November 23

Courtroom No. 6

12:00 PM

Deirdre Brigit

When I arrived in the courtroom after the recess, I could see the suspect of the hour standing at the witness stand. All three members of the prosecution's team were watching him intently, and Anton almost appeared to be afraid of the white-haired man watching nearby. I couldn't blame him in the slightest given the circumstances. We all had reason to believe that he was someone responsible for many cruel acts, including attempts to harm people for his own gain. I glared at him carefully, wary of what was going to happen next but still trying to keep my composure in the face of this opposition.

"State your name and occupation for the court," Judge Diaphan said firmly, not at all in the mood to dawdle or engage in unnecessary conversation.

The man was silent for a long moment, and I took in the full view of him. He had white hair cut close to his face and eyes so striking that they appeared to have the potential to pierce anyone's soul. He had his arms crossed, a clear sign that he wasn't in the mood to speak with any of us. "Collack Strann," he finally replied after a long moment.

"Mr. Strann, you must be aware of what you have been called here for," Prosecutor Burke declared, her voice nothing short of fiery in its intensity. "We have reason to believe that you are responsible for this case. Furthermore, there are accusations that you are in truth Cade Green and Carson Rinko. Both of these identities are associated with the former head of Interpol. What do you say to that?"

"It isn't true," Mr. Strann replied simply. His voice lacked anything resembling enthusiasm, though this was understandable given what he was being accused of. "You're wrong to believe that I'm the one behind all of this. What reason would I have to do this? I've been watching the trial, and the only reason that you think that I did this is because you believe that I'm both of those people you just mentioned. Without that, you don't have a motive, and you don't have a case either. Is there anything you would like to say to that?"

"I guess that he isn't going to be giving up so easily," Victoria sighed. "I don't understand. I don't believe that Detective Umber would have much of a reason to lie about all of this, and that's quite the radical story for her to concoct assuming that she's been lying... Plus, Prosecutor Umber is going to want to back her up, isn't he?"

"The court would hear your testimony about what you were doing at the time of the attack on the victim," Judge Diaphan announced. She seemed to believe just the same as everyone else that the man on the stand was the culprit, and I was beyond relieved to have her on our side. She was going to make pushing him the right way even easier given her blatant lack of resistance.

"Alright," Mr. Strann said with a loose shrug. His lack of defiance didn't sit well with me, and I had to wonder just what it was that was going through his head. What was he planning? He hadn't confessed to the crime and was still insisting that he was innocent, so what was he going to tell us to try and save himself? We would simply have to see.

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ What I Was Doing ~

-"I was going out and about my daily business just like anyone else. I had no reason to attack the victim."

-"I've never even met the woman. Eileen Liyle... Razi Lesa... It doesn't matter. I haven't ever spoken to her."

-"Why would I want to harm someone who I'm not connected to at all? You're working solely off of conjecture at this point."

-"You claim that I'm these two people. Cade Green and Carson Rinko... Do you have any true evidence that I'm connected to either one of those names?"

-"I somehow doubt that you can do anything to say conclusively that I'm involved with those people, and without that... You don't have a case."

-"What's it going to be? Do you have evidence that I am at all connected to the victim? Where's your proof that I'm the one responsible for the attack?"

I frowned at his words, doing my best to keep from outwardly wincing. This was his response? He was simply trying to deny everything? Detective Umber made it perfectly clear that she knew where she stood, and her honesty was going to be key to this case as far as I could tell. Even in the face of being told that we knew the truth, he was still trying to keep the truth from us. Didn't he know when to quit?

"That's not true at all!" I cried out in a whisper as I turned to Deirdre and Yuri. "He says that we don't have any proof, but Detective Umber told us everything. She doesn't have a reason to lie. Prosecutor Umber is able to back up everything that she says too, so why-"

"Both Prosecutor Umber and Detective Umber are rather close. If one of them decided to lie, it isn't farfetched to believe that the other would go along with it," Mr. Strann cut in. "They can count on one another to lie if they must. Their words are merely that; words. If you wish to make it anywhere in the legal world, you need evidence. Where is your proof that I committed this crime?"

I opened my mouth before clamping it shut again a moment later. I hated that he had a point when it came to all of this. I knew that Prosecutor Umber and Detective Umber were being honest about this. I could just tell, and it had been so hard for Detective Umber to come out and tell us that she had done something so wrong. When we got him up on the stand though, all Mr. Strann did was lie to try and get out of it. I didn't know how to describe the unfortunate pit in my stomach, but I hated it through and through.

"Begin your cross-examination, defense," Judge Diaphan cut in, clearly not in the mood to listen to a potential argument between myself and Mr. Strann. She made a strong decision as far as I was concerned, and I nodded in response. When I looked over to Deirdre and Yuri, they both appeared prepared as well. That gave us only one step from here, so we had to get into it.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ What I Was Doing ~

-"I was going out and about my daily business just like anyone else. I had no reason to attack the victim."

-"I've never even met the woman. Eileen Liyle... Razi Lesa... It doesn't matter. I haven't ever spoken to her."

-"Why would I want to harm someone who I'm not connected to at all? You're working solely off of conjecture at this point."

-"You claim that I'm these two people. Cade Green and Carson Rinko... Do you have any true evidence that I'm connected to either one of those names?"

-"I somehow doubt that you can do anything to say conclusively that I'm involved with those people, and without that... You don't have a case."

-"What's it going to be? Do you have evidence that I am at all connected to the victim? Where's your proof that I'm the one responsible for the attack?"

"Objection!"

I found myself gasping at the cry of the word, and I glanced around in curiosity at the sound of that voice. I knew for sure that I hadn't been the one to do it, and that voice certainly didn't belong to Deirdre either. In fact, it sounded an awful lot like-

"Yuri?!" Deirdre whispered intensely to the younger girl. "What are you doing? Is there something that you think we need to see about all of this?" She seemed to be surprised, and I had to admit that I understood. Yuri had been so unsettlingly quiet ever since the truth about the culprit was revealed by Detective Umber, and all of the facts pointed to her father being the one behind it. Of course it would upset her. It was a natural progression of thought, but her sudden objection to Mr. Strann's testimony certainly didn't fit within the path that I had anticipated for us to follow.

"If you really want to say that you aren't Carson Rinko, then... I suppose you wouldn't mind a DNA test of some sort?" Yuri questioned. She didn't listen to Deirdre's inquiry at all, focusing only on the man at the witness stand. "There's no need to be shy about it. If we aren't related, then this shouldn't be a problem for you. Tell me, do you agree to this?"

That was enough to unsettle Mr. Strann, though he didn't show it openly. His eyes narrowed in her direction, though there was something desperate hiding just beneath the surface. I was confident that I knew what this sensation was on his part: betrayal. The truth of his connection to Yuri was obvious, and yet, he hadn't expected her to be so open in turning her back on him.

"That's what I thought," Yuri snorted, the words a deliberate jab towards Mr. Strann. "You didn't want to confess it, but that's the truth. Detective Umber was being honest when she said everything during her previous testimony, and you... All you want to do is get away from what you did. I can't believe this. Do you know what sympathy is? Can you even muster it for your own children?"

Those words prompted the onlookers in the gallery to start talking amongst themselves. Yuri's accusatory tone seemingly inspired discourse among them, and I found myself looking down at the desk. I didn't know how I was supposed to respond to all of this, but at the same time, I knew that it wasn't a question that I was meant to answer in the first place. This was Yuri's decision to make, and the last thing I wanted to do was interfere with something this important to her.

"Order in the court!" Judge Diaphan snapped as she hit the gavel against its podium. Nobody seemed to want to risk standing up to her when she was in this state, so it was only a matter of seconds before everything fell silent again. "Witness, how do you respond to this accusation? Now isn't the time to be lying about anything, especially not matters that could tie you to the murder."

"I would like to testify again," Mr. Strann announced. "We're here to talk about what I was doing at the time of the crime, aren't we? Fine then. That's exactly what you're going to get."

"I really don't like where this is going..." I murmured. I knew that he couldn't exactly escape our grasp after all that had happened, but it still unsettled me that he was trying to get away. There had to be something that he was planning, and I hoped that it didn't paint too ugly a picture for us to figure out. All of the pieces were there, and yet, he was still claiming that we couldn't truly accuse him. This case really was turning out to be a nightmare. And here I had been so sure that it couldn't get any worse.

"Go ahead then," Judge Diaphan told him, though her voice remained shaded and difficult to read. "Tell the court where you were at the time of the crime, and be honest this time. The court won't tolerate any other lies from you, whether it be about your identity or something far more significant." Mr. Strann nodded in response before starting his testimony, though I could tell that there was more to this than met the eye. I just prayed that this wasn't too disastrous for us. All we needed was the final piece to slide into place and bring everything to an end.

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ The Time of the Crime ~

-"Like I said before, I was simply going about my daily business at the time of the crime. I was acting as many others did on normal days."

-"I had no reason to approach the scene of the crime. The fact remains that I don't know the victim, after all."

-"You have no specific evidence to tie me to the scene of the attack. You can't go around accusing people without any proof."

-"If there is something that can somehow tie me to the scene of the crime, then share it by all means. Your lack of evidence is startling right now though."

-"I'm tired of you claiming that I'm the culprit without any solid proof. Either propose what you have at your disposal or let me leave now."

-"You'll simply have to look elsewhere for the truth behind the attack on the victim. You certainly aren't going to find it with me."

"I can't believe that he's still trying to say that he didn't do it! The truth is so obvious, but he won't listen to anything we say! Nothing is going to be enough evidence for him! We've got testimony from two people already, but he's saying that it isn't enough because they could be lying. How could he sell out his own children without a scrap of remorse?! Isn't he supposed to care about them?!" Yuri questioned. Her voice was rising with intensity with each passing word, though she never dared to make herself too loud, likely because she didn't want anyone to hear her distress.

"Even if he's going to lie about this, there is one other piece of evidence that he can't refute. To be more accurate, it's a bit of testimony," Deirdre told her. "I'm not going to let him get away with everything that he's done. You can consider that a promise. Everything ends here and now."

Yuri nodded, and Judge Diaphan spoke from her place at the top of the courtroom. "Begin your cross-examination at this time," she announced. Deirdre nodded, and the cycle began once again.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ The Time of the Crime ~

-"Like I said before, I was simply going about my daily business at the time of the crime. I was acting as many others did on normal days."

-"I had no reason to approach the scene of the crime. The fact remains that I don't know the victim, after all."

-"You have no specific evidence to tie me to the scene of the attack. You can't go around accusing people without any proof."

-"If there is something that can somehow tie me to the scene of the crime, then share it by all means. Your lack of evidence is startling right now though."

-"I'm tired of you claiming that I'm the culprit without any solid proof. Either propose what you have at your disposal or let me leave now."

-"You'll simply have to look elsewhere for the truth behind the attack on the victim. You certainly aren't going to find it with me."

"Objection!"

"You're being awfully bold by claiming that you weren't at all associated with the scene of the crime," Deirdre noted, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Mr. Strann. "After all, this is not a murder case; the victim was simply attacked rather than being killed. Do you know what this means?"

"The victim is still alive, and she can tell us everything about what happened at the time of the crime," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke interjected. "In fact, I want to know what would happen if we called her up to the witness stand here and now. Would she agree with your claim that you weren't at the scene of the crime? Perhaps she would simply confirm the truth that we've known all along; you were there, and you attacked her."

"There are many others who could fit my physical description," Mr. Strann pointed out. "There are others with white hair and pale skin such as mine. You claim that this is why I have to be the culprit, but that could not be further from the truth. You're grasping at straws for saying that this is why I have to be the one responsible for the crime."

"You're trying to say that the victim is mistaken in saying that you are the one who attacked her?" I questioned, trying not to allow my agitation to show in my voice. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me upset after all that had happened. He didn't deserve that much, and the last thing I wanted to do was somehow please him by showing that I was unhappy with his words.

"I know what I said. She was being strangled to near death. It's only natural that she could have made a mistake with what she saw," Mr. Strann said. "Anyone's memories would be distorted, and if she wanted to believe that I did this because of manipulation from outside figures, then that could happen. The brain can deceive itself at times, you know. If someone pushes you in the wrong way, then the world begins to change around you. Perception is important, and I believe that the victim simply looked at the world incorrectly at the time of the attack."

"She was strangled as you stated," Prosecutor Burke pointed out. "That means that we could always compare your hands to the wounds that can be found on her neck. Wouldn't that make it clear who was responsible for this crime? The bruises are far too large to belong to the defendant's hands. If she had been the one to hurt the victim, then there would be no reason for the victim to lie."

Mr. Strann shook his head. "You truly don't understand what matters you're disturbing here, are you? You should stay out of my business and leave this matter alone. I know what I'm saying when I claim that I didn't do it. You're all simply trying to claim that I did this because today is the last day of the circle. It's me or nothing, and you don't want to have the depression that comes with knowing you let a culprit escape," he said.

"One person saying that you did this is one thing, but we've got multiple witnesses saying that you did it, including the victim herself," Prosecutor Burke said, her frustration becoming evident. "Make this easier on all of us and just confess to what you've done already. We've been through more than enough without you dragging us around and playing the court as a hall of fools for your own sense of security."

"I would like to say something," Yuri piped in. "He didn't respond when I said that we should just run a DNA test to see if he's related to me. If he's connected with me, then that automatically gives him the motive that Detective Umber mentioned. She claimed that he was trying to go after the victim because he assumed that the agency was a dangerous place. If we can show that he's related to me, then that's more than enough proof to show that he has this motive. Him being seen by the victim and having a motive... That has to be more than enough to show that he's behind all of this. Add in the fingerprint size on the victim's neck, and... It seems pretty clear what happened at the time of the attack."

"You have no reason to speak against me," Mr. Strann chimed in. "I don't see why it is that you're trying to say that I'm the one who did this. If the words of the previous witness are to be believed, then that means that I'm your father. I believe that your father was mentioned previously to have been absent from your life, and yet, you are so free with your betrayal in claiming that I must have committed this crime."

"If you are my father, then you lost the right to that title as soon as you raised a hand against an innocent person," Yuri told him, her eyes narrowing with an intense fire that I hadn't seen from her in a long time. "I... I have a few things to say, if you don't mind."

"Go on," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke agreed with a nod. "Don't hold back anything. After all, you've got more than enough reason to be upset with the current witness."

Yuri took a deep breath before she continued to speak. "Let's assume for a moment that what Detective Umber said is true. I believe that she was being honest, so we're going to continue operation under that assumption. That means that you did all of this because you were trying to protect me," she went on. "That was what Detective Umber seemed to think, at the very least. After what happened with my older sisters, you were trying to get rid of the agency. In your eyes, the agency was responsible for the deaths of both Venus and Cassidy Rinko, my older sister. You thought that the agency's connections with Oracle were why all of this happened, and you thought that if you couldn't target Oracle, then you would simply come after the agency and get things to stop that way."

Mr. Strann was silent in response, but Yuri didn't want to listen to him anyways. She held up her hand to make sure that he stayed quiet and refrained from interrupting her. "If we believe the timeline that Detective Umber mentioned previously, then this means that you were her father as well. You still are, from a technical standpoint, but you were never around to act like a parent should. The exposure of who you were within Interpol forced you to leave, and you thought that you were protecting her and Prosecutor Umber by not connecting with them. You didn't reach out again until it was convenient for you," she went on.

Mr. Strann's eyes narrowed at her, and he looked a lot like a father about to punish a rowdy child. I could certainly see why Yuri was so upset, and I found myself forcing my gaze away from him so that I didn't feel nauseous at the glaze of his eyes. "Listen-"

"You listen!" Yuri snapped back. "You found another family without bothering to reconnect with the previous family even when it was safe for you to do so. That was how my family was formed, and me and my sisters... We wondered about you for a long time, but we never received any answers because of who you are and the nature behind that truth. It was part of what had to happen for us to stay safe thanks to your identity, but... Even when you were back to being safe in the hands of a new identity, you never reached out to us. You didn't do anything to bridge the gap with your previous family either. All of this is happening because you claim that you wanted to protect everyone involved with these unfortunate situations, but I know that there's more to it than that."

I gaped at Yuri's words, unsure of what to say in response. I would have been lying if I said that I didn't agree with her. I knew that she was right about all of this. Mr. Strann's actions in the past had all been rooted in something selfish that he was trying to indulge in without ever actually being able to offer the reciprocated care that others required. It was a complicated situation, and I would have been just as upset as Yuri if I was forced into her position.

"You supposedly wanted to keep me from getting hurt in the same way as my older sisters, but you used others in order to reach that end. You didn't care who you trampled on in order to reach this goal of supposed safety, and that... I don't see how hurting others to help me is at all righteous or noble. I've gotten the feeling that you feel like you have the moral high ground in this situation, but I don't think that you're at all deserving of such a luxury right now. Were you ever in a position to claim that you were right in the first place?" Yuri questioned.

She shook her head a moment later. "You neglected the needs of all your children for years even when you had the option to reach out and act like a true father should have. You say that all of this was done in the name of protection and defense, but... I don't think that it's the case at all. This was a case of guilt, and you would do anything to satisfy that complex of guilt, even if it meant hurting people who weren't at all involved with the problem in the first place. Look at the current case, would you? The victim nearly died at your hands because you were trying to resolve your own sense of guilt, something that you aren't entitled to salvation from in my eyes," Yuri went on.

Mr. Strann was stunned silent, and so was everyone else in the courtroom. I had to admit that I was beyond proud of Yuri for being able to say all of this so enthusiastically without needing to stop. It seemed as if all of her thoughts that had been building up throughout the case were preparing her for the moment where she was able to let all of this out without any hesitation. She deserved to be able to release the truth, and she wasn't at all holding back.

"How was this ever about keeping people safe? You hurt people who got in your way, you never bothered to act as you should have, and you rarely stopped to look at the consequences of your own actions since it was more convenient for you than confessing that you had made a mistake. What happened with my sisters had nothing to do with you, and the only people to be blamed for this are the people who killed them. You blamed others unrelated to the act in question because it was easier for you to do that than admit that you had lost everything because of your own selfish need to stay away instead of making up for everything that you missed out on," Yuri finally declared. "Tell me... Is this what you wanted? Is this the justice that you were seeking?"

Mr. Strann didn't dare to provide a response to that. Instead, Prosecutor Burke spoke up. "Let's take a look at what we already know that you've done in the past, shall we?" she proposed. "We heard that you were responsible for me being attacked during a conversation with you. In preparation for an argument, you hired somebody who was loyal to you to ensure that I stayed quiet should the situation go out of hand. You used your own children to act out your duties because of your manipulative ways. Many people have died because others wanted to reach out to you, something I'm sure that you're aware of."

"You showed yourself to the twins again after all this time, but it wasn't because you wanted to try and be a father figure to them. Instead, it was because you needed them to act according to your wishes so that you could get rid of a guilt complex that they shouldn't have had to take care of anyways. Why didn't you just talk to them like a normal father would have? Why not just reach out to people who never got to meet you the way that you should have? You felt too guilty, and you were always more focused on resolving that complex than fixing the situation at hand. It was easier for you, and you didn't want to even think about changing since it would be too hard," Yuri continued to accuse. Mr. Strann didn't dare to reply, seeming to understand that Yuri wouldn't want to listen to his words no matter what he said.

"Finally, there's the matter of what's happened recently," Deirdre announced. "You sent somebody to kidnap another person. You hired someone known for being a criminal to abduct a member of our agency and use her as leverage. That only failed when an outside figure appeared and attacked the culprit of the kidnapping to ensure that the victim was released. This was when it became clear that you weren't after justice at all... There was something else that you wanted, and it was selfish above all else."

"And it hit a peak when you decided to lead an attack against someone within the agency. You were going to sneak into the building with intentions of attacking the people who worked there and getting rid of the problem yourself since nothing else had gone in your favor," Prosecutor Burke went on. "I believe that covers everything that you've done... Is there anything that I happened to miss out on?"

If Mr. Strann had a proper reply for this, he chose to not offer it. The courtroom remained eerily quiet in the wake of the recap of information from Deirdre, Prosecutor Burke, and Yuri, and everyone was seemingly on the edge of their seats with hopes of finding out more information that would press the culprit to the truth. There wasn't a single soul in the courtroom who still believed that Mr. Strann was innocent, and he knew it.

Deirdre cleared her throat from her place beside me, and I glanced over to her with a growing sense of finality inside of me. I knew that this was where it all ended, and there was only one thing left for us to see. He just needed to confess, and then, we would be free of this dreadful case and an even worse situation. "Tell me, Mr. Strann... Mr. Rinko... Mr. Green," Deirdre announced, casually using each of his names without a shred of remorse. "How do you respond?"

I wrote this whole chapter in like an hour oops

-Digital