May 18

Defendant Lobby No. 3

9:25 AM

Cotoli Morix

Much to my surprise, I was not the first person from the defense team to arrive at the courthouse. Deirdre and Yuri were already there by the time that I walked through the doors to the defendant lobby, and I regarded them with a degree of shock. "I didn't expect to see you two here so soon," I admitted.

"We were worried," Yuri told me, rising from her seat on the couch. "I guess I was really bothered by what Chrysalis had to say yesterday about the case... This murder was definitely premeditated, but we don't have any ideas as to why that was the case. There are a lot of strange things going on."

"I want to know what happened to get the body moved from the bathrooms to the stage," Deirdre frowned. "The bloodstains wiped up on the bathroom floor are more than proof of where the crime took place, but that doesn't explain how the body was moved all that distance without anybody noticing. It's a problem that I feel we need to find a solution to as soon as possible."

I nodded. "You're both right... I'm hoping that we'll be able to unravel everything sooner rather than later," I told them firmly. I felt a vibration in my pocket, prompting me to look down and pull my phone free of its place snugly between two pieces of fabric. "Detective Erikson just texted me..."

"What did he say?" Yuri questioned eagerly, standing up on her toes to get a better view at my phone. Our height difference seemed clear as day in that moment, though I didn't have much time to acknowledge it. After all, there was limited time before the trial, and if this was about what I suspected it was, then we didn't have a moment to waste.

I gasped as I read the text to myself. I paraphrased it once I was finished for the sake of the other two. "He got the knife tested by the forensics team. The knife prop we found definitely had something odd about it... The handle was able to detach from the knife itself."

"A removable handle?" Deirdre echoed with a small frown. "That's not the sort of feature I would expect to see on a prop knife like that... Then again, I suppose that if the glue grew unstable, it would be easy to tear apart if you used enough force..."

I nodded. "Yeah. The handle was definitely not removed by normal methods. It would make no sense for the handle to come off naturally... So that means somebody intentionally pulled it off, but that's not all," I told her. "The knife handle... It tested positive for having blood on it. In fact, there was blood all over the handle on the knife."

Yuri let out a gasp. "That... That's definitely important!" she cried out. "If you ask me, that's going to be the perfect way for us to start to unravel the case the prosecution has set up for us. I mean, if we can show that the knife handle was removed, then..."

"Then we can use it to our advantage, yes," Deirdre agreed, finishing the sentence for her. "But that does beg the question... Why was the knife handle covered in blood in the first place? I mean, the blade itself doesn't sound as if it was bloodied at all, so that's rather odd..."

"The fake blade on the knife was covered in Chrysalis' fingerprints," I told the two girls. "That does make sense given that she's supposed to use it in the show, but... You would really expect the prints to be on the handle, and yet, it doesn't sound as if there were any on that area of the knife."

"If you ask me, we're going to have to figure this out as soon as possible. It has to fit into the puzzle somewhere. We simply need to slide the pieces into place," Deirdre said conclusively. She looked to the ground with a light frown. "I'm not sure where this is going to lead us, but we had better figure it out soon... The trial is going to be starting soon, and it might be best if we went in with our ducks in a row."

"Morning, everyone..."

I heard a groggy voice coming from behind me, and I turned to see Chrysalis walking towards us. She was rubbing at her eyes, and she barely seemed to be keeping herself upright. The sight made me cringe, and I couldn't help but frown as I walked over towards her. I did my best to keep from outwardly freaking out, but it was quite a chore. "Are you alright?" I asked.

Even if I prompted the question, I really didn't need to. Just one glance at her told me that she was far from feeling fine. Her hair, which had been tied in a tight bun since the show, had fallen out and was now in a loose braid she had likely tied herself. Somehow, Chrysalis looked even more exhausted than before, and her eyes were surrounded by dark circles. She couldn't stop yawning, and her posture was far from being as strong as it usually was. She seemed hunched in over herself, as if she was scared something might happen if she dared to straighten herself out.

"I didn't sleep well," Chrysalis eventually told us, her words slurring together in her exhaustion. She yawned again and covered her mouth again. "My head is still pounding, and I can't for the life of me figure out why..."

"I'm starting to get worried about that... I mean, I've worked with you for a long time, and it's not like you've ever had a history of migraines. Why would you suddenly get a pounding headache that lasts more than a day and a half out of the blue like this?" Yuri questioned.

"This didn't happen the last time I was arrested," Chrysalis grumbled. I knew she was making a vague reference to the case that had taken place at a nearby college last year. She had become a murder suspect under an alias, but it didn't change the fact that she had experienced a sleepless night within the detention center. Even if she had been far from chipper afterwards, she hadn't looked this terrible.

"I feel like there's something else going on here," Deirdre murmured. "Memory loss, dizziness, a constant headache... We should bring this up as soon as we can."

A bailiff cried out for us to enter the courtroom, and Chrysalis cringed with a small whimper. She held up one hand to her temple and shook her head. "Alright... I guess we should head inside... I don't want to make the bailiff think it's a good idea to start yelling again," she grumbled.

I looked up at the clock and let out a sigh. The time had flown by a lot faster than I expected it to. I walked towards the door, wrapping an arm around Chrysalis' shoulders. She leaned up against me, letting her eyes gently sweep shut from behind her glasses. "We're going to fix things in there," I assured her. "You don't have to worry."

She didn't open her eyes or tilt her head up in my direction when she spoke. "I hope so," she murmured unenthusiastically. She stumbled over herself twice on the way into the courtroom, and ice gripped at my chest. I was starting to think there was more to this case than met the eye, and the mere idea made me feel sick.

May 18

Courtroom No. 3

10:00 AM

Yuri Rinko

When we arrived in the courtroom, my first step was to look around and see who all we were dealing with. As expected, I saw Prosecutor Lin, Prosecutor Wood, and Prosecutor Umber when I glanced to the other side of the room. Prosecutor Lin was standing in the middle, and she was easily the most upbeat out of the three, still managing to stay positive despite the horrible situation her younger sister was in. Prosecutor Wood was clearly nervous, unable to keep still as she shuffled with many of the pages that sat on the bench before her. Finally, Prosecutor Umber was unreadable, hiding his emotions behind a mask of passiveness. It was strange to see him that way, though I guessed that maybe it was just in his nature.

Next, my gaze shifted up to the judge's podium. Judge Diaphan was sitting there, holding her gavel in one hand. She lifted it and let it fall with a resounding echo. "Court is now in session for the trial of Chrysalis Starr," she declared. "Are the defense and prosecution ready?"

"The defense is ready," Mr. Morix declared without even bothering to ask me or Deirdre. He was standing on the other side of Deirdre, leaving me the furthest away from him out of the three of us.

I looked over to the prosecution's area, and I saw Prosecutor Lin nod rather enthusiastically. I was starting to see a few cracks in her armor though, and it was becoming increasingly clear that she was only putting up a front of optimism in the dark situation. Regardless, she didn't hesitate to declare her answer when Judge Diaphan looked in her direction. "The prosecution is also ready!" she chirped.

While I was moving my focus over to Judge Diaphan, my gaze passed over the witness stand. Chrysalis was standing there, though it was clear that she wasn't focused on the trial at all. She was looking down at the floor in front of her feet numbly, eyes glassy. She had one hand placed on the side of her temple, though I doubted it was doing much of anything to keep her headache at bay.

"Before we continue with the trial... I would like to make a request," Mr. Morix said, snapping me out of my daze. I looked over to him after tearing my eyes away from where the clearly-nauseous Chrysalis was standing.

"What is it?" Judge Diaphan questioned, her tone suspicious and inquisitive. She didn't seem to have noticed my gaze lingering for so long on Chrysalis, and if she did, she was choosing not to comment on it.

"I would like our client to return to the lobby during the trial," Mr. Morix told her. "She's been complaining of physical sickness since arriving in the detention center, and I believe the prosecution can corroborate such."

Prosecutor Wood spoke up with a nervous nod. "Y-Yeah... She seemed to be f-feeling awful during the interrogation..." she said. Her voice was quiet, but I could still hear it despite the distance between us.

Judge Diaphan pondered the request for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I'll allow for it," she announced. She turned her head to look down at Chrysalis next. "Return to the defendant lobby for the time being. I'll send some bailiffs to ensure no trouble is caused."

Chrysalis looked up to Judge Diaphan and nodded, though I could tell that she wasn't making eye contact with the older woman. Afterwards, she looked over to where I was standing with the rest of the defense team, and she shot us a thankful gaze before starting her slow shuffle away from the witness stand and out into the lobby. Nobody spoke until the doors lightly tapped shut behind her.

"Alright. The prosecution should begin its opening statement at this time," Judge Diaphan declared, looking back to the prosecution once that issue had been sorted out. "Please tell us the details of the case."

Prosecutor Lin gave a light nudge to Prosecutor Wood, who nodded and pulled up a piece of paper. If I had to guess, I would have said that it was a paper containing a script for an opening statement. After all, Prosecutor Wood wasn't ever going to get better when it came to talking to people if she didn't put her skills to practical use.

"The crime took place at a local theater just before the opening night of a show," Prosecutor Wood announced once she had properly mustered the confidence to speak. "The victim was one Saya Kan. She was stabbed once in the chest by a knife, and her body was lowered onto the stage using a platform at the time of the show's beginning. Her death was instant, and everyone in the audience saw her corpse."

"What led to the defendant becoming a suspect?" Judge Diaphan prompted, looking to Prosecutor Wood with a frown. Her gaze wasn't judgmental as far as I could tell, instead simply seeming curious. Then again, that was simply an assumption given that her face was hidden behind a mask just like it always had been.

"She walked onto the stage covered in blood," Prosecutor Wood explained. "There was red staining the front of her costume, and she was seen by the entire audience covered in the victim's blood. Many found that to be rather odd, and she came to be seen as suspicious by investigators almost immediately because of this. There was also bad blood between her and the victim, and they were known to not get along."

"I see..." Judge Diaphan nodded. "Would you please call your first witness to the stand?"

Prosecutor Lin smiled her direction. "Of course. The prosecution now calls Abilene Umber to the witness stand," she announced, snapping her fingers with a wink. She was doing a rather good job at hiding how freaked out she must have been, I had to admit. Who knew she was such a great actress?

Soon afterwards, Detective Umber walked up to the stand. She was rocking back and forth on her feet, and her hair swayed along with her. She cast her gaze up to Judge Diaphan expectantly, waiting for instructions on what to do next even if she already knew the regular steps.

"Please tell the court your name and occupation," Judge Diaphan eventually instructed of her.

"I'm Abilene Umber. I work as a homicide detective at the local precinct," Detective Umber answered. "I'm the leading detective on this case."

"Please give the court more details about the case," Judge Diaphan told her sternly.

Detective Umber responded with a nod and a grin. "I'll get right into it!" she announced jubilantly.

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ The Crime's Details ~

-"The crime took place within a set of bathrooms at the theater that was cordoned off from the public."

-"A Luminol test revealed that there were large amounts of blood mopped up in the area, and it belonged to the victim."

-"We aren't sure how the victim's body got moved, but it sure did, and she first was spotted on the stage during the show's opening scene."

-"The murder weapon was a knife brought into the building from the outside. It shouldn't have been at the venue, meaning this crime was premeditated."

-"The knife's blade held the blood of the victim while the handle had the fingerprints of the defendant."

"Oddly enough, the blood splatter would have put stains all over the knife's handle too, but for some reason, the stains were absent... How strange."

I looked over to Deirdre after the testimony ended. Her eyes had gone wide, and I knew that she had figured something out. Granted, I wasn't sure at all what had suddenly caught her by surprise, but I had a feeling that there was something stirring beneath the surface.

"Deirdre, what's on your mind?" I questioned. I nudged her gently with my elbow to get her attention when she didn't notice that I was speaking with her. "It seems like you're thinking about something..."

Deirdre opened her mouth to give a response, but she didn't wind up having the chance to do so. Judge Diaphan speaking up cut her off, prompting Deirdre to return to her passive thinking stance.

"I see..." Judge Diaphan murmured. She looked down at us once she was finished mulling over the testimony. "Defense, please begin your cross-examination of the witness' testimony at once."

Deirdre nodded. "We'll get right to it," she declared. I could tell for sure that she was thinking about how to break through the testimony's holes. I hadn't noticed anything right off the bat, but I was able to trust her judgement. After all, she must have had a reason for jumping to the idea that she knew what to do, and I was willing to go along with it for the time being.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ The Crime's Details ~

-"The crime took place within a set of bathrooms at the theater that was cordoned off from the public."

-"A Luminol test revealed that there were large amounts of blood mopped up in the area, and it belonged to the victim."

-"We aren't sure how the victim's body got moved, but it sure did, and she first was spotted on the stage during the show's opening scene."

-"The murder weapon was a knife brought into the building from the outside. It shouldn't have been at the venue, meaning this crime was premeditated."

-"The knife's blade held the blood of the victim while the handle had the fingerprints of the defendant."

"Oddly enough, the blood splatter would have put stains all over the knife's handle too, but for some reason, the stains were absent... How strange."

"Objection!"

Deirdre looked up with a smirk on her face. "I would like to point the court's attention to something unexpected relating to this case... It's on the same subject as the knife. It had bloodstains on the blade while the handle was spared of them. It seems odd given the predicted path of blood splatter, and I believe that I have found an explanation that would tell us where the blood splatter disappeared to. During yesterday's investigation, I found a prop knife alongside my coworkers in the backstage area. Forensics testing shows us loud and clear just what happened regarding the knife's odd properties," she announced.

"What exactly did you discover?" Prosecutor Umber questioned with a heavy frown. He crossed his arms as he regarded us with disdain.

"A prop knife was meant to be used during the show, but it went missing around the time the murder took place. It was rediscovered in the backstage area yesterday, and we called upon a detective working on the case to have it examined by forensics. It painted a rather interesting picture for us, to say the least," Deirdre went on.

"The handle of the knife was covered in blood that had been wiped away. A Luminol test made that clear as day. The blade of the fake knife was coated in the fingerprints of the defendant," Mr. Morix said, picking up where Deirdre left out. "Doesn't this seem rather odd? Why would there be blood on the handle of the knife?"

"This only becomes more suspicious when you realize that the handle and the knife itself could come apart. They weren't meant to be stuck together," Deirdre declared. "So, the defense would like to propose the following... The defendant used the prop knife while the killer used the actual knife. Later on, the killer wished to frame her, so they removed the handles from both knives and swapped them out, wiping away the bloodstains on the real knife handle to make it appear as if it had been part of the prop knife all along."

"In other words, this was all a ploy to make it appear as if the defendant committed the crime, but the blood traces existing on the real knife handle prove the truth," Mr. Morix finished. "I believe the killer framed the defendant using the knife as a way to make her seem suspicious."

"Also, when you think about it... The discovery of the body is rather strange as well," I murmured. "I mean, why would Chrysalis walk out onto the stage if she was covered in blood? Everyone would see her like that and find her to be suspicious right off the bat. If she was trying to avoid being caught, then she wouldn't have done something like that. It just doesn't make sense at the end of the day."

"I think we certainly need to consider this..." Judge Diaphan. "It would make sense if the knife handles were switched out to keep people believing passionately that the defendant was the culprit."

"That means the killer was the one who took the knife, and they likely wore gloves to keep their fingerprints from getting on the surface of the handle," Deirdre said next. "It would be a perfect way to make it seem as if the defendant was the culprit, and nobody would find it suspicious unless they thought to look a little bit closer."

"I think this is certainly something we should keep in mind. The culprit must have been someone who had access to the backstage area," Prosecutor Lin declared.

"That doesn't clear the defendant of suspicion," Prosecutor Umber cut in. "She still was able to move freely backstage, so we can't consider her out of the water just yet."

"I believe now would be the perfect time to hear more about the crime from someone who was backstage," Prosecutor Lin pointed out. "Your Honor, we would like to call our first witness at this time."

Judge Diaphan nodded. "You may do so. Witness, you are dismissed," she told Detective Umber. In response, the detective nodded and walked away, leaving the witness stand unoccupied.

"The prosecution now calls Satoki Amaya to the witness stand!" Prosecutor Lin announced, shooting the courtroom's occupants another one of her heartwarming smile. She pointed to the stand as she did so.

Satoki approached the witness stand soon afterwards, resting his hand atop the wood in front of himself once he was situated. He had an easy smile on his face, but I got the feeling he was more stressed than he was letting on. After all, why would a teen like him be used to entering a courtroom? It didn't make that much sense to me.

"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Diaphan instructed with a firm nod.

"I'm Satoki Amaya," Satoki responded, placing one of his hands over his chest before bowing his head. "I'm an actor who was part of the production in the theater production."

"You were backstage at the time of the crime," Prosecutor Umber commented. "Since that's the case, you should tell the court about what you know was happening in the backstage area around the time the murder took place."

"Sure," Satoki said with a nod. "I can tell you everything that I mentioned yesterday during the interrogation session. Does that sound alright?"

Judge Diaphan nodded. "Go on and tell the court everything that you know," she declared.

"Okay. I'll get right to it," Satoki responded.

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ The Events Backstage ~

-"Before the show started, both Saya and Chrysalis went missing. I couldn't find either one of them, so I started searching."

-"Even if I couldn't find them, everyone seemed to believe that they were both fine. I guess a rumor started backstage that they were alright."

-"Chrysalis didn't resurface until right before the show started, and even then, she seemed pretty out of it."

-"One other odd thing happened in the week or so leading up to the show, though I'm not sure if it's connected to the murder."

-"Our second backstage helper, Hannah Blocker, backed out at the last minute, and Stayge Crewe, the stage manager, started acting weird."

-"The knife went missing around the time that Chrysalis and Saya did, but... Funny enough, I didn't even realize it had been returned..."

"He didn't know the knife was back... I suppose the knife was snuck back at an unknown moment leading up to the show?" I suggested, placing one hand on my chin as I thought over a potential explanation.

"We'll have to dig deeper into that to see what it could possibly mean," Mr. Morix said firmly. "It seems as if the disappearances are at the core of what happened at the time of the crime. We should try to figure out what happened to Chrysalis at the time."

"So far, we haven't seen any hints as to what happened though... I mean, she disappeared, and when she came back, she couldn't remember anything from the time of the crime. That seems rather suspicious to me," I told him. "Something must have happened to make her forget, but... What could it have possibly been? If she wasn't backstage at the time, where was she? How did she get back to the crew area backstage without being spotted or otherwise caught by her fellow performers?"

"We'll figure that out soon," Deirdre told us. "First off, we should jump into the cross-examination. I feel as if it will help us to figure things out."

Mr. Morix nodded and looked to Satoki, prompting him to repeat his testimony. He seemed to understand even without any further words being spoken, and he went back over everything he had said before.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ The Events Backstage ~

-"Before the show started, both Saya and Chrysalis went missing. I couldn't find either one of them, so I started searching."

-"Even if I couldn't find them, everyone seemed to believe that they were both fine. I guess a rumor started backstage that they were alright."

-"Chrysalis didn't resurface until right before the show started, and even then, she seemed pretty out of it."

-"One other odd thing happened in the week or so leading up to the show, though I'm not sure if it's connected to the murder."

-"Our second backstage helper, Hannah Blocker, backed out at the last minute, and Stayge Crewe, the stage manager, started acting weird."

-"The knife went missing around the time that Chrysalis and Saya did, but... Funny enough, I didn't even realize it had been returned..."

"Hold it!"

"When did you last check for the knife's presence at the crime scene?" Deirdre questioned with a frown.

"Hm... I was trying to find it right when the show was starting, but it was still missing at the time. I was worried it would cause problems for us later on. Afterwards, the body was discovered, and everything went to chaos, so... I didn't find it at the time. I checked it just before people surged into the backstage area to investigate, but it wasn't there," Satoki replied.

"I suppose that the culprit must have put it back to its regular place after the police's initial investigation," I murmured. "I mean, if it had been there when they first went backstage, then they would have found it. We wouldn't have been the first people to stumble upon the knife prop."

"What you're saying is that the culprit must have been backstage sometime after the preliminary investigation... If that's the case, then we're looking for someone who was in the area both during the show and after the police were finished up in the area," Mr. Morix said softly.

"I feel like we should hear from somebody else about the backstage area from the time of the murder," Deirdre remarked. "Maybe someone else saw something that was happening in the area around the time..."

"Honestly, I feel like there's not much of a way for us to figure out who moved the knife. If the culprit was wearing gloves, they could have very easily hidden the fact that they were holding the knife since we can't use fingerprint testing to track that," Mr. Morix frowned. "Perhaps we should move onto another line of questioning to learn more about the case..."

"Hm... Maybe we should ask more about the other odd things that were happening backstage at the time," I suggested. "There must be something that will lead us to an odd occurrence, and from there, it should hopefully be on the easier side to find a contradiction and unravel it fully."

"The defense would like to hear more about the issues involving the backstage crew from the times near the show," Deirdre declared. I looked up to her in confusion, and she glanced down at me before whispering an explanation. "Think about it. If the crime was premeditated like we suspect, then we might be able to find out more by unraveling the details from before the time of the crime. This is all that we've heard of as far as notable events before the night of the murder, so it's somewhere for us to start."

"Your request is approved by the prosecution," Prosecutor Lin told us, cutting in before Prosecutor Umber had the chance to say something pessimistic. Judging by the way he was heavily frowning, he was planning on objecting, but after Prosecutor Lin spoke, he seemed to give up on it with a heavy sigh.

"Does the prosecution have any other witnesses that could explain such details behind the crime?" Judge Diaphan asked, tilting her head to the side as she addressed Prosecutor Lin.

The woman nodded with a bright smile. "As a matter of fact, yes. There was one other performer backstage at the time of the crime who was helping to search for the victim and defendant, and I believe that he would be more than happy to tell us about the odd behavior of the stage crew," Prosecutor Lin replied.

Judge Diaphan considered her words before nodding. "I see... In that case, the prosecution can call its witness at any moment," she told Prosecutor Lin.

Satoki seemed to sense that his work was done, and he retreated from the witness stand a few seconds later. He shot us a smile, though I could tell he was still pushing it. Even so, I kept my comments to myself given the place we were in.

Prosecutor Lin straightened out at Judge Diaphan's words before nodding her understanding. A smile spread across her face just like it had the other times she was asked to call a witness. "The prosecution now calls Shane Carmen to the witness stand!" Prosecutor Lin declared, pointing her finger at the empty podium.

Woooo I love this case

-Digital