Sonic the Hedgehog: Attorney of Law

by thedraconicwerewolf

Sonic is a defense attorney with a law degree fresh out of high school thanks to his advanced studies in the ways of the judicial system. He's now able to defend others from various allegations. Will his training be enough to help him prove his clients' innocence? And what will happen when a ghost of his past that made him walk the path of law comes around once again?

6. Under the Midnight Moon Pt 4

Hello everybody! Here is the next chapter and new installment in this case. This part was a bit hard for me to write because I actually managed to dig myself into a hole. Amazingly enough, I managed to dig myself out of it without having to change around the details I've already put in the story.

It definitely wasn't easy to write it out, but that just made it all the more fun to write because I do not plan these things out. I just write them out as they come into my head, so not even I know how things will work out later in the story. The only thing that I do have planned is the plot involved with this story. Yes, this story has a plot behind all of these cases.

Anyway, I hope that you'll all enjoy this new chapter in this mystery story. Please don't forget to leave me a review saying how I'm doing with this story. As I said before, this is my first mystery story and I would like some constructive criticism, not something that just ends up to be nothing but a useless flame and attempted bash at my story. Until the next update everybody!

And just as a pointless hint for this chapter, there will be no new evidence for those who are playing along with the mystery instead of just reading it through.

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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 Midnight Park killing. It's a precinct issue wielded by detectives. The serial number is now legible thanks to some makeup dust over it. Thanks to Silver's help, the number proves that it belongs to a detective named Ace Sleuth.

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: 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.

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.

Autopsy Report: A report documenting the key details surrounding Ms. Vulpin's death. Her estimated time of death is around 12 to 12:30. She was shot straight in the heart with a single bullet. Her death was immediate.

Bullet 2: The bullet that was extracted from the victim's heart. Besides the blood, it looks unmarred and in pristine condition. The ballistic markings show that it was fired from the same gun that the second bullet was shot from.

Mr. Woker's Testimony: Written out by Tails during their conversation at the Detention Center. He says that as he stood by the body after calling the police, he only saw the Red Cell Phone lying next to the victim. He did not see the murder weapon anywhere.

Silencer: A gun enhancement found in the bushes of Midnight Park a slight distance away from the murder. Small traces of gunpowder shows that at least one bullet was shot through it. It can only be attached to the gun models that all detectives wield.

Silver's Testimony: Written out by Tails during their conversation at Midnight Park. He says that Detective Ace and Ms. Vulpin were engaged for six months, a fact known throughout the precinct. He also said that he overheard a conversation the detective had on the phone asking him to investigate a gang problem in the middle of town a little before midnight on the night of the murder and saw him leave soon after.

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.

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.

Silver Hedgehog: An eighteen year old detective who worked painstakingly hard to earn his promotion to senior detective after one official year on the force in conjunction with one year of internship. He knows Knuckles and sometimes works with him on cases. He's currently taking over charge of the initial investigation due to the original detective being questioned by the police.

Ace Sleuth: A thirty year old senior detective with greater seniority than Silver. It was well known throughout the department that he was the victim's fiancé. He was the original detective in charge of the initial investigation before he was pulled off for an internal investigation.

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Chapter 6: Under the Midnight Moon Pt. 4

After spending the night getting all of their evidence in order and trying to figure out how they were going to make their case, both Sonic and Tails found themselves in the courtroom waiting lobby first thing the next morning. Both looked somewhat tired, although a great determination was shining through their eyes as it was clear that they wanted to prove Knuckles innocent as soon as possible. While it was true that they casted doubt on the idea that he had anything to do with the murder, they still did not managed to completely exonerate him of the charges. As such, he was still the number one suspect in the case, and he would stay that way until there was concrete evidence presented by them that proved otherwise.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have a battle on our hands today," Tails stated as he took a drink of orange juice from his can while sitting on the soft chair. "I hope that exploration of the park we did yesterday ends up being helpful for us."

"I'm sure that was more than worth the effort," Sonic responded as he took a swig from the can of soda in his hands. It was clear that he was at least somewhat nervous; he tended to drink soda or have the want to drink one whenever he got like that. "We got a bit of Silver's Testimony that seemed to pinpoint a couple of key details, and we managed to actually squeeze a little extra something out of Mr. Woker in the process. I'd say that that was a good day's worth of work for us."

"You really should try to cut back on the soda, you know?" the fox stated as he finished his juice and threw it away in the trashcan next to him. "Drinking one soda a day is one thing, but to use it as a way to calm your nerves is a different thing altogether. Why don't you try breathing exercises or maybe even just a can of juice like me?"

"Sorry, but old habits die hard," the cobalt hedgehog simply responded as he finished off his can and threw his away as well. "Besides, I kind of need the nice caffeine in my system so that I don't accidently end up crashing in the middle of court. That really wouldn't be the best of things, now would it?"

"You can still crash with too much caffeine in your system, too," his little brother countered with a shake of his head. He then got off of the chair and took the backpack that was resting on the floor beside him that was filled with the evidence that they had collected over the duration of this case. "That's why you shouldn't be drinking something like soda in the morning. Then again, I guess I should just find some common ground on this and be happy that you only tend to down one can when you get nervous."

"Well, I think that it's almost time for us to start," the attorney quickly changed the subject as he saw the bailiff move to open the doors that lead to the courtroom. "Come on, let's go ahead and get ourselves set up in there. Shadow's probably already in there with all his stuff at the ready."

"What a way to avoid the subject Sonic."

Without saying anything to that short comment, Sonic made his way into the courtroom with Tails following closely behind him. Once he was inside, he noticed that he was right in what he said earlier about Shadow standing at the ready behind his podium. He had all of the things that he felt he needed for today laid out in front of him, and he was waiting for the proceedings to begin with his arms crossed. His eyes momentarily met with the defense attorney's with an expression that was both familiar and unreadable before he disconnected them and went back to acting stoic.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Shadow remembers what happened to us two years ago," Sonic randomly said to his little brother as they made it to their respectful podium and began to set up their evidence.

"That's probably why his parents moved away from here so that they could get a fresh start," Tails responded just before another door opened and the judge started to walk in. "I honestly didn't think that we would've run into him again like this."

"Well, this just shows that anything can happen at any time," the cobalt hedgehog stated with a simple shrug of his shoulders just as the judge took a seat on his designated chair and took the gavel into his hands.

"Court is now in session!" he exclaimed, thus successfully discontinuing any and all conversations that were still going on at that moment. "We shall now reconvene in the trial of Detective Knuckles."

"The defense is ready, Your Honor," the defense attorney stated as he assumed his professional attitude and posture.

"The prosecution is also ready, Your Honor," the ebon furred prosecutor stated, his arms still crossed and his ruby red eyes focused on nowhere in particular.

"Then let's go ahead and get on with the case," the old man stated in a commanding tone. "Yesterday, we ended our proceedings at a cliffhanger of sorts. There were some questions that were left unanswered, and the defense had raised a rather interesting possibility that a member of the police was probably the one who murdered the victim in the park. The reason being was that a gun that was issued to precinct detectives was found at the scene with both the prints and the serial number identifying the owner rubbed off."

"In response to that, I heard that the police department went ahead and questioned all the officers and detectives who were the first responders to the scene," Shadow stated as he looked at a piece of paper in front of him. "I would suspect that you ordered this to be done since you seemed somewhat concerned of the possibility being true Your Honor. Needless to say, I have a report here that the internal investigation that the department conducted found no evidence of any misconduct performed by any of the first responders. Thus, I stand by my claim that it was the defendant, Detective Knuckles, who murdered Ms. Vulpin in the park that night due to the evidence currently in front of us."

"I object, Your Honor!" Sonic exclaimed as he scowled at Shadow's argument. "Just because the prosecution has the report given to him by the police department detailing their internal investigation, it doesn't exempt them from our right to ask them to testify. I ask that we be able to summon one of the first responders to the stand and hear what it is that they have to say for themselves!"

"Hmm, the defense's argument does have a point to it," the judge admitted with a nod of his head as he agreed with Sonic. "While an internal investigation report is as good as a certified witness's testimony, we can never be too careful when we're dealing with a case that revolves around a murder. It wouldn't do to accuse a person of such a crime without examining every witness and evidence that come our way."

"Humph, I had a feeling that the defense might actually be pursuing that line of logic today," the ebon furred hedgehog responded with a huff of his breath that was neither of annoyance or amusement. "As a precaution, I had registered one of the detectives from the first responding team as a witness. In fact, he's the lead detective in the investigation before the defense made that absurd claim, so he's more than capable to vouch for both himself and his team. After all, it does fall onto his shoulders to make sure that nothing goes wrong during the entire investigation."

"Very well, the prosecution may go ahead and present their witness. Bailiff, please escort him to the stand!"

A few seconds later, a wolf with gray fur and piercing blue eyes came into the courtroom and took the stand. He had on a rather clean and new looking gray coat on, and he looked quite professional on so many levels. His face reflected the many years of experience that he had on the job as his nose twitched a bit as if trying to smell the tension in the air.

"Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court," the prosecutor demanded politely with his arms crossed once again.

"I'm supposing that the internal investigation report didn't hold up very well, did it?" the wolf stated with a slight growl in his words. It was hard to tell whether that was just natural or done on purpose. "Funny, I thought that it would be as good as a witness's sworn affidavit. It's funny how the courts want to perform their cases as of late."

"Your name and occupation please," Shadow repeated again, keeping the same official tone that he used the last time he asked.

"Sorry for the holdup there. My name's Ace Sleuth; I'm a senior detective down at the local precinct and in charge of the initial investigation. Actually, I was until someone in this courtroom decided it was funny to say that one of us went ahead and forged evidence."

"Witness, I ask that you refrain from stating any opinions that are of an objective nature," the judge warned the detective. "We asked you in here because we had some questions that we wanted to ask you that the report couldn't answer. We'd rather that we heard it straight from you so as to prevent any confusion."

"I suppose that you have every right to do so," Ace responded with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "It is your job after all to question everything that comes your way and make sure everything is as it seems. So what is it that you would like for me to testify about?"

"Well, how about you start off by telling us what it is that you saw when you first arrived at the scene of the crime?" the prosecutor suggested. "After all, you're the best person to give us any kind of information regarding the initial assessment."

"Alright, I'll go ahead and repeat whatever it is that this court has already most likely heard yesterday," the detective stated, his voice clearly reflecting the annoyance at having to stand upon the stand for apparently no reason.

Arriving at the Park

I had just returned back to the precinct on a call about a gang problem in the middle of town. We received a call about a murder that occurred in Midnight Park around half past twelve. As per protocol, I went in to investigate with a team of first responders at my disposal. When we got there, a Mr. Woker was already there standing guard over the body. After we quickly questioned him, we quickly investigated the scene before we cordoned it off from the general public. After that, we reported back to the precinct and had forensics take over.

End Witness Testimony

"Hmm, it sounds as though you've done everything that you were supposed to have done then," the judge stated when the testimony had ended. "I can hardly see anything wrong with the testimony that you have provided with the court."

"Which is exactly why I don't understand why you even bothered to tear me away from my work just to ask me these pointless questions," Ace responded, not even bothering to keep his irritation in check. It was clear he was more than comfortable on the witness stand.

"Do you truly still wish to cross-examine the detective Sonic?" Shadow asked with a small smirk on his face. "If you want my honest opinion, I couldn't find anything contradictory within his testimony, so I feel that this will be nothing but a waste of time."

"I think he's right on this Sonic," Tails agreed with the ebon furred hedgehog rather reluctantly. "Even I couldn't find anything wrong with his account."

"Within every piece of testimony that comes into this courtroom lies more information that's hiding within these simple sentences," the cobalt hedgehog responded as he answered both the prosecutor's and his little brother's concern. "I exercise my right to cross-examine the witness."

"Are you sure you're a defender of justice attorney?" the detective asked as he raised his eyebrow at the teen. "Funny, it's starting to sound like you're an obstructer of one. Oh well, I do hear that this is your second case of your career, so you're probably still suffering the high your first case win served you."

"Wow, he sure sounds like a really cocky guy," the two tailed fox whispered to Sonic as he saw his older brother trying to keep his temper in check. "He definitely must be used to confronting murderers if he has an attitude like that."

"Either that or he has something to hide and is using his detective attitude as a front," the cobalt hedgehog responded as a slight snarl made its way to his mouth. "To be honest, I still don't know whether or not he really was at the park murdering his fiancée. This gun doesn't prove that much."

"Then how are you going to prove he even has anything to do with the murder? I thought the gun was going to be the key in that."

"We'll just have to press him for more information and see what happens from there. Hopefully, we'll figure out something that we can use."

Begin Cross-Examination

"I'm just curious, but how long would you estimate it would take for someone to get from the middle of town to Midnight Park by car?" Sonic asked as he scratched his chin thoughtfully, wanting to see if there would be any information he could get that could possibly have some relation to the detective's gun.

"I've done that once before, so I can say for certainty that it would take at the least fifteen minutes of driving," Detective Ace answered with great confidence in his answer as his posture seemed to radiate the very professionalism he had been exuding since he first came into the courtroom. "And that would be considering that you don't get caught up in any kind of traffic. And in case you're wondering, it would only take ten minutes under smooth traffic to get to that very same park from the precinct."

"So you're saying that you and your team basically arrived at the scene of the crime about twenty minutes before one," Shadow stated with a sense of indifference in his tone. "I would suspect that you were already back at the precinct for at least a few minutes from your first call out before you got this one."

"I was back for about five minutes and filling out the incident report before that call about the park came to be," the detective confirmed with a nod of his head. "As I said earlier, that call came in at around half past twelve. And in case the defense asks, my first call came at just before twelve that night. You can go around asking everybody back at the precinct; they'll be more than happy to back up that claim."

"Detective Ace, while I know that this is your usual demeanor that you exude in these court proceedings, I ask that put a little less of your extra emotion into it," the judge asked with a stern stare at the witness. "You're starting to sound a lot more defensive than you are supposed to be offensive with that tone."

"I apologize, Your Honor. I do not mean to pass myself off as aggravated and potentially uncooperative. I just find it hard to believe that I'm being accused of altering the scene of a crime by planting evidence. I have no reason to do such a thing, especially since it's my fiancée's murder that I'm working on. Why would I want to jeopardize her only chance at being able to rest in peace by virtually soiling the very scene of her death? It's a rather ridiculous claim if you actually take the time to think about it. And to think that you were the one who ordered the questioning."

"And I apologize for the inconvenience this has no doubt caused you and your men," the old man responded with a small nod of his head as his eyes reflected a small amount of sadness. "I understand how hard this whole thing might be on you right now with Ms. Vulpin now apart from your life. However, I had reason to believe at the time that I made my order that your group of men along with yourself had to be reviewed due to the fact that a substantial amount of evidence was pointing away from the defendant being the killer. Anyway, I ask that we talk about these somewhat personal matters at another given time. Right now, I ask that the cross-examination continue on."

"Uh, yes Your Honor," Sonic responded rather lightly, amazed at how the conversation had went off topic moments ago and suddenly came back on track in the next. Even Tails was slightly surprised at how the conversation seemed to have transitioned so smoothly without any problem or hitch whatsoever. "Um, you say that when you had first arrived at the scene of the crime, Mr. Woker was practically standing guard next to the body. What exactly did you question the man about?"

"We asked him the simple standard questions that we are to ask every witness at the scene. We always make sure that they didn't try anything illegal and record whatever it is that they witnessed right on the spot before they forget or have something or someone alter their memories of the incident.

"We also took the time to examine the crime scene for anything that might have been considered to be out of place from a traditional murder scene," the detective continued on without being asked to do so. "Needless to say, we needed the help of the forensics team if we wanted to get any further with our investigation, so I put one of my men on guard duty at the actual crime scene while two others took guard at the only two entrances into the park. The rest of us along with myself escorted Mr. Woker back to the precinct where we asked him more questions. We also asked for forensics to go to the scene and wrote up our report on what we initially found."

"My, that's quite a bit of detail you gave us from that one sole question the defense asked of you," Shadow responded, his amazement at the immense details cleverly masked by a stoic face and the immediate asking of a question. "Do you mind humoring the court, however, with only providing the answers to the questions at hand? This is a murder trial after all, and we'd all rather that we discover the real murderer as soon as possible. Answers not pertaining to the question should be disregarded."

"Oh, you young attorneys these days are always in a rush to get to the answer. There are times when one needs to listen to a dragged on testimony. You never know when you might actually dig up something very useful."

"If that's the case, then I hope you don't mind if I continued on with my digging of your testimony," the cobalt hedgehog interrupted as he tried to get more information, however needless some of it was, out of Ace. "There was something that I had forgotten to ask of you at the top of this cross-examination. How severe of a problem was the issue that you were called in for at the center of town?"

"There was a sort of a minor scuffle," Detective Ace answered. "It was a gang problem, although there really were only three people involved with the incident there. Two of them got detained; a third managed to get away. I'm ashamed to admit this, but the one who got away managed to get the jump on me."

"Oh my, I hope you weren't seriously hurt in that scuffle!" the judge stated with concern in his voice and shock reflecting off of his eyes. "I don't understand though how someone got the drop on a man as well seasoned in crime fighting as you. As far as I'm concerned, this is the first I've ever heard of this happening to you."

"As I said Your Honor, that was a rather embarrassing moment of my career. And as if to add insult to injury, that gang member managed to steal my gun during that confusion without me knowing until he was long gone. It's apparent that he's also a well-seasoned pickpocket to have performed such a daring move on me. Being that he had long since disappeared once I noticed, I returned back to the precinct where I soon got called in about Teela found murdered in that park."

"You lost your gun to a gang member during your investigation in the middle of the city?" the cobalt hedgehog repeated with a raised eyebrow, wanting to make sure that he heard the detective right.

"Must you really add salt to the wound attorney? I will not repeat what I've already said a couple of moments ago. You really should learn how to put on your listening ears before you start asking your witnesses questions. You'd be surprised at how much it'll help you with your case in that you don't have to constantly repeat what they say."

End Cross-Examination

"I only repeated what you said because I wanted clarification on it," Sonic responded with a smug smile on his lips. "After all, what you just said about you losing your gun is a whole lot more important than you think."

"And how exactly would me losing my gun tell you anything more that you don't already know about this case?" Detective Ace asked with skepticism clearly echoing in his tone of voice. "As I already testified to earlier, I lost my gun during the gangster incident earlier that night in the middle of the city. I can hardly see how such an unrelated topic could have any bearing whatsoever on my fiancée's murder trial."

"Even I'm a little bit confused about your current infatuation with this gun Sonic," Shadow stated in a sort of teasing fashion as he pulled on his gloves a bit as if they were slowly falling off his hands. "Then again, most of your other claims from yesterday were just as confusing if not more so than now. As the detective said, the loss of his gun has nothing to do with this murder."

"Yes, the loss of his gun at the time of the gangster incident has nothing to do with this," the cobalt hedgehog agreed with added emphasis on the gangster detail. "However, that's not what I'm trying to lead up to with this question. What I'm saying is that the location of where his gun was found holds great significance to this case."

"Oh, so you managed to find my gun for me," the detective stated with a small smile. "I never thought that anybody would've been able to come across it. Would you be so kind as to return it to me after this case is over?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any intentions of returning it to you. After all, it is an important piece of evidence. It proves that you lied just now to the court about where you were on the night of the murder."

"And how do you propose that something like this happened?" the ebon hedgehog questioned with his arms crossed.

"It's simple. This gun was found at the scene of the crime. It belongs to Detective Ace here. However, he just said that he lost it during a scuffle with a gang member. Unless there's an exact copy of this gun lying around somewhere in this city, I find it hard to believe that this can be in two places at one time."

"Hmm, you do raise a good point Mr. Sonic," the judge admitted with a nod of his head. "Detective Ace, can you say anything to refute this claim?"

"Well, I would like to start off by saying the defense knows how to weave up a good story on the fly like that. However, that's all it really amounts to at the end of the day. From what I've heard of this case, that gun has had its serial number along with any fingerprints on it wiped off. You can't possibly prove that it's mine in such a condition."

"I'm sorry, but that serial number wasn't completely wiped away," the defense attorney stated as he showed the court the pink dusting still showing the numbers on the handle of the gun. "If you would all look carefully at this, you will see that the numbers can still be clearly read provided adequate visual aid is applied. Whoever tried to rub the number off failed to spend the amount of time to completely get rid of it."

"And what evidence do you have to suggest that the gun is even mines to begin with?" Detective Ace countered, his attitude starting to pick up that defensive demeanor again. "I don't believe that you're privy to information such as that."

"I took the liberty of visiting the crime scene yesterday. It was there that I happened to run into another senior detective by the name of Silver. I asked him to look at this very number and he confirmed it beyond a doubt to have been yours."

"I object, Your Honor!" Shadow exclaimed as he pounded at his podium. "The defense is simply raising a pointless conjecture. So what if the gun belongs to the detective and was found at the scene of the crime? It doesn't necessarily mean that the witness here is lying about his accounts of that night. Why, that gun could've easily been left by that gangster who took it from him earlier that night."

"My thoughts exactly Prosecutor Shadow," the detective agreed with him. "That man could've ran all the way to the park, ran into Teela, and shot her to death in fear that she might've become a witness. Suddenly in a panic, he decided to wipe the gun off of his prints and scratch off the serial number before discarding it by her body. He then ran off before Mr. Woker had a chance to lay eyes on him."

"Wow, I can't even begin to say how many flaws there are in that argument, Detective Ace," Tails spoke up with surprise in his words at the terribly made up scenario that completely contradicted the evidence. "First of all, you said it yourself earlier that it takes at least fifteen minutes by car in good traffic to get to the park from where you were at. If he were only running, then he would've made it to the murder scene after the victim was killed. There's no way that he could be the murderer."

"My, that's such an interesting claim coming from such a young child."

"Secondly, even if this so called gangster did managed to get there before the murder and ended up committing it, then I don't see any reason for him to discard the gun," the fox continued on as he ignored the rather snide comment about his age. "However, let's just go along with the fact that he did panic for the sake of argument. Even so, there would be no reason for him to have erased the serial number along with his prints. The only thing that would connect him to the crime would be his prints!"

"Well, that may be so, but a panicked man would do many things that don't necessarily make sense at the heat of the moment," Detective Ace countered, his voice seemingly starting to pick up ever the slightest amounts of panic in it.

"And finally, we have direct evidence which proves that none of the things I have just shown to have been highly unlikey to be nothing but a fantasy that you created while standing in front of us all!"

"Those are some tough words coming from an assistant, but do you really think you have the means to back up your fiery claim?" the ebon hedgehog countered, his face clearly showing the amusement at the argument Tails had posed to the court. "Just what is this direct evidence that shows your argument to be true?"

"Allow me to take over the reins on this one," Sonic said, clearly not wanting to be outdone by his younger brother as he took Mr. Woker's Testimony into his hands and began to read off parts of it. "I happened to visit Mr. Woker at the Detention Center yesterday, and I've learned of something that hadn't been said in court. He said that he stood guard by the victim's body from the time he made the call to the police until they arrived. During that wait, he took a look at the scene for himself and said to us that he only saw the defendant's Red Cell Phone nearby. He didn't see anything that resembled a gun!"

"What? That's impossible!" the detective exclaimed, both amazed and confused at the situation as his emotions exuded a sort of panic. "The witness must be confused about that. I clearly saw a gun at the scene when I first arrived with my men to investigate. Perhaps that gangster managed to slip by him and drop the gun next to Teela."

"Now you're just going ahead and contradicting yourself. You just said that this supposed gangster discarded the gun and then ran away from the scene. It's not like it's going to be true either way, however. Further on into our questioning, he also said that nobody passed by him during his wait. Therefore, I find it feasibly impossible for the murder weapon to have been at the scene of the murder before the witness had arrived!"

"Humph, a good argument you posed there attorney," the wolf responded with his arms crossed and his back hunched a bit in irritation as he calmed down somewhat. "It sounds like you managed to unravel and discredit my side of the events."

"But what exactly does this mean Mr. Sonic?" the judge questioned as he banged his gavel to quell the quiet murmurs that were beginning to surface within the audience. "What does this have to do with the witness?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious to you by now, Your Honor? The fact that this gun was found at the crime scene after Mr. Woker happened to stumble upon the victim and wait for the police to arrive is proof positive that Detective Ace has been lying to the court this entire time about his whereabouts that night! He never went to the middle of the city to check up on a reported disturbance. He never lost his gun due to some gangster getting the drop on him as he so says! Rather, he was the one who planted the gun at the murder scene while under the guise of checking things out as a first responder. I don't know where exactly he was at, but I can say for certain that he altered that crime scene!"

"H-how dare you?" the detective exclaimed angrily with a growl emanating from the back of his throat. "You dare to call me, a senior detective at the precinct, a liar in front of everybody in this court? What right do you, a simple rookie attorney and his young assistant who thinks he knows everything, have to accuse me of lying under oath? I ought to sue the both of you for slander after this!"

"Well, you must admit that the evidence is pointing to you lying under oath," Shadow stated with his arms crossed as he looked rather uneasy with the entire situation. "I'm afraid that slander would be out of the question for you. However, I must say that there is something wrong with the defenses' argument."

"And just what is that Mr. Shadow?" the judge asked with raised eyebrows at the prosecutor's claim. "What is it that's off with the defense's account of what happened? I've seen nothing but an argument that's been proven sufficiently with evidence."

"All they did was prove that the detective lied in court about his whereabouts on the night in question. I will attest to that much. However, that then raises the question as to why he lied in the first place."

"Are you serious Shadow?" the cobalt hedgehog asked with shoulders slumped in disbelief. "You're the last person right now who I can think of who doesn't know the reason why he lied about this."

"Then please enlighten this court with this reason you say the witness has to lie. Why was it that he was compelled to do so?"

"Fine, I'll tell the court all about it. If everything had went as Detective Ace said it went on that night, then he would have an alibi for the murder in the fact that his gun was stolen from him earlier that night and he was in a completely different part of the city if he was ever questioned about it. He wouldn't have been capable of murdering his fiancée. However, now that we proved he lied about his whereabouts just before the murder occurred, we can't say with the same amount of certainty that he now has a rock solid alibi."

"Are you actually claiming that I lied about where I was because I murdered my own fiancée on that night in the park?" the wolf questioned with a growl escaping his lips. "Are you seriously basing that claim on the fact that my stolen gun couldn't have possibly moved from the middle of the city to that damned park in such a short span of time? That's hardly a good basis for making an indictment. Need I remind you that I have been engaged to Teela for almost six months now? I was deeply in love with her for the longest of times. Regardless whether or not I lied about where I was at the time, I have no damn reason to want her dead!"

"Hmm, besides the fact that the basis for an indictment is rather flimsy, I must admit that it does seem quite unlikely that you would actually kill the woman you so dearly love," the judge said with doubt hanging at the edge of his words. "From what I've heard over the past few months, your love with her has been expressed quite a lot throughout the precinct."

"I believe that we probably need another bout of testimony from the detective if we're ever planning to get anywhere with the defense's claim," Shadow stated with a small sigh. "We're all pretty much just mincing words with each other with no end in sight."

"But what would you like for him to testify about? It's already been proven that he lied about where he was in the half hour before the murder."

"Well, how about we go all the way to the root of this argument? This all started when the defense proved that Detective Ace lied about his whereabouts. I would like for him to testify about where he really was at the time. Perhaps he might be able to shed more light onto this interesting line of confusion."

"You want him to testify about that? Forgive me for asking, but just how is this going to be helping your case Prosecutor Shadow?"

"Your Honor, I'm more interested in figuring out the truth of this entire case than I am about my official stance," the ebon hedgehog stated with his arms crossed and looking as passive as he could. "And besides, I'm sure that I'm allowed to change my actual standing on the case if I feel that it becomes necessary."

"Hmm, very well then," the old man stated as he banged his gavel. "I'll allow the witness to testify. Detective Ace, please tell the court as to where you really were during the time before the murder was reported."

"Humph, a prosecutor who isn't really prosecuting the person that the state hired him to prosecute shouldn't be taking part in a court case such as this," Detective Ace stated in a somewhat confusing manner. "I guess I have no choice but to testify if I want to clear all the suspicion that's over my head here."

What I Really Did That Night

Fine, I'll tell the court the truth about where I was that night. I never really went to investigate that first called in disturbance at twelve midnight. I had another detective take charge of the job. I had heard that something happened in the precinct that night and decided to stay behind to check it out myself. In so doing, I had decided to leave my gun inside my office on top of my desk. I wasn't lying when I said that it had been stolen for it had suddenly disappeared when I went back. If someone had used and placed my gun at the scene of the crime, then it certainly wasn't me who did it.

End Witness Testimony

"So you stayed behind at the precinct to investigate something that happened there that day," the judge surmised. "And that was when you lost your gun that you had put inside your office. I find that somewhat hard to believe."

"I admit that it is a bit of a hard tale to swallow," Detective Ace stated with his arms crossed. "However, I must admit that it's the complete truth here."

"That's what you said to us before we caught you lying between your teeth about where you were that night," Sonic countered. "It kind of brings some suspicion on your overall ability as a witness. I still don't understand why you would want to lie about something as simple as to where you were."

"Then how about you go ahead and start cross-examining the good detective?" Shadow suggested with a small snort of his breath. "I don't think that you're going to be going anywhere just standing there looking pretty."

"Why do you think the detective lied about where he was?" Tails asked his older brother as he tried to make sense of everything. "He really does have no reason. He could've just said at the beginning that he was at the precinct until the call came."

"I can only think of one reason on why he did that," the cobalt hedgehog responded with his jaw set firmly. "He did it so that he could hide the tracks he made that night. He's the one who murdered Ms. Vulpin. I know my argument practically has nothing to stand on; but if I can just find something more substantial to use against him, then I should be able to make my indictment stick."

"Good luck with that one," the young fox said with a small sigh. "Even I have no idea how you're going to be able to pull that one off."

Begin Cross-Examination

"Before I start with my actual questioning, I have to ask you something that I'm sure everybody in this court wants an answer to," Sonic said without any hesitation. "Why would you, a detective who practically knows that lying under oath can cost you your job, say that you were at one place when you were really at the other? No matter how much I think about it, I can't see any reason, petty or otherwise, that you would do something like that."

"I lied for the sake of the police department," Detective Ace stated without any hesitation as he crossed his arms. "I didn't want them to have to face the embarrassment of having suffered from a mistake they made that night."

"A police department mistake?" the judge repeated with a raised eyebrow at this statement. "This is why you lied about your location so that you could cover for them and take the fall yourself?"

"The police department is practically my second family," the wolf explained while staying in his same stance. "As an older brother figure of sorts for them, I would gladly take the fall for any kind of problem that might cause them to be put under a dark cloud in the eyes of the general public."

"And just what was this problem that you felt was worth committing perjury to cover up for the department?" Shadow asked as he licked at his lips a bit, clearly curious himself as to why the witness went through all this trouble to lie. "Don't tell me that a murder happened in there and that you wanted to keep it under wraps."

"Oh, it was nothing of that magnitude. No, it was basically a robbery that occurred inside the weapons department."

"The weapons department was robbed that night?" the old man exclaimed with surprise clear in his voice. This also took the audience off guard as they started to talk amongst themselves about this new revelation. The judge had to bang on his gavel a few times before they quieted down once again.

"This is exactly what I wanted to try and avoid. I ask that the public and everybody else in this court to not worry. What was stolen from our weapons department was hardly anything that could be used to cause any kind of damage. It's hardly anything that any of us should really be fretting over with worry. Why someone would want to steal a piece of weaponry that's worthless on its own, I have no idea. However, I can say that we suspect an officer or detective who committed the thievery."

"And just what exactly was this thing that was stolen from the department?" the cobalt hedgehog asked, curious as to what it was the thief wanted. "It must have been well worth the risk for them if they stole it from right under your noses."

"It was something of no importance that doesn't have any kind of relation, big or small, to this case whatsoever. Everybody in the department can attest to that if you don't believe me on this which I suspect to be the case."

"Mr. Sonic, I'm inclined to believe the detective on this despite the lie he told the court earlier. The robbery happened before the murder of Ms. Vulpin had occurred, so I don't see any reason for you to be pursuing this line of questioning. I ask that you stop now and move on to something else."

"Yes, Your Honor," the defense attorney responded as he fell back on his question. And he was curious as to what had been stolen from right under the police's nose. "If I might ask, what time was it that the theft was reported? I would suspect it was somewhere between the time you returned and when the murder happened."

"It was reported just a few seconds after I had received that call about the gang problem," the witness responded as he thought back to the events that unfolded at the department that night. "I happened to have been talking with Detective Silver at the time, so he'll be able to vouch for me on that regard."

"And what was he doing at the department that night?"

"He was filling in as my secretary that night. My regular secretary had to leave early due to a family emergency, and Silver said that he would be happy to fill in for her since he was still on schedule and didn't have much to do at the time. I was against it, but he insisted, and who am I to reject the wishes of a man who so willingly wants to take on the duties of another? He truly is a very diligent man and worthy of his newly acquired title of senior detective."

"If he was filling in as your personal secretary that night, then wouldn't that mean that he would have to be rather close to your office?" Tails asked as he thought about the answer just given to them. "That does make a lot of sense since he'd practically have to be sending forms and other stuff to you."

"I understand perfectly well just where it is that you're planning to go with this question assistant," Detective Ace countered before the fox had a chance to even voice his main thought. "You're thinking along the lines that since he was sitting behind that desk that's situated within close distance to my office door, he should've been able to have prevented the theft of my gun. That is what you were thinking, were you?"

"More or less," the young fox responded as he tried to act like he was not fazed by how spot on the man was with his answer. "It would be rather hard to steal a gun from right under his nose since your office is most likely off limits to everybody."

"Unfortunately for you, that argument isn't going to stay alive any longer. You see, I had invited him to have a short coffee break with me at the staff lounge away from the desk area. You could ask Silver himself whether or not I'm telling the truth here."

"Might I suggest that the defense abandon any and all thoughts that they have about that accursed gun?" Shadow asked with a small sigh. "It's clear that you're trying to find something through a contradiction you've already raised once before with it. You should realize by now that that tactic doesn't seem to be wielding you any results."

"The court agrees with the defense on this one," the judge stated as he banged at his gavel. "Mr. Sonic, I ask that you and your assistant stop with your questioning about the gun. At this point, all you're bringing up with it are pointless thoughts and conjectures that you're failing to prove to be correct."

"I know what it is that you're trying to do here attorney. You're trying to find a single flaw in my testimony in order to use it against me. Even though my words may not be well trusted in the eyes of this courtroom right now, everything I've said can be backed up through other witnesses. You try any harder to pin me for more perjury, and your head's bound to explode from the pressure."

"I would like to get one thing straight here," Sonic continued on as he balled his hands into fists at the detective's rather cocky attitude. "The court asked you for this testimony for one reason and one reason only. We wanted to know whether or not you were at the police department in the minutes before the murder happened."

"And I believe that I've stated everything in regards to that," Detective Ace responded with a smile that seemed somewhat smug and a small shrug of his shoulders. "Everything that I have said in this testimony can easily be backed up by the statements of others, as I have so said earlier. All you'd have to do is ask them yourself."

"So you are claiming with this testimony that you never once set foot outside of the police department even after you received that first call about a gang disturbance?" the hedgehog asked, wanting to make sure he had all of his facts straight. "You are also claiming that Detective Silver and other members of the force would be able to vouch for the fact that you stayed in there until news of Ms. Vulpin's death reached your ears?"

"I'm pretty sure we've already established that fact over the last few minutes Sonic," the ebon furred hedgehog stated with a roll of his eyes. He then added as he lightly tugged at the ends of his gloves, "There's no need to be acting like an echo in a dark and empty cave. If you're going to stand over there and claim that the detective wasn't at the department as he has so been claiming for the past few minutes, then I would like to see some proof. Show me that or don't open your mouth about it at all."

End Cross-Examination

"Everything that the witness has said in this testimony leads us to believe that he was at the police department for that half hour before the victim was murdered," Sonic said as he stated the conclusion all of the statements pointed to. "He claims to have witnesses back at the department to vouch for him. However, I have a piece of evidence that is concrete enough to throw all those supposed vouches out the window!"

"Ha, and how do you expect to pull off a feat as miraculous as that?" Detective Ace asked, clearly not amused with how persistent the defense was at trying to tear apart his testimony. "I don't see how you can muster something of that magnitude."

"Then allow for me to humor you and show you this evidence that will expose your testimony for the lie that it is!" the cobalt hedgehog exclaimed as he took Silver's Testimony into his hands and placed it underneath the overhead projector. "I have here on screen testimony supplied to me by Detective Silver himself. He admits that he was with you at the time when you got that call about the gang incident. However, he also says that you left the police department soon after that. He never said anything about you staying behind or even returning back to take care of a theft in the evidence room!"

"What?" the detective exclaimed as he whipped his head around to face the defense attorney. Even Shadow seemed somewhat shocked by this as he began to stare daggers into the defense team. "Silver really said that to you? How could you believe such a pretentious little liar from a cocky fresh senior detective like him?"

"First of all, I hardly think that Detective Silver is the kind to be flashy or cocky," the attorney stated in a sure tone as he quickly tried to defend Silver's name from being slandered. "Secondly, you told us earlier that he could vouch for you in terms that you were at the police department for that half hour before the murder happened. If that's so, then why would you now call him a liar and claim that this statement of his is a byproduct of said deception? I can only think of one reason why that would be, and that's because you're right now trying to cover up your tracks! You were never in the police department investigating the weapons theft to begin with after that incident call came through! Rather, you had left right after that call had connected to you, just as Detective Silver stated to us!"

"Damn it!" the witness exclaimed as he suddenly brought his left arm to his right shoulder as if he had just been shot there. He then added in a sort of desperate tone that made his words not sound believable, "Why the hell would you all actually fall for such a transparent lie out of his lying mouth?"

"Detective Ace!" the judge exclaimed sharply and sternly as he pounded at his gavel in a sort of angry fashion, clearly not buying the feigned innocence attempted to be projected. "This is very unbecoming of you! I will only ask you this question once: Were you or were you not at the police department for the thirty minutes before Ms. Vulpin was killed? The court demands an answer from you immediately!"

"I... I was... That is to say... Grr, fine, I wasn't at the stupid police department at the time!" Detective Ace exclaimed rather childishly with both his fists simultaneously pounding at the podium as the fur on his forehead started to get slightly damp with sweat. "That's what you wanted to hear come out of my mouth, right? You all now heard that I lied once again here in front of all of you! Are you all happy now?"

Upon hearing another confession of a lie, the courtroom went into another murmuring frenzy. This one was a bit harder for the judge to quell down due to the severity of this new revelation. He had to threaten to kick any and all bystanders out if they did not cease with the needless talking anytime soon.

"Detective, the court demands an immediate explanation about this! You have been caught lying not once but twice to us under oath today already. This is beginning to cast serious doubt in both your testimony and your overall relation to this case. I will ask you this question one more time; just where was it that you were at during those thirty minutes? And I will not condone any more lies on this matter or I will petition the chief of police to have your badge stripped away from you entirely!"

"I object Your Honor!" Shadow spoke up before the detective had a chance to answer the question. "It's clear to the court at this point in time that Detective Ace has yet again lied about his whereabouts at the minutes before the crime. The prosecution is more than ready to concede to this fact. However, I don't really see any real point beyond our idle curiosity in asking the witness about where he really was at that time. I understand where the defense is planning on going with this demand. They're thinking that if he wasn't at the middle of town or in the police department as he had claimed earlier, then he could only have been at Midnight Park murdering his beloved fiancée. The only problem with their thought process is that it lacks the backing to even propel it off the ground. He could've been down at the local strip club enjoying his last days as a free man for all we know. Where is their proof that their unsaid claim even has the chance of seeing the light of reality?"

"P-proof?" Sonic stuttered out as he recoiled a bit from the rather strong counterattack and sweat dropping a bit at the comment about a strip club. "You want p-proof that he was even at the park then?"

"If you are planning to go accusing the good detective here of murdering the victim, then you should first provide us with evidence that says so," the ebon hedgehog stated with a slight smirk on his face when he saw the attorney's reaction. "Do you feel you have enough to prove that such a possibility exists?"

"Uh, o-of course I have proof that the detective was at Midnight Park when the murder happened!" the cobalt hedgehog responded as he tried to hide the slight squeak of uncertainty in his voice with an attempt at both a cocky smile and attitude. "Do you really think I'd be making a claim like this if I didn't?"

"Then let's go ahead and see you put your money where your mouth is," the prosecutor stated as he caught the uncertainty in the other's voice and his smirk only grew a bit more from there. He then commanded as he slammed his desk with his left hand for added emphasis, "Show this court the evidence that'll prove your scenario to be a plausible reality of what occurred that night!"

"Are you sure you have it Sonic?" Tails asked, clearly skeptical on whether or not they even had the evidence on them that could directly tie Detective Ace to the murder. "Do you really have something like that?"

"I don't care whether or not there's a lack of evidence," he told his little brother as he tried to recover from the curveball the prosecutor suddenly threw at him. "I'm convinced that this detective was the one who murdered Ms. Vulpin. I'm not going to back off until I prove it to this court! I just hope that there really isn't a lack of evidence or I'll be bluffing my way right into a brick wall!"

"Mr. Sonic, the court is waiting for an answer," the judge stated in a stern voice that was no doubt a result from both his anger at the detective and the lack of an immediate response. "Do you have any evidence that proves Detective Ace was in fact at Midnight Park when the murder occurred?"

"Ha, as if he even has anything like that up his sleeve!" Detective Ace stated rather rudely as his nostrils were flaring a bit. "I'm sure that he probably would've saved us all the agony of this if he had it all this time."

"I would suppose then that it'll cause you more agony if I told you that I actually had something that can prove you were at the crime scene that evening," Sonic said as he tried his best to sound as convincing as possible as he remembered the things covered and revealed in the previous testimonies.

"What?" the detective exclaimed as he recoiled a bit as if he had just gotten shot. "You're bluffing; I know you are! I can see it in your eyes! You don't have anything on me that can tie me to being at Midnight Park at the time of my fiancée's murder!"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you," the cobalt hedgehog stated as an idea suddenly popped into his mind. He then said with his eyes all aglow, "I'm more than sure that your gun here would be more than enough to tie you to the scene."

"Objection, Your Honor!" Shadow countered with a slam of his hands. "The defense can't possibly prove that the witness was there at that exact time with his own gun! They're merely just trying to stall for time!"

"And I object to your objection Shadow! This gun does prove that he was there at that exact time. If you think back to the beginning when we first cross-examined Detective Ace, we practically started it out with the question of how his gun came to be at the scene of the crime after Mr. Woker made his call. From that point on, our witness here has been making one excuse after the other in an attempt to fill in the doubts surrounding the loss of his gun. Surely, that would be more than enough to say where he was that evening!"

"But the gun wasn't at the scene of the crime when the murder was first called in!" the ebon hedgehog countered again. "You just said so yourself! What you've just said can hardly be considered proof."

"I'm afraid the prosecution is right on this Mr. Sonic," the judge agreed with his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. "The fact that the detective has been making up lies about his whereabouts at that night is hardly evidence he was even at the park. Do you have anything else in your procession that you feel might be able to substantiate your claim?"

"If the gun claim doesn't work, then how about we look at this from a slightly different angle?" the attorney asked as he pulled out the bullet he received from the Chaotix Detective Agency two days ago. "We've already proven yesterday that this bullet along with the one that killed Ms. Vulpin were fired from the Handgun that belongs to the witness here. However, if we were to compare this fact with what we've heard throughout Detective Ace's testimony, things just end up contradicting each other."

"Oh no!" the prosecutor exclaimed as he understood where Sonic was going with the gun now. "You're not saying that..."

"I see that you finally understand what I'm saying now. As I said earlier, this gun is the reason why we were even cross-examining the witness in the first place. When confronted with the fact that this was his gun found at the scene, he immediately started to lie about what he did in the minutes leading up to the murder of the victim. Why he did so at the time was not apparent to us at the time. However, we've already established that he's lied to us twice about his whereabouts, and he also lied about his gun having been stolen. The only reason why he would lie about these two things is because he didn't want us to know that he had in fact went to Midnight Park at the time before the murder!"

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!" Detective Ace suddenly yelled out with his hands repeatedly pounding on the podium as if he were having a tantrum, causing the entire courtroom to rest their attention on him in stunned silence. "I've never heard of such a terribly hatched harebrained story in my entire life! It's nothing but an elaborately created lie fitting for a desperate criminal, I tell you! It's nothing but a big, fat humongous lie!"

"...You say it's a lie; I ask if you have anything to say that would counter what I've just stated to the court," Sonic stated calmly as he tried to keep his breath steady from the sudden outburst and show of ferocity that was almost animal-like. "Do you have anything that could prove what I just said didn't happen?"

"Oh, I have plenty to say about that, you filthy lying attorney!" the detective exclaimed as he was visibly trying his best from making another uncalled outburst. "For one thing, you haven't even proved that those bullets even have anything with me being at the park! All you've been doing is waving that gun around and saying things as if they were the magic words that would give you the answers you so desire!"

"Alright, then let me go ahead and finish off my explanation that you interrupted me on," the cobalt hedgehog responded as he continued where he left off. "As I was saying earlier, you lied about two things earlier, where you were and the loss of your gun. I conclude that you still had your gun on you at the time, and I have reasonable confidence that you were at Midnight Park at the time in question! My reason for saying so is the two bullets found at the scene. As proven, you never had a chance for your gun to have been stolen. That would then stand to reason that you still had it on you. In short, only you would've had the capability to have made those shots into the evidence that they are today!"

"Ha, as if that were even close to the truth! And even if it were, I'm afraid that you missing a crucial point to be pinning this whole thing on me. I'm sure that the good prosecutor knows what I'm talking about here."

"He's talking about motive Sonic," Shadow stated with a small intake of breath before slowly letting it out. "While you have presented to us more than enough to show what you say might be a plausible reality, you have failed to have established a motive as to why the detective here would want to have his fiancée dead. And if you would just take one second to think about it, I'm sure you'll see why it's more than improbable."

"I must agree with the prosecution," the judge stated as he was deep in thought again. "It has been made clear even before this case came to be that both the victim and the witness were deeply in love with each other. It hardly makes any sense that a man so enamored with another would want to kill them."

"Y-yeah, that's pretty true," the attorney admitted with a sheepish smile as he scratched at the back of his ear. "But just because there isn't an established motive at first doesn't mean that the evidence presented can't prove an indictment to be true."

"However, it is highly unorthodox to go accusing anybody without even revealing something that could prove to be a possible motive," the ebon furred hedgehog countered with his arms crossed. "If you're going to keep this up without an established motive, then I'm afraid that you're going to have a very hard road ahead of you. Do you have anything completely damning in nature that could say Detective Ace was the one who murdered his fiancée? The court is all ears for your answer."

"Shadow's right Sonic," Tails spoke up as he began reviewing the evidence that they had and heard of during the entire court case. "Not having a motive really puts a damper on our case here. We don't have anything to cross-reference to without something that could pass as one. How are you going to find the evidence needed to prove beyond a doubt that he murdered Ms. Vulpin?"

"The court is waiting for an answer Mr. Sonic," the judge spoke up as he banged his gavel as an order to get an immediate answer. "Despite having no established motive, do you have any evidence that can show Detective Ace was in fact the person to have stolen the life of Ms. Vulpin in Midnight Park that night?"

"I-I... I...don't have any evidence of that nature at this time Your Honor."

"Ha, I knew that you were only trying to bluff your way out of this!" Detective Ace spat out as he had a very cocky smirk on his face. "You never had anything on me from the moment that we set foot into this courtroom. So what if I was caught in the middle of a couple little lies? They clearly don't add up to me murdering my fiancée. I emphatically say that I am innocent in this murder! I would have never killed her in such a fashion, and you have nothing that would say otherwise on the subject."

"So sorry Sonic," the prosecutor responded with a wag of his finger that showed he was not anywhere near genuinely sorry. "It looks like you ended up a penny short on your claim. I must admit, however, that you did put up a rather valiant fight for your client."

"It seems as though the defense has failed to uphold their end of the argument that they brought up," the old man stated with a shake of his head. "In light of this fact, I cannot allow you to continue indicting the witness. As such," he continued on as he banged on his gavel, "I hereby put an end to the cross-examination of Detective Ace!"

"I told you that I wasn't the one who murdered Teela," the detective stated with a rather small strange chuckle emanating from his throat. "Even the judge believes it to be so. It's time for you to stop making up stories and accept the facts."

Damn you! Sonic thought as he balled his hands into fists in anger and used all of his self-control to not bang down on the table like a child suffering from a temper tantrum. You're hiding behind nothing but a veil of lies. If only I had a motive to put over your head, then maybe I can expose the truth buried behind your web of lies. I'm sorry Knuckles; it looks like this is one fight that I can't win.

"...I object, Your Honor!" a voice suddenly cut through the small window of silence that came about after the detective had finished speaking.

"Wh-who said that?" the judge asked as he tried to pinpoint who it was that spoke up after his decision. "Was that you Mr. Shadow?"

"I hardly have anything of relative worth to be objecting to at this time Your Honor," Shadow responded with his arms still crossed. "I'm simply waiting here for you to make your ruling on this case."

"I-I'm the one who objected Your Honor," Tails spoke up as he raised his hand somewhat hesitantly.

"And on what grounds do you raise one assistant?" Detective Ace asked with a raised eyebrow as his nostrils began to flare again. "I don't think I need to remind you that the judge just ended my cross-examination. You can't ask me anything else anymore."

"I would suspect that is what you would like to think," the two tailed fox responded as he tried to stay on the offensive for reasons beyond Sonic's understanding at this point. "However, I'm afraid that we still have the right to ask you questions."

"I don't think I really understand what it is that you mean here," the judge responded in a confused tone with raised eyebrows. "The cross-examination has already ended. There couldn't possibly be anything left to ask of the witness."

"Under normal circumstances, that would clearly be the case. However, just before the judge called the end to the cross-examination, you decided to make a couple more remarks that have yet to be heard in this courtroom. If I remember correctly, you said that you're innocent in the murder of your fiancée. You also said that you didn't kill her 'in such a fashion', yet that statement itself is too vague to just leave alone without asking further questions. I ask that the defense be allowed to exercise their right to cross-examine these past few statements the witness himself has just made!"

"As if you have the power to ask the judge to revoke his own ruling on the matter!" the detective stated with a sharp spit of his breath. "You've lost the right to make any such claim of more cross-examination the moment His Honor ruled that it was over. Saying anything more on the subject might lead you to be in contempt of court."

"Your Honor, I ask that you allow the defense's request to be followed through," the ebon furred hedgehog suggested, taking both the defense and the witness off guard with his request. "While I am the prosecution on this case, I don't want to end up winning when there's still the possibility of loose ends that still need to be tied up. The defense is right when they say that some new remarks were made just before your ruling, so I ask that you allow for them to cross-examine these statements."

"Wh-what are you think you're doing prosecutor?" the witness asked as he stuttered over his words, clearly beginning to panic again at being ganged up from both sides of the courtroom. "I thought that you were supposed to be on my side here preventing me from being accused of such a crime! Why are you going against me now?"

"Funny, I never said anything about being on anybody's side here. While it may be true I was hired by the state to persecute the defendant, the only side I choose every time I enter any case is the side of truth and justice. That is simply what I'm doing right now.

"However, if Your Honor is going to allow the defense's request to become accepted into the court, then I have a condition that they first must agree to," the prosecutor added as he looked at Sonic and Tails. "If you are allowed to cross-examine the witness's testimony, then you are to not waste any time picking it apart in search for information. We've already used up enough time listening to you try to find things to indict the witness with. There will be no harassing or needless picking of details. So what do you say? Do you accept these conditions?"

"Well, I've done all that I could for you here," Tails whispered to his older brother as he flashed him a smile. "I found a way to buy you some more time to get Detective Ace on the hook for this murder. It's up to you to do the rest."

"Tails...," Sonic whispered back, clearly amazed at what his little brother managed to do for the sake of their case. He was clearly a force to be reckoned with both inside and out of the court. After a couple of seconds of shocked silence, he regained his composure and stated to the court with a confident look on his face, "The defense is more than happy to accept the prosecution's condition provided that the court allows our request to be considered."

"Hmm," the judge thought long and hard on the situation presented to him by the two tailed fox. After a couple of seconds, he finally came to a decision and banged his gavel. "After considering it for a few seconds, I have decided to allow the defense's request to break through. I warn you, however, that this will be the final testimony that the court will hear from the detective. Take note that I also take the side of the prosecution in that I will not be condoning any needling whatsoever of the witness's statements. Now what is it that you would like to ask of him based on the statements he made before I ended the cross-examination?"

"Well...," the cobalt hedgehog stated as he tried to quickly think of a question to ask before his chance flew away from him. "How about...we hear him testify about why it is that he's innocent of the crime and his statement about the victim being killed 'in such a fashion.' The defense would like for Detective Ace to further elaborate on these statements and make the vague into something clear!"

"Very well, the witness will testify to the court about these statements!" the old man ordered as he banged at his gavel.

"F-fine," the detective reluctantly agreed, his mouth forming a scowl as a very audible growl left the back of his throat. He then said as he began to wring his hands rather nervously, "I hardly see how pursuing their right to hear out my explanation on my words would help them win their case, but I'll do as you ask Your Honor."

What I Really Meant

When I said that I was innocent of this murder, I mean that I didn't kill my fiancée. For one thing, you have no evidence that I was anywhere near that park at the time. So what if you caught me in a couple of lies here in court? Those lies do not add up to a fact that says I was there that night. And when I said she was killed in such a fashion, I was merely talking about how she died. A bullet to her chest is basically a way of shattering both our hearts while stealing away her ever fragile life. And to think that the murderer would've killed her in such a secretive fashion... Why kill her with a gun as quietly as possible with a muffler of sorts if they intended to have her body found? This is simply what I was referring to when I made those statements. Now do you see how they are anything but suspicious?

End Witness Testimony

"Hmm, this testimony sounds quite concrete in all aspects," the judge stated after listening intently to it. "It couldn't possibly have been staged since we just so suddenly asked him to testify about it. I'm inclined to believe that what he said is a truth and there's nothing in it that contradicts the evidence in our possession as of now. Why, I hardly even see the need for the defense to go on with their cross-examination!"

"Which is exactly why I put up that condition before you allowed them to hear this pointless testimony," Shadow stated with a shake of his head at the monumental waste of time demonstrated just now. "With nothing of contradictory nature in his statements, I don't see how the defense is going to be able to pull anything out of this one."

"B-but I still have the right to cross-examine the testimony!" Sonic spoke up, not wanting the efforts his brother put in into making this happen go to waste.

"Yet I find little point in you doing so," the old man responded with a shake of his head at the attorney's apparent show of desperation. "If you really so wish to continue on with it, then I only ask that you keep in mind the deal you made with both the court and the prosecutor. You are not allowed to badger, stall, or senselessly needle the witness's testimony for any more information."

"I suggest that you start figuring out what it is that you want to put on your tombstone Sonic," the prosecutor stated teasingly with a small snide chuckle. "It looks like you're going to need it upon your early retirement from law."

Very funny Shadow, the cobalt hedgehog thought somewhat bitterly as his shoulders slumped down a bit. You always were the type to always find some dark humor whenever I get into situations like this. And the bad part about this is that I probably will need a tombstone after I die from the stress of this.

Begin Cross-Examination

"How the hell am I going to do this Tails?" Sonic exclaimed in a soft whining tone with a hint of worry in his words as he looked at his little brother. "The judge is right on this. There isn't anything that I can use my evidence to contradict Detective Ace on! And to top it all off, I can't press the guy on anything or they'll stop the cross-examination. What am I supposed to do here?"

"Well," Tails said with a sheepish smile as he thought about what it was they could do at this point. "Maybe if you pressed the guy on something that he said that's way too important for the court to even think about stopping you on, then you just might have a chance at making this work."

"And just what the heck am I going to be pressing him on?" the cobalt hedgehog hissed through clenched teeth as he saw the detective shooting him a rather defiant smile that would make anybody want to walk up to him and smack it right off. "He said way too many things in there, most of them facts with only a handful of conjectures. I doubt that the conjectures would be able to blow up an opening for us."

"There has to be something we can use in there," the fox stated as he thought back to the unfortunately long testimony. "It might be a long shot, but what if he was being too truthful with his testimony? What if he said something that either he or the court shouldn't theoretically know about yet? Maybe we'll be able to break through then."

"Mr. Sonic, the court is starting to get tired of just watching you and your assistant speak amongst yourselves in a rather secretive fashion," the judge sternly said as he started to lift his gavel in a threatening manner. "If you have nothing of immediate importance to ask the witness concerning his testimony at this time, then I must ask that you immediately discontinue with your cross-examination."

"Oh, I-I already know what it is that I want to ask Detective Ace. I'm just...trying to figure out how to phrase the question is all."

"A likely story Sonic," Shadow stated with a scoff of his breath and a smirk that showed he knew the defense attorney was currently panicking. "Don't forget that you're not allowed to go needling the witness on anything. Don't go wasting all of our time on something that you might already know the answer to."

"D-Detective Ace, there's something that I want to ask you about concerning a statement in your testimony," Sonic spoke up as he tried to draw out his words in an attempt to try and find something case breaking.

"And what exactly is it that you would want to waste your only question asking me about?" the detective asked with a smirk that seemed to indicate he already knew that he won this battle before it had even started.

"Well, there was...one part of your testimony that was still a bit too vague for my liking," the cobalt hedgehog said as he finally figured out something that the detective had just said. "To be more specific, I'm talking about when you said something about a muffler on a gun. Do you mind telling me what it is that you mean by that?"

"There's only one way to muffle up the sound of a bullet being shot out of a gun, and that is to put a removable muffler enhancement over the nozzle of the gun. It doesn't completely drown out the sound, but you'd have to be damn ass close to the shooter to hear it. That's what I meant when Teela was killed in such a fashion. She was killed in such an underhanded way and left alone as if she were nothing but a piece of trash."

It's not much, but it's the only thing I have to go on, the defense attorney thought as he heard this explanation. That and I just wasted my only question on this. If I'm right though, then this should be enough to get me out of this.

"And how exactly is this supposed to be helpful to our case?" the prosecutor asked with his arms crossed and clearly not amused at how this information brought up nothing. "I don't see anything of use in there."

End Cross-Examination

"Then maybe you should learn how to look closer at what he just said," Sonic stated as he suddenly grew confident in what he was thinking. "Detective Ace, what you have just said is something that the court has had no knowledge of up to this point. You said that she was killed by some kind of gun enhancement that dulls down the sound of a bullet shot."

"To be perfectly honest, this is also the first time I ever heard of something like this," the judge admitted as he looked at the official transcripts of testimonies and cross-examinations past to see if there was any mention of this. "Not once has the court been graced with information such as this."

"Are you sure about that?" Detective Ace asked with raised eyebrows. "Funny, the police department knows about this fact already. I find it strange that they know of it and everybody in here doesn't."

"Actually, it's more strange that you seem to be the only one who even knows about this fact!" the cobalt hedgehog stated as he finally caught the detective in the deadliest lie that would prove to be his undoing.

"Wh-what?" the detective stuttered as he seemed genuinely confused as to what he was talking about. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about. The police department should know about it. After all, I know about it, and I'm one of the highest senior detectives that was at that scene investigating it."

"Sonic, I'm afraid that we're all lost here," Shadow stated nonchalantly, but his face told a different story as it held a small frown on it that seemed to indicate he knew where this was going. "I know we've said against this earlier, but might I ask that you present evidence showing us what you're talking about? I suspect that this will be the only way to get a true answer out of you."

"Alright, then let me go ahead and show you what I believe this muffler really is!" the attorney stated as he took hold of the Silencer and held it up for the court to see. "This was found in the bushes around the scene of the crime and has signs that it has been used once before. The police clearly didn't know about this or even found it there because it's right now in my own possession. Otherwise, it would be with them right now and we would've known about this a long time ago. I would suspect that this is what the detective was talking about when he said the victim was killed with a muffler over the murder weapon. So now I ask him the key question; how was it that you knew that the victim was killed with a gun most likely enhanced with this Silencer found at the scene?"

"I-I...!" the detective stuttered as his hands balled up into a fist once more.

"Objection Your Honor!" the ebon furred hedgehog countered as he pounded at his desk in frustration. "The fact that the witness here seems to be the only one who knows anything about the Silencer at the scene doesn't prove anything about him being there at the time of the murder! He simply could've forgotten about it when he was summoned back to the station for an internal investigation."

"It still stands to reason that he would've told another officer or detective on the scene to pick it up for him. That is what he could've simply done if he had seen it there before and known where it was."

"I-If I had known where it was and saw it at the crime scene?" the witness repeated with a slight stutter to his words as he started to wring his hands nervously. "With the way you say it, it's almost as if I went to the s-scene of the crime under the guise of investigating in order to remove evidence."

"You had no idea where the Silencer for the gun you used to murder the victim was at when you got there," the cobalt attorney explained as he attacked at the small opening with everything he had. "You also still had the murder weapon on you, so you figured that you would kill two birds with one stone! You would plant the gun at the scene of the crime and go searching for this thing! The only thing that got in your way was the fact that you had no idea where it had disappeared to. That is why you knew about this Silencer that nobody should theoretically know about! You couldn't go asking the others to look for it without having to come up with some excuse as to how you knew the weapon enhancement was even at the scene. You were the only one who knew about its existence and failed to say anything to your fellow officers. As such, this could only mean that you were the one who murdered Ms. Vulpin in the park on the night in question! Only the murderer would know beyond a doubt that a muffler of sorts was used in conjunction with the murder weapon at the time of the crime!"

"...You think you're so good, do you?" Detective Ace asked in a rhetorical fashion with his hands still in a fist. He then let out a small chuckle that son erupted into a full on laugh that sounded like it was out of desperation. "You think that because you managed to officially peg me as a murderer, you're all of a sudden a hot-shot attorney? Well let me tell you something here buster; Teela thought she could peg me on for being a cheater because of these various phone numbers of females in my cell phone! If you don't want to end up like her, then I suggest that you shut up right now!"

"...I suppose we can consider this an official confession of guilt from you," the judge stated as he watched in stunned silence along with the rest of the courtroom. It was not every day after all that an officer of the law is confirmed to be a murderer in such a fashion. "I never would've thought that I would actually witness an actual detective not only profusely lying under oath but also suspected and confessing to a murder! This will most certainly raise a big stink within the entire police department. I still can't believe it."

"At least I can say that we managed to find a plausible motive for him wanting to murder his fiancée," Shadow stated with a small sigh and a shake of his head as he seemingly conceded the fact that he had just lost courtesy to the detective's rather sudden confession. "Although I can't say that it's something that is really that believable in any sense of the word. Why would one want to kill the woman they love after they figured out that the numbers of women were in their cell phone? The only thing that I can come up with is that they aren't really numbers of people that he was cheating on her with. Rather, they were numbers that were meant to have been hidden from her the entire time. This would most likely be his motive for wanting to have killer her in that park that night!"

"And even the prosecution is going against me on this," the detective stated in a sort of defeated voice as his shoulders slumped and he leaned against the podium for support. "I guess this is a sign that I really did just lose this game of cat and mouse with you all that I tried so hard to win at."

"Uh, it's kind of your fault that you got caught since you decided to go ahead and admit it to all of us," Sonic stated with a sweat drop falling from the back of his neck. "You just suddenly decided to have made it easier on us to get you."

"Hey, do you think that I really wanted to murder her in the first place?" the witness questioned suddenly as he banged down at the witness podium for no apparent reason. "I never wanted her to be killed in the first place. I really was in love with her this entire time! I would never let the thought of murdering her cross my mind. If only she didn't decide to go flipping through my phone, then I probably wouldn't have had to have killed her."

"Just what exactly is it that you're talking about detective?" the judge asked with raised eyebrows at the curious statement. "What do you mean about those numbers your fiancée found on your phone? Why did you have to kill her by the simple fact that she laid eyes on it? Surely you could've resolved your unfaithful ways by talking to her. And wouldn't it normally be the other way around in that she would have killed you after finding and calling those numbers?"

"It wasn't that she had just laid eyes on them. She actually went ahead and called all of them, every single one of them. It was because of that I was ordered to kill her. They were not a bunch of women's numbers that the prosecution has said they were. I never wanted to do it, but they threatened to kill me and my family along with her if I didn't do so. I'm tired of running from what I've done, but I just can't say anything more about it. There's just too much at stake for me to say any more than I've already stated."

"What are you talking about witness?" the old man questioned as he became even more confused. "I'm afraid that the court has no idea as to what you're saying. You'll have to clarify for the sake of the court."

"Your Honor, I ask that the witness be placed under protective custody immediately following the end of this case!" the ebon furred hedgehog suddenly announced with a slight sense of urgency in his words. "While he may be the actual murderer in this case, he is also a very valuable witness in another. He has just admitted to it himself! He's just placed himself in grave danger and needs immediate daily protection!"

Upon this sudden outburst, the entire court began to talk amongst themselves in a confused manner. While they have all just heard that the witness had both confessed to the crime and provided a motive as to why he did so, they were now wondering why it was that the prosecutor now wanted to place him under protective custody. Jail was a safe a place for any criminal as it could have been, and the need for protective custody should be nonexistent. Even Sonic and Tails were confused as to why the normally calm and collected Shadow suddenly seemed quite excited and perhaps nervous.

"Order in the court!" the judge commanded as he banged on his gavel repeatedly to quell the confused crowd. "I said order! I do not want to suspend proceedings at this point, but I will if this courtroom doesn't quiet down right this instant! Would you explain what the meaning of this sudden request is Mr. Shadow?"

"Do you mind telling the court what it is that the detective is involved in that you would want him to be well protected?" the cobalt hedgehog asked with raised eyebrows at how the prosecutor was suddenly trying to find a way to protect the detective once the noise quieted down somewhat.

"I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to talk about it under any circumstances unless told otherwise by my higher up. However, if you would please put him under intense protective custody after this case is over, I promise to give Your Honor the necessary paperwork to explain my demands."

"You obviously know what it is that I'm tied to right now," Detective Ace said with a small sigh as he looked at the prosecutor. "Then you should also know that there just isn't anywhere for me to hide no matter how much security you place around me. They always find a way to take out any potential traitors. They always do."

"Well, let's just say that I have a feeling they're not going to be able to get their hands on you. Anyway, if you would please now announce the verdict Your Honor? I would like for this to be over with as soon as possible for the sake of the safety of the detective."

"Umm, I still don't understand what it is that you just claimed, but I do believe that I have heard more than enough to be more than sure that the detective was the one who murdered the victim," the judge admitted before he assumed his professional demeanor once more before delivering his verdict. "Under all the evidence and the confession that we have just heard, the court is now ready to reach a final decision. On behalf of the court, I hereby declare the defendant, Detective Knuckles, not guilty in the murder of Ms. Teela Vulpin! That is all for both today and this case. Court is now adjourned! And Mr. Shadow, I ask that you wait in here so that you can explain to me what it is you mean by witness protection."

With the pound of his gavel, the case was officially closed and everybody began to file out of the room. Shadow, however, stayed behind as requested by the judge and Detective Ace stood glued to the spot as well. Being that they were not needed inside anymore, both Sonic and Tails exited the courtroom with Knuckles close behind them and headed into the waiting room where they all sat down to catch their breaths.

"Wow, I didn't think that you had it in you to get me out of that mess!" the echidna stated happily as he pumped his fists in the air in celebration. "I know I hired you and all that, but I was starting to have my doubts later on in today's trial. I was starting to think that your first case and victory was just an honest fluke with the way Shadow cornered you at times and you couldn't corner Ace."

"Gee, thanks for your vote of confidence Knuckles," Sonic deadpanned with a scowl as he slouched on one of the chairs. "That really helps a lot with my ego there."

"Happy to help!" the detective stated with a sarcastic smile as he sat down next to the hedgehog and patted him lightly on the back in appreciation. "But in all seriousness, I'm really thankful that you managed to get me out of that mess. I never would've thought that Ace of all people would be the one who actually murdered Teela! She was well known throughout the department, for god's sake! How could he do something like that to her and then go ahead and frame me for it? He even went so far as to steal my phone and put it there for the sake of making it look like I was there killing her."

"It's most likely that the call you got to investigate that disturbance that night was from him as well," Tails stated as he gave off a small sigh. "It's not like we should go worrying about it after the fact though. We're already done with it and got you out of that mess, so I rather that we just let it go behind us."

"Yeah, what I want to know is why Shadow actually went all crazy when he heard that detective confessing to why he had to murder her," the cobalt hedgehog said as he remembered the last couple of minutes before the case had officially ended. "I don't think I ever remember him acting like that before."

Just as if on cue, the doors to the courtroom opened and out came the ebon furred hedgehog with Detective Ace escorted by the court bailiff following closely behind him. The hedgehog had on a serious facial expression as he walked past the other three. He connected eyes with the defense attorney for less than a second before he walked right by without saying anything.

"I never worked with Shadow on cases before, but I know that he likes to be very careful with witnesses and evidence," Knuckles stated as he watched the prosecutor leave the waiting area and to another part of the court. "Judging by what he was saying in the courtroom at the end, Detective Ace must have some kind of connection with another case that he might be working on right now. That's the only reason why I would think he would be this excited, because he's finally found a break."

"But just what is that case if it even is about one?" the two tailed fox asked. "Do you think he'd tell us if we ask him about it when we have the chance?"

"I really doubt it," the attorney stated with a shake of his head. "For one thing, he's technically working against us, so he doesn't have any kind of obligation whatsoever to tell us anything. Secondly, he probably wouldn't tell us even if it were on a friend to friend basis. He's always been known to be kind of secretive about these things."

"Well, we never really asked him about it, so we don't really know if he's being secretive about it," the detective clarified as he got up from his seated position and stretched his arms out. "And to be honest with you, I can really care less about it. I don't know about you two, but I'm going to go ahead and get myself a bite to eat. We practically went straight through lunch with today's proceedings, and I'm hungry like crazy."

"Yeah, how about we go ahead and take a nice celebratory dinner? It'll be my treat."

"As if. I'm going to have to pay you for you representing me in court, so you're going to be paying with the money I gave you. In all honesty, it'll be me who's paying for this dinner."

"Guys, it's just dinner," the young fox stated as he let a small chuckle leave his throat. "I don't think there's really any reason to be arguing over who's paying."

His words fell on deaf ears, however, as the two teens continued to argue with each other as they made their way to the exit of the court. Following closely behind them with his head shaking in amusement, Tails stayed quiet and just simply let them handle their rather childish argument on their own. At least things were back to normal on that regard.