Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter to this story that I've put on hiatus for a couple of months. Trust me when I say this. Academic suspension isn't something that you ever want to find yourself in when in college. You'd better drop every unnecessary thing that you're doing on concentrate on studying your butt off so you can raise your grade up and away from academic suspension. It's not a pretty place to be at, and the constant fear of getting bad grades on your tests doesn't bode well to your overall health.
And that's why I've been on hiatus for the past couple of months. I've been trying to stave off my impending academic doom and managed to survive round one. Now I have to face off with it again in round two, the next college quarter, and see if I can have a repeat performance or have an even better outcome than this quarter. But that's why I haven't been updating on any of my stories for over a month. After all, school comes first, and I'm sure all of you understand since you're all either in school or had been in school at one point in your life.
Anyway, that's enough about my academic troubles that I'm sure none of you are interested in hearing. What you want is to read the new chapter that I've just posted on here. But before you do that, allow me to post the evidence and profiles from the past chapter. After all, you might need it if you plan on playing along with the mystery instead of just blasting through it like another regular story. Once you're through that, you'll be in new chapter territory.
Please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story you want to read. I always read them and see if there are any suggestions or corrections that you've brought to my attention. Until the next update on this or any of my other stories everybody!
Evidence:
Attorney's Badge: Sonic's badge proving that he's a genuine defense attorney. Ever since getting tied into a murder because of him losing it, he's since taken precautions to make sure that it stays secured within the inside of his gloves.
Shadow's Testimony: Testimony given by Shadow and memorized by Tails. The Prosecutor said that he was quite shocked upon hearing two gunshots coming from in front of his path followed by a splashing sound ten seconds later. He remembered picking up the gun with his bare hands before the witness's screams shook him out of his state of mind.
Ms. Mae's Autopsy Report: A report detailing how Ms. Mae died. She was killed between six-thirty and seven in the morning on 6/23. She was shot once in the chest, but the bullet merely caused her to faint. The real cause of death was from drowning after being thrown into the Mobius River. A horizontal bruise on her waist most likely from being pushed hard onto the harbor railing is proof of this.
Weather Report: A report on the weather on the day of the murder submitted by Detective Silver. It shows that it was a very foggy morning then with the fog at its densest between six and seven-thirty. Visibility was less than ten feet at the dock area without the aid of car headlights.
Pistol: The weapon that was recovered at the Mobius Dock. The ballistic markings on the bullet extracted from Ms. Mae's body matches to the gun. Signs show that it was fired twice. It also bears Shadow's fingerprints.
Profiles:
Sonic Hedgehog: A seventeen year old blue furred male hedgehog. He works in Dr. Robotnik's Law Firm office and is currently on track on becoming a full-fledged attorney and escape from fledgling status.
Miles Prower: Best known by his nickname Tails. He's a twelve-year-old yellow-orange furred fox with two tails. After his performance in the previous case at the local Precinct, Dr. Robotnik has taken him in as the firm's local on-scene detective.
Knuckles Echidna: He is an eighteen-year-old red furred echidna detective who works at the local precinct and is good friends with Sonic and Tails.
Salemand Eres: A twenty-two year old black cat with unusually bright red eyes. He came to Dr. Robotnik's Law Firm in order to employ the help of Vector to find his little brother. However, his actions make him seem rather suspicious.
Shadow Hedgehog: An eighteen-year-old prosecutor who doesn't like nonsense and is childhood friends with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. He's currently being held by the police under suspicion of murdering one of his coworkers at the Mobius Docks.
Silver Hedgehog: An eighteen-year-old Senior Detective down at the Local Precinct. He was the first detective to have received the call about a disturbance at the Mobius Docks and has thus assumed leadership over the initial investigation.
Flora Mae: A prosecutor from the Prosecutor's Office. She was Shadow's coworker and was discovered to have been murdered only after Shadow heard the sound of gunshots at the dock and quickly went to investigate it.
Mephiles: An old hedgehog of sixty-five with over thirty years worth of experience in the court of law as a prosecutor. His name strikes a cord of fear in all attorneys on both sides of the courtroom because of his infamously ruthless attitude and strict to-the-point, no-nonsense legal offense.
Chapter 19: An Ironic Twist of Fate and Truth Pt. 4
"Shadow, who the heck is that guy at the prosecution table?" Sonic asked while they were on their ten minute break brought about courtesy of the old prosecutor from earlier. "He's acting like he owns everybody and everything in the courtroom!"
"That's Prosecutor Mephiles," Shadow simply responded with a shake of his head at just the mention of his name. "He's regarded to as a legend within the Prosecutor's Office. Since he first took the oath to serve the city and persecute any and all wrongdoers who step in front of him to the best of his abilities, he's never lost a single case brought to him. He exercises every kind of power granted to him as prosecutor to convict every person in his sights. Even the best of defense attorneys couldn't stand a chance against his brazen techniques that I'm sure you already had a small taste of in there today. You can kind of say that he literally throws the book of law at you. With a man of his caliber, there's nothing short of a perfect counterargument that could possibly put a dent in his onslaught of attacks."
"Wow, he certainly sounds like a complete terror in the courtroom," Tails said with a low whistle at the honestly frightening description of the man they were up against. It really was a good way to take away one's confidence just by hearing it. "I thought the bailiff was kidding around when he told us about him. I guess I can see why there's such a strong dejecting aura surrounding this courthouse now."
"But I managed to put a dent in his argument!" the cobalt hedgehog exclaimed as he did not hear a word his younger brother just said. "He tried to get away with only using evidence to convict you of this murder. He tried to brush off the witness as if she were nothing but a stupid distraction from all this!"
"He's not the kind of man to let something as obvious as that to be caught by anybody," the ebon furred hedgehog said with a shake of his head despite the pouting look he got from his defender at the remark. "He shows no mercy to anyone, and he doubles his assaults on rookies like you. I'm sure he's just playing with you so you can just embarrass yourself when you cross-examine his witness. This was more of a poke than a dent to his offense."
"It's not like I have much choice in the matter here. He practically closed every single door that I could've possibly used as an argument against his case. At least we managed to gain some much needed information about the crime scene from Detective Silver."
"A lot of good that'll do you here," the prosecutor responded bitterly. It was clear that he felt the entire situation to be nothing but hopeless at this point. "It's only speculation at this point with no real evidence to back it, but there have been occasional whispers of Mephiles tampering with testimony other than the police to the point where it would benefit only him yet not so much that it would not appear too suspiciously succinct. If you looked at all of the transcripts of his cases, the witnesses only said things that dealt the cards all in his favor."
"Then how are we supposed to get anything useful out of the witness?" the two tailed fox asked in disbelief at what he had just heard. Even Sonic seemed shocked into quietness upon hearing even more gloomy news.
"I never said that you wouldn't get anything useful out of his witnesses' testimonies. I'm only saying that you probably won't be able to do anything with it. If you can help Sonic out, though, then you just might stand a chance at scattering his well-crafted offense," Shadow added in a hopeful tone as he suddenly thought of something. "Your intellect just might be enough to counter Mephiles's. He's a master tactician in the battlefield known as the law, and I know that you can easily navigate through his strategically placed logic traps provided that you have enough information to work with. If you two continue to work together, then you both just might stand to at least see another day's worth of court from this case."
"But how can I do that when I could barely even offer Sonic just some moral support to keep him going with the process?" Tails asked as he saw in the corner of his eye the bailiff beckoning the three back into the courtroom. "That's almost like asking me to perform a rain dance in the middle of a scorching desert!"
"Well, you managed to do something like that with the senatorial case over a month ago with hardly any real evidence when you successfully convicted Espio of murder," the ebon furred hedgehog stated with a small smile before making his way into the courtroom. "There's no reason why you can't pull off something like that this time around."
"I barely managed to put any of the pieces together then; I don't think I could do the same thing this time!" the two tailed fox exclaimed with a sigh of frustration.
"Well, I'll be counting on you in there, buddy!" Sonic then exclaimed happily before patting his little brother on the shoulder and walking into the courtroom.
"Does anyone here know that I'm not the one who's doing the actual defending here?" he asked no one in particular before following the two into the courtroom while shaking his head at what was dumped onto his shoulders.
In less than a minute after all three of them had reentered the courtroom, everybody was in their rightful positions. Mephiles was already standing across from them with his arms crossed and a conceited smile on his face. The judge then entered the room and took his seat on his chair, and round two of today's court proceedings began.
"Court will now reconvene!" the Judge announced with a pound of his gavel as the mutterings of the peanut gallery quickly died down. "Prosecutor Mephiles, is your witness ready to take the stand?"
"Need you even ask such a pointless question?" the prosecutor asked with an annoyed roll of his eyes. Apparently, that was his terribly rough version of saying yes.
"Very well. Bailiff, please escort the witness to the stand."
In the next couple of seconds, the court bailiff escorted a young hedgehog woman who looked to still have been in her teenage years to the witness stand. She was dressed in a simple one piece pink dress with white lace that seemed fitting for the quickly approaching summer heat. Her long pink quills were neatly combed and had a pink rose situated just over her right ear. Even her shoes were pink with traces of red on it. It was clear that she loved the color pink if her entire attire was not an indicator of it.
"Name and profession for the court," Mephiles simply commanded without saying anything else to the witness.
"Now is that a way to be asking a girl for anything?" she asked back in a somewhat high pitched voice and a pout on her face while crossing her arms. "I took time off of my summer vacation simply because it's my civil duty to testify to you all about what I saw. The least you could do is treat me like a proper girl and show some manners."
"Name and profession for the court!" the prosecutor asked once more with more force this time around. "Make me ask again and I'll see to it that you'll be starting your new year of high school in a cold and damp jail cell."
"Oh, how you flatter me, Mr. Prosecutor," she bit back sarcastically before somewhat resigning to the fact she was not going to be getting any manners from the old man.
"Gee, she sure has the guts to go up against him with an attitude like that," Sonic whispered to Tails without breaking eye contact with the witness. "I can only imagine how it'd be like to be the guy who goes out on a date with her. I wouldn't be surprised if she's as demanding then as she is now."
"You know I can hear you whispering, right?" she asked with an eyebrow raised at the cobalt hedgehog. This immediately caused him to blush at being caught talking about her. "If you have something rude you want to say about me to someone, try saying it when I'm out of earshot next time.
"Anyway, my name's Amy Rose," the witness finally introduced herself to the court after that rather senseless exchange and sensing Mephiles's gaze angrily burning holes into her head. "And as for my occupation, I'm sure you've already heard of it through the prosecutor's rather veil threat. But if you want me to say it again, then it's right now as an upcoming high school junior at Mobius High and a photographer for the school paper."
"And you are the young lady who had the misfortune of being near the scene of the crime when it happened and seeing the aftermath of it?" the Judge surmised more than asked as a thoughtful look passed by his face. "Might I trouble you to tell us just what exactly you were doing at the docks so early in the morning?"
"As you all can see, I'm a rather slim girl," Amy responded as she brought her left hand over her hand from top and bottom as if to accentuate her words. "In order to keep my figure, I like to go on early morning walks whenever the summer vacation starts. And that's exactly what I was doing just before I found myself tangled up in a police investigation."
"Very well then. Could you please provide the court with your testimony regarding what you both saw and heard on the morning of the crime?" the Judge asked with a pounding of his gavel. "It would be of great help to us if you did."
"Since you asked so nicely, I think I'll be more than happy to," she stated with an agreeing smile and nod of her head.
"Let's just hope we'll have more luck with this than we did with Silver's testimony," Sonic grumbled under his breath to Tails. All his little brother could respond with at this time was a nod of his head in agreement.
The Moments Before the Murder
It was almost seven when I had arrived at the Mobius Docks. I had just gotten off the bus and was going to walk my way home. After a couple of minutes down my path, I heard loud popping sounds piercing through the air. That was when I quickly made my way forward to where I heard it coming from. Once there, I saw the defendant crouching on the ground with what looked to have been a gun in his hands. That's when I decided to call the police.
End Witness Testimony
"That was…surprisingly succinct and to the point," the Judge responded once she was done recounting what had happened that morning. "I don't think I've ever heard of a testimony as clear as yours in a long time."
"It's clear because it's straight from what she remembered as if it were still happening right in front of her," Mephiles explained with a smirk that only he knew the meaning behind. "Anyway, I believe that it's now the defense's turn to cross-examine her as they so wanted to before the recess."
"As the prosecutor said, the ball's now resting on your side," the Judge announced as he pointed towards Sonic's side of the room and motioned for him to begin the cross-examination. "Take it away, Mr. Sonic."
"That doesn't even sound like a testimony a high school student would naturally give to us!" Sonic complained under his breath so only Tails could hear his unprofessional whining. "That Mephiles probably found some way to make her say only what he wants her to say so he can keep me from proving my case while still sounding good for the courts."
"I'm thinking you're right, but that's not what you should be concentrating on," Tails stated as he tried to redirect his older brother's attention to the main task at hand. "You have no evidence that he doctored it, so you should just try to get some information out of her."
"That's provided if he doesn't pull the same nit-picky stunt like he did with Silver's testimony," the cobalt hedgehog whined before preparing to question Amy.
Begin Cross-Examination
"Ms. Rose, how did you know that it was almost seven when the bus arrived at your stop?" Sonic asked as he tried to just get something out in order to see where it would take him. "The last time I rode a bus, they didn't have anything that could be construed as a clock for you to check the time with."
"I just happened to have been wearing my watch at the time," Amy simply explained as she brought up her right arm and flashed her pink strapped wristwatch that read out the numbers digitally. "I usually have my walks last about an hour, and I wanted to take note of the starting time. That's how I was so sure about the time."
"I see," the cobalt hedgehog simply said since he quickly ran out of steam with that line of questioning. He did not expect to have gotten such an explainable answer so quickly from it. This then forced him to quickly come up with another question. "And can you explain to me why you decided to ride the bus to your starting point rather than just starting from your house and walk around for an hour?"
"Objection!" Mephiles quickly exclaimed before pounding his desk for good measure. "Why she decided to start her walk out at the docks instead of at home has no bearing on this case. The fact remains that she was there when the murder occurred."
"Objection sustained," the Judge agreed with a small yet sure nod of his head before pounding at his gavel to make the ruling official. "Please move on to something with more relevance to the case, Mr. Sonic."
"Yes, Your Honor," he said with a small sigh at being shot down so quickly. Then again, he was half expecting that to happen sometime soon during the process, so it did not come as too much of a surprise for him. It still irked the heck out of him, however. "You said you heard popping sounds after walking for a few minutes. Did you know that they were gunshots, or did you assume they were something else still worth investigating?"
"I didn't know…," she started to say before she was rudely interrupted by another objection from the prosecutor.
"You're badgering the witness over trifling details that present no changes to the case," the old prosecutor objected once more with his arms crossed while seemingly enjoying watching the poor defense attorney suffer under his prosecuting mercy. "You're starting to bore the court with meaningless repetitive drabble. I object to the question, Your Honor!"
"You didn't even let the witness finish her sentence before you objected!" Tails countered in an attempt to help try and make Amy's explanation heard to the court and stop the onslaught of objections. "How do you know whether or not it's a trifling detail before you've even heard her explanation?"
"Because she most likely would've gone looking for the source of the sound since it was probably an uncommon occurrence for that time of day. Whether or not she knew they were gunshots wouldn't have deterred her from investigating, little boy."
"But if she knew they were gunshots beforehand, then she wouldn't have gone running right towards the source of the sound!" Sonic bit back in hopes that he could make a valid argument to let his question stand. "It would be like sitting calmly in a building while it's burning down all around you and pretending nothing's wrong! That's why I'm asking her if she knew what she heard!"
"The defense does raise a valid point here," the Judge responded after hearing both sides arguing a bit and pounded at his gavel. "Objection overruled. The witness will answer the question. Did you know the popping sounds you heard that morning at the docks were, in fact, gunshots, or did you think they might've been something else?"
"As I was trying to say before being rudely interrupted, I didn't know that the sounds were actually gunshots at the time," Amy answered with her arms crossed and purposefully not making eye contact with Mephiles. "I had my headphones in my ears at the time, but they weren't on so loud that I couldn't hear anything around me. Because of that, I thought it was just somebody having fun and setting off some firecrackers. Wondering why anyone would set one off during a foggy morning, I decided to check it out and discovered the defendant with a gun in his hand."
"So you didn't know that bullets had just been fired right in your intended path," the Judge surmised with a small shake of his head. "You're an extremely lucky girl to have not been caught in the crossfires. I suppose the fog also played a major role in your safety in that the murderer didn't catch sight of you."
"Did you notice anything else strange right after the shots were fired?" the cobalt hedgehog asked while trying to dig up some more information. "Was there anybody else near the area, or did you hear anybody running away?"
"I know I said that I wasn't listening to my music very loud, but it was loud enough to drown out even my own footsteps when I ran the short distance to the crime scene," she simply responded with a small shrug of her shoulders. "And it was just way too foggy for me to have even seen probably about five or so feet before things got blurry."
"So you never did get a good look of the actual crime scene?"
"I'm sorry to say that I didn't. But I did see the defendant still there with a gun in his hands. Isn't that enough proof that he probably committed the murder regardless that it was only the aftermath of the incident?"
"But what you just said doesn't quite fit in with what Detective Silver just testified about," Tails responded as he thought back to the first testimony. "When asked about what Shadow told him, he said that the defendant clearly heard some footsteps running away from the crime right after the victim was thrown into the river. You can't say for sure that it was only the defendant who could've committed the murder!"
"And do you have any evidence that this supposed third person exists?" Mephiles asked in a countering tone. "If you do, then I'll be more than happy to entertain the idea of another potential suspect. I doubt, however, that you have anything of that caliber at your disposal. Or don't tell me that you really have something to that regard?"
"Well, does the defense have any evidence suggesting that a third person was on the docks at the time of the murder?" the Judge asked with a raised eyebrow at the idea brought about by Tails.
"We don't have any evidence suggesting such a thing with us at this current time," the two tailed fox smoothly responded as if not fazed by the fact he had no evidence to help back his sudden claim. "However…,"
"The court of law does not like to deal with suppositions or questions clearly meant to stall for time," the prosecutor quickly cut him off before he could finish his new sentence. "You either have the evidence with you or not. There's no third option unless you have at least two peoples' testimony saying the same thing. We don't have that right now, so do you still intend to go along with this dead end?"
End Cross-Examination
"Anyway, I suggest that we put an end this cross-examination before we set the world record for court redundancies," Mephiles suggested with a sigh while shaking his head at the situation. "I believe that the defense has run out of questions to ask the witness. And with it, they've run out of gas for their case."
"I object, Your Honor!" Sonic quickly objected with a small growl that he did not bother to hide since he was practically being forced to end his questioning. "I still have plenty of things I want to ask the witness!"
"Oh really?" the old hedgehog asked with eyebrows raised in seemingly sick amusement. "From what I've heard, you've already asked everything that there is to ask while still sticking with the testimony. It's clear that you're merely just grasping at straws when you know that there's no way out for you. Why don't you just be a big boy and admit it? You've reached the end of the line, and you ran out of pertinent questions to ask."
"I'm sorry, but I'm inclined to agree with the prosecution on this, Mr. Sonic," the Judge responded in a tone meant as agreement with the old man. "You haven't really come across anything particularly damning from Ms. Rose's testimony. And you don't have any evidence to protest anything that she's supplied to the court. With the way the facts stand now, I'm afraid that her testimony has done nothing but supplement what we've already learned from Detective Silver's recount of the crime scene."
"And it's on that note that I would like to call an end to the cross-examination," the prosecutor declared in an overly sure tone. "She has stated nothing but the truth, and it's with that truth that I intend to convict the defendant for the murder of fellow prosecutor Flora Mae."
"Objection, Your Honor!" Tails suddenly exclaimed in an attempt to not get beaten to the ground and not even try to get back up. "While Ms. Rose's testimony may be nothing but the truth, we have still yet to ask her a question of utmost importance. Namely, we still don't know what exactly she saw that morning."
"Has your head been in the gutter all this time, boy? The past testimony has been nothing but what the witness saw that morning. She said that she saw the defendant crouched down with a gun in his hand. How much more clearly do you want it to be?"
"I want to know exactly to the very last detail what she saw that morning!" the fox spelled out purposefully slow as to both accentuate what he was asking and to annoy Mephiles. "She said that she could only see clearly up to five feet before the fog clouded her vision. However, one could at least see the faint outline of people through the fog from a further distance before completely disappearing in it. It's with that in mind that I ask what the witness really saw that morning. She's either leaving something out, or she has bad eyesight and can't see far without eyeglasses."
"Are you trying to say that my eyes are worse off than they really are despite the fog?" Amy asked in an offended tone while shooting a dirty look at the young fox. "How dare you! I'll have you know that I just went to the doctor's two days ago for a check-up, and he discovered that my eyes are beyond perfect."
"Yet your perfect eyes couldn't even see every single thing when those shots were being fired. You must've at least seen some kind of indication that something was being fired in the dense foggy mess."
"Of course I saw something being fired just in front of me!" she responded angrily without really thinking. "It's hard to miss such bright flashes just suddenly appearing. I arrived at the scene in less than three seconds after that, and he was already crouched down looking at the gun in his hands!"
"That's enough!" Mephiles exclaimed so as to put an end to the rather heated exchange. He looked like he was about to get a headache from it as he put his fingers on the bridge of his nose, but Sonic could have cared less if he really was now suffering. "If the defense dares to try and badger the witness with questions already asked or unrelated to the case, I ask that they be held in contempt of court!"
"Mr. Sonic, I have to ask that your assistant learn to keep his tongue in order here," the Judge warned with a stern look as he seemed intent on agreeing with the prosecutor. "You both have already lost the right to ask any more questions because of the lack of further testimony supplied by the witness."
"…While I agree that my partner here needs to try and keep his cool," Sonic started slowly and sternly while giving his little brother a light and thankful pat on the shoulder, knowing full well what the other was trying to pull and succeeding in it, "I have to honorably disagree with you on the fact that I can no longer ask the witness any questions. You see, she had just made some new statements to the court that has yet to been heard, and I have the right to cross-examine every single thing she said!"
"Preposterous!" the old dark furred hedgehog objected with a disbelieving huff of his breath while the audience mumbled amongst themselves about this revelation. "That was hardly a conversation worth cross-examining. It was just the angry grumblings of a young girl who was sorely insulted by someone clearly much younger than her. Your Honor, I ask that you put an end to this charade of a cross-examination immediately!"
"Your Honor, I object and ask that you allow me to cross-examine these new statements that the witness had just made!" the cobalt hedgehog pleaded in a stern tone that could have easily matched that of Mephiles's in terms of ferocity. He was definitely not going to allow what could have been his only opening be closed by a terribly harsh prosecutor. "I have a right to do so as the defense in this case, after all!"
"… …Objection sustained," the Judge finally announced after spending a few moments in contemplative silence and banging his gavel to bring back order to the courtroom. "While I do find that the process used to garner the information was through unconventional means, I find it undeniable that the witness had made a couple of remarks previously unheard of from her original testimony. Because of this, I find that the defense has the right to question the witness in regards to these new statements."
"…Ha, a lot of good that'll do for them!" the prosecutor simply responded with a scowl upon having the Judge disagree with him once again. "It's not as though one new statement will be enough to help unearth something new for them. They're simply just trying to stall for time. But I suppose I'll just have to entertain it for the time being."
"Whew, I can't believe my bad plan actually worked," Tails whispered while breathing out a sigh of relief. "I was just pushing it when I tried to get her angry enough to try and say something new. Who'd thought we'd end up where we are now?"
"Well, that was a good call there, and now I've got something new to work with," the defense attorney said with a thankful nod of his head to his little brother. "Thanks for that." He then redirected his attention to Amy before asking, "Do you mind restating that last statement to the court for the sake of documentation, Ms. Rose?"
"Humph, so long as your little partner doesn't dare to try and talk to me like he did earlier again for the rest of the trial," the pink hedgehog stated with an angry huff and pout of her lips. Apparently, she was still sore about being insulted about her eyesight. "I won't stand for being told that something as clear as my vision is nothing but a lie."
"I can't guarantee that he won't talk to you again, but I will make sure he minds what he says next time," he said as he saw his younger brother roll his eyes at this admittedly weak and baseless threat.
Begin Cross-Examination (New Statement[s])
After I saw a couple of bright flashes appear in front of me through the dense fog, I arrived in about three or so seconds at the spot where I already saw the defendant crouched down with the gun in his hand.
End New Statement(s)
"Are you exactly sure that this is what you did after seeing those flashes?" Sonic asked as his mind quickly tried to figure out just how he could use this new piece of information to his advantage. "You immediately ran up to the defendant and saw him close to the ground with the gun in his hands?"
"If I wasn't sure about what I said, then would I still be standing in front of you all with a straight face and believable attitude?" Amy bit back with her arms crossed in slight annoyance at her recollection continuously being under scrutiny. "For your information, I'm a member of the student council in my school, so I don't make it a habit to be lying for any reason. To be honest, I don't see how what I just said is so important to you."
"I agree with the witness in that I'm also confused at what you find so important in this new statement, Mr. Sonic," the Judge responded with a small nod of his head in agreement. His entire facial demeanor completely said that he did not look convinced about the relativity of the new statement. "I don't see anything worthwhile in it besides the fact that it supplements what she already said she witnessed."
"Then maybe we should ask her a few more questions so we can discover the importance of her statement, Your Honor," Tails suggested as he tried to get more clarification on what the pink hedgehog had said. "It's the only way I can think of in order to appease whatever confusion that still rests in your mind."
However, it was short-lived as Mephiles was heard chuckling to himself on the other side of the room in a fashion that seemed to indicate that more questions were not going to disrupt his momentum. Either that or he had something up his sleeves that would help bring the case back to his general direction. The brothers both thought in their heads that the latter of the two was more probable judging by how they saw him act today.
"Unfortunately, the extension of this cross-examination was only allowed so as to satisfy your curiosity to the witness's new statement," the old hedgehog simply countered as a wry smile appeared on his lips. "It's obvious from your suggestion that you've obtained nothing new from this. I can't even see the reasoning behind why the defense saw fit to ask that you allow him to cross-examine the last statement she made. Their redundant and baseless thoughts are starting to cloud my line of legal vision with him."
End Cross-Examination
"That's too bad, because I can see the answer the witness's statement has supplied me standing in front of me as clear as day!" Sonic responded confidently as he managed to discover something useful. "Ms. Rose, if you had indeed run right up to the defendant right after he had supposedly fired the gun, then you should've been able to have seen someone else still with him. Namely, you should've been able to lay eyes on the victim!"
"My, what an interesting claim you make," Mephiles responded with an amused smile appearing on his lips. "What makes you so sure that she should've run into the victim as well as the defendant at the same time? If you plan on making claims as wild as that, then you should be able to back it up with something reasonably believable."
"I don't believe I need to remind the court on how Ms. Mae really died here," the cobalt hedgehog announced without addressing the practically chiding remark directed at him. "She died from drowning that was a result from her being shot once. She was then pushed rather hard over the railing. According to testimony that I received from Shadow during a visit at the Detention Center yesterday, however, he stated that he heard the sound of a body falling into the river about ten seconds after the shot. If you pair that up with what the witness has just said, she was more than capable to have seen the victim still on the docks."
"And how is this detail supposed to be of any help to the formation of your case that was already doomed from the moment you started?" the old hedgehog before giving off a small yawn of apparent boredom. "It sounds like nothing more than a meaningless supposition rather than a defendant's supporting argument. And let's not forget that the testimony you're reading off from came from none other than the accused. He could've easily lied to you in order to earn your trust in the matter."
"Then let's look at it this way, let's suppose that my client was lying about it being ten seconds between the shots and the splash. Even so, I say that it's highly impossible that Ms. Rose failed to see the body. If she did arrive at the scene three seconds after the shots were fired, then Ms. Mae should've still been on the docks. Unless my client pushed the victim off the docks and shot at her at the same time, there's no way that her body would wind up in the river in less than three seconds after the shots. It's just impossible in terms of time! That and it's also clear that she must've been pushed real hard for a bruise to appear on her waist. That's even documented here in her Autopsy Report!
"If my client really were the killer, then he would have to have fulfilled the role of pushing the unconscious victim into the river," he continued on now that he had a momentum going and did not want it to be killed off. "I believe the witness when she said she arrived at the scene as quickly as she did, and that belief leads me to the conclusion that Shadow would not have had the time needed to dispose of Ms. Mae's unconscious body after shooting her. It's impossible no matter how you try to look at it. This leaves him incapable of committing the murder to its fullest!"
"Humph, so you do know how to use that head of yours," the prosecutor responded with a scowl upon hearing an argument he did not seem to see coming. "I must commend you rookie for having come up with a reasonable explanation such as that. However, I hardly see the great deal revolving whether or not our witness here saw the victim right at that moment. It seems nothing more than a trivial concern."
"That may be so…, but the fact our witness failed to see the victim before she went into the river despite having arrived at the scene as quickly as she did concerns me," the Judge stated with slight hesitation as he considered the reality of the revelation. "Before we started the cross-examination, I was close to ready in deciding my ruling on this case. However, now I'm not so sure with this doubt in my mind."
"And how does the defense propose to erase this cumbersome doubt from the Judge's mind?" the prosecutor asked while pointing an accusatory finger at Sonic as if the whole thing was his fault. "After all, you led us down this path believing it would lead you to the answer you so seek. Or did you do it just to waste our time?"
"With the way things stand now, nobody in this court is in a position to come to any kind of conclusion," Sonic recapped quickly without hesitation and looking past the pointing finger. "Because of that, I request that the witness be allowed to testify again to the courts. I would like to hear about what happened right after she discovered the defendant with a gun in his hands. Maybe some insight to the time between the initial call to the police and their actual arrival will shed some light to this case. After all, it's the only timeframe that has yet to be accounted for in this court."
"The court finds this request to be within justifiable reason," the old Judge responded with a nod of his head in agreement and a single pound of his gavel. "Witness, would you kindly please testify to the court about what happened in the moments after you discovered this tragedy and before the police arrived?"
"If you feel that it's necessary, then I'll be more than happy to do so," Amy responded with a simple shrug of her shoulders after being quiet since after she had made her new statement that got them to where they were now. "Hopefully, this'll be the one to help you figure out the truth in this incident."
What Happened After the Discovery
Once I arrived at where the shots were fired, I screamed in fright at what I saw! I wasn't sure whether or not the defendant was going to shoot me. Thankfully, he just seemed shell-shocked after hearing my scream and dropped the gun to the ground. However, I had already taken my cell phone out in an attempt to call the police about it. I admit that I was quite shaken up and probably stuttering pretty badly, but I still managed to get them there. It wasn't long until they had arrived, and I had been leaning on the railing in an attempt to keep myself from falling to the ground from fright until that time.
End Witness Testimony
"I'm amazed that you were composed just enough to call the police what with being as shocked as you say you were," the Judge announced with a raised eyebrow at the testimony just given. "I would've suspected that you would have made some effort to run away before even considering making any kind of call."
"Well, my mind was pretty scattered after being thoroughly scared like that," Amy responded as if that were the only logical explanation for the time. "I mean, it's not every day that I happen to stumble upon a murder, even if it's only the aftermath of it. You can't blame me for acting out of character after having a run-in with the murderer."
"And yet the court is actually entertaining the idea of furthering the suffering of this poor young woman and have her recount those frightful moments when she was left alone with the defendant," Mephiles spoke up as if he were trying to capture a sin of sorts the court was currently conducting. "It's truly a sad state of affairs when we're resort to something like this for the sake of testimony."
"Still, I feel it necessary to at least try and alleviate some of the confusion presented from the previous cross-examination. And speaking of which, the defense may begin with the current cross-examination."
"I'll be more than happy to, Your Honor," Sonic responded as he started to think about how he was going to approach this new testimony he somehow managed to squeeze out from beyond the relentless prosecutor's offense.
Begin Cross-Examination
"Ms. Rose, do you mind if I asked you what happened right after you screamed?" Sonic asked with an eyebrow raised in question. He could not help but agree with the Judge when he said earlier how she just finished screaming out of apparent fright yet was somehow calm enough to actually dial the police right after that. "How exactly did the defendant react upon suddenly seeing and hearing you?"
"Uh, he kind of looked a bit lost in his own world when I got there," Amy recalled as she thought back to the moment she saw Shadow. "That's all I really noticed before I saw him holding a gun and screamed in fright. When that happened, he seemed to quickly snap out of it and looked at me before calmly dropping the gun to the ground before stepping back and lean against the railing."
"And is that why you chose to stay there rather than run to safety before calling the police?" Tails asked after hearing this explanation. "You felt that the problem died down somewhat and was now bearable to be around."
"I'm honestly not sure why I stayed there, but the only thing that was running through my mind then was to get the police to come and take care of this," she responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "I honestly had no idea what just happened, but I knew that a person just randomly firing off a gun was usually not the greatest of things to just leave alone. That's why I chose to get them here before he ran away."
"But from what you just described to us, it doesn't sound like my client was intent on running away from the scene anytime soon," the cobalt hedgehog explained as he mulled over what he just heard. "He even discarded the gun to the ground and stepped away from it before you called. Your need to have been panicking had disappeared when the threat of you being shot by him went away with it."
"But the fact remains that she was still panicked over the ordeal," Mephiles countered with a huff of his breath while crossing his arms. For some strange reason, he seemed a bit less aggressive with his attacks this time around. It felt almost as if he were now trying to improvise with his line of attack as the details came about. "I don't see how being picky at a response that holds no sense to us now will help solve the mysteries you've brought up."
"But I honestly can't understand why she would just stay there if she really felt to be in such danger," the defense attorney countered back with a scowl. "It's clear she wasn't shocked to the point of not being able to do anything since she managed to call the police. I'm inclined to believe that something went through her mind during that time for her to have chosen to just stay there while calling the police. I'm sure she knew that there were risks involved in calling the authorities right in front of a person firing a gun."
"The defense does raise an interesting point," the Judge responded with a nod of his head before pounding down at his gavel once. "Ms. Rose, do you mind telling us what exactly you were thinking that caused you to simply stay there rather than move to a safer location before contacting the police?"
New Statement(s)
Well, I guess I kind of thought that he wasn't going to hurt me after seeing him put the gun down. I felt it was safe enough to call the police right then and there.
End New Statement(s)
"You thought that he wasn't going to hurt you and thus felt safe enough to call the police right in front of him," Sonic repeated as he let a few thoughts float around in his head. "Now I'm just voicing my thoughts here, but there technically wasn't anything stopping him from suddenly lunging at either you or the gun and try to kill you, as well. It was still a pretty dangerous situation to be staying in."
"But I did get a good look at his eyes, and they looked like he was pretty scared about the whole situation," Amy responded as if that were a good answer to the concern. "I have a little sister, so I know a scared look when I see one. I guess my subconscious was telling me it was safe because of that."
"So you're saying that your instincts as an older sister is what caused you to not run away when you gambled at the thought that everything was going to be safe for you," the Judge surmised with a thoughtful hum coming from the back of his throat. "I suppose that would be a good enough reason enticing you to stay. However, I must say that you took quite a risk with that and suggest you just try to escape next time."
"Gamble or not, I still managed to lead the police to the right place in order to discover this terrible crime before it floated away with the river's current," she stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "As far as I know, I'm the only witness to the entire thing despite only having caught the back end of the murder."
"Speaking of murders, how was it that the police saw fit to go and check the river for the victim's body?" the cobalt hedgehog asked with a slight tilt of his head as he suddenly figured that this testimony really did not add much to the moment of the murder. Then again, most of what they were talking about today was just a bad attempt at trying to squander up a suitable defense from apparent nothingness. So far, he and Tails seem barely able to perform that duty correctly. "Nothing that you've provided to us through your testimony seems to indicate any need for them to have the bottom of the river dragged."
"I guess they did what they did because I told them that I heard something that sounded a lot like a splash. Combined with the fact that there was a gunman right there, they probably felt it would be better safe than sorry."
"It sounds more than reasonable for the police to have done what they did after hearing what the witness just told us," Mephiles agreed with the witness while nodding his head. "It's their job to do whatever it is they need to do if they feel the occasion calls for it. After all, it wouldn't do any good for their reputation if our victim turned up dead on some faraway beach a week or so later when she could've been found a lot sooner."
"I suppose that is a good explanation as to how the victim ended up being discovered," the Judge said while looking thoughtful about the whole thing. "And what does the defense think about what was just said to the court?"
End Cross-Examination
"Unfortunately, I feel something quite wrong with that explanation of things," Sonic stated as he thought back to Amy's first testimony. "Ms. Rose, when we questioned you about the time you first discovered my client, you only said that you heard a couple of gunshots. However, you never said anything about hearing a splashing sound to us at any time. This is the first time that you ever made any indication of such a thing. Can you please explain to the court why this is so?"
"I-I never said anything like that?" Amy asked, clearly shocked at what was being said. "I thought I did. I'm sorry about that. You see, after I heard the shots, I took off my headphones as I made my way to the defendant. It was right when I took them off did I hear some kind of splashing sound."
"Does that answer your question, Mr. Sonic?" Mephiles asked as he seemed more than content with this explanation of things. "She managed to catch the sound of something splashing into the cold Mobius River just as she unplugged her ears. You can't possibly say that there's anything wrong with that."
"If we were to accept that as they are, then we'll all be ignoring a pretty blatant contradiction staring us in the face!" Tails announced before sonic could say anything about it. "Don't forget that we have Shadow's Testimony that has him saying he heard a splashing sound ten seconds after he heard the gunshots. That completely contradicts our witness's version saying she heard it within three seconds after the fact. How can you just stand there and say this explanation explains everything that we need to know?"
"That's because it's only natural for a criminal like the defendant to try and lie his way out of this unfortunate predicament," the prosecutor simply responded with a crude smile slowly making its way onto his lips. "After all, he's being held for murder and wants to try and get out of it regardless of whatever he has to say."
"That's not exactly the greatest of arguments I've ever heard of," the two tailed fox countered with a scowl on his face.
"Then how about this? Do you have anything to prove that what the defendant said to you in the Detention Center is the truth? If you can do that, then I just might consider this seemingly strange discrepancy as something with certain bearing to the case. Otherwise, stop trying to bring this frivolous idea up."
Instead of saying anything, both guys simply stood quiet with a growl emanating from the back of their throats. They had nothing to could use to prove their point, and Mephiles knew this as well as he knew the law like the back of his hand. If only they could just have another day to try and get in some investigation of the crime scene that they never had a chance to get. They just did not have enough information to keep this case moving.
"I'll take your long silence as saying that you don't have anything to prove your point," the Judge responded after hearing the silence go on for another few seconds. "If that's the case, then I have no choice but to side with the witness and consider what she's saying to be the truth. And with that, I find that the witness did in fact witness the murder with her ears and caught the sounds of our victim falling into the Mobius River. There has been no evidence presented that says otherwise, and the defense has yet to prove their end of the case. I'm afraid that I'll have to call an end to this cross-examination!"
"B-But there are still some things that we're not clear on!" Tails exclaimed in an attempt to find more time to work. "You can't just end things like this. We still don't know if there was anything else Ms. Rose saw at the scene. Is there something that you noticed that you haven't told the court yet?" the fox asked as he diverted his attention to Amy in a last-ditch effort to try and get this case running in their favor.
"Well, I did manage to take a pho…," she started to say before Mephiles immediately cut her off with a loud and obnoxious clearing of his throat.
"Witness, you've no need to answer that question," he responded calmly before letting out a sigh that was completely unreadable. "Your Honor, I believe that you were about to call an end to this tedious cross-examination."
"Before you do so, I would like to hear what the witness had to say to my assistant's question," Sonic countered before the Judge had a chance to pick up his gavel and call the witness off of the stand. Besides, he had a sneaking suspicion what Amy was going to say and was going to go straight to the point instead of risk getting cut off again. "Witness, does your cell phone have a camera feature to it?"
"That's what I was going to say before Mr. Meanie here interrupted me!" Amy confirmed with a nod of her head before taking out her phone that was a shocking color of pink. "I thought that I would take a picture of the scene in case the police find a need for it."
Upon hearing this, the entire courtroom started to talk amongst themselves with surprise clear in their voices. The prosecutor, however, simply shook his head at this outburst in a way that seemed as if he had been expecting to happen.
"Order in the court!" the Judge exclaimed as he tried to get everything back under control. After a few seconds, he finally got things back under control before diverting his attention to Amy. "Witness, why did you not tell us about this first? It's a terribly important detail if one can procure a Photograph from before the police arrive!"
"Well, it isn't my fault or anything like that!" she defended herself with her lips forming an angry pout. "I wanted to tell you all about it from the get-go, but it was this stupid prosecutor who told me to keep quiet about it when I showed it to him."
"Prosecutor Mephiles!" the cobalt hedgehog exclaimed in both a surprised and demanding voice upon hearing the witness making this statement. The court once again went into a slight uproar, but even the Judge seemed too shocked to quiet them down. "Did you really say that to the witness? Did you purposefully withhold potentially crucial evidence from this court and instruct her to do the same? I'm going to petition the courts to have them consider holding you in contempt of court!"
"I suggest that you don't get too cocky and start recklessly jumping to conclusions," Mephiles prosecutor simply responded with a snort of his breath in a tone that did not sound like he was objecting to the claim. In all honesty, he seemed as calm as if it were just another part of the case he already had well planned. "After all, every action regardless if it's good or bad has a certain reason behind it for being committed."
"So you're admitting to the court that you purposefully withheld evidence, prosecutor?" the Judge asked as he finally recovered from the shock and started banging at his gavel once again to get the gallery to quiet down. "I hope for your sake that you have a good explanation for this. Even a prosecutor of your caliber can't escape the repercussions that come with an accusation as grave as this!"
"I suppose I have no choice then but to show the court this picture that the witness took of the scene," the old prosecutor said with an annoyed sigh and roll of his eyes. "However, I'm sure that you'll all see how utterly ridiculous it is to be seeing such an unimportant piece of evidence. After all, there's nothing of grave importance on it."
"I think we'll all be the judge of that," Tails spoke up as he could not help but feel a cocky smile make its way onto his lips. "Ms. Rose, do you think you can show the court this Photograph that you took?"
"I'd be more than happy to," Amy responded as she took out her phone and started to press some buttons on it before presenting it to Sonic. "Here it is. I honestly almost forgot about it before your loudmouth partner started pressuring me again into trying to remember something. Hope it helps!"
Before the cobalt hedgehog took a look at the Photograph, he chose to put it on a projector that was on his table so that the rest of the court could see. Once it was set up, everybody could see the picture that Amy had took of the scene before the police arrived. It showed a small area of the dock where the murder occurred with a bit of the metal guard rails along the edges with Shadow in a black jacket still crouched down with a gun in his hands and a slight look of shock on his face. However, not much else could be seen due to the thick morning fog that had enveloped the area at the time except for a clear outline of the top of a lighthouse shining its beacon of light as warning for oncoming ships.
"Well, this certainly helps to solidify the witness's claims as to what she saw," the Judge responded after a couple seconds of contemplative silence. "Other than that, I don't really see anything of great importance this adds to the case."
"And that was why I requested that the witness not present the Photograph to the court!" Mephiles responded in an exasperated tone as he placed little effort in defending his actions of withholding the picture. "As Your Honor has just stated, it does nothing but supplement the witness's account of that morning. I'm sure the defense now knows how much of a waste of time this was. Either way, I hope they're satisfied in that they got what they wanted. Are you still content in charging me with contempt of court?"
"I must say that this picture is hardly any grounds for such an accusation, Mr. Sonic. There isn't any kind of special details or new information that it imparts to us. I'm afraid your motion is denied."
"Then why the heck did he hide it from us if it doesn't hurt his case?" Sonic growled out to himself in anger as he started to grit his teeth. "There has to be a reason why he kept this from us, and I bet the reason lies somewhere in here."
"If there is, then it must be something that could easily be missed by even the judge himself," Tails suggested as he kept himself from looking at the old prosecutor's annoyingly smug face. "The only problem is that we can't really see anything except the foreground because of the fog."
"I'm guessing that the defense still has something they feel can be argued," the Judge surmised as he watched the two brothers talking amongst themselves with no regard for the others. "Do you mind telling me just what it is that you're talking about?"
"Uh, we refute the prosecutor's claim in that the Photograph only serves to supplement the witness's statements!" the cobalt hedgehog quickly announced upon being put on the spotlight so suddenly. "This photograph that the witness took holds more information that what we've initially thought!"
"If you're trying to bluff your way to making any semblance of a defense, I suggest you try to do so in a more believable way," Mephiles bit back with a scoff that sounded suspiciously like a condescending chuckle. "Just what exactly is this extra information that this Photograph is hiding from us?"
"…That's a very good question, Prosecutor Mephiles!" the attorney stated with a smile that spoke volumes of the nervous energy he was feeling at trying to come up with something that would open a big hole in the case. The yellow fox responded to this by rolling his eyes a bit at how obvious his older brother was in that he had no idea what he was talking about. "A-And who better to tell us about it than the one who took the picture herself? After all, Ms. Rose was the one who knows the most about it in the moments she had taken it! Perhaps she can shed more light about what happened around her at that exact moment. Maybe then we'll be able to prove the importance that surrounds this photo."
"Unfortunately for you, I object to this half-baked suggestion of yours," the old prosecutor responded with his arms crossed and a huff of his breath. "I've already established that this photograph holds no significance to the case. You'll only be wasting your time questioning the witness about the moment she took the picture. I'm sure you'll find that the Judge will agree with me on this."
"…I beg to differ on that, prosecutor," the Judge responded after a few seconds of silence. "I'm afraid that I'll have to overrule your objection."
"H-How dare you?" the old hedgehog exclaimed with what could only be explained as a snarl of his lips like that of a feral animal who had just lost his meal to another. "On what grounds do you overrule my otherwise sound objection?"
"While the motions surrounding your objection were more than sound, there is one thing that makes me hesitant in accepting it. I honestly have this sneaking suspicion that there's more to this photo than what we can initially see. I can tell that the defense is struggling to stay afloat, but I can't deny what they claim in that the witness might remember the exact moments when she took the photo. After all, I have seen and heard of instances where witnesses saw more than they let on because of a camera.
"However, I'll only allow the witness to testify once more," the old man added as he turned his attention towards the defense who was giving off a triumphant smile that quickly faltered. "We've taken up a lot of this court's time today, and I will not have this case be further dragged on that it already has been. If you cannot at least provide the court with something that can cast considerable doubt on the prosecution's case, then I'm afraid I'll be forced to hand out a verdict of 'guilty' for the defendant. Is that clear?"
"Y-Yes, Your Honor," Sonic managed to stutter out as he felt his short-lived victory quickly dissipate as it had appeared. On the other hand, Mephiles's sour look had changed to a smile upon hearing this condition being placed that was in his favor. "Then if it's okay with the courts, I would like to hear Ms. Rose testify about the moment she took this Photograph."
"Very well, the witness will testify to the court about this matter."
"I'm guessing this means we're nowhere near done for today, huh?" Amy whined out after being silent for the whole exchange after she had produced her photo. "And I was actually kind of hoping that my picture would help wrap things up."
"The only one here who'll be wrapping things up is the good defense attorney," the ruthless prosecutor responded with a huff of his breath with his smile still plastered on his face. "I'm sure he'll be able to bring an end to things today. However, whether or not he'll make it into an ending good enough for him is for him to decide."
Thanks for your ever wonderful vote of confidence, Mephiles! the cobalt hedgehog thought bitterly as he felt content enough to just stare the old man down. Remind me to hope that you crash and burn, too.
The Witness's Photo
Well, I took the picture with my cell phone because I thought it was the right thing to do at the time. After all, I was pretty sure that the police might find some use for it. However, I suppose I ended up forgetting about what was going on around me at the time due to both the shock and ensuing chaos. Apart from the obvious, I can't really say that I saw anything out of the ordinary in the moments before and after I took the photo. Everything was as it should be except for the defendant with a gun in his hands.
End Witness Testimony
"I don't know how often I've said this, but having to hear something this unnecessary is nothing but a complete waste of our time!" Mephiles announced in an annoyed tone as his arms were tightly crossed across his chest. "It should be clear to anybody in this courtroom that the defense is simply grasping at straws!"
"Whether or not I'm grasping at straws is irrelevant at this time," Sonic announced in an attempt to stay on the offensive as his tightly balled fists rested on the table. "The fact remains that Ms. Rose managed to provide us with one last piece of testimony, and I intend to cross-examine it and garner any new information it might possess, no matter how small or trivial it may seem!"
"Then let us get on with this so we can end today's proceedings," the Judge announced with a small tired sigh. "I don't mean to sound like I'm rushing things here, but we've been going at this for the entire morning and almost all afternoon. I don't think I've ever seen a case go this long for one day, especially when it's a rookie defense attorney against a thirty-year veteran prosecutor. Then again, I suppose this was somewhat to be expected when the best rookie defense is pitted against the best veteran prosecutor."
"Forget the awe and flattery and concentrate on moderating the case, Your Honor," the veteran prosecutor grumbled out without bothering to hide the disdain in his tone. "Like you, I'm starting to become weary of all this. I would like to see the defense crash and burn at their futile attempts to protect their client before I pass out or expire."
"Why don't you take your own suggestion and die already?" the cobalt hedgehog grumbled in an undertone that Tails could barely hear despite standing right beside him. "It'll make the whole damn thing a lot easier if you weren't here!"
"But Mephiles is right when he says that we're just grasping at straws," the young yellow fox stated with a worried sigh escaping his lips. "We barely managed to convince the Judge that Amy's testimony about what she saw during the taking of her photo was important. Her camera must have caught something that she could've possibly seen, and he doesn't want us to figure out what it is even if we have to find it the hard way."
"I just hope we can figure it out before either of them decides to stop our attempts at the cross-examination," the attorney stated as he nervously bit his tongue. "Hopefully, I can pick a good starting place for this detail digging and not make myself sound even more like I'm grasping at thin air."
Begin Cross-Examination
"Ms. Rose, why did you think at the time that taking a picture of the scene of the crime would be the right thing to do?" Sonic asked as he tried to pick a good starter question that would not end up with him being shot down. "If I were in your situation, the first thing I would think of doing is running away."
"Besides the obvious of being scared out of my mind, I'm not really sure," Amy responded as she recalled the moment mentioned. "I guess it was probably a bit out of habit since I've been involved with the school newspaper as their photographer since Freshman year. However, I did think about submitting it to police after they arrived."
"Are you suggesting then that there actually was a moment before the police arrived at the scene where you thought to withhold this Photograph from them?" the cobalt hedgehog wondered as he thought about how the response was phrased. It was all he could do to try and stall for time in the most legitimate way possible while thinking of questions that would unearth the secrets in her photo.
"To be perfectly honest with you all, yes," she bluntly responded without any hesitation in her response. This caused some slight murmurings within the audience before they were quickly silenced by the sound of the Judge's gavel pounding against his bench. "However, I only thought of that when I saw the look in the defendant's eyes. As I said earlier, he looked quite shocked about the whole thing, so I suppose my consciousness was telling me he couldn't possibly have anything to do with this."
"It's not as if that would've made any difference since she ended up forgetting all about it when the police finally arrived," Mephiles quickly concluded as he rolled his eyes at having to explain things in the simplest of ways. "Because of that, I hardly see the relevance this line of questioning has to the defense's case."
"I agree with the prosecution on this," the Judge announced with a curt nod of his head. "I suggest that you quickly move on to something else lest you have nothing else to talk about, Mr. Sonic."
"Eh, I already had another question ready for me courtesy of the prosecutor just now," the defense attorney announced with a simple shrug of his shoulders. "Ms. Rose, how could you possibly forget about the picture you took when the police arrived? After all, you said it yourself that you figured it would be of great importance to them."
"…To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure when I actually forgot about the picture," the pink hedgehog responded as she looked confused for the first time she took the stand. "Now that I really think about it, it wasn't anywhere near my mind when the police came and started asking me questions. The only thing that could've made me forget about something so important as that is having seen something else even more amazing than what was in front of me."
"You can't remember what made you forget?" the Judge repeated as he seemingly failed to notice how oxymoronic his statement was. "From the previous testimonies you've provided to the court, I'm sure you're not the type of person to just forget about an important detail. Could you please try to remember what it was that made you forget?"
"I object, Your Honor!" the veteran prosecutor spoke up upon hearing what the Judge was suggesting and trying to stop him. "I fail to see how having the witness try to remember about what she forgot has any importance. That and people don't usually remember what they forget so easily."
"Well, I'm inclined to believe that there's always an exception to occasions like this, Prosecutor Mephiles," the old man responded calmly as he seemed unfazed this time by the prosecutor's objection. "That and I trust the witness in that she isn't lying about anything due to her exceptionally truthful nature from her previous testimonies. I'm afraid I'll have to overrule your objection. If it isn't too much trouble, Ms. Rose, can you please try to remember what it was that made you forget?"
"…Please give me a moment to think," Amy responded after a moment of hesitation and closing her eyes as she tried to remember about what had surprised her to the point of forgetting. As she requested, everybody in the courtroom remained silent for a few seconds as she thought hard about what else that might have happened at the Mobius Docks that morning. "…I-I think I might remember something."
"Do you now?" the Judge asked as his voice sounded happy at this revelation. "If you don't mind, could you add this to your testimony?"
"If you feel it's important, then sure."
New Statement(s)
I think the thing that made me forget about having taken a picture was something I saw in the distance through the thick fog. I believe there was some kind of bright flash at the lighthouse a couple of moments before I took the picture.
End New Statement(s)
"You saw a bright flash coming from the lighthouse?" Sonic repeated upon hearing this new detail. "What's so unusual about a flash of light from a building meant to periodically shine off bright light? I wouldn't have paid it a second thought much less forget about something important because of it."
"But this wasn't the kind of light that you'd typically see from a lighthouse!" Amy quickly countered as she tried to elaborate on her explanation. "The lighthouse light was already on, so it wasn't that I got distracted on, and the kind of flash I saw didn't look like even a light that was just turned on and flickered off. It really was like…like someone turned on a flashlight and immediately turned it off. It kind of irritated my eyes and made me accidentally take a picture before I felt I was ready to."
"It's kind of hard to tell that you accidentally took the Photograph the way you took it," the Judge responded as he looked at the picture on the cell phone again. "It seems to be focused quite well with no signs of being startled."
"Well, I am quite handy with a camera being the photographer for the Mobius High newspaper, so I suppose I'm more than likely to take good pictures even right after being startled," the pink hedgehog stated with a hint of pride in her tone. "Anyway, I'm guessing I took that picture about a second after that bright flash startled me. Until the police had arrived, I had been wondering just what it was, but I forgot all about it when they started bombarding me with questions and whatnot."
"Humph, it seems as though you like to forget about certain details when unsuspected surprise and stress sneak up upon you, Ms. Rose," Mephiles stated with an unbelievable half-smile on his lips in a tone that spoke how ready he was to refute these new details. "Were it not for the fact that you've already been established to have been a reliable witness, the court would think your testimony to be nothing but assumptions and inconsistencies. In fact, I'm starting to have doubts about this certain occasion you just suddenly remembered yet couldn't remember long enough to tell the police."
"If you're thinking on calling me a liar in front of everybody here, then I suggest you think otherwise on your accusation!" the witness countered in a strangely calm tone while her look casted daggers at the prosecutor who seemed unfazed by the gesture. "I have classmates at school that I've been friends with since before high school who could testify to you all about how truthful I am."
"Still, that doesn't change the fact that you just conveniently forgot about a few details without any good reason," the old prosecutor countered back as he seemed intent on discrediting her current testimony. "These recent admissions of forgetfulness you've admitted to this court do not paint a pretty picture for your current testimony. I'm surprised that nobody else in here has even hinted at you being a liar yet."
"If you're so intent on trying to pin me as a liar, then why don't you provide the court some evidence that proves it? You can't just go about calling people whatever you like without anything to back it up, you know? What you're doing at this point is probably what you attorneys like to call slander. Then again, you should already know about that being you're acting like some scary, big-shot prosecutor."
"I think we better use this time to try and put some things together," Tails suggested with a low sigh as Amy and Mephiles continued to argue with each other like a couple of children on the playground. Amazingly, the Judge did not seem intent on stopping their quarrel at this time and just watched the whole thing unfold. He was probably hoping they might be able to discover something new through some unchecked outburst like what had happened earlier. "It's clear that there's something strange about Amy's Photograph that Prosecutor Mephiles didn't want us to see or figure out."
"But we still haven't found or heard about anything that would indicate something like that," Sonic stated as he reflected on the testimony they just heard and trying to discover some new information. "All we got from the witness was that she saw some kind of quick flash of light that made her accidentally take her picture prematurely. That's hardly a good enough clue to go on."
"But it's still a clue that we can work with!" the two tailed fox explained in an attempt to boost his brother's dwindling confidence. "Amy said that she took the photo a moment after she saw that strange flash at the lighthouse. There has to be something we can get to with at least that. Maybe there's something in our evidence that can help?"
"…Wait a minute here!" the cobalt hedgehog stated excitedly as his voice indicated that he managed to come up with something plausible. His eyes also seemed to shine with a renewed blaze of fire that indicated his confidence just took a huge turn in the right direction. "If that flash was what caused her to take this photo the way she took it, then maybe it also managed to capture what made it. She did say she saw the flash coming from the direction of the lighthouse, and the lighthouse itself is in pretty good view in this picture despite the heavy fog. You can't really deny the possibility that she managed to capture something other than the scene of the crime, can you?"
"I have a feeling you might be right about that, Sonic," the other agreed as he took a closer look at the lighthouse in the Photograph. At this point, the argument between Amy and Mephiles began to escalate to the point that the Judge finally had to intervene and bang his gavel to restore order. "We better hurry up and find what we're looking for before the cross-examination continues."
For the next couple of moments, the two of them were both quickly scanning the background of the Photograph while the Judge continued to restore order to the courtroom. It was quite hard to do considering that the background consisted of nothing but fog and only an outline of the lighthouse with its light gleaming brightly at its top. However, something just barely managed to catch Sonic's eye as he looked at the spot just underneath the large glowing ball of light.
"Tails, do you have any idea what this might be?" Sonic asked as he pointed to the thing that had caught his eye. "I have a feeling about what it might be, but I want your two cents on it before I say anything."
"…I don't think you need me to confirm what this most likely is," Tails responded after quickly glancing at what his older brother was pointing at. "It might be blurry, but the light above it helps to make it somewhat recognizable. It looks like a person falling down into the water. And if I'm not mistaken, there's somebody else a couple of inches above the falling one. Do you think this might be what Mephiles didn't want us to see?"
"There's only one way to find out," the cobalt hedgehog responded with a smile slowly approaching his face as he suddenly got a spontaneous idea that just might help them get out of this mess.
End Cross-Examination
"Your Honor, I have something that I would like to present to the court at this moment!" Sonic loudly announced just as the argument between Amy and Mephiles finally dissipated and the Judge regained control of the courtroom. "There's something about the witness's Photograph that I believe everybody should be notified about."
"You're not seriously still going on about that damned Photograph, are you?" Mephiles growled out as it seemed he was somewhat bested by the young girl during their argument. "None of us have yet to hear anything from the witness's mouth anything new about it save a few bits of nonsense given form through conveniently forgotten thoughts."
"Unfortunately for you, my partner and I have been busy reviewing the evidence while you and the witness were busy arguing with each other," the cobalt hedgehog responded with a prideful smile as he saw the look of discontent reflect on the old prosecutor's face. Amy, on the other hand, seemed less than fazed at the mention of the less than glamorous moment she showcased in the courtroom. "We were comparing her recent testimony with the Photograph she presented to us, and I'm sure you'll all be interested in what we discovered."
"And just what is this new detail you managed to discover from the witness's Photograph?" the Judge asked with the look of intrigue written all over his face. "When I last checked the evidence, I hardly saw anything of great use besides the obvious."
"Well, I assure you that this new detail is anything but obvious. In fact, I don't believe that we would've even have thought of taking a closer look at the witness's evidence were it not for the new details from her last testimony stating something about seeing a flash before taking the picture. That was what prompted us to take a closer look at everything."
"Then why don't you hurry up and tell us what this useless detail you managed to scavenge from the evidence is?" the old prosecutor questioned with an annoyed sigh before tightly crossing his arms. "Some of us here don't really have all the time in the world to be waiting in suspense for your answer. In fact, I'm inclined to ask the Judge to call an end to this charade of a trial that you've performed for us."
"I don't think you'll believe this to be any kind of charade when I show you what we've discovered," the defense attorney responded as he brought out the Photograph once more and pointed to the section underneath the ball of light from the lighthouse. He then zoomed the overhead projector to the highest it could go without losing focus so everybody could see what he was talking about. "I would like to direct the court's attention to this area underneath the lighthouse's light. I think what you'll find here will be more than interesting."
"…Why, it looks like there are a couple of people standing underneath it," the Judge responded as he squinted and finally saw what the defense was talking about. "It may be hard to see, but the outlines clearly indicate that they are people. And if I'm not mistaken, one of them looks like he's fallen over the lighthouse railing while the second person seems to be just watching. Are you saying that this has some correlation to what Ms. Rose said in her testimony about seeing a strange flash of light?"
"That's exactly what we're alluding to," Tails confirmed with a nod of his head as he saw Mephiles's stoic face obtain a light sense of worry on it. "It would have to take something rather strong in order to produce such a light to penetrate a thick fog. I believe we've already heard of something like that in this case. Amy had said she saw a couple of bright flashes in front of her when the murder weapon was discharged. Now suppose if we applied that same logic to the bright flash she claimed she saw before she took the photo."
"A-Are you trying to imply that something took place on top of that lighthouse the moment our witness took her picture?" the Judge asked with disbelief reflecting in his tone.
"Actually, we're thinking that all of this is some kind of strange coincidence," Sonic explained before the prosecutor had a chance to get his words in. "According to Ms. Rose's testimonies, there were two separate instances where she saw bright flashes that disappeared as soon as she saw them. The first one was clearly from the gunshots that led her to the scene, so it should be safe to assume the second flash also came from a gun. That explanation makes some semblance of sense considering that this Photograph captures two people atop of a lighthouse with one of them falling into the waters below. And if indeed what this photo captured was the moments after a shooting at that lighthouse, then I find it very strange that two shootings took place at almost the exact same time."
"So what exactly is it that you're trying to suggest here?" the Judge asked as he seemed intrigued by this set of explanations.
"What I'm suggesting is that the 'murder' our witness here witnessed was nothing but a show set up so that someone would come by and picture my client as a murderer!" the cobalt hedgehog quickly explained. "And at the same time this 'crime' was being discovered, the real murderer was on top of that lighthouse shooting the victim and watching her fall to her death!"
"Ha, that's hardly an explanation worth merit over!" Mephiles quickly butted in as he tried to discredit this admittedly weak suggestion. "You have no evidence that such a thing has ever occurred. The fact that you're even suggesting something as asinine as this tells me that you've run out of things to defend your client with."
"But we believe that this isn't something that should just be overlooked as a freak coincidence!" Tails countered as he tried to sway the Judge to see things their way. "This Photograph clearly shows something taking place at that lighthouse that resulted in someone falling into the water right after Ms. Rose told us she saw a bright flash. This picture alone merits a search of the lighthouse in order to clear up any inconsistencies simply because it shows what we've just explained taking place. And it's because of that we request the Judge place a suspension to this case in order to be able to officially clear things up!"
"Having you request a suspension is an insult to the entire justice system!" the old prosecutor objected with a snarl akin to that of a feral animal. "If every attorney in the world were able to be granted more time to discover their desired answers over something as small as what you've brought to us that doesn't even have evidence to back it, then we'd all still be swamped with cases that have no end in sight. I demand that you show us some more definite evidence that what you're saying about the lighthouse being the real scene of the crime is the truth! Otherwise, I'll continue to object even after I turn blue in the face!"
"You can object all you want, but the evidence that proves whether or not that lighthouse is the real scene of the crime rests within that building!" the two tailed fox countered back as he seemed more than confident that this was going to end in their favor. "If we're not allowed a suspension so that we can spend a day searching that place, then there's no way we're ever going to get an answer clear of any doubt for this case. After all, don't we owe it to everybody in the courtroom, especially the defendant, to provide an unbiased sentence to ensure that every path that leads to a potential end has been checked? Not checking every one of these said paths can be considered a disservice to the law!"
"Anybody can hide behind pretty words like the ones you've just spewed out that mouth of yours, but the fact remains you failed to provide any evidence whatsoever that what you're suggesting is even the truth! Have you even taken into consideration that what the witness just said might be her attempt to keep us from the coveted truth? After all, she has already admitted to us that she thought of protecting the witness by refusing to show the police the Photograph she had taken of the scene. Perhaps she managed to come up with a plausible excuse to help speed along his acquittal."
"That's some pretty strong words coming from a man who seems intent on hiding the truth from us himself!" Amy countered upon hearing her character being put under fire once again. "You're nothing but a common bully who feels he has the right to do whatever he wants simply because you have more experience than everybody combined in here! I ought to consider writing an article to the Mobius Times showcasing your terrible behavior and conduct you've shown in this courtroom!"
"Putting the witness's childish threat aside, there's still one thing that you're overlooking if you plan to continue pursuing this dead end," Mephiles continued on with a loud sigh that was clearly meant to accentuate his annoyance at the current situation. "Are you simply going to abandon every point that you've been so tenaciously arguing about up until now? You seemed quite adamant that the time discrepancy in when the defendant and witness heard the gunshots held some special meaning."
"That was before we discovered another shooting at the lighthouse!" Sonic explained as he now tried to discredit everything he had been arguing about earlier. "If we can just get a chance to investigate that building, then we can show that everything I've been talking about was just a road that was meant to deceive us all. I only ask the Judge a chance to prove my claim by granting a suspension of this trial!"
"I've heard enough!" the Judge announced loudly as he banged his gavel in order to stop the exchange that was clearly becoming heated. "Allow me to voice my opinion on this.
"I am inclined to believe that the defense is simply grasping at straws to be voicing small coincidences presented in a Photograph presented by the witness," he explained calmly as Sonic visibly winced at this. "As such, I'm partial to believing the prosecutions explanation of events being that the defense has failed to provide any evidence that argues against it.
"However," he quickly added as he saw the triumphant smirk appear on the old prosecutor's face, "the fact that such a coincidence exists and seems to depict almost the same scenario posed in this case bothers me. The chances of two guns being used for murder purposes at almost the same exact time with the cause of death seemingly the same are nigh impossible. This is casting a small shadow of doubt that I cannot overlook when making my decision. As such, I shall grant the defense's request and suspend this trial until tomorrow so that they can investigate this lighthouse. That is my final decision on this matter, and I will not be hearing any refutes on it unless either side has great proven reason to challenge it."
"… …I suppose I have no choice but to comply with Your Honor's wishes," Mephiles conceded after spending a few quiet moments thinking to himself. It was apparent he could not come up with a suitable argument to challenge the Judge's decision. He then added with a small sense of amusement, "I never thought my success would be postponed by some nameless rookie. Then again, it's been a while since I've had to fight for my catch, so I suppose I could use this chance to have some rare fun."
"Then the court recognizes the defense's request and call on a suspension to this trial!" the old Judge exclaimed as he banged at his gavel to make it official. "Court is now adjourned for the day!"
"God, I can't believe we actually made it this far!" Sonic exclaimed upon hearing his temporary victory being granted to him after such a hard day at court. "I thought we'd never get another chance to find some new information."
"But this also means that Mephiles will be able to review the evidence and try to put more roadblocks in our way," Tails explained as he kept his eyes on said prosecutor who was gathering his stuff and readying to leave the courtroom. Amy had since been escorted off of the witness stand by the bailiff and was out of the courtroom. "We better use this suspension to try and get some concrete evidence that can withstand his harsh prosecuting skills."
"I'd be more worried about wondering whether or not that lighthouse is even a real lead," Shadow's voice suddenly cut into their conversation. "If that's all you have as a basis of this suspension, then you better hope there are some good answers there."
"Hey, it was all we could do to get to this point, Shadow!" the cobalt hedgehog responded as he turned around and saw the ebon furred hedgehog standing on the other side of the table. "That and we only came up with this idea by looking at the Photograph that crazy prosecutor was trying to hide from us. I have a feeling it was because of this he didn't want Amy to show us her picture."
"Just concentrate on the investigation that you'll no doubt be doing today," the defendant responded as the bailiff returned and began to escort him back to the Detention Center. "And make sure you find something worthwhile that won't get you kicked out of here tomorrow by Mephiles."
"That's easier said than done, Shadow," the two tailed fox responded with a low sigh as he helped his older brother pack up their things and ready themselves for a potentially long night of investigating the lighthouse for answers that might hold answers as to why there was an almost similar scene taking place at the same time the murder was supposedly taking place on the Mobius Docks.
New Evidence:
Photograph: A picture taken by Amy Rose that shows Shadow crouched to the ground with a gun in his hand before the police arrived at the scene. The background is quite blurry because of the fog, but the faint outline of a lighthouse is seen along with the bright flash from the lighthouse light on top. For some reason, Prosecutor Mephiles seemed intent on hiding this from the courts.
New Profile:
Amy Rose: A sixteen-year-old pink furred hedgehog who attends Mobius High as a Junior and is a proud photographer of her school's newspaper. She heard the crime taking place while taking her daily summer morning walk and stumbled upon Shadow with a gun in his hands.
Updated Evidence:
Photograph: A picture that was taken by Amy Rose. While it does show the scene of the crime before the police arrived, it also seems to show another incident in the background just underneath the bright lighthouse light. It looks almost like the same exact scene that had unfolded and led to the death of Prosecutor Flora Mae. As such, it has brought about an investigation of the lighthouse in order to figure out some answers.
Updated Profile:
Mephiles: An old hedgehog of sixty-five with over thirty years worth of experience in the court of law as a prosecutor. His ruthlessness in the courtroom are well-known by all who work within the courtroom. There are rumors that he forges evidence and fixes witnesses' testimonies so cases will go his way because of his impossibly no-lose record, but all are unfounded.
Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope that you all enjoyed it, especially since I've been on hiatus mode for a couple of months. Hopefully, the next update won't take as long, although this whole chapter was pretty long and caused me to be put in a hole so many times.
And yes, I know that the Photograph is new evidence, but it also became updated at the same time sometime after being presented. As such, I figured that it would only be fitting to be both presented as new and updated evidence so as to cause less confusion along the road.
Until the next update on this or any of my other stories everybody! And don't forget to leave a review before you run away to another story.