March 12
Courtroom No. 1
11:05 AM
Cotoli Morix
The best way that I would describe the man who made his way up to the witness stand in the moments that followed would be broody. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, and he seemed content with ignoring all of us, avoiding eye contact as much as possible until he had found a place behind the podium. I looked over to Chrysalis, and she was glaring at him with suspicion in her eyes. It seemed I wasn't the only one who found his behavior already to be rather strange.
The man, who I assumed was the Jeff Lent person that Prosecutor Shield had already mentioned, was incredibly pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun in weeks. His hands were shoved into his pockets, and he stared solemnly at the space ahead of him. His hair was dark and neatly combed, but there was something about him that seemed malicious. He wore a suit consisting of all black fabric over a white button-up shirt. His eyes were a striking pale blue, as if they were staring directly into the soul itself. Another glance over to my sister's direction told me that she didn't like him in the slightest.
I couldn't blame her. There was an aura about him that was peculiar, to say the least. I didn't know how to describe it, but I was oddly happy that he hadn't looked in my direction. A shiver threatened to run down my spine if we made eye contact. Luckily, he didn't seem to care much for me, instead staring blankly ahead of him as if nothing else mattered. It was rather interesting, to say the least.
"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Frost instructed, looking down at Mr. Lent with a small frown. As far as I could tell, he was experiencing the same bad feeling that the rest of us were. I didn't think I had ever seen him looking so nervous.
"Jeff Lent. Security guard," Mr. Lent replied bluntly, still refusing to look at anyone. He moved his focus upwards slightly, but that still wasn't enough for anyone to get direct eye contact out of him. I couldn't tell if that was for the best or not, but I wasn't going to ask questions as long as he was around. I didn't want to risk him growing upset.
"Security guard?" Judge Frost echoed. "What do you mean by that? Were you hired by the defendant to look after his house?"
Mr. Lent nodded. "Yeah. That's what I said, isn't it?" he asked, sounding exasperated already. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, clearly not happy to be here. "You really should try to listen a bit more."
"The witness will be more respectful in the future," Prosecutor Shield replied, his voice deadpan and quietly angry. He shook his head before turning his attention up to Judge Frost. "Now, witness... How about you tell us more about what happened at the time of the crime? You were there, if I have been understanding correctly.
"I was there. What about it?" Mr. Lent questioned. He didn't show much emotion in his tone, and I already got the feeling that cross-examining his testimony was going to be far from easy.
"Please offer more details about what you were doing there," Prosecutor Shield pressed, clearly getting frustrated already. He seemed to want Mr. Lent gone as much as the rest of us, and I noticed that his hands had clenched into tight fists perhaps out of anger.
Mr. Lent shrugged. "I was there because I was hired by the defendant. It's that simple. My services don't come cheap, but I do a good job when I am hired," he replied.
"You don't work for a given company then?" I asked, taken aback. "You provide security based on your own terms and who buys your services? For the most part, I've only ever heard about security guards who work with larger companies or as part of a given force who defend people out of public obligation or for regular pay. A freelance security guard is certainly a new concept to me, I must admit."
"I have my own reasons for accepting his request. Besides, I prefer to work on my own more often than not anyways. It's easier to regulate what I want to do against what I don't," Mr. Lent replied, his voice still stern. "Is that all you wanted to ask me about?"
"You aren't going to worm your way out of here that easily," sighed Prosecutor Shield, shaking his head in frustration. "We need to hear about what you saw and heard at the time of the crime. If you were really a witness, then you must have observed something from when the assault took place."
Mr. Lent shrugged. "I guess that I did see something... But is that really important? There are many more things that likely require your attention. Don't you need to figure out who did it? I believe you suspect the man in the defendant's seat, but I also get the feeling that such suspicions have shifted since this trial began an hour ago," he answered, his tone hostile and uninterested.
"We think that you may have committed this crime," answered Prosecutor Shield. "You see, it has come to our attention that the defendant could not have attacked the victim. At the time, the victim was watching him, and he was standing in front of her. She was hit from behind and didn't see the culprit, so it must have been someone else. You are the only one who was known to be at the scene of the crime when she was attacked."
"You suspect me because of something like that? Anybody else could have done it. For all you know, there were other people there at the time. Ask the defendant. He could tell you. You aren't going to listen to what he has to say on the matter though, are you?" Mr. Lent said, glaring at Prosecutor Shield before rolling his eyes. "If you're going to just accuse me without letting me defend myself, then I'm not going to stick around. Maybe I could just leave right now. I'm sure that would make you really happy, wouldn't it?"
"You will do no such thing until after you have offered your testimony," came the stern voice of Judge Frost as he glared down at Mr. Lent. "Now, why don't you tell us about why you were there at the time of the crime? You said that there was a reason that you took up the defendant on his offer of paying you in exchange for the defense, so why don't you tell us more about that?"
"I'm afraid that I don't want to discuss that. For the sake of my privacy, I'm going to shift the conversation to something else. Don't you want to hear about what I did at the time of the crime instead? That's the more important point of discussion, wouldn't you agree?" Mr. Lent asked.
"Fine. If that's what you want to tell the court about, then out with it already. We don't want to waste more time than we already have, so talk," Prosecutor Shield demanded, frustration working its way into his voice. "You had better see this discussion through to the end. Don't bother trying to change the subject part of the way through. We won't allow for you to do that."
"Alright. You don't need to get so pushy," Mr. Lent scoffed. "Should I begin my testimony or whatever?"
"Start from the very beginning and tell the story of what happened in chronological order," Judge Frost instructed, his gaze harsh.
"Sheesh. No reason to be so rude," Mr. Lent grumbled before continuing.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ The Crime ~
-"I was hired as a security guard by the defendant to look after him and the contents of his house. He told me it was because he was expecting company."
-"I agreed to it, so I came by that day and set myself up to make sure that nothing went wrong. If I wanted my pay, I had to make sure that my employer stayed safe throughout the visit."
-"I watched from a distance most of the time. He said it wasn't necessary that anyone know that I was present at the time, so I stayed hidden and just observed."
-"She started getting mad after a while, but I wasn't there at the time. I left to go on a brief break to the restroom, and when I came back, the defendant was screaming his head off in panic."
-"He was standing right in front of her unconscious body, looking at her in shock. He didn't see whoever knocked her unconscious, and I obviously didn't either since I was gone."
-"I called the police on his behalf once I got him to calm down. I still don't know who could have done it, but it wasn't either one of us."
I looked over to Chrysalis once he was finished speaking. She clearly wasn't buying a word that he was saying, and I got the feeling that she had caught onto the same contradiction that I had.
"You claim that you called the police?" Prosecutor Shield asked, a small frown on his face. He seemed to have noticed the same thing that Chrysalis and I had realized, and he was far from happy about it. Even Anton looked confused, and he looked back and forth between Mr. Lent and Prosecutor Shield wildly, as if that would patch up the large contradiction that had appeared.
"I do. What about it?" Mr. Lent questioned, glaring at Prosecutor Shield intensely. If he knew about the mistake, he was doing a damn good job of hiding that he was aware. I didn't understand how he could be so easygoing about it, but I didn't have time to think about it for long. I was going to blow open this contradiction as soon as I got the chance.
Judge Frost stared at Mr. Lent for a moment before sighing. "Please begin your cross-examination, defense," he instructed. He, much like Prosecutor Shield, seemed to be counting on us to point out the glaring issue within the testimony.
I nodded. "We'll get right to it," I answered, turning my attention to Mr. Lent. I didn't know what he was up to by saying that he had called the police, but he wasn't going to get away with it. The contradiction was clear, and I was going to show that he was lying no matter what.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ The Crime ~
-"I was hired as a security guard by the defendant to look after him and the contents of his house. He told me it was because he was expecting company."
-"I agreed to it, so I came by that day and set myself up to make sure that nothing went wrong. If I wanted my pay, I had to make sure that my employer stayed safe throughout the visit."
-"I watched from a distance most of the time. He said it wasn't necessary that anyone know that I was present at the time, so I stayed hidden and just observed."
-"She started getting mad after a while, but I wasn't there at the time. I left to go on a brief break to the restroom, and when I came back, the defendant was screaming his head off in panic."
-"He was standing right in front of her unconscious body, looking at her in shock. He didn't see whoever knocked her unconscious, and I obviously didn't either since I was gone."
-"I called the police on his behalf once I got him to calm down. I still don't know who could have done it, but it wasn't either one of us."
"Objection!"
I crossed my arms over my chest, a frown of disappointment on my face. "I have to ask you, Mr. Lent... Why do you insist on lying to this court?" I questioned.
Mr. Lent raised one eyebrow in my direction. "What are you on about now? You think that I'm lying? What makes you think that's the case?" he asked.
"You said that you were the one who called the police, but this is not true. It contradicts what the leading detective said. She claimed that the defendant was the one who called the police. Also, I must say... Isn't it oddly convenient that you just so happened to be gone at the time when the assault took place? You were off taking care of other business when the victim was attacked, or so you claim," I remarked. "I find that rather strange."
"It's just coincidence that I happened to be occupied with other things when the crime took place," Mr. Lent told me, his eyes narrowing intensely.
"If the defendant and victim were getting into an argument that was quickly escalating into something worse, then you would want to stay and see what was going on. After all, an argument would be the part that a security guard would take most interest in should it have turned into something more than a verbal fight," I commented. "And yet, you were not present. The argument was not an instantaneous issue. There was buildup, just as there is in all arguments."
"I must say that I find such behavior rather strange as well," Prosecutor Shield agreed. "Tell me, witness... Why did you choose that moment to leave?"
"I already told you that I was going for a restroom break. That's not something you can simply choose, you know," Mr. Lent shrugged. "For all you know, somebody could have snuck into the building while I was occupied with other business."
"You're a security guard. Your job is to ensure that the building remains secure and safe for all of the people inside. You would fail at your job if you let somebody sneak inside while you were gone," I pointed out. "You claimed already that your services do not come cheap and that you know what you are doing in the field of security. Wouldn't this be a rather large failure on your record?"
"That's none of your business to decide. What do you know in the first place?" Mr. Lent asked, anger slowly filling his voice.
"Why don't we ask the witness another question?" Prosecutor Shield suggested, looking over to me with a frown. He could see just as clearly as I could that this line of reasoning wasn't going to be getting us anywhere. We had caught him off-guard, but it wasn't enough to get him to confess to anything. If we wanted to find the truth, we would have to aim for another method of attacking his words and go from there. Hopefully, that would be enough to get him to open up more about what he was doing once he realized there was no worming out of this.
"Hm... Where should we even go from if we want to press on from here?" Chrysalis murmured with a small frown. "If we want to catch him off guard, we'll have to ask something that seems simple but could blow this case open. I'm not sure where we should go from here, but you're the expert here anyways, so I suppose that I'll leave it up to you."
I placed one hand on my chin, closing my eyes in consideration. I didn't know where to go from here yet, but I was going to have to figure it out fast. I got the feeling that Mr. Lent was only going to get more impatient the longer I tried to find a new route to the truth of this case. I would have to figure out a way to go fast.
I finished my thinking and looked up to Mr. Lent. "Alright... I have to ask... What is your relationship with the victim? Did you know her at all prior to what happened?" I asked carefully.
Mr. Lent shook his head. "No, I didn't. I didn't even know that she existed until this happened. I can't tell you about our relationship since we've never even spoken. I watched quietly from the sidelines and didn't do anything until after the attack took place. She didn't know I was there until this trial began," he replied, shrugging his shoulders slowly. "Does that answer your question?"
"If he didn't know anything about Polly before this, maybe you could go from a similar yet different direction," Chrysalis suggested with a small frown. "There has to be someone else that you could ask him about that won't set him off, though you'll have to be careful with how you approach the topic."
I nodded, understanding what she was saying. "Alright... Mr. Lent, what do you know about the defendant? I take it that you two have met before. You said there was a reason that you accepted his request when you don't just take work from anyone, so I assume that you two have at least a bit of a history. What does this history involve?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes in the direction of the witness.
Mr. Lent didn't seem to mind this question, so I knew that I had phrased it alright. Part of me worried at first that I was going to bring out his hostile side by mentioning his relationship with the defendant, but it seemed that I had treaded carefully enough to get away with it. "We've known each other for a long time. I wasn't always a security guard, to say the least, and we met when we were on the same job a long time ago," Mr. Lent answered. "He reached out to me after years where we hadn't spoken at all, and I decided to accept his request because of how much history we shared from whenever we were much younger."
"Where did you two meet? What job were you involved with?" Prosecutor Shield questioned, glad that he wasn't dealing with Mr. Lent's frustrating behavior anymore. Mr. Lent had calmed down considerably thanks to the shift in conversation, and I couldn't help but be happy that he wasn't being openly hostile anymore. There was only so much of that I could take.
"We were simply together in work. That's all that you need to know. Unfortunately, we both had to leave at about the same time, and we didn't communicate much after that," Mr. Lent answered. "I was glad to see him again after we ran into each other before the attack. I let him hire me because of our history. That's all you really need to know on the matter."
"Clearly we aren't going to get any other details here," I murmured. "I have to ask what's could possibly get him to talk. How could we smooth out the contradiction whenever he supposedly called the police?"
"Maybe you could ask him about what he did when he called the police again. If he continues to claim that he called the police, you could blow open his testimony again. If he stops lying, then you can ask him why he said that in the first place, which will lead to the truth," Chrysalis suggested. "We got him to calm down, and that should make it easier for us to drag more out of him. He isn't hostile now that we've discussed something that he's more comfortable with, so we can move on."
"Alright," I nodded to myself, shifting my attention back up to Mr. Lent once more. "Alright... Can you tell us more about what you did when you claim that you called the police for aid after the scene of the assault was discovered?"
"I don't really see the point of it," Mr. Lent admitted with a small frown. "No matter what I say, you aren't going to believe a word that comes out of my mouth, so why does it matter?"
"We still want to sort out this contradiction. In fact, it's required that we figure it out in order to find the truth of this case," Prosecutor Shield said firmly. "Judge Frost, what do you say about this?"
"I believe that we have to figure out the full truth behind this case, and smoothing out this contradiction is the first step to doing such," Judge Frost declared. "With that said, I ask that you testify about what happened after the crime when you claim that you called the police."
Mr. Lent hesitated for a moment, shaking his head. His hostile aura had returned, and I could tell that he was far from happy with this turn of events. "Fine. If you're really going to push me so far to do this, then let's just go on and get it over with. Maybe that will lessen my pain a bit in the long run," Mr. Lent muttered bitterly, still not making eye contact with anyone. "Let's do it already."
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ Calling the Police ~
-"After we found the scene, somebody called the police, but I guess I was wrong when I thought that I had been the one to do it, so sorry about the confusion earlier."
-"In all the chaos of what happened right after we found her unconscious, I suppose I didn't realize who it was that had called for help. Negative events can scramble your memory, you know."
-"I made a mistake, but I must ask that you not hold it against me. We all slip up from time to time, but that doesn't mean that I'm not at all worth listening to during this trial's duration."
-"The police arrived soon after they were called, and the defendant was arrested for the crime. I wound up being questioned for quite a while about what happened. I told them exactly what I just told you."
-"I maintain my statement that somebody else must have come in and out to commit the crime. I am innocent, and my client is innocent as well. I must ask that you stop suspecting us both, as this was not our fault."
-"As for who was really responsible, I'm afraid that I don't have the slightest idea. Sorry for the inconvenience, everyone. I didn't mean to cause so many problems."
-"Unless you have proof as to the contrary, I must ask that you let us move on to find the real culprit. We were not behind it, and I will not back down from claiming such."
"It was... A mistake?" I asked with a small frown. "You said that you called the police because of a slip of your memory, but... Is that really the case?"
If he wasn't sure in the first place, why would he have said such a thing? In a court of law, lying or otherwise obstructing the truth is a terrible offense, but he tried to do it anyways. I didn't think I would ever understand how he had the guts to pull something like that off when it could so easily lead to disaster.
"You said that you called the police because of an issue with your memory? This makes your testimony unreliable at best, witness," Judge Frost frowned, glaring down at Mr. Lent with a heavy frown. "If you weren't sure that you called them, you should have said so in your testimony."
"I made a little mistake, but we got it all sorted out. That's what matters most at the end of the day," Mr. Lent said with a loose shrug. "Now that we've found the truth, why bother fussing over it more than we already have? If you ask me, there are far more important issues to evaluate regarding this trial, such as finding the culprit, so why don't we abandon this line of reasoning before we waste too much time over it? This is the best way for us to find the truth, wouldn't you agree?"
"We will be going over your testimony once again," came the stern voice of Judge Frost. "I believe that it is vital that we go over this before moving on. There were no signs of other people being around at the time of the crime, so perhaps your theory of a potential other person being present isn't as solid as you would openly suggest."
"I think we should save that for the cross-examination. I get the feeling that the defense will know exactly how to speak about your testimony when you go over it a second time," commented Prosecutor Shield. He looked over to me and Chrysalis, a glaze of solemn expectation overcoming his eyes.
I nodded in response, not wanting to let him or anyone else involved with the case down. "The defense will get right to the cross-examination," I replied before turning to face Chrysalis. "Do you have any ideas that could blow this case open?"
She considered her options for a moment. "I have an idea, but it has to do with what we just learned, so it's not really about physical evidence. Think about the relationship between the defendant and the witness. I'm sure that will lead us to victory here," she replied.
"Thanks for the tip," I said, frowning as I tried to think through what would be best to say in this testimony.
"Please begin your cross-examination, defense," Judge Frost instructed.
"We'll get to it right away," I replied before looking back to Mr. Lent. We were going to figure this out, of that much I was sure, but I had to figure out how we were going to pull that off before we could jump too far in.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ Calling the Police ~
-"After we found the scene, somebody called the police, but I guess I was wrong when I thought that I had been the one to do it, so sorry about the confusion earlier."
-"In all the chaos of what happened right after we found her unconscious, I suppose I didn't realize who it was that had called for help. Negative events can scramble your memory, you know."
-"I made a mistake, but I must ask that you not hold it against me. We all slip up from time to time, but that doesn't mean that I'm not at all worth listening to during this trial's duration."
-"The police arrived soon after they were called, and the defendant was arrested for the crime. I wound up being questioned for quite a while about what happened. I told them exactly what I just told you."
-"I maintain my statement that somebody else must have come in and out to commit the crime. I am innocent, and my client is innocent as well. I must ask that you stop suspecting us both, as this was not our fault."
-"As for who was really responsible, I'm afraid that I don't have the slightest idea. Sorry for the inconvenience, everyone. I didn't mean to cause so many problems."
-"Unless you have proof as to the contrary, I must ask that you let us move on to find the real culprit. We were not behind it, and I will not back down from claiming such."
"Objection!"
I took a deep breath before speaking once again. "You say that there is no proof as to you committing the crime, but... There are two things that I would like to bring to the court's attention before we fully dismiss you, witness," I began, speaking slowly and quietly to ensure that he didn't grow too hostile and violent with me.
"What are those two things then?" Judge Frost asked, frowning to himself.
"First of all, I want to point out that this witness has already been proven to have lied during testimony. He falsely claimed that he was the one who called the police and then said that he wasn't sure if he was really the one to do so. I believe that this is a sign of a faulty testimony, and we need to examine it as such when pushing forward. How are we sure that he has been telling the truth leading up to this point?" I asked.
"I understand... You think that he has been lying about a specific part of his testimony in particular, don't you?" Prosecutor Shield questioned. "If that's the case, why don't you go on and tell us what you think he's been lying about specifically? The more detail you can offer, the better."
I shot a brief glance over to Chrysalis, studying her posture to see if she was hiding any ideas behind her neutral expression. In all honesty, I might as well have not done anything, as it was clear that she was thinking the same thing that I was. We knew exactly where this was coming from, and it was going to lead us to the culprit.
It was going to lead us to Mr. Lent.
"Mr. Lent claimed that he wasn't present at the time of the attack. This is unreliable testimony, and the rest of his words fall apart when he incorrectly claims that he wasn't there. If this is a lie, it means that he was present at the scene of the crime. The rest of his words crumble to nothingness when you realize that he was lying about this one fundamental fact," I explained.
"Why don't you explain to us more about what you believe happened at the time of the crime then? If this is a lie, then tell us how this would impact the rest of the case's events," Judge Frost suggested. "This is vital if we wish to move forward with the trial."
Prosecutor Shield crossed his arms and nodded. "I must admit, I am rather curious to hear about the same thing. Go on and get started as soon as you're ready," he instructed firmly.
I smirked to myself before taking a deep breath. "Alright. In that case, let's get right into it."
Typing is neat
-Digital