March 5
District Courthouse
Courtroom No. 2
11:05 AM
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ Dropping Off the Files ~
-"I went to the Prosecutor's Office on the day of the murder because I was dropping off the files as requested of me."
-"The prosecutors were all busy with the meeting at the time though, so I didn't stick around after leaving them in the lounge area."
-"The fact of the matter is that it was as simple as you imagine: I was there to drop off the files, and once that was done, I left."
-"I didn't run into anyone as I was dropping off the papers as I'm sure you can imagine."
-"Everyone was busy in the meeting at the time of the crime. It was impossible for someone to have seen me."
-"I truly don't see what the point of this line of questioning is. Everything truly is that simple. There's nothing more to it, period."
After she was finished speaking, I frowned to myself. Truth be told, I would have been lying if I said I knew what I wanted to do with this testimony. How could I have an idea about what to do with it? I didn't see any immediate holes, and I didn't know if trying to get her to offer more information was going to work as well as I would have hoped. Why would she suddenly be more forthcoming with information after she did so much to deflect the truth up to that point? I was going to have to figure this out on my own terms regardless of how impossible that seemed in the moment.
"You truly did nothing more than drop off the files then, witness?" the judge questioned, snapping me out of my internal musings immediately. I glanced up to him before looking down to Ms. Russell.
She simply nodded. "I couldn't have spoken to anyone as long as they were all busy with the meeting. I was unable to make sure that the files were found later in the day though because the murder took place and ultimately kept me from having the chance to check in. As a result of the murder, everything fell apart, and I can only hope the files were found one way or another."
"I see..." Prosecutor Lin murmured with a light nod. She let one hand come up in a casual gesture that I knew was trying to be as open and conversational as possible, and not for the first time, I was glad that she was being so kind to us in the midst of this messiness. "Well, you know what has to come next. The cross-examination is something the defense has a right to, after all."
"If only the defense knew what it was doing with the cross-examination," I muttered under my breath as I shot a wayward glance to Mr. Wright and Trucy out of the corner of my eye.
"It's true that her testimony doesn't appear to have any holes at a first glance... But you should consider everything we do know right now," Mr. Wright said. "We know that she's the only other person who was in the Prosecutor's Office at the time who could have met with the victim. Everyone else had an alibi, and unless you're going to start implicating Apollo for a crime he was attacked in, you're going to have to look at this case honestly."
"There has to be a piece of evidence out there that can imply she went into the victim's office. All we have to do is figure out what that evidence is and then turn it around on her," Trucy pointed out. "You have all sorts of evidence at your disposal right now, Athena. All you have to do is figure out what would be the best to use here."
I nodded vaguely even though, truth be told, I wasn't sure what this piece of mystery evidence was supposed to be. The judge was ignorant to my plight though, and he offered a sage nod from his place at the head of the courtroom. "Please begin your cross-examination at this time, defense," he instructed. I pulled myself back up to my full height despite how uncertain I was deep down. I couldn't be deterred at a time like this, so I was just going to have to figure something out. The evidence to show Ms. Russell was involved with this murder just had to exist; I simply had to track it down!
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ Dropping Off the Files ~
-"I went to the Prosecutor's Office on the day of the murder because I was dropping off the files as requested of me."
-"The prosecutors were all busy with the meeting at the time though, so I didn't stick around after leaving them in the lounge area."
-"The fact of the matter is that it was as simple as you imagine: I was there to drop off the files, and once that was done, I left."
-"I didn't run into anyone as I was dropping off the papers as I'm sure you can imagine."
-"Everyone was busy in the meeting at the time of the crime. It was impossible for someone to have seen me."
-"I truly don't see what the point of this line of questioning is. Everything truly is that simple. There's nothing more to it, period."
"Objection!"
I began to fiddle with my moon earring as I looked at Ms. Russell thoughtfully. "You know... There was one piece of evidence up to this point that's sort of confused me," I confessed. "I think I'm starting to see where it comes into the greater picture now though."
"You're going to have to be a bit more descriptive and frank if you want me to understand what you're trying to imply," Ms. Russell pointed out, her eyes narrowing in my direction. "What piece of evidence are you referring to specifically?"
"Well, the victim was found with blood underneath his fingernails," I began to say. "But that's where the strange part comes in... It wasn't his blood, and the blood didn't belong to the defendant either. I was stumped for a while as to whose blood it could have been, but... I think the pieces are finally starting to come together."
"I'd like to know what you're referring to as well, defense," Prosecutor Lin announced. "Just what are you trying to imply with bringing up the blood under the victim's fingernails?"
"There was no way to say for sure whose blood it was because of the fact that there wasn't another sample that could be used to compare it to the blood of the one who was at the crime scene at the time of the murder," I responded. "We know that the person must have been there at the time of the crime. If the blood got there before then, the victim certainly would have washed it off. The blood couldn't have gotten there after the victim's death. After all, the fact that the blood was only beneath his fingernails implies to me that he got into a struggle with his killer... A struggle that ultimately wound up yielding a few cuts and scratches."
"And you think that you have a way to conclude whose blood was found beneath his fingernails," Prosecutor Lin realized with a small nod. "Well, there's no point in holding it back. What's your theory?"
"Take that!"
"The defense asserts that the blood underneath the victim's fingernails should be tested to see if it matches with the DNA of the witness!" I declared firmly. "She claims that she didn't do anything but drop off the papers, but no other person's blood could have gotten under the victim's fingernails! She had no alibi for the time of the murder, and I believe that fact alone is enough to merit further investigation! We need to see if her blood matches for the sake of keeping the investigation consistent and confident!"
The gallery burst into chatter a moment later, and the judge reached for his gavel before slamming it down. "Order!" he shouted, desperate to get the attention of those in the room even though he knew just as well as everyone else that it was a lost cause.
In the end, it was Ms. Russell who managed to silence everyone by slamming one fist against the top of the witness stand. She looked up at me with eyes so dark and critical that she might as well have been trying to pierce my soul. "You can't be serious," she said solemnly. "You believe that my blood is under the victim's fingernails? You're being ridiculous. You can't prove that the defendant didn't commit this crime, so you're grasping at straws."
"The blood under the victim's fingernails does not belong to the defendant," I pointed out. "That much was made perfectly clear when the forensics team tested it. That means that the blood must have come from a third party, and with all the other prosecutors in the office busy with other affairs, the only one who could have fought with the victim at the time of the crime was you. Your blood has not been tested to see if it matches with the blood found under the victim's nails, and I would say that's enough of a basis for us to start investigating this situation."
"I agree that it is somewhat strange that you're not submitting yourself to this test... If your blood really wasn't at the scene of the crime, then you wouldn't have a reason to push back and protest this much. This blood test has every possibility to prove your innocence, and yet, you keep protesting," Prosecutor Lin announced. "I just find it peculiar, I suppose."
"It's an invasion of privacy. You're jumping to conclusions. It doesn't matter whose blood was under the victim's fingernails. The fact of the matter is that the defendant is the only one who could have committed this crime. I walked in to drop the files off and left. You don't have any evidence that I was at the crime scene to begin with, and accusing me without any basis in already existing evidence is ridiculous," Ms. Russell said, her eyes narrowing in my direction. "Unless you have proof already waiting to be revealed, I suggest you back off. After all, you can't accuse anyone of a crime without proof, and all you have right now is a forensics test that hasn't even been carried out."
"We're going to have to find something a bit more conclusive before she's going to accept what's going on, I suppose," Trucy murmured, a light frown appearing on her face. "But what can we do to make her accept it? She's the only one who could have committed the crime as far as our current understanding of the case is concerned. We just need something to prove it."
"Let's think about what else was at the scene of the crime," Mr. Wright began to say. "There were a few items at the crime scene that were out of the ordinary. For example, the murder weapon was smuggled into the building. It isn't as if a knife would have had a way of getting into the Prosecutor's Office without somebody actively trying to sneak it inside, especially because we already know it isn't evidence from another case. That doesn't even factor in the unknown location of chloroform mentioned earlier and the rope that was dangling from the window."
"I believe that you should listen to your assistant," Ms. Russell told me with a shake of her head. "You have no way of saying how any of those things were able to get into the crime scene. It seems as if your case here truly is built upon a house of cards, and the second anyone offers it further scrutiny, all it does is fall apart. I would advise you to take a step back and reexamine your strategy before you say anything to accuse me in the future. In fact, that's wise advice to everyone."
I shook my head, a light smirk on my face. "I don't know if I would go so far as to say that there's no evidence behind my accusations," I told her. "You see, the knife, rope, and chloroform were smuggled into the building. None of the prosecutors would have had a reason to bring such items in unless they were planning to kill the victim, and as we already discussed, it isn't as if they could have murdered him since the crime took place while they all had alibis."
"That doesn't mean you can say for sure that I was the one who brought them inside," Ms. Russell protested. "Unless you have some actual evidence, I suggest you to stop all of this. You're going to earn the ire of the entire court if you don't handle this as carefully as possible."
"Well, as a matter of fact, I think I can show that you were the one who committed this crime," I told her firmly. "You see, I think we should take a look at the security footage taken of the outside of the building. There were three pictures taken automatically by the hidden camera, and I think they can reveal everything we need to see."
I reached for the pictures before holding up the first one, this picture displaying Apollo. "This is the defendant. It doesn't seem as if he could have hidden a knife or chloroform on his person. A rope is completely out of the question. There's no place that he could have hidden any of those things. He was wearing a simple suit, the same thing he was found in when the crime scene was discovered hours later. I don't think he could have hidden anything, much less all three items used in the crime."
Prosecutor Lin was the next one to speak up, and she flashed yet another picture. I recognized this as the photo of Mr. Morix and Chrysalis standing outside the building. "This is another picture that was taken on the day of the murder, this time with a different group that entered the building on the day of the victim's death," Prosecutor Lin declared. "As you can see, there isn't a place for either one of them to hide items like that on their persons either. It simply isn't possible for either one of them to have smuggled in anything that was used in the crime."
"Now, if we compare both of those images with the picture that was taken of you..." I began to say as I reached for the final photo taken by the security camera on the day of the murder. "You're wearing loose clothing rather than anything form-fitting. Even if we assume that any of them could have brought in the knife or chloroform, the rope remains missing from the picture in all cases. Meanwhile, you were wearing a baggy jacket that covered your entire torso when you entered the building, and I would say that makes you the prime suspect under these circumstances."
Ms. Russell shook her head with a glare forming in her eyes. "You can hardly call that conclusive evidence when it comes to accusing me of this crime," she declared. "I asked for decisive proof that I could have done it. In fact, I would like decisive proof that anyone aside from the defendant could have killed the victim. Instead, all you've done is pile on more theories that don't have any true basis in the facts seen at the scene of the crime. What you see is what you get with crime scenes. I know that better than anyone, and you should start to understand it sometime soon too. It seems crucial to your occupation."
"Perhaps now would be the perfect time for you to testify once again, witness," Prosecutor Lin cut in. "After all, I'm more than certain that you know about how important testimony is in court cases. Your occupation makes that clear, hm?"
Ms. Russell took a moment to wind herself down from the apex of her anger before she nodded. "Yes... I suppose that would be a more effective use of our time," she agreed, though I could tell she was straining herself to speak the words in a way that wasn't snappy in my direction. She still wasn't happy about the accusations, not that anybody really expected her to be. "What do you want me to discuss?"
"Offer your response to the defense's theory," Prosecutor Lin told her with a light smile. "That way, we can have a debate on the matter rather than simply yelling at one another. If you truly don't have anything to hide, then you're going to be proven innocent at this time. I think this is a perfect use of our time."
Ms. Russell hesitated before nodding. "Alright. Let's get right into it then."
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ The Defense's Theory ~
-"I find it ridiculous that you wish to accuse me of so much in this case when I couldn't have done any of it."
-"I never set foot in that room, and no amount of theorizing is going to change that fact."
-"Even if I did, that doesn't change the fact that the defendant was in there."
-"The question of how he got the items into the building is a compelling one, yes, but that doesn't alter what we already know."
-"Everything about his actions is suspicious, and he must be the culprit. He was found at the crime scene."
-"Your words about me supposedly smuggling in those items to the crime scene are falling flat. The defendant killed the victim, and that's that."
I let out a careful breath as she finished her testimony, doing what I could to make sure I didn't completely explode. I was going to have to keep myself composed in the face of everything she was saying. I knew that she was trying to bait something out of me, and I wasn't going to rise to the challenge she was leaving behind. That would only result in clouded judgement and the trial swaying out of my favor.
"You truly believe that the defendant is the one who killed the victim behind this case, I see," the judge commented, his eyes wide as he looked down on the woman at the stand.
Ms. Russell nodded. "I don't see how anyone could believe otherwise. He was found unconscious at the crime scene, and I don't think there's anyone else who could have possibly been more suspicious than him," she pointed out. "I don't know how he got the items into the building, but he could have taken them in at another point or had somebody take them there under the guise of evidence. I'm not sure how the mind of a criminal works, but I didn't kill the victim."
"You look rather excited to begin your cross-examination, defense," Prosecutor Lin commented with a small smile on her face. "Why don't you go on and get this next part of the trial started then? I don't see any reasons to hold back."
I nodded as I let out yet another hesitant sigh. "It would be my pleasure," I announced. I wasn't entirely sure where I was going to be taking things from here, but hesitating wasn't going to earn me anything. I would simply have to figure out the next step along the way and see what came of it. I could only hope it ended somewhere positive for us all.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ The Defense's Theory ~
-"I find it ridiculous that you wish to accuse me of so much in this case when I couldn't have done any of it."
-"I never set foot in that room, and no amount of theorizing is going to change that fact."
-"Even if I did, that doesn't change the fact that the defendant was in there."
-"The question of how he got the items into the building is a compelling one, yes, but that doesn't alter what we already know."
-"Everything about his actions is suspicious, and he must be the culprit. He was found at the crime scene."
-"Your words about me supposedly smuggling in those items to the crime scene are falling flat. The defendant killed the victim, and that's that."
"Objection!"
I slammed one hand against the defense bench, my eyes narrowing into a glare as I looked up at Ms. Russell. She didn't flinch at the oncoming confrontation, instead simply watching me with a passive gaze that was notably apathetic to my words. She had managed to compose herself from her previous outburst, but I knew it wasn't going to stay that way for long. "I don't think that the defendant killed the victim at all," I told her firmly. "In fact, I'll go so far as to say that I don't think it was possible for the defendant to kill the victim in the first place."
"Bold words, defense," Ms. Russell remarked, looking at me with such a clear sense of superiority that it made my blood boil in a way I didn't know how to describe. "How, then, do you believe you can prove that the defendant could not have been the culprit?"
"It's rather simple, as a matter of fact," I responded. "He was found unconscious at the crime scene, and the dark jacket found next to the body had traces of chloroform on it. I think that's reason enough to be sure that a third party was involved with the case. We can deduce that the chloroform was used to knock him unconscious since he was the only one found asleep there, but he wouldn't have been able to use it on himself and dispose of the evidence so seamlessly. A third party must have attacked him, and as far as I can tell, there's only one person who could fit the bill."
The gallery began to chatter at those words, but I wasn't finished. I raised one hand conversationally as I continued to speak to Ms. Russell, a light smirk on my face at the sight of her growing distress. "You were wearing a large, dark jacket on the day of the crime. You could have hidden all of the aforementioned items under your jacket, and on top of that, a third party was necessary to knock the defendant unconscious. You are the only person who could have fit the bill of the third party. I think this should be something for us to investigate, and if you won't let us look into it of your own free will, then we're simply going to have to resort to something like the forensics testing of the blood under the victim's fingertips. That should certainly make it clear if you were in the room of the crime on the day of the murder," I pointed out.
The judge slammed his gavel down a moment later. "Order, order!" he roared. It took another set of repetitions before the gallery finally fell to something resembling quiet, though there was still quite a bit of chaos buzzing around in the wings. "Witness, how do you respond to this?"
Ms. Russell shook her head. "The defense is being ridiculous. I always wear clothing of this nature. I've been working with the prosecutors at the office for quite some time, and all of them can attest to that much. This is simply what I always wear. In fact, I'm wearing a dark, baggy jacket as we speak. That doesn't mean I'm the one who committed this crime," she told me with a firm shake of her head. "I suggest you find something conclusive before you go around hurling accusations. I see that you haven't learned anything from my previous attempts to offer advice to help your case, though I suppose you're the only one who can choose to listen to me or not."
"There has to be something out there that's going to make her wake up and accept the possibility... Right?" Trucy questioned, though I could tell that the note of uncertainty in her voice was caused by the fact that we were both fully aware of just how stubborn Ms. Russell had already proven herself to be. There wasn't a way for us to say easily if we were going to be able to get her to confess. She had seemingly made up her mind of putting up a fight against us, and we weren't going to be able to protest against that unless we were able to get a piece of clinching evidence that seemingly didn't exist.
"The forensics test is the one thing that seems like it's going to be able to help us right now, but I somehow doubt she's going to agree with that quite so easily," Mr. Wright pointed out with a shake of his head. "I do think that there has to be a piece of evidence out there somewhere that could help us to navigate our way to the truth despite her protests though... All we have to do is put the pieces together."
"You know, there is something else I would like to ask of you, witness," Prosecutor Lin cut in, leaving our conversation short before we could get anywhere close to a conclusion. "You've been insisting for quite some time that the defendant has to be the one who committed this crime. I'd like to hear a bit more about your logic for accusing him, if that's alright."
Ms. Russell seemed taken aback by this at first, and she looked at Prosecutor Lin in a way that was clearly asking for more of an explanation on the matter. "I think I've already made it perfectly clear how I feel about the defendant. He must be the one who killed the victim, and I don't think any amount of testimony is going to change that."
"Entertain me then," Prosecutor Lin told her. "I think it wouldn't hurt to go over that one more time. It could certainly help us to get closer to the truth. The more we know about what you think happened, the closer we'll get to actually putting the full picture together."
Ms. Russell hesitated before she let out a sigh. "If you insist," she said softly, though I could tell she still didn't want to actually follow through with this. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to have a choice, and as far as I could tell, this could have been the very chance we were waiting for to prove that she was involved with the crime. Only time would be able to tell.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ The Defendant's Guilt ~
-"The defendant was found unconscious at the scene of the crime next to the dead body of the victim."
-"Everyone else who was in the building at the time was busy with a meeting, or in my case, dropping off files."
-"There isn't anyone else who was at the crime scene at the time of the murder who could have done it."
-"It was essentially a locked room case with the chair pushed against the door the way it was. Nobody else could have gotten in before the door was broken down."
-"Plus, he had a motive to kill the victim. He wanted to get revenge for the trial that the victim almost turned against him."
-"It's a perfect case. I don't think anyone can doubt the facts of the matter... He did it. Nobody else had a part in this crime but him, end of story."
I nodded at her words, and I smirked to myself as I looked up to the judge. "The defense would like to begin the cross-examination at this time," I declared.
The judge was taken aback by this, his eyes going wide. "We haven't even discussed the testimony yet!"
"We can discuss it in a few moments. Is that alright?" I questioned.
The judge hesitated before he nodded. "I-If you insist..." He was more confused than in agreement, but I didn't care. I was going to keep pushing, and nothing was going to stop me. I knew what had to come next, and Ms. Russell was going to finally have no choice but to face her guilt. I was sure of it.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ The Defendant's Guilt ~
-"The defendant was found unconscious at the scene of the crime next to the dead body of the victim."
-"Everyone else who was in the building at the time was busy with a meeting, or in my case, dropping off files."
-"There isn't anyone else who was at the crime scene at the time of the murder who could have done it."
-"It was essentially a locked room case with the chair pushed against the door the way it was. Nobody else could have gotten in before the door was broken down."
-"Plus, he had a motive to kill the victim. He wanted to get revenge for the trial that the victim almost turned against him."
-"It's a perfect case. I don't think anyone can doubt the facts of the matter... He did it. Nobody else had a part in this crime but him, end of story."
"Objection!"
"You claim that nobody else could have had a part in this crime, but I disagree," I told her. Ms. Russell raised an eyebrow around her glare in my direction, but I simply shook my head as I reached for an important piece of evidence on the bench before me. "I have the perfect piece of evidence that will show that there was somebody else who could have had a reason to commit this crime. Someone else involved with this case had a motive for murder against the victim, and the proof of it..."
I raised the GC-9 file for the entire courtroom to see. Everyone stared onward in shock, and Prosecutor Lin's eyes went wide with recognition across the courtroom. It seemed that she didn't know about her sister's machinations, but she would understand soon enough. I would make sure of it.
"Can be found right here."
Remember when I said this case was probably going to be twelve chapters? Yeah, that was a lie. Given the pace of this trial and everything that still hasn't been accomplished, it's going to be an even thirteen. Whoops. I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.
For now, the trial is going pretty well. We're getting closer to reaching the full truth behind this case, something that will be revealed in the next two chapters as you can imagine. As we get closer to the end of this case, I can say conclusively that it's been tons of fun to work with all this case has had to offer. I've been following an outline strictly when it comes to typing this out, and it's certainly helped with keeping everything organized on a smaller scale as well as the larger scope of the murder. It's going to prove helpful when it comes to figuring out the finer details behind the overall plot too, I'm sure.
There isn't all that much to say about this chapter though since, truth be told, it all kind of speaks for itself. Fun case times. Next time, we're going to press on with this case and get closer to the end. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital