May 19

Courtroom No. 3

12:30 PM

Deirdre Brigit

"Following yesterday's session of the trial, there was unfortunately severe traffic that kept us from arriving at the crime scene in a timely manner," I began, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "The culprit wasn't aware of something like this, but they were more than happy to take advantage of it."

"Shane and Satoki were able to get out of the courthouse and head over to the scene of the crime early, so they were there for a while already by the time that we arrived," Yuri piped in next. "And I bet that everything started while we were still gone."

"Satoki was the first one to be attacked, and after he was hit on the head by the weapon involved with the assaults, he was shoved in the prop bag," I went on. "The weapon was used to keep large props upright. For example, it would keep a facade from falling over after it was placed on the stage. It would have easily been heavy enough to knock someone unconscious if they were hit in the wrong way."

"Why was he hit at all?" Prosecutor Umber questioned, his eyes narrowing in our direction. "Surely you must have figured that much out if you've been thinking about this subject so extensively, yes?"

"I think it has something to do with the phone that was found near him," I answered. "It was facedown on the ground, and since the case is black, it would have blended in with the shadows of the area rather well. The screen was facing the ground, but the device was still on, showing the text conversation we brought up earlier."

"And you think the text conversation was the motive behind this," Prosecutor Lin smirked. "Of course, that would only apply to one person, and that single person just so happens to be our witness... How do you respond, Ms. Blocker?"

I turned my attention to Hannah at her words, and I saw that she was chewing on her gum once again. She was pretending to ignore us, though I got the feeling that she was listening a lot closer than she was letting on.

"The chat log on the screen was between Satoki and Stayge. The real Stayge was the one texted, and Satoki learned that the Stayge that has been involved with this case was not the real one. This should not have merited such a sudden and violent attack, and yet, that's what happened," I continued. "If Hannah truly disguised her identity with good intentions for the sake of her companion, then she would have simply explained the reason behind the swap to Satoki. There wouldn't have been a reason for attacking him at all. Even if her true identity was exposed, it would have been a better alternative to lashing out and getting someone hurt."

"Unless the secret was key to making it seem as if someone else was responsible for the crime," Yuri murmured with a nod. "She lashed out at Satoki upon realizing that he knew the truth, and that was where everything started."

"Satoki and Shane have always been rather close as far as we can tell. Throughout this entire investigation, they've spent much of their time together, and I find it rather hard to believe that they wouldn't stay side by side while looking around the crime scene," I remarked. "I get the feeling that this fact is how Shane was attacked."

"Please explain," Judge Diaphan instructed, her gaze inquisitive as her eyes fell upon me and Yuri.

"If the two of them were together when Satoki found out the truth about Stayge, then there would have been a reason for the culprit to go after Shane too," Yuri explained. "They would have wanted to make sure that he didn't tell the truth either, and chances are that he saw the attack on Satoki as well. There were too many balls up in the air, and taking Shane out of the picture would have been a priority."

"In short, Satoki was attacked after he learned the truth behind the real Stayge not being present. Shane was with him at the time, and Shane likely took off to find help or otherwise escape the culprit," I declared firmly. "Satoki's phone fell facedown when he was attacked, and the culprit likely mistook it for being broken. Without any evidence, he wouldn't be able to reveal the truth to anyone. The culprit didn't want Satoki and Shane to open up about Stayge not being present, so they attacked both of them."

"Satoki was likely placed in the bag as a way of stalling for time," Prosecutor Lin commented. "You guys were going to be heading backstage to look at the bag directly, and when you did, you would have been too distracted by that to bother looking around much further."

"Shane probably fled further into the backstage area where he was found unconscious," I suggested. "He was likely hoping to either find help or hide from the culprit when he was attacked while trying to escape. I imagine that this was around the time that we arrived at the scene of the crime."

"Mr. Morix said he was going to find help for Satoki after we split up, and that's likely when he was tracked down and attacked too," Yuri murmured. "It would make sense. He could have seen the culprit messing around with Shane after he was knocked out and not doing anything to help. On top of that, he was involved with the case surrounding Jackson Blocker's murder, and we're already positive that had something to do with the motive. The culprit wasn't going to let him get away since all of those facts aligned so perfectly."

"Satoki was attacked first after learning that the real Stayge hadn't been at the crime scene throughout the entire case. He dropped his phone, and the culprit assumed that it had been broken. They shoved him into the prop bag to stall for time before going after Shane. Once he was unconscious, they didn't get away in time, and Mr. Morix found them while looking for the detectives involved with the case. He was struck down from there," I announced. "That's the sequence of events from the time of the investigation yesterday."

"There's only one further loose end to wrap up then," Prosecutor Lin murmured. "And that would be the attack on the defendant that took place after the three attacks at the crime scene."

Prosecutor Wood nodded. "Yeah... She was found unconscious in her cell after passing out from shock due to the wound in her shoulder. She's expected to make a full recovery, but it was still a crime done maliciously," she commented. Upon realizing that all eyes were on her, she stared down at the ground and shook her head. "U-Um... How about you go on and explain that now?"

"Of course," I replied. "There were drops of blood found on the defendant's bed, and I imagine that the knife was positioned there. This would have been a perfect way for the culprit to commit the crime while still maintaining an alibi. If they placed the knife there and then left, the stabbing would have taken place while they were elsewhere."

"How did the culprit manage to get the knife into that specific spot though?" Prosecutor Umber questioned, his gaze stern and heavy. "Sneaking into the detention center is not an easy thing to do. You believe that the culprit is a teenager who lashed out due to anger regarding the murder of her father. I find it somewhat hard to believe that someone so young would have been able to sneak into the detention center without issue."

"We mentioned the possibility of a uniform being stolen already," Prosecutor Lin pointed out. "Think about it this way: she could have taken a uniform and put it on to appear as if she was a guard. It wouldn't be the first time she pretended to be someone she's not like we've already discussed. She could have placed the knife in the defendant's holding cell and waited for something to happen."

"Her name was written in blood, so the defendant knew that she was responsible for this incident," Yuri remarked, cupping her chin in one hand. "Maybe the two of them brushed past each other while our client was returning to the cell. She would have suspected something was up and realized what had happened after the knife wound up in her shoulder."

"The culprit was realizing that their grip on the case was slipping. The truth was getting closer to coming out, and if it did, they wouldn't be able to fully exact their revenge against the defendant. It was their way of securing that their twisted sense of justice was served," I announced. "In the end, their anger towards our client made them sloppy, and the truth was finally brought to light."

"And the person who did this..." Yuri started, her eyes narrowing in determination as she turned towards the witness stand.

"It was you, Hannah Blocker!" I announced, pointing towards her firmly.

Hannah didn't react at first, instead standing still as a statue. She started to chew on her gum rapidly, somehow even faster than before, and a bubble began to form in front of her face. It was getting larger as the seconds went by, but eventually, it grew to be too much, and the bubble completely popped. Pieces of gum were sent in every direction, covering her torso in the blink of an eye. An angered roar tore free from her lips as she slammed her hands onto the witness stand. "You... You don't know who you're dealing with!" she screamed angrily. She sounded more animal than human as she continued to shriek in upset. "She deserved everything that came to her!"

"Your plan originally was to kill the defendant when you started wanting revenge, but that fell through in the end," Prosecutor Lin frowned. "As soon as you realized things weren't turning out how you were planning, you decided that you were going to finish the job anyways... And that was when everything began to fall apart."

"You wanted to go after Chrysalis for her agency's involvement with the Jackson Blocker case, and you lost yourself to revenge," Yuri murmured. "That's not a healthy way to deal with grief in the slightest. I've lost family members in the past as well, but this isn't the right way to cope with that. Murder isn't the answer in situations like this. I'm sorry it had to end this way."

"It's all her fault!" Hannah screamed angrily. "She has to be involved with Oracle somehow! I don't give a damn about how young she is! She must have done something to cause the death of my father, and I'm going to figure out what it is!"

"She was fifteen when Oracle rose to prominence," I reminded her gently. "She couldn't have been tied up in something like that at such a young age. You lost your grip on reality when you began accusing her, and now, you don't know how to get it back."

"Please escort the witness from the courtroom," Judge Diaphan declared with a shake of her head. "We've heard what we needed to hear. The witness has confessed, and with that said and done, I believe that we can call this trial completed officially."

A pair of bailiffs appeared at the witness stand, and I watched in solemn silence as they handcuffed Hannah and led her away from the stand. She didn't stop tossing around vicious phrases as she was moved towards the doors of the courtroom, and all I could do was keep staring. All of this had truly come together to form an unsettling picture, and I didn't know what else to do about it.

The doors shut behind Hannah as she completely disappeared from view, and I let out a small sigh before turning my attention back up to Judge Diaphan. She had picked up her gavel, and she was looking over the courtroom with a heavy frown. "It appears that we've found the truth behind this case at long last," she announced. "We can now proceed onto the verdict. It's a shame that the defendant couldn't be here to listen to such an announcement."

"I'll be more than happy to pass on the message," Prosecutor Lin replied. "And I'm sure that the defense will feel the same way on the matter, yes?"

I nodded. "Of course. We'll be dropping by the hospital to visit her at once after the verdict is handed down," I confirmed.

"I see," Judge Diaphan said. "In that case, I believe I had best get on with it. Are there any objections from the defense or prosecution regarding the end of this case?"

I shook my head. "The defense has no objections," I assured her.

Prosecutor Lin glanced to both of her coworkers before shifting her focus back up to Judge Diaphan. "The prosecution has no objections either," she replied, though I got the feeling she was still watching Prosecutor Umber out of the corner of her eye. There was a suspicious glaze in her eyes, but I wasn't entirely sure what she was thinking about regarding him.

"Understood," Judge Diaphan declared. She reached for her gavel and lifted it. "In that case, this court hereby finds the defendant, Chrysalis Starr, not guilty. Court is adjourned!" The gavel slammed down a moment longer, and I smiled at the sound. Finally, everything was over. It was about time, to say the least.

May 19

Defendant Lobby No. 3

1:00 PM

Deirdre Brigit

After the trial had finished and we had packed up, Yuri and I made our way out into the defendant lobby. We were met with the faces of Chief Prosecutor Bespoke and Neptune Mercure once we were in the room, and all of them were smiling brightly. I have to admit, I didn't expect the two of them to come and watch the trial, but I wasn't complaining in the slightest that they were there.

"Hey, you two!" Yuri exclaimed, her face set in a wide grin. "I'm so glad that's all over at long last!"

"That was certainly an adventurous case," Neptune remarked with a small chuckle. "Imagine that... Thinking that a teenager was involved with Oracle? I understand that the culprit had sort of come apart by that point, but it's still an odd thing to think about. I would have expected it to be clear that Chrysalis wasn't involved on that front." She was doing a rather good job of pretending she knew nothing while understanding the case completely.

"All that matters is that she believed it at the time... And because she did, she was planning on resorting to murder," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke frowned, shaking his head. "I'm glad that it didn't end the way she had been intending though. That wouldn't have been good at all." There was an extra dimension to his words that he refused to elaborate on, but I fully understood what he meant.

"I'm not looking forward to having to explain all of that to Chrysalis," Neptune admitted with a small yet nervous smile. Her hands fiddled with one another relentlessly. "We have to go and see how she and Cotoli are doing in the hospital. I'm sure that they're going to want to hear about the verdict. You know, assuming they're even up and moving about by now... I hope they're awake by now. It has been a while since the culprit first lashed out at them, after all..."

"We should go and see how they're feeling," Yuri agreed. "I know that they want to hear about the outcome of the trial since they couldn't be here, and I'm tired of being here anyways. Hannah's attitude is far more exhausting than it has any right to be."

"For now, let's make our way out of here," Neptune suggested, placing her hands on her hips. "I've had more than enough of this place, and I want to go and see Chrysalis. I can meet you guys there. I... I brought a few friends along to watch this trial."

Neptune was walking away before I even realized what she meant, and I could see Clarith Blake and X standing together nearby. Ms. Blake shot us a shy wave before walking away with Neptune. X didn't seem all that alert, and I wondered if he had wanted to come to the trial in the first place. If he didn't want to be there, he was covering such up rather well. The two of them launched into conversation immediately, and Neptune's prior bright smile disappeared. I couldn't help but wonder what they were discussing, but I got the feeling they weren't going to be telling me no matter how many times I asked.

Before Yuri, Chief Prosecutor Bespoke, and I had the chance to leave the area, Prosecutor Lin appeared with Prosecutor Wood at her side. "Hey there, everyone," Prosecutor Lin smiled. She walked over to Chief Prosecutor Bespoke and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "It's good to see that you're still here. I was hoping to get the chance to say bye to you before you headed out."

"Hey, Prosecutor Lin," Yuri grinned. "How are you doing?"

Prosecutor Lin shrugged, placing one hand at the back of her neck. "As good as I can be given the circumstances... I really wanted to be able to hang out at the hospital with Chrysalis and Cotoli... I'm sure that you know the whole story behind Pieter, so the idea of siblings getting hurt is a bit of a touchy subject in our family," she admitted. "Of course, I'm glad that I came here to make sure that nothing went downhill, but... I suppose I didn't really have a choice."

"You didn't have a choice?" I echoed with a frown. "What are you trying to say with that?"

Prosecutor Wood replied with a frown stitched into her features. "It's Prosecutor Umber... I don't know if you noticed, but he seems to have this strange anger with your agency. He's been upset whenever you all are brought up," she explained. "It's a bit hard to explain, but... Even if he knew that Chrysalis was innocent, I don't know if he would have fully allowed this case to go the way that it did without our interference."

"Why would Prosecutor Umber have a grudge against the agency?" Yuri questioned. "That doesn't make any sense. We've only seen him once before this case, and that was when we were solving the murder of his mother. I don't know why he would be upset with us for what happened then. We were helping him then."

"It doesn't make much sense to us either, but regardless, the point is that he doesn't like your agency, and it's a problem," Prosecutor Lin shrugged. "It's complicated, but you know what I mean. I wish I could have been with Cotoli and Chrysalis today, but I'm happy that I was able to keep them from getting into any further trouble."

"If Chrysalis was convicted for the crime, Mr. Morix would have gone a bit crazy trying to get her out of the detention center," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke murmured. "That's just the way that he is. It's for the best that you were able to keep him from getting obsessive over something like that. Prosecutor Umber being here alone would have only complicated things further."

"Still, now that the trial is over, we're going to see the two of them," Prosecutor Lin told us with a firm nod. "I want to go and see how they're doing. It's been really bugging me that I haven't heard about how they've been feeling."

"The rest of the agency is there with them," Yuri reminded me. "It's going to be a bit crowded, but I suppose I would prefer that to the alternative of them being lonely all this time, huh?"

I nodded. "Yes, that is true... Anyways, let's go on and see them," I said, moving towards the door. I saw Chief Prosecutor Bespoke throw an arm around Prosecutor Wood's shoulders as I passed by, and I couldn't help but smile as he did so.

I allowed the rest of the group to pass through the door with a small smile, but they weren't the only ones to pass by me along the way. Someone collided with my shoulder, and I looked up at them with a frown.

It was a man, one taller than me by a handful of inches. I could only see half of his face due to his hair falling over one of his eyes, and part of me thought the hair looked oddly artificial, almost as if he was wearing a wig. I couldn't say for sure, but it certainly bothered me right off the bat.

The other thing to bother me was that he seemed oddly familiar. I felt like I had seen his face somewhere before, but I wasn't sure where I could have come across him. I looked up at him in confusion, and his gaze met mine a short few seconds later.

"You were on the defense team," the man said breathlessly. "I... I must thank you for everything that you did in the courtroom. I owe you all of my gratitude."

I shook my head. "Don't worry yourself in the slightest. I was more than happy to take care of the case," I assured him. "Who might you be? Do you have a connection to the case?"

The man hesitated before shaking his head. "Not... Not exactly... I came out of curiosity... I wish your agency the best. I pray that nothing happens to you or anyone you work with in the future." A kind smile spread across his features. "I'm sorry I could not speak with you longer, but I'm afraid I must take my leave of you now. Have a nice day."

The man waved to me before heading through the door, and I watched him go with a stunned expression. I still didn't know where I could have seen his face before, and no matter how much I tried to comb through my memories, I couldn't figure out where I could have come across someone like that. It didn't make sense to me in the slightest. It was as if the image was on the tip of my tongue, but I still couldn't reach out and grab it no matter how hard I tried.

I didn't realize how long I had been standing there in shocked silence until Yuri's fingers curled around my wrist. She tugged on my arm lightly. "Are you okay? You've been standing there for way too long," she whispered. "Prosecutor Lin already left with the others. I got worried when you didn't come out with me."

Yuri's grasp startled me out of my daze, and I nodded to her. "Of course," I assured her. "Let's go and see what's going on with the rest of the agency." I followed after her, though there were a few feet between us as we navigated through the courthouse in complete silence.

There was a lot bothering me about this trial all of a sudden. First off, there was the matter of Neptune showing up. I didn't expect her of all people to come and watch the trial. She and Chrysalis had been friends for a few years ever since Neptune first entered our lives two years prior, but it was still strange to me that Neptune would come. Bringing along Ms. Blake and X only added another sense of weirdness to the situation. I didn't expect her to be in the courtroom rather than at the hospital with Chrysalis, and I certainly didn't see it coming for her to drag the other two along with her too. Maybe I was overthinking things, but there was something oddly uncanny about her behavior.

Neptune had always been an odd character, though I suppose that's still a bit of an understatement. She's a strange person by nature, always watching from a distance with oddly scrutinizing eyes. I couldn't put a finger on it, but something about her was starting to bother me. I hadn't seen her show up at a trial since the last time Chrysalis was arrested, and Neptune shouldn't have even known about that incident. She was already acquainted with Ms. Blake and X by that point as well, though I didn't have the slightest clue how that could have happened. She and X worked together once, but I didn't think that quite equated to being close enough friends for something like this.

I shoved Neptune out of my mind as the strange man entered my thoughts once again. Much like Neptune, he existed in a space of my brain that I couldn't describe in the slightest. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn't quite put a finger on it. Where had I seen that face of his before? He had claimed to not be involved with this case, but I couldn't help but feel as if that was a lie somehow. I wasn't sure of why he would want to lie about that, but he must have had a reason. That reason was important enough for him to keep the truth from me. His gratitude had seemed genuine, but what would that mean? I would have expected to have heard about him if he was involved somehow with this case. That sort of appearance is rather distinctive between his height and odd hairstyle.

Either way, I wasn't going to be able to answer my questions about Neptune and the strange man until after I had finished my business at the hospital. The rest of the group was waiting for me, and I didn't want to keep them waiting any longer than I had to. It was certainly something I was going to have to try and look into when I got the chance. I doubted I was going to make any great progress as long as I was working alone. Neptune covered her tracks far too well with her deceptively bright facade, and I didn't even know the man's name. It wasn't going to be easy to deal with, but I was determined to learn at least something about them.

I didn't realize that I had arrived at the car until Yuri poked at my arm for me to unlock the doors. I nodded and fished my keys from my purse before pressing the appropriate button on the fob. No matter how much I attempted to shove everything regarding Neptune and the strange man out of my mind, it didn't work. I was certainly going to have to figure this out somehow, but where the hell could I even start in a situation like this? What was Neptune's gambit? Why had she come to the trial? And, most importantly, who was that strange man?

May 19

Unknown Location

Unknown Time

Unknown Perspective

It was easy to see that I was in a sour mood when I arrived back at the end of the day. A headache rattled mercilessly behind my eyes, and I couldn't stop glaring at my surroundings as I flopped into my chair. The legs rattled under the sudden weight, but I didn't react to such in the slightest.

My arrival earned me the attention of the man and woman in the area, and both of them looked to me with curious eyes. "Headache," I explained softly, knowing that they were fully aware of the chaos behind my stress.

"It's all about that agency, isn't it?" the man questioned, sourness seeping into his words. "They've always been involved with unfortunate matters, and it seems that this case is no exception. How tragic."

The woman shook her head. "The motive behind this case is certainly worrisome... The killer was truly convinced that the child was Oracle somehow," she murmured. "The prosecutor was far too willing to jump onto the explanation of her being too young, and it's rather suspicious. Besides, we're too smart to be fooled by something like that."

"If you think about it, this is the only explanation that makes sense," the man declared. "We've known such for quite some time, but we're actually going to act on it. I almost wish that she didn't show up today. It certainly would have allowed us to take care of things without further issue."

I looked up to him with a frown. "I know that you're mad about all of this, but I don't know if it's a good idea to let your rage get the best of you. I'm not going to let a killer get away because of your grudges. We're just as upset as you are, but that doesn't mean that we should allow murderers to run at large after going after people deliberately with murderous intent in mind," I said.

"I agree," the woman admitted meekly. "I don't know if we'll be able to calm you down, but... We want this to be different too. Don't think that we're turning against you, but... That seems a bit extreme. That's all we're trying to say."

"Oracle is extreme too... Extremely dangerous," the man snarled. "It's time for us to take them out once and for all. They've been a thorn in the side of my family for far too long. The pain that they've caused cannot be measured. Half of the people I once cared for have been taken away from me. I refuse to allow such to grow even worse than before. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," I muttered, wishing that he would just stop talking. My headache was only worsening, and his anger was not helping in the slightest.

"Good," the man said, rising to his feet. "Soon enough, everything will come falling down, and this world will be all the better for it. Oracle has existed for too long, and it's time for that to end."

THE THEATRICAL TURNABOUT

END

And there's case three finished! This marks case fifteen in the Morix series, and I think that's absolutely crazy. It doesn't feel like it's already been fifteen cases. Wow.

When we come back next week, we'll be moving into the second third of this book with case four. Until then, I hope you enjoyed!

-Digital