I stood up and addressed the court.

"This witness has stated that he saw the moment of the murder, he says the murder took place at or around the time of one o'clock. Yet this is false testimony!"

Ian stood. "Objection! I've checked the autopsy report myself! There is no time stamp on the report; the murder could have happened any time during that day!"

"I'm not talking about the autopsy report. My point lies in another piece of evidence; namely, the photo of Ken Klein and Owen Slotts on the day of the murder."

I displayed my copy of the picture.

"How could this picture contradict my witness?"

"Mr. Truth, please point out where the contradiction lies within the photo." The judge said.

I smiled. "Take a closer look at Mr. Klein. See his watch in the photo? What time does it display?"

"6:42," the judge read aloud. "Why, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Mr. Runway has just stated that he witnessed the murder of Owen Slotts around one o'clock. So why, then, is the victim gambling over five hours after he supposedly died?"

"OBJECTION!"

Ian raised his voice higher than I have ever heard it. "That theory is only speculation! The defendant's watch could have been running fast!"

"Mr. Klein, could you please tell us the time?"

Ken glanced at his watch. "12:47."

"That's what my watch says." I told the court, looking at my wrist.

"Mine says that too!" declared the judge.

"As does… mine;" said Ian Vice, "but why would the witness lie about the time of death? It's meaningless information! The witness is obviously mistaken."

I pounded my desk again; it hurt less this time. "I seriously doubt that. Even in summer, any moron could tell the difference from afternoon to late evening. The witness is obviously lying on the stand!"

The court murmured excitedly, and Mortimer looked sick.

The judge looked to the witness stand. "Mr., erm… Mortercycle. Could you please clear some of this up?"

"Uh, erm… doy…" the witness scratched furiously at his head. "Uhh, look. I'm sorry guys; I got a little confused about what day we're talking about. You're talking about June 3rd? Sorry, yeah, I saw the murder, and everything I've just said is the truth, but now that I know what day it really was, I'm definitely sure it was dark."

I sat down and held my head a minute before speaking.

"Sir, how could you possibly get the days mixed up? Most people who see a murder keep the details even if only for a few weeks. Seeing as this was two days ago, I don't see how you"-

"If I may interrupt," Ian Vice said. "As the court can see, this witness is a bit of a meathead. I, myself, am not surprised at his behavior. And I can assure this line of questioning will not call up any unknown details."

The court rang with the sound of mild banter. The judge sounded his mallet.

"While I do find the witness's behavior a tad suspicious, I don't think he is purposefully lying to the court."

"Your Honor," I stood up again. "People don't forget what time of day they witness a murder."

The judge sat back and closed his eyes. "Mr. Mortercycle, why did you get the dates mixed? Can you remember?"

"I-I," Mortimer looked incredibly nervous; he was sweating so much I was afraid he might pass out.

"O-OBJECTION!"

Ian was leaning forward over his desk so that his head was hanging over the floor. "These questions are useless! Stop this questioning now!" He had lost his smile. "Can you not see that you are distressing my witness? Everyone makes mistakes; think of how much you are embarrassing him for his lack of intellect!"

"Mr. Vice," the judge looked angry, "I will not have persecutors shouting at me in my courtroom. I should have you held in contempt for that outburst. But," he closed his eyes again, "I do realize that people can make a serious mistake, like this man, and how they must feel about it. So I will discontinue this line of questioning."

"Gordon, did you hear the desperation in his voice?" Benjamin leaned over closer to me. "Ian Vice is hiding something."

Ken added some commentary. "The question is what. Besides saying I murdered the victim, I can't see a problem with his current testimony."

"And why is that?" Ben said. "This testimony is much too vague, that's why." He stared at the witness with a blank face. "We need to focus on something specific to get this guy talking."

"What about the witness's mesh-up?" I held my head. "The witness knows something that would cause him to mix up the murder."

"Gordon, I just had a crazy idea." Ken said.

"Okay, I'm good for anything at this point."

"I know this man killed Mr. Slotts, and he had a motorcycle gang with him that night, so I bet killing someone isn't anything new for him. What if he got this murder confused with another murder he committed?"

Ben sighed. "It's interesting. It sort of makes sense. But I doubt we can prove any of it."

Ken sat back, a disappointed look on his face. "Why don't we ask him?"

"That definitely won't work." I looked at my shoes and hit the side of my head. Think, how do we get this guy to talk? What should I focus on?

"Is that it? Am I done?" Mortimer looked out at the court. "Can I go home now?"

"Not yet." I stood up. It's worth a shot "Mr. Runway, if you really witnessed the murder, you should be able to tell us about it in more detail-."

"Objection your honor!" Ian stood up along with me. "The witness has supplied more than enough testimony to indict the defendant."

"OBJECTION!" I pounded my desk. My fist was adapting to these blows admirably, it had just began to stop bleeding. "Questions are all I have! Besides, I'm sure the judge will agree that his testimony is very vague!"

"I will allow this further questioning, but," the judge turned to look at me. "Mr. Truth, if we do not find any new information; we will only have wasted the court's time, and you will be penalized."

"P-penalized?" I turned to Ben "What does he mean penalized?"

Benjamin sighed, "Did you pay any attention during law school?"

"No." I said matter-of-factly.

"If you get penalized in court, your record will take a significant blow; also, if you're penalized enough, you could lose the case, or your attorney career itself."

I swallowed. Penalties are bad, got it.

"I guess… the defense accepts."

"Fine." The judge slammed his gavel. "Mortercycle Runway, please testify more in-depth about what you witnessed."

"O-okay." The witness sat and scratched his head. "What else is there to know? I saw a guy shoot a guy, and one of those guys is in court right now. You want me to be specific? Well, let's see; a guy with a dog shot Mr. Slotts in the head."

"Hold on a minute." I stood up. "You earlier testified that you didn't see a dog."

"Oh, uh." He began scratching his head again.

The judge's gavel swung down. "I have to say I'm a bit curious of this dog that supposedly belongs to the defendant. I think the court would like to know a bit more about it."

"Okay." Ken stood up. "That is, if I'm allowed to testify about my dog at this time?"

"Uh," I addressed the judge. "I-if it's the dog you want to know about, why not ask the owner? I'd like to know more about it myself."

"Hmm, I don't think there's any harm in it. Go on defendant; tell us about your dog."

"Objection! This is a waste of time your honor!" Ian pounded his desk. "So what if the defendant had a dog with him when he killed the victim?"

"Objection!" I pointed across the courtroom; it felt good to be in the limelight, "Murderers usually don't bring their pets along to a killing. I believe this could clear some things up."

"That does bring up a valid point," said the judge, rubbing his chin.

"Do I have to go to the stand, or can I just talk from here?" Ken said. "I'm only going to talk about my dog."

"I doubt he would lie about his pet, your honor." I added.

The gavel sounded once again.

"Testimony is testimony. Let the defendant take the stand."

There was a bit of discussion amongst the audience while Mortimer left the witness stand, sweating mildly. Ken took his place.

"My dog's name is Toucan. He's a Great Dane, and loves to wrestle. He can be a bit jumpy at times, especially around loud noises. During the shooting, I was too distracted with what I saw and the leash slipped through my fingers. After the murder, I dropped the gun and ran away; Toucan didn't immediately cross my mind until I got home."

The judge blinked, "Did the defendant just say what I thought he said?"

"I think so your honor," Ian Vice's wide smile was back, in all of its glory. "I believe the witness just testified that after the murder, he 'dropped the gun and ran.' Is the witness making a confession?"

Ken looked down so that his black hair covered his eyes. "Excuse me? My fingerprints were on that gun. Yes, I was holding it in my right hand, but I did not kill anyone."

"Nonsense!" Ian Vice was having a field day. "We checked the bullet found in the body! The ballistic markings match the gun! Whoever was holding the gun is the murderer!"

Ken was silent for a long moment. "I believe our previous witness' testimony did have one truth in all of the lies."

"W-what?" Ian was holding his chest, as if wounded. "How dare you-!"

"He said that 'a guy shot a guy, and one of those guys is in this court right now', didn't he?" Ken glanced up to the audience; he looked exceptionally calm. "That statement was true, even though everything else was false. I could tell you what I witnessed that evening, but we'll all just have to wait for the defense's opportunity to prove it."

I pulled at the collar on my suit. I was feeling intensely itchy all of the sudden. "Your honor, c-can we please just get on with the cross-examination?"

"Yes, of course. Please, let's get this over with."

"Mr. Cline, a Great Dane is a very big dog, isn't it?"

"Yes sir, Toucan is rather large."

I stood up and walked closer to the witness stand. "Wouldn't that make wrestling with him a bit dangerous?"

"Yeah, I've taken my fair share of losses. But I've been keeping score of our matches, and so far, we're tied."

He… keeps score of wrestling matches with his dog. That's Ken Cline all right.

"You said that he doesn't like loud noises. How does he react to them?"

"Err, violently." Ken smiled and held his hand behind his head.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he'll try to attack the source of the noise, I've spent thousands on new washing machines, but Toucan always manages to tear them up."

The judge looked to me. "Mr. Truth, did you find anything important in that bit?"

I went back to my chair and sat back in it. There was a meaning to this information, but what? Time to check the court record; I'm sensing a big logic jump.

"Yes, I believe this information is important, please have it added to his testimony."

"Very well," the judge swung down his gavel. "Mr. Cline, please amend your testimony."

"Uh, sure." He gave me a 'wtf?' look. The judge gave me a hopelessly oblivious look, and Ian Vice shined his best 'fawgodssakes' look.

Ken folded his arms. "My dog reacts aggressively to loud noises, but I don't think this has anything to do with the crime."

"And that's where I have you. That's where I have all of you." I smiled so wide I was afraid Ian would accuse me of plagiarism. "This is the key to the entire case!"

Now everyone's face was identical, intense confusion.

"Do I even have to ask? What does this dog have anything to do with this?" Ian was hysterical with laughter; more and more fusing his visage with that of a hyena.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask as well." The judge once again stared in my direction. "Do you have evidence that shows the dog is quote, 'the key to the entire case'?"

This theory of mine was going to take a lot to explain to everyone, and one piece of evidence is the link. What shows the importance of Ken's dog's aggressive nature towards loud noises? Which piece of evidence can clearly show how Ken's dog affected the case?