March 15
9:35 AM
Defendant Lobby No. 2
Chrysalis Starr
The next morning when I arrived at the courthouse, the defendant lobby was halfway full. I was surprised to see so many people there. Normally, people stay out of murder cases unless they're related to it somehow, it interests them, or they're doing research. The courtroom hadn't been this full yesterday, so I couldn't help but wonder about what could have drawn so many people to a simple murder like this one... It was going to be solved in a matter of hours...
Lucky for me, it appeared that I didn't need to wait long to find out. Cotoli, who had come with me to the trial, was on his phone. "It looks like the media finally got a hold of the message to Oracle written in blood," he frowned to me. "All sorts of reporters are jumping to the case to see if any important information about Oracle ends up being revealed in the trial. They think that Oracle will have to show up if their title is written in blood at the scene of the murder."
I let out a sigh. "Of course it's Oracle. Can't people just shut up about them for five minutes? We get it. There's a spy in our humble little city. Okay. But you don't need to talk about it every second of the day," I said irritably. "Don't they understand how dangerous it is? Involving herself in it got Venus killed. I don't want to see anybody else, especially not innocent people, killed because they know something about this stupid anonymous spy haunting us..."
"I suppose that they can't help but come to see what it's all about. Everybody thought that the Oracle case had died down and wouldn't be solved after the public appearance and subsequent disappearance of Oracle in the trial last year for Jackson Blocker's murder," Cotoli sighed with a shake of his head. "Ever since, all that's been revealed have been proven to be rumors... People claim to know who it is only for their accusations to be shot down instantly."
"That's normal for reporters, I guess... They're buzzing for the next scoop. For once, it's something a bit more local as opposed to big time celebrities or something, which means that the everyday person can relate to it. That doesn't mean I like it much though. It's still annoying and gets on my last nerve. They live blissfully unaware of the danger that comes with Oracle. Every single time they show up, without fail, it's to just cause more trouble," I huffed.
"So, you guys saw the news report too?"
Cotoli and I turned upon hearing the voice of Lily. Today, she was wearing something different from her usual attire, and I had to say, it looked rather nice on her. She had a red dress on with puffed out white sleeves that went down to her wrists. She had black knee-high boots on. A red rose was perched in her hair. The locket and attorney's badge were the same. I couldn't see her Magatama though, so I assumed that it was in her purse or something similar.
"Hey, Lily," I greeted. "You look sweet today. What's the special occasion?"
"There isn't one. I just decided to dress a bit differently for today. Might make it a permanent staple of my wardrobe," Lily shrugged. "Anyways, the news report... I take it that you guys saw it? The one that talked about the message written in blood at the crime scene pertaining to Oracle?"
"Yeah. It's all over TV and social media... The people think that Oracle will make another public appearance at this trial since their name is in blood at the scene of the murder," I sighed. "I don't get the hype behind Oracle. It would be best if they just never showed up again, if you ask me. All they do is stir up trouble. Sure, they do expose corruption, but the way they go about it... It really isn't the best method since it only puts people in danger at the end of the day."
"I can see where you're coming from," Lily nodded. "But I guess that we won't know if Oracle will show up until they do, if that even happens. Maybe they'll be in the gallery. I don't think they'd have been here yesterday since it's just now hitting all the news broadcasts, so we can just look for somebody who wasn't here yesterday... Then again, that's easier said than done. There are a lot of people here that weren't yesterday because of all the sudden buzz about Oracle."
"Guess we'll just have to deal with it until Oracle shows," Cotoli shrugged. "Anyways, where's Deirdre? She's supposed to be here by now... She's the lead attorney on this case, so if she's late, the verdict will likely be handed down against Yuri saying that she committed this murder."
"Speaking of Yuri, she's not here either. I'm sure that they'll show soon, but that doesn't help the fact that the trial starts in 25 minutes and neither one is here," I murmured with a shake of my head. "I'm not exactly qualified to go up there and defend Yuri by myself. I can't do it without Deirdre... Then again, I can't really defend Yuri if she's not even here... Pretty sure that's some sort of twisted requirement that our legal system has about criminal trials."
"Here I am!"
As if on cue, Yuri came running up to us. Her bow was bouncing wildly, but she didn't seem to care. She waved and hunched over, her hands on her knees. "Man, you will never believe what I just went through... It was impossible to find a way in because of all this publicity. There are reporters outside the courthouse asking people about this trial because of Oracle," she told us between heavy breaths. "This is quite the amount of publicity..."
"That's probably why Deirdre is so late too," I said, frowning. "I can tell already that these reporters are going to be a lot more trouble than they're worth..."
"I didn't even realize she wasn't here... The whole way in, I was just assuming I'd be meeting up with her right off the bat," Yuri remarked. "Dang. This whole Oracle thing is really messing up our preparation time... Honestly, I'm surprised this lobby is so empty with all the people I saw outside at the doors."
"Really? When we first got here, it was nowhere near as busy as you're making it sound," I told her. "I guess that all sorts of people showed up after we came inside... Cotoli and I decided to get the jump start on the trial and come in a bit early to talk about the case with Deirdre, but that's not happening now."
"Maybe all the people that Yuri saw outside are in the prosecution lobby. You never know," Lily shrugged. "I guess we won't know until we can see the full gallery when the trial gets going. It might end up starting late because of the crowds... I just hope that we can get good seats to watch you and Deirdre."
"If we stay over by the door, we're sure to get a good place in the gallery," Cotoli said. "Maybe KJ will let us in early... He's a good kid, so he'd be glad to help us out. He's probably used to handling large crowds like this when a bunch of people come to watch any specific trial since he works here and all."
"What's this about me?"
KJ appeared beside me, making me gasp in shock and take a step back. KJ rubbed the back of his head and smiled awkwardly. "Sorry for scaring you."
"It's alright... Do you have anything to tell us about the trial?" I questioned. "Can we go in earlier than usual because of the crowds or something?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. I figured that you guys should get good places in the courtroom since you're related closely with the lawyer..." KJ said. "Speaking of the main lawyer, where is Ms. Brigit? Was she caught up in the crowds or something when trying to get in? I don't see her anywhere."
"We have no idea. We think that's what happened, but we can't say for sure until she shows up," I answered. "Will the trial be starting later because of her absence and the crowd? It wouldn't surprise me if the judge decided to push it back a little bit so that everything could clear up and calm down."
"I'm not entirely sure," KJ told me. "Sorry about that. Now, come on inside. I can get you guys the best seats in the house if you want them, which I suspect that you do. Better than having to put up with the inevitable crowd." He gestured for us to follow him as we approached the courtroom doors. He opened one up and allowed us to go inside. It was pretty much empty since nobody from the gallery had come in yet. Cotoli and Lily both trotted up the stairs to get seats in the front row behind the defense bench where I was supposed to be standing with Deirdre. Yuri took a seat in the defendant's chair near the defense bench.
"Thanks for this, KJ," I said with a bow of my head. "Now, if only we knew where Deirdre was... We'd be able to start our preparations for the trial."
Not long after these words left my lips, the doors to the courtroom opened fully. Onlookers flooded the gallery to take their spots to watch. The room seemed to get warmer instantly because of all the new bodies that were now in the room. I could only pray that the air conditioner would keep me from going crazy before this trial came to a close... I knew how warm the courtrooms could get in the summer, so the crowd would make it that warm for sure because of all the body heat.
A familiar face came in with the crowds. None other than Deirdre managed to break through, holding her evidence bag close to her chest as she darted to the defense bench to stand beside me. I could tell that she was a bit stressed because of the few sweat drops that had formed on her forehead.
"What took you so long?" I asked, though I already knew the answer before I even spoke the words.
"The crowd surrounding the courthouse was rather thick. It took me a while to push through and even reach the lobby. When I arrived, the doors had just opened, so I was able to get in," Deirdre explained. She opened up the evidence bag and began to pull papers out of it that we'd surely need for the case.
"I figured that was it," I sighed. "It's a bit hard to get through with so many people trying to get into the courthouse for this trial. The Oracle news hit the public this morning, so it's been all over TV and stuff like that. I wish that the reporters would hold off for a second though... It's a bit irritating to deal with them all."
"We won't have a moment to prepare now," Deirdre sighed. "It's unfortunate, but it's the truth. We'll just have to go into this with our gut instincts..."
Polly and Anton took their places on the opposite side of the courtroom. I looked up and gulped to myself. This wasn't going to be fun at all, that was for sure...
March 15
10:00 AM
Courtroom No. 2
Chrysalis Starr
My heart was racing from nerves when the judge took his place at the front of the courtroom. Just like yesterday, it was none other than Judge Frost. He banged his gavel a few times to get the gallery to quiet down, though it took a while before all the chatter truly dissipated. I felt bad for him, having to get all these people to shut it before trials...
"Court is now in session for the trial of Yuri Rinko. Are the defense and prosecution ready?" the judge questioned.
"The prosecution is ready," Polly smirked. She looked to be on top of the world today, which I knew wasn't a good sign at all. Internally, I prayed that she was excited because Yuri would be going free. I mean, if Yuri went free, Cotoli would be happy with her, which would mean hugs and kisses for her.
"The defense is also ready," Deirdre declared. By some miracle, she had managed to set up all of her evidence and reports. Man, she sure was fast about it.
"The gallery seems to be a bit more full than usual," the judge remarked. "Why is that? There weren't this many people yesterday during the trial."
"It's likely because of the news that hit the reporters this morning," Polly began. "The public finally heard about the message in blood found at the scene of the c crime talking about Oracle. Now, we're in this situation with all sorts of people above me in the gallery... If they want to stay, though, they'll need to be quiet when anybody is talking. I don't want this trial to end in chaos because of all the people talking constantly and not keeping quiet when they should be."
"I agree. This trial will only be able to progress smoothly if the gallery remains silent a majority of the time," Judge Frost announced. "Yesterday, I dismissed this trial for a phase of investigation. I trust that both sides conducted a thorough investigation during the extra time that was given."
"Yes. During our investigation yesterday, my partner and I came across three crucial pieces of evidence. We found a key, the one that went missing, the gun, which was proven to be the murder weapon, and a small chunk of white hair. All three went through forensics and the test results came back as well, which means that we're going to be able to use all of them in today's proceedings," Deirdre told him. "Did you get a copy of the results already?"
"I did, as a matter of fact," Judge Frost nodded. "What about the prosecution? Did you find anything of importance, Prosecutor Burke?"
"No. I was looking for the gun elsewhere while the defense was out in the courtyard, which is where it was found," Polly told him with a frown. "I'll give a brief summary of the results we received from the forensics analysis before calling in my first witness of the day, one Ulysses Kyllar, who was mentioned already."
"Go right ahead," Judge Frost instructed of Polly. "I want to get onto the first witness as soon as possible, if that's alright with you all."
Polly nodded before looking to Anton, who pulled up a small paper and handed it to her. He had his regular orange blanket draped over his shoulders, the one with yellow spots here and there. I had seen him with it countless times. He looked absolutely precious when he was wearing it, I had to admit.
"The gun is the same model used by prison guards in our local prison," Polly began to say. "No fingerprints were lifted from it, but we did find out that the ballistic markings from the gun match the bullets that were found in the corpse of our victim. As for the key, it's the one that leads out to the courtyard from inside that is only given to the highest-ranking guards. The fingerprints of Ulysses Kyllar were found on its surface, which is no surprise because he's the one who owns this key when it isn't being used as evidence in a murder trial. As for the hair, no DNA could be lifted from it due to the fact that it is not real hair. It instead comes from sort of wig, but no wig of this nature was found at the scene of the murder, which means that we can't use that as evidence today."
"Thank you, Prosecutor Burke," Judge Frost said with a small nod in her direction. "Now, Ms. Brigit, do you have anything to say about her synopsis?"
Deirdre nodded. "Because her prints were not found on the key or the murder weapon, we can take this as evidence that my client did not commit this crime. It was somebody else who shot the victim and suspended his body the morning that this terrible crime took place," she told him with a small smirk.
"I must agree. No gloves were found in the prison that could have been used by our client, which means that she couldn't have killed the victim," I piped in. Normally, the defense assistant in trials didn't speak up often, but I was going to give my input as much as possible today. I wanted to get Yuri home as soon as possible since I knew that Ms. Rinko and Cassidy would be worried. Cassidy always tended to panic easily, a trait she inherited from her mother. I didn't like seeing Cass upset, so I figured that it would be for the best if I broke the mold to help Yuri out however I could. I was sure Judge Frost wouldn't mind it.
"Instead of listening to the defense talk on and on, perhaps I should go on and call my first witness of the day," Polly suggested. "Do you have any problems with that, Your Honor? Like I said before, it's the one and only Ulysses Kyllar who was brought up during yesterday's session of the trial."
"I'd be okay with you calling him," Judge Frost responded. "Does he know anything important about the crime that took place?"
"You'll be able to see once he starts his testimony. Kyllar!" Polly cried sharply. Mr. Kyllar, who was sitting on the witness' bench next to the prosecution, rose to his feet. He didn't look particularly happy, but then again, it's not like he ever did. He preferred being grumpy and messing up my name repeatedly.
"Witness, please state your name and occupation," Judge Frost instructed of him. "It's just for a recap and to follow regular procedures."
Mr. Kyllar let out a sigh and rolled his eyes to himself. "Ulysses Kyllar. Prison guard," he said flatly. "How long will I need to be here talking about random stuff?"
"Until we're finished with our cross-examinations," Deirdre told him. "What is it that you're going to be testifying about, Mr. Kyllar?"
"Tell the court about the gun and key, witness," Polly demanded. "Throw in your metal detection results in there too for the sake of coverage."
"Alright," Mr. Kyllar sighed. "I'm just doing this to get out of here as soon as possible... God, I hate courtrooms..."
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ The Gun and Key ~
- "The gun and key were found at the prison out in the courtyard inside a bush for some reason."
- "I did a metal detection sweep of the area but didn't find anything the day the body was found."
- "Gun is the same type used around the prison. Don't know whose it is, though. The identification number was gone."
- "For all you simple folk, the identification number is found on a sticker on the handle of the gun."
- "This gun didn't have it, so somebody must have pried the thing off for whatever reason they may have had."
- "As for the key, it's mine, but it went missing before the murder took place."
- "Don't get why I'm the one telling you guys about all this though. I don't have anything to do with the damn murder..."
"Identification number?" I heard Deirdre say. "I never heard anything about an identification number from Detective Erikson or Ms. Rell yesterday."
"We didn't get information about it until we spoke to the witness yesterday after you two had gone home," Polly told her. "He said that he didn't want to tell you guys about the identification numbers since a certain 'Christie' was mean to him while you two were looking around. Does that sound familiar?"
"Can he at least try to get my name right?" I couldn't help but mutter. It was like he wasn't even making an attempt to figure out my name, and it was getting frustrated quickly as you might imagine.
"The point is, you have more information now. The identification number is mentioned in the testimony, so you can use that how you will," Polly said.
"I believe that it's time for the defense to begin its cross-examination," Judge Frost said. "Does the defense object to this at all?"
Deirdre shook her head. "No, not a bit. I'll get right to it," she assured him before gesturing to Mr. Kyllar to repeat his testimony one more time.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ The Gun and Key ~
- "The gun and key were found at the prison out in the courtyard inside a bush for some reason."
- "I did a metal detection sweep of the area but didn't find anything the day the body was found."
- "Gun is the same type used around the prison. Don't know whose it is, though. The identification number was gone."
- "For all you simple folk, the identification number is found on a sticker on the handle of the gun."
- "This gun didn't have it, so somebody must have pried the thing off for whatever reason they may have had."
- "As for the key, it's mine, but it went missing before the murder took place."
- "Don't get why I'm the one telling you guys about all this though. I don't have anything to do with the damn murder..."
"Objection!"
"I'm afraid, Mr. Kyllar, that you won't be able to escape the courtroom by saying that. During yesterday's investigation, my partner and I spoke briefly about who we thought could be the real killer behind this case. Since we already determined that our client could not have killed the victim, we had to look at other possibilities, and in our search, we found a few things that pointed to the one who did this," Deirdre began to say. I could see her smirking as she spoke.
"And how the hell does that have anything to do with me, Daydream?" Mr. Kyllar asked. I could see Deirdre's face flicker to confusion and frustration for a moment after his mistake about her name. I couldn't blame her. I was getting more and more irritated with it as the minutes crawled on.
"We think that you might be involved in this case in some manner," I piped up. "After we explain our reasoning, I'm sure that everybody else in the courtroom will agree with us that something about this witness doesn't seem to add up. By the time that we're done, you should understand what we do."
"Bragging isn't going to get you anywhere in life, kiddo," Mr. Kyllar scoffed. "Why don't you just shut it for a second and let the adults talk about this stuff?"
I chose to ignore him. I took a deep breath before speaking once more. "Alright, Deirdre. Go on and tell him about what we found out," I instructed.
Deirdre nodded to indicate that she was ready to begin. "Okay. Here we go... It all kicks off with the key that supposedly went missing. The witness says that the defendant took it from him the day before the murder occurred," she declared.
"Because she did," Mr. Kyllar told her, something akin to a glare in his eyes. "What about it? Are you going to say I've been lying this entire time or something?"
"You're right, as a matter of fact," Deirdre nodded. "The key that went missing was found as we have said, but it wasn't found just anywhere. It was found out in the courtyard where this witness is said to have done a metal detection sweep. However, he didn't find it. If you ask me, that's because he hid the fact that it was out there by either skipping over the area during his sweep of the area or denying that he got any results from that area.
"Anyone can say that this is just coincidence, however. I have a few other pieces of evidence to show that he must have committed this crime. The key that was found only had his fingerprints on it. Since my client's prints are not on the surface of the key, she couldn't have handled it the day of the murder. Plus, if you'll notice, a piece of his uniform's sleeve has torn. A patch used to cover holes and tears in the prison uniforms was found at the scene of the murder. If that patch was used to cover up the damaged area on his sleeve, then that puts him at the scene. I can't think of any other way that the fabric patch would be out there if he wasn't there, committing the crime, just like we suspect," Deirdre continued. "If it was torn off when he was committing the crime, that would make a lot of sense. Plus, we had our witness from yesterday, Pandora Rell, test to see whose names would fit the gap that was cut out of the sheet that told us of who had used the power box in the courtyard recently. His name happened to fit the gap. With all those pieces of evidence, it seems clear to me that either this witness, Mr. Ulysses Kyllar, committed the crime, or has a lot of explaining to do to say how he didn't do it. I personally believe it to be the former, wouldn't you agree?"
"I must say, all that evidence comes off as incredibly incriminating towards this witness... How does the witness respond to this accusation? It seems rather close to an indictment for murder," Judge Frost said solemnly. I could tell that he was contemplating the severity of Deirdre's words internally.
"It's a bunch of crap," Mr. Kyllar responded. He was glaring angrily at Deirdre now. After all that she had said, I could see why he was angry. I got the feeling that Deirdre was right about all of this, about the culprit being Mr. Kyllar. His open hostility towards us would only make sense that way, wouldn't you agree?
"Do you have any evidence of this, witness?" Deirdre asked. It was easy to see that she was doing her best to suppress a smirk. Victory was in sight now, which meant that we'd be able to let Yuri go home since she'd no longer be a suspect for murder. "Unless you have evidence, I'm afraid that we won't be able to accept your words. In court, evidence is everything. Without it, nothing can truly be proven. I'm sure you are aware of this, though."
"Objection!"
"You're saying that evidence is everything, and yet you have nothing conclusively to show that this witness is the one who killed the victim. You could end up sending an innocent man to jail because you're so sure of garbage like this, you know. I'm sure that you don't want that," Polly cut in. "Until you can display something that shows us surely that the witness is the one who killed the victim, then we're going to have to say that your words are mere conjecture."
"All of this is far too perfect to be mere coincidence, Prosecutor Burke," Deirdre told her. "We're not going to be able to go along with the idea that it's coincidence with all of this adding up so well. However, I think that we won't know for sure until we have the witness try to defend himself."
"I agree," Judge Frost nodded. "Mr. Kyllar, please offer your testimony to this court about what you think on the matter of your potentially being the killer. Lies will not be tolerated, I hope you know. I won't allow you to spout nonsense and claim it to be the truth. Do you understand?"
"Fine," Mr. Kyllar muttered with a roll of his eyes. I knew that he was irritated because we were cornering him. It was just a matter of time at this point until this trial came to a close. And once it did, Yuri would be home and the Oracle mess would have calmed down for a while. That was all I wanted at that moment, let me tell you.
"Then go on and begin your testimony, Mr. Kyllar," Judge Frost told him. "Tell us about your innocence in this murder and your thoughts and ideas regarding the accusation of the defense. After you're finished, the cross-examination will begin."
"I just hope that this ends soon. I have better things to do than listen to everybody in this courtroom blab on and on about a 'real killer' who may or may not exist," Mr. Kyllar said to himself before beginning his testimony.
Me? Updating? It's more likely than you think.
I've been playing Octopath Traveler a bunch. It's a lot of fun. I've beaten 6/8 chapter two sections. Just have H'aanit and Olberic left. Yee.
I'm going to go grind on the FEH Tempest Trials now. Don't die while I'm gone.
Hope you enjoyed!
-Digital