July 21
Defendant Lobby No. 5
9:35 AM
Deirdre Brigit
I hadn't been able to stop thinking about what Lily had told us the day before. As I paced the length of the defendant lobby, her words rang in my head over and over again. I wished more than anything that I could banish the phrase from my memory, but it didn't seem like that was going to be possible.
Yuri watched from nearby as I continued to walk around the room. "Are you feeling okay? You look sick," she said, though I got the feeling that she already knew what was on my mind. Judging by the way she was looking at me, she was thinking about it as well.
"I can't help but think about what Lily told us. If Mr. Morix really does know who the Oracle of the Law is, then that begs many questions. Did he figure it out on his own? Is he an accomplice in the project? Why would he get involved with something so dangerous?" I asked, stopping in my pacing at last. I shook my head slowly. "What do you think about it, Yuri? You've known him for longer, so this must come as a huge shock."
Yuri shrugged. "You could say that. I've been trying not to think about it. I don't know what I can say about all of this. I expected this as much as the next person, which is to say not at all. Mr. Morix never struck me as the type to be involved with a top-secret spy," she told me. "Chrysalis would probably be the only person to pick up on it, but she never let any hints about something like that sneak out. Because of that, I don't think that she knows about this."
"Regardless of if she knows or not, there's another person who had to know about it. Actually, two people must have known about it," I frowned, worried about what Yuri would think of what I was about to say. I couldn't quite say for sure how she would react to this...
"I know who you mean. You're talking about Venus and Cassidy," frowned Yuri. "I remembered that they factor into this equation. They've all been working alongside the Oracle, so they know who it is. It's scary how they were all involved in this, probably for years, but I didn't have a clue... It makes you feel awkward and bad, like you should have picked up on it after being with them for so many years. I don't know quite how to describe that sort of feeling, just that it's absolutely rotten. Sorry if I seem like I'm rambling, but I'm trying my best."
"No, I understand," I nodded to her. "This must all be overwhelming, given the fact that you were in the dark for so long. I imagine that Chrysalis will feel the same one day."
"All of this is so confusing!" Yuri cried out. "I wish we understood all of this!"
"I'm sure we will one day, but until then, all we can do is try to figure out what's going on," I told her. "We need to focus on the case for now. Mr. Morix needs to be proven innocent before we can think about any of this. All the theorizing in the world will be pointless if we don't show that he's innocent. He'll end up in prison before everything can be resolved."
"That's true. Speaking of Mr. Morix, we can't tell him about this. He can't know that we're getting suspicious," Yuri said with a frown. "He'll hide his secrets even more if he thinks that we're catching on which means that we'll never be able to find the truth. Lily will probably be getting here any minute now, so we can tell her to keep quiet about it too."
"Speaking of Lily, here she is," I said, pointing past Yuri to the door. As if on cue, Lily was walking in. She glanced around for Mr. Morix before heading on over to us. "Hi, Lily," I greeted her.
Lily waved in response. "Hello, Deirdre, Yuri," she said with a polite nod. She only had to look at us for a moment before she realized what we were thinking. "You're still thinking about Mr. Morix, aren't you? Man, I was up all night trying to think about it. I don't want to believe that the answer has been in plain sight all this time, but at the same time, I know what I saw yesterday. There isn't any other solid explanation for why he would have Psyche-Locks like that."
"How many did he have?" Yuri asked.
"Can you explain a bit more about these Locks you mentioned?" I questioned. "I'm afraid I don't know much on the matter..."
"Psyche-Locks can be seen on somebody when they're talking about something they're hiding. It can be incredibly useful, but at the same time, you need to talk about what they're hiding, so it can be a bit nitpicky," Lily began. "There are three types. The red ones are for regular secrets. The larger the secret, the more Psyche-Locks that will appear. There can be up to five. The black ones are about secrets regarding trauma. They mostly come in sets of five. If somebody has been traumatized, their Locks will be black.
"The final type is a mix of the two, anywhere between bright red and pitch black. Mr. Morix's fell into this category. They were mostly black, but there were red tints. That means that it's both a large secret and a traumatizing situation. These can come in any amount, but he had five.
"Normally, red Locks or those close to red can be broken through regular conversation and loosening of the tongue. Black Locks can cause emotional trauma if broken by force. They're dangerous. If you aren't capable, the bearer of the Locks is at risk for permanent psychological damage. In a nutshell, we'll have to be cautious. Being too blunt could break the Locks by force, which is anything but good."
"So, something to do with Oracle has left him traumatized," I whispered. "And it must have been recent as well since Oracle only appeared two years ago."
"Oracle has something to do with that picture as well as the case at the factory. One of the aftershocks left him in an awful mental state to cause those Locks. We shouldn't talk to him about it yet. We need more information before we can approach him," Yuri declared.
"I agree. For now, let's keep quiet. When we think we're ready to talk to him, we all need to come together. We're going to need my Magatama and Deirdre's psychological prowess to help him," Lily nodded.
"He's walking over," Yuri hissed. "We can talk about this later. Act like this conversation never happened."
Mr. Morix appeared near us not long after, his hands shoved into his pockets. "Hello," he said simply, a small but weary smile on his face. "You all seem focused."
"We're ready for today's trial. We're going to prove your innocence no matter what!" Yuri exclaimed with a wide and bright grin. "We have a suspect and everything. It's all in our hands."
"I'm glad to hear that," Mr. Morix told her. "I'm a little late, so we don't exactly have much time to talk. There was a traffic jam on the highway. We barely have five minutes to chat before the trial starts..."
"Don't you worry one little bit, Mr. Morix. We have a suspect and some evidence to show that he did it. We're going to have to contend with a few irritating pieces of evidence, as well as the general lack of evidence, but we'll be fine," Yuri smiled.
A tap came on my shoulder, making me turn to see a purple-haired bailiff nearby. "The trial is about to begin. You all should head into the courtroom," he told us.
"Thanks, KJ," Yuri grinned, waving at the young man. He waved in response before disappearing into the courtroom.
"I'll be counting on you," Mr. Morix said with a curt nod. He went into the courtroom not long after, leaving Lily, Yuri, and me behind in the defendant lobby.
"Let's talk about this after the trial. We can meet up somewhere and continue our discussion," Lily whispered to me and Yuri.
"Alright," I responded. Yuri nodded from beside me. "We'll see you after the trial to figure something out."
Lily nodded and dashed off to the gallery. Yuri and I shared a knowing glance before walking into the courtroom ourselves. I somehow was more worried about the potential impacts of talking with Mr. Morix on the matter than the trial itself. The thought that he was involved with Oracle was a greater cause for concern in my eyes. It was going to be difficult to push that from my mind to pull off a victory, but I didn't have much of a choice if we wanted to crack this mystery.
July 21
Courtroom No. 5
10:00 AM
Deirdre Brigit
I glanced around the courtroom after we had arrived inside. Prosecutor Wood was on the other side of the courtroom, fiddling around with the papers on the bench before her. Prosecutor Kalles was beside her, staring with a glossy gaze down at the bench as well. Upon seeing them, I realized that I hadn't seen them at all during the trial. I internally hoped that Ms. Mercure had been given the chance to talk to them about the witness from yesterday. Mr. Stabbin's testimony would not have gone over quite as well if they didn't already know about what he had told us. It could easily change the course of the trial if she didn't get around to it. We'd figure it out soon enough with the way they conducted the trial.
Judge Frost picked up her gavel and banged it down against the podium in front of her. "Court is now in session for the trial of Cotoli Morix," she declared. "Yesterday, I gave the defense and prosecution time to investigate the crime scene to find further evidence. I trust that both sides learned as much as they could in the time allotted for such an investigation."
"We did find quite a bit, Your Honor," I nodded. "We even discovered a new witness that told us a few more facts about the case, specifically regarding the explosion."
Prosecutor Kalles spoke up next. "Speaking of that witness, we're going to be calling him up to the stand a little later on in the trial. For the time being, however, the prosecution wishes to call the detective in charge of the case to testify. More information on the case has come to light recently. It was kept quiet at first since it was unknown if it would at all be involved in the murder, but with the recent investigation, the police department has decided to share this information to the court. Do we have your permission to call such a witness, Your Honor?" she asked.
"Of course," nodded Judge Frost.
With that having been said, Detective Wattson appeared at the witness stand. I got the feeling that she was going to be telling us about the incident with the storeroom behind the Ferris wheel. Since the place had been completely destroyed with the explosion, it wasn't surprising to me that it had been left out. If you looked at it plainly, it seemed impossible that a place like that could possibly have any important evidence. However, now, I got the feeling the storeroom had something to do with the murder. The extra supplies fact in particular stuck out to me, but I didn't quite have the opportunity to express my thoughts yet. When Mr. Stabbin approached the witness stand later on, I could explain my thought process and hopefully free Mr. Morix from the detention center.
"Please state your name and occupation," said Prosecutor Wood. She was looking better than she had yesterday, but something still seemed off about her. I suspected that she was just nervous, which was to be understood given that she was so young, but still she was standing as a prosecutor in a murder case.
"I'm Vera Wattson, a homicide detective at the local precinct," Detective Wattson told the court. "I have a little bit of crucial information to share with you all here. Should I get right into it?"
"Go right ahead," nodded Prosecutor Kalles. "We're listening loud and clear."
"I guess Detective Wattson told them about the storeroom," Yuri whispered. "I mean, how else would they know about it?"
"It's not surprising. If she was willing to share about it with us, she was going to talk to them about it eventually. In fact, I'm pretty sure that she's required as a detective to tell them anything that she learns about the murder as the lead detective," I replied. "As of right now, all we can really do is go along with it. If we see an inconsistency, we can blow it wide open, but until then, let's stay quiet about it. I get the feeling the storeroom will be critical in revealing that Mr. Morix didn't commit this crime, so we can't reveal our ace card too soon. Prosecutor Kalles can come up with a rebuttal if she gets the time, so we simply can't give her that chance."
"Alright. Let's listen for now," Yuri murmured. I nodded before turning back to Detective Wattson.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ What Lies Beyond the Ferris Wheel ~
- "The carnival may not be here all the time, but there is one thing that stays in place all year."
- "Normally, the building near where the carnival is set up is abandoned with no real purpose."
- "The carnival uses it as a storeroom for extra supplies while it's in town."
- "When the explosion took place, part of the Ferris wheel fell backwards onto the storeroom, which is located just outside the boundaries of the carnival."
- "It caught on fire and was completely destroyed, which is why it was kept out of the case yesterday since everyone was sure it was uninvolved."
- "The storeroom is filled with all sorts of tools, such as spare hats and uniforms, or other important props used throughout the carnival, like for the daily stage shows in another part of the carnival."
- "Not much of it is left, but if Prosecutor Kalles told me to testify about it, the storeroom must be important to the case."
- "Also, nobody was allowed in the storeroom aside from the managers, none of whom went inside on the day of the murder, if you feel that's an important fact to know."
I placed one hand on my chin as she finished her testimony. I hadn't heard about that last little part. She had told us that normal employees weren't allowed inside, but I had never been told that nobody had gone inside the day of the murder...
"The storeroom was behind the Ferris wheel? Why were we not informed about this yesterday?" demanded Judge Frost, something akin to a glare forming in her eyes. "All information involving a murder case is important, detective. You should know that."
"I wasn't exactly aware of the existence of the storeroom until recently. The initial investigation team didn't bring it up at first. Since it was outside the boundaries of the carnival, I didn't realize it was present until yesterday's investigation. I apologize for the inconvenience," Detective Wattson told her.
"I don't know how exactly we're going to deal with this. If you ask me, there had to have been somebody who went into the storeroom that day," Yuri whispered.
"How did you learn that nobody entered the storeroom the day of the crime?" I questioned. "Did a witness tell you this much?"
"We got something much more reliable than a witness. It wasn't until late last night that I heard, but as it turns out, there was a camera in the storeroom for making sure nobody tried to break in. The footage was stored on the tape inside of the camera, but on top of that, another copy of the data was made in the security room in another part of the carnival. The footage was reviewed last night. Nobody entered the room at all the day of the crime. It showed no signs of being tampered with either. The last time somebody went into the storeroom was three days before the victim's death, and even then, it was a manager with proper clearance inside," Detective Wattson replied.
"That's not good," Yuri sighed. "Plus, it doesn't make any sense. Don't we have a piece of evidence that can refute what she just said? I don't think we have any choice but to bring it up. Regardless of if it bears fruit or not, we must try, right?"
I nodded. "I don't see many other options. The very least we can do is try to show that somebody entered the storeroom at some point. We need to resolve this contradiction if we hope to win the case. I don't know how exactly we can work it out, but there has to be some solution..." I whispered.
"It's like a locked room case, but instead of a murder being behind a door with a key, it's a hat," Yuri grumbled.
"Please begin your cross-examination, defense," said Judge Frost.
I nodded. "We'll get on that now."
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ What Lies Beyond the Ferris Wheel ~
- "The carnival may not be here all the time, but there is one thing that stays in place all year."
- "Normally, the building near where the carnival is set up is abandoned with no real purpose."
- "The carnival uses it as a storeroom for extra supplies while it's in town."
- "When the explosion took place, part of the Ferris wheel fell backwards onto the storeroom, which is located just outside the boundaries of the carnival."
- "It caught on fire and was completely destroyed, which is why it was kept out of the case yesterday since everyone was sure it was uninvolved."
- "The storeroom is filled with all sorts of tools, such as spare hats and uniforms, or other important props used throughout the carnival, like for the daily stage shows in another part of the carnival."
- "Not much of it is left, but if Prosecutor Kalles told me to testify about it, the storeroom must be important to the case."
- "Also, nobody was allowed in the storeroom aside from the managers, none of whom went inside on the day of the murder, if you feel that's an important fact to know."
"Objection!"
I couldn't help but frown after I had called out my objection. I had no idea where this was going to take us, but at the same time, it wasn't like I had very much of a choice on the matter. "There must have been somebody that went into the storeroom around the time of the crime," I declared. "I would like the court to remember the hat found near the body yesterday. First, however, I have a question for the prosecution."
"What is it?" Prosecutor Wood asked nervously.
"Did you hear of anybody who was missing their hat around the time of the crime?" I asked. "I mean the hats worn by the employees. One hat was found near the body when the crime scene was discovered, so I was wondering if there were any known extras."
"I'm afraid not. Every single employee had their hat with them during questioning," Prosecutor Kalles replied.
"If that's the case, where did the hat found with the body come from? It must have come from somewhere, but where? Every single employee only gets one hat since the hats used by the carnival have been discontinued. If every employee had their hat, where did the spare found at the crime scene come from? If nobody entered the storeroom and everybody had their hat, that leaves us with quite the conundrum, doesn't it?" I questioned.
"I wish I could tell you what was going on involving the hats, but I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you. Nobody went into the storeroom near when the victim died. The manager who went in three days before the crime didn't even grab a hat, instead picking up a toolkit to fix a broken game elsewhere in the park," Detective Wattson told us.
"In that case, our next order of business should be figuring out where the extra hat came from. Until we can fix this issue, we can't press on. The hat may end up being a crucial piece of evidence, which means that any information about it is important," I declared. "Are there any ideas as to where the hat came from?"
The prosecution fell silent for a moment. Prosecutor Kalles looked at her assistant for a moment before shaking her head. "The prosecution has no theories," she said softly, clearly embarrassed at this oversight.
"I can't think of anything either," I admitted, looking down at my evidence.
"Maybe we can move on for the time being and double back later on. After all, we may come across some evidence later that could point to where the hat came from. With as little information as we have now, remaining with this subject won't do us very much good. We have other things to take care of at the moment," Yuri pointed out. "Why don't we have the witness from yesterday come up and testify about what he saw the day of the crime?"
"I can't see any other options at the moment," Prosecutor Wood said with a small shrug. "Let's call our witness up, assuming there are no other objections."
"Go on and call your witness," Judge Frost instructed.
"The prosecution calls Masa Stabbin to the witness stand!" Prosecutor Wood cried out.
Detective Wattson stepped away from the stand and went back to the witness bench. Mr. Stabbin passed by her, looking as unenthused as ever. He was still holding his pinwheel from yesterday. He spun it tiredly and let out a long and heavy sigh.
"Please state your name and occupation," Judge Frost told him.
Mr. Stabbin spun his pinwheel once again. "I'm Masa Stabbin. I work as the Ferris wheel operator at the local carnival," he said, his voice monotone. "Do I really have to be here?"
"Yes, you do," Prosecutor Kalles insisted. "As a witness for a murder trial, you definitely have to be here."
He let out another sigh and shook his head. "Fine. Go on and tell me what I need to say. I don't like being here. It makes me feel like I'm the one that's on trial, even if I didn't do it. Why do you all have to be so mean to people like me?" he asked.
"We're not being mean to anybody on purpose. All we're trying to do is show that there are other possibilities for who could have committed this crime," Yuri told him.
"And we're trying to show that the defendant committed this crime," cut in Prosecutor Kalles.
"I like you better then," Mr. Stabbin said, pointing at Prosecutor Kalles. "You don't seem like you're trying to find me guilty of a murder I didn't commit."
"Can you please begin your testimony about the day of the crime, witness?" Judge Frost cut in. "I'm afraid that we don't have time to listen to unrelated conversation at the moment. This case has many holes that have yet to be resolved, so please get a move on, if you wouldn't mind."
Mr. Stabbin nodded slowly. "Fine. That's the last thing I want to do at the moment, but I guess I don't have much of a choice on the matter," he said. "I'll tell you everything I know about the crime, though it isn't very much, so sorry to disappoint you."
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ The Ferris Wheel and I ~
- "I've been working as the Ferris wheel manager for a summer job."
- "I let somebody with white hair onto the ride the day of the crime before going on break."
- "Leaving the Ferris wheel when I did saved my life."
- "The explosion went off as I was on my way back from my break."
- "That was when I saw something horrible, something that proves the defendant committed the crime."
- "I saw him holding the remote used to set off the bomb."
- "That's hard to refute, wouldn't you say? Lock him up already."
"I don't think I've ever been so happy that we spoke with a witness," Yuri admitted, a small smile creeping onto her lips. "Mr. Stabbin's just digging his own grave, and he doesn't even know it yet."
"Ms. Mercure's testimony prepared us well for this. It was as if she expected the trial to go this way. We should thank her for telling us that much the next time we see her," I agreed.
"You seem as if you're already prepared to begin the cross-examination," remarked Prosecutor Kalles. "If you're done chatting for the time being, perhaps I should have him repeat his testimony once more."
"Go for it," I nodded, trying to keep a triumphant smirk off my face. She didn't know what she was in for yet, but it was going to destroy the case that she was trying to make with his testimony. That was just what I wanted.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ The Ferris Wheel and I ~
- "I've been working as the Ferris wheel manager for a summer job."
- "I let somebody with white hair onto the ride the day of the crime before going on break."
- "Leaving the Ferris wheel when I did saved my life."
- "The explosion went off as I was on my way back from my break."
- "That was when I saw something horrible, something that proves the defendant committed the crime."
- "I saw him holding the remote used to set off the bomb."
- "That's hard to refute, wouldn't you say? Lock him up already."
"Objection!"
"I'm afraid that's very easy to refute, witness," I said. I shuffled through my papers for a moment before finding the one containing Ms. Mercure's testimony. "Were you, by chance, here in the courtroom yesterday? Did you see the witness from yesterday testify?"
Mr. Stabbin shook his head. "No. I didn't come yesterday. I didn't see a point in it, so I stayed at the carnival. Even staying alone at a carnival infested with police officers is more exciting than coming to court," he told me. "Why? Is that important? Are you going to use that to accuse me of murder or something?"
I bit back a remark about not doing that yet. "No, not at all. It's just that the witness from yesterday mentioned a few things to me during the investigation that strike me as odd when compared to your testimony," I told him. "Did you see anybody else at the time when you witnessed the defendant holding the remote?"
"No. It was just me and him in the area," Mr. Stabbin answered.
"And that's where you would be wrong. The witness from yesterday's courtroom session, Ms. Neptune Mercure, told us that she was alone with the defendant at the crime scene when he was holding the remote. He was only holding it for roughly fifteen seconds, she told us, which means that it would be nearly impossible for you both to have seen him holding it without seeing one another. One of you would have to have seen it at the start of the time period he was holding the remote and the other at the end. However, if this time frame was only fifteen seconds, the chances of that decrease drastically," I told him. "To put it simply, it's impossible for you both to have seen the same scene without spotting one another."
"Ms. Mercure told us she didn't see anybody else the day of the murder. Mr. Stabbin is saying the same thing now," Prosecutor Wood murmured. I could already tell who she was believing in.
"Perhaps we should just have the witness testify about what he saw once again. We can determine who is telling the truth from that," Prosecutor Kalles suggested. "Does anybody have a problem with that?"
"I do. I don't want to be here," groaned Mr. Stabbin. "I told you, court is boring for me."
"Unfortunately, witness, you don't have a choice. Now, why don't you make this easier on all of us by testifying about what you saw the defendant do the day of the crime?" Prosecutor Kalles asked. There was an edge of sharpness to her voice, but at the same time, she still sounded sweet and gentle. It was quite the change from her regularly sophisticated persona, but I wasn't objecting to it.
Mr. Stabbin actually seemed a bit shocked at her sudden switch in behavior. He stared at her for a moment before sighing. "Fine," he said quietly. "What do you want me to talk about?"
"Please tell the court about when you saw the defendant. This would be after you had returned from your break, when you were heading back to the Ferris wheel," Prosecutor Kalles explained. "Don't hold back any details. Everything that you say here has a chance to determine the outcome of this trial."
Mr. Stabbin nodded slowly, blowing on his pinwheel. "Yeah, I get it. You want me to be a good little child so that nothing bad happens," he told her. "I think I get it now."
"Thank you. Now, go on and begin your testimony," smiled Prosecutor Kalles, gesturing for him to begin.
Once again, he stared at her for a moment or two, completely silent as he did so. It took a little bit longer for him to return to normal, but once he did, he began his next testimony.
I'm updating QATH twice again next week since I want to finish off this case. Oops. That's a lot of QATH.
In other news, Smash Ultimate drops tomorrow, and I'm hyped as hell. Let's get this bread, my dudes.
Now, I'm going to stop typing since I'm getting picked up for a party in like two minutes. Bye.
-Digital