Thanks again for reading. Making this a three chapter day to make up for the horrible chapter at the beginning of the day. Don't forget to review.

Phoenix was sitting in the hospital waiting room. Since Pearl came back, they had to go to the hospital to do a checkup on her to make sure she was okay. Phoenix didn't mind, though he was a bit hungry. Besides, Phoenix would make sure Pearl wouldn't be kidnapped while he was around. As the hours dragged on, Phoenix was beginning to wonder how long a simple checkup could take. Finally, Pearl and Maya came out from the back. "Mr. Nick, I'm perfectly healthy."

"That's good Pearls. Good to have you back."

Pearl smiled at him. She is just like her cousin. She has been through so much, yet she doesn't appear to have been through anything. "Well Pearls, let's get you to the office."

As they made it to the taxi, Maya was thinking about the events of the day. She couldn't believe the mistake she made (as I did for even putting that in the story.) I have to talk to Apollo about this.

When they made it back to the office, Trucy was asleep and Apollo was working on paperwork for the trial tomorrow. Maya walked up to Apollo and said, "Apollo, we need to talk."

Looking up, Apollo shook his head. "Yes we do…we made a mistake."

"Yes we did. We shouldn't have done that. We're just friends."

"Yes, exactly, just friends."

As Maya walked off, Apollo wearily rubbed his head. I should be getting to bed. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day.

Phoenix awoke to Apollo shaking him up. "Mr. Wright! Get up! We have to be at the courthouse in an hour."

Phoenix sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot." Phoenix had only gotten to sleep a couple hours ago. Yesterday was an interesting day to say the least and it took a toll on him. Getting up, Phoenix showered and shaved. After about twenty minutes, Phoenix met Apollo at the front door. "Hold on for just a second Apollo. Have to write a note to Maya, Trucy, and Pearls." Phoenix sat down and wrote a short note. Setting it on the table, Phoenix and Apollo set out for the courthouse.

Apollo was sitting in the defendant lobby. His client had just gotten there and was pacing nervously. "Mr. Dugan, I promise you that I'll get you an acquittal."

"It's not that I'm worried about…"

"Then what are you worried about?"

"You'll find out during the trial."

Apollo looked at Phoenix who only shrugged. This case keeps getting weirder and weirder…

The judge banged on his gavel, bringing silence to the courtroom. "Court is now in session for the trial of Douglas Dugan."

Prosecutor Gavin looked at the judge. "The prosecution is ready to roll!"

"The defense is ready, your honor."

"Very well. Mr. Gavin, you opening statement please?"

"It's fairly simple. While the fraulen was in her apartment, Mr. Dugan strangled her. Why? Because she had recently lost a case in which he specifically was named. Infuriated, Mr. Dugan killed her."

"Well…that seems to be a fairly clear case…"

"Indeed, your honor. Not even Herr Forehead can get an acquittal."

"What makes you say that?"

"Investigation, Herr Forehead. I believe Detective Ema Skye would like to fill us in on all the details."

The judge nodded his head. "Very well, you may call your first witness."

"The prosecution calls Ms. Ema Skye to the stand."

Ema Skye went up to the witness stand, her precious Snackoos in hand. "Well, Fraulen, you know what to testify about."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it fop."

"The victim was in her apartment when she was strangled. The item we believe responsible for the strangling is this piece of rope. We searched the crime scene and could not find anything else worth reporting."

"Hmmm…so, if there was nothing else worth reporting, that would mean only the defendant could have committed the murder. Mr. Justice, you may begin your cross-examination…just keep your objections lower this time."

"The victim was in her apartment when she was strangled—"

"Hold it! Do you have proof this was the murder scene?"

"*Crunch Crunch* Yes, there were signs of struggle and the defendant's blood was found all over the place."

"I spoke with Mr. Dugan and I didn't see a scratch on him."

"His sleeve covered the wound on his arm. Apparently, she had fought back, causing a deep gash across his arm."

"…very well, please continue."

"The item we believe responsible for the strangling is this piece of rope—"

"Hold it! What makes you believe that the rope was the murder weapon?"

"The rope marks on the victim's neck match perfectly with the rope. Therefore, the rope was the murder weapon."

"Well…"

"Herr Forehead, I won't allow you to continue this line of questioning unless you have something that makes it relavent."

"Well, Mr. Jusitce? Do you have any evidence that makes this piece of testimony important?"

"…no your honor."

The judge shook his head. "Very well, please continue."

"We searched the crime scene and could not find anything else worth reporting—"

"Hold it! About how long did you search?"

"Hmmm…about three hours. *crunch*"

"And you didn't find anything?"

"Not really."

"…Mr. Wright, did you see anything wrong with this testimony?"

"There is one issue I would object to. She claims there was nothing else worth reporting, yet we have something that contradicts that.

"We do?"

Phoenix shook his head. After looking confused for a few seconds, Apollo finally caught on. "OBJECTION!"

"AHHH!" The judge scurried beneath his chair. "Mr. Justice, I thought I asked you to keep your objections lower."

"Ah…sorry, your honor."

"Well…Herr Forehead…you shouted objection. What exactly do you have that can contradict this testimony?"

Apollo took out a few boysenberries. "These contradict Ms. Ema Skye's testimony."

"Boysenberries?"

"Yes. Ms. Skye testified that there was nothing else worth reporting. Yet, we found these boysenberries at the scene of the crime!"

"What exactly does that prove, Herr Forehead?"

"It proves that Mr. Dugan could not have been the killer!"

"How so?"

"If you read the autopsy report, it clearly states that Ms. Miller was deathly allergic to any type of berry…along with her fiancée! Obviously, she didn't have any berries in her house, and I doubt that Mr. Dugan would have any berries with him either! After all, if something went wrong, he would also be in danger of dying!"

The crowd erupted into chatter. The judge slammed on his gavel to quiet them down. "Order! Order! Ms. Skye, how could you have missed that?"

"*crunch crunch* It was the fop's fault."

"Fop?"

"Yes, the prosecutor over there. He stated that the boysenberries had nothing to do with the case, so I dismissed them."

"Hmmm….you didn't try to conceal evidence, right Mr. Gavin?"

Klavier Gavin started playing air guitar for a little bit until finally answering. "No, Herr Judge, I did not. I completely forgot about his allergies."

"Hmmm…very well…do you have another witness to present since this one is clearly…too hungry to testify?"

"Yes, we do. Her name is Lorella Miller, the victims's daughter."

"Hmm…Mr. Gavin, the court will allow you a five minute recess to prepare your witness."

"Very well."

"This court is now in recess."

With that, the judge slammed his gavel.

That's right, three chapters in one day. I was on a roll. Also, made up for my chapter 19 mistake. Don't forget to review.