February 13
Courtroom No. 1
11:00 AM
Cotoli Morix
"Was there anything you remember Venus saying that made you think that she was somehow related to the Oracle of the Law?" I questioned of Ms. Willows, who was still fanning herself quietly.
"Before we continue, I wish to submit this newspaper clipping to the court," Prosecutor Shield declared. "It describes what the Oracle has done so far. It only names what members of the everyday public know, which means that it's not the most detailed article in the world. Someone in law enforcement would likely have more information."
"What is listed as having been done by Oracle in the article?" Judge Frost questioned. "After you explain the article, you can tell us about what you know as a prosecutor."
"It says that Oracle has broken into quite a few places by this point. They have stolen crucial pieces of evidence from places like the Prosecutor's Office to expose dealings of evidence forgeries by prosecutors trying to get a win against the truth," Prosecutor Shield began. "On top of that, it mentions the case from a year ago in which Oracle was injured in the eye of the public."
"What happened back then?" Lily questioned. "You'll have to excuse me for forgetting. I know it was on the news, but it seems to have slipped my mind."
"Oracle was exposed while doing work in a disguise. The person who exposed them, a man now in prison for murder, scratched the back of their hands with a knife, leaving scars that likely won't ever fade," I explained. "That was the first and last time that Oracle was ever spotted and exposed in public. Since then, it appears that they've been much more cautious with the work they've been carrying out. No other information has been brought up since."
"Because of their work with exposures of corrupt dealings, many people are out for blood at this point, fearing that they'll be next or angered that somebody they know met a negative fate due to an exposure," Prosecutor Shield continued. "Oracle has been forced to be as secretive as possible because of this."
"I take it this isn't the first time that Oracle has been a motive for murder," Judge Frost said, a frown on his face. "Who would have expected something like that to explode into such a huge story?"
"I-I don't know how Venus could have possibly been involved with Oracle... It makes no sense... What would she have even been doing? Helping them break into places? Covering up for them? I don't know if I even want to find out if that was the case... I-I really hope this is completely wrong and that Venus had nothing to do with it..." Ms. Willows whispered, continued to fan herself. "V-Venus... How could you do this...?"
"We have yet to determine if the victim was really involved with it. All we know is that somebody in this area thought so and created a forum online about it," I told her. "There's always the chance that she had nothing to do with it at all, that she is really innocent. We'll just have to do our best to find out more."
"Well... Alright," Ms. Willows said with a small nod. "Where should we start in figuring out the truth...? I want to know it as soon as possible..."
"Did the victim ever seem suspicious in general when the Oracle was brought up?" Lily questioned from next to me.
"No... She barely ever mentioned it, saying that whoever did it must be pretty gutsy for thinking that it's a good idea..." Ms. Willows said. "I couldn't imagine her really being involved..."
"Robbi-erm, Prosecutor Shield, could you tell us about what you know as a member of the legal world? Lily asked next. "You said that you'd tell us what you know since you're a prosecutor and naturally you know more than a simple tabloid, so please go on. We need all the information we can get to find out the truth behind Oracle and the victim."
"Oracle is a legal spy who uses their network of assistants to get information on people suspected of having involvement in underhanded dealings such as evidence forgeries, blackmail, and getting away with crimes. For a little while, back when it was first getting started, nobody knew anything about it. The police were scratching their heads in confusion as to who was doing all of it. That only lasted a few months, though," Prosecutor Shield explained.
"I believe I remember when Oracle was truly announced to the public, come to think of it," Judge Frost said, his eyes wide. "It was about two years ago, right?"
"It was during an interview with a local attorney known as Jackson Blocker. He was the most well-known lawyer in the area for a while, which got his large agency quite a bit of attention. However, he has since passed away, which means we couldn't get any information from him," Prosecutor Shield continued. "He revealed it on a press conference full of reporters curious about what had been happening with the exposures. Blocker slipped up and mentioned that it was the work of someone known as Oracle.
"It wasn't until a little under a year later that we received more information. Blocker had been killed after he denied somebody information about Oracle. The killer revealed in court that Oracle was female. Aside from that, not much is known about our mystery spy," Prosecutor Shield finished.
"I believe that you have neglected to mention the scars that Oracle got during that murder trial. The killer proclaimed that a witness to the crime, one Estelle Burns, was the Oracle of the Law and grabbed her by the arm before badly cutting the back of both her hands with a knife, leaving behind permanent scars," I told the court. "I saw it with my own eyes as the attorney on the case. Not only did the victim of the current case never have scars on the back of her hands, but she was also present as my assistant during that trial, which gives her an alibi for receiving the knife scars. If you want to hear it from someone else a bit closer to the Prosecutor's Office, you can talk to the current chief prosecutor. He stood as the prosecution leader during that case, which means that he'll also be able to tell you about it clearly."
"It sounds to me like this means that the prosecution's motive doesn't hold up!" the judge exclaimed.
"And what exactly makes you say that?" Prosecutor Shield asked, his eyes narrowing in the direction of the judge.
"If the victim isn't Oracle, then your motive no longer makes sense about people thinking she was Oracle," Judge Frost explained.
"My motive has nothing to do with the victim being the one or not. Instead, it's a matter of what the defendant thought as he was committing the crime," Prosecutor Shield said. "Knowing that the victim was not Oracle doesn't change a thing. My motive proposition still stands as strong as it did before, so you don't need to worry about it any longer."
"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong, Prosecutor Shield," I smirked, my arms crossed. "This information is what will shift the suspicion away from the defendant, as there's no way that it will still stand firm when taking what I just said into account."
"And how does it invalidate my motive idea?" Prosecutor Shield questioned.
"Anyone who works at the Prosecutor's Office will be aware of the fact that the defendant is close with the head of the office, Chief Prosecutor Bespoke," I began to explain. "I highly doubt that he could be as close with Chief Prosecutor Bespoke as he is and not be aware of the details of that fateful case."
"I... I do know that the defendant is a close friend of Chief Prosecutor Bespoke, yes... I suppose that your words may have some merit to them..." Prosecutor Shield muttered. He began gripping the red bandanna around his neck, angry and frustrated.
"So in a nutshell, the defendant is close with the head of the Prosecutor's Office, the one who prosecuted the case you mentioned last year involving Oracle being scarred," Judge Frost started. "Since he's so close, the chances of him not knowing the details of the case, including the victim's inability to be the Oracle of the Law, are little to none. That means that the prosecution's motive proposition no longer holds any power."
"Exactly," came the smile of Lily from beside me. "That sure was some good reasoning, Mr. Morix. You seem to have done your research when it comes to this case."
"I guess you could say that," I smirked to myself. "I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm an expert on all things involving Oracle, but I know enough to be knowledgeable for this trial."
"If the motive has been proven to be incorrect, perhaps we should call up Ms. Willows to testify again. We've destroyed one part of the prosecution's argument against Mr. Burke, so the witness testimony is next. So far, she hasn't said anything too incriminating against him, which means that the real fight hasn't started yet," Lily said. "We could ask her to talk about when she saw him. That might have something we could use against her. Since Ms. Willows has already been proven questionable as far as credibility, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch from here on out to prove that something involving Mr. Burke's presence at the crime scene is a lie."
I nodded my agreement. "The defense requests that the witness, Ms. Shayla Willows, resume testimony, this time talking about her encounter with the defendant at the scene of the murder," I declared to the court.
The judge nodded as well. "I see no issues with this request. Prosecutor Shield, do you object to what the defense is proposing?" he questioned, focusing his attention on Lily's older brother on the opposing side of the courtroom.
"The prosecution has no objections," he said simply. I could tell that he was still a bit miffed about his motive having been destroyed, but I couldn't dwell on this. In order to prove that Anton was innocent, we would have to keep pressing forward without looking back too much.
Not long after, Ms. Willows was back at the witness stand. She was fanning herself nervously, biting her lip while doing so. "Wh-What is it you want me to do...? I-I was a bit spaced out..." she murmured, looking down quietly. "V-Venus wouldn't work with Oracle, right...? Of course she wouldn't..."
"We can't say for sure if she was working with Oracle or not, but we can say that she wasn't the one behind it all," I assured her. "You don't need to worry about that much, Ms. Willows."
"I-I guess that's a good thing..." Ms. Willows stammered, still fanning herself rapidly.
"You have been requested to testify about seeing the defendant at the scene of the murder. If you don't mind, you need to begin your testimony now," Prosecutor Shield instructed of her.
"Alright... You promise you won't get too mad at me if I make a mistake...?" Ms. Willows asked, looking to me. I could see genuine fear in her eyes, which I admit pulled at my heartstrings. I could tell that she was truly upset thinking about Venus' murder on top of her potentially working with Oracle. Deep down, I felt a bit bad for her. She didn't want anything like this to happen, and yet here she was, testifying about having seen a murder. Poor girl.
"Be gentle on her, alright, defense?" Judge Frost questioned, looking to me with narrowed eyes.
"I'll hold back when I can," I agreed with a small nod. I couldn't make any promises, but I doubted that the judge was going to leave me alone unless I agreed to be careful with Ms. Willows. Even if she wasn't aware of it, Ms. Willows' shy demeanor seemed to have the judge wrapped around her little finger, so I would have to agree to his whims.
"Okay... H-Here I go..." came the nervous whisper of Ms. Willows.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ Anton and the Crime Scene ~
- "I had just come across the body when that blonde boy arrived..."
- "He had been walking by at the time, probably going somewhere nearby, maybe the Prosecutor's Office since you guys are saying he's there a lot..."
- "A-After he saw me and the burning car, he walked over and put an arm around me, since I was crying..."
- "I was upset since... Y-You know... Venus was gone now... He seemed to want to help..."
- "I-It was just us at the scene of the crime! N-No one else! S-Someone else being there would just..."
- "It would be ridiculous! I promise you that it was just us!"
"Witness, are you alright?" Judge Frost questioned. "You seem to be breathing rather quickly."
"Do you need to sit down?" Prosecutor Shield asked, worry flashing over his face for a brief moment.
"No... I'll be fine... The sooner that... that we can get this over with, the sooner... I'll be able to leave..." Ms. Willows said. Now that it had been mentioned by the judge and Prosecutor Shield, I noticed that Ms. Willows was breathing at a rather rapid pace. It didn't take a genius to be able to see that something had gone seriously wrong.
"If this keeps up, she might end up passing out," Lily hissed at me from my side. "She's hyperventilating like mad now. It seems to me that she's on the brink of having a panic attack."
"If you ask me, the best way to calm her down will be to figure out the core of her stress and anxiety. If we can figure that out and assure her that it'll all be fine, then she'll likely relax and be a bit more willing to tell us more about what really happened when the crime took place. I can tell that she's holding something back for some reason or another, and we need to figure out what that is," I told her.
"I bet that what's scaring her is what she's hiding," Lily said next. "Unlocking the truth will definitely help her out mentally and physically. She's trembling violently now." Lily pointed her finger at Ms. Willows, where I noticed that she was correct. Ms. Willows was in fact shaking, crossing her arms and hugging herself nervously. Her fan was sitting discarded on the witness stand in front of her.
"Defense, do get this cross-examination over with as quickly as you can for the sake of the witness," Judge Frost instructed.
"Alright, consider it done," I said with a nod.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ Anton and the Crime Scene ~
- "I had just come across the body when that blonde boy arrived..."
- "He had been walking by at the time, probably going somewhere nearby, maybe the Prosecutor's Office since you guys are saying he's there a lot..."
- "A-After he saw me and the burning car, he walked over and put an arm around me, since I was crying..."
- "I was upset since... Y-You know... Venus was gone now... He seemed to want to help..."
- "I-It was just us at the scene of the crime! N-No one else! S-Someone else being there would just..."
- "It would be ridiculous! I promise you that it was just us!"
"Objection!"
"You sure do seem to be insisting that it was just you and the defendant at the scene of the crime," I noted. "If you ask me, you're almost saying it a bit too much, like you're trying to prove a point or convince yourself that this is the case."
"Th-That isn't it at all!" Ms. Willows cried out. She was still hugging herself nervously, looking down at the ground.
"I'm afraid that you have contradicted what you have said, or rather, what the prosecution said," I continued to say. "The prosecution said that there was a second witness besides you at the scene of the crime, and this witness was not the defendant in any way, shape, or form."
"What... What do you mean...?" Ms. Willows asked. I suddenly noticed that she had grown rather pale. "Please... Please don't keep talking... I-I'm begging you..."
"Witness, are you alright?" Judge Frost questioned. "Are you sure that you don't need to sit down?"
"I-I just want to get this over with... G-Go on, M-Mr. Morix..." Ms. Willows stuttered.
"There was a second witness at the scene of the crime. That much was confirmed by the prosecution. This was also the very same witness who called the police upon finding the crime scene, which means that their existence cannot be denied. However, despite this, for some reason you are still trying to say that they do not exist. Why is that?" I asked. "Judging by your negative reaction, I doubt it's a simple slip of the tongue or gap in your memory. I get the feeling that something involving this witness is legitimately frightening you."
"No... It isn't like that... Please stop this... I-I don't want... I don't want to die..." Ms. Willows suddenly said, her voice much softer. She was swaying on her feet now from her earlier hyperventilating, still paler than she should have been. "D-Don't let me die..."
"Die? What are you talking about, witness?" Prosecutor Shield asked. His eyes had gone narrow and he was gripping madly at the bandanna around his neck. "Nobody here ever said anything about you dying. What brought this on?"
"If you were to ask me, I would say that this witness is likely being blackmailed," I suggested. "It would make sense if you thought about it with the way that things have been going recently."
"Wow, Mr. Morix! How did you come to that conclusion?" Lily asked from next to me. "I never would have guessed that. I guess it's kind of obvious now which one of us is the more experienced attorney."
"I would like an explanation as well!" Judge Frost cut in. I flinched slightly. If you asked me, there were times when judges would yell louder than he needed to. It had happened a few times between the many cases that I had seen since becoming an attorney.
"Think about it. The witness didn't mention the second witness that the prosecution brought up in her earlier testimony. On top of that, when they were brought up a few minutes ago, she began to panic. To me, that seems to be pretty strong evidence that something is wrong between this witness and the other one who called the police," I explained. "Blackmail is the first idea that comes to my mind."
"You've proven that something is wrong between Ms. Willows and the other witness. However, her getting nervous does not mean that she is being blackmailed. You're making a wild assumption based on minimal evidence," Prosecutor Shield declared. "I'd like to see some concrete proof that Ms. Willows truly is being blackmailed, though I really do doubt that could be the case."
"Ms. Willows was thrown into a panic attack upon this other witness being brought up. I believe that's evidence enough that something is seriously wrong between the two of you. I doubt that she would react in such a wild way unless the other witness seriously frightened her," I explained.
"Being afraid of someone is not the same as being blackmailed by them, defense," Prosecutor Shield retorted. "I do hope that you understand that."
"Of course. I am fully aware of this," I told him. "However, I sort of doubt that the witness would end up nearly passing out from hyperventilation if she was just 'frightened' by the witness. Ms. Willows, would you be willing to tell us about your encounter with this second witness?"
"I-I can't! I-I don't want to die!" Ms. Willows cried out. She was tearing up now and was still shaking.
"I didn't even mention the fact that she jumped to conclusions about dying if the second witness was brought up. I doubt that she'd go this far in her fear unless something was seriously wrong. I doubt a mere fright could leave her this spooked," I said next. "Ms. Willows, please take a deep breath or two. Everything is alright. You're fine now. We won't let anybody hurt you. I promise that you aren't going to die."
"You... You swear it...?" Ms. Willows questioned, looking up at me in fear from behind her fan.
"Of course," I assured her with a small smile, hoping it would make her feel a bit more relaxed.
"In that case... I-I guess there wouldn't be any harm in telling you what happened..." Ms. Willows murmured before looking up. There was a determined gleam in her eyes, but I could tell that something was still bothering her. She looked over at me with a brief desperate glance before sighing. "It's a bit of a messy story..."
"Tell us all about it. We're here to find the truth behind the case, Ms. Willows," Judge Frost declared. It appeared to me that he was brushing off the fact that she had pretty much committed perjury since he found her to be so sweet. She still didn't seem to understand that he was under her spell of shyness, but I thought that was probably for the best.
"Okay... I-I was at the crime scene... I was crying over Venus being gone since I knew that she was dead... That was when Mr. Burke showed up... H-He tried to comfort me, and it almost worked... But... But that was when another man showed up... He called the police on Mr. Burke..." Ms. Willows said. "Though... That's not really the important part of this story..."
"The important part? There's more to you meeting the second witness?" Prosecutor Shield asked. "How come I never heard about this?"
"It's just as Mr. Morix says... He was blackmailing me..." Ms. Willows continued to say. "Before Mr. Burke showed up, I saw him there at the crime scene... He was setting the car on fire using a small lighter that had probably been in his pocket... When he realized I was there, he grabbed my arm and pulled a switchblade knife out of his jacket..."
"It doesn't sound like blackmail so much as it sounds like a threat," I heard the judge remark. "He threatened you into keeping quiet?"
Ms. Willows nodded. She held up her wrist, which had the outline of a knife slash on it. "He said that I would keep quiet or else... Then he cut my hand... He told me that he'd kill me if I said anything... That the next thing he'd slit would be my throat..." Ms. Willows shook her head. "I'm sorry for keeping it secret... I just didn't want to die... I hope you aren't too mad..."
"Of course not. Anybody else would act the same way if somebody was threatening them," I told her. "You did the right thing by telling us. Now, we can bring him in here and ask what he did. We'll be able to catch the criminal now, and it's all thanks to your help."
"I-I don't know if I did that much... Th-Thank you..." Ms. Willows smiled gently, her eyes meeting mine for a moment before she looked down at the ground again.
"What was the name of this other witness that seems to have threatened you?" the judge questioned, looking down at Ms. Willows.
"I don't know... I never caught his name... B-But it sounds like the prosecution might know..." Ms. Willows said quietly. "I mean, from the looks of it, Prosecutor Shield has spoken to him or something like that..."
"Do you know what his name is, prosecution?" Judge Frost asked, looking to Prosecutor Shield next.
"His name is Buff Guiy," came the reply of Prosecutor Shield. "He told me that he had called the police after seeing this witness and the defendant at the scene of the crime. I brought him here thinking that he'd be able to help us find the defendant guilty, though it seems that the tables have turned on that." He let out a small sigh and shook his head. "It seems to me that the defendant isn't at all guilty, especially after what Ms. Willows has just said about having been threatened."
"You aren't going to insist that the defendant is the one who committed the crime, Prosecutor Shield? I thought that most people of your profession would try to push that stance," Judge Frost observed.
"I've met the defendant. He's a good kid. He wouldn't hurt a fly, much less stab someone to death. This other witness, on the other hand, is much more suspicious and may very well be responsible," Prosecutor Shield explained.
"That's my Robbie! He's not ruthless at all!" Lily smiled, looking up at me with a wide grin.
"However, if I'm going to bring this Buff Guiy to the stand, I'll need time to prepare. The prosecution requests a twenty-minute recess so that I may make the necessary preparations," Prosecutor Shield said.
The judge nodded. "I believe that would be a good idea. Do you object, defense?" he asked, looking to me.
"The defense has no objections. It would be best to hold a recess not only so that Prosecutor Shield can prepare his witness for the courtroom but also so that Ms. Willows can take a moment to calm down. She still looks rather shaken up," I told him.
He nodded his agreement. "I believe that would be for the best. Ms. Willows does look dizzy and ill," he observed, looking at the black-haired woman, who was fanning herself nervously. "That being said, court is now adjourned for a recess. We will resume the trial in twenty minutes!" came the cry of the judge before he brought down his gavel to cue us to leave for the time being.
February 13
Defendant Lobby No. 1
12:30 PM
Lily Shield
Once the court had gone into recess, I wandered over to a nearby couch. Mr. Morix had wandered off to speak with Ms. Willows, so I was left alone. Mr. Burke was talking with his adoptive mother nearby. I wasn't even sure if he was speaking, truth be told. He was far too quiet to hear.
"You're working with Mr. Morix, right?"
I looked up to see a girl standing before me. She had lengthy black hair that was tipped with white. Part of her hair covered up her right eye. Her other eye was a deep blue color. A light aqua bow was in her hair, the same color as the shirt she wore underneath her black jacket. Her leggings and tennis shoes were black as well, though her shoes had white highlights. From what I could tell, the girl was rather short, even more so than me, which is saying quite a bit, let me tell you.
"Y-Yes... What about it?" I asked of the newcomer. She had come out of nowhere, quite honestly. Well, either that or I had been a bit too focused when it came to staring at the ground. I was a bit lost in thought over all of this. My first case was already so wild, which meant that I had more than a few questions that still needed answers, which left me daydreaming more than I should.
"I just wanted to thank you for all of this. It means a lot to me. He's done a lot for Venus, Cassidy, and me. Anton's a good kid, too. He doesn't deserve to be sent off to prison. Plus, you're helping him figure out who killed Vee. That's really good," the girl said. I was sure that I saw something akin to sadness in her eye. A small smile appeared on her lips despite this, though she was still in some sort of emotional pain judging from the look in her blue iris. "I'm sure that we'll be meeting again soon, future co-worker."
I gasped in shock and was about to ask her what she meant, but before I got the chance, she was gone. The girl had woven between the other people in the defendant lobby and disappeared from sight. I was going to chase after her, but there was no way I'd be able to catch up. I couldn't even see her now, likely due to the fact that she was short enough to disappear from sight easily.
I let out a sigh and looked down. The girl seemed to imply that we'd be crossing paths soon, which meant that even if I didn't know much about her now, I'd figure it out later on. I hoped that was the case at least. She said a lot of confusing things, and I already wanted to know what she was on about...
Going to pretend I didn't have major technical difficulties getting this chapter updated.
- Digital