July 29, 7:11 P.M. District Court, Defendant Lobby No. 3

Phoenix sat down on one of the leather couches placed along the back wall of the hallway. He sighed in anger and boredom, wondering when they would announce the death or survival of Mr. Watson. Maya was asleep in the middle of the floor, and Bethany was pacing nervously. Pearl was likely still sitting in the gallery, waiting for the court to reconvene.

Just as the defense attorney was about to drop dead in complete boredom, the intercom switched on.

A voice announced, "This just in. Gregory Watson has undergone surgery to remove the bullets from his face and neck. He has been placed in intensive care, but may not survive the night."

Maya immediately sprang up onto her feet, almost tripping over her sandals in the process. She asked, "Nick, aren't we supposed to head back into the courtroom about now?"

He answered, "Of course! Didn't they say to 'come back into the courtroom after an update on Mr. Watson was made'?"

Bethany added, "I surely hope that Mr. Helado didn't come up with some new strategy to find me guilty during the recess."

Maya giggled, "You'll be fine! Mr. Helado is nothing more than a tiger in a cage. He'll just scream and yell some Spanish at us and threaten us, but nothing will happen."

July 29, 7:15 P.M. District Court, Courtroom No. 4

Upon entering the courtroom, Phoenix shakily took his position and waited. A minute later, the judge slowly picked up his gavel and let gravity do the rest.

He announced, "The court will now reconvene for the trial of Ms. Bethany Andrews. Mr. Helado, who is your next witness? Considering Mr. Watson will be in the hospital for the next few weeks, I would choose your witness carefully."

"Sí, I will choose carefully. In fact, I may have just made up my mind. I would like to call Dick Gumshoe to the stand."

The judge asked, "Are you sure? After all, I don't feel like you really took your-"

Helado pounded his hands against the counsel bench and bellowed, "¡Silencio!"

"I have made up my mind. Get him on the stand... ahora!"

His Honor sweated, "¡No hablo mucho español, Sr. Helado!"

Helado muttered, "Fuck him."

Just when a battle between prosecutor and judge was about to occur, the nervous detective mounted the stand and yelled, "Prosecutor! I'm present!"

Helado collapsed to his knees and gasped, "Thank God Almighty! It's about time you're gotten here, Detective!"

Gumshoe smirked, "Well, it was only a two minute drive from my mansion."

Phoenix sighed, "Well, he did deserve it, at least. He nearly got killed 4 times by the Mad Bomber during the investigation."

The judge proceeded, "The court would be thrilled to hear your testimony. Would you please tell us what you discovered about the scene?"

Gumshoe went on, "We analyzed the area around where the body was found. I saw that he had two large bullet wounds to his head, and blood was everywhere! Congealed blood was all over the inside of the case and around the floor! It made me sick! We also located a rifle in a nearby bathroom stall. This shows that Ms. Andrews shot and killed Reggie Simmons!"

Helado noted, "According to the autopsy report, the bullets that were fired were .75 caliber. They were rather large bullets, as was the barrel of the rifle used to fire them. I do know for a fact that it is highly unlikely that anyone under the age of 25 would have such a gun in their house. Therefore, the prosecution asserts that the rifle was the murder weapon."

Helado grinned and crossed his arms.

Phoenix groaned, "Could this case get any worse for me?! It looks like Bethany did Reggie after all..."

Maya whispered, "Nick! Don't give up yet! Maybe there is a contradiction in his testimony, or maybe your could disprove his statements!"

The attorney thought, "So maybe I should ask not, 'Did Bethany really kill Reggie?' and rather, 'Why couldn't Bethany kill Reggie?'"

An imaginary lightbulb lit up in Phoenix's head. "M-Maybe I can do it, Maya!"

He said to the judge, "I will now begin my Cross-Examination." His Honor smiled and let him proceed.

Gumshoe repeated, "We analyzed the area around where the body was found."

Phoenix yelled, "Hold it!"

"By 'analyzed', you mean you searched the area and looked around for evidence?"

Gumshoe laughed, "Of course, pal! What else would we be doing? When we got there..."

"I saw that he had two large bullet wounds to his head, and blood was everywhere!"

The defense attorney yelled, "Hold it!"

"If blood was indeed, 'everywhere', as you say, then you probably got some blood on your trenchcoat and hands, didn't you?"

Gumshoe replied, "I got a little blood on my hands, but I washed them afterwards. If you were to test the blood, it would be Mr. Simmons' blood. It was a pretty disturbing sight, to say the least..."

"Congealed blood was all over the inside of the case and around the floor! It made me sick!"

Phoenix roared, "Hold it!"

"Did the blood make you nauseous, or did it literally make you sick?"

Gumshoe answered, "It made me a little queasy and light-headed. I mean, if you see a teenager in front of you, all covered in blood..."

Helado exploded, "¡Silencio!"

"Detective, on with your testimony. It is a little too morbid to be discussing the sight of the deceased at this time."

Gumshoe sighed, "Yes, sir."

"We also located a rifle in a nearby bathroom stall. This shows that Ms. Andrews shot and killed Reggie Simmons!"

Phoenix raised his hand in the air and screamed, "Hold it!"

"Detective, how are you sure that the rifle was used to kill Mr. Simmons?"

Gumshoe sweated, "Well, isn't it obvious?! The bullets were the same size as the rifle barrel! That proves that Ms. Andrews killed him!"

Helado interrupted, "¡No del todo!"

The prosecutor slammed his clenched hands down forcefully on the counsel bench.

"Detective, just because the bullets and the supposed murder weapon match up does not indicate it was used to kill! Did the police take ballistic markings?"

Gumshoe proudly replied, "Yes! In fact, I would like to submit it as evidence!"

He took out a small package labeled EVIDENCE and handed the evidence to the bailiff, who passed it up to the judge. The judge said, "It seems the ballistic markings do match. Detective, please add this find to your testimony!"

"Because the bullets match the gun's ballistic markings, it shows that only this gun could have been used to kill the victim!"

Phoenix screamed, "Objection!" and pointed his finger at Detective Gumshoe. He asked, "Detective, do you continue to assert that Mr. Simmons was killed by the bullets found at the scene?"

Gumshoe answered, "Of course! There were no other injuries, so that proves he was killed by the gun!"

The defense attorney continued, "But take a look at the autopsy report, Detective. Don't you see the X-ray taken of the victim's head?"

"Well, yes! What's wrong with it?"

Phoenix smirked, "If you look all over this scan, no bullets can be seen. That is very odd, considering that you allege he was killed by the rifle. The X-ray suggests that the shots went clear through his brain, all the way to the other side and out his head, which is very uncharacteristic of rifles. Most rifles couldn't do that, even if the shots were fired from point-blank range."

Phoenix asked, "So, Detective... how did the bullets end up in his skull?"

Gumshoe was taken aback by this, and a look a shock hit him. "Gaaaah! I-It can't be!" The court gallery erupted into raucous chatter, followed by three gavel hits from the judge's bench.

"Order! Order in the court! Detective, could you please elaborate to the court how these bullets ended up in Mr. Simmons?" The now extremely nervous detective shook and sheepishly replied, "I don't know how to put it, Your Honor!" Helado took and angry stance and his mouth moved, as if he was enunciating a Spanish profanity.

Maya smiled, "Great job, Nick! I think you've shown Detective the realities of this case!"

Phoenix asked, "Well, it's part of me proving Bethany's innocence and showing the validity of my points!" The attorney went on, "Detective, could I see the photographs that the department took of Mr. Simmons' head?"

Gumshoe answered, "Sure, pal. But I must warn you; they are pretty graphic."

Phoenix held the images in his hands. He saw an image of Reggie laying on his side, with the bullet wound to his temporal lobe in the center. In the middle of the hole, a golden bullet resided.

Phoenix resumed, "Your Honor, may I propose the bullets got inside of his head?"

The judge replied, "Sure. What exactly shows that he was not killed by the bullets found in his head, though?"

The ace attorney yelled, "Take that!"

"Your Honor, the bullet that you can see in this photograph is a shiny gold color, and does not appear to have been fired from a gun. After Mr. Simmons was dead, the killer took the bullets they fired, and simply placed the rifle bullets in the holes to mess up the police! The rifle was simply a red herring!"

Gumshoe's face turned from nervousness to complete despair. "Whaaaaaaaaaaat?! You mean that we messed up again? Darn it!"

The judge frowned, "Mr. Wright is certainly right. I would enjoy it if the police would conduct more tests and get back on track with this case. In the meantime, we will call some students to testify."

At that, Detective Gumshoe took off to alert the cavalry.