March 13

Defendant Lobby No. 1

9:30 AM

Cotoli Morix

When Chrysalis and I arrived in the defendant lobby the next day, I let out a small sigh. "It looks like today is going to be when this case wraps up once and for all," I told her. I could just tell that this was going to be the end of the line for this investigation of ours. The truth was about to be revealed to the rest of the world, and I was sure of it. We had all of the facts that we were going to need if we were going to reveal what had happened on the day of the murder. It was just a matter of exposing everything in full.

"I'm sure that you're right," Chrysalis nodded. "We're going to have to hear from Mr. Tambin. I suppose that we're just going to have to see if Prosecutor Bespoke really is on our side. If he is, he's going to help us to pin down Mr. Tambin for lying so blatantly to us during the investigation yesterday."

"You don't seem convinced that he's going to be with us today," I remarked, raising an eyebrow in her direction to prompt an answer.

Chrysalis shrugged, the motion jerky and lopsided. "It's not a matter of me not trusting him specifically if that's what you're insinuating. In fact, I know that he's probably fine for us to place our faith in. It's just a general matter of law for me. I don't trust people until I'm confident that I can fully confide in them," she told me.

"You were pretty quick to drop that rule when we first met Venus," I snorted, and I earned an eye roll in response. I laughed at her and shook my head. "I'm just messing with you. I completely understand."

"You two sure do seem to be in a good mood."

Venus' voice pulled us away from our conversation, and I saw brief panic flash across Chrysalis' face as she tried to figure out if Venus had overheard us talking. If she did hear us speaking about her specifically, Venus sure didn't show it, and she moved on easily a moment later. "I'm hoping that everything will be resolved today... Do you really think that we're going to be able to leave this case in the past after today?" she asked.

I nodded. "I'm confident that we'll be able to figure everything out," I assured her. "We're closer than ever to figuring out the truth, and I'm sure that we'll be able to reveal the truth once and for all. We have an idea as to who was responsible for the murder at the moment. It's just a matter of tying everything together."

"I'm glad to hear it," Venus said with a grin. "My sisters are here again to watch the trial. My mother wound up having to go off to work today. She wanted to be here, but I told her that it was going to be fine... There's nothing to worry about there though. I know that Cassidy and Yuri have complete faith in you two."

As if on cue, the pair of sisters appeared before us a moment later. "Are you ready for this, Venus?!" Yuri cried out, her voice much too loud for the small defendant lobby. I cringed at the sound of her shout, though I got the feeling it was just her way of letting out youthful stress.

"Everything is going to be fine, Yuri. You don't need to be so loud... People are going to start staring," Cassidy whispered to her younger sister, eyes flared up with panic. It was clear that she was trying to convince herself that the case was going to be fine just as much as she was attempting to persuade Yuri.

"The defense team here seems convinced that they're going to be able to resolve this case today, so I don't think that we have anything to worry about," Venus assured her sisters. "There's nothing that you need to worry about. Let's just kick back and have faith that they know what they're doing. After all, they've done a great job of this so far, so we've got no reason to not trust them, right?"

"Yeah... You're right," Yuri murmured with a careful nod. She swallowed back her nerves a moment later. "I'm counting on you two to make sure everyone knows that Venus is innocent! If you can't get that right, then... I don't know what I'm going to do, but it's not going to be pretty!"

"Please stop being dramatic, Yuri... We're in public, and I can feel everyone in here judging us now," Cassidy murmured, her eyes overcome with panic. She placed one hand on her sister's shoulder, and luckily for her, that seemed to be all that she needed to do to relax Yuri's fiery temper.

Venus chuckled and shook her head. "We're going to be back home again in no time, and then, we'll throw ourselves a little party to commemorate the fact that I managed to get away from false murder charges. How does that sound?" she asked.

Yuri nodded firmly in response. "That does sound fun, as a matter of fact... Alright. Cass and I will be watching from our seats up in the gallery. You had better not fumble this, got it?" she said, looking over at me and Chrysalis as she spoke the words.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Chrysalis replied, her voice almost terrifyingly even. "Just sit back and watch. We'll have everything under control soon enough, and the case will be taken care of not long after we get in there."

Yuri's eyes scanned over Chrysalis after she spoke, and she frowned. "You're a little scary when you talk. Has anybody ever told you that?" she asked. Cassidy's jaw dropped, and Venus resisted the urge to snicker from behind her hand while Chrysalis just stared at her in pure shock.

"I don't know what you're on about, Yuri. I think that she's perfectly fine and personable," Venus said, swinging one arm to wrap around Chrysalis' shoulders. "Then again, I guess we've just got different taste in friends."

I could have sworn that Chrysalis was going to completely shut down at Venus' bold motion, but I gave a brief glance to my phone screen after pulling the device out of my pocket. The clock said clearly what time it was, so I dropped the device back into its home before glancing up at the girls. "It's time for us to get in there. I'll be looking forward to seeing you all again after the trial," I told them kindly.

"I'll be counting on you too," Venus declared with a grin. She pulled her arm away from Chrysalis before starting to walk towards the courtroom. Cassidy and Yuri waved before they headed off in the direction of the entrance to the gallery, leaving behind me and my sister as the only people in the lobby since all of the other occupants of the space had already left.

"Well, you know what we have to do," Chrysalis reminded me. She was finally managing to get her color back under control after Venus' bold move from a few moments later. She let out a sigh and shook her head as she started to walk into the courtroom. "I don't know how she does it."

I laughed in response, knowing that she was talking about Venus. I wasn't entirely sure as to how Venus could be so bold and uncaring regarding her own actions either, but I supposed that there was nothing wrong with it. We were going to find the truth during the trial, and that was what mattered. Everything was about to fall neatly into place. I was sure of that much without a shadow of a doubt.

March 13

Courtroom No. 1

10:00 AM

Cotoli Morix

The courtroom was just as I remembered it being from the day prior, and I lifted my gaze to stare across the courtroom where Prosecutor Bespoke could be found. He was poised and ready for what was to come, and I found myself swallowing dryly to get rid of the residual traces of nerves. I was doing my best to make it seem as if I was unbothered by what was happening, but this was still an unsettling situation. I was going to do what I could to push through it, but that remained the fact of the matter.

Judge Diaphan's voice pulled me free of my haze a moment later. "Court is now in session once more for the trial of Venus Rinko. Are the defense and prosecution ready?" she questioned.

I nodded firmly. "The defense is ready, Your Honor," I confirmed. Chrysalis pushed her shoulders back to fit the picture of confidence from her place beside me.

Prosecutor Bespoke nodded and smiled from his place on the other side of the courtroom. "The prosecution is ready as well, Your Honor," he said. All of a sudden, his accent seemed much more obvious than it had been previously, and I found myself wincing at the fact that I had managed to miss it in the first place. I blamed it on nerves from the trial's previous session.

"I take it that both sides have investigated this case thoroughly over the course of the past day," Judge Diaphan announced, her gaze falling on both myself and Chrysalis before shifting over to where Prosecutor Bespoke was standing.

He nodded when he realized that he had the judge's attention. "The prosecution did investigate the case, as a matter of fact... And we stumbled upon a witness who will be able to shed some light on the details regarding this case," Prosecutor Bespoke announced. Judge Diaphan raised one eyebrow in his direction, prompting him to continue. "Yesterday, we learned that the murder took place in the backstage area, and the body was moved to the costume closet after the blood was cleaned by a costume worn by the defendant. We even had a witness who overheard the crime whether she realized it or not."

"And you believe that this witness of yours will be able to help us to understand more about this case?" Judge Diaphan questioned.

Prosecutor Bespoke nodded. "As a matter of fact, I do. This witness is part of the backstage crew for the show, and he did a roll call on the day of the murder to see who all was there for the performance. I believe that this roll call is going to be important to finding the truth behind this murder, and the prosecution would like to request that he testify regarding this series of events," he said.

Judge Diaphan contemplated his prompt for a moment before nodding. "The court is willing to grant the prosecution's request," she agreed.

"In that case, the prosecution would now like to call Pyth Tambin to the witness stand," Prosecutor Bespoke announced, pointing in the direction of the podium casually.

"This is where the real fight begins," Chrysalis murmured beside me. "If we can tie Mr. Tambin to one of the loose ends that this case has-whether that be the method for the body's movement or the motive behind the crime in the first place-then we'll be well on our way to figuring out what happened that day."

"You're right," I whispered back. Proving it was going to be the hard part though. After all, even if we had an idea as to why someone would want to kill the victim, we weren't confident quite yet if there was a way to tie in the motive of the hit and run with the witness. Only time would be able to tell if we were able to unravel the truth behind that, it seemed.

By the time that Chrysalis and I had finished our brief and clipped discussion, Mr. Tambin had taken his place at the witness stand, and as far as I can tell, had been asked for his occupation and name as well. Mr. Tambin cleared his throat before offering a response. "I'm Pyth Tambin, and I'm part of the backstage crew for the show at the ice center," he explained. "I've been working with the show ever since rehearsals first started a while ago."

"You were also at the ice center on the day of the murder because of your part in the show," Prosecutor Bespoke declared, and he was met with a nod of affirmation. "You're the one who sees who all is there as part of a final check for the show itself. This is the process of roll call backstage, and the prosecution would like to hear about this process in your testimony."

Mr. Tambin nodded carefully. "If that's what you want to hear, then I suppose that I have no reason to deny you," he remarked. "I guess I'll just go on and get right to it then..."

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ Roll Call ~

-"I've been the one behind roll call ever since we started our rehearsals ages ago."

-"It's my job to make sure that everyone who needs to be there for the show is present and accounted for."

-"I did all of this on the day of the murder too since it's part of my regular routine."

-"When I did roll call, everything was exactly as you would expect given the circumstances..."

-"Venus and Aes were missing from the list of people who were present... Because one of them was murdering the other in cold blood."

-"Nobody else was absent from the list of people who were there, so Venus must have been the one to do it."

As soon as the testimony ended, I glanced over in my sister's direction. She knew exactly what was going through my head, and I could tell that she was thinking about it too. There was a blatant flaw in this testimony, and we were going to have to use it to pry this hole wide open for everyone to see.

"I see," Judge Diaphan said simply after the testimony was finished, her voice somewhat stiff. She glanced in my direction, her eyes narrowing from behind her mask. Even if I couldn't see her irises, I knew exactly what she was doing, and I couldn't help but feel the same way that she was. She had caught on and spotted the obvious contradiction as well, and she was leaving it up to us to call out. "Defense, please begin your cross-examination at this time."

"Of course, Your Honor," I announced with a bow of my head. There was one thing that Mr. Tambin was blatantly wrong about in his testimony, and the only way to find the truth was to expose this. I wasn't sure of where it was going to lead us next, but this was the first step on the path to justice. We would just have to see what happened after this, but for the moment, only one thing mattered: the evidence I had at my disposal and how it clashed with Mr. Tambin's testimony.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ Roll Call ~

-"I've been the one behind roll call ever since we started our rehearsals ages ago."

-"It's my job to make sure that everyone who needs to be there for the show is present and accounted for."

-"I did all of this on the day of the murder too since it's part of my regular routine."

-"When I did roll call, everything was exactly as you would expect given the circumstances..."

-"Venus and Aes were missing from the list of people who were present... Because one of them was murdering the other in cold blood."

-"Nobody else was absent from the list of people who were there, so Venus must have been the one to do it."

"Objection!"

I shook my head simply, unable to keep the small smile off my face. "You know, witness... Lying to the court is a very serious crime," I said simply. "It would be for the best if you went on and told us the truth so that we don't have to push it out of you."

"What are you talking about?" Mr. Tambin questioned, his eyes narrowing with anger. "I told you the truth, so why are you getting all snippy with me?"

"There was one other person who was not present at the time of roll call, and I find it to be rather strange that you neglected to mention them during your testimony. After all, we know for sure that this person wasn't there, so there's a blatant contradiction with what you've told me," I explained.

"Then tell me who it is that I missed. You can't just talk around in circles and expect me to know what you're talking about," Mr. Tambin said, his voice a snap as he turned in my direction. "Who is it that was supposedly not there at the time of roll call?"

"Fiora LeTeir, naturally," I replied. "She was not present during the roll call because she was busy with something else, namely witnessing the murder. She was in a small side room of the backstage area. We investigated it yesterday and saw that it was a space for the application of makeup. She was hiding in there because of what happened shortly beforehand."

"What did I tell you about talking in circles? Just explain what you mean upfront," Mr. Tambin said, his voice once again bordering on a snarl as his frustration grew with each passing moment.

"Fiora was in the backstage area because she was frightened by a loud noise. She heard the sound of the body hitting the ground as the victim was killed, and she stayed in the makeup area for as long as she could because of how nervous she was. When she was finally comfortable with leaving, she wasn't able to go back to meet with the rest of the cast in time for the roll call. After all, she had to go and get a spare version of her costume because she accidentally caused damage to it while she was frightened," I went on.

"She slipped and used her ice skate to cut a tear in her skirt. She was off to change out of the costume when she found the body in the costume closet, and in the end, that was what led to the reveal of the murder to the rest of the people in the building," Chrysalis continued. "She never said that she was there for roll call in her testimony. As a matter of fact, under this timeline, there wouldn't have been a place for her to be with you and the rest of the cast. She was too occupied with other matters and completely forgot about it because of how flustered she was."

Mr. Tambin glared at her as soon as she finished speaking. "Well, I don't know why it is that you're getting all mad at me for this! I thought that I saw Fiora, so I marked her down as being present! Is there really something wrong with me doing what I thought was right?" he questioned. His agitation was still only continuing to grow, and I could tell that he was starting to get tired of us pushing him.

I nodded. "As a matter of fact, there is something wrong here... And I believe that there is an explanation to this massive contradiction," I told him. "How could you make such a grave error in the roll call? It doesn't make much sense at all. You've been doing this for ages, so one would expect you to be able to pull this off without making any significant mistakes. Why would you say that Fiora was there when she had no way of being present? I think that there's a very way to explain this gap in logic and reasoning on your part... The act of including Fiora as part of roll was deliberate."

"It was... Deliberate?" Judge Diaphan asked, clearly taken aback by surprise. "If this was on purpose, then that means that..."

"The witness lied on purpose to make it seem as if Fiora was there during roll call. However, this makes you wonder... Why would he make this mistake on purpose? I said that it was intentional, but there has to be a reason for him to do this. Motive is everything, after all..." I explained. I was quiet for a moment before I turned to the opposite side of the court, a light smile on my face. "Prosecutor Bespoke, I have a question for you. If there were two people that were gone from roll call under these circumstances, then what would that imply? You know, assuming that you knew one of the two people who was gone was murdered."

"The immediate assumption would be that the other person who was absent was the one to kill the victim," Prosecutor Bespoke confirmed. "After all, if there were two people gone and one of them turned up dead... Nearly everybody else would have at least a vague alibi at the time due to being there for roll call. If a third person was gone though..."

"Then that would cast doubt on both of the other people who were not there," I finished for him. "Now, let's think back to what we established yesterday. This crime was premeditated, and the weapon was prepared in advance. The ice skates of the defendant were stolen in preparation for this murder, meaning that the culprit knew exactly what was coming ahead of time. The costume of the defendant was used on purpose because the culprit wanted to add another piece of evidence that would point in the direction of her being the one responsible."

"And you believe that the roll call was falsified in the way that it was to make it seem as if the only people who were gone were the defendant and the victim," Judge Diaphan concluded. "Even if there were others who objected to what the roll call said, it would be another piece of evidence in the direction of the defendant being the guilty party."

"And any evidence that points to the defendant would fall perfectly in line with the culprit's plan. We've established that this crime and the framing of the defendant were both premeditated and planned at least a few days in advance. With all of that in mind, witness... I truly have to ask you... Why is it that you lied about Fiora being present at roll call? Perhaps it was to solidify your evidence against the defendant. After all, if Fiora was gone, that would potentially be a wrench in your plan to claim that Venus Rinko was the one responsible for the death of the victim!" I exclaimed, pointing at the witness stand.

The gallery burst out into chatter, and I glanced over in Chrysalis' direction. I could see a small smile on her face, and I knew that we were already headed down the right path when it came to finding the truth. There was still quite a bit that we had yet to figure out, but this was a start, and I was more than willing to accept that for the time being. The two major roadblocks to the truth at this point involved the method of the body's movement and tying the witness to the potential motive that Prosecutor Bespoke had proposed during the previous day of investigation.

Judge Diaphan's gavel hit the podium before her, and her eyes turned sharp as she glanced around the courtroom. "Order!" she shouted, her voice enough of a roar that it immediately brought all chatter in the courtroom to a halt. "Defense, you truly mean to say that you find the witness to be suspicious in this case? You are implying that he could possibly be the guilty party that was responsible for the death of the victim, are you not?"

I nodded. "I believe that there is reason to doubt the words of this witness, and he could very easily be the one behind the framing of the defendant and the killing of the victim. First and foremost, he is part of the backstage crew, meaning that he could be involved with the torn fabric that was found in the victim's hand after her death. Second, there's the fact that he could have freely moved backstage and gotten into the costume closet because of his involvement with the show. Finally, because he had easy access to the cast and crew of the show, he could have stolen the defendant's ice skates to use as weapons in the murder. After all, this case was premeditated, and everything seems to be pointing to him being suspicious at best," I pointed out.

"Why is it that you're so willing to believe the words of Fiora? For all you know, she could be the one behind all of this! You're awfully quick to say that I'm the one behind all of this when she could just have easily been the one behind the death of the victim!" Mr. Tambin shouted. His face was growing red from his anger, and I could tell that it wasn't going to be as easy as we thought initially to show that he was the guilty party. Of course he wasn't going to give in; after all, if he was the one behind the murder, he wasn't going to freely admit the truth quite so easily.

"The witness from yesterday gave us no reason to doubt her testimony," Prosecutor Bespoke pointed out. "Besides, there was a ripped costume that was found to match what she claimed about receiving a tear to her outfit when she was startled and slipped backstage. Beyond that, there's no way to tie her to the fabric that was found in the victim's hand."

"But how can you even say that fabric came from me? For all you know, somebody else could have been the one to fight with her. After all, my uniform is completely free of rips. Where's your proof that she tore off a part of my uniform?" Mr. Tambin asked, holding up his hands and showing that there were no tears in the outfit.

"That may be the case," I began with a nod. I saw Mr. Tambin's shoulders sag with relief, but he grew tense when he realized that I wasn't finished. "But for all we know, there are spare uniforms for this as well. After all, if there are extra costumes for the performers, it would only make sense that there were extra uniforms for members of the crew. The costumes are undoubtedly more expensive, so it wouldn't be out of the question for there to be extra versions of the uniforms. Plus, I would imagine that the uniforms would be more prone to accidents given that you are moving props around backstage, so there have to be extra versions of them."

"All it would take is one simple question to any member of the cast or crew," Prosecutor Bespoke pointed out. "If you don't want to answer our question on the matter, I'm sure that the defendant or Ms. LeTeir would be more than happy to tell us if there are extra copies of the crew's uniforms backstage. Well, witness? What do you have to say on the matter?"

For a long time, Mr. Tambin didn't say anything. He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Fine... You're right. There are extra copies of the crew uniforms backstage," he muttered under his breath. "You do mean that this doesn't prove your point about Fiora being out of the water though, right? After all, she could have done all of this and stolen a crew uniform to use to cover her tracks. You have no way of saying that I'm the one who committed the crime conclusively."

Judge Diaphan shook her head from her place at the top of the courtroom. "I'm afraid that the most important fact at this point comes down to a matter of motive. There is no way to say who committed this crime unless a motive can be established. Why would anybody want to kill the victim? The only person who was shown to have a reason to hate the victim that was out of the ordinary was the defendant," she said.

"I know for sure that Fiora wasn't the one who did it. The fact that Mr. Tambin lied about her being there in the first place, and that's suspicious at best and a sign of his guilt at worst," Chrysalis murmured. "But he's right in that we don't have much of a way to set the two of them apart. The culprit likely used a crew uniform and then discarded it because it would have been covered in blood from the stab to the victim. The costume was used for cleanup, but..."

I let out a gasp. "Wait, that's it!" I cried out. "Your Honor, I have evidence to show that the witness is our only suspect in the murder!" When Judge Diaphan looked in my direction, I continued, adrenaline fueling my every action. "Fiora LeTeir is roughly the same size and stature as the defendant. If she really wanted to frame the defendant for the crime-if she was the culprit-then she would have been able to fit into the defendant's costume and use it to soak up the blood splatter! The blood on the costume contradicts logical actions and has already been shown to be used for cleanup, blowing a hole in what the witness would have done if she was the culprit!"

"All of this means one thing and one thing only..." Prosecutor Bespoke murmured. He looked up a moment later with a smirk spreading across his face. "The witness is our one and only suspect at this point. Fiora LeTeir and Venus Rinko are innocent, but I must ask... Pyth Tambin... Are you innocent as well? Or are you truly the guilty party we've been seeking?"

I love this case

-Digital