Okay, after a more than a month without an update, here it is. My life has been hectic. I just moved into a new place yesterday in Colorado, so it's different not knowing anyone here. Anyways, on with the chapter. (Also, if I contradict my story in this chapter, I apologize now. It's been a long time since an update, and I only read the latest chapter.)
Carol walked up to the witness stand, calm and collected. "Name and occupation witness."
"Carol Perkins. I'm retired."
"Carol, you have been accused of murdering two men, your neighbor and your husband. Do you have any counters to the Suzie's comments?"
"I do your honor. Just as what my attorney mentioned beforehand, I'm being setup by her. All you have from that document is my name. Have you verified that it is legitimate? Do you have proof that I had arguments with my husband? People lie to protect themselves. That is exactly what Suzie is doing."
Theodora cleared her throat. "To be honest, we sent the documents to the lab to be verified. The results should be here before the trial is concluded for the day. It's actually quite simple to see if you were arguing with your husband. You did have more neighbors than just Suzie. We'll ask them if it is true. However, for your final statement, the same could be said of you. You are in a predicament that could change your life for the worst."
"Then let me defend myself with a testimony. Your honor, may I?"
The judge cleared his throat and shook his head. "You may, Mrs. Perkins."
Alright Phoenix, I don't know what she has up her sleeve, but it can't be good…
"I'm being set up. Suzie is in fact the murderer. The murder weapon was found in her home, her husband was a financier of a criminal organization, and she has lied to the court in the past. Why believe her now?"
The judge shook her head. "So you say that the witness is merely using you as a scapegoat?"
"Yes, your honor."
"I see. Mr. Wright, begin your cross-examination please."
I have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. The first thing I should do is get more information out from her.
"I'm being set up—"
"Hold it! So you say that Suzie is framing you for the murder?"
"Yes. We never really got along to begin with. Suzie never really talked with me, but was always with my husband. That caused a divide between us."
"So you're giving us a motive for you being set up?"
"I am."
If that motive holds up, we could be in serious trouble.
"Are the neighbors able to confirm that you two weren't happy with each other?"
"I guess a couple of them are. I'm not really sure to be honest."
A motive that can't be proven…
"Suzie is in fact the murderer—"
"Hold it! Why would she be the murderer? After all, the victim was the one person trying to help her out of her predicament."
"Some murders have unknown motives. This is obviously one of them."
You can't really argue against that…
"The murder weapon was found in her home—"
"Hold it! The murder weapon was placed there to set her up."
"No, she brought it with her to her house after she committed the crime."
"Who would honestly bring the murder weapon home with them to incriminate them?"
"This is Suzie. I wouldn't put anything past her puny mind. Besides, can you also prove that the murder weapon was placed there?"
"No…but it also can't be proven she brought it back with her."
"And so the never ending circle of logic continues. We'll let the lab deal with that. For now, let's just get on with my testimony."
"Her husband was a financier of a criminal organization—"
"Hold it! I will admit that it doesn't look good for her for her husband to be financing criminals, but that was his mistake, not hers."
"It seems like my defense attorney is set completely against me. Anyways, she has known this for several years. Why didn't she tell the police about it?"
"…I don't know."
"Because she was heavily involved in it. If she told the police about that, her name would be on the list. She would be charged along with her husband."
That would explain the "blackmail" letter then…
"Besides, if she is willing to finance a criminal organization, why not commit some criminal acts herself?"
"That's…a good observation, I'll give you that."
"Convinced yet that she's the murderer?"
"Not yet. Please continue with your testimony."
"She has lied to the court in the past. Why believe her now—"
"Hold it! There is a phrase that says, 'throwing in the towel'. I will admit that she did lie to the court, but when eventually found out, she 'threw in the towel' and told the truth. Even the most masterful liar will tell the truth on an occasion."
"That's not a solid explanation as to trust her. Even if the most masterful liar told the truth, everyone would be skeptical and not willing to readily believe it."
Why did it turn out to be more like an argument than a cross-examination?
The judge banged his gavel. "The court accepts this testimony."
Carol smiled. "Good, finally some sanity in this courtroom."
Phoenix sighed. I didn't get too much information…what am I going to do now?
And that's the chapter. Sorry if it's a short one, but as I said, I just moved in and I have little time to spare, especially when I'm planning on updating three stories, this one and another on fanfiction, and one on fictionpress. Anyways, thanks for reading and don't forget to review.
