When Piper comes from upstairs with Ben in her arms, she's very surprised to find Leo, Cole and Sarsour sitting together in the sunroom.
"Do you boys need anything?" she says, giving Leo an inquisitive look.
"No, thanks, honey," he says.
"Okay," she says, still intrigued. "Ben and I will be upstairs, then."
Piper almost starts to say something else, then changes her mind and just leaves with Ben.
"Now," says Cole, picking up the first cardboard, "let's work."
"Right," says Sarsour, finishing his ice cream.
"So," says Cole, "one of the prosecution assertions is that you were seen in the surroundings of the granary quite often on the past couple of months. Why is that, Sarsour?"
"I told you," says Sarsour, fumbling with the spoon, "I had business there."
"At the granary? What kind of business?" Cole pursues.
"Well," says Sarsour, "not quite at the granary."
"Then, where?"
"At the Market Square."
Cole sighs heavily.
"Sarsour," he says, "we don't have all day, and you know that. What kind of business, and with who? All kinds of creatures frequent those markets."
"Well, if you must know..."
"I do."
"I went there to meet my cousin."
"I didn't know your father had any siblings," says Cole, surprised.
"He didn't," says Sarsour. "My mother did."
"Your m... What?"
"I've been in touch with my mother's family for the last few months. My cousin Tadrien has business with some guys at the Market Square, so I went there to meet him."
"Really?" says Cole, all thoughts about the case momentarily forgotten. "And how did it go?"
"Actually, it was fine. He's a nice guy. Told me things about my mother, and introduced me to my other cousins... I even have some nephews and nieces: it turns out my mother had a daughter, too -- a fully elf daughter."
"That's great," says Cole, smiling. "So they don't have a problem with you being half demon?"
"Well, it seems that elves are kind of used to having half breeds around," says Sarsour, "they don't make such a big deal of it. Actually, they consider me not so much a half demon / half elf guy as an elf with some demonic blood."
Leo politely hides his mouth behind his hand and fakes a cough, and Cole himself can barely suppress a smile at his "elf friend".
"That's why I think things will work better for me in their town," Sarsour continues, not noticing their amusement.
"In their town?" says Cole, arching his eyebrows.
"Uh, yes. They said I'd be welcome there, and I decided to accept the offer."
"So, you're leaving the Underworld?" says Cole, utterly surprised.
"Well, yes" says Sarsour. "You see, things have become rather riotous down there since, uh... since you and your wife left. There have been some attempts to take the throne, but so far the Underworld remains in anarchy. It's not so bad for the upper level demons, 'cause they get to do whatever they want, without a Source to boss them around, but for guys like me... talk about hazardous environment."
"I see," says Cole. "Well, I'm glad things are working out for you and, if your kin say you're an elf..." -- he throws his hands up, smiling -- "who am I to disagree?"
Then he adds, in a more serious manner:
"And this is good for our case, too: part of the prosecution case is based on your suspicious presence in the vicinity of the granary. Now, with your cousin's testimony..."
"Is it really necessary?" Sarsour asks. Seeing Cole's surprised look, he explains, slightly embarrassed: "Some of my relatives have never seen me: I didn't want them to see me for the first time while I'm sitting in the defendant's seat."
"Would you rather have them meet you during your execution?" Cole asks.
"You're right," sighs Sarsour. "I'll tell the court officer where to find Tadrien..."
"Come on," says Cole, slapping his shoulder, "they know about your past, don't they? I don't think a trial -- on which you're gonna be found not guilty, by the way -- is gonna scare them away. Believe me," he adds with a smirk, "once people decide you're family, it's virtually impossible to get rid of them."
Leo smiles briefly at Cole's remark, but says nothing. Meanwhile, having cracked a smile from Sarsour, Cole writes Tadrien's name on the cardboard he's been holding.
"Also," he adds, "it'll remind the jury of your elven ancestry, which is very good, too. Trolls may not like elves, but they find them much more trustable than demons. Now," he says, moving to the next card, "they also claim that you had full knowledge of the granary's operation: safety measures, guard schedules, floor plans... Did you?
"No."
"Well, lack of knowledge is hard to prove," says Cole, "but as long as the prosecution can't prove otherwise, I think we can handle this." -- he looks at the third cardboard -- "Now, here's a tough one: they caught you inside the granary on the day after the robbery. Covering your tracks, according to, uh... Flint. What?" he says, seeing Sarsour twitch his mouth.
"Flint is a swindler," says Sarsour. "He owns me money, but he won't admit it. That's why I was there: to ask for the money he lost on gambling. And then all those guards came out of nowhere, saying I was a spy..."
"And you tried to run away?" says Cole, reading the card.
"Well, yes," Sarsour admits, "they were big, and they were angry, and there were a whole lot of them. I ran, but they cornered me."
"I see your point," says Cole, "but you have to agree that it made you look quite suspicious."
He toys with the card in his hand for a while, then writes the word "gamble" next to Flint's name.
"And I suppose there's no one that would confirm your story?"
"No," says Sarsour, dejectedly, "that's why he keeps denying it: he knows I can't prove it."
Cole rolls the card around in his hand, pensively, then says:
"Okay, forget about the debt for a while. Has anyone seen you discuss this matter with him? Anyone that could testify that you had been claiming he owned you money for... how long?"
"Two weeks," says Sarsour. "There are the guys who work in the granary with him."
"Names, Sarsour, names."
"Cliff. And Moraine. They both have seen me ask for my money. But they also have seen him say he owns me nothing."
"Still," says Cole, writing the names down, "let's see what we can do with this."
He writes the names of Tadrien, Flint, Cliff and Moraine on a blank card and gives it to Sarsour, saying:
"Tell the court officer that these are the guys I want summoned for the trial."
"So," says Sarsour, smiling anxiously, "do you think I stand a chance?"
Despite of the doubts he holds, Cole never flinches as he says:
"Sure. The prosecutor told me the trial will be on Thursday, and I'll have everything ready by then." -- he glances at his watch -- "Hum! Time does fly when we're having fun."
"Is our time over?" Sarsour asks.
"I'm afraid so," says Cole. "But don't worry: I didn't have any more questions, one way or the other."
"Okay," says Sarsour, standing up. "Again, thank you, my friend." he says, as he and Cole shake hands.
"You're welcome," says Cole. He lets go of Sarsour's hand and watches as he shimmers out.
After Sarsour is gone, Cole's smile vanishes, and he turns his attention to his notes with a sigh.
"You don't look so confident now," says Leo, watching as he collects the cards.
"This case is a hard nut to crack," says Cole.
"Is it?" says Leo, intrigued. "It seems to me that they only have circumstantial evidences on him."
"It's a trolls' court, Leo, not a human court." -- Cole chuckles, despite of himself -- "There's no such thing as circumstantial evidence, as there's no 'innocent until proven guilty', no Miranda rights, no second instances. Whether you get in the good graces of the jury, or you don't. And this jury consists of twelve very upset trolls that have worked hard for the past nine months just to see the fruit of their work be stolen. They are willing to take it on someone. Anyone."
"It really sounds worse when you put it that way," says Leo, grimacing. He hears the familiar chiming sound inside his head and adds: "I gotta go. Good luck."
"Thanks," says Cole.
After Leo orbs out, he spreads the cardboards over the table, takes a notepad and starts to sketch out his strategy.
