March 14
Courtroom No. 2
11:00 AM
Deirdre Brigit
"I sort of doubt that a rubber band was put over the latch to keep it from shutting," I murmured. "Ms. Rell just told us that the record only activates itself and records being opened when somebody puts their finger onto the fingerprint system. That means that Ms. Rell might have shut it down, but the killer opened it up again for some reason. If they didn't activate the fingerprinting system, then it wouldn't have been recorded."
"That seems much more plausible than the rubber band theory, actually... I mean, I'm sure that we would have found something like that at the scene of the crime. Either that or a police officer would have mentioned it up until this point," Chrysalis agreed. "Plus, Ms. Rell wouldn't have needed to put in the password on the box if a rubber band was on the latch to keep it open. She would have mentioned it if she didn't need to put in the password. The record is probably a key piece of this puzzle when it comes to figuring out who opened it up before her."
"Speaking of the record... I have a quick question," I said, looking up with a small frown to Ms. Rell.
"What is it? Did I say something weird?" Ms. Rell asked.
I shook my head. "No. I was just wondering about the record... Earlier, someone mentioned that you opened up the box to turn the power on. It was recorded to the file that states who opens the box and when. Well... Why haven't we put a concrete name to the one who opened the box before you? Wouldn't it be noted on the record?" I questioned.
"I'm afraid not... Whoever opened it messed around with the thing. They cut a hole in the page... One automatically comes out of the printer every six hours if somebody turns the power box on or off or otherwise meddles with it. The single page that pops out is the only record we have. It isn't permanently stored in the computer since the technology is kind of old and we haven't gotten around to updating it. We had plans to update it soon, but that doesn't really help us," Ms. Rell sighed. "Sorry..."
"That's unfortunate... But it means that we know something else that takes suspicion away from my client in the defendant's chair," I smirked. "You see, only somebody who knows of the record that is kept could get in there and cut a hole in the page. Plus, said person would need a lot of influence to get into that sort of important room in the first place. Further, the fingerprinting system wouldn't have her in the catalogue of people to allow inside. That keeps her from getting into the power box, which means that she couldn't have turned the power box. I mentioned earlier that the killer must have been the one to power off the box and cause the power outage to help the defendant escape. Therefore... My client is not the one who killed the victim!"
The gallery above burst out into another bout of chatter. I crossed my arms over my chest and smiled. It seemed that things were going my way in this trial... I couldn't really complain about this outcome.
"Good job, Deirdre!" Chrysalis grinned from beside me. "I can always appreciate the epic sort of turnabout!" After she had exclaimed this, her smile melted away to be a bit smaller as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear, embarrassed with her sudden outburst.
"I somehow doubt that Prosecutor Burke can come up with something that can counter that. Unless she has some sort of miraculous trump card hiding up her sleeve, we should be alright for the time being," I said.
"Don't jinx it... Polly is a really good prosecutor. She's passionate about her work. I doubt that she'll let this sort of thing go without some type of objection," Chrysalis frowned.
"I'm afraid that without evidence that proves that the defendant wasn't the one who killed the victim, your 'logical deductions' mean nothing. Criminals follow no logic. They merely kill," Prosecutor Burke cut in, silencing the courtroom. "You may have proved that the defendant didn't cause the power outage, but that doesn't mean that she didn't kill the victim. The events may have been completely unrelated. For all you know, the 'real killer' you keep insisting exists might have turned off the power box to keep the power from going out on its own. After all, the electricity may have been sputtering up until that point! It could have been to prevent a larger issue later on!"
"Objection!"
"I am sure that you would have heard the witness mention that if the power was really struggling that morning. On top of that, wouldn't anybody intending to turn off the power plan to ask Ms. Rell first? She's essentially the head honcho without the warden around, so most orders relating to the power would need to go directly through her, I'm sure," I retorted.
"Objection!"
"Maybe this person just didn't want to bother her. Ms. Rell is a busy woman when it comes to helping the prison function, so it is always possible that the person who turned off the power simply didn't want to impose upon her duties further," Prosecutor Burke suggested.
"Objection!"
"For one, the culprit would have gotten in further trouble if Ms. Rell heard about it afterwards. I'm sure that the punishment for doing something of that nature is rather steep. Furthermore, she would have noticed and told us if something of this nature was going on, with the power being flaky," I frowned. "Plus, if it was really just to help the power, then why was the name of the person who did this cut out of the report? If it was just to be helpful and keep the prison functioning well, there would have been no need to cut out the name entirely. Once Ms. Rell saw the report, she would have spoken to them and learned it was innocent. However, since it was cut out, that's awfully suspicious, which seems to spell out bad intentions to me!"
Prosecutor Burke seemed to be rendered speechless after that. She was just clutching her papers in anger. Anton, who had been staring at us in concern before, reached up to put his arms around Prosecutor Burke to relax her. The woman's shoulders instantly relaxed, most tension in them immediately gone.
"I think that we should have Ms. Rell testify about who had the ability to get into the power box. The electricity in the prison seems to play a key role in this case, so we need to know as much as possible about it," Judge Frost declared. "Are there any objections from the defense?"
I shook my head. "No, Your Honor," I told him.
"And the prosecution? Do you have any issues with that, Prosecutor Burke?" Judge Frost questioned.
"No... None at all..." Prosecutor Burke murmured. It didn't take good hearing to be able to tell that she was upset about my having poked holes in her logic. However, she seemed to be the type to have tough skin, so I figured that she would be alright.
"So... You want me to talk about the people that can get into the power box?" Ms. Rell asked. "I can do that."
"Then get right to it," Judge Frost instructed with a nod.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ People with Access to the Power Box ~
- "There aren't that many people who can get into the power box."
- "It's just me, the warden, and our highest guards that have keys out to the courtyard and know the password."
- "Only those guys are programmed into the fingerprinting system..."
- "...So nobody else can get in, even if they take a key."
- "I don't know who it was that turned off the power that night, but there might be a way to find out..."
- "Anyways, one of the keys went missing recently. The police thought it was because the defendant took it."
- "Even if she had, though, it wouldn't have mattered. No fingerprints, no access."
"I see... That appears to be a good enough summary," Judge Frost nodded. "Defense, I take it that you'll want to question the witness regarding her testimony?"
"Yes. I have a few questions that I would like answers to. They might be able to help us figure out who got into the power box," I explained.
"Then go on ahead. Nobody is stopping you," Prosecutor Burke said bitterly. She still seemed to be mad over what had gone on in our earlier debate. However, I couldn't do a thing about it now, so I would just have to go on and examine Ms. Rell's testimony as normal.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ People with Access to the Power Box ~
- "There aren't that many people who can get into the power box."
- "It's just me, the warden, and our highest guards that have keys out to the courtyard and know the password."
- "Only those guys are programmed into the fingerprinting system..."
- "...So nobody else can get in, even if they take a key."
- "I don't know who it was that turned off the power that night, but there might be a way to find out..."
"Hold it!"
"You think there's a way to find out who got into the power box? What is it?" I asked curiously. Whatever it was, it would hopefully help us out in determining the identity of the real killer.
"Every single time a report comes out, it's in the same font," Ms. Rell began. "If we could get every guard with access to get into the power box, we can see their name show up on the report. If we can find a few names that match the size of the cutout, or at the very least are close, it would be narrowed down. I can tell the guards to do that after the trial ends if I can head back to the prison. That way, a list of suspects could be printed off and delivered for the trial to continue."
"That would be very much appreciated," I told her. "Thank you for that. Being able to narrow down the list of suspects, even if only slightly, would be a great deal of help."
"Alright! I'll be sure to do that!" Ms. Rell grinned.
"Is that the only question you had for Ms. Rell, Ms. Brigit?" Judge Frost asked of me.
I shook my head. "No, it isn't. There's another question or two I need to ask her before we'll be able to move on and get into the next subject of conversation," I said. "Ms. Rell, if it's alright with you, please continue your testimony regarding those who can get into the power box."
"Gladly," Ms. Rell nodded.
- "Anyways, one of the keys went missing recently. The police thought it was because the defendant took it."
"Hold it!"
"If you don't mind my asking, whose key went missing? Do you know the name of the guard who owns the lost key?" I asked.
Ms. Rell nodded. "Of course. After all, he told me almost immediately after he noticed it had gone missing. His name is Ulysses Kyllar. I might be wrong on this, but I bet someone mentioned him to you before. He was helping out the police investigation a little bit yesterday by using a metal detector to scan the courtyard for any sign of the murder weapon," she told us. "Do you think that maybe his key going missing has something to do with the way the murder was committed? I can see why you might have it in your head that it's somehow involved..."
"I do think that it's involved. That key is a primary reason behind my client's arrest. However, she could not have gotten into the power box even if she did have the key... She would still need the password to get into the power box, and that's not even taking the fingerprinting system into account," I said. "Do you have any idea where the key might be?"
"I'm afraid not. He just mentioned that it had gone missing two days ago, the day before the murder. The prison's visiting hours had just ended when he entered my office and said that the key had disappeared... He didn't have a clue as to where it had gone, but Ulysses did say that he had run into a peculiar young girl with black and white hair. He also mentioned that she seemed to be angry, so she might have nicked the key off him when he wasn't looking," Ms. Rell explained.
"I'll need to speak with him soon to ask him about the missing key. If Yuri didn't have the key, she couldn't have gotten out to the courtyard, which means that she couldn't have killed the victim out there. That would undoubtedly clear her name of any charges that might be held against her still," I murmured.
"Do you know if Yuri had the key on her when she was arrested?" Chrysalis cut in.
Ms. Rell shook her head. "No, she didn't. Well, yes, I do know, but no, she didn't have any sort of key on her person. Nothing was in her pockets aside from her phone and wallet, and no keys were found in there," she explained. "I heard it from one of the police officers on duty investigating the case."
"If the key wasn't found on her, then it likely wasn't taken by her," I declared. "She let out a scream upon finding the body, so even if she did have the key, she wouldn't have a moment to get rid of it before being caught."
"Objection!"
"You never know if she really did scream upon first finding the body. For all you know, she just didn't scream immediately and hid the key at the scene of the crime somewhere to ensure that it wouldn't be found on her person. How about that?" Prosecutor Burke smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'm afraid that simply cannot be the case. After all, a metal detector was used to look over the entire courtyard. The key would have been picked up by the detector if she had hid it there. Plus, if she needed the key to enter the courtyard, then she couldn't have thrown it elsewhere. Once she was in the courtyard, she wouldn't have been able to get rid of the key somewhere else in the building without locking herself out of the courtyard," I told Prosecutor Burke.
"She's right on that. The doors to the courtyard lock on their own at night, so she couldn't have hid the key somewhere else without being stuck in the main part of the prison," Ms. Rell piped in.
"Why didn't you tell me that before?!" roared Prosecutor Burke. If she was any angrier, I would have been able to see smoke coming out of her ears.
"I didn't think it was important... Well, now you know. The courtyard door locks automatically unless you put something in the door to stop it from locking. But, as you can see, nothing of that nature was found at the scene of the crime," said Ms. Rell. "Because of that, you can't really say that the door was held open somehow, which means that there's just got to be another explanation, right?"
"If you ask me, Your Honor, Ms. Rell's words regarding being locked out of the prison prove that my client is innocent," I declared, turning to face Judge Frost.
"Would you be able to explain it in detail for me?" Judge Frost asked.
I nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact. If the courtyard's door automatically locks upon being shut, that means that the key would have been inside the courtyard if my client committed this crime. She would have wanted to get rid of it before the police arrived. However, nothing of that nature was found at the scene of the crime. If the key was going to be inside the prison, she would have needed to hold the door open with something while she went to hide the key. No rocks or anything else similar were found at the scene that could have been used to open up the door. Aside from the dead body, the courtyard was rather clean. Because of this, my client could not have committed this crime!" I exclaimed.
The gallery above burst out into conversation. I couldn't help but feel proud of myself. There was no way that Prosecutor Burke would be able to come up with something to refute that. My logic just seemed to be too solid when it came to the situation at hand involving the key.
"The prosecution has a request involving this case!" Prosecutor Burke suddenly cried out.
"Order in the court!" Judge Frost yelled. The people watching the trial fell silent at hearing his volume. "What is it that you request, Prosecutor Burke? Is something wrong? You look like you're sweating buckets over there... Are you alright?"
"The prosecution would like another day of investigation! There are too many loose ends that need to be tied up!" Prosecutor Burke told him rather loudly. I was flinching because of how loud she was being. While having incredible hearing was a blessing, it could just as easily end up a curse when in the same room as someone yelling this way.
"I have to agree with Prosecutor Burke," I said. "For one, we don't know where the murder weapon has gone off to. It has to be somewhere at the crime scene or in the prison, but until we find it, we can't truly call this case closed. On top of that, the missing key to the courtyard is another blatant issue that must be resolved before we can even think about closing this case off once and for all. The hole in the report of who has gotten into the power box is a problem too. We know that the defendant couldn't have done it at this point, but with all these gaping holes in the evidence, we can't figure out who really did it conclusively. We can't have anybody innocent going to jail for a crime they didn't commit. That would just cause more issues, so it might be for the best if we get a day of investigation to look into the crime and see if we can find any other pieces of crucial evidence."
"That is a valid point... Alright. I do agree that there are quite a few holes in this case at the moment. Having an extra day of investigation would be incredibly beneficial to both sides of this debate, so perhaps we should adjourn court for the time being," Judge Frost agreed. "Since you both already suggested it, I take it that there are no objections to this. Would that be correct?"
"The prosecution has no objections," Prosecutor Burke told him, glaring at the papers in front of her. She was desperate at this point for any sort of evidence that might have proven that Yuri had committed this crime, but finding none, she had decided that this would be the only option.
"The defense also has no objections," I nodded. Getting another day of investigation time would certainly benefit our case. There had to be one key piece of evidence that pointed to who the killer was and allowed us to free Yuri. With all these holes in the prosecution's case, there was no way that she could have been the killer. We just needed to find something that showed us who had killed the victim, and I was sure that we'd find it in another phase of investigation.
"In that case, I think it's time to cut off this trial for the time being. We can resume it tomorrow," Judge Frost declared, raising his gavel.
"Hold it!"
We all turned upon hearing the sudden voice to look at Chrysalis. She was looking down at her notebook, the one that she was keeping all the case's details in. "I think that I have one more thing to say before we let the court adjourn for the day," she said quietly.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Judge Frost asked. He tilted his head to the side slightly.
"I think that the prosecution should look into having this Ulysses Kyllar man testify tomorrow during the next segment of the trial. He seems to have some sort of important bearing on the case, so it would be for the best if we got him in here to tell us about what he saw the day of the murder. Plus, the more that we can learn about his mysterious vanishing key, the better. We'll get to the truth much faster if he's here to tell us about the key of his that went missing, so the defense requests that the prosecution investigates Ulysses Kyllar as a witness," Chrysalis announced. "That's all. I'm done."
"I have to agree with that. This Ulysses Kyllar figure already has something to do with the case if he is the owner of the key that went missing the day before the crime. It would be unwise of us to dismiss him. He might end up playing a key role in this case... Ms. Rell also mentioned that he did the metal detection sweep of the courtyard when the police were investigating the scene of the crime, so maybe we'll be able to get a little bit of testimony about tomorrow as well. It might end up important," Judge Frost nodded.
"I somehow doubt that a scan that brought up nothing will be helpful, Your Honor, but if you think that having him as a witness will be important, I'll allow it," Prosecutor Burke said bitterly. I definitely got the feeling that she wasn't going to be letting go of her anger regarding the holes I had poked in her case anytime soon. I was almost hoping that I didn't run into her today during our investigation time, knowing for sure that she'd have a few harsh and loud words for me. Perhaps staying with Chrysalis and doing our own thing alone would be the best course of action for all of us...
"Even if you don't think it will help, the defense seems to think that he has something to do with this murder. Letting an innocent person go to jail is not something I'm going to stand for. We need to look into everything surrounding this murder if we really want to get to the bottom of it. Both sides had better be thorough in their searches this afternoon. I won't be quite such a happy camper if we have to adjourn the trial tomorrow as well because of a lack of evidence for a second time. This should be all the time that you'll need if you're able to spend it well," Judge Frost told us. "Do I make myself clear on this matter?"
"Yes, Your Honor," I said with a nod. "The defense will look into everything we feel to be important surrounding this case so that we may find the real killer during the trial and release the defendant."
"The prosecution will prove her guilty, Your Honor. I will not allow her to be let off the hook for the heinous crime of murder. No people who take another human life can possibly be forgiven, which I will prove in court tomorrow. The victim's killer will not be allowed to roam the streets, that I promise," Prosecutor Burke announced. Somehow, she had grown even more intense in the past few minutes. Now I definitely wanted to avoid her, especially if she was going to be like this during the rest of the afternoon in the investigation.
"In that case, the trial of Yuri Rinko is now out of session for the day. Tomorrow, we will meet back here at 10:00 AM to discuss the new details of the case that are sure to be revealed in today's investigation. And with that said, court is adjourned!" Judge Frost cried. He raised his gavel and slammed it down on the bench in front of him, giving the cue to all of us to scatter out of the courtroom and return the defendant and prosecution lobbies.
March 14
Defendant Lobby No. 2
12:05 PM
Yuri Rinko
"That sure was heart-stopping," I said once I had arrived back out in the defendant lobby. Deirdre and Chrysalis were standing in front of me, both relieved at the break in the trial. I had to admit, I was happy too. I was a bit nervous when I walked into the courtroom earlier, but now, it felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off my shoulders. At this point, I just had to make sure that nothing bad happened tomorrow...
"We'll be able to find out more during this afternoon's investigation. At this point, we'll be able to find the killer with a few key pieces of evidence. If we can get our hands on the murder weapon, the gun that was used to kill the victim, the key to get out to the courtyard that recently went missing, and the name of the person whose name was on the report for the power box originally, we should find our guy. It wouldn't surprise me if the gun was hidden since it was an incriminating piece of evidence. As for the key, it was either taken by the killer or was hidden to frame you," Chrysalis told me.
"I don't think it was taken by the killer. I somehow think that the owner of the key is the one who did this. Why would the killer take the key if they likely already had a copy of the key to get out to the courtyard in the first place?" Deirdre asked. "I suppose that we won't know until we get to the crime scene and start asking around. Things are already going in our favor now that court has been adjourned for the time being. We have to use this to our advantage."
"And I'm sure you will. Everything has got to be alright if you can find that stuff. Once that's all been figured out, I should be out of the detention center in no time! At least, that's what I'm hoping... I have faith in you guys. You can find the killer in an afternoon and a trial. It'll be a piece of cake for you guys. After all, you already managed to hold off the trial's verdict so far by proving my innocence. Who's to say that you can't prove it more and find out who the real killer is?" I questioned. "I'm positive that you'll be able to do it. You seem to be a pretty good team when it comes to cracking cases."
"You'll be home by dinnertime tomorrow. I'm not about to let you go to prison," Chrysalis said, determination shining in her sapphire eyes. "But for now, Deirdre and I need to go back to the prison. We need to find those crucial pieces of evidence to use against the real killer tomorrow. Until we see you again after our investigation, stay out of trouble. We can't have you in trouble for two murders, now can we?"
"Nope. And I won't get into any trouble. It's not like I can cause trouble even if I wanted to. I'm locked in a room with a few books and a sink. Not much trouble you can cause in that environment," I assured her. "Anyways, I'll see you around later. Don't end up in any sort of trouble yourselves. Can't have lawyers getting arrested for murder!"
"I'll see you later, Yuri," Chrysalis smiled with a wave. "We'll tell you what we find this afternoon."
"Bye!" I chirped, waving back at her.
I could feel a hand on my shoulder, one that I soon found belonged to Detective Wattson. She was in charge of escorting me to and from the detention center, so it wasn't any sort of surprise to see her there. She seemed to be a nice enough lady, so I didn't have any problems with going with her. Other detectives weren't quite so kind, but she wasn't too bad. I wouldn't have even objected to seeing her on any other cases I took on in the future after this case had come to a close. If she was on a lot of cases, the chances I would run into her were rather high. "You ready to go, love?" Detective Wattson asked of me.
I nodded. "Yeah. Let's get going," I responded. Detective Wattson responded with a nod and began to lead me out of the courthouse to go back to the horrible detention center. At least I'd get to chat with her a bit on the way back there...
I accidentally goofed and posted this update before it was done. Well, now, it's done. If you haven't already read to this point, please reread the second half or so of the chapter to get everything. I apologize for my blunder. I ended up letting myself post it by muscle memory instead of actually thinking about it. Oops.
So yeah. There's the first trial. We get to the investigation next, which is always fun. Woo hoo.
I don't have much else to say here, so I'm going to vanish now. I hope you enjoyed!
-Digital