"Are you here yet? I know you said you'd be a bit late, but..."
"I'm just outside. Hang on, I'm coming in. What are you do-AAAAAAAAAAH!"
"V-Venus?! Are you okay?! Venus!"
"D-Don't... Don't come out here..."
"No, I'm coming out there! Please tell me you'll be okay!"
"I... I'm sorry... I can't..."
"Venus! No... Venus!"
February 13
Defendant Lobby No. 1
9:45 AM
Lily Shield
Of all the places I expected to be this morning, let me tell you, the courthouse was not the one I had thought of. I mean, sure, I had anticipated coming here soon, but not today! Man, there were so many butterflies in my stomach... If only I knew how to dispel them. I would if I could.
Okay, let me get you up to speed. My name is Lily Shield. I'm an attorney at law, though I'm a new one. I just got my badge recently, so I haven't been to court at all yet. Despite this, I have been hired by a lawyer, one somewhat well known in the area. His name is Cotoli Morix. He told me that my first day was set to be in a month or so, but he ended up calling me out early, asking me to come in today. I didn't know why, as he hadn't explained that in his call, but he had to know what he was doing. Somebody with this sort of reputation had to know what he was planning to do.
I smoothed out the wrinkles in my pink dress, which reached my knees. A red belt was tied around my waist, forming a small bow in the back. I had white tights on with black flats as well. My brown hair was as curly as it usually was, though a few loose strands had gotten near my sapphire eyes. I brushed it away and tucked it behind the pink rose clip I had in my hair near my left ear. Once I was done messing with my hair, I began to fiddle with my lawyer's badge, which was pinned to my dress just beside a silver locket I kept around my neck. In my haste this morning, I had forgot to grab my other necklace, so my chest felt somewhat bare, but there was no time to dash home and grab it since I lived so far away.
"Where is he...?" I asked myself under my breath, praying that Mr. Morix was around here somewhere. I hadn't seen him yet, which was sort of surprising. Not many people were at the courthouse this morning, and even if it was swarmed, Mr. Morix was kind of a sore thumb. He was incredibly tall, about a foot taller than me, so he easily would have stuck out.
After glancing around for a little while longer, I finally spotted him. He was just now entering the room, but he wasn't alone. There was a young woman about my age standing with him along with a teenaged boy. They were all talking conversationally, but I could tell that something was amiss from the dark and hollow look that was hidden inside Mr. Morix's azure eyes.
Mr. Morix himself had spiky black hair that was edged in a blue hue. There was one segment of it that bobbed behind his neck, this part being white with a blue part. A rogue strand of hair stuck up, this one being tipped in both blue and gray. He had a black suit on with a white shirt under his jacket. His shoes were gray and shone dully in the overhead lighting. The tie on his suit was blue and hung loosely. Where stature was concerned, he was tall and thin, looking sort of like a noodle, in an odd sort of way.
The woman he was standing with had lengthy brown hair that was stick straight. Her eyes were brown as well. She had a white shirt on with a formal black jacket along with a small bow. She had black trousers to match her jacket alongside heels that gave her a few extra inches of vertical height. A watch was tied around her wrist, and from the looks of it, the watch was rather fancy and expensive.
Finally, there was the teenaged boy with the two of them. He had bright blue eyes that were staring at the ground. His hair was blonde and curled and reached his shoulders. He had a white shirt on that was adorned with blue patterns that looked rather fancy in my eyes. A ruby was attached to the collar of his shirt. He had matching white shorts that went with the theme of his shirt and white shoes. Despite his dressy appearance, his eyes made him out to be uneasy. He was latched onto the woman's arm. I could have sworn I saw him shaking, but I couldn't be sure from so far away. He was small when it came to height, probably not even being five feet tall.
I decided to approach the trio, figuring that I'd have to say something to them at some point. I didn't know what I was supposed to say to alert them that I was present, so I ended up saying the first word to come into my head. "Hi," I said awkwardly once I was nearby.
"Oh! You must be Ms. Lily Shield. It's a pleasure to see you," Mr. Morix replied, a warm smile on his face. Despite this, I could tell something was bothering him by the look in his eyes.
"Is this the one you were talking about?" the woman questioned, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "You mentioned that you had hired somebody new, but I didn't know she'd be coming here today. I expected your sister to be standing with you at the defense bench."
"Unfortunately, she couldn't make it, so I called Lily here in early," Mr. Morix explained to her. He turned to me once he had finished speaking. "Allow me to introduce these two. This is-"
"Polly Burke. Prosecutor," the woman cut in. When I looked closer, I could see her prosecutor's badge glistening on her suit jacket. "As for this little guy right here, this is Anton Burke. He's my adoptive son."
"He's also the suspect in this case," Mr. Morix told me. "Speaking of, how much do you know about the case at hand? I wasn't able to explain very much of it to you over the phone..."
"I... I don't know anything aside from the fact that there's a trial and it's starting soon," I said with an awkward laugh. "We have a little bit of time, though, so could you explain what exactly is going on?"
"It's... It's a murder case for one," Mr. Morix began. "A young woman was stabbed to death in her car. Shortly afterwards, the car was set ablaze. Anton here was arrested after he stumbled upon the burning car and a witness that was on the scene. A second witness found him there and called the police, whereupon he was arrested for murder. That brings us up to now."
"What about motive?" I questioned. "That's usually a critical part of a murder trial, right?"
"If you've been watching enough TV lately, you'll probably have heard about it at some point or another," Prosecutor Burke said. "Have you ever heard of-"
"Defense... Are you ready to enter the courtroom?"
A bailiff with purple hair appeared at the side of Mr. Morix. "The defendant needs to come in now as well. The trial is about to get started," he explained. I noticed the same faraway sadness that was in Mr. Morix's gaze, but I decided to remain silent on the subjec.
"We'll be in there momentarily," Mr. Morix told him. The bailiff nodded curtly and walked away. The older lawyer turned to me not long after. "Sorry I wasn't able to tell you much. I'm sure you'll learn all you need to as the trial goes on. Just be thankful you aren't the lead lawyer this time. Going into trials unprepared is never fun."
"I'll try and help out the best I can," I said, a smile appearing on my face. However, despite my outwards expression of happiness, I was so nervous on the inside. My heart was pounding at the mere thought of entering a courtroom behind the defense bench. I had never done this before. Not only was I new to the profession, but I was nowhere near prepared for this.
Even so, there was nothing I could do about it now. All I could do was try my best and hope that it didn't go horribly wrong!
Here's to hoping it doesn't go horribly wrong, even though it somehow probably will, even with a well-known lawyer like Mr. Morix by my side.
February 13
Courtroom No. 1
10:00 AM
Cotoli Morix
Once Lily and I had arrived in the courtroom, I glanced around at my surroundings. I hadn't been here in quite a while. It had been a month or two since my last case, so I wasn't too rusty, but I would have to tread carefully. In a murder trial like this one, mistakes weren't going to be tolerated by the judge or prosecution.
Speaking of the prosecution, there was a man standing behind the bench on the other side of the courtroom. He had dark brown hair, similar in color to Lily's, as a matter of fact. His eyes were blue like hers as well. Where clothes were concerned, he wore all black. He had a black jacket over a shirt of the same color with matching trousers and shoes. The only segment of his outfit that wasn't black was the red bandanna that was tied around his neck. Judging by the look in his eyes, he wasn't going to be the type to go easy on me. I didn't mind that, of course. It just meant that I wouldn't be able to slack off either.
"I didn't know Robbie was going to be prosecuting this case," came the whisper of Lily beside me.
I turned to face her, a frown appearing on my lips. "Robbie?" I questioned.
"He's my older brother," Lily explained. "Roberto Shield is his full name, but I just call him Robbie. I didn't realize he would be on this case, though. He told me he was going to be prosecuting a case this morning, but what are the odds it would be the same one I was on?"
"Court is now in session for the trial of Anton Burke," the judge said, leaving Lily and I to end our conversation there. The man looked between me and Prosecutor Shield. This wasn't the judge I was used to (a woman who went by the name of Judge Diaphan), so I had to check the nameplate on his desk for his name. It said it was Ervan Frost. "Are the defense and prosecution ready?"
"The defense is ready, Your Honor," I told him with a simple nod.
"The prosecution is also ready," Prosecutor Shield said next. He noticed Lily standing next to me and shot her a small smile, which she responded to with a grin of her own. I could sense her nervousness, so I shot her a reassuring smile once she had looked my way once again.
"I trust you have an opening statement prepared to give the court, Prosecutor Shield?" Judge Frost questioned of the man opposite me.
"Of course, Your Honor," the prosecutor responded. He pulled up a piece of paper and began to read from it. "The case held today is to find the murderer of one Venus Rinko, a teenager who was taking a gap year before going to college starting in the autumn. Yesterday, Venus was found in the parking lot of Morix Law Offices inside of her car. She had been stabbed in the chest with a small knife. While she survived the initial attack, she ended up ultimately dying by smoke inhalation. Venus' car had been set ablaze by her killer, which badly burned her body. She was only able to be identified thanks to a witness who happened to be on the phone with her at the time. Alongside said witness, the defendant was found at the scene of the crime. Since the other witness had an alibi, Anton Burke was arrested on suspicion of the murder and arson. Today's trial is being held to prove him guilty of it."
"Thank you," Judge Frost nodded. "Is there anything you would like to add to that, Mr. Morix?"
"The defense maintains its position that the defendant in this case is innocent," I announced. "If you don't mind my asking, Prosecutor Shield, were you able to come up with any sort of motive the defendant may have for killing the victim?"
"I presume that you have heard of the Oracle of the Law, Mr. Morix. This mysterious figure has been in the news quite a bit in the past two years or so, as they act as a legal spy who infiltrates organizations to expose information on any wrongdoers within a given group to the public. Quite a few criminals have been locked up recently at the hands of Oracle, though nobody has determined who they are. An online forum was discovered recently that the defendant had looked at stating that the Oracle was likely Venus Rinko or somebody relating to her. Many have been threatening Oracle for years now, saying that they'll kill them once their identity comes to light. The prosecution believes that the defendant thought the victim was the one and killed her over it," Prosecutor Shield explained.
"I see..." I murmured, placing one hand on my chin and nodding. "Alright. I understand. Even so, I still believe the defendant is innocent, and I intend to prove it today in this courtroom."
"We'll just have to see who wins this battle of wits, then," Prosecutor Shield said. "Now, if there are no other objections, I would like to call the first witness to the stand."
"Go on, Prosecutor Shield," Judge Frost instructed of him.
"The prosecution calls Shayla Willows to the witness stand!" Prosecutor Shield declared.
At Prosecutor Shield's instruction, a young girl appeared at the witness stand. Her hair was black and stood out when compared to her ghostly pale skin. Her eyes were blue and downcast. She had a black fan in her hand that was adorned with blue and purple designs. She had a blue shirt on and a purple skirt that reached just below the knees. Her shoes were black ballet flats on top of socks of the same color. She was glancing around the courtroom in a panic, fearful of the people around her. Briefly, she met my eyes, biting her lip nervously. She fanned herself as her eyes transitioned to the ground.
"Please state your name and occupation, witness," the judge told her.
"M-My name... My name is Shayla Willows... I'm an art student..." the girl told the court. "S-Sorry... I-I'm a bit nervous..."
"You're doing just fine, witness," I assured her. "Just try your hardest and don't push yourself any further than necessary."
"A-Alright..." Ms. Willows stuttered.
"When I was explaining the crime during my opening statement, I told you that there was another witness found at the scene of the crime along with the defendant. Ms. Willows here is the one that was found with him at the scene of the crime when another witness arrived and called the police," Prosecutor Shield explained. "However, you'll have to be careful with her. She's easily frightened."
"We'll be as gentle as possible in our cross-examination," Lily piped in from beside me.
"Now, witness, please go on and explain what you saw the day of the crime," Prosecutor Shield said. "But before you do, allow me to give the defense a copy of the autopsy report. I had neglected to mention it before, so I apologize."
After receiving my copy of the report, I flipped it open to the first page so Lily and I could read it. She peeked at it from over my shoulder with a small frown on her face.
Name: Venus Rinko
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Cause of Death: Smoke inhalation after being trapped in burning car
Time of Death: 2:45 PM
Other: Victim was stabbed before death. Her body was also burned beyond the point of recognition once she had died.
~ Jasper Kent
"That's a gruesome way to go out," Lily murmured.
"I have to agree," I said with a small nod.
"If the defense is done muttering, it's time for the witness to begin her testimony," Prosecutor Shield cut in.
"We're finished. Go on, Ms. Willows," I instructed.
"A-Alright..." Ms. Willows whispered.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ What I Saw ~
- "I-I was called by Venus to go and see her... We were supposed to meet in the parking lot of Morix Law Offices yesterday...
- "I heard something from outside, since I was waiting in the lobby..."
- "W-When I got outside, I saw a b-burning car!"
- "There was a person inside when I first noticed it..."
- "Without a doubt, i-it had to be Venus! I-I could tell just by looking that it was her!"
Once Ms. Willows had finished her testimony, I decided to turn to Lily. "This is a rather simple testimony, I believe. I think that you'd be able to take care of it if you wanted to try," I told her. "In fact, why don't you give the cross-examination a shot?"
"M-Me?!" Lily exclaimed in shock. "But you're the lead lawyer on this case! I'd probably find a way to mess this up anyways..."
"I believe in you. Just stay level-headed and focus on what you know and what she's saying. You'll stumble upon a contradiction if you concentrate," I said.
"Well... If you really want me to try it... I guess it wouldn't hurt," Lily murmured, though I could tell that she was still a bit worried.
"Why did you choose Morix Law Offices as your meeting place in the first place?" Judge Frost questioned, halting our conversation in its tracks.
"Y-You see, Venus worked there, before she died... She said that it would be the safest place for us to discuss something serious... But she never got the chance to tell me what she wanted to talk to me about..." Ms. Willows explained, fanning herself lightly.
"Wait... The victim worked at your agency?" Lily questioned, turning to me with her mouth wide in shock.
"I'm afraid so," I told her with a sad smile. "She was one of my main investigative partners... We've been working together for the past two years now. While she was on her gap year, she was going to help me out with even more cases to try and further her experience before she went off to college and learn to be a detective."
"I... I'm sorry for your loss..." Lily said quietly, looking down at the ground. "It must have been a shock..."
"It was... But now, we have other things to worry about. I don't believe Anton did it, and it is my every intention to prove it. This is my chance to find the truth and get the killer convicted for Venus' sake." My right hand clenched into a fist as I stared down at the bench. I didn't have time for grief. Once this case was solved, I wouldn't have to worry for Anton's safety and I could mourn Venus all that I wanted.
"It's time for the cross-examination, defense. If you would be so kind as to begin..." the judge prompted, looking to Lily and I.
"You have this, Lily," I assured her, placing a hand on her arm. "I'm confident you'll be fine."
"If you say so..." Lily murmured.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ What I Saw ~
- "I-I was called by Venus to go and see her... We were supposed to meet in the parking lot of Morix Law Offices yesterday...
- "I heard something from outside, since I was waiting in the lobby..."
- "W-When I got outside, I saw a b-burning car!"
- "There was a person inside when I first noticed it..."
- "Without a doubt, i-it had to be Venus! I-I could tell just by looking that it was her!"
"Objection!"
I couldn't help but smile to myself at her accomplishment. I was positive that she had seen what I had in Ms. Willows' testimony judging by the proud look in her eyes.
"Witness, I'm afraid that there is something wrong with your testimony there," Lily declared. "You said that you could identify the victim just by looking at her, knowing that it was Venus Rinko?"
"Y-Yes..." Ms. Willows said with a nod. "I-Is there something wrong?"
"I'd like to refer you to the autopsy report. It said that her body was burned beyond recognition to the point that it would be impossible to tell who she was," Lily explained. "Which means that you claiming that you knew it was her is nothing short of impossible!"
A gasp left Ms. Willows' lips. She began fanning herself furiously, biting her lip as well. Her eyes stared around the courtroom in a dodgy way, avoiding any and all eye contact.
"I'm sure that I can easily explain this contradiction to the court," Prosecutor Shield declared. "You see, she is the one who identified the body for the police since she knew the identity of the victim the entire time. Since the corpse was so horribly burned, we relied on her testimony to figure out who the deceased was."
"How did she know who it was?" Lily questioned. "Did she have some sort of outside knowledge or something?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," said Prosecutor Shield. "Ms. Willows here was on the phone with the victim at the time of her death and thus heard the murder before going out to see the burned body."
"I see... That's an interesting way to witness a murder..." Lily murmured.
"We could have her tell you what happened while she was on the call with the victim, if that's what you would like," Prosecutor Shield said.
"I'd like to hear about that sort of thing as well," the judge cut in. "The witness will testify about her call with the victim at the time of the murder."
"A-Alright..." Ms. Willows nodded.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ My Call with Venus ~
- "I was waiting in the lobby of Morix Law Offices while on the phone with her..."
- "She suddenly started screaming and warned me not to come outside for my own safety..."
- "I-I went out anyways since I was worried about her, thinking something had happened..."
- "When I got there, she was already dead and the car had been set on fire..."
- "The line had gone dead while I was distracted..."
- "Th-There was nobody else there when I saw her body..."
"I-It's awful that a young girl as kind as you had to hear such a terrible thing..." Judge Frost said to himself with a shake of his head.
"I-I just wish Venus was still here... She was my best friend, but now that she's gone..." Ms. Willows' voice trailed off.
"Try and make this cross-examination as quick and painless as possible, defense," the judge instructed of Lily and me. We both nodded in sync.
"You can do this one. I don't see anything that sticks out immediately about her testimony," Lily told me.
"Alright. I have it all under control," I said. I had already sensed something off about Ms. Willows' statements, so now it was just a matter of showing what it was.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ My Call with Venus ~
- "I was waiting in the lobby of Morix Law Offices while on the phone with her..."
- "She suddenly started screaming and warned me not to come outside for my own safety..."
- "I-I went out anyways since I was worried about her, thinking something had happened..."
- "When I got there, she was already dead and the car had been set on fire..."
- "The line had gone dead while I was distracted..."
- "Th-There was nobody else there when I saw her body..."
"Hold it!"
"You're positive that nobody else was there?" I questioned of her. "I believe the prosecution mentioned earlier that there was one other person at the crime scene, one Anton Burke."
"H-He arrived not long after... He had heard me scream upon finding the body and ran up to us... He had been walking by at the time, though I don't know where he was going..." Ms. Willows told me.
"There was one other person who found the crime scene, was there not?" I asked next. "Prosecutor Shield mentioned a man who called the police after finding you and the defendant with the burning car."
"Th-There was no such person there!" came the cry of Ms. Willows. "I-It was just me and the defendant! Nobody else was present at the time!"
"You seem to have gotten rather nervous all of a sudden," Lily frowned. "Is something the matter? You've grown rather pale."
"Nothing is wrong!" Ms. Willows shouted next. She was violently fanning herself now, her hair being pushed away from her face with each and every movement of her fan. "I-I'm telling you the truth!"
Prosecutor Shield looked to be a bit confused now, though he was doing his best to hide it. "I assume that the witness is just mistaken. I highly doubt that she means that. Besides, it is possible that she is simply suffering from a lapse in her memory," he said. "When the police arrived on the scene of the crime, she was in the middle of a panic attack, so it is possible that she didn't realize the other person was present in her panic. On top of that, witnessing something like this is sure to mess with someone's head."
"This means that the witness' credibility has now been called into question. There is a chance that she has made other mistakes in her testimony that could lead to an incorrect verdict for the defendant and the killer walking free," Lily said, playing with a strand section of her chocolate brown hair. "I don't know if trusting her is the best idea if we want to find the truth behind all this."
"I'm afraid that the defense's assistant is correct," Judge Frost announced with a small nod. "Ms. Willows may have gotten other things about the crime wrong, though I doubt she did it on purpose. She seems far too nice to attempt something like that."
"The judge is going to have to be careful if he wants to continue to have an open mind about all this... Somebody could take advantage of it easily," Lily told me. "We'll have to make sure Ms. Willows isn't trying to do something like that."
"I don't think she is, if you want the truth. She seems legitimately shaken up about Venus' death. Besides, I've seen her a few times around the agency. She's come by to see Venus a time or two. I could tell that she really did care for her and still does care. She wants to find the real killer," I told Lily. "For now, we'll have to trust her. She's the main witness that we have, so we'll have to be sure to take advantage of her testimony the best that we can."
"Are there any other questions that you wish to ask Ms. Willows at the moment?" Prosecutor Shield questioned of me and Lily.
"I'm not sure, honestly," Lily admitted. "I mean, we need to know more about the case, but what do we ask about? There's so much that we don't yet know, such as why the victim was suspected of being Oracle..."
"Maybe that would be a good place to start. Ms. Willows was closer with Venus than most people, so she might have a few of the answers that we're seeking," I suggested.
"Do you have any ideas as to why she'd be thought of as Oracle?" Lily asked.
"I'm afraid not," I replied with a shake of my head. "I've known Venus since before it hit the news, and we've grown rather close. If she was hiding a secret like that, she would have told me about it, and yet, she never did. However, others thought that there was a chance she was involved, if she wasn't the one behind it all, and Ms. Willows might have some ideas if I don't know anything."
"So we're shifting to the murder motive now," Prosecutor Shield observed. "I take it we'll be returning to this line of questioning regarding what the witness saw later on?"
"Yes. As for now, we need to learn more about the motive and why anybody would suspect Venus. This could prove to be important in finding the real killer," I said. "In fact, I suspect that it will point us to the person who killed Venus. If it wasn't Anton and it wasn't Ms. Willows, it must have been a third party, and if we can learn more about the motive, we might be able to apply it to them using what we learn here. What Ms. Willows witnessed will be a huge help as well, as she'll be able to tell us who else was at the scene of the crime."
"In that case, let's get started," Lily smiled.
It finally begins!
I hinted at this on my Instagram a few weeks ago on the three year anniversary of the series, saying that it would be back somewhere else, and here it is.
I got this done early on, so go on and accept my gift. It's almost 10:30 where I live on Wednesday, but in the time zone of the other contributors to this story (aka the ones who listen to my rough ideas and made the other major characters listed in the character credit chapter), it's already Thursday, so I decided to put it up early. I'm only an hour and a half early, so it's fine.
For anybody who wants to be smart and read the original so they know what happens, I advise that you not do that. If you want to read the original (which is old and not my best work because of it), feel free. I can't stop you. But a lot has changed since then, so you can't reliably predict plot twists if you only go off the original Quiet after the Hurricane. A loooooot of characters have been cut, replaced, or added in. The same applies to cases. The cases in this story will have the same concept, but all of the details have changed and later stories are different in many ways.
For example, a character in the original named Tenniswood is now named Deirdre. The Deirdre from the original story does not exist anymore. See? That's just one example.
Anyways, I'm excited to get this story started and see what the future holds! I hope you'll stick around for the ride!
-Digital