May 31
Defendant Lobby No. 4
9:45 AM
Chrysalis Starr
I sat down on the couch in the defendant lobby, crossing my ankles as I stared at the ground. I hadn't seen Lily yet, so she probably hadn't arrived. I was still thinking about everything we had learned involving Oracle. I couldn't quite shake the feeling that Neptune knew who Oracle was. Either that, or Cassidy knew more than she was letting on. It didn't matter which of the two was true. Maybe both were. I needed to get at least some information out of them. If they knew who Oracle was, that meant that I was close. If I wanted to find Oracle to ask them about Venus' death, they were the people to start with. I didn't have much evidence, but it was still something.
Neptune seemed to be a big fan of the picture we had found, more so than she should have been. She must have had her suspicions about it being involved with Oracle. If that was the case though, then she definitely knew a lot more than she was saying. The picture was harmless to me. It had just been a sign of the future to come after a nightmare of a murder had finished up. It was simply a photo, but since she had been carrying it with her evidence regarding Oracle, then she had suspicions that one of us was involved... No, she knew one of us was the one. I mean, she was as sure as the rest of the world that Venus had something to do with Oracle. It had been revealed clear as day during the trial over her murder.
I didn't get it. If Neptune thought one of us was Oracle, why not just come out and say it already? It doesn't make sense. She could get everything she ever could have wanted as far as information was concerned if she spoke up to ask about it. If she said that one of us was Oracle, then she'd be able to talk to them about anything and learn whatever she wanted. And yet, she was staying silent for some reason or another. It was enough to raise a few eyebrows. I didn't know what in the world was going on, but I was determined to find out. When she showed up, I'd ask her about it. I'd press her as much as I needed to. If she really knew who Oracle was, I was going to hear it from her today. There was going to be no more investigating for me. I'd be able to confront them on my own to learn the full truth about Venus' place in their schemes. I'd hear for myself why my best friend of all people got tangled up with a spy.
"Hey."
I jumped upon hearing the voice in front of me. I had been so lost in thought that I hadn't even realized Neptune had approached. She smiled at me gently and waved. "You feeling okay? You don't look too good," she frowned, sitting down next to me. "Are you sick or something? Do you need to lay down? Should you really be going into court for today's session of the trial?"
"I'm fine," I assured her with a sigh. "I just have a few questions for you, if you don't mind my asking... I want to know everything you know about Oracle. Do you know who they are? Be completely honest with me. I need anything that you can tell me. I'm begging you at this point."
"You really seem to think I know something... I don't. Really. I'm just a simple private investigator trying to figure out who Oracle is," Neptune shrugged. "If I do find out, I don't know if I can tell you though... I don't want anybody finding out. They could get hurt. I'm trying to do them a service as their faraway protector. They don't know it, but I'll be there."
"What? Why?" I asked, my eyes going wide. "Why would you do that? Wouldn't you want to take advantage of information like that to talk to them? You could get basically whatever you wanted. You could put someone in prison, get them freed, keep yourself from getting locked up..."
"Oracle has done enough for me already. I don't want to be a burden on them. It's a long story. To say the least, I want to protect them. I get the feeling that you have other motives for wanting to know who they are though..." Neptune's eyes seemed to be begging me to go on. While I was a bit uncertain of it at first, I figured there was no harm in it. It would all be fine, right?
"I want to find Oracle so I can ask about Venus," I murmured. "She was my best friend before she was killed for her involvement in the Oracle case. I don't think anybody else can quite give me the answers I seek. Only they can explain it all to me."
"Why not just channel her or something? I mean, I saw you with a Magatama yesterday. Isn't that a sign of a medium?" Neptune asked, looking down at my necklace.
"I can't do that," I frowned. "I've tried countless times to contact her. I've asked my older sister, another medium, to channel her, but it won't work. For some reason, we can't contact her spirit. Oracle is the only option for me now."
"I see... Well, I don't think that you'll need to look very far to find Oracle," Neptune told me, her lips going into a thin and serious line. "They're a lot closer than you realize, if my suspicions are to be believed. If you just look closely, then you'll find the truth."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked. "Why are you talking in riddles?"
"I'm just speaking the truth. Oracle is hiding right in front of your nose. You just need to admit it to yourself to learn who it is," Neptune said. "And remember, I'll always be here if you want to talk about it."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked defensively. "You definitely know more than you're telling me. You know who Oracle is. Come one, why not just tell me and end this silly little game that you're playing? Make it easier on all of us."
"I'm afraid I cannot do that. You know deep down who Oracle is. Your denial isn't helping you at all, Chrysalis. Admit to yourself that Oracle is part of your life. You're the only one here making things harder for yourself," Neptune told me, crossing her arms. "I'm just trying to help you out here."
I let out a sigh and looked down. If Oracle was really as close as Neptune was making them seem, then who could it be? My thoughts went back to the photo. Was Oracle in that photo? That didn't leave many options for who it could be. Neptune wouldn't have it in a stack of evidence about who Oracle was unless it was important. If they were there, then that meant that I really did know who Oracle was.
I began to think through the possibilities. There was me, but it obviously wasn't me. I think I'd know it if I was. Cotoli couldn't be Oracle. He was there when Estelle Burns was exposed a year ago. The same applied to Ghastly, Cassidy, and Venus. Venus couldn't be Oracle even if she wasn't there. She's gone now, and according to Lily, Oracle is as active as ever. Shayla Willows was evidence of that. That left Polly, Sora, and Pieter. Polly had been at the trial regarding Venus' death since Anton was on trial then. That kept her from being Shayla, which completely eliminated her as a suspect.
Only Pieter and Sora were left. Pieter had been gone all this time, so I didn't think it was him. Plus, his physique didn't match Estelle or Shayla's one bit. From what I've heard of them, they were petite young girls. Pieter was around six feet tall. Plus, his voice was way too low to ever pass for female.
That left only Sora. I stared down at the ground, a frown on my feet. Was it really Sora? How could that be? I mean, you'd expect me to know about it. She's my sister, for crying out loud! She would tell me if she was hiding some sort of secretive spy work. Venus wouldn't keep it from me either. We were far too close for her to keep something so big from me. It didn't make any sense. All of a sudden, now that I was pushing myself to come up with some excuse for why it couldn't be Sora, I couldn't come up with anything. I couldn't remember if she had been wearing gloves the day before. I couldn't think of anything that would prove loud and clear that she wasn't Oracle. The possibility was certainly there.
I would definitely have to ask her about it later on. She would have to tell me if I confronted her, right? At the very least, that's what I was hoping. She couldn't just hide this forever and not expect me to call her out on it. She would have to tell me sooner or later...
Neptune shot me a small smile. "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here. I'm an ally of Oracle... I'm your ally." She looked up and pointed to the door. "There's Ms. Shield. We can talk about this more later." She pressed a small piece of paper into my hands. "Here's my phone number and address if you ever want to talk."
I opened my mouth to ask her something, anything, about Sora. Why was she holding out on me like this? I just wanted to know the truth. Lily appeared with a small wave, making me snap out of thought. "Hey," she grinned. "Are you ready for the trial? It's time to show that Ms. Mercure is innocent. I'm positive that we can bring this to an end with Cassidy's testimony and our other evidence, even if there isn't very much of it."
"Yeah," I said softly. I was hoping that she couldn't see how distant I was over the conversation Neptune and I had just shared, but she clearly wasn't buying it. Her fingers slid over her Magatama as she looked at me. From what I could tell, she was ready to press the truth out of me. I mean, what else are you supposed to do when you see Psyche-Locks like that? You need to break them if you want to hear about what's going on. I've done it many times myself.
"It's time for the trial to start," came a voice from behind me. I turned to see KJ there. He stared at Neptune for a moment. I already knew what he was thinking. He was noticing how similar Neptune looked to Venus. I had noticed the same thing when I first saw her.
"Thank you," Neptune smiled at KJ. He blushed and scurried away, leaving Neptune giggling under her breath. "Alright. Let's go in there and show what we're made of! Well... What you guys are made of. I can't exactly do much to defend myself as the suspect and all. Plus, it's not like I'd exactly be qualified to even if I wasn't the defendant."
"Alright," Lily nodded. She gestured for me to follow her as she went for the courtroom doors. I took a brief glance down at the note from Neptune before going after her. I was definitely going to have to consider going to see her soon. I was drawn to her in a strange way, even if I couldn't really put my finger on it. Plus, if I was right about Sora being Oracle and Neptune already knew, I'd want to talk about it with someone.
May 31
Courtroom No. 4
10:00 AM
Chrysalis Starr
For some reason, the whole conversation I'd had with Neptune before coming into the courtroom made the atmosphere seem ten times as tense. She hadn't even asked me if she thought I could prove her innocence. She had full confidence in me, which I was happy to hear about, don't get me wrong, but it was also a little unsettling. I barely knew her. Our brief chats about Oracle didn't exactly mean that we had nothing but complete faith in one another. That would definitely be pushing it. I didn't get how she could be like this. I was probably more nervous than she was, which had to be saying a lot considering that she was a suspect for murder.
Judge Frost's voice shocked me out of my daze. "Court is now in session for the trial of Neptune Mercure," she declared. "Are the defense and prosecution ready?"
"The prosecution is ready," Prosecutor Shield said. He seemed to be less irritated with Prosecutor Cruz than the day before. I was relieved for that. I didn't want to have to go through a trial worried about the potential for a fight between them. That would just make this already complicated case even more messy.
"The defense is also ready," Lily declared from beside me. "If you don't mind, Your Honor, I'd like to get right to this case. I have a witness that I'd like to call. Well, to be more accurate, I would like to reference the words of yesterday's witness, Cassidy Rinko. She has determined who the figure she saw was. I would be glad to tell you all who she told me it was. We'll have to call them as a witness."
"Go right ahead," Judge Frost nodded solemnly. If it was at all possible, she seemed to be more icy than usual. Or would that be frosty because of her surname? I don't know. The only thing I was sure of was that I was ready for this trial to be over. It wasn't often that I had a bad feeling like this, so when I did, I tried to listen to it. I had been feeling perfectly fine right up until my chat with Neptune. Did she always frighten people like this?
Lily cleared her throat and pulled out a piece of paper, skimming it as she spoke. "Ms. Rinko told yours truly and a few others that the person she saw was a detective on the case by the name of Detective Ghunshotte. A little more research shows that her full name is Tammy Ghunshotte. Since she was spotted by the witness at the scene of the crime, we can definitely call her at least a little bit suspicious. We should question her. If there are allegations that she was running from the scene of the murder, she could easily be the killer. As is customary in court, she needs to defend herself before she can face punishment, assuming she did it," she declared. "What do you think of that, Judge Frost?"
"That sounds fine," Judge Frost said simply. "Are there any objections, Prosecutor Shield? Prosecutor Cruz?"
Prosecutor Cruz played with his sunglasses quietly as Prosecutor Shield spoke. "The prosecution has no objections," he told her. "We have already prepared Detective Ghunshotte to testify in preparation of this turn of events. We suspected that she would be called to tell the court what she was doing the day of the murder due to her being spotted at the scene of the murder."
"Then call her up," Judge Frost instructed. "We should finish up this trial as quickly as we can." Even if she wasn't saying it, I got the feeling that there was something bothering her. I'm no professional when it comes to reading people, but I was still able to catch on to the small changes of her attitude compared to the day before. Maybe she had a gut instinct something bad was going to happen. I guess we'd just have to see how the cards played out over the course of the next few hours.
While I was lost in thought over Judge Frost's odd behavior, Detective Ghunshotte approached the stand. Somehow, she seemed even more terrifying than she had been the day before, which is incredible, let me tell you. I didn't even think that was possible. I felt a shiver run up and down my spine at lightning speed. She had only been here for a few moments, but I still wanted her to leave.
"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Frost demanded. I could see her glaring at Detective Ghunshotte. Maybe she was starting to suspect that the detective was the killer as well...
"Tammy Ghunshotte. I work as a homicide detective at the local precinct," Detective Ghunshotte explained. I noticed her playing around with her choker a little bit. "I don't understand why I'm here. Even if that girl thinks that I was there at the scene of the crime the day of the murder, where's the proof? We can't simply accuse someone of murder over the words of one person. That would be ridiculous. Unless you can come up with some evidence that I was there the day that the victim died, I'm going to have to leave. I don't waste my time places where people are accusing me of crimes."
"I'm afraid you don't have that option. We need to look through all the possibilities regarding whoever committed this murder. If that means questioning you, you'll have to stick through it," Lily cut in with an intense frown. I had no idea how she was keeping up a tough front. I couldn't even try to pretend I wasn't afraid of her. She was downright terrifying. I got the feeling that she was trying to be more alluring than scary based on her attire, but I wasn't going along with that for even a moment.
"Fine," groaned Detective Ghunshotte. "If you really want to know what I was doing that day, I'll gladly tell you. How does that sound?"
"Great," Lily smiled. I could have sworn I saw her shaking slightly. I knew that she wasn't perfectly fearless. She just seemed like the type to be intimidated by Detective Ghunshotte.
"Go right ahead," Judge Frost nodded.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ Why I Was There ~
- "I wasn't at the crime scene to kill anyone. Of course I wouldn't be there to kill anyone."
- "I wanted to talk to the victim like a normal person. He knew a lot about the Oracle of the Law. I was curious."
- "You can't prove I was there with murderous intent either. What motive would I have?"
- "Someone seeing me there simply isn't conclusive enough. You'll need more than that to pin me as the murderer."
- "Unless you have something like that, I'd like to finish up here so I can return to the station so I can take care of my work."
"That testimony was so unhelpful that it hurt me," I muttered under my breath with a shake of my head. "She can't just be up front with us. Of course not. That would make things too easy."
"I guess all we can do now is examine her testimony and hope that some cracks show themselves... I didn't see anything right off the bat. We have the garment to work with, but I don't know how we can show that it could belong to her. I mean, there was nothing lifted from it to point to any specific person. No DNA could be lifted from it. Any that might have been there would have definitely disappeared in the water. It really is unfortunate," Lily whispered.
"Maybe raising the possibility that the garment could belong to her will be enough. Of course, I don't have anything to show this would actually work, but it might be worth a shot," I suggested. "The least we can do is try. If it fails, we can bluff our way through it and come up with another solution."
"Alright," Lily nodded. "The defense is ready to begin the cross-examination."
"Go on," Judge Frost said.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ Why I Was There ~
- "I wasn't at the crime scene to kill anyone. Of course I wouldn't be there to kill anyone."
- "I wanted to talk to the victim like a normal person. He knew a lot about the Oracle of the Law. I was curious."
- "You can't prove I was there with murderous intent either. What motive would I have?"
- "Someone seeing me there simply isn't conclusive enough. You'll need more than that to pin me as the murderer."
- "Unless you have something like that, I'd like to finish up here so I can return to the station so I can take care of my work."
"Objection!"
"I think I might have something that could show you were there the day of the crime," Lily said. She was using my strategy since she couldn't come up with anything else. I noticed a little bit of sweat was visible on her forehead. Looking back on it, we really got screwed over when we were kicked from the crime scene. Without the ability to look around, we couldn't find any conclusive evidence that Detective Ghunshotte was involved. All we really had was the garment, but that wouldn't be able to help us much without any DNA. It was enough to make anyone a little bit nervous.
"Go on then," Detective Ghunshotte smirked. She was fingering her hair now. To me, she seemed to be looking anywhere but at Lily and me. Maybe this was a sign she was growing nervous... No, that couldn't be it. Her aura of confidence said that she had something up her sleeve. Were we walking into some sort of trap? I guess we'd figure it out when we got there...
"A garment was found at the scene of the crime. A little bit of easy deduction work told us that it could not possibly belong to the defendant. It wouldn't make sense. It doesn't fit her at all. To me, that seems like a blatant sign that the garment must belong to someone else who was there the day of the murder," Lily told her. "If it couldn't be the defendant, then the only person I could come up with is you. Does it perhaps belong to you?"
"I'm afraid that you don't have any evidence that it is mine. It isn't, by the way. It could easily be unrelated to the case. For crying out loud, the body was found in a lake. Anything like that could have easily drifted over. It could float, so the waves could have thrown it around until it found its home next to the body," Detective Ghunshotte told her. She fanned at her face with one hand lazily. "So, unless you have something conclusive to show that it belongs to me, I will claim no ownership of it. You were simply trying to lure me into a trap of sorts where I'd admit I owned it. Well, it didn't work. Too bad. Are you done now? I have other things to attend to. If you don't mind, I should be on my way. I have paperwork due at the end of the day."
"Objection!"
I glanced to Lily to see if she had been the one to cry out the objection. She seemed just as confused as I was. I looked to my other side where Neptune was sitting. She had gotten to her feet with a small smirk. "I think I know how we can prove that you're the one who did it," she told Detective Ghunshotte.
"What are you doing out of your seat? You're supposed to be sitting there and listening like a good little girl," Detective Ghunshotte told her, fiercely glaring in Neptune's direction. "She should get in trouble. Wouldn't you agree, Your Honor?"
"I'm afraid that I find you just as suspicious as everyone else here. Let her speak," Judge Frost said. I was surprised by this. Most judges would send the defendant back to their seat without a second thought. She was nice to go along with this.
"I think that the evidence that proves the guilt of this witness is hiding right before our very eyes," Neptune declared. "It's a matter of a peculiar piece of evidence everyone thought to be unimportant. I will not give it away now since I doubt anyone will believe me if I do, so... I'll allow you to figure it out on your own. However, before the epiphany comes, perhaps we should have her testify once more."
"What makes you say that?" Prosecutor Cruz asked, a frown deep in his features.
"Think about it. If the witness from yesterday crossed paths with the victim a few times, such as when the defendant was talking with the victim, you'd expect her to see this current witness a few times. I don't know about you, but I personally find it a little bit suspicious that Detective Ghunshotte only encountered the victim when he was dying or already dead. I believe that something about this whole situation is off," Lily explained. "The defense agrees that the witness should testify once more about when she saw the victim."
"If the victim was at the lake with many other people, it would be nearly impossible to find him. There were a lot of people there to watch the boat race. The defendant finding him at all was an incredible stroke of luck. I also find it odd that this witness claims to have only seen the victim when he was alone, which was around the time of his death. Something about the whole situation is strange," I agreed. "If the prosecution will permit it, the defense would like the witness to testify again. If she cannot supply us a quality explanation for when she saw the victim, we're going to have to consider her a suspect in this murder, even more than we already did."
"You are just out for me, aren't you?" asked Detective Ghunshotte. She had taken on a shy and sweet aura, trying to feign innocence the best she could. I rolled my eyes at her acting job. Even I could tell that she was getting desperate. If she had to talk about when she saw the victim, it would certainly lead to her downfall.
Of course, the possibility that she would just lie about it was also there. With such little evidence, it would be difficult to refute her claims. If Neptune was right about there being something critical within the evidence we already have, we'd have to find it as soon as possible if we wanted to catch her. I just wished I knew where to look. The garment didn't have much of anything. That left only Neptune's bag and the photo, both of which seemed incredibly irrelevant to the crime... How were we supposed to get out of this one?
"The defense is harassing you, are they?" Prosecutor Shield asked, crossing his arms. When Detective Ghunshotte went to confirm this, he slammed one fist onto the bench before him. "Too bad. I think they have a right to be suspicious if you're a suspect for murder. You can't simply worm your way out of this one. We've all heard about your unique charms being able to help you get away with anything. Not right now. I need you to tell the court all about when you met with the victim, alright?"
"Fine," Detective Ghunshotte huffed. "Just remember that I won't forget this. I won't let this fade from my mind. Since you've decided to cross me, I'm just going to have to show you what I'm really made of, you buffoon. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but things don't always go as planned, so I'm afraid I don't have much of a choice."
Detective Ghunshotte raised her hands up to her eyes before scratching downwards. The makeup surrounding her eyes was dragged down her cheeks, making a spiked pattern form on her face. Her glare grew more intense than before as she stared me and Lily down. I knew it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn her hair had begun to sway around in some nonexistent breeze. I also thought that the spikes on her choker were growing sharper, but that couldn't simply happen. I found myself shuddering against my will. Somehow, she was even more scary now. Great, because that's exactly what we needed with an already terrifying seductress of a witness. Is the universe trying to make our job harder?
"You decided to play with me, so I'll just have to play with you. I won't let you get away with accusing me of murder. I would never kill anyone," Detective Ghunshotte declared. "I'm far too pretty to result to murder! You know that someone this cute couldn't ever do that! I'm just not capable of it!"
"Witness, you must refrain from making such statements until after your testimony has been examined by the defense," Judge Frost cut in. "If you are done shouting and changing suddenly, we have a trial to get on with."
Detective Ghunshotte rolled her eyes. She leaned up against the witness stand and raked her long fingernails on the wood, making a loud screeching sound. "Alright. Fine. Just because I know I won't get out of this until I do it," she groaned. "I'll tell you exactly what happened when I went to see the victim. How does that sound? Will you finally shut it if I do that?"
"Go on ahead," Prosecutor Cruz instructed. Judging by the tension in his face, he was just as angry with Detective Ghunshotte as the rest of us. I just wanted to get her testimony over with. She was more than a little bit aggravating...
Remember that time I said I was going to update DOD and QATH next week? I lied. Next week is my birthday, so I do what I want. And I want two QATH updates. Yay. We finish up this case next week.
After that, we get case five! Case five is a mess of angst, Ferris wheels, and death. In other words, I love it.
I don't have much else to say here. Thank you for reading!
- Digital