May 2

Defendant Lobby No. 3

9:40 AM

Chrysalis Starr

The next morning brought with it the knowledge that I was going to have to step onto a witness stand for the second time in my life, and that was not something that I was looking forward to. Testifying was a headache and a half, and not even cross-examining that testimony could compare to how frustrating it was. I was not looking forward to this in the slightest, but even saying that felt like an understatement.

I wasn't supposed to be in the defendant lobby, if I was being technical. I was supposed to be off with Prosecutor Bespoke trying to get ready for the trial, but I didn't think that it would be an issue if I was a little bit late. Besides, I was not looking forward to this, and I was hoping to put it off as much as possible. I wasn't the type to procrastinate, but having to stand in front of an entire court to talk about a murder wasn't something that I wanted to face with complete confidence.

The last time that I had testified in front of a courtroom, it had been three years prior when I was twelve years old. In all honesty, that is entirely too young to be testifying, and yet, there I was. The reason was a long story, but it was the case where Cotoli and I just so happened to meet Sora. Despite being siblings, we weren't always aware of the fact that we were related, and it took quite some time for all of us to come together and meet for the first time. It was a mess and a half, but at the same time, it was a story for another time, so I shoved it out of my mind.

Yuri and Venus were already in the defendant's lobby when Cotoli and I arrived, and they were talking with KJ. As far as I could tell, Venus was catching up KJ on what we had learned the day before during the investigation, and she was doing so rather animatedly. Yuri chimed in every once in a while to add her version of events, gesturing grandly and likely adding in a bit of exaggeration the way that most twelve-year-olds would.

Thinking about it through the lens of her being the same age in this case that I had been when Cotoli and I took on our first murder investigation certainly put everything into perspective. It wasn't exactly in a good way, but it was still something, and I chose to tuck that away into the back of my mind for the time being. I could think about existential details like that another time, but for the moment, we had a trial to take care of first.

"I do hope that we aren't interrupting anything," Cotoli cut in as he took a step closer to the conversation between Venus, Yuri, and KJ. There was a light smile on his face, and he seemed much more relaxed than I felt.

"Of course not," Venus assured him. "We were telling KJ all about what happened during the investigation yesterday, ranging from the witnesses to the body to the video footage that was caught on the victim's phone."

"I'm glad that you were able to tell me about all of this before the trial started," KJ confessed. "I can only imagine how shocked I would be if I had to hear about all of this as it was taking place. It would be... Well, I'll just say that it would have been a bit nerve-wracking to have to deal with that on top of already being on trial for murder." He let out a laugh, but the sound was hollow and detached.

"Don't worry about it. We're more than happy to help you out," Yuri assured him with a grin on her face. "Now, how about we think about everything that we're going to have to do with the trial today?"

"It's going to start off with a testimony from the detective on the case, if I had to guess," Cotoli began. "That's my best theory for the time being, anyways... I doubt that Prosecutor Bespoke is going to skip out on that when there's quite a bit to explain behind this case after all that we learned in the investigation."

"From there, it's probably going to be Sora testifying and then me. I don't know about Mr. Middleton, but we're just going to have to see about that, I suppose," I shrugged. I didn't know much of anything about the plan, not that this was particularly surprising. After all, I was choosing to put as much distance between myself and the witness stand as possible until the time came that I had to confront it.

"You should probably go and talk to Prosecutor Bespoke then, right?" Yuri questioned, and I immediately was reminded of how overly perceptive she was, and I didn't mean that in a particularly good way. She noticed things that most other people would gloss over, and in this case, it was a sign that I had to go and speak with Prosecutor Bespoke before the trial started. Sigh.

I nodded, doing my best to hide how unhappy I was at the reminder of such a duty, when Cotoli's hand came down on my shoulder. I glanced up to him and saw that he was smiling gently down at me. "It's going to be alright," he assured me softly. He didn't say anything beyond that, but at the same time, we both knew that he didn't exactly have to either. I knew exactly what he was trying to get across; he knew that I was going to be fine, and there was nothing that could change that.

I gave him a gentle smile of my own before I pulled my shoulders back to their full height. "I suppose that I should get going," I told him. I was going to have to face Prosecutor Bespoke sooner or later. I wasn't exactly afraid of talking to Prosecutor Bespoke himself, knowing that he might as well have been a teddy bear given how soft he was when he got excited, but the idea of having to testify still rubbed me the wrong way.

Just before I could do that though, a cry rang out in the defendant lobby, and I winced. "Defense! It's time to head into the courtroom!" the bailiff by the door cried, and I resisted the urge to clamp my hands over my ears. The bailiffs had always been too loud for my tastes, and this man was hardly an exception on the matter.

"I guess that talking to Prosecutor Bespoke is going to have to wait then," I muttered under my breath with a shake of my head. I glanced up to the rest of the group, giving them a small smile despite how nervous and shaken up I was on the inside. "I know that you're all going to be able to figure this out. I have nothing but complete confidence in you, so... Go out there and do what you have to in order to prove KJ's innocence. I'm counting on you."

I received nods in response, and I turned on my heel after speaking those words. I was just going to have to sneak into the courtroom to go over to the spot where the witnesses normally sat. I still didn't like this situation too much, but it wasn't as if I was going to be able to get out of it. I just hoped that we were able to find the truth in part with help from the testimony that I hated that I was going to have to give.

May 2

Courtroom No. 3

10:00 AM

Cotoli Morix

It didn't take long for me to get settled in the courtroom, but I did have to admit that it felt odd for me to stand behind the defense bench without Chrysalis at my side. I glanced to my side and saw Yuri and Venus standing together, and I tried to assure myself that we were going to be able to handle this even with the disturbance of my regular routine. I was the type to follow a pretty strict ideal of what had to be done in a given situation, and while this was going to be something out of the ordinary, I was still going to have to push through it. After all, KJ was counting on me, and I knew that everybody else involved with this case was too.

Judge Diaphan was sitting in her regular place at the head of the courtroom, and she reached for her gavel before bringing it down. "Court is now in session for the trial of KJ Jett," she declared. Her eyes swiveled over in my direction, and I could feel her gaze lock onto me even with her mask obscuring her eyes as usual. "Is the defense prepared for the trial to begin?"

I nodded. "The defense is ready, Your Honor," I responded. I still felt a bit offbeat at the idea of not having my sister by my side, but I knew that I was just going to have to work past that if we wanted to win this trial. Everyone was counting on me, and I wasn't about to let them down after all that we had gone through in the investigation already. I had faith that KJ didn't do it, and all I had to do now was prove it to the rest of the world. That would be easier said than done, of course, but I was going to try it regardless.

"The prosecution is also ready," Prosecutor Bespoke announced from his side of the courtroom. Cassidy was standing at his side, seeming oddly confident despite her regular shy demeanor. There was a light smile on her face, and I knew that if the situation was even slightly less tense, she probably would have offered me and the rest of the defense team a small wave.

Judge Diaphan nodded. "In that case, Prosecutor Bespoke, it's time for you to begin your summary of the case," she instructed.

Prosecutor Bespoke nodded without a beat of hesitation. "The crime took place yesterday at the local community center. A gymnastics competition was being held there, and the victim of our case here today just so happened to be a competitor in that very contest," he explained. "Hanan Lee was performing her routine when she was shot dead, dying of a single bullet to the chest. Her body fell to the floor of the gymnasium, and the crowd began to scatter. When the people were gone and the lights came on though... The defendant could be seen holding the murder weapon, and his prints were lifted from its surface."

"I see... That certainly seems rather incriminating," Judge Diaphan commented with a frown. "Do you know anything about an alibi or motive?"

Prosecutor Bespoke shook his head. "He doesn't have an alibi, claiming to have been in another space entirely at the time of the crime. As for a motive, we don't know why anybody would want to kill the victim. Our search up to this point hasn't really granted us much in terms of leads as to potential motives for anybody to want her dead," he replied.

Judge Diaphan nodded to herself, contemplating the words that she had been offered. "I believe that the court has an understanding of the facts of the case now. Please call your first witness to the stand at this time," she declared.

Prosecutor Bespoke smiled, and he pointed in the direction of the witness stand a moment later. "The prosecution calls the lead detective on this case to the stand!" he proclaimed boldly.

It didn't take long from there for Detective Wattson to appear behind the stand, the perfect personification of relaxation. I could tell that she had been an investigator for quite some time because of how composed she was at the prospect of testifying in front of the court. Still, she remained silent until Judge Diaphan posed the traditional opening phrase to her.

"Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Diaphan said, acknowledging the detective with a tilt downwards of her head.

"Vera Wattson, homicide detective at the local precinct," Detective Wattson responded. "I'm also the one heading up the investigation into this murder."

"In that case, don't bother to hold back; tell us everything that you think we need to know about the crime," Prosecutor Bespoke instructed of her.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Detective Wattson smiled. She provided him with a nod before she got started a beat later.

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ Basic Details of the Crime ~

-"The crime took place during a gymnastics competition at the Blackgate Community Center, specifically in the gymnasium."

-"The competition was not originally set to be held there, but a few unfortunate circumstances caused the location to change."

-"There were many gymnasts going to the center of the floor to perform their routines for a group of judges."

-"Most witnesses were in the stands when the crime took place and the victim was shot to death."

-"She died of a single bullet to the heart, and she immediately fell to the ground, prompting the audience to scatter."

-"The gymnasium was dark due to the lights being turned off save for a single light at the center of the floor."

-"We don't know much of what happened while the lights were off, I'm afraid, primarily because of the low lighting."

I listened to her testimony carefully, a frown on my face. I didn't see anything immediately wrong with her words, and if I was being honest, that was mostly because there wasn't all that much that could be used to push the case in a new direction. We didn't know about what happened in the dark, just that the murder took place when somebody pulled a gun out and shot the victim.

"I see... It sounds as if there were quite a few witnesses to this particular crime," Judge Diaphan mused. "Do we know where the gunfire came from within the audience? Surely that would help to narrow the scope of who exactly was in the area of the gun at the time of the crime."

Detective Wattson hesitated before she shrugged. "We know that it was in the bottom right area of the audience if you're looking at the stands head-on. Witnesses who were sitting in that region heard the gunshot louder than anyone else in the audience, but we don't have any other clues regarding our culprit. We simply aren't sure who could have done it because of how dark it was. Nobody was able to get a clear gaze at the culprit, not even the people who were right next to them. The gun wound up being dropped in the shuffle, and once again, the defendant was the one holding it when the lights came on after the crowd scattered," she explained.

"That makes it sound to me like the defendant probably wasn't the one to commit the crime," Venus interjected. "If you killed someone in the middle of a crowd like that, would you have the confidence to stay behind and see what happened next? The culprit probably dropped the gun and bolted along with the rest of the crowd as a way of looking less suspicious. The defendant holding the gun when the lights came up seems like a matter of convenience, and when you combine that with the lack of a motive, it really does appear that he wasn't the one responsible."

"I do acknowledge your points on the matter," Prosecutor Bespoke began with a small nod. "But first, I would like to get through this cross-examination. We can speak with the witnesses from the time of the crime after this matter has been resolved."

Venus nodded before she shifted her attention over to me. "Well, Mr. Morix? What do you think? There has to be something in that testimony that we can use to our advantage, right?" she questioned.

I paused before glancing up to Detective Wattson once again. "I'm confident that there's something in there, but for the time being, I'm going to focus on finding new information. We need to learn as much as we can about the case before pressing on because of how little we understand," I told her.

Venus responded with a nod before she looked over to Detective Wattson. From there, it didn't take long for the detective to take her testimony from the top for the cross-examination, and we listened intently the whole way through.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ Basic Details of the Crime ~

-"The crime took place during a gymnastics competition at the Blackgate Community Center, specifically in the gymnasium."

-"The competition was not originally set to be held there, but a few unfortunate circumstances caused the location to change."

-"There were many gymnasts going to the center of the floor to perform their routines for a group of judges."

-"Most witnesses were in the stands when the crime took place and the victim was shot to death."

-"She died of a single bullet to the heart, and she immediately fell to the ground, prompting the audience to scatter."

-"The gymnasium was dark due to the lights being turned off save for a single light at the center of the floor."

-"We don't know much of what happened while the lights were off, I'm afraid, primarily because of the low lighting."

"Hold it!"

"Are you aware of the video that was taken on the victim's phone at the time of the crime?" I questioned of her. I was confident that I already knew the answer, but I figured that this was the best way to begin this subject of conversation regardless.

Detective Wattson nodded. "As a matter of fact, I am aware of it," she responded. "The police haven't had much of a chance to analyze the video footage up to this point, but let it be known that we are working on examining it so that we can press on with this investigation and trial."

"Do you think that the video is going to be able to give us any new information about the time of the crime?" I asked. I wasn't entirely sure what response I was going to wind up receiving, but I figured that I might as well see this through to the end for the time being.

Detective Wattson was silent for a long moment before she shrugged. "If I'm being perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. "We're planning on using a device down at the station to enhance the video footage so that we can see other details that the naked eye might not be able to catch. The video is impressively high quality thanks to the power of phone cameras these days, so all we can do is wait and see what it is that we wind up learning from the enhancement."

I shifted my attention in the direction of the Rinko sisters, and I saw Venus give me a light smile. "Well, that's one way for us to work on finding out more about what happened at the time of the murder, huh?" Venus questioned.

I nodded. "That's for sure. If the video can offer us more information by being enhanced, then we have to take advantage of that in full," I told her. I glanced away from her to concentrate on the scene ahead of me, a light frown still on my face. We weren't going to be able to fully figure out what was happening with the murder until after the video was enhanced, it seemed. Until then, we were only going to be able to hear testimony from the time when the gymnasium was darkened.

"I'll do what I can to pass on the message after the video is finished being enhanced," Detective Wattson offered. "I understand that waiting for something like this is bound to be stressful, and the last thing that I want to do is leave you agitated over something that I can help to prevent. As soon as I learn more about the enhancement process, I'll be sure to call Prosecutor Bespoke. From there, you'll be able to check all of the small details that you want."

"I wonder if we'll be able to see the murderer with the video," Yuri mused. "Venus told me about the video last night, and she said that it was possible to see part of the audience when the gunshot went off. Of course, you can't really see the details of the person who fired the gun because of how dark it was, but... That still has to count for something, right?"

"I believe that this would be a perfect time for us to shift gears for the time being," Prosecutor Bespoke declared. "Since we're talking about what happened at the time of the murder, then we might as well hear from one of the people who just so happened to witness the moment of the crime. We have quite a few people who saw the murder took place, but I'll be calling one of them specifically to the witness stand at this time."

"Go ahead, Prosecutor Bespoke," Judge Diaphan instructed of him with a light nod.

Prosecutor Bespoke smiled before he pointed to the stand. Detective Wattson offered the court a gentle bow of her head before she retreated from the area. "The prosecution now calls Sora Lin to the witness stand!"

It didn't take long for Sora to take her place behind the stand from there, a light smile on her face the same way that it always was. She was just as composed as I would have expected her to be, not yielding even the slightest ounce of outward struggle even in the face of this dark situation. It was par for the course given Sora's regular behavior of treating the world like the audience to a grand performer in which she played the starring role, and it was just the dose of familiarity that I had been yearning for.

"State your name and occupation for the court witness," Judge Diaphan announced. She looked down at the teal-haired woman sternly, and while I didn't see any immediate recognition in her expression, I knew that Judge Diaphan likely wasn't the type to admit that she had met someone in the past anyways, especially when the other party was on the witness stand.

"My name is Sora Lin, and I'm a prosecutor by day and singer by night," Sora smiled. "I publish my songs online while focusing on my legal career during the day. I suppose that at the time of the crime, I was also working as a celebrity judge for the gymnastics competition where the victim was killed. That was the way that I was able to get such a new perspective on the murder. I was sitting away from the rest of the crowd, so that gave me the chance to see the crime in a new light."

"A celebrity judge for the gymnastics competition?" Judge Diaphan echoed. Judging by the way that she didn't respond to the other two mentions of Sora's profession, I assumed that she was already aware of them.

Sora nodded. "You heard me. I was asked to come in and judge the competition as a guest, and that was when I saw the crime," she explained. "I was able to see the audience when the murder took place. After all, the judges' table was on the opposite side of the gymnasium compared to the audience. Having the judges over with the audience would lead to a large chance of something winding up being lost or tampered with, so we were moved to the other side of the space."

"Witness, please tell the court what you saw at the time of the murder," Prosecutor Bespoke instructed of her. "Leave no detail out of your account."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Sora assured me with a light laugh before she got started in full.

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ Witnessing the Murder ~

-"I was at the judge's table with the other judges who were looking over the competition."

-"My younger sister was with me too since I didn't want to send her into the audience by herself."

-"We had gone through quite a few rounds of competition when the murder took place."

-"The victim was doing a routine with a few rings hanging from the ceiling, and that was when a small light could be seen from the audience."

-"It certainly stuck out to me at first because I didn't really expect to see anything of that nature."

-"The light was only there for a moment, but looking back on it, I'm sure that it was the gun being fired."

-"The gunshot rang out from there, and everyone began to scatter as the victim came crashing down to the ground."

-"I grabbed my sister by the arm and dragged her out of the room. We didn't see the defendant pick up the gun since we were already gone by that point."

I nodded as I listened along to her testimony, a light frown on my face. "You saw the moment of the crime from the back then, didn't you?" I questioned.

"You got it. The victim was facing the audience at the time, so I saw her from behind. Still, it was easy enough to figure out what happened when blood splattered everywhere and she fell to the ground soon afterwards," Sora replied, speaking to me directly. After she was finished answering my question though, she began to address the courtroom at large. "I was in charge of my younger sister at the time, and I was just concentrated on making sure that nothing bad happened to her. That was when we got out of the gymnasium."

"I see... Defense, the time has come for your cross-examination," Judge Diaphan instructed as she glanced over in my direction.

"Of course, Your Honor," I replied. I knew what question had to be asked first, and I wasn't going to be holding back on it.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ Witnessing the Murder ~

-"I was at the judge's table with the other judges who were looking over the competition."

-"My younger sister was with me too since I didn't want to send her into the audience by herself."

-"We had gone through quite a few rounds of competition when the murder took place."

-"The victim was doing a routine with a few rings hanging from the ceiling, and that was when a small light could be seen from the audience."

-"It certainly stuck out to me at first because I didn't really expect to see anything of that nature."

-"The light was only there for a moment, but looking back on it, I'm sure that it was the gun being fired."

"Hold it!"

"We learned from Detective Wattson a while ago where the gunshot seemed to have come from. Can you back up such a theory?" I asked of her.

"I most certainly can. The light seemed to come from the bottom right area of the audience, and if I had to guess, I would say that it was anywhere from three to five rows up from the floor," Sora replied. "I'm afraid that I can't tell you all that much else though... I wasn't able to see all that much in the limited lighting. It was just a brief flash of color, and since I wasn't even concentrated on it at the time, I didn't really get the chance to check out what was happening with the person who had the gun."

"I see..." I murmured. It certainly did appear that the gunshot came from the bottom right area of the audience, though I supposed that wasn't going to be able to do all that much for me right now. After all, I couldn't entirely prove that KJ was in the locker room rather than the audience at the time of the murder. Until I could figure out a way to show that he wasn't the one who shot the gun beyond mere logical deduction, then I didn't really have much of a way to go from here.

"I couldn't tell you what happened with the gun after that either, but nearly everybody started to leave the gymnasium from there," Sora continued. "I already mentioned that I grabbed my sister by the arm and just started running, so I didn't really see what happened after that. However, I can say conclusively that there were no other gunshots after the single bullet that killed the victim. I'm confident that I would have heard that even above the screams of panic coming from the crowd."

"I can confirm that as well," Prosecutor Bespoke cut in. "There was only one bullet missing from the gun, so that means that a single bullet was fired at the scene of the crime."

I frowned as I glanced down to the bench before me. Venus nudged me with her elbow gently. "What's on your mind?" she questioned softly of me. "You seem to be pretty lost in thought."

I shook my head gently. "I'm not sure... It all just bothers me. Why would the culprit do this publicly?" I asked. "That's the one thing that I'm trying to figure out. As it stands now, this just... Doesn't make sense. After all, there would be a much higher chance of winding up caught in public."

"That means that we're just going to have to figure this out then," Venus assured me. She shifted her attention back to the witness stand a moment later. "Let's get through this cross-examination first and see what comes of it. We'll figure this out one way or another."

I nodded my agreement before I looked back to Sora as well. I wasn't sure where we were going to be headed from here, but there was only one way to find out.

Update time!

-Digital