August 8
Defendant Lobby No. 4
9:45 AM
James Devine
The next morning came without any permission from me, and I was forced to shuffle through the detention center so that I could go to the courthouse. I hadn't slept well the night before at all, and my mind was still spinning with the idea of having to be social. I normally loved being around people, but given the situation, all I wanted to do was curl up and block out the rest of the world.
When I arrived, I could see that Chrysalis, Felicity, Yuri, and Anton were already waiting for me in the defendant lobby. I approached them slowly, putting on a brave face even though my nerves were rattling around constantly inside me. "Lovely day for a trial, wouldn't you say?" I prompted. Despite saying that, I didn't think it was true in the slightest.
"Morning, James!" Yuri exclaimed, clapping her hands together out of excitement. "It's good to see you here. It seems like we're going to be able to get you out of the detention center today, and you'll be free to go home without any issues. Are you excited to finally be able to leave that place?"
I nodded with a wide smile. Even if I was anxious as could be, the idea of going home was something that I desperately needed to cling to. My mother was likely waiting for me. She hadn't come out to watch the trial as far as I was aware, but I wasn't exactly surprised. She tended to push herself too far out of stress and worry for others, and it was definitely for the best that she held back on coming to visit me if she thought that she needed a bit of time to examine everything from a distance. I couldn't wait to see her again, to say the least.
"Nobody likes staying in the detention center," Chrysalis sighed with a shake of her head. I noticed her rubbing at her shoulder, but I didn't call her out on it, figuring that the subject wasn't one that I wanted to push. She was distant enough from me as it was, and the last thing I wanted to do was to push her even further away.
"We're starting to put the pieces together now, so we should be able to end it all without any issues today... You know, if a few specific theories of ours wind up being correct," Felicity told me with a bright grin. "It's nice to see that you're feeling perky today though. I know that trials can stress people out at times."
She had no idea just how stressed out I was. I was thankful for my acting skills since the kept others from picking up on just how nervous I was about the outcome of this trial. If I was forced to think about it for even a second longer than I absolutely had to, chances were I would begin to panic. There was no way of saying for sure that this trial would end in our favor.
This wasn't to say that I didn't trust the prosecution. Both of them were clearly good at their jobs and understood what they were doing, and I figured that they would do what was for the best. If everyone else around me seemed to trust them, I would follow suit.
My primary issue was with the legal system as a whole. My memories of my father had always been limited, but I could say without a shadow of a doubt that he was fighting against a corrupted legal system while he was still alive. He never wanted to see people hurt by the system itself, and that was part of the reason why he became an attorney in the first place. I always found it admirable, and I didn't understand how anyone would be able to think of it as anything but good. Granted, the fact that the system needed fixing in the first place was far from being good, but I still believe my intentions and admiration were properly portrayed.
"I'm sure that it's all going to be fine," Yuri suddenly said, snapping me out of my trance. Nobody seemed to realize that there was anything bothering me in the first place aside from maybe Chrysalis, who was watching me with an unreadable expression just like always.
"We've got everything almost entirely sorted out, so there's nothing to fear," Felicity assured me, and her hand came down on my shoulder in a reassuring gesture a moment later. I looked up to her with a smile, allowing my hand to rise up and hold her fingers in my own. It was an incredibly kind thing of her to do, and I wanted her to understand how much I appreciated it.
"Are y-you going to be o-okay?" Anton questioned, turning his attention to me. He was rocking back and forth between his toes and heels, likely because he simply needed something to do with himself.
I nodded in response, pushing aside all thoughts about this potentially not being true. "Of course. I'm going to be fine soon, and I'm sure that these two lovely ladies will be more than able to get me out of the detention center without any issues," I answered, flashing yet another smile over at Felicity and Chrysalis.
Felicity nodded in response. "Of course! We should probably head inside sooner rather than later just to make sure that we're ready for what's to come. Finding the truth about what happened is likely going to come naturally once the trial happens, but it never hurts to be extra prepared," she told me.
I looked over at the doors to the courtroom, and I had to resist the urge to squirm where I stood at the sight of it. Even after talking with the others, I still hated the idea of having to go inside. I knew it couldn't be avoided, but it was uncomfortable to me regardless. I wanted to be able to enjoy the benefits of the case being won without actually having to go through the stress of it all.
"It's going to be alright. Promise."
My eyes wandered over to the person who had spoken over to my right, and I saw that Chrysalis was watching me solemnly. Her expression was still unreadable, though I shouldn't have been surprised in the slightest. She had proven herself already to be the type to hide most things, and I honestly never would have guessed that she was close to my age if not for others telling me.
"Alright, James! That's enough staring at Chrysalis!" Yuri suddenly declared, and she forced herself into my field of vision by pressing her shoulder gently against Chrysalis' side. The older girl didn't seem to mind it in the slightest, and the most frustration she spared Yuri was a perplexed glance before she seemed to slip back into distant and indescribable understanding.
"We had better get into the trial now," Yuri continued, reaching out to take my hand in her own. "You don't need to worry about what's to come at all. Promise." She sent me a wink before starting to guide me towards the doors of the courtroom. When the time came for us to go our separate ways, Yuri waved, and Anton did the same before the pair darted away.
"It's going to be fine," Felicity assured me again, still smiling like nothing was wrong. She wrapped an arm around Chrysalis' shoulder, and the younger girl stumbled before falling easily into her grasp. Chrysalis gave Felicity an expression of shock before correcting herself and going back to her previous passive mask.
I watched as Felicity and Chrysalis made their way into the courtroom, and a smile appeared on my face. It was all going to be fine. I would have been lying if I said that I wasn't nervous, but I still felt far better about it than before. If they believed that it was all going to be alright, I was going to trust them. They knew what they were doing, after all, and their work had already proven itself to be impressive the day before. Maybe there wasn't as much for me to worry about as I had originally feared.
August 8
Courtroom No. 4
10:00 AM
Felicity Amaya
When we got into the courtroom, I began to examine at my surroundings. Prosecutor Wood was standing next to Prosecutor Lin just like the day before. The former was just as nervous as she always had been, and she seemed to be constantly fidgeting. Prosecutor Lin was smiling serenely just like always, seeming as if she had the whole situation under control regardless of how true that was.
Judge Frost was sitting at the top of the room, gavel in hand. She hit it against the podium before her. "Court is now in session for the trial of James Devine. Are the defense and prosecution ready to begin?" she questioned.
"The prosecution is ready," Prosecutor Lin replied after giving her partner a brief glance to make sure that the statement was accurate. Prosecutor Wood seemed to have finished organizing her papers, but she continued to mess around with them because she didn't seem to want to pay full attention to the courtroom as a whole. I couldn't blame her in the slightest given how young she was. She was doing something awfully nerve-wracking at such a young age, so she definitely deserved her space and more.
I looked over to Chrysalis once I was finished examining the prosecutors, and I saw that she was watching me intently. Her expression was difficult to read, but I was still able to gleam what I needed from it without too many issues. "The defense is also ready," I confirmed.
"Good," Judge Frost nodded. "I would like you to present the results of the previous investigation. When we last left the courtroom, it was because you wanted to learn more about all that was happening involving the victim's office. The door was finally unlocked, so you were able to look around inside for further clues regarding the truth behind this case, if I recall correctly."
"That is accurate, yes," Prosecutor Lin told her before glancing over to Prosecutor Wood. "And my partner here would be more than happy to summarize everything that has been happening involving the investigation. Why don't you go on and tell the court about what we found yesterday while we were looking around the crime scene?"
Prosecutor Wood didn't seem too shocked by Prosecutor Lin suddenly shifting the focus to her. In fact, she almost seemed to see it coming. She stopped fidgeting with the papers in front of her before pulling out one sheet in particular. Judging by the subject, I assumed that it contained notes about the investigation from the previous day. It certainly didn't hurt to have a script to follow given how easily she could be made anxious, so I simply watched with understanding eyes.
"Of course," Prosecutor Wood said, swallowing dryly out of nerves. "We were able to get into the victim's office yesterday after the door was unlocked. We looked around and found that there was an area inside that was covered with blood. The victim was clearly killed in his office before being moved out of the space as soon as the bleeding had evened out. As far as we can tell, he was sitting at his desk when he was attacked. There wasn't a struggle either. Everything in the room was perfectly organized."
"What about the murder weapon?" Judge Frost questioned. "I know that we were trying to find that yesterday. Perhaps it was uncovered in the victim's office yesterday."
Prosecutor Wood shook her head. "No... I'm afraid not," she replied with a light sigh. "The murder weapon is still unaccounted for. The same applies to the ring of keys that can be used to open up all of the doors in the building. We haven't found any traces of either one, and we have no idea where they could possibly be. Investigators have searched practically every inch of the building at this point, so the only outcome that remains would have the killer taking both of these items with them after they finished committing the crime."
I shot a glance over to Chrysalis to see if she had any thoughts on all of this, but she was completely inscrutable. She was looking down at the wood of the defense bench, and her eyes had gone glassy due to a lack of focus. I got the feeling that she was trying to piece together everything that was being said, and I wished that there was something I could have done to help her out, but I seriously doubted that there was anything I would be able to do.
"The prosecution would like to call an important witness to the stand at this time," Prosecutor Lin declared after Prosecutor Wood had finished speaking. "Yesterday, a cameraman was mentioned to have been present at the time that the body was discovered. He took a video of everything that happened, and we would like to ask him about what he saw. We'll be able to watch the video here as well."
"I see," Judge Frost murmured with a light nod. "Please call your witness at this time, Prosecutor Lin."
The woman grinned upon getting confirmation, and she snapped her fingers playfully before pointing to the witness stand. "The prosecution now calls Lucas Gassman to the witness stand," she announced.
The courtroom fell silent as Mr. Gassman made his way up to the podium. He seemed to be rather anxious, never quite able to sit completely still due to the countless eyes that seemed to be locked on him at all times. He was messing around with the camera in his hands, focusing on it rather than staring at the people watching back at him from the gallery.
"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Frost announced. Her gaze was stoic and detached, but I got the feeling that she was just as curious as the rest of us were.
"My name is Lucas Gassman," Mr. Gassman responded after swallowing nervously. "I work as a cameraman for a local radio station. It was the same radio station hosting the lottery that led to the backstage tour that uncovered the body."
"You were there when the body was discovered, so you surely must have seen something. However, we aren't going to ask you for your testimony on the subject just yet," Prosecutor Lin declared. "Instead, we would like to see the video that you took at the time of the tour. You were recording it for the sake of the radio station's website, if I recall correctly, and you happened to capture the moment that the body was first uncovered. If it's alright with everyone here, I believe that we should view this video and make our next decision from there."
Mr. Gassman nodded his understanding. "I did take a video at the time of the body's discovery, and if you really want to see it, I think that would be alright... If there's a TV around here, maybe we could set it up."
Prosecutor Lin smiled to herself. "Oh, there's nothing to worry about here. I already did what I could to take care fo this so that we wouldn't have any problems by the time that we finally needed to view the video and see what was going on at the time. I think that we can go on and have it set up now, as a matter of fact."
As if on cue, a bailiff with purple hair appeared and pushed a TV up to the space between the defense and prosecution benches. He was a young man who appeared to be a few years older than Chrysalis, and he gave her a brief wave. Chrysalis returned the gesture with a stilted smile before the bailiff began to fiddle with the television set properly. It only took him a few seconds from then to get everything in working order, and a wide smile spread across his face once it had all been worked out.
The young man grabbed a remote from a shelf beneath the screen before moving over to the prosecution bench. He pressed the device into Prosecutor Lin's hand before taking his position off to the side of the TV set, likely to make sure that nothing went too wrong while we were waiting for it to start working. He was silent as Prosecutor Lin pressed down on the power button, and the screen whirred to life before shifting onto an image that made me grin suddenly.
It looked just like the scene of the crime. The victim was stretched out on the ground of James' dressing room, and the space was just as messy as it had been before. The picture was frozen, and Prosecutor Lin let out a small laugh as soon as she realized. "Oops! Sorry, that's my bad. I guess we should rewind it," she chuckled. "I watched the video for the first time during the brief period before the trial started while I was in the prosecution lobby, and it appears that I forgot to reset it for the trial. Excuse me for a moment."
I watched as the video quickly played in reverse, but I wasn't able to catch much of anything on the way back to the beginning. As soon as it had reached the other end, the video paused, and Prosecutor Lin glanced around to make sure that everyone was ready to watch it. When she didn't see a reason to hold off any longer, she nodded to herself and pressed down on the play button, prompting the film to start once again. I bit down on my lip, working the skin between my teeth as I wondered what I would see next.
The video started out in the parking lot outside of the studios. I remembered that the point had been to record the tour as a whole rather than just the discovery of the body, so this made a striking amount of sense. I watched as Yuri, Anton, Prosecutor Wood, Mukuro, and Chrysalis all came into frame, seeming rather excited about everything. James appeared not long afterwards, and he led the group into the building properly. The camera jerked around slightly as Mr. Gassman moved up the stairs into the studios.
I could see Chrysalis frowning out of the corner of my eye, but I had no idea what was bothering her so much. She was practically glaring a hole through the center of the screen, and it was more than a little uncomfortable to see. I kept on glancing over at her to see if anything had changed, but even as the video of the tour went on, she never stopped staring intently. I got the feeling she had picked up on something that I was missing, but I didn't want to ask her about it until after the video had finished being replayed. I would have all the time in the world to be curious after I had figured out what happened at the time of the body's discovery.
Soon enough, the film transitioned into the discovery of the corpse, and I could feel my hand growing tense with nerves as the moment of fate came closer. I could see the group of teenagers gathered outside the dressing room where the body was found, and a frown was on James' face. He had found a sign on his door saying that other people had to stay out, and he seemed perplexed about it being there at all. James picked up the sign off the floor after it fell, and he examined it briefly before pushing the door open and walking inside. The body was stretched out on the floor, and I immediately cringed at the sight of the corpse. I didn't think I would ever be able to get used to such senseless death no matter how long I worked in the legal field.
The video cut off soon after all of the teenagers fell into panic, and Prosecutor Lin looked over to us with a frown. "Alright... Was there anything during that video that struck you as being odd?" she questioned. At first, I wondered why she was asking me, but then I realized that it wasn't directed at me at all. Her gaze was latched solely onto her younger sister.
Chrysalis snapped out of her trance upon hearing Prosecutor Lin's voice, and she hesitated before glancing my direction. I still didn't understand what she was trying to say, so all I could do was watch silently as she nodded. "Yes, there was," she replied. "It was incredibly subtle, but if you listened closely, you could hear a small tapping sound of two pieces of metal hitting each other."
Prosecutor Lin frowned, tilting her head to the side in confusion before deciding to rewind the video. Chrysalis spoke up as the film played back. "Go to the part where Mr. Gassman was walking up the stairs to enter the studio. That was where I first noticed it," she explained, and Prosecutor Lin nodded before following suit.
As the images played back, I waited silently, but then the sound on the video came back into play as we reached the point of note. I listened carefully for the tapping sound, and sure enough, I recognized it. In fact, it sounded exactly like the noise that we had detected from Mr. Gassman the day before when we were speaking with him outside of the studio. The similarities were undeniable, and I couldn't help but wonder if the culprit behind the tapping noise had been present even before the crime took place.
"You're right," Judge Frost murmured with a light frown. "Do you have any idea what the source of this sound could be?"
Chrysalis shook her head. "I'm not sure, but this sound was present yesterday when we spoke to the witness out in the parking lot of the studio. When he rocked back and forth, we could hear the tapping sound, but I didn't know where it could have possibly come from. This video makes it clear that the sound was present at the time of the body's discovery as well, and I have to wonder if that's relevant."
"The sound was so quiet that it wouldn't have been heard given the distance between the other witnesses and the person currently on the stand," I pointed out. "The camera was far closer to him though, so it was able to detect the noise... I wish I knew what it could mean for the case though. I get the feeling that it somehow ties into the mystery, but I don't have the slightest idea how that could be."
Prosecutor Lin frowned before snapping her fingers together. "I remember yesterday that one of the witnesses said something about the bag holding all of the camera equipment," she declared. "I'm sure that you all recall the way that Mr. Burke spoke about the bag with incredible anxiety and fear. He said that it was rather large and caught him by surprise. Perhaps the bag was the culprit behind the sound... Something inside must have caused the tapping."
"I really don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Gassman suddenly said, but I had the feeling he wasn't talking about what Anton had said in the slightest. Instead, he seemed to be concentrated on the bag resting against his shoulders, and his hands were fidgeting nervously with the straps. "The bag is absolutely packed with equipment, and I don't think that it could have made a noise like that. Everything was too tightly packed to possibly rattle enough to make a noise like that, and the zippers aren't responsible either. I would have noticed if that was the case."
"If he really wants us to stop being suspicious of him, maybe he should just let us look in the bag already," Chrysalis muttered, but she didn't raise her voice loud enough for anyone else to hear. "He told us that nothing could have been snagged on the bag when we were talking to him yesterday, but there's always the chance that something did get caught and he's just hiding it from us."
"He could certainly have a motive to do that," I murmured. "If he's somehow tied into this case, then he would want to keep everyone from finding out the truth about the bag... I wish that we could just look at everything that's in there already. It's a real bother."
"Perhaps we should have the witness offer a testimony regarding his thoughts from the time of the crime," Prosecutor Lin suddenly declared, snapping me out of my conversation with Chrysalis. "We have him here so that we can ask questions, and I don't think that we're going to be able to find the full story if we don't talk about what he was thinking about during all of this."
Judge Frost nodded her agreement. "Witness, I would like you to testify to the court about what you were thinking at the time of the body's discovery. Please tell us everything that was going through your head as you were recording during this crucial point," she said firmly.
Mr. Gassman hesitated before nodding. "Alright," he said softly, though I could tell that he was still nervous about this subject. I couldn't quite identify the cause of his anxiety, but I didn't think that it was involved with the atmosphere of the courtroom in the slightest. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions; I couldn't bring myself to care.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ The Body's Discovery ~
-"When I first arrived at the studios, I got to work by recording everything that was happening. Everyone was counting on me to take care of that, and I didn't want to let them down."
-"The teenagers were all excited, and I was happy to follow after them. I didn't think that anything was wrong at first, but..."
-"James seemed anxious somehow. I think that he was nervous because of what he did. I still believe that he was responsible for the crime."
-"He's known for being a talented actor. He wouldn't have gotten the lead role in the show if not for his skills, and I think that he used them when the body was found."
-"The sign on the door was strange, but I don't think that we can take his surprise over it as evidence that he didn't commit the crime. He knows how to hide things when he wants to."
-"Overall, I believe that he committed the crime. So what if he didn't have a motive? There are some twisted people out there who just kill for the sake of it, and you never know what's going through a person's head in times like this."
I frowned after he finished his testimony. It appeared that he was intent on remaining as stubborn as possible on the subject of James' guilt. No matter how much evidence we had, he simply wasn't going to be hearing us out because he was too determined to be right. It was a dangerous mindset, placing one's own pride above the power of justice and truth. Still, I didn't openly call him out on it, instead biting my tongue and looking over to Chrysalis.
She didn't seem to be convinced in the slightest either, and when she glanced my direction, her expression was almost spiteful. "He's claiming that James faked it all again... I don't think that he's being honest when he says that he thinks James was lying. I just find it hard to believe that James' shock wasn't genuine. The lack of a motive is fishy too. I almost think that this is coming from a place of desperation."
"That wouldn't surprise me," I admitted with a sigh. "I know that there's not much we can do about it without blowing his testimony open though. Maybe we should bring up our secret weapon now to try and figure out our next step..."
Chrysalis nodded in agreement. "I think it would be a good idea to let everyone know about that. We can figure out how it factors into all of this after we've told the world about it. There's less danger in mentioning it in the courtroom than an investigation where there aren't as many witnesses. Let's use the atmosphere to our advantage and show him just what we've uncovered."
I glanced up at Mr. Gassman and frowned. Even if he seemed like a decent person, I couldn't help but feel bothered about what he clearly wasn't telling us. There was something going on, and even if we didn't know exactly what it was quite yet, I knew it had to be important. Between the bag and his firm belief that James was guilty, it was clear as day that there was something that he wasn't telling us.
"I believe it's time for the cross-examination to begin," Judge Frost suddenly declared, immediately earning my attention. Chrysalis glanced up at her as well, and I knew without having to check that we felt the same way. Judge Frost was right, and we had to ask Mr. Gassman about his testimony in detail.
"We'll get right to it," I assured her with a confident nod. I didn't know how all of this was meant to come together quite yet, but I was going to figure it out one way or another. His secretive nature wasn't going to keep me from uncovering the truth about what had happened. We had promised that James was going to be freed, and I wasn't about to let our words slip into falsity after how far we had come. Mr. Gassman wasn't going to get away with hiding anything as long as we were on the case!
I need more sleep
-Digital