Chapter 29

"A Night in Viridian City"

It was not very unusual to have a witness that we were cross examining breaking down on the stand in a case like this that has such significance. But in the case of Sabrina Saffron, we could not help but wonder to ourselves if it was really a good idea to pursue convictions for all 40 defendants. Yes, our goal was to get justice for the victims who died in New York, Washington and Southwestern Pennsylvania, but sending an innocent person to prison for a crime that they had no part in was something that was not going to happen.

To clear our minds about the events that transpired on the stand, Amanda and I decided to go out for a night on the town for dinner and dancing. However, Amanda wanted to change clothes so we returned to the Ketchum residence and she changed out of the green skirt suit and into a nice white long sleeved shirt with black on the cuffs and a black sequined knee length skirt with a fresh pair of black nylons and she took off her uncomfortable high heels and slid on a pair of comfortable black flats. For jewelry, Amanda put on a pair of white pearl earrings with a matching white pearl necklace that I had gotten her for Christmas last year and several Alex and Ani bracelets on her right wrist. I also decided to change clothes and changed out of my gray suit and into a pink striped shirt and khakis.

We then went to a Ruth Chris Steakhouse and it was there that we began to wonder about the guilt of every single one of the defendants.

"Jeff, I cannot help but feel sorry for Sabrina," she said as we dined on steak and salmon. "Did you see how she broke down on the stand today? It's not easy for someone to lose their parents and the person they were going to marry, especially on an event like 9/11."

"Actually, Amanda," I said. "Do you remember what I said about winning 40 clean convictions at the start of this trial?"

"Yes Jeff, I remember you saying that," said Amanda. "I guess now you think that it is not important right now."

"Of course it's not important right now," I replied. "I don't want us convicting the ones who seemed to have nothing to do with this trial. Our job here is to find the truth about 9/11 and the attacks that followed."

Amanda had just finished off her steak and then took another sip of her Sprite. Then, she got a thought in regards to Sabrina.

"I have an idea, Jeff," said Amanda. "Maybe you could divide the court into two sets of defendants: one group whom you think should be guilty and one group whom you think should be not guilty? It would be a lot easier for us if we did that."

But, I thought against Amanda's idea. It was a good idea, but splitting the defendants into groups that showed which ones were guilty and not guilty would be good practice for us. Amanda and I were taught that all defendants regardless are innocent until proven guilty. Just because she thought Sabrina was innocent, did not mean that she would be cleared of all charges. Sabrina played a major role in the Team Rocket operations and had a contribution to the attacks of 9/11. At that moment, I began to think of Sabrina maybe ordering the killing of her parents and fiancée on 9/11 because of her history with them.

"Sorry, Amanda," I said. "Maybe having two groups is not a good idea. Once we hear all of the testimony, then maybe we could make changes then. But for right now, they are all guilty until proven otherwise."

"You're right, Jeff," she said. "It's like in that Power Rangers Time Force episode about the mutant who was wanted but attempted to show that he never committed any crime."

"And what was his name?" I asked. "I watched Power Rangers too, but I don't remember as much anymore."

"His name was Notacon," she replied. "In the end, he was brought down to size and frozen for his own safety by the rangers. Wes' brother Eric, wanted to destroy him, but was convinced not to."

We both shared a small chuckle and after we paid up on our dinner, we left the restaurant and walked into the center of Viridian city towards a Victorian Dance Hall. Entering the hall, we could see the crowds of people out there on the dance floor just having a good time dancing to 18th century music.

The music that was being played was a reflection in a sense of our conversation back at the restaurant. We wanted the world to be full of peace and happiness, of course, but that was not the case. This was the sense of innocence, an innocence that had been stolen from our country 38 years before 9/11 when President Jack Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on that horrible day in 1963.

"Do you see this, Amanda?" I said, showing her the crowd of people dancing, dressed in semi-formal attire. "Look at all these people dancing you see before you. This is what we should live our lives every day, feeling free and innocent. The ones who deserve to live this kind of life are the ones who have never committed a crime in their lives and the ones who are found not guilty of any wrongdoing will live this kind of life once again."

"I know, Jeff," she said. "But what I said about Sabrina being innocent…"

"You have to wonder whether she really is, Amanda," I interrupted. "That woman could have the ability to conjure up some sort of black magic and hurt all these people inside. Some of them could even be Pokemon trainers in this dance floor, wanting to live the life of a Pokemon trainer while at the same time; they want to live the life of a normal person."

But, I decided to not let the trial get to us and decided to do what we came to this building for. I bent out my elbow towards Amanda's and she placed her arm under my arm and we walked out onto the dance floor and slow danced to the music that was being played on the sound system.

"But, of course," I said softly as we started to dance. "You may have a different view on things, but there is one thing you have common with those defendants."

"What is that, Jeff?" she asked.

"You are very beautiful," I said, admiring her in the outfit she was wearing in front of me. "Especially with what you are wearing in front of me tonight."

"Thanks," she replied, blushing slightly. "I needed that. Besides, don't I save my best outfits for you?"

We both chuckled on that and continued our slow dance long into the night as we prepared for another round of the trial tomorrow…