Dahlia felt the roots of her hair being put to the test as she yanked on her scarlet locks. Oh, Larry Butz, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Yep, that was quick.

"What is wrong with you?" Dahlia said, clearly aggravated.

"Dahlia, relax," Phoenix said, trying to sound soothing."Shut it!" Dahlia said.

"Come on, just, calm down," Phoenix said.

"Don't mess with a girl when she's mad," Larry said. "You just get abused."

Dahlia smacked the prosecutor upside the head.

"Ow! What the heck?" Larry said.

"I don't have anger issues jerk!" Dahlia said. She turned on her heels and slapped her assistant.

"Why'd you do that?" Phoenix said, rubbing his cheek.

"Guess he was right," Dahlia said. "Except it's not as if I have anger problems."

"Uh-huh, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight," Larry said.

Dahlia grit her teeth and her eyes burned with a flash of white anger. Suddenly, an explosion broke out and caused Larry to blast off into the sky and out of sight. "20-8-1-20 space 19-13-9-18-11 space 9-19 space 19-3-1-18-9-14-7 space 13-5," Larry said uneasily.

"Meh," Phoenix said, shrugging his shoulders. "2-5-5-14 space 20-8-5-18-5 space 4-15-14-5 space 20-8-1-20."

Dahlia snapped out her daydream. "Hm, you say something Nick?"

"Nope!" Phoenix said.

"We need to get back to the courtroom now," Larry said hurriedly. "The trial's about to resume."

"Alright, let's go," Dahlia said.

Soon after, court was back in session. The judge looked at Lana. "Ms. Skye, I trust the next witness is ready?"

"Yes Your Honor," Lana said.

"In that case, bring this witness to the stand," the judge said.

Lotta stepped behind the witness stand, looking strong and able as always. The judge stared at her.

"Uh, like what you see?" Lotta said; traces of unease in her voice.

"Have I seen you before?" the judge said.

"Your Honor, she was a witness not too long ago. Remember my second trial?" Dahlia said, exasperated. Or what you had for breakfast?

"Ah, yes of course," the judge said. "Refresh me on your name and occupation, witness."

"Lotta Hart, photography student," Lotta said.

"Ms. Hart, please testify your perspective of the night of the murder," the judge said.

"Reckon course, Your Honor," Lotta said.

Testimony

Well, I was at Gourd Lake that night for a photography project.

It was foggy out, pretty windy too, it made it kind of hard to get a good shot.

As I was fiddling with my camera a little, I heard a scream and impulsively took a picture.

It's foggy, but it shows two people on a boat.

A moment later, I heard couple gunshots. I know they were gunshots since I've heard them before.

Then one of the guys in the boat fell into the water. I heard the splash.

I knew what had just happened, so I took another photo.

"Photos?" the judge said.

"Yeah, I have them with me," Lotta said. "I brought 3. The first one I took just shows a couple people in a boat. It was too foggy to get a good picture. Which brings us the photo number 2; a blow up of the first one. You can really only see one guy though, the victim. Luckily, I took another photo showing the other guy in the boat. The defendant, holding a gun."

Dahlia sighed. I guess he had to have picked it up for his fingerprints to get on the gun.

Phoenix stared at the photos with a curious expression on his face. "Hmm…"

Dahlia cocked an eyebrow. What's he looking at?

"The court accepts these into evidence," the judge said. "The defense may now cross-examine the witness."

"Yes Your Honor," Dahlia said.

Cross-Examination

Well, I was at Gourd Lake that night for a photography project.

"Hold it!" Dahlia said. "Did you ever get that photo you were after? As the Lugia of the Lake been caught on film again?"

"Not yet," Lotta said, sheepishly. "But I'm working on it."

"The what of the lake?" Lana said.

"Oh, just this big stick," Dahlia said.

"It's not a stick!" Lotta said.

"Is it relevant to the case at hand?" Lana said testily.

"Yes," Dahlia said almost without thinking. "So Lotta, tell me about the photos."

It was foggy out, pretty windy too; it made it kind of hard to get a good shot.

As I was fiddling with my camera a little, I heard a scream and impulsively took a picture.

"Hold it!" Dahlia said. "A scream, huh? A girly one like last time?"

"Hey!" Phoenix said, looking up from the photos.

"Sorry, old habits die hard," Dahlia said.

"Habit?" Phoenix said.

"If you don't mind let's get back to the testimony," Lana said. "Witness, describe the first photo."

Killjoy. Dahlia huffed.

Phoenix turned back to the photos.

It's foggy, but it shows two people on a boat.

"Hold it!" Dahlia said. "That photo far from proves my client's guilt!"

"Objection!" Lana said. "That's precisely why I had the witness enlarge the photo."

"But you still can't the defendant in this blow up!" Dahlia said. It was true, the top half of the body is cut off. Only Manfred von Karma's face could be seen."

"That other person in the photo is without a doubt the defendant," Lana said. "We already knew he was in the boat."

"I don't see a gun in his hand!" Dahlia said, grasping.

"True, but look at the victim's stance. He looks frightened, does he not?" Lana said. "Almost as if a gun were pointed at him."

Dahlia rubbed her temples. Larry, you're going to be the death of me. Scratch that, I'm going to be the death of you.

The defense attorney glanced at Phoenix, who was still absorbed in the photos. What is so interesting about those photos? Von Karma's not really all that attractive.

A moment later, I heard couple gunshots. I know they were gunshots since I've heard them before.

"Hold it!" Dahlia said. "Did you actually see the shooting?"

"Well…" Lotta rubbed the back of her head. "Not quite. I was frazzled a bit by the scream, and I had been watching the lake the whole time before all that."

"Oh right, because you were looking for the stick right?" Dahlia said.

"If you're going to be skeptic could you at least call it a log?" Lotta said, miffed. "But yes, that's right. And guess what? There was nothing on the lake but that boat!"

Phoenix snapped his head up in attention.

"What?" Dahlia said.

"Have that statement added to the testimony," Phoenix said, handing Dahlia one of the photos.

The defense attorney stared at the black and white picture, then her eyes widened. She turned her attention back to the courtroom.

"Your Honor, I'd like that statement added to the testimony!" Dahlia said.

"Very well, witness?" the judge said.

The only thing on the lake was that boat!

"Objection!" Dahlia said. "I wouldn't be so sure about that!"

"What are you talking about?" Lotta said. "I didn't see anything else!"

"Well then you missed it, but luckily you had your camera with you," Dahlia said, presenting the original photo of the lake.

"Objection!" Lana said. "That photo is worthless! It shows nothing."

"Objection!" Dahlia said. "Wrong! Look closely at this photo; you'll see something hidden by the night fog."

Dahlia pointed out a strange shadow in the background. "You see? There was something else on the lake that night!"

"Objection!" Lana said. "Don't start chasing shadows Ms. Fey! You cannot prove that a mere dark spot in the background is at all relevant to this case!"

"Objection!" Dahlia said. "Whatever caused this shadow is incredibly relevant to the case! It means that the investigation is incomplete!"

"Objection!" Lana said. "The police did a thorough investigation of the crime scene and found everything there was to find. How could they have missed anything to create a shadow that big?"

"Hey, let me see that photo again," Lotta said.

Lotta was handed the original photo and she looked closely at the shadow in the back ground. She gasped.

"What is it?" Dahlia said.

"Could… could it be? Did I actually…" Lotta said smiled wide. "Did I get a photo of Gourdy?"

Dahlia face palmed.

"Gourdy?" the judge said. "Witness, are you referring to that urban legend about a lake monster? That's why you were at the crime scene?"

"Hey, it's possible ain't it?" Lotta said testily. "The police didn't find anything that could've caused that shadow. Heck, this shadow being Gourdy actually explains a few things!"

"Believe it or not, the witness just made a good point," Lana said. "The defense has yet to explain what this shadow is, if anything at all."

"That is true," the judge said. "Well Ms. Hawthorne, can enlighten this court as to the origins of this shadow?"

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not a lake monster. Dahlia racked her brain for an answer, but nothing came up.

"Dahlia, what are you doing?" Phoenix said. "You saw the photo."

"You mean you can see what that fuzzy blob is?" Dahlia said.

Phoenix shook his head. "No, but I know what it is. Something had been bugging me throughout the trial. I didn't figure it out until I saw the picture."

"Well come on smart guy, spit it out," Dahlia said. In the corner of her eye she saw Larry perk his head up.

"Remember the boat dock?" Phoenix said. "There was all that empty space, because there were boats missing."

"Well, yeah, that boat was- wait, boats?" Dahlia said.

"Yeah, boats," Phoenix said. "When Miles said that Larry and the victim were in the same boat, I guess I had just assumed that it was a bigger boat. But that boat is the same size as all the other ones there, and they're kind of close together. So there was space for two boats, but so far only one has been mentioned."

The entire courtroom was silent, numb and tense at the same time. Dahlia was the most surprised. Wow, his brain… it works. Come to think of it, he was saying 'boats' the whole time wasn't he?

"Objection!" Lana said, smacking her palm against the desk. "How could the police have overlooked an entire boat?"

Phoenix took in breathe, paused, then exhaled.

"No clue, huh?" Dahlia said. At least he got to have his moment.

"You're the one with the attorney's badge," Phoenix said. "I know I'm right, I just don't know where the boat could have gone."

Think Dahlia! Where could a boat have gone where the police wouldn't find it? Dahlia took out an overhead map of Gourd Lake, searching for the answer. Where would the police not look?

Finally, it dawned on her.

"Ms. Hawthorne, you've got that look in your eye again," the judge said. "I'll ask. Where is this supposed boat?"

"There's one place the police would not have investigated," Dahlia said. "Or rather, they couldn't."

"Couldn't?" Lana said, her nail against her teeth.

"Namely, Gourd Lake Woods!" Dahlia said.

Lana recoiled, biting her thumb.

"The police were not given access to the woods, so they couldn't investigate there," Dahlia said. "Furthermore, those woods are very thick. It wouldn't be too difficult to hide something in them, even something as large as a boat!"

"Objection!" Lana said. "There is no proof that anyone was in those woods!"

"Objection!" Dahlia said. "Actually, someone was there quite recently. They left their shoe in a trail of broken branches and twigs!"

"What?" Lana said, taken aback.

The judge pounded his gavel. "Clearly, these woods need to be investigated. This trial will be extended for another day in order for the police to gain clearance to these woods and investigate them thoroughly."

"Y-yes Your Honor," Lana said.

We did it, we got Larry another day. Dahlia sighed in relief.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Phoenix said.

Dahlia raised an eyebrow. That better not have been a joke.

20-8-1-20 space 19-13-9-18-11 space 9-19 space 19-3-1-18-9-14-7 space 13-5. = That smirk scares me.

2-5-5-14 space 20-8-5-18-5 space 4-15-14-5 space 20-8-1-20. = Been there done that.