Hello everybody! This marks the beginning of both a new chapter and a new court hearing. Let's go ahead and see how Sonic is going to fare in this day's care proceedings this time around. It's bound to be a rather interesting day for everybody in the courtroom.
Yeah, I don't really have much to say here because my allergies caused me to take allergy pills that cause me to become drowsy. And when I'm drowsy, my mind is kind of in the mud. Don't even ask how I'm able to type these words down.
Anyway, you all can go ahead and move onto the story now. Until the next update everybody!
Evidence:
Attorney's Badge: Nobody would believe that Sonic was one if he didn't have it pinned proudly upon his chest. He proved that he was deserving of it despite his age after successfully completing his first career case.
Handgun: The murder weapon in the killing at the park. It is a precinct issue wielded by the detectives. Both the prints and the serial number connecting it to its owner have been wiped clean. It shows signs of being fired twice.
Crime Scene Photo: Shows the scene of the murder before Vector and his detective gang collected the evidence. A handgun is seen lying abandoned a few feet away from the body; a fiery red cell phone is seen on the ground a few inches from the victim's open right hand. It also shows a single gunshot wound to the chest above the heart.
Bullet: A clean bullet found lodged in a nearby tree. Tests show that it was fired by the gun found at the scene.
Red Cell Phone: Belongs to Knuckles. He says he lost it the day before the murder and that it couldn't have been found anywhere near the crime scene. It has a black strap that has its owner's name on it. The prints have been wiped.
Profiles:
Sonic Hedgehog: A seventeen year old blue furred male hedgehog. Passed the bar exam with flying colors, allowing him to earn his Attorney's Badge a year earlier than normal. Has a likable and confident attitude about him, but sometimes gets nervous when in the courtroom. He's Tails' adoptive big brother.
Miles Prower: Best known by his nickname Tails. He's a twelve-year-old orange furred fox with two tails. He spends most of his time in the Robotnik Law Firm where Sonic works making sure the place stays relatively clean. He doesn't go to school because of the school board recognizing his brilliant mind surpassing even the most advanced high school work.
Dr. Ivo Robotnik: A fifty-three year old defense attorney of some renown. He owns his own law firm, albeit a small business version, and hired Sonic to be his understudy. He's usually too busy working on some kind of case to be seen in the office much. He allows Tails to hang out in the office regardless if he does any work in there or not.
Knuckles Echidna: The defendant in this case and Sonic and Tails' friend. He is an eighteen-year-old detective who works at the local precinct and is apparently good friends with Prosecutor Vector. He has been accused of murdering a woman found shot to death in the local park.
Charmy Bee: A hyper little bee who's attitude sometimes surpasses his eight-year-old body. He works alongside Prosecutor Vector as a sort of small rag-tag group of detectives that work apart from the local precinct detectives.
Chapter 4: Under the Midnight Moon Pt. 2
After spending a few hours studying up on the preliminary case file he was sent on his computer after the court's had received his papers, Sonic still did not feel like he was completely ready to prove Knuckles, a detective at the local precinct, innocent of the crime of murder. It was only natural that he felt that way being that the preliminary report failed to really discuss anything new beyond what he had already figured out yesterday afternoon. Basically, he was going to be going into this courtroom somewhat blind with no idea where he is supposed to go or even do for that matter.
"Hey Sonic," the voice of Tails spoke up, snapping the cobalt hedgehog out of his inner musings. "I got you some soda to drink before the case starts. I know how it can help calm you down a bit."
"Thanks buddy," the hedgehog thanked his little brother as he took the can from the other and opened the tab before taking a swig from it. He then said after he had swallowed the bubbling liquid, "I really needed that right now."
"Do you think that you can get Knuckles out of this mess today?" the two tailed fox questioned with a slight cocking of his head. Said person was sitting on one of the waiting room's chairs looking rather stoic and with his arms crossed. "I mean, we don't really have a lot to go on right now."
"I doubt we can wrap this up by today. I still haven't even checked out the park yet. You never know when the police might have overlooked something there that they thought to have been nothing."
"Do you really think the police are that stupid to not pick something up just because they think it has nothing to do with the case?"
"Trust me Tails," Knuckles spoke up with a slight scoff of his breath. "This police department seems to run under a weird set of rules. There have been many times when cases were suspended and judged wrong because of a lack of evidence. Two months later, a key piece of evidence is found at the scene of the crime, evidence that the police believed to have no bearing to the case. It's pretty stupid if you ask me."
"Gee, that really helps to calm my nerves Knuckles," Sonic responded sarcastically as he took another sip of his soda. "Anyway, why don't you go on home Tails? I might be stuck here for a while, and I don't want you to wait for me here and get bored."
"I'm going in there with you Sonic," Tails simply responded, taking the hedgehog slightly by surprise. "And don't even think about talking me out of this. I'm sure they'd let me in with you as long as I pose as your assistant. That and you probably need one sooner or later. And besides, you never know when you might need a second opinion on something a witness might say."
Before the defense attorney even had a chance to argue with the fox, they heard the bailiff calling from the courtroom doorway saying that they were going to start with the proceedings in about a minute. With that hardly enough time to even make a convincing argument, the hedgehog simply walked into the courtroom with his now ordained assistant following closely behind him while throwing the now empty can into a nearby trashcan. The echidna soon followed suit with the bailiff escorting him to his designated spot.
After waiting a couple more minutes and spending that time organizing all their evidence on the table, they heard the bailiff announcing the judge's entrance to the courtroom. The audience all quieted down and stood up in respect to His Honor's presence. Once he had taken his seat at his podium, the audience then took their respective seats and the court proceedings had officially begun.
"Court is now in session!" the judge declared with a bang of his gavel, causing what trace amount of conversation still going on to cease. "We will now begin with the trial of Detective Knuckles. Are both the defense and prosecution ready?"
"The defense is ready, Your Honor," Sonic said with a bit more confidence when compared to his first time in the courtroom setting. This was also when he took notice of the prosecutor standing across from him.
"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor," the prosecutor responded in a tone that was somewhat deep. It held a sense of familiarity to the cobalt hedgehog, and his eyes only furthered that familiar feeling as he looked at the person. Even Tails seemed to have known who the other was. The person was a male hedgehog with fur just like Sonic's except for its ebon color and red streaks on the quills. His eyes were a deep ruby red and seemed to hold a fire that showed he was determined to do whatever it was that he had set his mind to. On his chest towards the left of the tuft of white fur was a prosecutor's badge pinned in a sort of idle fashion.
"My, this case should be quite interesting," the judge stated with a slight raise of his eyebrows as he shifted his eyes between the two sides of the courtroom. "We have a young rookie defense attorney who only started his career two weeks ago, and we have a young prosecutor who had a jumpstart on his career a year ago. I always marvel at the fact at how the exercising of the law is being conducted by young respectable teenagers such as yourselves. I know that you both studied hard to get to where you are now, but I still can't believe that you two are standing here in this courtroom defending and prosecuting the defendant. It's amazing how time can change so much."
"If you don't mind, I don't think this is really the most opportune time to be talking about things like this," the ebon hedgehog responded matter-of-factly, although his eyes did gleam some small hint of familiarity and possibly even slight friendliness when he looked at Sonic. "There will be more time to marvel at the powers that time has over all of us. Right now, we have a case that we must oversee and find the answers to as soon as possible."
"Yes, you're right Prosecutor Shadow," the old man replied as he immediately went back to his serious court attitude. "Do you mind making your opening statements about this case so that we'll all be familiar with it?"
"Of course, Your Honor," the ebon furred hedgehog prosecutor now known to be Shadow simply responded with a nod of his head. "The victim, a Ms. Teela Vulpin, was found shot to death in Midnight Park two days ago at one in the morning. She died instantly at around that very time due to a single bullet piercing through her heart. I have here her Autopsy Report that describes the key details surrounding her death."
"The court shall accept this piece of evidence. Is there anything else that might be of importance that we should know of before we continue on?"
"Besides the fact that the Chaotix Detective Agency run by Prosecutor Vector got to the scene first and collected some evidence there, there's nothing else to say," Shadow added as if it were just a minor detail. "Like with other cases that they have been involved in, they registered any and all evidence that they found at the crime scene along with a photo before anything was altered by their hand."
"Ah, the ever infamous Chaotix Detective Agency. I must admit that I had my doubts about the legitimacy of the group when they first came to be. However, two years of successful detective work through providing a fresh set of eyes outside the precinct and their complete cooperation with handing over collected evidence. I would assume that they registered all of the evidence they collected into the database already, right?"
"You can never expect anything less from the good prosecutor, especially when his job is on the line if he makes one single mistake in this hobby of his," the ebon furred hedgehog said with a huff of his breath that sounded strangely like a silent chuckle.
"That's good. Now, does the defense have anything else that they wish to add to the debriefing of this case before we begin?" the judge asked as he moved his attention towards Sonic and Tails.
"I have nothing to add, Your Honor," the cobalt hedgehog simply responded as he idly scratched the back of his ear. Tails simply stood quietly next to him while listening to what was going on around him.
Very well, then let us move on to the actual case. The defendant, Mr. Knuckles, is a rookie yet well attentive detective down at the local precinct. He was arrested under the suspicion of murder. Can the prosecution procure any kind of evidence or witness that would substantiate this claim?"
"I don't think that I would be here if I didn't have anything of the sort," the young prosecutor responded coolly as he looked down at the evidence in front of him. "There was a witness at the time of the murder. He was busy walking through the park in an attempt to get back to his home quicker when he heard the murder occur. It is with him that I plan to prove the defendant's guilt in this crime."
"What the hell kind of guilt are you ranting on about Shadow?" Knuckles exclaimed angrily, barely managing to keep himself seated to the defendant's chair as the bailiff next to him shot him a warning glance. "You know damn well that I would never kill anybody! The only reason I would do so is to lawfully follow the first rule in the detective handbook: Killed or be killed. That's not what happened here."
Shut up Knuckles! Sonic mentally whined as he also gave himself a mental palm slap to his forehead. Even Tails looked down at the table a bit as he clearly thinking along the same lines as the attorney. Your big mouth here isn't going to help you much here. You might as well just go ahead and dig your own grave right now if you're doing that.
"The defendant will refrain from speaking out of line!" the judge commanded as he banged his gavel rather roughly. "Might I advise you that what you say in here might potentially bring more harm than good to your case?"
"It's quite alright, Your Honor. I don't feel that it matters much what the defendant has to say for himself. What matters here are the evidence and the witnesses that are going to be presented during the duration of this trial. It is with these words that I ask the first witness be able to take the stand."
"Agreed. Bailiff, please bring in the witness!"
With a small nod of his head, the bailiff left his post beside the detective and went out into the lobby to summon the witness. A couple of seconds later, a young man wearing a simple pair of jeans and a regular white shirt walked up to the witness podium.
"Can you please state your name and occupation for the court?" Shadow asked the man despite already knowing himself who he was and what he did for a living.
"My name's Rush Woker and I work in a small business firm as a speed worker," the man responded with a small nod of his head. "In other words, I make sure everything in the business runs in a quick and effective manner."
"I would suspect then that you are the witness who was walking through the park on the day in question, were you not?" the ebon hedgehog questioned for the sake of the official court transcript.
"I was in the park when this murder occurred," Rush simply stated without saying much else. "If you don't mind, I would like to get my testimony wrapped up as soon as possible. I'm a firm believer that things can only be effectively finished if they are done quickly on their first successful try."
"While I don't quite agree with the witness's opinion on supplying the court with swift testimony, I must agree that we best hurry up and get on with the case," the judge said as he pounded his gavel. "The witness will testify to the court about what he recalls about the night in question. Perhaps we'll all be able to get a clearer picture of everything once we hear what he has to say on the matter."
"What can I do but submit to the court's wishes?" the witness stated more than asked with a small shrug of his shoulders. "If it means that this rather pointless line of speech will be done with sooner, then so be it."
The Midnight Park Incident
It was ten after twelve when I was off work. I had to spend about another twenty minutes though taking care of an employee's mistake at the office. Anyway, I officially left the office at thirty after twelve. It takes about ten minutes for me to get to the park from there. As I was walking through, I heard something rather sharp pierce the air. It was when I followed the source of the sound did I see the body of the poor woman through the light of the full moon. That was when I used my cellphone to call the police. I stayed the entire time until they had arrived.
End Witness Testimony
"Hmm, while it does help to specify when the victim was killed, I hardly find this testimony to be concrete in indicating whether or not the defendant was the one who stole her life away," the judge stated with great doubt in his voice.
"Yet this is the testimony that Mr. Woker has provided us," Shadow replied as he also seemed to be somewhat uneasy with his witness's lack of a detailed testimony. He then added with some unfamiliar attitude in his tone, "I would suspect that he purposefully gave us this testimony so as to secure his quick exit of this court. I doubt he'll say anything more on the matter for any reason short of a cross-examination. Do you think that you're up for the task, rookie attorney?"
"And why are you asking if I'm up for the task when it's your witness that's the problem here?" Sonic countered with a sweat drop moving through his fur. "If you ask me, you're the one who should probably do something about him."
Begin Cross-Examination
"Anyway, do you usually get off of work around the midnight hours from your speed worker position, Mr. Woker?" the attorney asked as he began his cross-examination in an attempt to change the subject.
"My ending schedule varies slightly from night to night," Rush explained with a slight roll of his eyes at the question. "But must you really keep me here with a pointless question? Regardless whether or not I have a constant off time doesn't change the fact that I got off just after midnight that day."
"That's just what I was about to bring up," the prosecutor spoke up with a shake of his head. He then added with a formal bite to his words, "Please try to stick with the important questions Sonic and not with baseless thoughts."
"Fine Shadow," the cobalt hedgehog said in a mock formal tone that was full with nothing but annoyance.
"Alright Sonic, no need to lose your cool here," Tails stated with a small clearing of his throat. "As much as I'm rooting for you here, I can't help but to agree with Shadow there. Don't forget that he was always the most reasonable person when it came to the four of us."
"Let's go ahead and move on to the next question," the hedgehog suddenly said, making it seem like he was completely ignoring the fox's words, but the young boy caught the familiar gleam in his eyes that said he caught his words. "According to your testimony, you spent about an extra twenty minutes taking care of things at your work. Because of that, you ended up becoming a witness to the crime. Do you mind telling the court in detail what it was of this crime that you witnessed that night?"
"Now we're finally getting to the heart of things. I suggest that you all listen carefully because I'm not going to repeat myself. When I first saw the woman lying on the ground, I had taken her for someone who was simply enjoying the night sky and the beautiful stars that were glistening brightly. When I got closer, I noticed a rather strange scent carried by the light breeze assailing my nostrils. That was when my eyes took note of the dark red liquid oozing out from her chest, and that was when I whipped out my cellphone and called the police for help."
"You called the police before you even went closer to the victim to make sure she was okay?" the attorney questioned with a raise of his eyebrows. "The area of the park where you discovered her wasn't all that well lit. For all you knew, she could have simply spilled some red paint on her skirt earlier that evening and was simply wondering how she was going to explain the mess to whoever she lived with. I most certainly would've at least gotten closer and see if she was okay before calling the police."
"Again, I don't see any point to this line of questioning," Shadow responded with a heavy sigh that could easily be translated as irritation. "It matters not whether he chose to check up on the victim before calling the police or not. The point here was that he saw the victim lying dead on the ground with blood all over her. And just so you know, there was a full moon out that night. It was lit well enough for anybody to have seen the scene and know what had happened."
"If I might add something to all of this," the judge interrupted with a clearing of his throat. "While this testimony does conclude the fact that this witness saw Ms. Vulpin dead and reported it to the police, it still doesn't answer the question on how he can be the prosecution's key witness in discerning who it was that killed her!"
"Perhaps we should be asking the witness that question," the prosecutor simply said. "Well Mr. Woker, would you care to explain to the court how it was that you say the defendant was the one who killed her?"
"It's simple really. I'm supposing that you would want me to talk about this tedious detail as well?"
"Any kind of testimony regarding the persecution of the defendant is anything but tedious!" the old man responded with a pounding of his gavel. "I don't care about how you're in a rush to finish this; you will add the fact on how you identified the defendant as the killer to your official testimony."
"Alright sir. No need for you to get all cranky at me. I can see now that this is going to drag on longer than I thought."
Moving too slow for a fast worker like yourself, huh? Sonic thought to himself with a small smirk on his lips. Welcome to the world of court buddy.
Additional Statement
I saw the defendant running back towards the scene before he caught sight of me and ran away.
End Additional Statement
"You saw the defendant run back to the scene before running away?" Sonic repeated with a sense of both shock and curiosity in his voice. "Just for the sake of clarification, can you describe what you saw of the defendant when he came into your sights?"
"Well, I didn't quite see any facial features because I was too far from him to have seen anything," Rush explained simply. "I did see him run up to the body as if to check something out. He then saw me and began running away a second later. It was then that I saw something fall out of his coat pocket. I think it was a cellphone. When he had left, that was when I got closer to the body and confirmed that it was a phone with a black strap on it."
"A cellphone, huh?" the judge hmmed thoughtfully to himself. "And how were you able to discern that this belonged to the defendant?"
"I read the news that goes about in the daily papers. The strap had a name that spelled out Knuckles, and I remember reading an article about a rookie detective under the same name finding a key piece of evidence that ultimately would've gone unchecked where it not for his vigilant behavior."
"So that was how you figured out that the defendant was the one who probably committed the murder. I can see how his very actions could be construed as such. Does the defense have any objections to this new statement?"
End Cross-Examination
"He couldn't see the defendant's facial features, yet he was able to conclude that it was him through the cellphone that fell out of his pocket," Sonic paraphrased as he allowed the statement to mull around in his head. "There's something that just doesn't ring true with this line of logic."
"And what, pray tell, doesn't fit well with the facts?" Shadow asked with a cocky smile on his face. "I would think that the defendant's cellphone being found at the scene would be the most damning evidence against him. I highly doubt that you would have anything to counter this claim."
"Well, I stumbled across a rather interesting fact when I talked with my client yesterday during my time accepting my position as his defense attorney," the cobalt hedgehog responded with a cocky smile of his own that hardly outshined the others. "He said that he had lost his cellphone the day before the murder had occurred. There is no humanly possible way that it was the defendant who had dropped his phone at the scene!"
"Ha, as if that little fact could possibly prove anything!" the ebon furred hedgehog stated with a heavy scoff of his breath and believing the other's words to be nothing but a bluff. "The defendant could have been lying to you for the sake of his benefit. You're going to have to come up with something a lot more convincing than merely reciting the words of a killer."
"If that's the case, then I suppose I should introduce another problem this phone poses. Besides having not been in its owner's hands since the day before the murder, there should still be something left behind. I would suspect that my client has had heavy use of this being that he's a detective down at the local precinct."
"Would you please just get to the point rookie? You're starting to take up our precious time, and I'm sure you remember hearing the witness saying something about wanting to wrap this up as quickly as possible."
"Very well; if you would just carefully read the notes posted on this piece of evidence, you will see that the prints on this have been wiped clean. Not even a small trace amount of prints could've been lifted from this."
"Oomph, I didn't know anything about that!" Shadow grunted in surprise as he looked at the official forensics note posted on the projector. "What the hell was forensics thinking when they passed on the evidence notes to me? I swear, this district's handle on things is not at its highest level of performance."
"Well, I suppose then that this would work to my benefit," Sonic responded with his cocky smile now taking center stage in the courtroom. "It's clear that Knuckles is the owner of this phone thanks to the strap showing his name on it and by his own confession. Why then would he go through the trouble of wiping his prints off the phone yet forget to remove the strap in the process? It's his phone, so it would've been impossible to have remembered to try erasing his prints and then forget to get rid of the strap."
"D-damn it!" the ebon hedgehog growled out as he pulled at the edge of his white gloves in a frustrated manner. "No murderer would be that dumb to actually leave one something with their name on it."
"Exactly my point," the defense said simply. "Due to the fact that the prints were clearly wiped off and the witness could not see who it was that 'dropped' the phone, I conclude that the man this witness saw was not the defendant!"
"How dare you call me a liar?" Rush asked with great insult in his words, catching both Sonic and Tails off guard when he glared daggers at them. "I know what it was that I saw that night, and I saw the defendant run back to the scene and accidentally drop his phone before running away."
"Yet we just proved that it couldn't possibly be the defendant who could've ran back to the scene and conveniently drop his phone," Tails countered as he came to his attorney buddy's defense.
"Hmm, I already had my suspicions about this when the witness didn't say anything damning about the situation at first," the judge stated in an agreeing tone before banging his gavel to stop the exchange between the three of them. "Mr. Woker seems quite sure about the details in his testimony, yet he failed to give us the key detail about the victim. Under this light, I have great doubt on his credibility as a key witness. I'm afraid that I'll have to dismiss the prosecution's witness."
"Objection!" Shadow exclaimed in an attempt to stop the old man from making his move. "You claim to already know that my witness's testimony is not to be accepted to the court. To allow him to leave before he's even finished testifying before us would cause us to do the justice system a disservice."
"Before he's finished testifying to us? I would suppose that you mean he has something more to add to this case? But I thought it's already been established that the person he saw couldn't have been the defendant."
"That's because Mr. Woker only spoke of the second half of his recollection because of his haste to leave this courtroom," the ebon furred hedgehog stated with the smirk back on his face. "He failed to report what the things that had happened in that park before the murder in full detail. I believe that this also needs to be discussed in full detail before you fully discount his testimony."
"If what you say here is true Mr. Shadow, then I suppose it's the court's obligation to hear what the witness has to say. Very well Mr. Woker!" the judge stated with a bang of his gavel. "I ask that you please testify to us all about the events that occurred in the park before the murder. And do not leave out any details this time around, regardless if you're in a rush to get somewhere or not."
"What can I do but comply?" Rush responded with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm afraid I already missed my deadline, so I suppose I can take all the time in the world talking about this murder now."
"Does this guy only think about his work every single minute of the day?" Sonic questioned with a raise of his eyebrows. "Honestly, I don't think I've ever heard of a workaholic like Rush Woker before."
"Where there are lazy guys who hate to work, there are also work-addicted guys who just love it to death," Tails simply responded with a shrug since he had nothing better to say about it. "We just happen to be on the receiving end of a guy who prides himself in a speedy work well done and end up seeing him fail on that mantra."
"Then it sounds like we're going to have to find another small hole to widen and expose that mantra as the baseless opinion it is," the cobalt furred hedgehog stated with a determined nod of his head.
The Midnight Park Incident Pt. 2
When I got to the park, it took three minutes of walking before I heard the murder. I never heard the sound before, but I'm sure that it was a single gunshot stealing the life of the victim. It took me only fifteen more seconds to arrive at the scene. When I got there, I momentarily saw some locks of ruby red fur and violet purple eyes shining through the full moon before he ran away. That is how I knew the murderer was the defendant.
End Witness Testimony
"So you did have a chance to see the facial features of the murderer, albeit for only a short amount of time," the judge responded with a sense of intrigue resonating through his voice. "I ask that you do not withhold any information that pertains to the case. Do so again and I shall find you in contempt of court. Consider this your only warning witness."
"An empty threat is only an empty threat until the issuer decides to act upon it," Rush boldly countered, causing the judge to sputter a bit at his daring cheeky attitude. "Your warning only makes me want to try withholding information again so I can see if you're truly serious about your claim."
"Mr. Woker, I ask that you please cooperate with the court for just a little while longer," Shadow simply responded with a warning glare at his witness before the old man had a chance to say anything that would put harm to his case. "So long as there is still some crucial information within you, I must insist that you don't damn yourself within this court."
"I think you better hurry up and get on with the cross-examination before we lose our chance because of Rush's attitude Sonic," Tails advised with a sweat drop running down the back of his skull as the witness continued on with his pointless rant.
"No need to tell me twice about it Tails," Sonic responded with a nod of his head, a sweat drop also falling at the same spot on his skull. "I just hope he holds out long enough for us to even squeeze anything out of him."
"Mr. Sonic, please get on with your cross-examination so that we may be rid of this witness as soon as possible!" the judge begged slightly as he banged his gavel.
Begin Cross-Examination
"Mr. Woker, are you sure about what it is you saw before you called the police with your cellphone?" Sonic asked again in case he could find some kind of mistake in his rather vague yet suitable description. "Did you really see some ruby red locks of fur and spikes along with violet purple eyes running away from the scene of the crime?"
"I truly hope that you are not starting to label me a liar simply because I left out this detail in my first testimony," Rush stated as if he were trying to avoid the question unbeknownst to him. "If that is your sole basis for questioning what I said now, then I suggest that you start moving on to something a lot less time consuming."
"The witness will stop talking back to the court and answer the questions directed to him unless specified not to," the judge ordered with a bang of his gavel and as warning glare to the witness. "With that said, I want you to answer the question. Did you really see the features that clearly identify the witness?"
"I swear by the light of the full moon that was out that night that I saw those two features unusual to anybody but the defendant," the witness finally answered with a scowl on his face. "It's too bad that I couldn't see anything else beyond that because of his detective coat on, but I'm sure that these two features are more than enough to identify the murderer. After all, it's definitely not every day that you see a red echidna with such unusual eye color."
"But you can hardly call that as decisive evidence on your part. For all you know, it could've been another person wearing simple costumes that copied my client's features so that they can convince whoever happened to lay eyes on him that it was the defendant running from the scene."
"I'm sorry Sonic, but I'm afraid that your argument here isn't going to hold water very well," Shadow objected without so much as raising his voice in doing so. "We found trace amounts of the victim's blood along the edges of the defendant's coat when we had forensics check it. It goes without saying that he was at the scene when the victim died, and we know due to witnesses down at the precinct that he was called down to investigate a reported disturbance that night."
"Wow, Shadow sure did his share of homework on this case," Tails said with a nod of his head in acknowledgement to the prosecution's counterargument. "He pretty much threw your idea out of the courtroom without much effort."
"Whose side are you on Tails?" the defense attorney asked with an agitated scowl directed at his little brother.
"So we established that there was a high possibility that the witness did see the defendant fleeing the scene," the judge surmised briefly. "Although it's still not exactly concrete, it's better than what we first started this case with."
"Your Honor, I would like to ask Mr. Woker another question. Namely, I want to ask him about the exact moment when he heard the murder occur. There are some things that I want to make clear before I personally jump to any conclusions of my own."
"If you feel that it might hold some relative importance to the case, then go ahead and ask by all means Mr. Sonic."
"When you were walking through the park, you claimed to have heard a sound that you figured to be a gunshot. Was there anything else during that small expansion of time that you heard besides that?"
"As it is with my eyesight, my hearing is of an exceptional nature," Rush stated proudly with a smirk on his face. "I can easily hear a pin drop inside a room with relatively loud chatter and such. All I heard at that exact moment was the sound of a single gunshot piercing through the serenity of the night sky. There was no idle chatter heard nor was there the shrill sound of the poor woman's frightened scream."
"Is there really any importance to what it was the witness heard Sonic?" the ebon furred hedgehog questioned with an annoyed shake of his head. "While it's quite natural to have not heard the victim scream at the moment the gun was shot, I hardly find anything of questionable nature within this particular portion of his testimony. You're simply forcing Mr. Woker to needlessly repeat himself."
End Cross-Examination
"That's funny, because I happen to see something rather strange with his recollection of the moment of the murder," Sonic countered with a smug look on his face. "The witness claims to have only heard the sound of a single gunshot ringing throughout the park. However, this testimony itself contradicts the evidence within our procession!"
"I knew it!" Rush exclaimed as he suddenly sounded both irritated and angry. "You are claiming me to be nothing but a liar! Are you going to say now that it was impossible for me to have heard the gunshot because of some unforeseen act of god preventing me to do so at the time? Or maybe you're going to say that I had my ears plugged up with some headphones and listening to music while I walked through the park that night."
"If you would just let me say what it is that's on my mind Mr. Woker, maybe you could stop assuming what I'm going to say!" the cobalt hedgehog said through clenched teeth. Tails was trying to quickly grab the gun and bring it to the teen before he completely lost sight of his line of questioning. "If the court would read the description tagged on with this gun, you would know just where it is I'm going with this."
"This is the murder weapon that was recovered from the scene of the crime, wasn't it?" the judge questioned as he looked at the evidence being projected through the courtroom projector.
"And just what exactly is contradictory about this evidence with the testimony?" Shadow asked as he too read the note. "I can't find a single thing myself."
"Well, the witness here said that he only heard one gunshot before he ran towards the source of the sound. If you take a close look at this gun, however, you will see documented on the note attached that it's been determined that the gun had been fired twice!"
"Yes, the court notices this detail," he old man simply said with a nod of his head as if the contradiction was nothing to be getting excited over. "I hardly see the significance this has on the case, however."
"I suggest that you don't say anything else lest you want to further embarrass yourself in front of your assistant," Shadow stated in a teasing tone and an annoying wag of his finger. "While it has been proven that the gun was fired twice, there's no evidence saying that both bullets were shot on the same night. Unless you have proof that this so called second bullet was shot that night, the witness's recollection of the crime then stands."
"Oh, you got to be kidding me!" the defense attorney growled out in frustration accompanied with a small slam of the table at seeing his objection fall apart as quickly it was raised. "You don't even have any proof that the second bullet wasn't fired that night. How can you say for certain that there weren't two gun fires that night?"
"The defense does raise a valid point. Well Mr. Shadow, do you have anything to prove your claim that this second firing has nothing to do with the crime in question?"
"Unfortunately, I have nothing to make back up my claim. However, the same can be said for the defense. As far as I know, they have also yet to prove that this second firing has anything to do with the crime. On that note, I ask whether or not they have something that can tie this fact with the case?"
"Hey Sonic, what about that bullet that Vector and his group gave us yesterday with everything else?" Tails questioned in a reminding tone. "Wasn't that found at the scene of the crime?"
"Oh yeah, I kind of forgotten about that," the teen attorney admitted with a sheepish smile on his face. His little brother simply sag his shoulders in response and shot his older brother a what-the-heck glance.
"Oh, what would you do without me here helping you?" the fox asked as the cobalt hedgehog reached over the table to pick up the bullet and began reading the note on it.
"Well Shadow, if you want proof that the second firing of the gun happened at that same night, then I'll go ahead and give it to you."
"If you're going to be making bluffs, then I suggest that you try to make it a bit more convincing than that," Shadow simply answered with a shake of his head. "I just finished seeing you talking rather privately with your assistant. It didn't seem like you were talking of anything pertaining to the case, especially when you showed off that sheepish smile."
"Uh, that was just me remembering something that has nothing to do with this case. Anyway, I would like for the court to take a look at this bullet."
"Is that the bullet that was taken out of the victim's chest?" the judge asked with raised eyebrows as he looked at the piece of ammunition.
"If it pleases the court, I have the Bullet that was extracted from the victim's heart," the ebon hedgehog responded as he picked up a bag with a small bloody bullet in it for everybody to see. "For the sake of preventing confusion with these two bullets, I would like to present this as evidence."
"The court will accept it," the judge accepted the evidence before moving back to his original thought. "If I might ask you Mr. Sonic, just where was it that you managed to find this bullet?"
"Interestingly enough, it was found by the Chaotix Detective Agency lodged into a tree trunk at the scene of the crime," Sonic stated.
"That hardly proves anything," the prosecutor countered before anything else could be said. "So what if that bullet was found within reasonable distance of the scene of the crime? You still have no proof that it has anything to do with the case or that it was even fired from the murder weapon itself."
"I doubt that you'd be saying the same thing once I tell you what I figured out from this second bullet. Before it was brought to us, Prosecutor Vector had it checked out by forensics. Before I disclose the findings of the forensics, might I ask where the bullet that killed the victim came from?"
"The tests show that it came from the murder weapon," the other answered, his eyebrow raised in an uneasy manner as he had a feeling where the defense was now going with their line of questioning. "It was thankfully unmarred when it entered the body, so it was easy to tell from what it was shot out of."
"I think you finally get where I'm going with this Shadow. The bullet that you have was fired from the murder weapon. The bullet that I have was fired from the same weapon. In other words, we can now safely conclude without question that two shots were fired from this one gun at the time of the murder!"
"But that can't be right!" Rush exclaimed as he heard what was going on between both sides of the courtroom. "I distinctively remember only hearing one shot that night! There was no second shot before or after that."
This revelation caused the entire courtroom to talk amongst themselves about what it was they just heard. Even the judge himself seemed confused by the new chain of events, but he still had some control over his emotions and banged his gavel to restore some semblance of order to the courtroom.
"Order in the court!" he commanded loudly over the still chattering crowd that began to slowly die down to complete silence. "Mr. Sonic, just what is the meaning of this second bullet? Exactly what does it mean to the overall view of the case?"
"I propose the following: my client was not the one who killed the Ms. Vulpin. Rather, it was a completely different person in the park that night who fired the other bullet that stole the victim's life."
"A different person?" Shadow repeated, tightening the ends of his gloves around his wrist again. "And what makes you think that this 'second person' exists and even has anything to do with the case?"
"Because the witness practically said so in his past two testimonies," Sonic explained as he looked over at the transcripts of the past testimonies. "Remember, if you would, what he said when I asked him to describe any noticeable features when the suspect ran back to the body. He said that he couldn't 'see any facial features' due to the distance between the two. Yet if you were to compare that with what was discussed in his second testimony, he claims to have clearly seen red bangs and violet eyes when he first discovered the body. It's through this testimony that the witness was talking about two completely different people!"
"And what evidence do you have that could possibly back up this absurd claim of yours?" the ebon hedgehog countered with great doubt dripping from his voice as he balled his free hand into a fist. "I've looked at this case from every possible angle except for the one you now bring up, and I can see no possibility of somebody other than the defendant and the witness at the park that night."
"Once again, the witness's own testimony is proof of my claim. He stated quite adamantly that he had only heard one gunshot during his entire time at the park. If that's true, then this bullet in my possession should not be in existence, and yet here it is on my side of the courtroom. Your own witness's words should be more than enough to convince you that the possibility of a second person firing the bullet that stole a life that night is more than just a baseless claim."
"Humph, I suppose that there's only one way that we'll be able to clear this doubt about this supposed second person from the air. I would like to dismiss Mr. Rush Woker from the stand and call the defendant himself to the stand. I believe that we've heard enough from this witness anyway."
"So you're just going to throw me out to the curb like some useless trash and consider me a liar?" Rush questioned with a snarled facial expression as his aura suddenly took on a rather defiant change to it. "If that's the case, then I refuse to stand here and accept this. Everything that I have told you here was the exact recount of what I saw that night. It may have not exactly been the fastest due to your defense's liking to pointless questioning, but it was as efficient and informative as I said it would be."
"Mr. Woker, nobody in this court even hinted at calling you a liar," the judge stated sternly, clearly not happy with how resistant the witness was suddenly becoming for no apparent reason other than having contradictions being pointed out in his recollections. "All the defense did was point out the contradictions with your testimony in relation to the evidence. That is what he's supposed to do."
"Then he might as well have called me a bold faced liar out loud!" the witness now shouted out as he shot a dirty look at both boys on the defense side. Both gave off a sweat drop and laughed nervously at his piercing gaze. "Pointing out contradictions in what people say is the court's way of saying their witness is lying."
"That is far from the truth. However, I'm afraid that I'll have to ask you to leave the podium. Refuse to do so and I'll arrest you for contempt of court."
"I told you that your empty threats don't scare me. If you really wanted me off this podium, then you would've had the bailiff dragged me out by now."
"And it seems that I have no choice in the matter. Bailiff, arrest the witness immediately and put him in jail for contempt of court!"
"Wh-what? There's no need for you to do that," Rush suddenly said in a calmer tone, but it was already too late for him as he was grabbed forcibly by the arm and dragged out of the courtroom and straight to the courthouse jail. He then yelled out with his voice slowly dying down due to the increasing distance, "You can't go about arresting your witnesses like this without any basis. You'll be hearing from my attorney if you go through with this! I swear it! You hear me?"
"My, he's such a stubborn and spirited young man," the judge stated with a disappointed shake of his head as the shouting continued to die down until it could not be heard in the courtroom anymore. He then said with a clearing of his throat, "Anyway, I ask that the defendant now take the stand."
"I'm already here on the stand, Your Honor," Knuckles responded from his now current spot on the witness podium, something that nobody saw him go to during the small scene from Rush earlier. "All I'm waiting for now is to hear what the prosecution would like for me to testify about."
"My, someone sure sounds eager to say something to the courts," the old man stated with surprise reflecting in his eyes at how fast the detective had moved without anybody knowing. "Well Mr. Shadow, just what exactly did you want him to testify about?"
"We've heard of the witness's account of the night of the murder, so I find it only fair that we cross-examine the defendant's claim of that night," Shadow simply answered. "And besides, I want him to help clear up this confusion about this second bullet that the defense has managed to tie into this case."
"Very well, the defendant shall testify to the court about his recollection of the night in question!"
"As if I have much choice in the matter if I want to get out of this alive," the red furred echidna stated bitterly with a scowl on his face.
Investigating Midnight Park
That night, I was assigned to investigate a reported disturbance at Midnight Park. It was a quarter after twelve when I got that call. When I got there at about half past twelve, the victim was already dead with a bullet to her chest. As a detective, I naturally approached closer in order to investigate the scene. I only got in a couple second's worth of checking when I was shot at. I quickly turned and saw a darkly dressed figure with a gun in his hand. He quickly pocketed it into his coat and began to run away. I quickly gave chase, and that was most likely what the last witness saw.
End Witness Testimony
"So you say that you were already there when the gunshot the victim heard was fired," the judge summarized in as brief a sentence as possible. "The defense may begin their cross-examination now."
"If I know Knuckles, he isn't the type to beat around the bush when it comes to serious things like this," Sonic thought out loud in a tone that was only hearable to Tails. "Everything he just said was the pure and simple truth."
"Then I guess that this is really more of an excavation for information than looking to contradictions," Tails stated, sounding pretty happy at the fact that there should not be anything contradictory to the detective's testimony.
"Provided that he didn't accidentally say something that doesn't match with the evidence," the attorney added, earning him a strange questioning look from his little brother that went unanswered.
Begin Cross-Examination
"Detective Knuckles, is it unusual for you to be responding to calls about disturbances at such a late hour?" the cobalt hedgehog began with a question.
"Not necessarily," Knuckles simply responded with a minute shrug of his shoulders. "The midnight hours of this town are usually when there are a lot of weird and illegal things tend to take place. It was unusual, however, that the call was calling about the park though. It's not known for any of those unsightly and potentially deadly night life antics of others."
"I've heard stories of what sometimes goes on in the dead of night here when I first arrived last year," Shadow responded with a small frown at the corner of his lips. "I thought that it was only a trick they liked to play on new prosecutors. I didn't think that they'd really be serious about it."
"Yes, this city does seem plagued with a lot of illegal night time activity as of late," the judge agreed with a somewhat sorrowful shake of his head. "However, we're not here to discuss of these matters. I suggest that we continue on with the cross-examination before we stray even further down our intended path here."
"Yes, Your honor," Sonic responded without any resistance as he stopped talking about the city's problems. "Besides the obvious, what did you notice when you first arrived at the park and saw the victim dead?"
"To be perfectly honest, I didn't see much of anything when I first arrived. Except for the dead body, nothing was really out of the ordinary."
"When you say that nothing was out of the ordinary, are you also claiming that you didn't hear any kind of gunshot beforehand?" Shadow asked with a raised eyebrow.
"When I said that there wasn't anything out of the ordinary, I mean that there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It was like any other regular old night in the park if the victim wasn't there and transforming it into a murder scene."
"Speaking of murder scene, you said that you managed to get in some checking of the victim, despite only being just a couple of seconds before you heard a gunshot. Was it enough time to notice anything?"
"Don't you think that the Autopsy Report is more than enough information for you to lie back on in terms of knowing the conditions of the victim's death?" the prosecutor objected with a small frown. "I don't see how the detective's recollection of a terribly short examination would change anything."
"I just want to make sure that there aren't any kinds of questions left unanswered. I ask that the witness be allowed to answer the question."
"The defense's question is allowed. I, too, am curious if there's anything that might help to solidify the details of the Autopsy Report," the judge stated as he banged his gavel. "Could you please add whatever you found during your short investigation?"
"If you feel that two seconds is more than enough to make a change, then I'll tell you what I remember," the detective agreed with a nod of his head.
Additional Statement
I only had enough time to place my hands on the victim's arms which was warm to the touch.
End Additional Statement
"Warm to the touch?" Sonic repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Just so I have my thoughts straight, what would that usually mean in terms of a dead victim?"
"It means that she was killed very recently in terms of when I checked her," Knuckles stated. "It was a pretty cold night then, so her body would've felt lukewarm were she killed half an hour ago. My best guess in terms of time of death was that she was killed just a couple of minutes before I stumbled upon her. Unfortunately, I can't give you anything more than that because of someone shooting a gun catching my attention and then running from the scene as I gave chase."
"And that's considering if what you say is the truth," Shadow responded with doubt in his words as he rubbed the thumb and forefinger of his right hand together in thought. "By your own testimony, you were close enough to have killed her in that park that night. I find it to be very possible that you're just making up this random gun shooter."
"If that's what you claim, then how about you show some evidence to back that up Shadow?" the cobalt hedgehog countered. All he received in response was a low growl and nothing else beyond the claim.
"Regardless of who shot her, I highly believe that the possibility of her being killed just before the defendant stumbled upon her is rather great," the judge stated, seemingly convinced that the addition was the truth.
"Wait a minute Sonic," Tails whispered to the attorney as something crossed his mind. "Knuckles just said that Ms. Vulpin was killed give or take a couple of minutes before he found her. If that's the case, then he should've been able to hear the gunshot that took her life. Being two minutes away is more than close enough to hear something like that, especially in a relatively deserted park."
"Hey, you do have a point there," the teen responded, slightly surprised that his little brother was able to catch that when he could not. "He should've been able to hear that first gunshot. Then that means this second shot ended up hitting the tree where this bullet we have was found."
End Cross-Examination
"I believe we've heard enough from the defendant," the judge suddenly said as he banged at his gavel. "We've learned that Ms. Vulpin was killed just a couple of minutes before he found her dead."
"And that's only assuming that it all happened exactly as he said it did," Shadow stated in a doubtful tone as he looked down at his evidence. "I still believe that he created this story so that we could be fooled into believing that he's innocent."
"Yet he was your witness that you summoned," the old man reminded the ebon hedgehog with a raised eyebrow. "If you thought that he was simply going to come up with a lie to make himself out to be innocent, then why allow him to testify?"
"Because I wanted to know what he had to say about the night in question. That and I was hoping that he would've been able to solve the mystery about the second bullet. I guess I only got the first half of my question answered."
"I would like to ask the witness one more question before he leaves the stand," Sonic spoke up before the judge officially ended the cross-examination.
"Just one more, Mr. Sonic. I feel that we're starting to simply repeat what we heard from Mr. Woker's testimony right now, so I don't feel that we should use any more time with this witness."
"Thank you. Detective Knuckles, do you mind telling me how long you've been in that park looking for this disturbance you were called in for?"
"I was in that park for a good ten or so minutes," Knuckles answered as he looked a bit thoughtful at the question. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I wanted to know how it would affect one of the statements you made in your testimony," the cobalt hedgehog responded with a smile on his face as he finally found something that should help his case. "You said earlier that the victim had died just a couple of minutes before you stumbled upon her. Do you stand by what you said?"
"The only time I would pull back what I said is when I'm not sure," the red echidna stated bluntly with his arms crossed. "If you think that I'm going to pull back from what I said, then you're sorely mistaken."
"I thought you would say that. If that's the case, then I'd like you to answer me a simple question. Why was it that you failed to hear the victim's murder in that relatively abandoned park that night?"
"Just what are you getting at Sonic?" Shadow asked before the echidna had a chance to answer. "Besides wasting our time, I don't see what this pointless question has anything to do with the case. What does it matter whether or not he heard the shot that killed the victim?"
"It matters quite a lot Shadow. If you think about it real carefully, it's impossible that he should've completely missed the telltale sound of a gunshot echoing throughout that park! He said it himself that he was there for a good ten minutes and that Ms. Vulpin was dead for only a couple!"
"Oh no!" the prosecutor gasped as he clearly overlooked that detail, a detail that could easily blow a hole in his case.
"I don't quite understand what's going on here," the judge stated as he had a confused look on his face. "Mr. Sonic, could you please explain to the court exactly what it is that you mean by this?"
"What I'm saying here is what I've been proclaiming all along, my client is not the killer. Rather, it was somebody else who also happened to be at the park that night."
"And just who is it that you're proclaiming that was at the park that night?" Shadow asked, the corners of his lips twitching a bit in irritation. "Tell us who it is that we should be suspecting if not the defendant."
"Shouldn't it be obvious to you? This other person is the one that my client said shot the second bullet and that he chased. The last time I checked, he's an unknown to this entire case, and he's most likely the real killer in this case. And until we manage to figure out who this person is, I conclude that a verdict cannot be reached at this time!"
"Whether or not there's a verdict today, there's still a couple of questions that you have failed to answer," the prosecutor responded, tightening the end of his glove so much that it almost ripped. "While you have proven that two bullets were shot that night, you failed to successfully explain this unheard murderous shot. How is it that the defendant couldn't have heard this first shot when he was clearly close enough to the scene to have heard it?"
"Uh, I don't really have an answer to that yet," Sonic responded with a slightly sheepish smile on his face. He quickly recovered from the awkwardness, however, by countering back with a bit of his own logic. "Just because I don't know the answer doesn't mean that a verdict should be made now. In order to answer these unanswerable questions, I ask of the court to extend this case into the next day. With it, we should be able to procure the desired answers to this day's questions."
"And what about this other confliction? The murder weapon fired off both bullets found at the murder scene. And according to the defendant's testimony, the person who shot the second bullet ran with the gun on him. How is it then that the gun found its way to the crime scene once more?"
"Um, uh, well...," the cobalt hedgehog panicked, trying to find an answer suitable enough to stave off the counterattack. "Shouldn't it be obvious? The murderer... He...came back to the scene sometime after the crime had been committed."
"And how, pray tell, would that have been possible? The witness himself said that he stayed at the scene until the police arrived. Even the first responders corroborated with his testimony. Nobody ever approached the crime scene until the police arrived."
"If you put in into those context, then it's true that nobody touched the crime scene before the police arrived," Tails suddenly spoke up, quickly coming to his brother's rescue. "However, if we took out the fact that they were police officers, then it would change how we would be able to see the investigation."
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're saying," the judge asked with eyebrows raised in question. "What is the defense's assistant trying to say here?"
"Well, we all agree that police officers and detectives are higher up on the chain of command in terms of regular citizens," the fox explained, keeping his eyes on Shadow as said hedgehog watched him with intrigued eyes. "However, if you take away the fact that they are officers of the law, then they are just ordinary citizens like me and the audience in this courtroom. With that in mind, how can you say for certain that nobody had a chance to approach the scene and modify it?"
"Y-you're seriously not suggesting what it is that I think you're suggesting are you?" the prosecutor stuttered a bit as he caught on at where Tails was heading with his line of logic. "I'm all for coming up with logical explanations, but what you're thinking is far and beyond the deep end."
"Just because they're police doesn't mean that they're automatically granted immunity from trying to influence a crime scene. What I'm suggesting here is that it was one of the officers who came back to the scene under the guise of investigating in order to plant the gun and not raise suspicions. The real murderer must be one of the first responders!"
Upon hearing this claim, everybody was shocked into complete silence. Even Sonic himself was amazed at how his little brother's mind worked in instances like this. It never did occur to him that the murderer could have been a member of the police, and it was definitely because of the premonition everybody had of them. Put into the context that the fox had placed it, however, and the thought of it happening was more than possible.
"Uh, that's...quite a bold claim the defense makes on this matter," the judge was the first to speak up, his shock still clear in his words. "Although highly unlikely, I must admit that such a thing happening has the smallest amounts of possibilities. And while it might not be the biggest lead we have, I must have the police department question every officer and detective involved with the first response of the case.
"And while I take care of that, I will call on a suspension of this trial," the old man continued on as the entire court continued to be silent, both from shock and in respect to the judge. "Both the defense and prosecution will work on procuring more evidence that answer the questions the defense has brought up. Most importantly, we need to know why it was the first shot wasn't heard when the defendant himself was close enough to have heard it. That is all for today. Court is adjourned.
And with a heavy bang of his gavel, the judge had officially ended the court proceedings for the day. He then got up from his chair and left the room, the rest of the court quickly following suit.
New Evidence:
Autopsy Report: A report documenting the key details surrounding Ms. Vulpin's death. She was shot straight in the heart with a single bullet. Her death was immediate. Her estimated time of death is around 12 to 12:30.
Bullet 2: The bullet that was extracted from the victim's heart. Besides the blood, it looks unmarred and in pristine condition. The markings show that it was fired from the same gun that the first bullet was shot from.
Updated Evidence:
Bullet: Found lodged in a tree somewhere near the crime scene. It was the bullet fired after the first firing by the proposed murderer. It's currently unknown as to why this one was clearly heard when the first shot wasn't.
New Profiles:
Shadow Hedgehog: A seventeen-year-old hedgehog with fur that's as dark as the world's blackest midnight with occasional ruby red streaks lining his quills. He's the prosecutor in charge of overseeing the prosecution of the case. He started his career at the age of sixteen, a feat made possible due to his studies abroad where the prosecuting age is a couple of years less than this country.
Teela Vulpin: A twenty-five-year-old woman who worked as a simple waitress at a local busy diner. In her line of work, her ears sometimes picks up on things that are better left unknown. She's the victim in this case.
Rush Woker: A thirty year old man who tends to revere hard work over everything else. He always prefers that things get done right the first time around in a quick manner so as to avoid any kind of wasteful redundancy. This usually results in his constant temper and attitude problems when talking with others. He claims to have witnessed Knuckles killing the victim.