Chapter 12
The Trial

Every light in Toni's apartment was out as she sat on the couch unwrapping and popping – whole – a Reese's cup into her mouth. She let it rest on her tongue as the chocolate began to melt. She flipped it towards her teeth and began chewing the melted mass into bits and swallowing them. She had eaten three before she took a sip of her drink that was suspended in air next to her.

She should have been at Leif's by now, but she needed some time alone. She felt depressed. "Genies aren't supposed to be depressed, are they?" she asked the empty room. Of course, that wasn't true. Genies often got depressed and their body parts began disappearing. But she wasn't that depressed. She just needed some time to sort out her feelings.

Her mind began to focus on the case tomorrow. They already had the presentation down, and she and Leif had gone over what would happen afterwards. They had everything they needed to catch Goldwyn in the act. Mentally she mapped out what would take place and what she needed to accomplish before hand. She would get herself up to Goldwyn's office early and later she and Leif would arrive at the court house together.

She sat up straighter. Did she have to continually keep thinking of him? Of course he was her Master and she had to think of him often, but this was ridiculous. She didn't have to think of him all the time. Although, she knew that was an exaggeration, it didn't seem too far away from the truth.

Across town, Leif was busy looking over the devices he'd rented for the occasion. He hoped that Toni could blink these small enough, but that they would still pick up sound properly. He picked up a small chip and turned it over in his hand.

He absently wondered where she was. After work she'd disappeared, he assumed to her apartment, but it did give him a few moments alone to reflect over the case tomorrow and the situation with Goldwyn.

Picking up his tape recorder he checked it to be sure it would work properly tomorrow after the trial. Before he'd finished he became aware of a presence in the room. Alarmed he turned to find Toni watching him from the doorway of his bedroom. "All working good?" she asked, almost pleasantly.

"Seems to be," he hit play to see if it had recorded. "Yep," he smiled.

"Are you ready to eat?"

"I could eat," he nodded. Before he'd finished, he could smell a spicy, delicious scent floating on the air.

"How exactly do you do that?"

"The same way I do all of it. I think about it."

"I see," he shook his head, clearly not able to.

The next morning sunshine bathed New York City as commuters bustled about their business. Toni stepped onto the street from her apartment building, her hand bag strap resting on her shoulder; she hailed a taxi and arrived at the office at her usual time. Unusually though, Leif was waiting for her. He opened the door for her as she asked. "Did you bring the stuff?" He held up a gym bag to indicate that he had as they entered the elevator.

Once on their floor and Toni was in her office she blinked herself small and into Goldwyn's office. She found appropriate place to place the devices and blinked them to those positions. With another, final blink she was back in her office at her normal height. "All done," she told Leif who was waiting there for her.

"Good," he moved files around on her desk. They were files pertaining to the case. After comparing the original copy she had made with those that were handed out to all of the members of the team, Toni had added the missing material to each of the copies. She wondered what Goldwyn thought of that when he opened his file that morning. "Are you ready to live feed that thing?"

"Of course," she replied, gathering up her supplies and stuffing them into her briefcase. After a few minutes they had everything they would need and headed to the street where they hailed a cab.

At the court house, they found Goldwyn, Placid and Charles waiting for them. Goldwyn was pacing back and forth on the pavement with his hands in his pockets. He seemed nervous. Leif and Toni exchanged glances. Beads of sweat lined the man's forehead as Placid rubbed his hands together. "You're late. We don't have all day for this," his voice was sharp, but Toni had learned that it was merely the man's manner. Even after all his years as a lawyer, going to trial made him snappish. She presumed that it meant he was simply nervous.

Once more they went over quick details and met their client. He was already seated at a table bent over a bowl of cereal, shoveling it in his mouth making crunching noises as he ate. "Well, boy, how's it going?" Martin Charles gave Johnson a friendly punch in the shoulder. Johnson looked up and nodded, giving the older man a thumb's up. "Good, good," Charles nodded. Toni always had the distinct feeling that Johnson never really heard or understood what they were saying.

The time had come. They all filed into the court room and rose as the bailiff announced the judge. When he was seated they resumed their seats. The prosecution began their arguments. Placid offered his counter.

For the next two hours, time seemed to drag by slowly. The prosecution and defense offered evidence to support their claims. Toni was pleased that her suggestions and Leif's had been used in the final draft of the defense plan. By the time court was dismissed for lunch, Placid was pleased with the flimsy evidence the prosecution had presented.

Toni noticed that Goldwyn had begun to sweat profusely. He was beginning to be worried, but she also noticed that he made a quick phone call before they returned to the court house after they'd eaten, and that seemed to put him in better spirits.

Court was back in session by one. It was slow getting started again. The prosecution had a few witnesses they called that were in their favor, but Placid easily discredit them with his questioning. It became apparent by this time that they were going to win the case. Placid had already said he was going to use the tape, regardless. It would seal their defense.

By this time, Goldwyn was squirming in his seat. Toni almost pitied his discomfort. When the TV and VCR were rolled into the court room, set up by technicians, he seemed to relax somewhat. He was hoping that this discrepancy in the defense would discredit their entire presentation. Toni knew that was what he was hoping.

Placid pushed in the tape while Toni, staring down at her hands in her lap, blinked. Snowy black and white and grey specks flittered across the screen. A satisfied smile flashed across Goldwyn's face. Then the screen was blue, she could feel relief flood through Goldwyn. But the scene popped up. It was a high quality surveillance video, but it was black and white. The detail of it was as if they were standing inside the camera itself watching the incident take place. She smiled to herself, pleased with the outcome. It reminded her of her grandmother's Past and Future machine.

Toni didn't miss Goldwyn's jaw dropping. She nudged Leif with her elbow and he nodded. He hadn't missed it either. Placid turned to the judge, satisfaction on his face. "This is surveillance videos from the store the night of the robbery," he began. "The original investigation did not bring this to light, but it was brought forward sometime later, Your Honor. That is all sir."

The judged retired to his chambers, but not for long. "With the evidence presented by the prosecuting attorneys and the defense and after careful consideration I have come to the decision that the defendant is not guilty," the judge pounded his gavel.

A general clamoring of congratulations and hand shaking passed between the defense team and Johnson and his family. Toni did not fail to miss the lack of enthusiasm from Ace Goldwyn. It wasn't a huge case, so to the casual observer it would not have seemed out of place, but to her and Leif, they knew why he was not as pleased with the outcome as the rest of them.

Johnson eagerly thanked each of them for their excellent service as they began gathering up their things and headed out the door. Goldwyn left with Placid and Charles while Toni and Leif left together. "So are you ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she responded. She was ready for the ordeal to be over with.

(To Be Continued…)