May 30
Courtroom No. 6
11:30 AM
Cotoli Morix
A girl walked up towards the witness stand, and I found myself frowning slightly as she moved through the courtroom. This had to be the 'Celosia Quell' character that Ghastly had mentioned, though she was far from what I could have ever expected her to look like. I don't know what my brain was anticipating when it heard that name, but this most certainly was not it.
Her hair was a mint green color. A segment of it was taken out of her messy bun to cover her right eye. The left side of her head was cut incredibly short, and I realized belatedly that it had been shaved off. She had a pair of purple sticks in her hair, likely hair sticks of some sort. Her eyes were a pale blue color. She wore a blue tank top with green shorts. She had tall pale purple socks and messy black tennis shoes.
"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Frost declared. He seemed to be shocked to see the witness look this peculiar. She was the type of person I would have expected to see at a house party when I was in high school, but then again, I couldn't judge people by their appearances. You never knew how somebody was based around the way they looked.
"Celosia Quell. I'm a high school student," Celosia replied bluntly. "I attend a private school near here. Is that good enough?"
When she first stated she was a high school student, I was a bit surprised. She certainly looked to be that old, but I hadn't ever seen her at Chrysalis' school when I picked her up after classes. Chrysalis hadn't ever mentioned her either, and you would expect to hear about someone with half their head shaven with mint green tresses. At the very least, I would have thought Anton would bring it up. The explanation of going to a private school made a lot more sense as to why I hadn't heard about her before then.
"That's perfect, witness," Ghastly told her with a firm nod. "How about you start by explaining what you saw at the time of the victim's disappearance? You were there with her in the agency the day she went missing, if I recall correctly. This is valuable testimony we cannot take for granted."
I found myself gasping in surprise. I turned my attention toward Victoria. She was frowning deeply, and I knew she was surprised to hear that the witness had been there when the victim went missing. I wished we had been given the chance to speak with Ms. Quell before our investigation ended the day before, as this was going to be one of the most important bits of testimony we heard regarding the case. We might not have known when the victim died, but hearing about the time of her disappearance was the next best thing in this difficult situation.
"Alright," Celosia said, crossing her arms and nodding slowly. I got the feeling she wasn't trying to seem rude, but instead, she was merely a blunt person. After all, while her phrases were choppy and short, she didn't seem to have malicious intent. That was something good to keep in mind as far as I was concerned.
"I don't think we should bother going over it outside of testimony format," Ghastly announced, turning his attention towards Judge Frost. "I do hope it's alright if we just have her go on and get into it. I don't want to waste too much time."
Judge Frost nodded in response. "That's fine with me. Witness, please go over what you saw the day the victim went missing in as much detail as possible."
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ The Day Dee Fence Disappeared ~
-"It was one afternoon I had gotten out of school early in the middle of February that she disappeared."
-"Somebody had stolen the key to my apartment that day, so I called my mother to see what she wanted me to do."
-"She gave me the address of her friend's law office since she wouldn't be able to get home for a few more hours."
-"I headed inside, and I ran into the victim briefly. Soon after, she told me she had something else to go take care of."
-"She said that if I needed anything, I could ask anyone at the agency for help. With that, she was gone."
-"I didn't see where she was going, but I do know it was off in the general direction of the entrance to the cellar."
-"I was sitting in the lobby for about four hours, and I didn't leave it once. The victim didn't pass back through the lobby, but there was a man that did..."
"I see... You were there for quite a while, but you never saw the victim again," Victoria murmured. "Did you wonder where she had disappeared to at the time?"
"No. I thought there was possibly an exit down in the direction she had gone, so perhaps she had left through a spare door. That's where I assumed the man came from as well. However, I have learned since then that there is no door down in that area. It's all the path down to the cellar," Ms. Quell replied. "It wasn't until a few days later that I heard she had gone missing. I wasn't positive she had gone missing on that day up until yesterday, which was when the prosecution told me she disappeared the day I had been in there."
"What brought you to the victim's office yesterday in the first place?" I asked, unable to hold back my curiosity any longer.
"I heard from my mother that something had happened there. I brought up what I had seen the day the victim went missing, and she told me to go tell somebody down at the scene of the crime. I ran into the prosecution once there," Celosia explained.
"I see... Perhaps it's time for the defense to start their cross-examination," Judge Frost proposed, turning his attention towards me and Victoria.
I looked briefly to Victoria, and we exchanged glances for a moment. I got the feeling she was ready, so I looked back up to Judge Frost and nodded. "We'll get right to it, Your Honor." With that said, I gestured for Ms. Quell to repeat her testimony again, and she started to speak once more a few seconds later.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ The Day Dee Fence Disappeared ~
-"It was one afternoon I had gotten out of school early in the middle of February that she disappeared."
-"Somebody had stolen the key to my apartment that day, so I called my mother to see what she wanted me to do."
-"She gave me the address of her friend's law office since she wouldn't be able to get home for a few more hours."
-"I headed inside, and I ran into the victim briefly. Soon after, she told me she had something else to go take care of."
-"She said that if I needed anything, I could ask anyone at the agency for help. With that, she was gone."
-"I didn't see where she was going, but I do know it was off in the general direction of the entrance to the cellar."
-"I was sitting in the lobby for about four hours, and I didn't leave it once. The victim didn't pass back through the lobby, but there was a man that did..."
"Hold it!"
"This man that passed through the lobby... Do you remember what he looked like?" I asked, frowning to myself as I spoke. This man could have easily been the real killer. How else would him coming out of the cellar when the victim didn't be explained? I couldn't think of any other explanations off the top of my head, but I already had a feeling I didn't need to come up with a reason why it had happened. After all, if this strange man was the killer, everybody in the courtroom would know the killer loud and clear.
"I do, as a matter of fact. I thought he was kind of weird, so I took some notes on my phone about him," Ms. Quell replied. "He had dark hair and was rather tall, though I wouldn't say he was taller than you. I feel like I would be able to recognize him if I saw a picture again, but I don't know where anyone would find a picture of him. I mean, there are a lot of men with dark hair who are tall. For crying out loud, look at the prosecutor over there. He fits the description, but he's definitely not the person I saw that day. I would have figured it out before now if he was the man I ran into that day, but I know for sure I've never met him before."
"What if she saw Marcus Moore?" Victoria asked, nudging me with her elbow. "If we had a picture of him, maybe we could ask if he was there. If he was at the scene of the crime the day the victim went missing, we could accuse him of being the culprit. Even if we don't have him around to testify, I think pointing this out would help us out a lot."
"I agree. If we had a picture of him, we would change the case's future path immediately, but I don't have any pictures of him... We could request that one be grabbed, though I don't know how helpful it would be. After all, the only pictures of him that exist are over twelve years old, as I doubt anyone would think to take a picture of him in the brief time he appeared again at the victim's law office," I told her. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask Ghastly about it though..."
"The defense has a question for the prosecution," Victoria spoke up. She seemed to realize that she had spoken up without being asked a few seconds later, and her cheeks went pink with embarrassment. She shook it off to the best of her ability before speaking once again.
"What is it?" Ghastly questioned. He didn't seem to notice Victoria's nervousness, and if he had caught on, he wasn't showing it. I thanked him for that, as if he reacted negatively, it would only make her feel worse about asking.
"Do you happen to have a picture of one Marcus Moore?" Victoria asked, twiddling with her fingers. "The defense believes that the witness may have seen Marcus Moore the day of the crime. If the witness truly could identify the man she saw with a picture, we could use one to show if this was the person or not."
Ghastly nodded. "We did get one, yes. I suppose I forgot to give it to you sooner... My apologies," he said. He shifted through the papers in front of him before finding one, which he gave to Prosecutor Wood. He gave a second page to Anton.
Anton dashed across the courtroom, dropping the paper on the bench before me and Victoria. He looked at me nervously, and I took his hand to briefly squeeze it with hopes it would calm him down. It seemed to work, and some of the tension in his shoulders melted away. He returned to the prosecutor's bench a few seconds later, and I focused back on the case at hand.
Prosecutor Wood held up a picture of a man. He had dark hair, though his height could not be seen. I had taken a guess in saying Marcus Moore had dark hair, but it had paid off in my favor. There wasn't much else that I found familiar about the picture at a first glance, but the longer I stared at it, the more I felt like I knew that man.
"Have you seen this person before?" Prosecutor Wood asked. Her voice trembled slightly, but she still held up the picture for Ms. Quell to look at.
Ms. Quell nodded quickly. "Yes, that's the man I saw the day of the crime... I would recognize him anywhere. Well, he didn't look exactly like that, but that's very similar to how he did look. He seemed much older when I ran into him. How old is that picture?" she questioned.
"Twelve years old or so," Prosecutor Wood answered, finally setting down the picture to focus on Ms. Quell fully. I could see her hands shaking after her brief moment of being the center of attention, and I wished I had the chance to comfort her, to say she had done the right thing.
"In that case, I think that is the man," Ms. Quell went on. "I imagine he would look like the person I saw at the law agency the day the victim went missing after twelve years. Even if he looked much older when I saw him, the facial structure is undoubtedly the same."
"I have to wonder... What does this mean? We have identified the man the witness ran into the day of the victim's disappearance, but I don't know what to do with this information," Judge Frost frowned. "After all, we don't know where Marcus Moore is. He went missing, and he hasn't been seen since the day the victim vanished from the public eye. What do we do with this information?"
"I think we should try and think about what could have happened the day the victim disappeared. The witness now knows that there was no door down in that area, so Marcus Moore must have been there at the scene of the crime before the victim arrived. He was waiting for her to come visit with him, and after she arrived, they spoke about something. However, the victim never resurfaced," I pointed out. "If you ask me, it seems like this is about the time the victim was killed. If she didn't come back despite being down there for over four hours, then she was likely killed and lost the ability to return to the lobby. That would also explain why Marcus Moore came back but she never did."
"If the victim did die that day, then we finally have a place to start in our investigation of what could have happened. The testimony of the current witness was vital to finding such out when forensics evidence was unable to bring us to the conclusion we needed," Judge Frost said. "I'm not sure of where to go from here, but I trust that the defense and prosecution will have some ideas on what to discuss next. If not, then I have another idea of something we could do in the meantime, and I somehow get the feeling it will gain a lot of support with the way the trial has been going up to this point."
"Don't hold out on us, Your Honor," Ghastly encouraged. "If you really think it would be for the best, go on and tell us what your idea is."
"I think we should break for a second day of investigation," Judge Frost declared. "I can't think of anywhere else to go from here today. We just now figured out the day the victim likely died. We have to start from the beginning in figuring out what happened next. I believe we should look around to find more evidence. Are there any objections to such a proposal?"
I spoke up quickly with a shake of my head. "The defense has no objections, Your Honor," I replied. I loved the idea of that more than I could explain. "We need some extra time to figure out more."
"I agree," Ghastly nodded. "If we had heard when the victim died before this point, chances are I would be a bit more opposed, but we didn't get a concrete answer until just now due to the way this trial has been structured up to this point. Perhaps going into court after the crime was discovered was not a great idea."
"I'm inclined to agree. I believe it's time for us to separate for the day. I don't know how much more we could figure out in a simple day, but it's worth trying to learn more. I would like everyone to consider the actions of Marcus Moore. He seems to be the most likely secondary suspect at this point," Judge Frost continued.
"The main problem here will be trying to find him given how elusive he has been up to this point," Ghastly frowned. "People have searched for many years to track down Marcus Moore, but it was always unsuccessful. The investigators trying to find him didn't even realize he was back before he vanished again the day of the crime. He was in the public eye for only two or three days when he met up with the victim before her death."
"Hm... I wonder where he could have been hiding away all this time," Judge Frost murmured. "I know that's what we're trying to find out, but I still can't help but wonder how he pulled such a thing off. Alone, it would have been nearly impossible. He must have had someone there to assist him... I trust that the defense and prosecution will thoroughly research such during this extra day of time I have provided."
"We'll do all we can to learn the truth about him," I assured Judge Frost firmly. I was more determined than ever to find out what the deal was with Marcus Moore, and I wasn't going to let the truth escape me for a second day of investigation. No matter what I had to do, I was going to find him.
"In that case, court is adjourned!" Judge Frost announced. He lifted his gavel and slammed it down, signaling the end of the first day of discussion. In other words, I could not have been more thankful.
May 30
Defendant Lobby No. 6
12:00 PM
Cotoli Morix
I gathered up my papers before heading out into the defendant lobby. I sat down on the couch, looking through all the evidence I had been given during the trial. My gaze lingered for a while on one particular piece of paper, and I stared at it silently.
It was the picture of Marcus Moore. No matter how much I looked at it, I couldn't get its familiarity out of my head. I didn't know where I had seen this man before, but he seemed incredibly familiar. I had definitely encountered him somewhere before, but where? If I could find an explanation for that, maybe we would be able to figure out where he had been hiding for so many years.
Victoria sat down next to me, peering at the picture from over my shoulder. "You think he looks familiar, don't you?" she asked.
I nodded. "I can't stop thinking about it. Where have I seen him before? It's like his name is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite figure it out... I hope we can figure this out today during the investigation. The suspense is already killing me, and I feel like this is one answer we won't be able to win the case without. It just makes you wonder... Where could he have come from? Where did he disappear to? There are too many questions surrounding his existence," I murmured.
"I feel the same... I think I recognize him as well, but I can't say where from. Maybe we could search through images online of celebrities to see if he's famous," Victoria offered.
I shook my head. "I don't think that will do us much good. After all, if he was a celebrity, someone would have noticed it by now. Their faces are all over the media, and even if this picture is twelve years old, somebody would have caught on... There's something about him that's keeping us from figuring out the truth, though I don't know what it could be," I sighed. "Every single time I look at this picture, I feel like my head is going to burst from frustration."
"I understand that one," Victoria laughed, though I could tell it was more of a nervous chuckle than anything else. "There's got to be an explanation... But what could it be...?"
Victoria and I were cut off when a quartet of other figures I approached us. I recognized them all quickly as Lily, Yuri, Deirdre, and Chrysalis. So, Chrysalis had come to watch the trial after all...
"Hey there, you two," Yuri said, practically bouncing over to where Victoria and I were sitting. Typical Yuri. "You look like you're having a pretty serious discussion over there..." She examined us slowly before letting out a small sigh and throwing her hands into the air. "Don't hold out on us now! What's on your mind?"
"We feel like we've seen this man before," I explained, holding up the picture of Marcus Moore again. "Do you get that feeling too?"
"I do, as a matter of fact," Lily told me, frowning slightly. "What about you three? If you've seen him before, perhaps that will help us to narrow down who it could be."
Deirdre, Yuri, and Chrysalis all nodded in response. They didn't say anything, instead looking between each other quietly, but the recognition factor was still present.
"If all of us know him, it must have been somebody we saw during a trial," Victoria pointed out. "And it would have had to be after I joined the agency. That certainly narrows down our options."
"I know you guys don't have the time to stop and look through people like that, so perhaps the rest of us could take care of it," Deirdre offered. "We still have records for every case taken on by our agency back at the office, and if we looked through papers for long enough, we would surely find something. When we figure out who this man is, we can call you back to the agency to explain our findings."
"That sounds great," I told her. "We have a lot of work to do, so you're right about us not being able to stop. If you can figure it out, tell us right away. Until then, we should probably head back to the crime scene. We have a time of death now, after all."
"I think that we're making progress already. I know that this really isn't too much, but the time of death is vital. Well, it's not really a time of death... More like a date of death. Even so, I don't think we'll ever be able to figure out the actual time given how long the body was frozen. It must have been in the cold for months, and that's going to interfere with the work the forensics team wants to do... Regardless, I feel like everybody gets the point when I say we've figured out the time of death," Victoria rambled. She seemed to realize how much she had been talking a few seconds later, and she looked away from us as a blush of pink rose furiously in her cheeks.
"I think this is a big deal. Who knew all we needed was one testimony to figure it out?" Lily asked, a cheerful smile on her face. "Is there anything else you want from us before we head back to the agency to look at all the profiles we have there? We don't want to keep you waiting around here for too long when you definitely have more important things to worry about, like getting down to the scene of the murder again. I bet you'll be able to talk to the detectives right off the bat since I'm sure the information about the date of death will have already gotten back to them by the time you arrive."
"We can thank technology for that one," I chuckled. "I can't think of anything we should discuss first... Ah! What did you guys think of the trial? Did anything in particular stick out to you as something we should do before the investigation comes to a close?"
"I think you should try and talk to Prosecutor Wood," Yuri suggested. "She seemed to know a lot about him, and even if she doesn't know anything else about Marcus Moore, it wouldn't hurt to ask. She could have been too nervous to speak up today, which I would understand given how anxious she tends to get in the courtroom."
"That does sound like a good idea," Victoria agreed. "What about the rest of you? Do you have any ideas for what we should do while we're down there?"
"Not particularly," Chrysalis admitted. "I hope you weren't counting on us to tell you what to do, because I have nothing in mind."
"It's alright," I assured her. "I get the feeling we'll figure out enough things to do while we're down there. You know how murder cases are. If no new information has popped up in a while, something big is about to happen, and we should be ready for that development."
"I guess we'll just have to call you when we figure out who the man is... You're lucky we're willing to do this job for you. I get the feeling it's going to be tedious as all hell," Lily joked, letting out a laugh.
"It's just looking in between other pictures we have and seeing if any look even slightly like this man... Hm..." Deirdre murmured. "I wonder if anything else will come up that catches our attention... Regardless, it's impossible to say if that will happen while we're just standing around here, so we should go and take care of it. Good luck at the crime scene. If you find anything of note you want us to look into, just send us a text or call. We might be a bit preoccupied, but it wouldn't hurt to ask."
"I understand," I nodded. "Good luck looking around. We really do appreciate your efforts."
The four girls waved to Victoria and me before heading for the door. I watched as they disappeared, first into the crowd and then out the exit. I stared at the door for a few moments longer, as if I expected them to return, but when they didn't, I focused my attention back on Victoria. "Alright. We should go on and head over there... It seems we won't be getting a moment of peace, but that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Are you ready to go?"
Victoria nodded. "I think so... Wait. Give me a moment. Can you hold up that picture again?" she asked.
I followed her directions and held up the paper for her to get a look at it. She pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly snapped a picture of it. Afterwards, she got to typing away on her phone. I felt a buzzing from my own pocket, prompting me to pull out my phone.
"You sent a picture of Marcus Moore to the group chat... Wise choice. I don't think the others would have been very happy if they got back to the agency and realized they had no secondary image to compare their investigation results to. Then, they would have been trying to contact us, and I doubt that would have gone particularly well given how busy we're about to be," I murmured. "To say the least, you made a good choice."
Victoria went pink at the praise, and she shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing... I'm just glad I was able to do something to help out," she told me. "Now, we should probably get going... The excitement of a lawyer's life never seems to cease, it seems."
I couldn't help the snort that left my lips at her comment. "Oh, you got that one right for sure. I don't think I've ever had a moment of tranquility while working on a case. However, that's not exactly the point. We want to help people out, no matter what it takes," I said.
Victoria continued to tap around on her phone before looking up at me. "I agree. Now, we should make a list of things to do when we get to the crime scene. Do you have any ideas on where we should start after we arrive?" Victoria questioned.
"We should talk to Detective Erikson. After that, we can go and see if there are any other updates from others standing at the scene of the crime. We should try and talk to Ghastly briefly, and Prosecutor Wood might have some important information for us as well. After that, we should head to the detention center to check on Polly. By then, we'll hopefully have an update from the others back at the agency, so we can finish off the day by seeing what they've found. However, if they figure something out sooner, we might have to go back a bit earlier than expected to ask them about it. After all, their investigation's results happen to be the only evidence we're guaranteed to get," I told her.
Victoria typed all of this into her phone's notes as I spoke. "Alright... Sounds like a plan... I suppose Prosecutor Burke was taken back to the detention center without stopping by to see us. We'll definitely have to go see her now," she said.
"I agree. Without further ado, let's get going. This case isn't going to solve itself, and we already have a lot on our plates if we want to solve it," I told her. I started walking for the door, gesturing for her to follow me. She dropped her phone into her pocket once again and trailed after me.
I had no idea where this case was going to lead us, but I knew for sure that we were going to figure out what had happened no matter what.
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