The crowd meanwhile was in a frenzy while the judge was banging his gavel.
"Order. Order. Mr. Justice is this true?" the judge yelled.
"Yes, your honor. On the day the body was discovered, the body showed signs of deterioration from long exposures to heat. The night beforehand was below 0 and thus the cold running in from outside forced the furnace to run all night long. The body's deterioration proves that door could be accessed that night." I yelled hoping to finally beat Miss Von Karma.
"Ah, but can you verify that someone was there?" I instantly lost confidence as Franziska continued wagging her finger and leaning over the bench in a very appealing manner. "I admit that there is a possibility of a third party entering but can you prove it? Who was it?" she yelled and then I could feel my hair dropping in embarrassment.
"I don't know for certain who it was." I sighed in defeat.
"Hmph, besides I have a witness who will crush your belief in the defendant. Do I even believe in her?
"C'mon Polly if you don't pull yourself together then Miss Yung will go to prison for murder," Trucy yelled trying to encourage me.
"Bud, did she kill Miss Summers? I don't have enough evidence to believe her world alone." I stated in a sighing whisper.
"The job of a defense attorney is to believe in their client right to the end! You just have to believe Apollo." Trucy started looking fierce.
"I…..do not know if I can do that anymore." I sighed once more.
"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked confused.
"Ahem." the judge interrupted (thank goodness I almost lost it there for a minute.). "If the defense is done whispering, I would like to continue this trial. Now Miss Von Karma tell us about this witness."
"As you wish, this witness was in the hotel all night and can confirm the timing of the murder night. I call professor Eleanor Sunday to the stand," she called out.
"Bailiff please bring the witness to the stand." the judge banged the gavel.
A few seconds later Miss Sunday walked up to the stand.
"Witness. State your name and occupation." Franziska muttered robotically. Haha, watch as I finish you off for good you cute fool. This will be the next nail in your case's coffin.
"Eleanor James Sunday, I am the British Writers and Shakespeare professor at the University of New Orleans in Louisiana," she spoke with perfect southern flair. I noticed she was carrying a bag at her side probably keeping her books and laptop safe from students.
"Oh, an English professor eh? I don't recall any professors testifying in my cases for quite a while least of all one who is completely fine with testifying." the judge said noticing like me Miss Sunday didn't seem to be slightly nervous in court.
"Y'all do know I'm from the south, correct? I've served as a jurist for at least 22 cases to date. At this point I'm used to it." she replied smoothly.
"22?" I asked in surprise.
"Generally in Louisiana, we prefer to have a professional stand as a juror. Most of the time it is one of the professors in the colleges and since we use a completely computer generated random simulation to determine jurors it is natural that a name would occur too often when there are so many professors in one town," she replied.
"Enough of this chit-chat, this is not the mall. Please tell the court about the events that night."
Witness Testimony: That evening
Dr. Summers and I arrived at the hotel around 6 pm because I had a meeting with a student at 7 pm.
At 8 pm, Dr. Summers texted me about playing chess and went to her room and played till 10 pm.
I was grading papers that my students already turned in listening to some classical music and heard nothing.
Aurora….died at around 11 pm according to her wristwatch and I went to bed an hour later.
The next day I awoke at 6 like me and Aurora always did but she never did so I checked her room and when she didn't answer I got Miss Yung to open the locked door. That's when we found her.
"Hmm, a sad testimony indeed. I take it you knew the victim well?" the judge asked sympathetically.
"Yes, our offices were next to each other and we both worked together for 4 or so years. She was the African-American literature and Multicultural teacher. That's why she came on this trip since she was the main professor advocating for the exchange." Eleanor replied. To think she came here to find peace among people and wound up dead instead. Unfortunately, I didn't see any contradictions in her testimony.
"Sounds like she bit off more than she could," Franziska muttered thoughtfully.
"Aurora always was busy. She had to work extra hard to keep up with both the school changes and our department head's instructions. She didn't have much of a life outside of school."
"How tragic. Mr. Justice, you may proceed with your cross-examination."
"C'mon Polly, there must be something wrong in that testimony," Trucy stated excitedly. There is?
Cross-examination: That evening
"Dr. Summers and I arrived at the hotel around 6 pm because I had a meeting with a student at 7 pm. At 8 pm, Dr. Summers texted me about playing chess and went to her room and played till 10 pm."
"Hold it! How are you so sure about the times?" I asked praying for more information.
"My laptop and wrist-watch are set to my university's time so I could always keep track of it," Eleanor stated.
"What type of wristwatch do you have?"
"Oh, just a normal one of the one's my uncle bought me when I was young. They've yet to break so I've never bought a new one," she replied.
"Humph, does this have anything to do with the murder, if not let us get this examination over with," Franziska replied. What a fool.
"Er, sorry about that," I replied sheepishly. I wonder if that is important or not.
I was grading papers that my students already turned in listening to some classical music and heard nothing.
Aurora….died at around 11 pm according to her wristwatch and I went to bed an hour later.
"Hold it!" Do you always listen to music?" I asked.
"Yes, it soothes my nerves. I told you before I sleep very lightly and even the tiniest noise can spook me." Eleanor replied.
"This is pointless," Franziska stated irritatedly making a whipping motion despite not having her whip. Maybe this Miles realized that letting her keep her whip is bad for everyone involved. Oh well, she looks so cute when she's fierce. Oops, focus Apollo. There must be something wrong with this testimony.
The next day I awoke at 6 like me and Aurora always did but she never did so I checked her room and when she didn't answer I got Miss Yung to open the locked door. That's when we found her.
"Hold it! Do you always wake up at 6 am?" I asked.
"Yes sir, I used an alarm clock on my phone and woke up at that time. I usually don't use it for that."
"You mean as an alarm?" I asked.
"Yeah, I never pay attention to the time on my phone but I had to use it for an alarm. After I woke up, I got dressed and did my usual galliards for the 30mins till I realized Aurora never should up."
"Galliards?" I asked confused.
"Yeah, I'm a pretty good dancer and I constantly use it to keep myself active," Eleanor replied.
"Well, this is disappointing Mr. Apollo Justice. You've wasted this court's time and still have not found any contradictions." Franziska stated. "I think any more of this stalling will be useless."
"I agree. Perhaps it is time for the verdict unless the defense has any objections." the judge replied whacking his hand gently with his gavel.
"Uh oh, Polly hurry up and do something! I know you're a prosecutor but you need to believe in Miss Yung. Something has to be wrong with that testimony." Trucy started looking nervous.
"How am I supposed to do that? Besides Miss Sunday's the only witness who testified so far…. Wait, the testimonies I have." I started scanning them hurriedly. The times don't match up. Yung claims they arrived at four and Winter's claims states she wasn't at the hotel. But why? I don't get how the times could be mixed up. I mean I always know the correct time when I look at my watch and so does Miss Sunday whose matches the university's time….. Wait, that's it!"
"It seems the defense is out of objections. Very well-"
"Hold it! Miss Sunday, I have a critical question to ask you." I stated smirking slightly.
"Objection. What foolish nonsense is this? The cross-examination is over." Franziska stated looking angry.
"Oh, this isn't about her testimony. I sorta forgot my watch and wanted to know the time." I replied
"Well if it's only that Mr. Justice. My watch reads a quarter to 1." Eleanor replied and smiled broadly.
"Thank you, Miss Sunday. You just proved a very important detail." I responded.
"What is that?" Franziska countered looking curious.
"That Miss Sunday's testimony has a critical flaw," I stated before slamming the bench. "She told us all the times according to New Orleans time!" I screamed making Eleanor look startled.
"Wait did I- Oh shit. I forgot to set my watch correctly!" she screamed causing the judge and Franziska at me weirdly.
"What are you talking about, Mr. Justice? Didn't she say the correct times?" the judge answered in confusion.
"It seems I have to explain. Yes, she did but it seems the court has forgotten an important detail. New Orleans is in another state two time zones away from California!" I yelled in excitement.
"What?!" Franziska screamed as the whole court went ablaze with noise.
"That's right. I forgot to reset my watch so then I actually arrived at the hotel at 4pm and Dr. Summers came in at-"
"Objection! What does this have to do with the crime? We know for a fact the victim died at 11pm." Franziska yelled.
"Ugh." I stated staring blankly realizing my mistake.
"Objection!" rang out a voice surprising the judge and the court who were still trying to calm down.
"Miss Sunday?" I stated in surprise.
"Dr. Summers old watch broke down and she used one of my spares. If I forgot to set my watch, then so did she which means the time of death was 9pm." this caused the entire courtroom to go into a frenzy. The judge banging his gavel like crazy to silence them.
"Order. Order. Oh my this changes a lot." he muttered in surprise.
"Yes, it does. Now we now it's possible that any of the students could have entered the hotel and murdered her." I replied. I think I'm safe. I don't believe it did I just survive a day.
My hopes were crushed when Franziska laughed before speaking.
"So what if the watches were incorrect, it changes nothing and I will prove it." Franziska stated smiling.
"Miss Von Karma, are you saying that you were prepared for this?" the judge stated in surprise while whispers began muttering in the galleries.
It was too good to be true.
"I ask for a 5min recess to prepare our next witness. This witness was at the school all day yesterday and will prove that only the defendant had a motive and no alibi." Franziska stated smirking. Hah, perfection never leaves things to chance. My preparations will guarantee a victory.
"It is almost lunchtime. Very well. We will have an hour and 5min session. 5mins to prep the witness and an hour for lunch. Be back promptly at noon or else forfeit your rights." the judge banged his gavel signalling the end of this session.