May 5

Courtroom No. 3

10:40 AM

Lily Shield

For a few heavy beats after the accusation came out, the courtroom was silent and motionless. Ms. Venia was tense behind the stand, and she regarded me with shock, though she wasn't as surprised as I would have expected. She almost seemed to have expected this to happen, though she didn't say that openly. Instead, all she did was watch me, waiting for me to move and say that all of this was part of some twisted joke. "You can't be serious," she muttered. "You can't really think that I was the one who killed the victim."

"Do you think that I would have said that you were the one behind all of this if I didn't believe it?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. "I think that you're the one who caused the victim's death, and you've been lying to cover it all up. Would you be willing to testify about everything you saw at the time of the murder? That's the only way to clear up these suspicions?"

"You act like I have a choice!" Ms. Venia cried out with a glare. "You're accusing me of killing someone! Of course I need to push back against you, and you know that! You're trying to make me out to be a murderer because you don't have a case and you know it."

"That's not true," Yuri countered. "We already stated that the defendant's supposed motive for murder of killing the victim to get into the files wouldn't make any sense. If that was what she was trying to do, then she would have probably just reached out to the headmaster. We could ask him if she had gone to him to ask about it too. If she wasn't there for anything like that, then we can say that she wasn't trying to get her hands on the files."

"But the computer was still hacked into, and the other witnesses who were close to the scene of the crime had alibis in one another," I continued. "You, on the other hand... I have to wonder what you were up to before all of this. Where were you before the witnesses crossed paths with you and started to talk to you about the murder that had just taken place?"

"I think that would be the perfect place for us to begin this testimony," Judge Frost began with a small but jubilant smile. "Go on and tell the court what it is that you were doing before you ended up near the scene of the crime."

Ms. Venia snarled at that before adjusting her blazer to try and seem more composed than she actually felt. "You're all making a mistake... I wasn't the one who killed the victim, and you're going to see that soon enough," she muttered bitterly. "It doesn't matter how much you want to ignore the truth. It's not something that you can silence so easily."

"Then help us to figure out just what happened," Prosecutor Lin suggested from across the courtroom. She was wearing a gentle smile on her features, no doubt a gesture intended to calm Ms. Venia down, but I didn't think it was going to work.

Sure enough, Ms. Venia was still aggressive when she huffed and shook her head. "Fine then," she whispered. "If that's really what you want... But it's not going to take you anywhere of value."

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ Alibi Before Finding the Body ~

-"I was walking around the school and doing everything I could to prepare for the upcoming graduation. A lot has been on my plate as of late, you know."

-"The incident from a few years caused massive damage to the school's reputation, and I needed to do everything I could to mitigate that harm now."

-"Of course I wasn't with anyone while I was doing all of this. That would have defeated the purpose of my work, wouldn't it?"

-"I found the students panicking outside the room where the body was, and I wound up staying with them while we waited for the police to arrive at the scene."

-"I don't know what it is you think I did, but it wasn't me. I didn't even go into the room where the victim was killed."

-"I expect to see some damn proof if you want to accuse me of being a murderer. That's how the courtroom works, and I won't just stand by and let you break the rules now."

"You know... I found it strange that you failed to mention having been with the other witnesses during the previous investigation," I remarked as I played with a loose thread of hair. "I would have thought that it would be one of the first things you brought up, but we didn't hear about it in full until the first day of the trial yesterday."

"Does it really matter that much?" Ms. Venia questioned with a sigh. "I didn't say anything because I thought that you were wasting your time. In fact, I still do. You won't be able to prove that the defendant wasn't responsible for this case. We all know that she was the one who killed the victim, and I'm not going to just sit back and act like you're doing the right thing."

"We're not here to listen to your opinions about the case, witness," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke cut in with a heavy frown. "I think it would be for the best if you started talking about everything that you saw at the time of the crime. You were alone before you reunited with the students, yes?"

"I just said that, didn't I?" Ms. Venia asked, her eyes narrowing with irritation. "You don't need to keep repeating the same things back to me. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't know what I was doing."

"No need to be so rude about it," Prosecutor Cruz muttered with a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head. "Either way, I think it's time for us to move right along with this trial." He glanced up to where I was standing with Yuri and Mr. Morix behind the defense bench. "It's your turn."

"Of course," I assured him with a nod and a smile. I wasn't entirely sure where we were going to be headed with all of this, but we would have to figure that out along the way, I supposed. Trials like this rarely were easy, but we would find a way to come out on top either way. We didn't have any other choice in the matter.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ Alibi Before Finding the Body ~

-"I was walking around the school and doing everything I could to prepare for the upcoming graduation. A lot has been on my plate as of late, you know."

-"The incident from a few years caused massive damage to the school's reputation, and I needed to do everything I could to mitigate that harm now."

"Hold it!"

"If you don't mind my asking... Would you happen to know what the incident a few years ago was about?" Mr. Morix questioned. I was a bit shocked at him cutting in to object, but I didn't say anything as I glanced up at him with wide eyes and confusion in my heart.

Ms. Venia nodded slowly. "There was a field trip, and many students within the class suffered an unspeakable fate and were unable to escape," she replied. "Though I don't think we should be talking about this in such a public place... You know that we've all been told to keep quiet by the headmaster for the sake of protecting the students."

"I was just wondering if you knew any of the details of the case," Mr. Morix told her, trying to keep his tone as innocent as he could. "For example... Do you know how many students were in the class?"

Ms. Venia faltered at that, but Mr. Morix wasn't finished. "What about the names of the students who have vanished since the end of the investigation?" he asked again. "I would have thought those would be important details to this case, and I was wondering if perhaps you knew them."

Ms. Venia hesitated before she shook her head, something bitter starting to sink into her tone. "Do you really think I would still remember something like that so many years later?" she asked. "I was last involved with trying to maintain the school's reputation six years ago. Do you think anyone would be able to remember so much after all that time?"

"I didn't say that," Mr. Morix frowned. "But I would have thought that you would be a bit closer with the headmaster throughout all of this. He was the one you worked with back then, and yet, you've been avoiding him... And as a result, you don't seem to know much about the incident you're trying to cover for in the first place."

"I don't see how any of this is important," Ms. Venia sighed with a shake of her head. "This is absolutely ridiculous, and you're so openly grasping at straws that it doesn't even feel worth my time. If you have something worthwhile to say, then you should go on and say it now. I'm tired of standing around here and letting someone like you drag my good name through the mud."

"I would just like the court to keep this information in mind," Mr. Morix remarked as he glanced up to Judge Frost. After the fact, he turned back to Ms. Venia, nodding in her direction. "You may continue with your testimony."

"What in the world was that about?" Yuri hissed to me, a frown prominent across her features. "Do you think he has something in mind that he's not telling the rest of us?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," I admitted. "I guess we're just going to have to see where this whole thing takes us with time. For now... Let's hold back and see what he can do for the time being. I know he knows what he's doing."

Yuri nodded at that and fell silent, but I could tell that she was still a bit worried too. How could she not be? I was a bit worked up about all of this as well, but I was trying my best to not let it show. Mr. Morix had something on his mind that could have proved Ms. Venia was responsible, and he was making sure to push it with everything he had. Who were we to object to that?

-"Of course I wasn't with anyone while I was doing all of this. That would have defeated the purpose of my work, wouldn't it?"

-"I found the students panicking outside the room where the body was, and I wound up staying with them while we waited for the police to arrive at the scene."

-"I don't know what it is you think I did, but it wasn't me. I didn't even go into the room where the victim was killed."

-"I expect to see some damn proof if you want to accuse me of being a murderer. That's how the courtroom works, and I won't just stand by and let you break the rules now."

"Objection!"

Ms. Venia let out a small scoff at the sound of Mr. Morix's voice, and she shook her head slowly but certainly. "You seem to have something to say," she muttered. "I would have thought that this would be the perfect time for you to not say anything, but as long as you're convinced... So be it. Do you really have evidence of me being a killer?"

"Not evidence of you being a killer... But I do have evidence of something, and I would like your input on it," Mr. Morix told her. He pulled up a printed sheet of paper, and I realized soon afterwards that it was an image of Ms. Venia's social media account that Headmaster Oakley had shown us the day before. "Have you ever seen this before?"

Ms. Venia's eyes went wide, but it didn't seem to be because of recognition. Instead, she simply nodded slightly and imperceptibly to herself. "I... I have," she murmured, anxiety already starting to find a way in her voice. "What are you showing this for?"

"This was something shown to us yesterday by Headmaster Oakley," I explained. "We were wondering why you were acting so strange as of late by avoiding him, and while we weren't able to find any answers about that, we were able to find this social media account... Don't you think there's something a bit strange about it?"

"I'm afraid I don't follow, defense," Judge Frost confessed with a frown. "What about this account is so peculiar for you to have brought evidence of it here?"

"The fact that the woman in these pictures... She doesn't look entirely like the Aubray Venia that we've spoken with up to this point," Mr. Morix began. "At a first glance, you would think that everything was fine, but there are a few differences that stick out to you if you're looking hard enough. Even when it comes to a photo taken a few weeks ago, you can see a few stark differences between the woman before us and the woman in these pictures."

"Have you ever thought that you might be overthinking this a bit?" Ms. Venia questioned, though the tension in her shoulders was unmistakable. "You think that proof of me being a murderer can be found in a social media account? You're being ridiculous."

Mr. Morix shook his head. "Not proof of you being a murderer... But it is still evidence of a few strange qualities to this case," he replied. "For one, you've been avoiding Headmaster Oakley throughout this entire investigation even though he's the person on the Ashbrook campus that you know the best. You worked with him a lot a few years ago, and I would have thought that you would be happy to spend more time with him. Instead though... You've been all on your own or spending time with the students above all others."

"That's hardly evidence of anything," Ms. Venia pointed out with a suspicious glare. "You think that I'm a murderer because I haven't been spending any time with a man I knew six years ago?"

"Not just any man though," Prosecutor Cruz countered. "He's your client, isn't he? I would have thought that would be an important enough reason to want to be in touch with him, but instead, it's like you've forgotten that he exists entirely in favor of being with other people."

"Beyond that, you didn't seem to know many of the details behind the case that you're trying to cover for right now as we speak," I chimed in, starting to get a few pieces of the picture in place in my mind. "It would make sense for you to receive a briefing about everything that you were trying to keep under wraps by being at the school to begin with, but instead, your knowledge of the case from six years ago seems kind of... Underwhelming."

"It was six years ago! How can you expect me to remember something like that?" Ms. Venia roared with anger. "You're all pretending that I'm a murderer based on flimsy evidence because you can't accept that you might be wrong about defending the suspect. There's nothing you can say here to make me the murderer, and I think you should go on and quit as long as you're ahead."

"Ah... But you still haven't heard a thing about the social media profile and why I brought it up," Mr. Morix pointed out with a small smirk. "I would like to request the court to take a nice long look at the photo found at the top of the account."

The courtroom fell silent for a short while before Prosecutor Cruz spoke up. "They really don't look all that similar," he muttered. "I mean, the hair and eye colors are the same, but that doesn't really mean all that much as long as their faces look nothing alike."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Mr. Morix said. "I've had a lot of questions about this case for a while now, and I think that this photo of the social media account is going to fix all of it. The pieces are finally coming together, and it all starts here."

"You love just speaking in riddles, don't you?" Ms. Venia sighed with a shake of her head. "So what is it? What about this social media profile is so odd? You say that it doesn't look like me, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a matter of opinion."

"You've been avoiding the headmaster of the school throughout this entire incident despite the fact that he's the main person that you spoke with when you were last at Ashbrook years ago," I chimed in. "Isn't that even a little bit odd to everyone? She realistically would have wanted to be around the person she knew, but... She never seemed to desire that."

"Where are you trying to take all of this?" Judge Frost questioned. His tone was wary, and he seemed to know that we were on the verge of a massive breakthrough in the case.

"I don't think we've been speaking to Aubray Venia at all throughout this investigation," Mr. Morix declared. "The picture of the woman on the social media account doesn't look much like the witness at all, and she hasn't been acting much like herself either. It certainly makes you ask... Why the shift in behavior? Why does she look so different? The answer is an easy one... It's not Ms. Venia at all, but rather, someone else."

The gallery started to chatter at that, and I felt something in my stomach twist into a knot. I had a bad feeling about all of this, but I wasn't quite sure where it was coming from. I had almost suspected that this was where it was going to end up after we saw the social media profile and how little Ms. Venia seemed to resemble her own account, but there was something about this that still had me nervous. We were closer than ever to uncovering the truth, but I was still certain we weren't going to be figuring everything out so easily.

Judge Frost slammed his gavel down, and the gallery fell silent immediately. "Order!" he shouted. He glanced down to the witness stand, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What do you have to say to this, witness?"

Ms. Venia stared at the rest of the courtroom in shock, her jaw dropped as low as it could have possibly gone. "You can't be serious," she muttered, and when nobody pulled away from the accusation, she let out a harsh bark of a laugh. "Oh, you are serious! This is absolutely ridiculous! You think that I'm not the one who came to the school years ago because I didn't talk to one man on the campus? That's pathetic! If you're going to accuse me of murder over something, I would expect you to be at least a little bit better at working out where all of the pieces are supposed to be!"

"I mean it with everything I am," Mr. Morix frowned. "And for the record, I have more evidence than just the fact that you didn't want to talk to the headmaster of the academy. I would have expected you to receive a briefing on the case that you were working at present, but you barely seem to know anything about it. How are you going to respond to people's questions about what happened six years ago if you don't know anything that could help you to cover it up?"

Ms. Venia faltered at that, and Chief Prosecutor Bespoke nodded. "I think I know what you're trying to get at here," he murmured as he looked up to meet Mr. Morix's gaze. "You think that she's not the real Ms. Venia at all, but rather, an imposter."

"What are you talking about?!" Ms. Venia cut in, her expression wild and worried. "You can't possibly say that as long as I'm just standing here! You think that I'm faking my own life? You have no idea what you're saying!"

"I think I do know though," I told her. "Perhaps I'm assuming quite a few things here, but... Given what happened six years ago and just how awful it was, I don't think that any person would be able to forget it if they had any part in it. The victim certainly didn't forget the incident from back then, and she even had notes of it in her planner just before she died. Hearing of everything that the victimized children had gone through... I think that would leave a profound impact on anyone, and that includes you."

"And because I don't remember it as well as you think I should have, you're going to accuse me of murder?" Ms. Venia asked. She let out a harsh laugh once again with a shake of her head. "You don't have any ground to stand on as far as freeing your own client is concerned, and you know it. Now, you're just grasping at straws to try and say that somebody else was responsible. It's absolutely rich, but it's also very sad."

"You know... I don't think it would be all that hard for us to ascertain the details of Aubray Venia's life," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke commented with a frown. "If you scroll through the account a little bit, then you'll find a few people who were tagged in many of the photos she posted online. I'm sure that we would be able to reach out to one of them and ask what they knew... Including asking what exactly they knew about this case."

"If Aubray Venia hasn't been home this entire case, then I feel like we'll have our answer," Prosecutor Lin agreed. "I think that the defense's theory of the witness being an imposter who infiltrated the school to commit murder is exactly what we've been looking for. The witness hasn't offered sufficient proof to counter the theory either."

"You should be trying to prove the theory if anything, but I suppose that you're not going to try something like that," Ms. Venia muttered crossly. "You can't just throw accusations out and wait until one of them sticks when it hits the wall. That's not what it means to be a lawyer... Though I can't say that I expected any of you to understand what the profession was supposed to stand for."

"We've offered quite a few pieces of evidence and logic that point to something being amiss within your life as of late," Mr. Morix told her. "I don't think you're going to be able to refute that so easily. You don't look at all like the woman we saw in the social media photos. So I just have one question for you, witness... Just where is the real Aubray Venia?!"

The gallery started to buzz again with those words, and the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach only continued to get worse. I knew that we had to be onto something here. If this woman wasn't the real Aubray Venia-and it seemed as if everyone knew that to be the case by now-then that meant she had intentionally infiltrated Aubray Venia's life with intentions of using her for this murder. I didn't know where this was going to take us, but I had to wonder about the original Aubray Venia... Was she still out there? Would she be the witness to change all of this once and for all?

No... I thought I already knew the answer to that, and I hated having to think about it.

"Order!" Judge Frost screamed once again as he hit his gavel against the podium before him once more. It took much longer than it should have for the gallery to calm down at that, but his fierce glare remained all the while. "Witness, we're waiting for an answer. Do you know where the real Aubray Venia is? It seems quite clear to me that you're not the woman we're looking for."

"You're all being ridiculous. You're making assumptions based off a blog and the way I've been acting. That's not substantial evidence in a court of law, and you know it," Ms. Venia cut in, her voice harsh and sharp. "I think it would be in your best interests to just forget about all of this here and now. You know that the defendant was responsible for the murder. She was there at the time of the crime. She was standing over the body. For the sake of preserving the school's reputation, you should just declare her guilty and end things right now."

"You know... That reminds me of something that I've been wondering about this entire time," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke commented. "I heard that the trial was being pushed forward prematurely, and I couldn't help but wonder why when the investigation first began. Soon enough, I realized that it was the desire of the school to end the trial as soon as possible, but that didn't seem to be the will of the headmaster at all. Instead, it was you trying to push for the case to be resolved as soon as the chance arrived. Isn't that a bit odd to you, Your Honor?"

"I honestly didn't understand why the trial was going ahead so soon when I first heard about it," Judge Frost agreed. "It would have made more sense to wait a bit longer so that the investigation could be completed, but instead, the trial began so early... I think that was a strange decision. I understand that the witness had a part in all of that because of her job too."

"Not just that... She was the one who pushed for it. She was the only person who wanted the trial to start this early," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke frowned. "I feel like that's proof enough as to her intentions. She was avoiding the one man who she should have been working with the most and even going against his wishes in the name of pushing for the trial to end as soon as possible. I think the witness' strange behavior is clear as could be."

"But none of this makes me a murderer," Ms. Venia countered. "You can say all that you want that I was acting strange. There may even be a bit of truth to that statement. It doesn't matter at all because you don't have evidence that I'm the one behind all of this."

"You forgot some of the most basic details of the case you were working at the school," I pointed out. "If I had to guess, I would say that the real Aubray Venia was briefed on everything she needed to know, and afterwards, you swapped places with her. You decided to take over in the name of infiltrating the school to get your hands on the information found in those records. You killed the victim once you got the information you needed, using her job as a secretary to get into the files and grab everything you were looking for. Ever since then, you've had to continue the ruse, so you've been pushing for the defendant's guilt and acting like an innocent bystander."

"You didn't actually forget the details of the case at all," Yuri said. "You were never told directly because you swapped places with the real Aubray Venia after she had already been told everything she would need to know. You knew that the headmaster would be the one person who might be able to see through the ruse, so you decided to stay as far away from him as you possibly could. That wound up being your undoing in more ways than one though... You know what's going to happen next."

Ms. Venia glanced around the courtroom silently, a snarl on her lips. Prosecutor Lin raised her hands before slamming them against the prosecution bench before her. "I have just one question for you, witness," she murmured before pointing at Ms. Venia. "Just who are you, and what did you want with the students of Ashbrook?!"

"Well, witness?" Judge Frost asked. "The court is waiting for your answer."

Ms. Venia was silent for a long time before she started to laugh to herself. The sound was soft enough that I barely even heard it at first, but as the chuckling got louder, the sinking feeling in my stomach got worse all over again. Ms. Venia continued to laugh, and she raised her fist before slamming it down against the witness stand. She shook her head with the sound before allowing her laughter to trail off. "How ridiculous... Each and every one of you is ridiculous," she muttered under her breath. "You have no idea what it is that you're getting into. You should have just stood back and let the girl be declared guilty, but because you chose to pursue something else..."

A gunshot rang out, and the people in the gallery let out shrill screams. Nobody could say for sure where the shot had come from, but one of the overhead lights shattered and sent glass showering to the ground below. I could only assume that the one with the gun had fired it at the light to keep everyone silent and afraid. I stared at the glass fragments with wide, fearful eyes, and I realized that this was what my bad feeling had been building up to. I hadn't known it was going to end quite like this, but I had suspected it would go wrong somehow, and it most certainly had.

The people in the gallery ran for safe cover soon afterward, and Ms. Venia shook her head as she looked up to the defendant's chair where Nevada was sitting. "You're all just as disgusting and corrupt as I would have thought," she muttered. "Accusing me of murder with so little proof and glossing over the actual murderer sitting before us... You really are the worst of the worst."

Another gunshot rang out, and smoke rose up from the ceiling where the bullet embedded itself in the building.

"And I'll make sure you know it before I'm done with you."

wowza

-Digital