Thank you very much for reviews and support. I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get up.
September 4, 2008; 11:26 AM
Hyrule Castle Town, Light Prefecture
Court of the Heavenly Goddesses—Courtroom 5
"Prosecutor Dragmire," Rauru said to Ganondorf as he walked through the doors towards the prosecutor's bench. "I trust your witness is prepared and ready?"
He nodded in reply. "She is, Your Honor… Prosecution calls the witness to Ms. Marin Tarin's crime!"
The doors opened again, and a woman came through. She was a Zora, a tribe of fish-human hybrid. She walked up to the witness stand, and all the while Link had his eyes surreptitiously fixated on her.
Where have I seen her before…? Link wondered. She looks familiar, but…
"Witness," Ganondorf said, "Your name and occupation for the record."
"…Ruto Rutela," the Zora answered. "A freshman at Hyrule University. Castle Town Metropolitan High School class of 2008 valedictorian, graduated with a perfect 5.0."
Ruto glanced at Link, and she couldn't help but gasp sharply, her eyes widening slightly. "…I didn't think I'd see you here… Professor Avalon."
The blonde was taken aback. It was then that he remembered. She was a student in his class! The first day of school, just two days ago! She was there!
"What are you doing, wearing that attorney's badge, Professor?" Ruto asked him.
"…I'm not a teacher today," Link shook his head after pausing for a moment. "Today I'm a defense attorney… That's all you need to know, Ms. Rutela."
Rauru looked at the attorney strangely for a second, but he shrugged it off before turning his attention to Ruto. "Ms. Rutela. It seems that earlier in the trial, there seemed to be quite a problem with the account you've given Detective Linebeck Bellum, and the photograph you took of the defendant and the victim."
"Yes," she nodded. "Mr. Dragmire told me that much during our meeting minutes ago."
"And we called you here to clear up the matter," Link added.
"That's right," the judge nodded in agreement. "Would you please enlighten us on what you saw that day?"
"Of course," Ruto smiled. "I was taking pictures for the photography club I'm in. That was when I took the picture that detective presented on my behalf. It's true that the victim wasn't wearing the scarf in the photograph; the picture explains that perfectly. It was because it had fallen off already. He bent down to pick it up and put it back on… That's how the scarf fell off during the effects from the poison kicked in."
"…Ah, I see. So that explains that contradiction." Rauru rubbed his beard slowly. "Mr. Avalon, your cross-examination… Though I see very little room for contradiction now that she has cleared up this little misunderstanding."
To be honest… I don't see any either, Link cursed himself. But that means I'll just have to start pressing for more information.
"You said that you were doing a project for photography club," Link started. "That seems odd, especially since it was still summer vacation at the time of Mr. Ambi's murder."
Ruto shrugged. "Clubs start their meetings before the school year; I'm sure you're aware of that, Mr. Avalon. It was a project for all new students in the club. We were assigned to take pictures of campus life, and make a tri-fold poster with the photos we took, along with written reflections on our first impressions of the university."
…Makes sense, Link thought.
"Ms. Rutela, just for clarification… Could you please tell us where you were in the cafeteria at the time of the murder?" Link asked.
"If we could have the diagram of the cafeteria brought down again," Rauru said. The lights dimmed once again, and the overhead projector turned on, displaying the map on the floor. The bailiff behind Ruto handed her the laser pointer.
"A minute, please," she whispered to him. She pulled out from her purse that she set on the lectern a dark blue glasses case which held her eyeglasses.
"I'm sorry, Your Honor," she apologized sheepishly. "I'm blind as a keese without my glasses."
He smiled softly and shook his head silently. Ruto accepted the pointer with a slight bow of her head and pressed down on the button, a red dot darting across the floor as she did so.
"I was right… here," she announced, directing the pointer a table a good distance away from where Marin and Raven were designated to have sat.
"Your Picto-box must have rather impressive quality to have taken such a… clear photo from that distance," Rauru said quietly.
"This is her Picto-box," Ganondorf said to him, overhearing his comment. He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a sleek silver digital camera. The lens was recessed into the casing, and the backside was home to a generous 3.5-inch screen. "It's one of the newer models; ten megapixels is its highest quality."
"Must have cost quite a sum of rupees," Rauru chuckled softly.
I see we've digressed from the main subject, here… Link smiled to himself …Though it does look like a very good camera… I should get myself one of those when my next paycheck comes in…
"It was a graduation present from my parents," Ruto explained.
"Anyway," Link quickly cut in after noticing just how side-tracked the trial got.
"Ah! Er, yes," Rauru cleared his throat. "O-on with the trial. The court accepts Ms. Rutela's Picto-box into evidence. Mr. Avalon, you may continue."
"Thank you, Your Honor," Link nodded. Better think of another question to ask her, before we get off topic… again.
"If you could," Link started, "Ms. Rutela, please go more in detail about the time of the murder."
"Of course," she replied. "I entered the cafeteria at 12:13 PM. The cafeteria was very busy by the time I came in; I was lucky enough to have found an open table to sit at. Anyway, I had just come back from taking pictures at Bongo Bongo Music Hall on the other side of the campus. I wasn't particularly satisfied with the photos I had taken up at that point, so I took some more while I was there at the cafeteria. One of the ones I took just so happened to be of Ms. Tarin and Mr. Ambi. Shortly after I took the picture, Mr. Ambi died."
Rauru stared at her for a moment. "Thank you, Ms. Rutela… That was quite the thorough testimony."
"My family prides itself on being perfect, Your Honor," she smiled. "Nothing else with suffice."
Kinda like someone else I know, Link chuckled to himself as he stole a glance at Ganondorf.
"Nice to know," the judge simply replied. "In any case, your cross-examination would be quite nice now, Mr. Avalon."
Link glanced at him, nodding his head slightly, and turned back to Ruto. "Ms. Rutela, you told us that you came in at 12:13 PM."
"On the dot," she further added.
Right… Won't it be fun teaching her this year… "Was the victim and my client there already?"
"They were," she nodded. "Well… I only saw Mr. Ambi as I walked past him to my table. Ms. Tarin was in the lunch line, I suppose."
"I see," he nodded. "And the picture presented to us today is in black and white… Were all the other pictures you took that day also in grayscale?"
"Only of the ones in the cafeteria," she replied. "I was trying out some of the features on the Picto-box, one of which was obviously the color filter setting."
"I'd like to interject for one moment," Ganondorf cut in, "I can attest to this statement, as I have seen that all the pictures in the memory card fit what Ms. Rutela just told us."
"I would also like to say," Ruto said, "I am a total witness to Ms. Tarin's crime, in addition to the photo I took."
"Can you be so sure though?" Link asked quickly. "No disrespect Ms. Rutela, but according to the diagram of the cafeteria, you weren't exactly just a table away from them. And with peak lunch hours going on at that moment, it'd be quite a bold statement to say that you were a 'total witness' to the murder."
Rauru glanced at Ruto with an expecting look.
"It's as you say, Mr. Avalon," she nodded. "But I truly did see the whole thing, from when Ms. Tarin returned up until Mr. Ambi's death."
That... just sounded really odd. Link furrowed his brow. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but what reason would you have to have watched them that whole time?"
Ruto raised an eyebrow at that.
"Objection!" Ganondorf interrupted. "I hope you don't mind my asking," he said to Link, "but are you trying to imply something?"
The blonde chuckled softly. How funny that this doesn't surprise in the least. "I'm merely searching for the truth. That is all."
"So, Ms. Rutela?" Rauru asked her. "I have to say that I agree with Mr. Avalon on this one. It may have been your wording, but when you say that you saw the whole thing, it does cast a just the slightest bit of suspicion on you… Care to explain?"
She couldn't help but smile at that. "May I remind the court that I am not the one on trial here? Regardless of my motive for watching them—which I can assure you all that I have none—this is what I did, and all else is irrelevant. I saw every moment: Ms. Tarin slipped the poison into his cup. Almost right after taking a sip from his drink, he convulsed so hard that gray scarf around his neck fell off."
Link raised an eyebrow at that. That maybe… But for some reason it just doesn't sit well with me…
He opened his mouth to ask another question, but he froze just before a sound escaped his lips.
'That gray scarf'?
"Ms. Rutela…" Link said. "I don't question that you were watching my client and the victim at the time of his death… I do question, however, if you saw everything exactly."
Her brow knit. "I'm sorry?"
"You said the scarf was gray, correct?"
She hesitated before she answered. "…Yes. And?"
Ganondorf said nothing. He just watched the attorney, glaring him down.
"Your Honor," Link started, "I would like for the scarf Prosecutor Dragmire presented to us earlier shown to the witness."
Inside Rauru's head, it clicked what Link was getting at. As he reached inside his desk, he said, "I understand now, Mr. Avalon… Ms. Rutela, this is no gray scarf."
The Zora gasped sharply. "W-what!?"
"It's black!" Link exclaimed. "Well!?"
"Objection!" The prosecutor snapped. "Gray, black… Does it make a difference?"
"It makes all the difference!" Link shot back. "Because she testified so clearly that there's no room for this kind of a mistake!"
The redhead grunted softly. "Wh… What!? But remember the photo! It was taken in grayscale! It's perfectly understandable that she'd mistake the black for gray! It'd even be plausible to call a green shirt gray in this picture!"
"I'm sorry," Link shook his head. "How about you remember the photo, Mr. Dragmire? …The scarf wasn't in the picture!"
Ruto winced slightly, but she quickly covered it up with a casual clearing of the throat. "W-well…"
"Moreover," the blonde added. "She stated the following: 'I only saw Mr. Ambi as I walked past him to my table'. If that were the case, she would have even seen up close that the scarf was black!"
Ruto swallowed nervously, the sharpness of Link's voice sending shivers down her back.
"What…" Rauru choked. "What does this all mean?"
"It means, Your Honor," Link smirked at Ganondorf. "That once again, Mr. Dragmire's witness contradicted herself. And her claim that she had no motive to have watched the murder unfold… is voided."
"What do you mean by that?" Ganondorf asked suspiciously.
"She claimed to have no motive to have watched them so closely, as she originally stated," Link explained. "But are we expected to believe that, when she says she saw everything clearly—which we now know isn't true—and continues to assert that she did?"
Rauru looked at Ganondorf. "Well?"
"I… But I did see them," Ruto pressed. "I did…"
"It's not if you were watching them, Ms. Rutela," Rauru shook his head. "It's a matter of why you were watching them."
Ruto's eyes lit up at that before her face grimaced into a scowl.
"…Ms. Rutela," Link started slowly. She turned to him. "Were you wearing your glasses the day of the murder? You said your vision is very limited without them, after all."
"…Yes, I was," she answered after a moment of silence. "I was wearing my glasses the day of the murder."
He eyed her suspiciously for a moment. Is she sure?
"If you don't believe me," she shrugged, "ask the brown-haired detective. I was taken into questioning shortly after the murder. He was the one who interrogated me. I had my glasses with me then."
Link nodded slowly as he reached into a pocket in his laptop case. A small crumpled paper fell out as he did so, but he paid it no attention.
"Besides, Mr. Avalon," she added. He looked up at her for a moment, the lead of his pencil just inches away from his paper.
"Even without my glasses, I can still distinguish colors," she said. "I'm near-sighted, not color blind."
…I question just how much of that is true, Link looked back to his paper, raising an eyebrow as he did so. But if she has Detective Bellum to testify about her glasses, then I guess I'm in no position to argue a point.
"…Mr. Avalon…"
The blonde turned to Marin, who was giving him a very serious look.
"Yeah?" He asked with a small smile, but it slowly faded. "…What's wrong?"
She handed him a crumpled piece of paper. He eyed for a moment, cocking an eyebrow, before slowly accepting it. "…What's this?"
"A note," she replied. "I think you'll find it interesting."
He gave her a confused look before unfolding it, reading the contents. It was a memo.
Lakeside and Co. Optometrist Offices—Ordona Ward Branch
Your eyeglasses should be ready around 4:20 PM today. Please stop by my office at this time to pick them up. The glasses will cost you 15,230 rupees. Also, I repaired your old pair of glasses. You can pick them up today as well.
Signed, Doctor D. Lakeside
August 27, 2008; 10:16 AM
…I don't understand, Link shook his head. "…Ms. Tarin?"
"Think about it for a second, Mr. Avalon," she shook her head before smiling. "Everything will be clear then."
"…Where did you find this?" He asked.
"It fell out of your bag," she answered. "I don't know why you have it… But if my thinking is correct, it should help you get some information today."
Link stared at the note. Then, it clicked in his head.
Detective Bellum gave me this! He thought.
Linebeck nodded. "I'll see ya at the trial tomorrow, then… Oh yeah, on yer way out, throw this away for me, would ya?"
He handed Link a crumpled piece of paper from out of his coat pocket.
"What's this?" Link raised an eyebrow, uncrumpling it, to find out that it had been folded into fourths.
"Some glasses prescription or something," Linebeck shrugged. "It don't seem to be a piece of evidence. I know Raven didn't wear glasses, and that Tarin girl doesn't have any vision problems based on the investigation we've conducted."
Link smiled to himself and turned to Ruto. "When did Detective Bellum call you in? For the questioning you just mentioned."
She looked up in thought for a moment. "It was the early evening… Maybe 6:30."
Now I've got her!
"Objection!" Link smirked. "Ms. Rutela… You've finally given yourself away."
She raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm… sorry?"
"Because yesterday," he started. "I went to the cafeteria to conduct my own investigation. It was then that Detective Bellum gave me a piece of paper he found on the floor… Is your optometrist a 'Doctor D. Lakeside'?"
"That's him," she nodded. But then her face became serious, almost dark. "…How did you know that?"
"The paper he gave me was a note… written by a doctor of the same name," he smiled in satisfaction. "It was a memo for one of his patients to pick up their glasses from his office at 4:20 PM, the day of the murder."
Ruto gasped sharply, her teeth gritting.
"The only reason Detective Bellum would be able to testify about you having your glasses when he questioned you was because you met with him after you got your new glasses!" Link exclaimed. "And according to this note, you didn't have your old glasses with you earlier that day—when you were in the cafeteria!"
The Zora's eyes widened. "N…N-no! No!"
"Mr. Avalon!" Rauru whirled around at him. "Let me see that memo at once!"
Link handed it to the bailiff, who in turn gave it to Rauru.
"O-objection!" Ganondorf interjected. "What does this have to do with anything!?"
"You've lost your perceptive ability in these six years, I see," Link smirked. The Gerudo just glared him down. "Must I spell it out, Prosecutor Dragmire? Your witness was watching Ms. Tarin and Mr. Ambi, yes… But she couldn't even see what was going on! She's just telling us what she obviously heard from someone else!"
And I think we both know who it was that gave her the information she needed to testify properly…
"No!" Ruto slammed her fist against the lectern. "I saw them! I saw that woman poison her!"
"Ms. Rutela…" Rauru spoke softly. "This note is quite definitive. And the prosecution seems to have little to say in your defense."
Ganondorf flinched slightly at that, but he quickly covered it up.
"This whole time, you have asserted that you watched the defendant and the victim very close, and that you saw everything." Rauru rubbed his chin slowly. "But now… It is rather clear that you saw very little. And you claim to still have no motive for watching them?"
"It is not!" She demanded, her voice growing frantic, unstable. "I know what I saw! S-she… That Marin Tarin! She poisoned his coffee! She's just like her! She's a killer! She killed him and she deserves the death penalty for it!"
The courtroom was silent. Ruto was breathing heavily, glaring Link and Marin down. Link could swear that if looks would kill, Ruto would be charged with murder in no time.
…Just like 'her'? Link raised an eyebrow. Who's 'her'?
"Mr. Avalon…" Ruto growled. "Are you trying to pin this murder on me!? Is that what you're trying to do!? To save her, right!? Her… Marin Tarin! Don't believe her! She's a murderer!"
"Bailiff," Rauru turned to the men in uniform. "Please escort Ms. Rutela out of the courtroom."
"No! Let go of me! Marin Tarin! She's the killer! A dirty, coldhearted killer! And she ruined my sister's life! She tainted the Rutela family's perfect name! Convict her! Convict her!"
September 4, 2008; 1:03 PM
Hyrule Castle Town, Light Prefecture
Court of the Heavenly Goddesses—Courtroom 5
"…Where is Ms. Rutela now?" Rauru asked.
"She's in police custody," Ganondorf spoke slowly. "For her outrageous behavior earlier before this court. She is in police questioning also as a possible suspect in the murder of Raven Ambi, based on her behavior."
"Does this mean that I'm off the hook?" Marin asked Link hopefully.
"Unfortunately, no," Link shook his head, replying in a low whisper. "There's still hard evidence that you're the killer. Ms. Rutela's just being questioned on why she suddenly… lost it earlier."
Marin's lips curled into a disappointed frown. "…I see… I wonder what she meant when she said I ruined her sister's life. I've never even met a Zora up until today."
I want to know too, Link thought to himself.
"Well…" Rauru said. "Our only witness for today is in custody, and it is still too early to pass judgment on Ms. Tarin under such circumstances, I believe… Defense, prosecution, I request that you two further look into this case and prepare yourselves for tomorrow when court resumes."
"Very well," Link nodded.
"Understood," Ganondorf replied.
"Excellent," Rauru picked up his gavel and slammed it down. "This trial will continue tomorrow at 10:00 AM sharp. Court is adjourned."
15,230 rupees is equivalent to 150 dollars. The Doctor Lakeside thing is a reference to the creepy lakeside scientist at Lake Hylia. You know, in the Biggoron Sword quest, he's involved with the part about the eye prescription for King Zora.
Sad news, people: after Circles is completed, I'll be taking a break from fanfiction. The motivation just isn't there for me to really write anymore. So don't be surprised if you don't see anymore oneshots while I'm writing Circles unless on special occasions, because I'll be using the last of my creativity of this sucker. It's sad, I know. But Circles, I promise you, will be completed. Maybe I'll continue to write after this. Maybe if you mention me in the author's notes of your own stories or make petitions asking me to come back. Haha, even I think that's outrageous. But hey, you never know; it just might work. :)
Learn more about me going through "the change" here: sirjoshizzle(dot)blogspot(dot)com(slash)2008(slash)04(slash)change(dot)html
Enjoy Life and Smile.
