9:20 AM 03/06/28

Defendant Lobby #2

Apollo POV

"I'M APOLLO JUSTICE AND I'M FINE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Athena was watching something on her Widget Screen, and called out,

"Do you have to do that every time?" I rolled my eyes and replied,

"Why don't you try it, Athena? Say it with me! I'M APOLLO JUSTICE AND I'M FINE!"

"I'M ATHENA CYKES, AND I'M FINE!"

"YOU GUYS ARE MY LAWYERS, AND YOU'RE LOUD!" Sava yelled in her squeaky voice as she walked in. Athena and I laughed as she smiled.

"Ready for the trial today?" I asked her.

"Yep." She shifted her weight to the other foot uncomfortably.

"What's wrong Sava?" Athena asked.

"I decided to plead guilty." Sava confessed.

"What? But you didn't do it!" I retorted.

"Thank you for helping me and beliving in me. But in the end, I'm the only one who could have done it. I'm sorry." Sava bit her nails.

"Sava.." Athena was at a loss for words.

(What do we do now? My client is confessing to the crime, yet it's obvious she's lying!)

"Court will start in 5 minutes. Will the defense and defendant please head for the courtroom?" The bailif announced.

"Court is now in session for the trial of Savannah Lif." The judge announced. "Is the prosecution and defense ready?"

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor." Yumihiko answered.

"The defense is also ready." Apollo added.

"Very well. Prosecutor Ichiyanagi, please state your opening sentence."

"Yes, your Honor. The crime occured at the local ice rink, in the middle of a competition. The victim had finished their program, and got their medal." Yumihiko stated.

"Shortly after, the victim went into one of the ice rinks that was closed. The victim was stabbed with this figure skating blade off of the ice, and the body was then moved onto the ice. Here is the autospy report for the court." He held out the folder.

"The court accepts this into the Court Record." The judge nodded. " I do have a question, though."

"Yes, your Honor?" Yumihiko asked, pushing up his sunglasses.

"If the rink was closed, how could they hold a competition there?" Ths judge asked in surprise.

(Well, I guess that could be confusing..) Apollo thought, sweating.

"You see, not the entire building was closed. Just one of the rinks. I'll show you what I mean on this diagram of the building." Yumihiko pulled out a map. "As you can see, within the building, there are two ice rinks. The first rink, rink #1, was the rink they were competiting in. Rink #2 was closed to rebuild the ice. However, people could still go through it because that is the easiest way to get to the cafè."

"The court accepts this map into the Court Record." The judge announced.

*Diagram added to the Court Record*

"Anyways, the prosecution would like to call its first witness." Yumihiko pulled out his baton and started playing with it.

A minute later, Detective Gumshoe was at the stand.

"Please state your name and occupation for the court." Yumihiko asked.

"My name is Dick Gumshoe, and I am the head detective on this case, pal." He replied.

"Detective, please testify as to the evidence found at the crime scene." Yumihiko told the detective, while tapping his baton on his hand.

WITNESS TESTIMONY

~Evidence at the Crime Scene~

Well, first off, pal, there is the murder weapon, which is a figure skating blade.

Next, we found bloodstains off of the ice.

We also found the defendant's fingerprints on the victim's dress.

You can probably see why we think the defendant did it, right pal?

"Wait, WHAT?" Apollo jumped back in surprise. "Her fingerprints were on Ilene's dress?"

"Yeah, pal. Sorry about that." Gumshoe frowned.

"Anyways, the defense may cross-examine the witness." The judge announced.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

~Evidence at the Crime Scene~

Well, first off, pal, there is the murder weapon, which is a figure skating blade.

Next, we found bloodstains off of the ice.

We also found the defendant's fingerprints on the victim's dress.

"OBJECTION! Detective Gumshoe, there's something wrong with your testimony." Apollo put his finger on his forehead in thought.

"Really? What?" Gumshoe asked.

"The defendant's fingerprints were on the victim's dress, right? Answer me this: How did they get there?" Apollo smirked, crossing his arms.

"Ah! I see where you're going with this!" Athena said.

"Well, obviously, the defendant dragged the victim onto the ice." Gumshoe chuckled.

"Really now? Well, I say that's not likely." Apollo smiled.

"Huh?" Gumshoe asked.

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant that's impossible."

"OBJECTION! Are you talking about the defendant versus the victim's physical properties?" Yumihiko asked.

"Exactly. If we look at the information about the victim, and compare it to the defendant, you'll see what I mean."

"!" Gumshoe looked surprised as he looked at the data.

"You see, the victim was 5'5, and weighed about 135 pounds. However, the defendant is only about 2'6, and weighs 25 pounds."

"Sava certainly is a petite little girl." Athena muttered to herself.

"Tell me this, detective. How do you drag someone onto the ice that is three feet taller than you and over five times your weight?" Apollo pointed at Gumshoe.

"Ah!" Gumshoe was shocked.

The court burst into chatter.

"Order! Order in the court!" The judge banged his gavel. "Detective! What does this mean?"

"I'll tell you, your Honor." Apollo interjected. "It means that it was impossible for my client to kill her!"

"OBJECTION!" Yumihiko smirked. After a moment, he said,

"Actually, there is a way." He pushed up his sunglasses as he said this. "Your Honor, do you know how the skaters first practice their jumps?"

"Prosecutor Yumihiko, I don't see the relevance of this. However, no, I do not know." The judge answered.

"They use a jump harness." Yumihiko explained, presenting a picture of said jump harness. "If you look at it, it has a special mechanism, with multiple pulleys."

"!" Apollo started sweating.

(He's not going where I think he's going with this, is he..?)

"Mr. Justice. You know what pulleys do, correct?" Yumihiko looked expectantly at the defense attorney, tapping his baton on his hand.

"Yeah, they make it easier to lift things-" Apollo stopped midsentence as he realized what exactly that meant.

"Correct. With this amount of pulleys, anyone could lift anything." Yumihiko pointed with his baton. "Even if that 'thing' was five times your weight!"

COURT RECORD

EVIDENCE

Competition Schedule - The schedule that says who is going next in a competition

Blade - The murder weapon. The same type of blade Sava showed me and Trucy in the pro shop. Has Sava's fingerprints on it.

Blood stains- Found at the crime scene. The killer obviously didn't know to clean up the stains.

Card- A card with the address to the orphanage where Sava lives.

Autospy Report- The victim died due to a stab wound in the stomach. An accurate time of death was unable to be decided due to the cold.

Crime Scene Photo- A picture of the crime scene.

Sava's Testimony- "The other kids push me around, call me names, and curse at me..."

Diagram- A map of the L.A rink.

PROFILES

Trucy Wright (16)- The daughter of my boss. Loves magic.

Athena Cykes (18)- My co-worker. She can hear people's emotions.

Ilene Dover (15)- One of the skaters. Freestyle 9 level. The victim in this case, and rivals with Savannah.

Savannah Lif (6)- Another one of the skaters. A prodigy. Freestyle 10 level. The suspect in this case, and rivals with Ilene. An orphan.

Hollie Dai (12)- Seems to hate Savannah. Very cold to others.

Dick Gumshoe (40)- The detective in charge of this case.

Yumihiko Ichiyanagi (25)- The prosecutor in charge of this case. A lot nicer than most prosecutors.

Dina Maite (11)- A witness. An orphan, and one of the kids that bullies Sava.