Hello everybody! Here's the next chapter to this ever so wonderful story that I'm sure you're all enjoying up to this point. Let me first start off by saying that I unintentionally lied in my last author's note when I said that this was going to be the last chapter. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't skip the entire one hour recess as it would have been too big of a time jump. That and there was too much new evidence that popped into my mind that couldn't possibly be introduced with the span of the trial. As such, this is the chapter before the finale.
On that note, allow me to warn you all that the next chapter will undoubtedly be the quite long. In fact, I wouldn't go on a stretch to say that it might be the longest ever for this particular story. Just something to watch out for when it pops up. That and it will serve as an adequate explanation for why the chapter will take longer to be published for those of you who might end up wondering what's taking so long.
That and it's currently midterm season for college right now. I need to really concentrate on that if I hope on getting good grades and raising my GPA even higher. I've already managed to dodge a bullet two quarters ago and get myself out of Academic Probation; I would like to keep it that way and stay as far from that danger zone as I possibly can! Seriously, consider this my service message to those of you in college or planning to go to college. Never put yourself in a position like that where you start stressing out. It makes things very stressful in terms of studying your butt off and making sure you get nothing but good grades from that point forward.
But still, the grand moment when Mephiles will finally be taken down is upon us! Naturally, it's going to be one crazy ride filled with big bumps and potentially bigger objections from the prosecutor-turned-witness. After all, who in their right mind would so willingly submit to otherwise bizarre claims of being a murderer without so much as a fight?
And just as a little note to werewolflover99; who I believe to be right or wrong during the cross-examinations isn't important. That's something that you should be asking yourselves. As the one who's writing this mystery story, I would naturally already have a certain bias as to who's right and wrong. After all, I need to know that much if I plan on putting an end to this story! But yeah, thanks for your review and tell me who you think is right and wrong at this point of the story!
So that's it for this particular introductory author's note. Please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story on this site that you feel like reading. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories on here!
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.
Pistol: The weapon that was recovered at the Mobius Docks. The ballistic markings on the bullet extracted from Ms. Mae's body matches the gun. Signs show that it was fired twice, the second happening during Shadow's case. It also bears Shadow's fingerprints. It also appears that it was also used in the LK-9 Incident as the weapon to have murdered Maria Robotnik.
Picture: A photograph given to Sonic by Knuckles who had initially 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 smiling brightly at the camera. Amazingly, his entire demeanor appears almost child-like despite his rather strong and toned body. It's clear that he has the rare genetic disorder Feralisis Syndrome.
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. Just before the trial began, it was discovered that both the paper and digital forms were destroyed. Vector's and Silver's official copies are the only two left to exist.
Vector's Account: Testimony recorded by Tails that detail 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 in order to watch over Sonic's case. He then said the old prosecutor left the room with cell phone in hand after hearing Shadow exclaim that Ace be held in protective custody.
Notes: Notes taken by Tails that depict 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 a single mastermind. It also appears that this person is involved in the smuggling ring Interpol is investigating.
Case Summary File: A file found in the LK-9 Case File that summarizes the scene of the crime. The crime took place at the Mobius Dock's lighthouse that was then a business known as the "Prycey Seafood Company". It was owned by three people and had employed one person to work on cargo duty; two of the owners were Lois and Maxwell Pryce with only a lesser percentage of the business to their name. An unnamed third person had owned a majority of the business before it was forced closed upon being in the spotlight of a murder.
Witness List: A list of witnesses found in the LK-9 Case File. According to the list, there were four potential witnesses to the murder. Two of them were Max and Lois Pryce and have been recorded as supplying witness statements to the police. The third person was Salemand Eres who appears to have been working at the Prycey Seafood Company at the time, although Shadow states that he was merely working undercover then. A fourth person, the third owner of the business, was kept anonymous for some reason and had his wish to refuse to testify be granted.
Victims' Report: A report that supplies basic details of the victims of the LK-9 Incident. One of them was a senior detective by the name of Charles Hedgehog, Sonic's uncle. The second victim was a defense attorney called Maria Robotnik, Shadow's good friend and apparently a relative of Dr. Robotnik.
Charles' Autopsy Report: Charles was found dead with a single strike to the head from a rounded blunt object. The bruises covering his body and on his fists show that he was in a fight prior to dying. The murder weapon has never been recovered.
Maria's Autopsy Report: Maria was found dead with a single gunshot wound to her head. The bullet was shot at a distance and went straight through her skull. The entry wound was from the back and exited the front. There were no signs of any struggle.
Bullet: The bullet that was found lodged in a wall after killing Maria Robotnik. It was proven five years ago through ballistic testing that it was fired from the Pistol that was used once again on Prosecutor Flora Mae. According to the trajectory report, it was fired from a position directly parallel to the hallway.
Diagram: Floor plans that show the interior of the lighthouse five years ago when it was still known as the "Prycey Seafood Company". Vector has written in a red sharpie on it the path Maria took upon entering the lighthouse. She first went to the bookshelf located on the other side of the foyer before making her way to the office. She then went back to the bookshelf where she was ultimately killed.
Statements: Statements made by Sonic and friends five years ago about their kidnapping ordeal. All four said the same thing and that they were blindfolded when they entered the lighthouse. They felt themselves going downstairs and were then left in a pitch black and windowless room. However, detectives failed to find said room. That and they were ultimately discovered on the lighthouse second floor, a fact that none of them were able to properly explain. As such, their statements were considered useless and shuffled away.
Leon's Statement: Testimony regarding the moments leading up to Leon's kidnapping. He entered the old Prycey Seafood Warehouse and went to the office in an attempt to collect more information with regards to either the smuggling ring or their person of interest. Before he could perform a thorough search, he was soon attacked and imprisoned in the office before the Chaotix Detective Agency found and rescued him. He mentioned that the room looked as though it had been rifled through when he came to.
Warehouse Keypad: A sophisticated password system for the door to the Prycey Seafood Warehouse. According to Salem, the security company in charge of the password is still supplying service to the building. However, the bi-annual password change is sent to only one person. It's suspected that Mephiles is the one with access to the new passwords.
Salem's Testimony: Testimony recorded during Salem's court appearance. He testified to working overtime at the warehouse from midnight until one. He made it clear that nobody left the lighthouse the moment he went out to take a look after hearing gunshots. All four employees, including himself, were scattered about the Prycey Seafood Business grounds when the police had arrived. Charles was still alive when he first approached him. He also mentioned that Maria and Charles had knowledge of the smuggling ring and believed through their last case's client that the company had ties to the ring.
Profiles:
Sonic Hedgehog: He's a seventeen-year-old cobalt hedgehog who has taken upon himself to act as the defense for the LK-9 Incident. However, he knows next to nothing about the case and must learn as much as he can during the course of the trial. He wishes to try and solve the case despite the fact that expert investigators over the past five years have failed to do so.
Miles Prower: A twelve-year-old two tailed fox who likes to go by his nickname "Tails". Ever since proving himself to be an above average investigator during the precinct murder, he has been hired by Dr. Robotnik to be the law firm's local detective. He's now working alongside Sonic in an attempt to find answers that lie hidden within the LK-9 Incident.
Knuckles Echidna: An eighteen-year-old red echidna who is a detective at the local Precinct. Despite having nothing to add on the case, he's decided to watch the proceedings in the gallery. He delivered the LK-9 evidence to Vector after learning that someone had managed to destroy both the electronic and paper versions of the case file.
Salemand Eres: An Interpol Agent who has decided to reveal his true identity in court in order to be granted immunity from the charges of tampering with the scene of a crime and removal of evidence. He was working undercover in the Prycey Seafood Company at the time the double-murders happened. His real name is actually "Salem".
Shadow Hedgehog: An eighteen-year-old ebon furred hedgehog who became a prosecutor at sixteen. He has been cleared of murder thanks to Sonic and is now overlooking the case from the gallery to see what will surface during the trial regarding the LK-9 Incident. He's prepared to be pinned as a murderer due to his fingerprints being on the Pistol that killed Maria.
Silver Hedgehog: A nineteen-year-old silver furred hedgehog who is the country's youngest Senior Detective. He has taken it upon himself to testify to the courts as if he were one of the detectives from the initial investigation of the LK-9 Incident. Everything he knows about the case is through the many reports that have been documented over the past five years.
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. For unknown reasons, he has chosen to refuse to preside over the LK-9 trial.
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. He has also taken it upon himself to oversee the LK-9 Incident as a prosecutor and help as much as he can to keep the trial going and uncover the truth behind it all.
Leukis Kruger: Salem's younger brother who's afflicted with the rare genetic disorder, Feralisis Syndrome. He also happens to be with Interpol. According to Salem, they were reunited after Leukis had managed to successfully shake off members of the smuggling ring who figured out his true identity and wanted him dead. His real name is "Leon".
Charles Hedgehog: Sonic's uncle with greyish blue fur who was once a resourceful and reliable senior detective down at the local precinct. Because of the events from five years ago, he became an unfortunate victim of what is now known as the LK-9 Incident. Was the key reason why Sonic decided to pursue a career as a defense attorney.
Maria Robotnik: Shadow's good friend with beautifully long blond hair who was once a defense attorney. She apparently has some relations to Dr. Robotnik. Because of the events from five years ago, she became an unfortunate victim of what is now known as the LK-9 Incident. Was the key reason why Shadow decided to pursue a career as a prosecutor.
Ace Sleuth: A former Senior Detective who was jailed for the murder of his fiancee. He was then sent to a secluded safe house courtesy of Shadow upon discovering he had some connections with the LK-9 Incident. However, some unknown person discovered where he was hiding and killed him. An anonymous note sent to the Precinct telling officers about the murder seems to have been written by the mysterious fourth witness.
Chapter 35: The LK-9 Case Turnabout Pt. 8
"I don't know how much longer I can take this!" Sonic groaned as he sat back on one of the lobby seats. His nose was stuck in his file of collected evidence as he tried to figure out how to best use each piece to expose the truth that has been hidden for the past five years. He then said as he stole a glance at a nearby clock, "I think we've been in this courthouse for almost five hours. Four of those hours have been spent trying to get to the bottom of this cold case. It's like things only keep getting harder the closer we get to uncovering the truth of what really happened all those years ago."
"Not to mention that Prosecutor Mephiles doesn't seem willing to make the process any easier on us," Tails added as before taking a sip of water. "I suppose him being a veteran of the law has granted him some advantages while testifying as a witness. For one, he always seems to manage to find even the smallest of loopholes to render any of our arguments against him close to invalid. None of the witnesses we've went against were ever that sharp to simply brush away our arguments. It was only because of Vector's quick thinking during both cross-examinations did we manage to make any of our claims barely squeeze by."
"At least we can't complain about him not being on our side with this," the hedgehog admitted while letting out a tired sigh. "Still, even he had to point out every single small thing that had been left untouched so as to keep the trial going. I wouldn't be surprised if Mephiles is right now using this time to come up with more ways to counter whatever possible questions we might ask of him. We need to find some way to ultimately prove that he was at the lighthouse at the time the murders took place before this trial's over!"
"I'm honestly quite surprised that the two of you were even able to get him to stay on the witness stand for as long as you have," Shadow's voice passively added. Both occupants turned their attention towards the doorway where the cobalt hedgehog had just entered from, his arms crossed tightly as though he were in thought. "The fact that you were barely able to substantiate Salem's claim with hardly any evidence is an amazing feat in and of itself. And you were able to get away with it against the most ruthless of prosecutors, no less!"
"Oh, please don't remind me about that headache of a moment, Shadow!" the defense attorney groaned even louder than before. "I just want this one-hour recess to myself so I can relax and prepare myself for another torturous moment of infuriating cross-examination. God only knows what that old hedgehog might try to do to drive me crazy."
"Allow me to suggest something before you get too relaxed," the ebon hedgehog quickly stated as he fiddled with the edges of his gloves. "If you're truly planning on pursuing Salem's claim that Mephiles is the smuggling ring leader and inadvertently the perpetrator of the LK-9 Incident, then you best review all the evidence you have. From what I've seen earlier, what little evidence you managed to produce barely even caused a dent in his defenses. If you continue on like this, you'll never get to the truth of things."
"I admit that our attacks are shabby at best when used against an expert of the law such as him," the fox agreed before pouring himself another cup of water. "If anything, he seems more ruthless as a witness than when we first went against him as our previous case's prosecutor. I might be wrong about this, but I feel like he can better anticipate our attacks while he's in his current position. Even while I was just asking him simple questions so as to get him to testify, he kept brushing off everything I said as if they were insignificant!"
"All the more reason why I say you should spend make use of this recess looking over all the evidence you have. However, I can't say I'm quite comfortable with saying that all you've amassed thus far will be adequate enough to prove your position. And before you say anything, I've made it a point to shuffle away all the evidence and key points in my head."
"Are you simply telling us that or trying to find a way to show off your mad memory skills? How about using those amazing brain powers to help a fellow attorney out with trying to figure out what his next move should be?"
Instead of answering, Shadow merely took a seat next to Sonic with his arms still crossed in a thoughtful manner. The fact that he was not coming back with some kind of retort meant that even he was stumped as to what they should do next.
"…Well, why don't we think about it this way?" Tails suggested as he broke the silence. "The Judge called a recess when Sonic and I stated that there was a possibility of the phone records being kept in the abandoned warehouse. Even if they do end up proving that Mephiles was telling the truth about having received a call after his trial ended, there must be something else on it we can use."
"That's only provided that we can see the numbers on the records," Shadow pointed out. "If the phone is filled with nothing but blocked numbers, then we can't use any of it. And we can't delve into the conversation history as the only way to do that is to have previously tapped into the phone prior."
"Then we'll just forget about that and think about some other way to attack him," Sonic thought out loud. "What should probably be of more concern is who would actually condone accepting nothing but blocked numbers on their cell. Of course, that's only considering if that's really the case here. Especially since this is the company cell phone we're concerned about, I can't see how it's reasonable for Mephiles to not be able to identify who was calling him before deciding whether or not to answer."
"Guess who's here!" a childishly loud voice suddenly cut into their conversation as the door slammed open. Not even a second later, Charmy came flying into the room with his hands holding tightly onto a small black bag. Leon came walking in soon after with nothing short of an amused look on his face. "Charmy's here to save the day!"
"…Nice to know some of us appear to be unfazed by today's proceedings," the ebon hedgehog deadpanned while the other two looked surprised at the sudden entrance. He also nodded towards the surprised bailiff for him to stand down as he seemed ready to draw his weapon at the sudden intrusion. "How many times have I've talked to you about entering in a quiet and orderly fashion? I'm surprised none of the officers decided to have you arrested for disorderly conduct."
"Well, you can't really blame the little guy for being all excited," Leon said as the bee dropped the bag onto the table with a huff. "After all, we did just finish processing all of the new evidence we managed to uncover for you guys."
"You guy's actually found some new evidence?!" the cobalt hedgehog exclaimed as he all but leapt to his feet. Even Tails was excited at this revelation but managed to keep himself from jumping in excitement. "Where did you find them?"
"In the old warehouse where everybody seems to have an interest in right now," the bee explained while the others began rifling through the bag's contents. "Vector suggested that I give the place a good look-through after we found Leon. He figured that there might be something he could use for a potential kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment case. I don't know if it'll help him on that, but he called me just before I got here telling me to show what I found to you guys first."
"If he already had you two conducting a search of the warehouse, then why did he ask the Judge for a recess in order to conduct another one?" Tails wondered as he pulled out a file and began perusing it. "It sounds like nothing but a waste of time."
"I think it was more along the lines that he was trying to buy Charmy more time to get here with his findings," the young prosecutor suggested as he simply looked at the defensive team going through the new evidence. "That and he probably wanted it to be officially introduced to the police as a potential scene of interest.
"However, I don't think any of this matters at this point," he abruptly changed topics. "What matters now is that there's new evidence to be accounted for. So how about you fill me in on the details about what was found?"
"…It looks like nothing more than a bunch of reports and pictures," the fox concluded after scanning the contents. "Do any of these have anything to do with phone records of any kind? That's what Vector based his recess on."
"We didn't find anything like that in there," the albino lion answered as he shook his head. "Everything we found there is in that bag and analyzed to the point where even the smallest of details were uncovered."
"Do you mind if I asked what you're even doing here, Leon?" Sonic asked as he took the file Tails handed him and looked through it himself. "I didn't think that you were going to be helping out the Chaotix Detective Agency with this."
"Well, I figured it'd be nice to help after all they've done for me. That and I think they're right now pretty shorthanded after having one of their members be convicted as a murderer and a potential member of the smuggling ring. That and I figured I could help speed the analyzing process along by enlisting the help of one of Interpol's specialized forensics labs stationed in this city. Compared to our technology, the local police department can be pretty slow in analyzing things and might not have been done until tomorrow.
"But yeah, shouldn't you guys be busy studying the evidence instead of talking to me?" he quickly changed topics. "I don't know how long this recess is supposed to be, but I think Charmy needs to bring this stuff to Vector so he can look through it."
"You do have a point there," the cobalt hedgehog replied before finally concentrating on trying to study what had been placed before him.
The file he was currently skimming through was a Print Report that documented all the prints that were lifted from the scene. Only two fresh prints were discovered. Some of them were paw prints that no doubt belonged to Leon from when he was trapped there. A second set of prints, this time regular hand prints, was also discovered but were unidentifiable due to the owner having worn gloves at the time. It also made mention that the room was relatively dusty and made locating the prints much easier.
"At least this is proof that Leon was telling the truth about where he had been trapped for the past couple of days," he thought out loud before turning his attention to Charmy. "Are you sure there's no way to identify who's the owner of the second set of prints? Since the report says that the room was dusty, there's a good chance that they belong to the person who assaulted our Interpol Agent friend."
"If gloves could still leave readable fingerprints, then what's the point in even wearing them?" the bee deadpanned. "I may be younger than Tails and know less than him, but even I know you can't get anything from gloved prints. The only thing we could conclude was that those were the only two fresh prints located at the scene."
"Here's a diagram of the office with markings indicating where the gloved prints were located," Tails said as he picked up and unfolded a piece of paper that fell out of the folder. "It looks like our gloved friend touched only a couple of drawers and the room's safe. Everything else doesn't look like it had been disturbed."
"So whoever was rummaging through that office knew what they were looking for and where they were kept," Shadow concluded as he moved into a position so he could look over Tails's shoulder. "I suppose that then limits the potential suspects down to those who have known affiliations with this warehouse."
"Fortunately for us, Mephiles falls into that wonderfully small list since he's the only one with the passwords to get into the warehouse," Sonic said, his voice giving away the hopefulness he was feeling. "He should know where most everything is seeing as how he pretty much owned the building before and now has limited access. Like Shadow already said, he'd only have to go to where he needs to go and ignore everything else.
"Still, I don't see how we're going to be able to use it against him if we don't have the necessary evidence to back up the claim," he added in a dejected tone. "He'd probably come up with some kind of convenient excuse like he told his boss the codes. Unless we're able to throw something concrete against him, I don't think we can find some way to make this work. Does the Warehouse Office Diagram show anything else?"
"Well, there were a couple of spots on the floor that were oddly devoid of any dust," the fox continued on with his interpretation of the diagram. "One of them was right in front of the desk and had some white fur over it. Once they were analyzed, it was shown to belong to Leon. I would assume that he spent most of his time in that area during his captivity since the spot held the most concentration of white fur."
"Actually, my attacker initially threw me there," Leon corrected while subconsciously wincing at the memory. "I was knocked out because of it and found myself locked in when I came to. Hoping that I would be found soon, I chose to sleep in that same spot so as to preserve the evidence and keep from contaminating the scene. Apart from my prints on the floor, I didn't touch anything in that room."
"And what about the second clean spot, Tails?" the ebon hedgehog asked. "Did they find anything on or around that area?"
"According to this, there were traces of blood on the second clean spot. I think it safe to assume there's a report on it that we haven't taken out of the bag yet."
"Got it!" the cobalt hedgehog exclaimed as he shot his hand into said bag and pulled out the last document in it. "This is a report on the Blood Analysis. It says that the blood existed only recently. After running tests on it, the results…were inconclusive due to the existence of bleach in the blood's composition."
"And I promise you all that it's not my blood," the albino lion spoke up before anybody else could comment. "Apart from the bruises I got, I didn't have any open wounds. However, I do remember having scratched my attacker and drawing blood from him before getting knocked out. Forensics is still running tests on the blood found on my nails and seeing if it shows any signs of matching with the stain found in the office. Unfortunately, they don't feel confident in being able to procure anything near an adequate match."
"So the blood from your nails are the only unmarred samples from whoever attacked you and ransacked that office," Tails concluded. "At least we have a clean sample to use for when the occasion comes around that we need to use it. Still, we need to prove more likely than not that the owner of the blood was in there at that moment. We can't say that it was Mephiles right now since we don't have any evidence."
"In other words, everything you guys found in that warehouse doesn't really add much to our position!" the defense attorney growled in frustration. "At the least, all the evidence is good for is to make a case regarding Leon's assault and unlawful imprisonment."
"But Vector told me to search the place because he thought it had something to do with the LK-9 Incident," Charmy spoke up as he explained the detective agency's initial reasoning for searching the building. "He didn't say anything about phone records at the time, but isn't all this enough to show that the scary man went there to get them?"
"The only thing all of this proves is that this act of thievery was conducted on a rather professional level," Leon explained as he made himself comfortable on the floor. "Apart from that, the evidence found at the warehouse doesn't explicitly say that Mephiles is the one who's responsible. And don't think about asking me to testify about what I saw during my encounter with my assaulter. I couldn't see either their face or any hints of fur on their body as the person wore a mask and was heavily clothed. I still don't know how I managed to draw blood under those conditions, but that's the only clue we have now as to their identity.
"However, it's my expert opinion as an Interpol Agent that he's the one responsible for knocking me out and taking whatever was in that office," he added as he seemed to be recalling what Interpol had figured out. "I think Salem already told you guys while he was testifying earlier that we've suspected him of being the leader of a smuggling ring for a few years now. His suspicious actions had him pegged as our number one suspect, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was something damning on those records that he had to have them taken care of. He clearly has a penchant for being extremely cautious and takes care to make sure nothing points back to him. As such, all we have against him are our suspicions as he either erases or cleverly covers up any evidence to the point that even the best of us can't even see it. This goes to show what kind of man you're going up against, a man so cold and calculating that he seems to be poking fun at the authorities at every chance he gets."
"I think you should replace that last part with trying to perform damage control," Salem suddenly cut into the conversation. Everyone turned their attention towards the doorway and saw him leaning against the doorway with his hands in his jacket pockets. "The fact that Sonic and Tails even managed to get him on the stand and testify must be sending him into a panic as to whether or not he's managed to close every path that leads to him as being the culprit."
"How'd the examination of the evidence we gave you went, Salem?" Sonic immediately asked with little to no surprise at the elder agent's sudden appearance. "I kind of hate to admit it, but I'm pretty much starving for some good evidence. Your brother teamed up with the Chaotix Detective Agency and managed to dig some new things up for us, but I can't say I'll be able to make much use of them."
"Did he now?" the black cat responded before raising an interested eyebrow at his little brother. "And why did you go out of your way to do that, Leon? I think I remember the doctors telling me to make sure that you took it easy after having just escaped captivity and recovering from the wounds you incurred during it."
"They were only minor at best!" the lion snapped back with a pout. "It's not like I was suffering from broken bones or anything else like that. Stop treating me like I'm some fragile little kid who can't hold his own every now and then.
"And besides, I can't just sit back when this could possibly be the biggest break we'll ever get in the smuggling case. You know just as well as me that this might be the only time Mephiles will ever testify as an actual witness in a courtroom. We can't really bring him in for questioning since we don't have any proof against him. However, if these guys are able to pull it off and tag him as the murderer from five years ago, then we'll have a right to interrogate him even if we have the flimsiest of evidence. He'll no longer have the same rights as a free man, so he'd have no choice but to at least submit to our request for an interrogation."
"Still, I'd rather that you didn't take any risks while your body's in a compromised state. It's good that you were able evidence, but think about what could've happened if you were to be taken by surprise again. And regardless whether or not he works for Vector, it doesn't make me feel any better that you were accompanied by a child during the entire investigation.
"But that's beside the point right now," he continued on despite the scowls he received from both his brother and Charmy. He then took a small bag that was hidden out in the hallway into his hands and officially entered the room. Sticking out from the top was the familiar design of the Ornamental Cane's platinum serpent's head. "To answer Sonic's earlier question, I was able to analyze all the evidence you handed off to me earlier. I can't guarantee that it'll provide you with all the answers you're looking for, but it should at the least allow you some legroom to work with when the trial reconvenes."
With a disagreeing groan, the cobalt hedgehog merely took the bag and quickly emptied its contents onto the table. The Ornamental Cane, the serpent head's mouth now closed, had the forensics report taped onto it. The Letter from the previous case was now fitted into a plastic bag with another sheet stapled onto the outer plastic. The Written Statement was also given the same treatment in both preservation method and stapled notes.
"I'll go ahead and take a look at both of the letters," Tails announced as he picked up said pieces of evidence and read the results of the analysis. "In terms of the Written Statement, it's been shown that the handwriting definitely belongs to Mephiles. That means he's the one who wrote this, but that doesn't really help us since it already says he claims to have never been at the lighthouse. At the least, we now know this style is unique only to the prosecutor."
"Perhaps there will be some other way to use it later on down the line," Shadow simply suggested, his arms crossed as he moved towards the evidence and looked through them. "It's clear that trying to use its face value isn't going to be of much help. Anyway, we'll think about it later. Continue on with the discussion, Tails."
"Next, we have the Letter that we also wanted a handwriting analysis done on," the fox continued on as he handed the Written Statement to the ebon hedgehog. "Unfortunately, they weren't able to discover anything that hasn't already been made known to us. When they got around to the handwriting analysis, the penmanship was shown to belong to someone other than Mephiles and that he couldn't have wrote it."
"You're not serious, are you?" the defense attorney exclaimed as he took the paper from the fox's hands and read it over himself. "But how is that possible? He's the only one of the four workers from five years ago who could possibly have any reason to write Mr. Pryce this kind of letter and coerce him into murdering his sister. I can't see how this writing couldn't belong to anybody but that stupid prosecutor!"
"Believe me when I say I was just as surprised as you were on this," Salem said in an agreeing tone. "I even had the team scan over past documents written by Mephiles's hand, but none of them matched the writing on this Letter. They said that the writing itself looked like a mesh of different people's style of writing, so that would mean the writer is well-versed in changing penmanship. Of course, that's provided if the whole letter was written by a single person. Thankfully, we have reason to believe that to be the case as the letters E and S are always written in a certain fashion when put together."
Taking another look at the Letter with that in mind, Sonic soon noticed that the cat was right. When written separately, the two letters throughout the document were written in differing styles of penmanship. However, they all looked the same whenever the occasion came that they were paired together in the aforementioned order.
"Apart from that, there was nothing new they could lift off of that piece of paper," the cat concluded. "I don't think it has any more secrets what with how many times it's been sent to a forensics team. I'll bet you all that poor piece of evidence has been analyzed enough times to be considered a frequent visitor to law enforcement agencies."
"And what about the Ornamental Cane?" Leon asked while tilting his head towards the object. "I think I remember hearing earlier that there was blood discovered on the snake head's fangs that Interpol actually failed to notice all these years. Did the forensics team managed to figure out just who it belonged to?"
"Let's see what it says," Shadow said as he took the note off the cane and read through it. "Hopefully, it'll be something helpful against Mephiles. 'The analysis of the blood has proven to be inconclusive. While there are no traces of bleach or any other chemical agents that could destroy the composition, a foreign substance was found to be the cause. As such, there's no way to tell who the owner of the blood is.'"
"What a load of help that ended up being," the cobalt hedgehog sarcastically murmured.
"'When we decided to investigate just what this foreign substance was, we discovered something interesting,'" the prosecutor continued on. "'Apart from being applied onto the teeth beforehand, the substance proved to be organic in nature. Its unique properties allowed it to actually destroy the composition of blood when it comes into contact. Once testing had been concluded, it was shown to be a type of poison exuded from a rare breed of snake found only in the wooded areas of Mobotropolis.'"
"Did you just say there was poison on it?!" everybody in the room except for Shadow and Salem exclaimed. Then Tails asked, "Are they sure about that? I mean, there's only one kind of snake in Mobotropolis that produces this kind of poison! It's very aggressive in nature with no known cure. It stays in your bloodstream forever the moment it breaks through your skin and leaves a permanent scar from where the entry wound occurred. One would have to undergo a lifetime of specialized antibiotic treatment in order stop the effects! Those afflicted would die of symptoms akin to both a stroke and heart attack combined if left untreated!"
"I'm just as surprised as you when I first read the passage," the ebon furred hedgehog stoically admitted. "An ailment like this would definitely leave some kind of paper trail since the medication can only be obtained through a doctor's prescription. Something like this would be the ultimate proof that Mephiles was at the crime scene when the murders occurred. I would even go so far as to say that he had to have been the one who at the least killed Charles since the cane was used to bludgeon him to death.
"However, I think this detail will end up working against you should you continue trying pursuing the thought that he's the murderer. Everyone who works in here must submit a medical report to the courthouse if they have some kind of medical issue that would require immediate medical attention. I can assure you now that he has never submitted any such paperwork. That means he's as healthy as one could possibly be."
"B-But what about the scars?" Sonic stuttered. "Tails just said that this kind of poison leaves a noticeable mark from where it first entered the bloodstream."
"True, but it would also result in a bald spot if the victim was an anthropomorph with fur such as everyone in this room," Leon explained. "I know because one of our fellow agents back at Interpol is going through this same treatment. He's a dog and has a bald spot on his upper arm where the poison first entered his bloodstream. He's been like that for over ten years now, and the fur never grew back. Did you guys ever notice any kind of bald spot of Mephiles the entire time he was in the courtroom these past few days?"
Instead of answering, the cobalt hedgehog and fox thought back to all the times they had saw the elder prosecutor in the courtroom. Out of all those times, they never once saw any kind of scar a bald spot in his fur. And never in the past three days did they see or hear of him ever having to take medication for any kind of illness much less poison control.
"…Your silence is answer enough on that topic," Salem sighed. "I suppose then that this cane won't serve as the miraculously damning evidence you've been looking for. Still, I know that the two of you can be resourceful when you need to be. I've only started watching your trial performances a couple hours ago, but I'm impressed with how you were able to use seemingly flimsy evidence and work it so hard it actually fit your explanations."
"Our resourcefulness can only go so far, Salem," the fox explained. "Without anything good to use, Sonic's explanations and my supporting statements can't be of much use. I guess our only hope at this point is that either Vector can find some other way to use this evidence or that Mephiles testifies about something against his favor."
"Well, no use crying over it now," Charmy replied nonchalantly as he packed up the things he brought in back into his bag. "And speaking of Vector, I need to bring these things to him before the trial restarts. The last thing I want is for him to be hunting me down simply because I didn't bring the things to him."
Without saying anything more, the hyper little bee tightly gripped his bag and flew out of the room. This time, the bailiff did not seem ready to strike as he did earlier when the bee first came by.
"I swear; nothing seems to get that little guy down," the albino lion sighed while shaking his head. "I don't know where he gets all that energy. I could certainly use some of it during the all-nighter missions I'm sometimes forced to work through. But yeah, I think it's time that we got out of here and let these two concentrate on what they should be doing next, Salem. There's nothing more we can really do to help them now."
"I guess that's all we can do at this point," the black cat agreed as he followed his younger brother towards the exit. He then suddenly stopped and turned around while pulling something out of his pockets. "I almost forgot; my contact said he had something important in here that he wanted to give you. Don't ask me what it is since he chose not to indulge me on the details. Just make sure you use it if you can to put Mephiles behind bars!"
With an expert flick of his wrist, the Interpol Agent threw an envelope towards the pair; Sonic fumbled with the catch before getting a firm grasp of it. By the time he looked up at the cat, the other had already left the room.
"That was a pretty quick escape," the cobalt hedgehog murmured before turning his attention to the envelope and opening it. "…Looks like it's a letter of sorts. I wonder why their contact would want to write us something."
"Dear Sonic and Tails," the letter started off as the pair silently read it to themselves. "I'm amazed at the work you've managed to conduct so far with the LK-9 Incident. At the same time, you've also provided Interpol with new hope that we'll be able to get one step closer in completing our case against the smuggling ring. You both definitely show great promise in the legal battlefield known as the law.
"However, I can only imagine how much trouble you're facing with the trial at this moment. Even as I'm writing this, I've heard that you managed to get Mephiles, the man we're currently interested in, to testify about his actions during the time of the LK-9 Incident. I do wish that I could be there myself to see the lies spewing out of him, but safety and protocol dictates that I stay away at this precarious point of time.
"Still, that doesn't keep me from writing you this letter. Knowing you Sonic, you're probably all concerned about how you're going to take down a man like Mephiles. I could tell you to not panic, but you'll probably do so anyway. Just remember to remain calm no matter what comes your way and to keep a clear head at all times.
"And if that still doesn't help, then perhaps the enclosed gift will be of greater use. Granted, I don't know if it will have any use for you by the time Salem is able to deliver this letter to you. Regardless, I do hope you'll find some use for it. Both you and Tails have managed to make it this far by working together; there's no reason you won't be able to see this through to the end with such stellar display of teamwork!
"Just remember the basics of being a defense attorney and always believe that your way of thinking is correct until proven wrong beyond all reasonable doubt. If there's ever a possible incongruity, even if it's the smallest of chances, take it and see what wonders you can work with it. Don't be afraid if Mephiles tries to knock you down; he's nothing more than a witness now. With a prosecutor such as Vector on the opposing side, most of your queries should be allowed provided they are pertinent to the trial.
"And if by some off-chance that you do need my help, I'll be in the courtroom watching the trial in the shadows waiting for the moment when I believe I'm needed. Of course, I hope that isn't the case as you've proven to be one of my most gifted understudies since I first started in the business of law. Your boss and mentor, Dr. Ivo Robotnik."
"DR. ROBOTNIK?!?!" both shouted so loudly that several people out in the hallways actually poked their heads in to see if everything was alright. Once the two noticed the crowd and sheepishly waved them away, they turned their attentions back towards one another. This time, they silently expressed their shock through their face alone.
"My boss is Salem's and Leon's contact here in Mobius?" Sonic exclaimed. "He's the one who actually put himself in the front line of trouble and worked his way up to become the smuggling ringleader's right hand man? He's actually an undercover Interpol Agent using his position as a law firm owner to hide in plain sight? I can't believe this!"
"Believe it or not, I doubt Dr. Robotnik would kid around over something of this magnitude," Tails suggested as he quickly recovered and took the empty envelope from the other's hand. "The fact that he chose to out himself to us at this point in time must mean he's confident in our abilities to close this case. And let's not forget that he decided to lend us some help by covertly delivering to us a piece of evidence he felt would be helpful."
Putting his hands into the envelope, the fox pulled out a photograph that had a timestamp on it from five years ago. To be more precise, it was on the day of the double murders about ten minutes before it took place! On it was Prosecutor Mephiles in a barely lit room leaning against a wooden crate while talking on his cell phone. In his other hand was something that looked a lot like an address book. A metal object which caught whatever little light was present glinted next to the old hedgehog's feet. When he turned the picture around, he noticed some scribbling that said "Potential arrangement of black market auction for smuggling ring. Taken in the Prycey Seafood Warehouse."
"This was taken in the warehouse ten minutes before the murder occurred?" the defense attorney questioned. "If that's true, then we might now be able to prove Mephiles was lying about where he was that evening! I mean, the warehouse and lighthouse are pretty close to each other. They're pretty much on the same block!"
Before he could say much else on the matter, the bailiff called out to them and mentioned that the recess was almost over.
"If you're planning on using this Five-Year-Old Photograph to help you out with that, then we better make sure he's in the corner with nowhere else to run," the fox reminded as they collected the evidence that was left to them by Salem. "He's already demonstrated how good he is at escaping through the smallest of flaws in our argument, so we have to make sure it's airtight before going with it. It may not be enough to prove that he's the murderer, but it'll at least deal a big blow against his overall credibility!"
"That's all I need right now!" the other exclaimed as he made his way back to the courtroom. "I just need to exploit his weakness and hit him before he knows what's coming. Now come on, Tails; let's knock this super prosecutor down a couple pegs and show him how a rookie attorney like me can beat him at his own game!"
New Evidence:
Print Report: Documents the prints that were found in the warehouse office. One of them belonged to Leon and were made during his entrapment. The second set were made from gloved hands and couldn't be identified. However, the gloved prints only touched certain areas of the room and indicated that the perpetrator knew exactly where to look for what they wanted.
Warehouse Office Diagram: A blueprint of where everything in the office was. It also has markings on it which demonstrate where the gloved prints and blood were found. Two prints were found on the handles of a file cabinet situated behind the desk. Another set was found all over the wall-mount safe. There were no other gloved prints to be found. The blood was found in the center of the room where a clean spot devoid of dust was found.
Blood Analysis: A forensics report done on the blood found in the warehouse office. While it had appeared recently, a proper examination of it couldn't be done because the composition had been destroyed with bleach. The only known clean sample was taken from Leon's nails from when he wounded the perpetrator, but that alone isn't enough to prove who it belonged to due to lack of a proper culprit.
Written Statement: A letter that was written by the fourth witness five years ago at the start of the LK-9 Incident. A handwriting analysis has shown that Mephiles was the one who wrote it out.
Letter: A document found in the lighthouse basement instructing Max Pryce to murder Lois. The handwriting analysis shows that it couldn't have been Mephiles who written it out. In fact, the penmanship of the letters seem to be a mash of various writing styles and suggests the writer is well-versed in differing writing formats. The proof that it was written out by the same person is the fact that the structure of the E and S when put together are consistently the same throughout the letter.
Ornamental Cane: The weapon used to kill Charles Hedgehog five years ago. The blood found on the serpent head's teeth couldn't be properly analyzed due to the interference of an organic substance in the composition. Upon further examination of the organic substance, it was discovered to be a special type of poison obtained only through a rare breed of snake found in the forests of Mobotropolis. There is no known cure for the poison, and the one inflicted is forced into a lifetime of specialized antibiotics only accessible through prescription. Also, the poison leaves an everlasting scar from where it enters the body; a bald spot is also present on anthropomorphs with fur.
Five-Year-Old Photograph: A picture taken by Dr. Robotnik five years ago. The time stamp shows it was taken just ten minutes before the double murders occurred along with scribbles on the back saying it was taken in the Prycey Seafood Warehouse. It shows Mephiles in a dimply lit area leaning against a crate and talking on his cell phone while looking through an address book. It's believed that he might've been trying to organize a black market auction for the smuggling ring. On the ground next to him is a shiny object made obscure due to it's glint.
Updated Evidence:
Charles' Autopsy Report: Charles was found dead with a single strike to the head with a blunt object. The bruises covering his body and on his fists show that he most likely struggled with his killer prior to dying. The murder weapon was the Ornamental Cane discovered to have been in Interpol custody for the past five years. The report makes no mention of any puncture wounds being found on the body.
New Profiles:
Charmy Bee: A young and hyper eight-year-old kid who works with Vector at the Chaotix Detective Agency. Because of Espio's arrest, he is currently the only one employed in the business at the moment. He had worked together with Leon in order to search the abandoned warehouse and procure new evidence for both Sonic and Vector to use in the LK-9 Incident.
Dr. Ivo Robotnik: A fifty-three-year-old defense attorney of some renown who owns and runs the Robotnik Law Firm. He served as Salem's and Leon's contact in Mobius and is thus himself an agent of Interpol. He has gotten himself close to the smuggling ringleader in order to learn as much as he possibly could about their covert operations. Despite not knowing for sure, he seems to indicate in his letter his belief that Mephiles is the ringleader on top of being a high-interest suspect in the LK-9 Incident.
Updated Profiles:
Mephiles: A sixty-five year old veteran prosecutor whose ruthlessness is well known both inside and out of the courtroom. He expects nothing but perfection in his work and condones from his opponents nothing short from a blatantly relevant question and an extremely well-based argument. Salem has pointed him out as being a person of interest for Interpol's smuggling ring; this has inadvertently turned him into a potential suspect for the LK-9 Incident.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that wonderful bombardment of evidence I just threw at you. To be perfectly honest, I don't know how I'm going to make it all work since I pretty much written them off as being useless. Then again, I'm sure I'll find some way to work around it. Strangely enough, it's a rule of mine that I don't commit to any major changes to the chapters once I have it on this site. I've always found ways to get through it before, so this time shouldn't be any different!
But yeah, I also decided to finally showcase what Dr. Robotnik's role in this story has been. For those of you who remember all those anonymous calls at the start of each case, they were Robotnik and, assumed at this point, Mephiles. Robotnik is, in fact, a member of Interpol and acts as a contact to other agents who happen to be in Mobius. I've read all the comments some of you had regarding Robotnik, and I'm sure most of you are surprised that he wasn't actually a true member of the smuggling ring organization.
Still, I'm personally not that happy with how Robotnik turned out for this story. I already knew at the beginning he was going to be a member of Interpol. I was just hoping that he would have a grander entrance as an Interpol Agent. Instead, I botched that moment up and had to settle for outing himself to Sonic and Tails through a letter as he can't really show himself off right now due to obvious safety and work-related reasons. Then again, it was better than just leaving you all to wonder just what was the reason Robotnik always went on those long business trips and never really made much of an appearance in this story other than acting as a figurehead for the law firm Sonic works at.
But yeah, I'll just go ahead and post all of the new evidence I introduced here and go to sleep. It's like 3:30 in the morning for me over here, and I'm dead tired getting this all ready. So please don't forget to leave a review before you move on. Until the next update to this wonderful mystery story everybody!