June 23

Courtroom No. 5

10:40 AM

Cotoli Morix

When I was hit with the realization, I might as well have been smacked with a pile of bricks. Chrysalis and Venus both looked up at me in vague confusion, desperate for me to elaborate any way I was willing. I took in a deep breath before I glanced up to the rest of the courtroom again a moment later. "The defense has a proposition for the court," I announced. "I have an idea specifically regarding what took place a short while ago when the gymnastics murder happened."

"What does that case have to do with the murder that we're solving right now?" Mr. Middleton questioned. "I do hope you aren't trying to distract me from the serious subject at hand."

I shook my head. "No, that isn't it at all... I should have realized just how odd it was back during that trial, but... I allowed it to be glossed over, and that was my mistake. I have to make up for it now, and I'm hoping this will be the perfect time to make things right," I went on. "You see, the case revolved around the victim being killed for her part in an evidence forgery trial. Of course, we didn't realize that was what it was at the time, but there was a back alley deal taking place when she just so happened to walk by an area near the crime scene not long ago. She caught it on video, and just like that, a trial started to try and figure out what happened. The truth was ultimately left obscured, and then... She was killed. I was sure that would be the end of it at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I realize just how wrong I was to operate under that assumption."

I let out a small sigh before I went on. "You see, the video that the victim of that case took... I wondered where it disappeared to," I continued. "We heard from none other than the current witness of this case that it was deleted at some point, and that should have struck a much deeper nerve than it did. I should have seen that as the clue that something was wrong, but I allowed it to pass me by... The truth is probably something that should have been in plain sight but just barely managed to avoid us."

"What are you trying to imply?" Ghastly questioned, confusion written clearly on his face. "You know what happened to the video?"

"It wouldn't have made any sense for the victim of that case to delete the video that was such crucial evidence. She would have wanted to hold tightly to that if possible, but instead, it was completely destroyed. Beyond that, the copy in the legal system's evidence files was also destroyed, and that implies that somebody involved with the legal world was able to get their hands on it and didn't want anybody else to see it," I told him. "Now... I believe the pieces are starting to come together."

"You can't mean..." Ghastly began to say, but he trailed off a moment later, his expression overcome with sudden stress as he started to put the pieces together. "You can't be serious."

"I am," I replied. "I believe the witness currently on the stand was the one who got rid of the video by deleting it from the phone of the victim from the gymnastics case. On top of that, he has more than enough in terms of legal connections to get his hands on the other copy of the video and delete it so that nobody would have been able to look at it."

"Do you hear how ridiculous you sound?" Mr. Middleton asked. "I was friends with the victim of that case. Do you really think I wanted her to die? Of course not! That wouldn't have done anybody a lick of good, so why do you think I would want her dead? Because I'm part of this evidence forging ring? You don't have any evidence. Surely you understand the importance of proof in the courtroom. After all, that just so happens to be part of your job, doesn't it?"

"I think you were allying yourself with the culprit of that case," I cut in before he could do anything else to taunt me. I refused to rise to his bait, and he was going to have to deal with that on his own terms. "I believe that you were working with one Erin Rowland to kill the victim and make sure the video didn't spread beyond what had already happened. I think you worked to cover up the victim's death and pretended to be on her side so nobody would try to catch you out. Besides, that would put you in a position of trust, and that was all it took for you to get your hands on the phone."

"There is one problem with that line of logic," Mr. Middleton pointed out. "You say that I was the accomplice of Ms. Rowland in that case, but if that was the case, you would expect her to be fully aware of the fact that I had the phone in my possession. She wouldn't have gone around digging for it if she knew that somebody on her side had it, would she? Do you have an explanation for that?"

"I'm going to claim poor communication here," Chrysalis interjected before anybody could get say anything to the contrary. "I don't think it's out of the question for us to say that you and her weren't in much of a position to communicate easily given the circumstances behind the case, and that could have easily led to a few problems between you."

"Poor communication? That's the reason that all of this happened?" Mr. Middleton asked. "I would have expected someone working so closely with the legal system to be a bit sharper when it came to proposing theories, but I suppose I was wrong."

"And I would have expected someone working in the legal system was trustworthy, but I suppose everything always comes into more clarity when you're being stabbed in the back," Chrysalis snapped back, her eyes fixed in a glare against Mr. Middleton. "You're a cunning man. Anybody can see that given how easily you were able to string everybody along during that last case. I think it's easy enough to assume that there's more to this situation than meets the eye... And by that, I mean that it wouldn't be out of the question for you to distance yourself to make sure that nothing happened for you to be wrapped up in the mess of this case."

"It was the safest option for you both to stay as far away from each other as possible, but in the end, all that did is open a gaping hole for your coworker to fall right into. You were trying to get your hands on the evidence and ultimately destroy it before it could get into the wrong hands. You knew that this was the only way to keep the truth quiet, and that was all the reasoning you needed to go after the victim of the gymnastics case. You pretended to be her ally, but you ultimately played her for a fool the same way you did with everybody else," I told him.

"If he truly is involved with the evidence forging ring, then it would make sense why he was trying to keep himself hidden on the night of the crime," Ghastly commented. "You were never seen by either of the other witnesses to the crime, Mr. Middleton. I find that to be peculiar... But I suppose they wouldn't have been able to see the killer as they were escaping the crime scene given the circumstances."

Mr. Middleton looked over to Ghastly next, his eyes starting to slip into something cruel. "I would have expected a prosecutor to do a bit more to challenge the ridiculous thought processes of the defense in a time like this," he commented. "I thought the job of lawyers in a courtroom was to push back against each other until the truth is uncovered. Instead, it seems like all you two know how to do is work together until you find something you're satisfied with. I don't think that exactly fits into the category of finding the truth if you're always bending to the whims of the other for some reason or another."

I was taken aback by his words for a few beats, my eyes going wide at his accusation. It was hardly the most ridiculous thing to happen in this trial, but it still felt like a knife to the chest regardless. Mr. Middleton turned his gaze in my direction next, and I could already feel my stomach starting to sink into my feet. "You impressed me at first, Mr. Morix. I thought it was amazing how a lawyer was able to win so many cases right off the bat despite not having any past experience, though I see now that the truth is much uglier when the mask is pulled back," he said. "I think that you and Prosecutor Bespoke have been working together for some reason or another, and that's the reason that you've been able to win so many of your cases. I thought you had legitimate talent, but I suppose that all you two know how to do is gang up on people and accuse them until something breaks. Can you really say in good conscience that you're doing the right thing?"

My eyes narrowed at him, but I was ultimately cut off from speaking when Chrysalis raised one hand and slammed it roughly down onto the bench in front of us. She turned her eyes up to Mr. Middleton and glared at him with everything she had, keeping enough vitriol behind her gaze to immediately pin him in the spot. He didn't show his surprise, but I did see the way he tensed up ever so slightly under her anger. "You don't know what you're talking about," she said, her voice almost dangerously level for how upset she was.

Mr. Middleton did what he could to recover a moment later, and he shook his head. "I believe I know exactly what I'm saying. I gave you the chance for peace, and yet, you ultimately turned it down. That was your mistake, and now, I'm doing what I can to poke holes in your logic. Is that not what lawyers are meant to do? It's a shame that Prosecutor Bespoke isn't the one doing this, but I suppose it's better to be done at all rather than simply letting him skip out on his job and leave everything unfinished," he commented harshly.

"You're too afraid to admit the truth behind everything you've been doing," Chrysalis announced, her voice starting to edge on something that seemed to scrape against my mind before I could fully register what was happening. "You've been getting your verdicts by false evidence, haven't you? I know that it's terrifying to have to admit the truth of everything you've been doing, but I'm not going to give you much of a choice in the matter. Nobody here is going to offer you the opportunity to get away with everything you've done. We all know what you did, and you can hide it all you want, but every road in front of you just leads back to the truth of you being the guilty party. You can surrender now and make this easier on all of us... Or we can do this the hard way."

"I thought you would know better than to be so harsh to people who are supposed to be your friends," Mr. Middleton told her, and I was starting to get the impression that Chrysalis was right. Perhaps he was trying to push off the inevitable even though it seemed as if we were still missing the last few pieces needed to make everything come together.

"You were never my friend. You were never the ally of any of us, as a matter of fact," Chrysalis countered. "If you were, then we wouldn't be in this situation right now, but I think we know better than to be sucked into our thoughts of the past when handling what's right in front of us. You tried to deceive us, but there are some things that you simply can't falsify in full."

Judge Diaphan reached for her gavel and brought it down, and that was enough to bring a close to the tense conversation between Mr. Middleton and my sister. Everyone glanced up to Judge Diaphan carefully, waiting for her to make her next move. "I believe the defense and prosecution will both need to offer a bit more in terms of conclusive evidence in order to make the pieces of this case come together in full," she announced. "It does seem as if someone aside from the defendant was responsible for the death of the victim, but that alone is not enough to end this trial once and for all. If you believe that the current witness was responsible for the case, then I would like to hear about any other evidence you may have to prove it."

That was where I went tense, and I found myself glancing over to Chrysalis and Venus. The latter had pressed her thumb in front of her mouth and was seemingly resisting the urge to bite the nail away from her skin, and I could tell she was starting to get worked up even though she had done her best to hide it up to this point. "What are we supposed to do now? There's so little in terms of evidence behind this case, and I don't know where we're even supposed to start when it comes to figuring out what happened," Venus hissed to me. "I know there has to be evidence to show what really took place that night, but... I can't find it. Why can't we figure this out?"

I looked down at the bench in front of me, a frown appearing on my face. I didn't know where I was supposed to go from here in terms of figuring out what was necessary to find the truth, but I knew that we had to figure it out one way or another. I wasn't going to let the truth of this case fly away without a fight. I may have been clueless in terms of finding the next step, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. There had to be something left behind, but where were we supposed to look when the crime scene was so barren? The writing in blood on the ground wasn't going to be able to help us out at all, so what else could we look to? We had an explanation for the bullet in the wall, so that probably wasn't going to mean much of anything. It didn't seem as if the crime scene was going to have anything that was going to be able to help us find the truth.

But... Maybe it didn't have to.

I wasn't quite sure as to where I was going with this, but something told me that I was going to have to look at this case through a different lens to figure out the truth. Maybe there wasn't any evidence at the scene of the crime to help us. If that was the case, where could we look to find something that would have been able to seal the deal for us? That sounded like as good a place to start as any.

If he was involved with the evidence forging ring the way we were starting to suspect, there had to be some proof behind that. I was sure that he wouldn't be able to clean up all the clues that may have been left behind, and the best first step I could think of was to see if there was anything that might prove his involvement with the group. That would give him a motive to kill the victim for investigating the case, and when that was added with what had happened at the gymnastics competition, surely we would be able to figure out the full extent of what was going on behind the scenes of this case. That was the hope, at the very least, and I wasn't going to give up on it just yet.

I glanced up to where Ghastly was standing, and he met my gaze carefully, seeming to be able to sense that there was something important on my mind. "The defense requests that an investigation be carried out in relation to the witness' past cases. If he's involved with the evidence forgery ring, then there has to be some evidence left behind. I believe it would be best if we did what we could to see what proof we can find in terms of his past actions," I announced through gritted teeth, though I could already tell it wasn't going to be that simple. How could it be?

Mr. Middleton seemed to be intent on being the first person to make this much harder for me than it had to be, and he let out a small chuckle before shaking his head. "It's almost sad... The way that you think of me is pathetic," he said softly. "I accused you of being unable to solve cases without relying on somebody else, and your solution is to turn around and claim that I'm forging evidence to get my not guilty verdicts? I came as far as I did purely through hard work. I know what I'm doing, and I'm not going to let you get in the way of that. You can make as many claims as you want, but we both know it isn't going to ring true at the end of the day."

"You were hoping to take on this case in the beginning, weren't you?" Venus questioned, though I could tell she was struggling to keep her composure in the face of the unfortunate situation at hand. She wanted to be able to trust him but knew it wasn't going to be so simple, and that was the worst part of this entire situation: the fact that we were being stabbed in the back no matter how hard we tried to avoid it. "You wanted to look after this case because you thought you would be able to manipulate the facts in a way that would help you to get away with murder."

Mr. Middleton glanced over to her, curiosity starting to bloom on his features. "You seem awfully certain of that... But I believe we both know that simply claiming such a thing isn't going to cut it in terms of evidence," he pointed out. "If you want me to believe everything you're saying, I would like you to provide proof for it. If I really was going to take on this case to somehow manipulate it, then where's your evidence? Being a lawyer means using proof for everything, and if you don't have any evidence to back up your claims, then you have no choice but to be cast aside along with your words. You don't know what you're involving yourself with, and it would be best if you backed away before you found yourself as part of something you're going to regret."

"What are we supposed to do about this?" Venus asked as she turned to me and Chrysalis. "We know what happened the day of the murder, but we can't find any evidence to back it up, so... Is this just it? Did he do too good of a job for us to be able to catch him at this game of his?"

I was quiet for a long moment at those words, not wanting to admit outright that Mr. Middleton was doing a good job of keeping us from figuring out what happened but knowing regardless that this was exactly what was happening. I bit down on my lip and stared down at the bench in front of me. There had to be something that we were missing out on, and if we couldn't find it, we were as good as doomed.

"You wouldn't know what you were looking for even if you did look into my previous cases," Mr. Middleton pointed out as he continued. "You don't know what evidence of mine could be forged. For the record, none of it is because I know how to do my job in cases where you do not. I've earned my reputation through hard work, but you get through your cases by accusing people without any rhyme or reason. One day, you're going to learn that your luck runs out eventually. You've come so far based on pure chance, but that will end sooner or later, and when it does, you'll be wishing you had accepted my offer to work at my agency."

I would have been lying if I said that I at all felt good about this situation. In fact, I felt as if the world was collapsing around me, and I didn't exactly know how I was supposed to push myself free of the rubble with the chaos rattling around in my ribcage. There had to be a way to prove what happened, but he just wasn't going to admit it until we were able to figure something else out. What were we missing? There had to be something out there, but what was it?

"We know that you must have done this," Chrysalis snarled as she glared at Mr. Middleton. "You weren't seen in the area of the crime scene despite your claims that you were there. I feel like you were running as far away from the crime scene as possible, and you hung out around the building because you wanted to throw us off the scent. You knew that we had figured out the defendant didn't do it, and you were desperate to keep us from figuring out what you actually did."

"You can claim such a thing all you want, but that doesn't mean it will ring true. Until you are able to find substantial evidence of what I did or did not do on the night of the murder, I will not be confessing to anything. You won't be able to pressure me into admitting something I didn't do," Mr. Middleton announced, but I could feel the cynicism and taunting aura of his words. He was trying to get to us, and he was actually coming close to throwing everybody against us in the courtroom. It felt like we were fumbling in the dark and couldn't find anything that would reveal the truth behind the case, and all I could do was wait for something to appear before me when I knew it was never going to be that simple. How could it be?

"Your Honor, if you don't mind..."

A familiar voice cut through the haze in my mind, and I did my best to snap out of everything that was screaming at the back of my head. When I glanced up, I was met with the sight of none other than D. She was walking toward the witness stand, and she didn't seem to care at all about the fact that she was breaking regular courtroom protocols to call attention to something in the midst of the discussion I was having with Mr. Middleton. Her gaze was even, and she pretended to not notice the way some people in the gallery were glaring at her.

Judge Diaphan had seemingly grown tired of my argument with Mr. Middleton, and she let out a sigh before looking down to D. "What is it, witness?" she questioned, not even bothering to push D back to the bench where the witnesses were meant to be sitting. Somehow, that only made me feel worse about this entire situation, and I hadn't even thought that was possible with how dreadful everything else had already proven itself to be.

"I think I have an idea that may help to solve this case faster," D announced. "I believe it would be for the best if an investigation was carried out regarding the witness' belongings to see if he just so happens to be hiding the murder weapon there. The bullets from the crime are still fully intact, so that means a ballistic test would be easy to carry out if the gun was located and tested by the forensics team. All we need to do is find it, and from there, the pieces should fall into place. If the witness just so happens to own the gun, that should be all the proof necessary to reveal the truth behind this case."

Mr. Middleton looked over at her with his eyes starting to narrow into a glare. "You don't know what you're doing," he told her, his voice remaining cool and composed even though it was laced with icicles at the edges. "This isn't an affair you should get yourself involved with. It has nothing to do with you, and I would prefer if you stepped away from the matter before you found yourself at the heart of trouble."

"I think you're trying to keep us from investigating the truth behind this case," D replied, not missing a beat as she started at him critically. "I want to discover the truth behind what took place the night of the murder as well, but you're doing quite a bit to keep that from happening. You arguing with the defense may be a distraction in terms of what goes on within the courtroom, but that won't keep the investigation outside of the courtroom from closing in on what truly happened on the night of the murder."

"What do you say, Your Honor?" Ghastly questioned, regaining his composure carefully even though I could tell he was just as rattled as I was. Ghastly was doing a much better job of hiding it than I was, but he was worried about how this case was going to unfold, and D's idea was as good a place to start as any in both of our opinions. "Do you think we should focus on carrying out a sidebar investigation to find out where the gun is?"

"You aren't going to be able to find the murder weapon," Mr. Middleton announced. "If it wasn't at the scene of the crime, do you really think the culprit would be foolish enough as to bring it back to their home? It doesn't make any sense. If you believe that anyone would be that ridiculous, then perhaps you deserve to not discover what took place on the night of the murder."

Judge Diaphan did what she could to ignore his comments, and she nodded down at D. "If you think it's for the best, you may go ahead," she said carefully. D nodded at that, and she approached Q before seizing his wrist and pulling him out of the courtroom. Something about her seemed more intense than usual, and I frowned at the sight of them disappearing through the doors of the room. There was something going on with D, and while I wasn't sure of what it was yet, I knew it was just a matter of time before I figured it out... Or so I hoped. I supposed it was hard to say for sure if we would find the truth behind this case given the circumstances, and that thought alone was enough to make my stomach twist.

"What are we supposed to do?" Venus asked as she looked over to me, anxiety seeping its way into her voice. "It feels like we're still no closer to figuring out what happened on the night of the crime, and it's just a matter of time before all of this is deemed pointless and Mr. Middleton is given the chance to go. What if we're wrong? What are we going to do if we've been wrongly accusing him of the crime all this time?"

This was the most anxious I had seen Venus, and as much as I hated to say it, I didn't know how to calm her down. Chrysalis did what she could regardless though, and she reached one hand out to touch Venus' arm gently. The taller girl glanced down at Chrysalis, though I could tell she was still shaken. "You're alright," Chrysalis assured her carefully. "I know it might seem intimidating right now, but I'm sure we're right on this. Mr. Middleton... I knew something was off about him, and I'm confident that we're going down the right path. He might not be willing to admit it right now, but he's not going to have much of a choice as long as we're involved with this case."

Venus nodded carefully at those words, though it was obvious that she didn't entirely believe what Chrysalis was saying. Her anxiety was still palpable, and she glanced over to me a moment later, desperate for me to say something that would make this situation at all easier to deal with. "What are we going to do from here?" she asked of me cautiously, though I could tell she was picking each word with as much care as possible, not wanting to slip up and say something she would regret.

I closed my eyes solemnly, wishing I had an easy answer for that, but... The fact of the matter was that I didn't know what to do. There had to be a solution to this case, but what was it? Why couldn't we even come close to figuring out what was happening? My stomach twisted, and I stared down at my hands helplessly. There had to be an answer... But why couldn't we find it?

What were we supposed to do?

Update time! This case is intense

-Digital