired by the state to preside over this case. Unless I had strong evidence that allowed me to doubt your involvement, I wasn't able to change my position as I did towards the end of the trial."

"I'm not putting it against you," Tails responded in an understanding tone. "You were just trying to do your job. It's not like you had some personal score to settle. Perhaps one of these days when we all have time, we should get together. I don't think we can really consider each other as enemies after reconciling like this."

"Sounds like a great idea!" the prosecutor happily said. "I've no idea when I'm free for a get-together, but I'll call you as soon as I know. And since you're working with Dr. Robotnik, I already know your number. I don't know how many times I've had to call him on work-related instances; I've practically have the number memorized now."

"Uh, I don't think he'd like it if you used the company phone for casual calls," Sonic said. "He already told me how serious he was against it. Perhaps it'll be better if I just gave you my cell phone number. It'll save us both the trouble."

"Yeah, that definitely sounds a lot better. You'll have to give it to me later, though. I need to file the last of the papers regarding this case. Even though I lost, I still need to file it away so that the Prosecutor's Office will know it's officially closed.

"And I'm just throwing it out here, but feel free to come to me if you need any help or advice," Vector added as he began making his way towards the exit. "There's bound to be things you might run into that you don't understand, so I'll be happy to help you in whatever way I can. You two take care now!"

"…That was certainly the most interesting conversation I ever had," the hedgehog mumbled as he watched the crocodile's retreating form disappear behind a corner. "I never thought that I'd make a friend with someone on the prosecution side."

"Well, the two of you are pretty much coworkers in the sense that you're both working with the court," the young fox shrugged as he began tugging at the hedgehog's arm and pulling him towards the exit. "It makes sense that you'd both end up getting along at some point in your career. And think of it this way; at least you now have insider information to prosecutorial information should you ever need it.

"Now how about we get out of here and find something to eat?" he added before placing a hand on his stomach. "I haven't had the chance to eat anything since breakfast this morning, and the stuff they serve in prison isn't all that good."

"Then let's make this a memorable celebratory meal!" the other excitedly replied as he followed Tails out of the courtroom in search of a well-deserved meal.


New Evidence:

Mobius Harbor Diagram: Shows the basic layout of the harbor from a bird's eye view. Has been marked by Tails with red indicating where he was standing before the accident occurred. Shows huge piles of crates obscuring the view between where he was standing and where the victim was killed.

Phone Records: A list of calls that were made from the Mobius Harbor Office phone. Only one call was reported being made to the police at the time the murder occurred. The registered time stamp for the call was just a couple minutes after nine.

New Profiles:

Naeco Eulb: A witness to the murder. A twenty-two year old man who works at Mobius Harbor as a cargo loader and head of security. Claims to have seen Tails hanging out outside the main office building a few seconds before the murder occurred.


Thanks everybody for reading this story. I hoped that you all liked how this first case ended up. Please don't forget to leave a review before you leave. Until the next update everybody!