Hello everybody! Welcome to the final chapter, the final chapter of this case. For those of you who remember, I've been teasing you all with little mentions of a certain case starting in the second of Sonic's trials. Well, this chapter is finally going to open up the way to all the mysteries that tie our four friends together from five years ago! Everything is about to be revealed. But before we do that, we must first finish up this case. Oh, the things they have to do before they can finally pursue the LK-9 Incident...
Anyway, I purposefully made this final chapter to this case and put the last chapter in a cliffhanger of sorts because I wanted this to be both closure for this case and an opening for the LK-9 Incident. Basically, this chapter is going to perform two duties at once. Talk about making a chapter do some multitasking, huh?
But yeah, this chapter is going to feature the longest testimony I've ever written that's longer than the previous chapter's. It's also got the longest cross-examination that went up to a little over six pages. That's one page longer than the last chapter's! Boy, that just mean that Max here has a lot to say today regarding the case. Let's just hope that it's all good things for Sonic and Tails.
Well, that's enough of my pointless words and ranting that I'm sure most of you don't even bother reading. It's not like you're missing out on anything important anyway. But all that aside, please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you're planning to read. Your reviews are always helpful, except when they're just pointless flames, in either providing me with constructive feedback or just basic encouragement and praise at my work. I even read constructive criticism so long as they don't have any kind of hateful tinge in them.
With all that aside, let me just go ahead and post the evidence list and the profiles for this case once more before moving out of the way. Once that's done, I'll see you all on the next update to this or any of my other stories on this site. Just please don't mind a slight pause in between this chapter and the next one. I'll be starting college again in about a week, and the first days are always going to be hectic. So don't be concerned if you don't see me updating this in a long while. I promise to get to it. Besides, this is a story that I really want to finish since it's so exciting even to me to just get to the ending that I have no idea how it's going to turn out. Until then 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. However, Tails seems to think that this gun was used at the lighthouse rather than at the docks and was swapped out at some point with the Fake Murder Weapon.
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.
Blood: Blood found on the lighthouse balcony railing with the forensics report brought by Knuckles. It shows that the blood belonged to Ms. Mae and proving that she was at the lighthouse the moment she was murdered.
Fake Murder Weapon: An idea conjured up by Tails while exploring the lighthouse. After hearing Charmy's testimony, the thought of a fake weapon being in play is now a reality. A fake gun was found by the bee inside a clock and bears Shadow's fingerprints. Being that Shadow never entered the lighthouse before, this is proof that this was the gun seen at the docks the moment after the 'murder' witnessed by Amy Rose.
Max's Testimony: Testimony that has been memorized and recorded by Tails. According to Max, he was alone in the lighthouse on the morning of the murder. A phone call had interrupted his morning rituals, but he does not remember the contents of the call except that it was supposedly an older man speaking.
Bullet Casing: A casing found on the lighthouse balcony and brought by Knuckles from the forensics department. The ballistic markings on it matched exactly with the bullet that was extracted from Ms. Mae. It also proves that the gun found on the docks was actually used and moved from the lighthouse.
Doctor Reports: Paperwork found in the lighthouse living room and brought by Knuckles from the forensics department. They prove that Mr. Pryce visits the doctor every week for his condition. They also seem to indicate that he lives with a caretaker because of the fact that such complicated reports were sent to his house.
Letter: A piece of mail found in the lighthouse basement and brought by Knuckles from the forensics department. The contents seem to indicate that Mr. Pryce had some prior knowledge of the fake murder taking place on the Mobius Docks. While a handwriting analysis could not be done on the contents because of the lack of a reasonably suspicious person to compare it to, Mr. Pryce's fingerprints were found all over it.
Firecracker: The Red Paper found stuck on the side of the Mobius Docks and brought by Knuckles from the forensics department. Tests prove that it was once a Firecracker before it had exploded, and the black mark on it was from the explosion. The tape that is still on it has some burned fibers that belonged to a rope.
Picture: a photograph given to Sonic by Knuckles who had received it from Salemand Eres. It shows a picture of a white-furred lion with occasional blue spots on all fours like a wild animal and looking at the camera and smiling. Amazingly, his face looks almost child-like despite his rather strong-looking body. It's clear that he has the rare genetic disorder Feralisis Syndrome.
Fingerprints: Prints found in the lighthouse by Charmy Bee. They were on a cup shoved all the way towards the back of a kitchen cupboard as if in a haste with a cup of tea still in it. This proves that it was used recently. They belong to the victim in the case, Ms. Flora Mae, but Vector recognized the prints from the LK-9 Incident and realized they actually belonged to Ms. Lois Pryce. This proves that these two people are actually one.
LK-9 Case File: A case file summarizing all the information gathered by police and detectives at the height of the LK-9 Incident. A copy of the file was given to Sonic and Tails by Vector in hopes that it would help them obtain the answers they seek about the case. There are four sections in the case file that have yet to be reviewed by the two.
Vector's Account: Testimony recorded by Tails and detailing what Vector saw in the courthouse lounge on the day of Knuckles' acquittal. He said he saw Mephiles entering the lounge for the first time in his entire career and watching over Sonic's case. He then said the old prosecutor left the room after hearing Shadow exclaim that Ace be held in protective custody.
Notes: Notes taken by Tails depicting what he, Sonic, and Silver had discussed regarding possible connections with Sonic's cases and the LK-9 Incident. It's speculated that all the murderers in the previous cases were orchestrated by one mastermind who seems to be in some kind of smuggling ring. Without any concrete proof, however, this ends up to be nothing but conjecture at this point.
Bag of Bricks: A slightly dirtied beige bag filled with red rectangular bricks. It was found at the bottom of the river when the police were looking for Flora Mae's body. Despite being disregarded as trash, Detective Silver decided to deliver it to Sonic and Tails under the guise that it might help them with the case. Strangely enough, the top is tied off with rope that has black marks at the frayed end as if it had been burned.
Profiles:
Sonic Hedgehog: He's a seventeen-year-old cobalt hedgehog currently assigned to defend Shadow from a grave murder charge. It seems that he was a victim of a kidnapping that revolves around the LK-9 Incident.
Miles Prower: A twelve-year-old two tailed fox who likes to go by his nickname "Tails" and is now working at the Robotnik Law Firm as their local detective. It seems that he was a victim of a kidnapping that revolves around the LK-9 Incident.
Knuckles Echidna: An eighteen-year-old red echidna who is a detective at the local Precinct and now assigned to the Shadow's case thanks to the efforts of Senior Detective Silver. It seems that he was a victim of a kidnapping that revolves around the LK-9 Incident.
Salemand Eres: A twenty-two-year-old ebon black cat who's looking for his missing brother. As revealed by Vector, he is a member of Interpol currently on an assigned mission in Mobius and using his current name as an alias. His real name is unknown to all except Vector. It is suspected that he might know something concerning the LK-9 Incident.
Shadow Hedgehog: An eighteen-year-old ebon furred hedgehog who became a prosecutor at sixteen in a country that allowed bar exams at younger ages. He's currently the suspect in this case. It seems that he was a victim of a kidnapping that revolves around the LK-9 Incident.
Silver Hedgehog: A nineteen-year-old silver furred hedgehog who is the country's youngest Senior Detective. He has taken charge of the initial investigation. He seems to have made it his personal mission to solve the mysteries behind the LK-9 Incident that he was involved in during his time as an intern two years ago.
Flora Mae: The victim in this case who was a prosecutor at the local prosecutor's office. She was proven to have been at the lighthouse at the moment of her death. Because of her fingerprints found in the lighthouse, it has been proven that she is in actuality Ms. Lois Pryce, Max's sister who has been thought to have been killed in the LK-9 Incident.
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.
Maxwell Pryce: A forty-year-old man who has pretended to be a mentally challenged man for five years. Upon being confronted with mountains of evidence pointing him out to be his sister's killer, he has forsaken his facade and is now seemingly willing to admit to the murder.
Mephiles: A sixty-five year old veteran prosecutor whose ruthlessness is well known both inside and out of the courtroom. If not trying to leave a strong impression in all his cases, he expects nothing but obedience and cooperation from the officers and detectives overlooking the collection of evidence in the cases he's working on. He's known to get any officer or detective who dared to defy his direct orders in trouble with the Precinct.
Lois Pryce: The sister of Max Pryce who had died in the events that led up to the events of the lighthouse being used as a base for the start of the LK-9 Incident. She used to be business partners with her brother in a seafood business before it was bought out from their third partner and transformed into an shipping goods business.
Dr. Ivo Robotnik: The owner of the Robotnik Law Firm were both Sonic and Tails work at. Strangely enough, he is mentioned in the Letter that was discovered in the lighthouse basement by Silver regardless not being mentioned by name but through description.
Vector Crocodile: A twenty-three-year old local prosecutor who is friends with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as well as Shadow's coworker. He has decided to continue with his work as a freelance detective along with Charmy Bee despite the conviction of his friend and partner Espio that caused shadows about the integrity of his work that soon quickly dissipated.
Charmy Bee: a young eight-year-old bee who happens to be employed with the Chaotix Detective Agency. Apparently, he was sent to investigate the lighthouse by a third party who had employed the agency to do so. As such, he has arrived at the courthouse in order to testify about this matter at the very last minute.
Ace Sleuth: A former senior detective from the local Precinct who is now behind bars for having murdered his fiancée. Since his conviction, Shadow has had the man living at an undisclosed location and under witness protection because of the potential importance he might have in solving the LK-9 Case.
Leukis Kruger (luke-is crew-grr): Salemand's eighteen-year-old younger albino lion brother who has been afflicted with the rare genetic disorder Feralisis Syndrome. He is apparently a member of Interpol with his name simply a code name. According to Salemand, he has been missing for a few days. As accidentally revealed by Vector, his real name is actually Leon.
Chapter 27: An Ironic Twist of Fate and Truth Pt. 13
"It's a pleasure to be in your presence as my real self," Max responded as he let a tired-sounding sigh escape his lips. Despite that, he now held a more definitive and mature aura about him that was in stark contrast to his earlier bout of childishness. "It's been a long time since I've been able to act like myself in public. That and I'm dead tired of pretending to be acting like someone I'm not. I've been forced to act like a mentally challenged man from the moment my sister faked her death. It's done nothing but ruin my life posing as such a person who isn't even capable of doing many of the simple things in life. I simply just erased from the picture the one person who forced me to become who I've been pretending to be all this time, my sister Lois Pryce who had since changed her identity to Flora Mae."
"So you admit to having murdered the victim with your own hands?" Tails asked once he recovered from the shock of seeing such a sudden change in Max. Then again, he was already somewhat expecting to see normal Max, so he was already somewhat prepared for the shocking moment even though it happened sooner than expected. "If so, then would it trouble you to testify to the court about this matter? Could you tell us why you would want to murder your own sister? Now that we have the real you talking to us, I'm sure that requesting a new piece of testimony from you is more than reasonable."
"I think that decision resides with the Judge here," the witness answered as he motioned with his head towards the old man. Unlike in Sonic's other cases where the real murderer acted completely defeated upon being unmasked, Max seemed to be quite calm about everything that was happening. "I'll happily give you some new testimony if His Honor feels it's necessary for the court to spend time on. I'm sure that's how your standard court protocols work. So what's your decision on this matter, Your Honor?"
"W-well, I must admit that what we've just discovered in today's court proceedings is by no means a small shock to everyone in this room!" the Judge responded as he clearly still held some residual effects of the huge shocker at Max talking normally both at him and in general. He then said after trying to clear his throat a couple of times, "Beyond that…, I'd be more than happy to hear testimony that takes on the form of a confession. I mean, it is somewhat unusual in itself to hear a murderer actually confessing in open court to a crime of his own free will. Does the prosecution have any objections on this matter?"
"Humph, I hardly think my opinion, sound or otherwise, holds much weight on this case anymore, Your Honor," Mephiles huffed out like a child who had just lost a fame he had been dead set on winning. After all, the witness has already admitted to murdering the victim, a claim that I clearly never saw coming. My only sole reason for presiding over this case has already been absolved. I doubt it matters what my thoughts on the subject are anymore. However," he then continued on with a smirk slowly approaching his face as if he just came up with an idea, "I suppose I am somewhat interested as to the witness's sudden admission to this crime. Like you said, it isn't every day that we hear of someone spontaneously admitting to a crime before they've been fully caught. And who knows? I might actually dig up something that might prove he's merely taking the fall for someone else."
"Very well then; the witness shall testify to the court about why he murdered the victim!" His Honor responded with a nod of his head as he banged his gavel to officiate his order. "If anything, this should provide us with a motive as to why he would go so far as to kill his very own sister. I truly find it hard to believe that family would hate each other so much as to go this far; it's even harder to believe that Max would pretend to become mentally unstable at the discovery of her supposed death five years ago. I don't see the point in willingly ruining your own life by acting as a mentally challenged person for five years."
"You'd be surprised as to what the limitless boundaries of anger can easily lead up to," the old prosecutor responded in a strangely wise fashion that was truly not becoming of him. "And you'd also be surprised at how far other people would do in order to help someone else. However, the time for philosophical and moral discussion has passed. We've asked the witness to testify in regards to his admission, and we shall listen intently to it."
"Geez, I didn't think somebody could sound so defeated yet still hold some fight at the same time," Sonic groaned out as he prepared to finally hear the truth of this entire case straight from the actual perpetrator. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that we've been dealing with a bi-polar savage prosecutor this entire time."
Motive for Murder
My sister was the sole cause for the destruction of what I considered to be my normal way of life five years ago! Because of her, I had to play the role of a man utterly shocked into a childish mentality upon hearing that his "beloved" sister had been "killed"! I mean it was either that or face a harsh prison sentence because of her illegal involvements that I was unfortunate enough to be dragged into. I never wanted to play any part in her illegal activities; unfortunately for me, the group she worked for likes to involve immediate family to their causes through willing or non-willing tactics. I soon found myself thrown into her twisted world of crime; it became even worse for me when I discovered that she was to be my "designated caregiver" for the rest of my life as a demented man. Needless to say, my hatred against her has grown over the next five years to the point where all I wanted to do was kill her with my own two hands! However, I held back on those irresistible desires simply because her boss considered her to be both useful and necessary to his plans. It was only when I got the official orders four days ago to kill Lois was I truly happy for the first time in my many years of torture. So long as she's permanently out of the picture for the rest of my life, I could care less about what the law has in store for me as a form of punishment!
End Witness Testimony
"Well, it sounds as though we've gotten our motive for why Ms. Flora Mae was killed," the Judge stated in a convincing tone despite his face showing he was still somewhat taken aback by the sudden change in Max's demeanor. "Everything seems quite well explained; I hardly see the need for the defense to cross-examine this particular piece of testimony, especially since it seems to be of a very beneficial nature to them."
"While the testimony does help cement my claim that Shadow is innocent of these charges, I would still like to exercise my right to a cross-examination, Your Honor," Sonic simply replied as he allowed the long testimony to stew for a bit in his mind. "The witness has admitted that he hated the victim so much as to kill her when given the time of day. However, he has also pointed out a couple of things that I would like to have clarified before the trial is over and he gets sent to prison."
"My, this should prove to be interesting," Mephiles responded as he looked at the cobalt hedgehog with what looked to have been slightly confused eyes. "Are you really going to go looking for holes in his testimony that might end up damaging your oh-so-precious stance that you've been defending for this entire trial? I must say that it'd be rather amusing to watch you create your own downfall from your height of victory."
"Just because the witness states the truth doesn't mean that we don't have the potential to learn more from what he has just said," Tails countered back as he put in his two cents on the issue. "And it's with that note that the defense feels like that there's something more that can be learned when we cross-examine Max. Regardless whether or not you believe this to be nothing but a waste of time, whatever information we can get from this witness's admission can be no doubt of great importance to his conviction hearing once this trial is over!"
Instead of adding anything else or coming up with some kind of insult, the old prosecutor chose to stay quiet. It was almost as if he were actually enticing the two to go ahead with their cross-examination. Either that or he honestly had nothing to say, but that seemed like quite an impossibility considering the kind of person the prosecutor is.
"I feel like we're moving onto this particular cross-examination a little bit too easy," the cobalt hedgehog whispered to his little brother as he continued to stare at the old hedgehog's rather strange and unreadable facial expression. "I mean, I kind of expected Mephiles to say something along the lines of this being redundant now that we have a full-fledged confession or some other kind of annoying remark to keep me from winning. Why is he going against his no-nonsense nature all of a sudden?"
"Maybe he feels like he's got nothing to lose at this point since he's pretty much already lost the case because of Max's blatant and…unfortunately unremorseful confession," the two tailed fox suggested with a shrug of his shoulders and a sad sigh at the previously passionate testimony. "Don't go worrying about that, though. Just concentrate on getting some answers from Max, particularly from the statements that concern his sister and his reasons for acting like a mentally challenged man all this time. If you think about it, we really don't know all that much about her or his overall motive for his actions. And if we're lucky enough, we just might hear something that has relations to the LK-9 Incident."
"Well, he better be quick in making it known," the defense attorney grumbled out as he stole a glance out the window. "I think we've already been here for over two hours now. I don't think the Judge is going to entertain the idea of working on the LK-9 case into the night hours. Oh well, might as well get this over with quickly then."
Begin Cross-Examination
"First off, do you mind if I addressed you as Mr. Pryce from now on?" Sonic asked as he directed his attention to said witness. He had decided that opening the cross-examination with a rather calm and innocent question would be the best approach after hearing such a shocker just a few seconds previously. "Now that we know your true mental status, it would only be fair to us all to address you properly and respectfully."
"Go ahead and call me whatever you want," Max responded with his arms lightly crossed as if he could care less about whatever was going to happen in the coming minutes. "It's not like it really matters to me anymore."
"Alright; then do you mind telling us next just how exactly the victim, your sister Lois Pryce, ended up ruining your life five years ago?" the cobalt hedgehog questioned. "It must've been quite an altering event for you to hold such strong hatred against her."
"Oh, you don't know the half of it," the man responded with an angry growl leaving his lips. "It's because she ruled her life by her own self-centeredness that led to her insatiable greed. She may not have looked it while playing as a city prosecutor, but she always put herself before anyone else, especially when it comes to material things."
"…And you're saying that this led to the destruction of your life how?" the defense attorney asked cautiously as he could practically feel the venom behind the witness's words. "Did something happen five years ago that revolved around her self-centered habits?"
"I'd honestly rather not talk about it. And besides, I hardly find how discovering what took place in my familial life five years ago holds any importance to your current case at hand. At best, it only serves to satisfy your morbid curiosity."
"I beg to differ on that," Tails announced as he quickly sensed Max's belligerence level rising and posing a problem. "You yourself have stated that your life was ruined during that timeframe. You even opened up your confession with that statement first. I'm sure that I speak for everybody in here that what happened then is more than important."
"…Humph, you sure know how to put up a good argument," Max responded with a belligerent huff of his breath. "Regardless, I'm not going to delve into my past. It has nothing to do with my confession and motive."
"Might I suggest that we move on from this stalemate of sorts?" Mephiles calmly suggested with an amused shake of his head. "While I do enjoy a good spat between witness and defense at times, I must say that this is becoming idiotic."
"Mr. Sonic, I believe that you're not going to persuade the witness to divulge information about his family problems that occurred five years ago," the Judge agreed as he banged at his gavel. "Would you please move onto another topic of interest that you deem important for the court to listen. I don't believe I need to remind you that it was under your suggestion that we allowed for the cross-examination of a testimony that only serves to benefit you."
"There's no need, Your Honor," Sonic replied with a stiff nod of his head before moving onto his next question. "Do you think you could elaborate a bit more on why it was necessary for you to play the part of a mentally challenged man for all these years?"
"It was so I could escape under the radar of the police," the witness simply responded. "That and the timing of the incident that happened at the same time of her staged death forced me to take such drastic measures."
"Do you think you could elaborate on that?" the two tailed fox asked with questioning eyebrows raised. "Even you must admit that your explanation is too vague to simply leave alone."
"I agree with the defense on this," His Honor quickly responded in the defense's defense. "Do you mind giving the court more details on this?"
"I guess I'm not really in a position to decline now that Your Honor is also asking. If you really want to know, my sister happened to be involved in an on-going crime at the time. As she was about to be caught, the organization she worked for managed to come up with a cover-up where she ended up being legally dead. Unfortunately, that left me holding the short end of the stick, so I came up with an idea of my own where I was found by police already in my shocked state of childish mentality. With just some great acting and a doctor who happened to be employed by the organization altering my doctor reports, I was able to convince the masses that I was but a poor victim of my sister's botched plan."
"And this is where your deep resentment towards your sister grew to the point it was when you murdered her," the cobalt hedgehog concluded as he had a thoughtful look on his face. "It was your way to keep out of trouble from the law and also have some semblance of freedom while not officially tagged as a mentally challenged man. But that sounds like an awful lot of work to continually pull off every single day. I know it was your way of escaping trouble from the law, but was it really worth it in the end?"
"Well, I must admit that the organization did whatever they could to make sure that my way of living was as easy as it could be considering the hole I had dug myself into," Max said with a small shrug. "The only difference between prison time and my hell that I've lived through for the past five years was that I was trapped in my own house. They said that they would assign me a caretaker and take care of any of the legal paperwork that was necessary. I never imagined that it'd be my own sister now reborn as Flora Mae who would be my designated caretaker. I guess they felt that the two of us worked well together even though I now took more of a back seat approach in everything they had us involved in."
"Humph, it sounds like this group you work for is quite organized in their everyday dealings," Mephiles responded as he seemed oddly intrigued by this piece of testimony. "I would suspect that you're right now still under their employment. What would your leader think if he heard you saying all this? I've no doubt that he's probably keeping watch over this case being that you're one of his people."
"I could honestly care less about what they think at this point, Mr. Prosecutor," the witness replied with a huff. "They were the one responsible for ruining my life; I think it's time that I returned the favor and try to ruin theirs. So what if they find a way to kill me while in prison? I've at least done my part to bring them down with me."
"Uh, how about we move onto a less threatening topic?" Tails rhetorically asked as he tried to change everybody's attention to something less morbid and heated. "If you hated your sister so much that you wanted to kill her, then why did you wait until four days ago to do it? You've already displayed here how you hated the organization you were forced into courtesy of your sister; I would expect that you'd go against their word and kill her at the first chance you got. Why would you then just wait?"
"I couldn't because the timing wasn't right. Unlike how it is at this very moment, I never had the chance to be surrounded by the protective walls of the law. I couldn't just very well up and enter the nearest police station since my sister was overlooking my every move. That and it had already been legally proven that I was a mentally incompetent man. Just think about the immense legality issues I'd have to go through before I can try to dismantle the organization. I knew I had to kill her if I ever wanted my chance to rebel."
"So you've just been biding your time since five years ago for the chance to kill your sister and to rebel against the organization you claimed you were forced to work for," the Judge slowly surmised before shaking his head in disappointment. "I still can't believe that you have been holding onto so much hatred towards your sister that you would even contemplate killing her. It's even more unbelievable that you would act mentally incompetent for all this time! However, I must admit that I'm still confused as to why you had to wait for your sister's death before you could say anything against this organization. Do you mind elaborating to the court a bit more on this subject?"
"Well, she had the ability to keep constant watch over me, so that meant I had no freedom whatsoever to myself. Lois has always been loyal to the organization and would willingly rat out anybody who dared to try and speak out against them. And as a prosecutor, that meant she had the ability to bend court rulings to their favor should the case she's working on threatens the integrity of the organization. That's why I was forced to wait for the moment when she was either killed by me or someone else. I just happened to be lucky when the organization leader sent me a package along with a letter giving me permission to kill my sister did I discover I had my chance that I've been waiting for a long time. That's when I knew that I had been presented with a ticket allowing for me to try and take them down!"
"Hmm, I have a feeling that the integrity of this courthouse is going to be severely compromised once today's proceedings is over," His Honor murmured in worry after hearing this explanation. "To think that we have been entertaining a corrupt prosecutor in our court proceedings all this time… I fear what this could mean for the future of the law and the overall reliability the people will put into it. Just how much belief with they have in us should a big case come in with such a shadow hanging over us?"
"…I would suppose you're talking about this Letter that was found in your home," Sonic stated as he showed Max the piece of mail they had recovered during the investigation of the lighthouse. He figured that the Judge was worrying about something that was beyond his league and thus chose to ignore him. That and the old man was more or less just murmuring to himself. "It does detail the facts of the set-up going to take place at the moment you were murdering the victim. In comparison to everything that you've told the court in terms of your confession, it almost sounds like you're a victim just like your sister. Of course, you're a victim of her criminal ways where her boss preferred to drag you into her business so I suppose that would make some degree of sense."
"Whether or not the witness was a victim to his sister's own criminal ways remains to be seen," the old prosecutor stated in an objective tone as he quickly cut through Sonic's train of thought. "However, I don't believe that we should be delving into these questions at this time. After all, discussing whether or not he's a victim has nothing to do with realizing his motive for having committed murder. To be quite frank with you, I honestly have no idea as to why you have felt the need to pick away at a piece of testimony that does nothing but benefit your case in every possible angle."
"You're right, Prosecutor Mephiles; whether or not the witness was indeed a victim to his sister's illegal dealings has nothing to do with the current question at hand," the cobalt hedgehog quickly agreed with the rough prosecutor without putting up much resistance. He then said with a cocky smile approaching his face, "Unfortunately for you, that wasn't the argument I was planning on pursuing regardless whether or not you had pointed it out. What I'm more interested in discussing right now is what the witness just said in regards to the mail he obtained that served as a confirmation for him to kill Lois."
"And what are you so concerned about with regards to the witness's mail, Mr. Sonic?" the other asked with a roll of his eyes in clear annoyance as if he were being forced to take part in a moment of complete ridiculousness. Then again, this was less concerning behavior coming from him in comparison to his other admittedly rougher and borderline brash behavior. "I hardly find the importance in such a trivial matter. Mind you that I have absolutely no objections in you wanting to make a fool of yourself or even discovering something that might end up only hurting your already solid acquittal."
"Well, he did just say something new in regards to the Letter that the court has never heard about before. Namely, it's about this package he said that came in conjunction with the piece of mail. If it doesn't trouble you too much, I would like to ask the witness as to what this particular package was. If the contents of the Letter aren't any indication, then I say that this package is of great importance to the case."
…Who am I to stop the ever curious and redundant mind of an irritatingly questioning rookie defense attorney," Mephiles simply stated with a shrug of his shoulders and a reserved sigh escaping his lips. "Go ahead and continue on your search for the petty and insignificant details your heart so desires to unearth. I'm sure we're all just dying to hear whatever it is you want to figure out."
"Thank you for your patience and understanding, Prosecutor Mephiles," Tails thanked in a tone that seemed to hold the slightest amounts of sarcasm in it. He then said as he shifted his attention back to the witness stand, "Mr. Pryce, do you think you can tell us what it was you received along with the Letter?"
"…I don't see why not," Max responded after a moment's pause and a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "You always want to get as much information as you can in order to come up with something sensible; even I must agree with the prosecution that it almost seems pretty redundant at times. Then again, I doubt what I'm about to say will present much help to you. You should already have it recorded as evidence."
"What're you talking about witness?" the Judge asked with eyebrows raised in confusion at the man's strange response. "How could we possibly already know and have the contents of your package as evidence?"
New Statement
Well, the package contained a Pistol that I immediately knew was meant to be used in the killing of my sister.
End New Statement
"So you're telling us that the murder weapon was mailed to your house?" Sonic asked as he raised an eyebrow in question at this. "I'm pretty sure I'm speaking for the entire courtroom when I say that I find the explanation a little hard to believe. I mean, how could someone just mail you a gun without getting caught? I'm sure that the people at the post office check any packages for any kind of suspicious materials, especially in these days where officials are really cracking down on smuggling."
"I wouldn't say that it was given to me by mail more than it was personally brought to my doorstep," Max simply explained. "You see, both the Letter and the gun were delivered to my home without any address or stamps on it. That would mean that someone personally took the time to hand it to me. And before you say anything, it was brought over at a time when Lois was out doing who knows what. That means the gun was meant for me."
"My, this organization that you worked for seems to be quite organized and cautious in order to make sure that the victim didn't catch wind of their plan to assassinate her," the Judge stated in surprise at how the mastermind behind this murder was so calculative. "And how exactly did you keep the Pistol hidden away from your sister all this time?"
"In the same way I hid the Fake Murder Weapon before it ended up being discovered," the witness continued on with his explanation. "While Lois knew a lot about my life and habits because of her being my personal caretaker, I made sure that she never knew about the secret compartment within the clock. It was the only way I could keep anything important hidden from her should the need arise."
"Did you load up the gun yourself or was it already preloaded?" Tails asked as he tried to get more information out of this revelation.
"Objection, Your Honor!" Mephiles quickly exclaimed before the other could even have a chance to add onto his question. "Whether or not the gun was loaded at the time the witness first obtained it is irrelevant. It doesn't change the fact that it was the one to have shot the bullet that took the victim's life!"
"That may be true, but I find it hard to believe that Mr. Pryce would've been able to go out and buy some bullets while under careful watch by his sister," the two tailed fox quickly explained as he tried to hold onto his question. "And if he did somehow manage to escape his sister's watchful gaze, then the court should hear about it. After all, it's quite clear that he had never had any kind of privacy ever since becoming legally mentally incompetent five years ago. That alone is enough to warrant suspicion if he indeed managed to wander around town on his own for even a few minutes!"
"I still fail to see how this provides any relevance to this already unnecessary cross-examination," the old prosecutor bit back, clearly not persuaded by the reasoning presented to him. "Your Honor, I ask that you sustain my previous objection and throw out the defense's pitiful excuse for a question."
"As unnecessary as you feel the question to be Prosecutor Mephiles, I'm afraid that I have to side with the defense on this one," the Judge responded as he shook his head at the prosecutor's demand. "When put in the witness's shoes, it's highly irregular that he would have any chance at unrestricted freedom without his sister watching over him. The objection is hereby overruled! I'll allow the defense's question to be asked."
"Thank you, Your Honor," the orange furred fox thanked with a nod of his head as he cast a blank but triumphant gaze at the prosecutor who only looked back with an odd feeling of clarity and, dare he even think, precision. He then continued on while trying to ignore the oddity, "Mr. Pryce, can you tell us whether or not the gun was already loaded when you were first delivered the Pistol?"
"Well, I never thought about checking the bullets in the thing when I first got it," Max admitted as he had the decency to give off a small frown in embarrassment in his poor hindsight. "In fact, I couldn't comfortably say that I knew it was loaded until the moment I shot and killed Lois with it. I guess I was too excited at the prospect of being able to finally do what I had planned for so long that the bullets were the last thing on my mind."
"That's…pretty unbelievable," Sonic cautiously stated as he gave a half-frown at the statement. "How could a person like you who has been planning on killing his sister for so long forget to check a gun for ammunition, especially when it was hand-delivered to your doorstep? I mean, you do have a pretty calculative mind yourself considering how you claimed to have singlehandedly fool the entire court system into thinking you were mentally challenged when you were first discovered by your sister's dead body five years ago."
"Everyone is entitled to their fair share of mistakes," the witness simply responded as he replaced his frown with a stoic look. "Regardless, my plan to murder Lois went off without a hitch. Of course, I do have to thank the head of our organization for having authorized and given me a chance to pull it off."
"What do you mean by that?" the cobalt hedgehog asked with eyebrows raised in question. "You actually need permission to kill a member of the organization?"
"You can consider the organization I worked for as a sort of mafia family. Every member in the group is considered to be a part of the 'family' and is thus important in their own right. However, should one choose to splinter away from the group without prior consent or dares to try and inflict harm onto the name or structure of the organization, they are then requested by the leader himself to be killed. Naturally, that was the case with my sister in that I was requested to kill her myself. I don't know if he gave me this pleasure because he knew of my toxic relationship with her outside of our work, but I was definitely the best choice being that I was with her for almost the entire day every day."
"Hmm, now I am quite curious as to what exactly this organization is," His Honor responded more to himself as his curiosity was clearly piqued. Sonic was honestly waiting for Mephiles to immediately announce an objection soon to the Judge's upcoming question. "Do you think you could give us more information about it, Mr. Pryce?"
"Unfortunately, I'm pretty low on the chain of command. I can't really say much from my perspective except for what I've already discussed here. The only new thing I can add is that we are a smuggling group who smuggles everything from stolen priceless artifacts to valuable drugs to sell to the black market."
"Objection, Your Honor!" Mephiles quickly objected with a lot more force than he usually used. For some odd reason, he had chosen to object to this admittedly pointless question posed by the Judge after the witness managed to get in a few words rather than cutting him off immediately. It was a small detail, but it raised some flags of suspicion on the defensive team in consideration to the prosecutor's brash attitude. "This has nothing to do with the case at hand nor does it have anything to do with his motive!"
"…I suppose you're right," His Honor responded as he sounded somewhat disappointed at this objection. "I really was so hoping to learn more about this group the witness was working for. In some retrospect, it does raise some questions in the conditions of why the victim was killed. As you said though, my question doesn't have anything to do with the witness's motives. Please continue on with your testimony, Mr. Pryce."
"I hardly find any need to testify anymore," Max responded as he crossed his arms in a defiant manner. "I think I've already answered all of your questions surrounding my motive as well as having added a few interesting tidbits along the way. I've already explained to you my clear motive for having murdered my sister and even stated how I was supplied with the Pistol that killed her. And don't even think about using my sad moment of idiocy on not checking if the gun was loaded first against me; it makes no difference whatsoever. I still managed to successfully do her in with just one pull of the trigger. Just hearing that one satisfying bang of the gun going off and seeing her fall into the waters below was a sight more liberating than any of you could ever imagine."
"I don't think we'd want to imagine something like that," Tails deadpanned as he said what was most likely going on in everybody's mind upon hearing that statement. "I doubt any of us in here has held onto that level of animosity towards another to really wish to feel the satisfaction of seeing another killed."
"Regardless of the last statement, the witness has stated the truth," the old prosecutor replied as he crossed his arms. "You've already exhausted all of your relevant questions regarding his motive for murdering the victim. And as an act of generosity from my good self, I've even allowed some unrelated questions that flew out of your mouths to be let through. Then again, I must admit that I wanted to see you two make fools of yourselves by picking away at testimony that has done nothing but supplement your initial claims. I really was hoping that you would've damned yourselves into losing, but I suppose that's not the case."
Instead of answering to this snide remark, the defense attorney simply chose to stare back at the old prosecutor with a seemingly harsh glare. The two tailed fox was somewhat surprised that his older brother had actually chosen to not say anything about the sarcastic remark clearly meant to have insulted him. However, he was slightly more surprised at the feeling of something brewing inside his brother's mind that he could not help but feel was going to be nothing short of a surprise to everybody in the courtroom. Perhaps he had managed to figure something out from the testimony that his twelve-year-old mind failed to catch.
"I see that you have nothing to say about this, Mr. Sonic. Might I dare venture to say that was exactly what you were planning on doing the moment you decided to dig further into this testimony? But all joking aside; if you're quite done with satisfying your own curiosity by breaking down an otherwise beneficial piece of testimony to you, I ask that you please end this cross-examination and put a period on this case. This is honestly starting to become an annoyance to me in that you're rubbing my face with my embarrassing loss."
End Cross-Examination
"…You're still failing to notice what the witness just said to us, Prosecutor Mephiles," Sonic responded after staying quiet for a few more seconds. This elicited a look of confusion to come across the old hedgehog's face. "Didn't you even listen to his testimony, or were you too busy whining to yourself about how I was going about trying to ruin my chances at winning and thus wasting your time?"
"I must admit that was the thought passing through my mind more than once this whole time," Mephiles admitted with a shrug of his shoulders as though he were simply deflecting a harmless blow directed at him. "I was under the impression that you would do anything in order to prove your client not guilty. You have been employing some rather questionable tactics like trying to stall the courts and repetitively asking unnecessary questions in order to come up with the answers that you've been feverishly seeking."
"Unlike you, I could care less about winning my cases regardless of who my client is," the cobalt hedgehog simply countered as he crossed his arms in a disagreeing manner. "I only ask the witness questions that lead up to the bigger picture in order to gain a better understanding of the overall case. I only raise objections when the situation calls for it unlike a certain someone. And so long as there are unanswered questions that have been raised during this trial, I shall continue to pursue them until I have exhausted all leads. That also includes after realizing that my client is in fact already proven to be innocent of all charges!"
"So you would waste the court's time pursuing a question that has absolutely nothing to do with the acquittal of your client," the old prosecutor surmised as he seemed somewhat peeved at being casually mentioned earlier and quickly dismissing it. "I know that I'm only going to regret asking this, but could you tell us just what exactly the witness just said that answers an unanswered question? My curiosity is honestly getting the better of me here."
"If I may direct the court's attention to Mr. Pryce's last statement, he said that 'Just hearing that one satisfying bang of the gun going off and seeing her fall into the waters below was a sight more liberating than any of you could ever imagine.' It's with this statement that a contradiction with one of the pieces of evidence we have on hand is unearthed!"
"A-a contradiction with the evidence?!" the Judge exclaimed upon hearing the defense's claim that easily caused a slight uproar with the gallery. He then asked as he banged at his gavel to try and quiet the gallery, "What exactly are you talking about, Mr. Sonic? What contradiction could there possibly be in the witness's very concrete confession?"
"It's not a contradiction that does any kind of damage to Mr. Pryce's testimony. Rather, it merely raises another avenue of thought regarding the murder weapon."
If the court was not already in a state of confusion, then they definitely were now. The people in the gallery were now busy talking amongst themselves in semi-loud voices that even the sound of the Judge's gavel were nearly drowned out. It was clear that nobody was ready to hear something of this magnitude concerning the murder weapon at this stage of the trial.
"Mr. Pryce," Sonic sternly addressed with his arms crossed despite the noise failing to die down and thus being forced to somewhat compete with it. Even Tails was slightly confused as to what his older brother had stewing away in his head this time around. "Do you stand by your latest statement that you've made to the court in that it's the honest truth?"
"Of course it's the honest truth coming out of my mouth," Max responded as he shot the hedgehog a questioning look. "I really don't have much reason at this point to be lying anymore. Just what exactly are you trying to get at with this question? I hardly see how my last statement is of any real importance."
"I'm sure that you don't know this fact, but it's been reported by forensics that the Pistol had been fired twice," the defense attorney explained as the gallery noise finally died down somewhat but still continued on with their chatter. "However, you've just testified to us with certainty that you only shot that gun once the entire time it was in your possession. The only conclusion I can come to with this was that the gun you were sent had already been used once before prior to this murder!"
"Wh-what?!" the witness exclaimed as though it were the first time he was hearing this information. For all intensive purpose, that was most likely to be the truth at this point. "How could you possibly come up with something like that? I admit that I killed Lois with that very same gun, but that's all you know about it. You can't go about saying that it's involved in another case!"
"That's not what he said," Tails calmly corrected as he finally understood where his brother was going with this. "He only said that the gun had been used once sometime before the murder. Why would you then go to say that it was involved in another case?"
"Well, that would be the only logical explanation, you know?" the other simply replied as he looked at the two tailed fox with a sort of stubborn glare. "I mean, I'm sure that this gun was at least involved in one of the many cases of reported gunfire that the police have responded to. If it doesn't appeal to you attorneys, then it's at least a case for the police that must've been filed away in their archives."
"And what if it was involved in an incident that the police reported on in the past?" Mephiles asked as if the detail was nothing important despite having introduced a problem with the murder weapon. "As you've just kindly explained to the very confused people in this courtroom, whatever reason the shot was first fired from that gun holds no relation whatsoever to our current case. What you're bringing up is nothing but a further waste of our time."
"You're right; it is a waste of our time," the fox agreed with the prosecution rather smoothly as if what the other had just claimed posed no threat to his overall momentum. "However, we're not saying that this other shot has anything to do with our current case. Rather, we're bringing about another case that so happens to be connected to this trial!"
"What exactly is the defense going on about?!" the Judge exclaimed, his face clearly reflecting the confusion that was emanating throughout the courtroom and the now silent gallery members. "What case is connected to this trial? What proof do you have that such a connection even exists?"
"The answer to that lies in the very Pistol that we have in our possession. If you think about it for a moment, was there ever a time that the defendant was able to lay his hands on this weapon before, during, and after the crime was committed? The answer to that is no! As already proven, the gun that was seen by witness Amy Rose was in fact the Fake Murder Weapon. That's already proven to be a fact simply because of Shadow's fingerprints on the fake and that it was found hiding away inside the witness's house where he had no access to!"
"So what of it, my dear young apprentice?" the old prosecutor asked as he seemed highly disinterested in this explanation. "All you're doing is recapping what we already know. I fail to see how this is going to help you prove a connection to a case that you haven't even stated to the court yet."
"If Shadow only held in his hands even for a moment the Fake Murder Weapon, the only time he could've done so was at the docks," the young one explained. "Ever since then, he has been in jail under the constant supervision of the guards. Under those intense conditions, there's no feasibly possible way that he could then touch the Pistol we have here! Yet if you read the notes once more submitted by forensics, it clearly states that his fingerprints were discovered on this weapon!"
"But how on earth is that possible?" His Honor asked as he became even more confused by this explanation. "By both evidence and witness testimony, it's been proven the defendant never once laid a hand on that gun. Then how could it be that his fingerprints are on the weapon? Fingerprints are impossible to forge!"
"…That's because the fingerprints aren't a forgery, Your Honor," Sonic explained as he seemed to slow down his momentum somewhat. "In fact, this Pistol and the prints on it are very important pieces of evidence to another case. While it's true that Shadow never touched this weapon once during the entirety of this case, there was another moment where he did so that happened long before this case even came to be. That was during the time of the LK-9 Incident, the same incident that I'm claiming now is connected to this case!"
"Ha, what a ridiculously asinine claim you're making!" Mephiles vehemently spat out as the courtroom once again erupted in an uproar. "What evidence do you have that the witness even touched a gun during that incident?"
"I heard it from the defendant's own mouth when I spoke with him last night about the matter," the cobalt hedgehog explained as the entire gallery suddenly grew quiet with intrigue. "The defendant said, and I quote, 'The only time I ever touched an actual gun was five years ago during the kidnapping incident involving all of us.' By all of us, he meant me, himself, Tails here, and Detective Knuckles. And the incident he's referring that that involved the four of us was the LK-9 Incident from five years ago! By his own words, it can only be concluded that this gun here was at least present during the LK-9 Incident before resurfacing once more to become a murder weapon in this case. Therefore, it only stands to reason that there's a connection between the two cases if not only by the weapons alone!"
"…This is completely unbelievable!" the Judge quietly spoke to himself as shock was clearly apparent in his voice. "Who would've thought that this case was in any way remotely connected to the LK-9 Incident that saw the death of a great defense attorney and detective duo? Even if it's only such a small connection, I must admit that this is a very interesting one. And if I'm not mistaken, the statute of limitations for that case happens to run out on this very day! Correct me if I'm wrong Mr. Sonic, but are you suggesting that we reexamine that case once more with this small connection as your reasoning?"
"…That's what I plan on doing, Your Honor," the defense attorney confidently responded with a stout nod of his head; Tails also gave the Judge a resolute glare of his own. "I understand that it might not do any good to us all to open up the case once more so that we can go over it for less than a day. We might not even really go any further than the attorneys before us managed to get to. However, in light of new information that has been no doubt presented to us regarding it, it wouldn't hurt to go over the information once more and see if anything has been overlooked and can now be answered."
"Do you even know the things that have to be considered before a trial can even be brought to court?" Mephiles asked as he had an amused evil smile gracing his lips. "You need both a detective well-versed with the key details of the case and a prosecutor who has reviewed the case notes thoroughly enough in order to adequately represent the state. This case has been cold for five years now. I highly doubt that any prosecutor worth their salt has wasted their time reviewing the LK-9 Incident. I most certainly didn't. And if memory serves me right, all of the detectives involved with that case have either retired or passed away. You can't ask the Judge to bring the case to trial without those two key components in existence!"
"I'm afraid that I have to disagree with you on that, Prosecutor Mephiles," a familiarly deep voice coming from the gallery objected. "It just so happens that the two key components you spoke of do in fact exist and are right now in this very courtroom!"
Upon hearing this, both attorneys and the Judge looked towards the gallery where the outburst came from. Once in their sights, they noticed that it was in fact Vector Crocodile standing tall and looking straight at the old prosecutor. Even Senior Detective Silver was standing beside him staring resolutely at Mephiles.
"Prosecutor Vector," the old hedgehog said in a sort of chiding manner with his arms crossed. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your objection to a case that doesn't even remotely concern you? To be quite frank, I'm surprised that you're even wasting your time watching this proceeding when you have other better things to do."
"Unfortunately for you, this happens to be one of my better things to do," Vector calmly replied as his face never once faltered under the intense gaze from the other. "You just so happen to be looking at the very prosecutor who 'wasted' his time going over the details of the LK-9 Incident for the past two years! I'd like to think that I'm more qualified than any of the other prosecutors to oversee this case. In fact, I think I would like to have the honor to do so once this trial is over!"
"And what are you going to do in terms of a detective's recollection of the key details regarding the case? You can't possibly get retired detectives who worked on that case into this courtroom by today. That and I highly doubt that you have access to otherworldly powers that allow to you call upon the recently deceased."
"That's where I come into the picture," Silver finally spoke up in a very serious tone. "During my two years of apprenticeship, my mentor just so happened to be the very detective who you said has died within the year. And as if by coincidence, he was the detective working on the LK-9 Incident and had me help out with the case from time to time. I've been reviewing that case from a detective's point of view ever since during all the free time I've had. Even after he died almost a year ago, I still continued on with his work on the case as a way of paying homage to his memory. With all things considered, I'm the best detective in regards to this case that you're ever going to get today. I'm sure now that you can't really argue that the case can't be brought to trial once more now that these two key elements you spoke of stand right in front of you now."
"…What is it with everybody's obsession with this case today?" Mephiles asked more to himself as he had an unreadable expression reflecting from his eyes. "It's not like you're going to miraculously come up with all the answers just because of the surface of a weapon that has been proven to have been in use then. I don't think I'll ever understand your mindset on this. I suppose, though, that I can't really stop any of you from pursuing this matter. All I ask then is that you do so once this case is over. Don't even think about dragging me into one of your courtroom shenanigans again! I've had enough of that from this case alone."
"…Your Honor, could I ask that you render your verdict now so that we can pursue the LK-9 Incident?" Sonic asked in an attempt to finally close this case as he looked towards the Judge who seemed quite confused about everything. "I hereby end my cross-examination of Mr. Maxwell Pryce and have already proven beyond a doubt that he was the one to have murdered Ms. Lois Pryce who went under the pseudonym of Ms. Flora Mae. The witness himself has already confessed to the crime himself."
"I-I suppose there's no point in further dragging on this case," the Judge responded as he somewhat snapped out of his bout of confusion. "Very well then; in the sole charge of murder, this court finds the defendant. Prosecutor Shadow Hedgehog, not guilty! This case is hereby closed! As such, we shall now give way to the reexamination of the LK-9 Incident. Before we do so, however, I ask that there be a one-hour recess so that both the defense and prosecution can adequately prepare for the trial. Court is now adjourned and will reconvene in an hour to hear the LK-9 Incident!"
With that decree, the Judge slammed his gavel down before making his way to his chambers. It was clear that he wanted some time to clear his head from all of the confusion and chaos that had no doubt boggled the minds of just about everybody today. Without saying a word, Mephiles also made a quick exit of the courtroom with his lips pursed tightly as if he were aggravated about something. All of the members of the gallery had stood up and made their way out with Vector and Silver doing the same. Sonic and Tails merely breathed a sigh of relief at their well-earned victory before packing their things up and walking out into the courtroom lobby to prepare for their case with the LK-9 Incident. And Shadow, who had been sitting quietly in the defendant's chair the entire time, looked at the retreating form of the two with nothing but awe written on his face. He then shook his head in pure amusement at the way things were going before following them out with a small smile on his face.
Well, that's it for this extremely long and complicated case. Yay!!! To be perfectly honest with you all, this case did not turn out like I had expected it to. So many things ended up changing from now to when I first thought of of this case's concept three months ago. This really proves that a lot can change in a relatively short amount of time. And to be honest, I never even thought about using the Pistol as the link between the current case and the LK-9 Incident until I started writing that part in. Everything about this chapter was on-the-fly, so to speak.
When I had first wrote in the part about the gun having been fired twice, I had already knew that Max only shot out from it once. For those of you paying attention to the evidence, I purposefully left that part of the Pistol unexplained this entire time to kind of create slight uneasiness in you all in regards to the evidence. I hope I did a good job on that, especially since this chapter literally was the work of only improvisation and hardly any kind of concrete planning at all.
And just as another tidbit, now you all know the reason why I had dedicated three chapters during this case to the collection of information regarding the LK-9 Incident. It was so I could prepare you all for this one exact moment. I'm really sorry for that information overload that some of you were experiencing then, but I really had no other way to introduce those particular piece of information in a correct fashion while still staying true to the realness of the story.
But yeah, this is now the official end of this case. No longer do I have to look at this. But now I have to think about how the other case is going to work out. But hey, luckily for me, I've already got a very reliable blueprint for the case written out in my head. All I have to do now is transport it onto my computer here and everything will be fine. Let's just hope it goes a lot more smoothly than this case, but what are the chances of that ever happening?
Now that I've gotten all this out of the way, let me go ahead and stop with my rants. That and it's like 1:30 in the morning here and I'm dead tired. So all I have to say now is to please don't forget to leave a review on your way out of this story. I always read and take into consideration what you all said, so please don't forget to leave one.
And one last thing I want to say before I go. Any and all evidence gathered in this case that has relations to the LK-9 Incident will be transferred into the next case. That's why I had Sonic and Tails go on a information hunt the night before so that they could be somewhat prepared for today's battle. Until the next update everybody!