Chapter Fifteen
In Court

Oops, was Syaoran's first thought as he got up. He had forgotten to change out of his damp clothes before he went to bed which meant that he'd have a cold by tonight. How wonderful.

It was 7:30 in the morning and Li was due in the courthouse at one. He got up and took a shower, wondering what Sakura would be doing at that moment.

Sakura was sleeping when her alarm went off and rudely interrupted her dream. She blinked in the harsh morning light and grumbled. Sitting up and yawning, Sakura tried to remember what her dream had been about.

She had been walking in a forest glade, some time shortly after sunset by the look of things, yet there was a strange glowing sort of light that was too perfect to have come from the stars or even the moon. Looking up, she saw shimmers of golden lights in the treetops. Sakura had a feeling she had been through this before – with Yukito, back when she had been young . . . er. Eagerly, she looked around for Yukito, but she couldn't find him . . . she did find someone. But that had been the point that her alarm went off.

Cursing herself for setting the time so early, Sakura hesitantly got out of bed. She had to go to work today if she was going to leave early this afternoon, and she had two manuscripts waiting for her, and three calls to make to her eager authors.

The plan was for Julian to pick her up at 11:30, have lunch, then head over to the courthouse at 1:00.

Oh God, she thought. The courthouse. I totally forgot.

Groaning inwardly, Sakura turned on the shower.

Syaoran got out of his car slowly, partly because he didn't really want to be there, and partly because his car was surrounded by reporters.

"No comment, no comment, etcetera, etcetera, leave me alone and let me drink my coffee . . . "

Somehow he got into the courtroom . . . somehow.

Sakura looked out the window of the café.

"Yes," Sakura said. "It is a beautiful day. I love the city this time of year. Now, and spring."

"Why is that?" Julian asked her, taking a sip of his cappuccino.

"It's nicely in the middle," Sakura said. "It's windy," she said, "but that's good because it blows up the leaves which gives the air crimson hue. The sun shines vibrantly, that doesn't mean that the day will be scorching. After it rains, when or if it rains, the air is clear of any pollution and leaves bright, white, fluffy clouds that I can see from my office whenever my eyes wander. It's just . . . nice." Turning her face from the window, Sakura smiled shyly at Julian.

"Was I running my mouth off again?" Sakura asked a grinning Julian. "I tend to do that sometimes."

"Yeah," Julian said, jokingly. "But I enjoyed it."

Smiling again, Sakura said, "Well, it's already 12:30. If we don't leave soon we're not going to make it to the trial."

They got up and Julian helped Sakura into her coat.

"I'm not sure why I put all these layers on, exactly," Sakura said. She was wearing formal khaki slacks, a crisp white longsleeve blouse, a cream colored poncho, and a heavy white denim coat. "I guess it must have been really chilly this morning."

"It might get pretty chilly in that courtroom too," Julian said, sadly. "When tempers aren't 110 degrees Fahrenheit."

"I read your article on Mr. Evans in Envy a few months ago," Sakura said. "Is that why they're having cover his case?"

"Yeah – the newspaper wants some of my prior knowledge of this guy," Julian said. Lowering his voice, he continued, "There were a few things I wasn't allowed to print in my article for Envy that The Times were interested in."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say this guy has quite a few skeletons in his closet," Julian said. "And I have a good feeling that he paid off the senior editors of the magazine. My editor told me that she had been overruled on the decision to print my original article. It was either leave stuff out or lose my job."

"My God!" Sakura said. "Was it really that bad?"

Julian shrugged. "I just hope that this guy finally gets his due. I wouldn't be surprised if he did try to have that poor woman killed."

Sakura blinked. "I suppose that would make today pretty memorable."

"Yup," Julian said, waving his arm for a taxi. He helped Sakura in.

Syaoran got up heavily. The prosecution had almost totally annihilated his case with facts about Mr. Evans that Syaoran, the man's attorney, had not even known. . . but it wasn't over yet.

He stood before the judge and jury. Pausing a moment before speaking, he cleared his throat and said, "Wow."

The jury blinked at him. Syaoran shook his head and looked at Mr. Evans. "That must really make my client look like a monster. A past of drug abuse, extortion, adultery . . . things that no moral man would ever do."

Again, Syaoran got blank stares.

"What the hell is he doing?" Julian said to Sakura, scribbling like a madman on his notepad. "He's not exactly helping his client's case."

Sakura was staring at Syaoran with wide eyes. "To tell you the truth, I think that he may just be trying to do that – the moral thing and just let Evans hang."

Julian looked at her, before beginning to scribble once more. "If only," was all he said.

"Mistakes," Syaoran continued. "All of those. Mistakes that my client has already paid for. As a teen, he experimented with the works: drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. But then again, so did most of his peers; stinking, filthy rich, neglected, kids, the lot of them. They had parents who weren't around, and they had money to burn. So what could they do? What would any kid have done? It turned out Sean Evans did go down to the Dark Side. And what did he get out of it? A temporary high, and a lifetime of having his mistakes thrown in his face. He almost didn't get into school because of his problems with self-control. But the admissions committee decided to give a troubled teen a second chance. My client committed adultery. It's true. I'm not going to lie in court – I swore an oath."

There were titters in the crowd.

"Yes, Sean Evans cheated on his wife. That was a severe error in judgment on his part. He also paid dearly for that mistake as well: his wife dumped his sorry ass."

The judge banged his gravel. "Skating on thin ice, Mr. Li. Watch your language, or I shall have to hold you in contempt."

"Point taken, your honor," Syaoran said, but he could see the smiles forming on the faces of the jury. "Let me rephrase that. Evans committed adultery and he got the ending to a marriage that he thoroughly deserved, and he's admitted it himself.

"My client has made mistakes – we all do. Maybe not to the extent that some have, like Mr. Evans here, but we all make mistakes. But Sean Evans would not commit murder. No, because that, that my friends, would be stupid, and Evans is not a stupid man. Many would call him among the shrewdest men in business. Murder carries too much of a cost, too big a price to pay, and, people of the jury, I assure you that no one knows better of consequences for one's mistakes better than Sean Evans . . . because thanks to the prosecution here, we know just how many mistakes he's made.

"And speaking of the prosecution," Syaoran said, turning to face his opponent. Both women raised their eyebrows at him. "They came to this court accusing my client of this crime, yet they bring no evidence to support this."

"Objection, your honor!" the prosecutor cried.

"On what grounds, Ms. Charleston?" the judge asked.

"On . . . I don't know, your honor," she said, sitting back down. Her client stared at her incredulously.

"They have no evidence supporting their claim that Mr. Evans tried to kill the widowed Mrs. Harvey. And with all due respect to the late Mr. Harvey, the prosecution has no respectable reason to presume that his death had anything to do with my client.

"Mr. Evans has no motive, unless the assumptions made by the prosecution are true, but they can not prove their accusations correct. Mr. Evans no opportunity to kill either of the Harveys. He has his alibi. Could he have hired a hitman? Yes. Did the prosecution find this hitman? No, they did not. Even if they did find the person who killed Mr. Harvey, and tried to kill Mrs. Harvey, they would find that their original theories leading to Mr. Evans' guilt mistaken.

"That brings this case down to a nutshell. Mr. Evans, the defendant, is a man of many mistakes, or repentance, and of atonement. Mrs. Harvey is a single mother, whose husband is dead, and she's looking for answers. With all due respect to her, I believe that she is looking in the wrong place. Every effort she has put into finding her husband's killer, to defend both herself and her child, all her work was well intended . . . but not at the expense of my client. Not at the expense of this, ordinary man."

"With all due respect, Mr. Li," the prosecutor interrupted, getting to her feet. "I could hardly call Mr. Evans an ordinary man. Look at all the things he's done, all the money, the power he holds – " her voice was rising and her eyes flashing in anger.

"Ms. Charleston," the judge said in a warning tone. She sat back down.

"Fair enough," Syaoran said. "But when I said 'ordinary man' I did not quite mean that he was the average Joe. A better way to put it would be to say that Mr. Evans is only a man. He makes mistakes. He has admitted to mistakes. He has paid for mistakes. All that I am saying is that this is a mistake that he did not make. Thank you."

Syaoran sat down quietly and most of the courtroom applauded.

Amidst the din, Julian said quietly to Sakura, "I guess this is why they call him the best lawyer in the business."

Sakura nodded, and hoped Julian didn't see her gulp.

"You know what?" Sakura said to Julian. "I don't think my nerves can handle this much anymore."

"What?"

"The tension's a little much," Sakura said. "If this were a movie, I'd skip through it to the very end."

"But you'd be missing the best part."

"Maybe. Just tell me how it ends, okay? I'll be in the hospital visiting my friend, Tomoyo."

"I'm sorry, is she okay?"

"Oh! Nothing like that – she works there."

"Oh, okay. That's a relief. You sure you don't want to stay?"

"Yeah," Sakura said. "I have to get back to work pretty soon anyway."

"All right. I'll tell you how it ends. I may even show you my article in advance. I'll call you tonight, okay?"

"Yeah, see ya."

Sakura stepped out of the courtroom, which was buzzing with reporters on their cell phones, and gossiping bystanders. There was only one section of people, right behind the prosecutor that was solemn.

Putting on her coat, Sakura crashed into somebody and they both fell to the floor.