Badge & O'Possum: Ace Attorneys

by Mind Jack

In an increasingly crime-ridden Zootopia, murder is nothing new, and with it comes the need for a firm finger of justice to defend the innocent. Unfortunately for the innocent, their only defense might just be Eric Badge and Delilah O'Possum, a pair of civil lawyers who have never taken on a murder trial in their lives.

8. A Study in Turnabout: Part 5

Episode 2: A Study in Turnabout

Part 5: Get Racc'd

July 11th, 9:35 AM

Lower Canopy Upper Courthouse - Courtroom No. 4

The courtroom had descended into aimless muttering, many members of the gallery and jury alike wondering if they could just go home now. It was like watching a movie and contemplating how long you'd sit through the end credits just in case there was an extra surprise at the end.

There was certainly a lingering curiosity amongst them as they eyed the late Delilah O'Possum, currently laying flat on her back with her arms across her chest and her legs sticking straight up at a perfect 90 degree angle. Yet her bald pink feet were all that were visible to most.

SLAM

"Defense!" Judge Loggins had finally lost her patience. "Your little performance has gone on long enough. We're all very impressed, but please get up now."

"Your Honor, if I may," Eric said meekly, glancing back and forth between her and his fallen partner. "An opossum 'playing dead' is, in most cases, an involuntary biological response to danger. For all intents and purposes, lead counsel is comatose."

Loggins grew quiet, probably wondering if she was accidentally being offensive. "I see. Thank you for the zoology lesson, Mr. Badge. But I must admit, I'm not sure how to proceed. It is true that the trial is all but over, yet I feel conflicted ending it with Ms. O'Possum in this state."

"Go ahead and end it, Your Honor," Kyle suggested, already starting to tune out of the whole thing. "Even if she wakes, there's nothing she can do."

"Delilaaaaah…" Eric urged, nudging her limp form with his foot. "Now would be an excellent time to defy your instincts, please."

Delilah still didn't budge.

But her tail did. The appendage flopped around for a moment, as if trying to tell where it was. It brushed up against one of her legs, then started to climb it, slithering up like a snake until it reached her ankle. It curled around to her foot, and the tip gave it a little tickle.

"Gack!" Delilah kicked it violently away and shot back up, clutching the edge of the bench. "I LIIIIIIIVE!"

"Fantastic!" Kyle said cheerily. "But your case doesn't."

Objection!

Delilah slammed a single palm onto the bench. "Not so fast, VanDal! You know as well as I do that this isn't over yet!"

"He does?" Otterly Adorable asked in confusion.

Eric nodded, eyes brightening. "She's right! The defense is entitled to a closing argument! One last attempt to convince the jury to change its mind."

"You mean summation examination," Delilah corrected.

Eric rolled his eyes. "The ENTIRE WORLD calls it a closing argument, except here."

"Okay, but why though? It's not 'closing' anything."

"Well, the idea is that it's supposed to be the last part of the trial before the jury comes to a final decision."

"Wow, way to have faith in our case, Rick! It's only gonna be the last part if I screw it up!"

Loggins banged her gavel. "The defense will cease their international bickering!"

"And it will also assert its right to a summation examination!" Delilah proclaimed. "Mr. Badge can call it what he wants when he's lead counsel!"

"You would do this," Kyle growled. "Not only dragging out this trial even longer, but through an archaic procedure where I can't even interject."

"That part's more of a bonus."

"Fine. Have it your way." The raccoon leaned back, extending the handle of his cane to snatch up a bag of popcorn from somewhere unseen. "This should be entertaining at least."

"Wait, 'old up!" Classy Jaguar said. "You mean we still aren't done?!"

"Ooooh, I was hoping I'd get to be a part of one of these!" Otterly Adorable squealed, grinning ear to ear.

Biker Wolf put a paw to his head. "Ugh, I'm never makin' it to the morning derby…"

"The trial will go on as long as needed," Loggins said, not at all intimidated by the disgruntled jurors. "Members of the jury, please state the grounds on which you have voted guilty."

Judicial Findings

~ The Jurors' Squabbling ~

Juror No. 1 (Classy Jaguar): "I know a killer when I see one! The runt practically admits it!"

Juror No. 2 (Otterly Adorable): "I've seen what nogu toxin can do. I wouldn't trust anyone who handles that stuff."

Juror No. 3 (Biker Wolf): "There ain't no reason to believe this dang fish was even at the scene, so I've got no room for doubt!"

Juror No. 4 (Camo Mam): "This is all a waste of time. THEIR venom is far more dangerous than some lousy fish."

Juror No. 5 (Grumpy Yeen): "He had to have been killed by that poisoned wine, and the defendant was right there with it. Makes sense to me."

Juror No. 6 (Hipstapir): "Bleh. Seafood is so mainstream. I'd toss it right out, poison or not."

Delilah took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do this."

"You remember how?" Eric asked. "It was a rather small part in class."

Delilah hesitated. "...Remind me?"

Eric didn't chide or scold her for forgetting, just nodding patiently. "You have to convince a majority of the jury to swap their votes to not guilty. According to the textbook, at this point they're so set in their views that evidence won't help. You have to find contradictions between their statements, and pit them against each other."

"So, I just need to get a group of mammals to turn on each other for no real reason? Awesome! It'll be like the sorority house all over again!"

"I really need to know what happened in that place..." He shook his head. "Well, however you go about it, just be careful out there."

"Don't worry, Rick, I'm on the case!" Delilah leapt straight over the bench and headed out in front of the jury. "I'll keep 'em all guessing, just like Herlock Shounds!"

"Don't you mean Sherlock Hounds?" Eric asked, to no response. "Wait, that's not what you call him over here, right? Delilah?!"

Judicial Findings

~ The Defense's Rebuttal ~

Juror No. 1 (Classy Jaguar): "I know a killer when I see one! The runt practically admits it!"

Juror No. 2 (Otterly Adorable): "I've seen what nogu toxin can do. I wouldn't trust anyone who handles that stuff."

Hold it!

"You've seen what it can do?" Delilah asked. "How so?"

The otter gave a little squeak, clearly not expecting to be addressed but also pretty excited about it. "Oh! Pardon me, I actually work at a restaurant here in the Rainforest District. But you can probably tell that by the uniform and all… I, um, where was I?"

Delilah patiently waited for the poor thing to finish.

"Right! Delishafish. We used to serve it to our wealthier clientele."

"Used to?"

"Well… there was an incident." She nervously adjusted her glasses. "I hope I don't get an NDA violation for this… I delivered it to a customer once, but it seemed the chef made a mistake. It was improperly prepared and nearly cost him his life. Luckily, we managed to rush him to the ER just in time!"

"Wait, hold on. How is that possible?" Delilah pressed. "I thought the poison was supposed to be fast-acting, causing an almost instantaneous death. How did you manage to save him at all?"

"Oh, it's actually quite simple. See, it's true that the pufferfish's venom really is that deadly, when it's injected through contact with the spines. That's how it defends itself in its natural environment. Just a little fun fact. Ahem, anyway, it's a different story when it's cooked and eaten. Ingesting the toxin is still deadly, but the victim can survive for a few hours until then, depending on size and species and such."

"Is that so?" Delilah knew she shouldn't be smiling this wide after a story like that, but she couldn't help it. "Could you please alter your statement to include that?"

"Of course!" she said cheerfully. "Anything to help out!"

Juror No. 2 (Otterly Adorable): "The toxin is near-instantaneous when injected, but not when it's ingested."

Juror No. 3 (Biker Wolf): "There ain't no reason to believe this dang fish was even at the scene, so I've got no room for doubt!"

Juror No. 4 (Camo Mam): "This is all a waste of time. THEIR venom is far more dangerous than some lousy fish."

Juror No. 5 (Grumpy Yeen): "He had to have been killed by that poisoned wine, and the defendant was right there with it. Makes sense to me."

Objection!

Delilah pointed straight at Grumpy Yeen, while her tail pointed back at Otterly Adorable. "Those two statements contradict each other!"

"¿Qué?" The hyena shot upright. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"I-I don't get it either," the otter said, biting her lip. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Not at all!" Delilah said proudly, pacing back and forth in front of them. "According to your statement, the nogu toxin is not instantly fatal when it's cooked and eaten. Wouldn't that also apply to drinking it then?"

Her speckled eyes went wide as she jumped up. "Now that you mention it, I believe it would! Sorry that didn't occur to me. It's just… no one's ever tried to drink it around the restaurant before."

(I should hope not.) Delilah shook it off, maintaining her focus as she paced back towards the other end. "In which case, drinking it wouldn't kill Lord Tigre instantly either. But as Grumpy Yeen says, the wine was delivered at the same time as the defendant, and we know for a fact that Lord Tigre was already dead when Monty stabbed him."

"The hell did you just call me?!" Grumpy Yeen snarled.

"Don't change the subject! If these two facts remain true, then that can only mean one thing: Lord Tigre was not killed by the poisoned wine!"

The gallery went into an uproar while Grumpy Yeen rubbed her chin. "...Damn, you're right. Guess I've got no choice then. I need to see this thing through to the end."

She raised a fist as her torch lit again and she sent a fireball hurtling into the opposite side of the scales, weighing it ever-so-slightly back in their favor.

"What?!" Classy Jaguar roared. "Come on, don't youse turn tail on me now!"

"I don't recall ever working for you, gato," she replied.

Otterly Adorable gave a shaky nod. "I-I'm sorry, but I have to do the same. I can't condemn a mammal without solid evidence."

She hit the lever as well, but her hesitation made her hold back. And as the fireball flew over the heads of the other jurors, its residual embers veered a bit too close to Camo Mam…

"AAAAAGH! I KNEW YOU WERE ONE O' THEM!" he screamed, ghillie suit lit ablaze. Delilah looked away uncomfortably.

"Eep! I didn't mean to!" the otter squeaked. "Someone help him!"

Camo Mam was put out through the assistance of Biker Wolf and Grumpy Yeen, while Hipstapir didn't look too concerned at all. But most of the ghillie suit had been burned away, revealing the face of… an utterly nondescript fossa. "No! What have you done?! DON'T LOOK AT ME!" He desperately tried to hide his face behind the palm fronds.

(…I have no idea who you are.)

"It seems the scales are shifting," Loggins observed, glancing idly at her bench. "But not enough to continue the trial just yet. Proceed."

That fossa wasn't the only one who'd found a spark. (Two down, two to go!)

Juror No. 2 (Otterly Adorable): "I suppose it's possible he wasn't killed by the wine after all."

Juror No. 3 (Biker Wolf): "There ain't no reason to believe this dang fish was even at the scene, so I've got no room for doubt!"

Juror No. 4 (Camo Cat): "I SAID DON'T LOOK AT ME!"

Juror No. 5 (Grumpy Yeen): "It gives me a headache just thinking about it, but maybe…"

Juror No. 6 (Hipstapir): "Bleh. Seafood is so mainstream. I'd toss it right out, poison or not."

Hold it!

"What do you mean by that?" Delilah demanded.

Hipstapir rolled his eyes. "Get with the program. There's no way he ate any fish. If I was mad enough to fire my whole staff, and then that crackpot camel served me a pathetic dish like that—"

Humphrey not-so-subtly pulled another knife from his drawer.

"—I'd have been so pissed that I'd chuck the whole plate straight out the window!"

Delilah was about to lay into him, but stopped herself. (Wait a minute. What if he's actually onto something?)

"Do you think you can turn their thinking around?" Eric asked from the sidelines.

"Working on it," she said back. "Poor Kyle must be beside himself just having to sit back and watch all this."

"Erm… yes, about that…" Eric pointed a clawed finger over at the prosecutor's bench.

"….Zzzzz." Kyle was slumped up against the wall, fast asleep with his arms crossed. It seemed even the half-eaten bag of popcorn wasn't enough.

"Grrrrr! Then I'm gonna give him one hell of a wake up call!"

Juror No. 1 (Classy Jaguar): "I know a killer when I see one! The runt practically admits it!"

Juror No. 2 (Otterly Adorable): "I suppose it's possible he wasn't killed by the wine after all."

Juror No. 3 (Biker Wolf): "There ain't no reason to believe this dang fish was even at the scene, so I've got no room for doubt!"

Objection!

Delilah pointed at him, and at Hipstapir. "Those two statements are also faulty!"

Hipstapir scoffed. "What, did I offend you or something?"

"Yeah, what's the big idea?" Biker Wolf asked.

"You stated that you have no reason to believe the fish was ever at the scene," Delilah said, pacing once again. "But! I believe we've just heard what might have happened to it. Think back to the crime scene. We already know that Lord Tigre didn't eat his Delishafish that morning, so if he were somehow given a second plate of it, he probably wouldn't have been too receptive of that either. Just enough to take a bite or two before tossing it out, and I do mean that literally!"

Hipstapir still wasn't impressed. "I was just being dramatic, you know. He could've just used the trash can."

"No way!" Biker Wolf argued, pinching his nose. "That stuff would reek to high heaven in no time!"

"I can personally confirm that there was no fish in his trash either," Delilah said.

"Why, did you dig through it?" Hipstapir asked.

"I choose not to answer that! Instead, I assert that the reason no poisoned fish was found at the scene is because Lord Tigre disposed of it with extreme prejudice! By throwing it out the window right in front of him!"

"You've gotta be kiddin'!" Biker Wolf sputtered out. "That's crazier than a fox bein' outfoxed by another fox! But you made yer point alright. I can't argue that."

He hit his lever, sending another fireball into the not guilty side as Camo Cat ducked.

"Laaaame," Hipstapir groaned. "But I'm basically the one who came up with it, so just as long as you credit me."

He hit his lever and just like that, four flames counterbalanced the scales, now tipping them in the direction of a not guilty verdict.

"Unbelievable!" Classy Jaguar spat. "You all make me sick!"

"Same to you, Spots!" Biker Wolf spat back, the two natural enemies growling at each other.

"Easy, easy," Otterly Adorable pleaded, smiling nervously from in between them. "Let's try to be friends here. Um, please?"

Loggins didn't intervene right away. Mainly because the beaver was busily chewing away at her own bench at the moment. Upon being spotted, she hurriedly sat up straight and banged her gavel. "O-Order in the court! Break it up, you two. Anyway, it looks like the trial must indeed continue. Detective MacTalon, if you would?"

MacTalon nodded, casually walking up to Kyle before... "WAKE UP, MAGGOT!"

The whole court had to cover their ears. Delilah actually fell over backwards.

Kyle slowly opened his eyes. "Call me a maggot again and we'll be having words at your upcoming pay raise interview."

MacTalon flinched. "Uh... Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!"

"Anyhow," Kyle continued with a sigh. "Defense. I caught the tail-end of whatever inane nonsense you were spouting and I'm afraid your theory is impossible. If the fish had been thrown out the window, it would have been found. Either by the police, or by Ms. Nepeta."

"Nyauuhhhhhh…"

Ria suddenly looked incredibly sheepish, biting her lip and hiding her face beneath her hat.

Delilah grinned. "Do you have something to say, Ms. Nepeta?"

"...Okay, don't be mad, but I… uh… maybe sorta did find something like that?" she admitted, rubbing the back of her head.

Kyle's eye twitched violently. "You what?"

"So, it's like this, dude. I thought I was seein' things at first," Ria explained. "There was a little plate of sushi or something, a small ways away from the window. I didn't wanna touch the stuff. It was all slimy and gross and stank to high heck. So I sorta just... kicked some dirt over it?"

Ria's Testimony updated in the Court Record

The gallery exploded in muttering.

Kyle clutched his chest as if he'd been shot. "YOU…!"

"Nyaaaaack!" Ria clutched both sides of her hat and pulled it down over her face. "H-Hey, relax, dude! It's way too early for these harsh vibes you're sendin'!"

"Order!" Loggins banged her gavel, but nobody quieted down.

"Your Honor!" Delilah shouted above the maelstrom of noise. "If this is true, then it supports my theory! The defense demands that the yard be searched for that buried fish!"

"That does sound reasonable under the circumstances," Loggins admitted. "Prosecutor VanDal, what is your opinion on the matter?"

"My opinion?" he asked, pulling himself together. "My opinion… is that this is finally getting interesting."

MacTalon just stood there awkwardly for a moment. "So… order the search…?"

"Yes, order the damn search!"

---

10:02 AM

Lower Canopy Upper Courthouse - Courtroom No. 4

Only about ten minutes after Kyle ordered the damn search, Detective MacTalon returned to the witness stand, visibly annoyed.

Even with shades on, Delilah could tell she was glaring daggers at her. "Soooo… What did you fi—?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK, MAGGOT?!" She finally pulled off the shades, stuffing them angrily into her pocket. "We found the fish. Buried, just like Pothead Planter said."

"Heeeeeey, good job!" Ria congratulated her, giving a big grin and a thumbs-up.

"Don't talk to me. Your fumes are chemical warfare."

"Focus, Detective," Kyle said. "Tell us more about this fish."

"Sure thing. The boys at Casa Tigre sent over a print." She pulled out the large-scale image, holding it up for all the court to see.

The red and white pufferfish looked even less appetizing than usual, covered in dirt splotches and already starting to fall apart. The plate it came on was still mostly intact despite being frisbeed out a window, as was the silverware. Or in this case, goldware, because of course it was. Either way it had seen some use as a good chunk of the fish was missing, cleanly cut away from the rest.

In the brief time it had taken to conduct the search, the judge's bench had been marred by several more bite marks. "My word!" Loggins gasped. "This… This lines up completely with what the defense has asserted!"

Spoiled Delishafish added to the Court Record

"Ms. Nepeta!" the judge scolded. "How could you conceal such important evidence?!"

"Hey, it's not my fault," the cheetah drawled. "It wasn't 'evidence' back then, it was just 'garbage'. And I don't 'pay' attention to 'garbage', Your 'Honor'."

"…Witness, I've been meaning to ask, but are you actually high right now?"

"Of course not, silly! You are! I'm down here!"

Kyle decided it best to interject. "Ms. Nepeta is an avid user of catnip, Your Honor. Prescription, apparently."

Ria nodded. "It's socially frowned-upon, but not technically illegal!"

(Why do I get the feeling she's rehearsed that?)

Rather than argue, Loggins just gave a frustrated sigh. "Moving on. How did the fish even end up in the study then?"

"Oh, that's an easy one," Delilah assured.

Eric blinked. "Is it really?"

Delilah folded her arms, giving a smug grin. "Oh yeah. In fact, there's only one mammal who could have brought the poisoned fish to Lord Tigre. If he wants to confess, I'll give him the chance to now."

There was a beat of silence, followed by a high pitched whine for several seconds. Then Sunny Urshine exploded into tears, bawling a full river.

The sun bear was an absolute mess of snot and other fluids, but he managed to get out four words: "Ihihihit was an accideheheheheeeent!"

Delilah nodded in understanding. "That it was. You were the only one with a key to the study. I'm guessing you saw that spare fish just left out and abandoned, and wanted to cheer up Lord Tigre by bringing him something to eat?"

Sunny sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve, and nodded vigorously. "T-That's right. You have to understand, I-I was just trying to get back in his good graces! I knew he didn't eat any of his breakfast and he hadn't left his study since. I figured he had to be getting hungry. So around lunchtime, I quickly snuck back over to the kitchen to see if I could find anything. The chef wasn't around, but right out on the counter…"

"Sunny, you imbecile!" Chef Humphrey snapped "That fish was ice cold by then! And deadly!"

(I think that says more about the guy who just left it out for anyone to find.)

Sunny's Testimony updated in the Court Record

"Lunchtime…" Delilah said to herself. "So this was about noon?"

Sunny nodded again, staring down at the floor. "It didn't really look good, but neither did the other batch. I was desperate."

Humphrey looked like he wanted to gut him even more now, but Delilah could sympathize. "Let's recap. According to one very helpful juror, the nogu toxin takes a few hours to kill when ingested." Otterly Adorable blushed. "That means Lord Tigre couldn't have been killed by the poisoned wine even if he did drink it, as it was only delivered shortly before his time of death. But now we know he was given an earlier meal at noon, and died between 3-4 PM. I think the court can see what I'm getting at."

Sunny certainly did. "Y-You mean… Lord Tigre died… because of… me?"

His whole upper body flopped onto the witness stand as the bear bawled his eyes out. "I'M THE WORST BODYGUARD EVEHEHEHEHEHEHEHER!"

His outburst made the whole court grow silent, hearing only Sunny's sobs reverberating around the tree.

(Poor guy.) "There you have it," Delilah finished. "Seems this whole case, just like our dear bear said, was nothing but a tragic acc—"

Unacceptable!

The sudden interjection made the gallery, jury, defense, and judge jump.

An extremely agitated Kyle VanDal raised his cane high above the prosecutor's bench, then brought it down, slamming the bench hard enough to make a crack like a gunshot. "No. Just no. You did not just make me sit through a summation examination for a resolution this anticlimactic."

"But you just slept through it anyw—AAAH!" Delilah's tail shot up to deflect a finger bullet.

"I'm sorry, Ms. O'Possum, but this case is no accident. Firstly, because that would be boring. Secondly, because you're forgetting something. Whether the victim drank it or not, the wine bottle was poisoned with the same pufferfish toxin. That could only have been done with intent."

"So what? We've just proven that the wine isn't even relevant anymore!"

"It seems you've also forgotten who's on trial here," Kyle said, pushing up his glasses. "The culpability of Montgomery Gosland has never been in question. The only question we need to answer is what exactly he is culpable of. And I have yet to hear any proof that he didn't poison the wine, which is a crime regardless of its ultimate role or lack thereof."

"I have to agree with the prosecution," Loggins admitted. "It would be premature to end the trial before the full scope of the defendant's crimes have been made clear."

Monty nodded. "That sounds fair."

(Why couldn't I just get a client who's FULLY innocent?)

"I suppose I'll ask just for posterity," Kyle started, looking over at her. "If you claim that Mr. Gosland did not poison the wine, then who do you think did?"

"Well, Delilah?" Eric asked. "We were finally getting somewhere. We can't lose momentum now."

The possum closed her eyes for a moment, mulling it over. (Come on, don't overthink this one. Given the circumstances, there's really only one mammal it COULD be.)

She opened her eyes again. "Alright then. I'll tell you. Our mysterious wine poisoner is none other than…"

Delilah pointed sharply at the four mammals behind the witness stand. "Chef Humphrey! It had to have been you!"

"Me?!" The camel jolted back, making several pots and pans clatter in protest. "I'm a world class chef! How dare you accuse me of tampering with an order!"

(World class my ass.) "Setting aside your… questionable credentials, you were in a perfect position to have done the deed. With a supply of nogu in stock, you had access to the poison. And we already know you handled the wine bottle directly, thanks to MacTalon's testimony. Because of your hooves, you wouldn't have left any evidence of your tampering either."

"So that's it then? I'm guilty because I didn't leave evidence?!" Humphrey reached into his cabinet and pulled out a steel ladle, which he slammed onto the stand with a loud clang. "You'll have to do better than that, bottom-feeder!"

"For shame, defense," Kyle said, shaking his head. "The ability to commit the crime does not a guilty mammal make. If you have nothing else, then I'm afraid we must disregard your—"

Hold it!

That was Humphrey. "Not so fast! This lawyer has insulted my honor as a culinary professional. I wish to testify against these slanderous accusations."

"No, seriously, you don't have to—"

"Go ahead, refute me all you want!" Delilah taunted, doing a 'bring it' gesture with her tail tip. "Come at me, bro!"

Kyle sighed deeply.

"As the witness wishes," Loggins said with a shrug. "Chef Humphrey, please testify as to your role in the wine delivery."

Humphrey drew a cleaver into each hoof, scraping them together as he stared down Delilah. "Of course. I'll whip up a fresh new testimony, the likes of which you've never seen!"

(Just keep me off the menu, please.)

Witness

Testimony

~ The Humphrey Special ~

"I got that little deviled egg's order for the wine not long before the murder."

"I went down to the wine cellar to get it, and brought it back up to the cart."

"I never did anything else to the wine. Monty was the only one who left prints on it."

"So it's that noodle who was wet with blood!"

"You're saying that Monty requested the wine order?" Delilah asked. (Just like Sunny said.)

"That's right," Humphrey confirmed, looking a bit smug as he twirled his cleavers around. Sunny just looked incredibly nervous standing right next to him. "That whole sordid event started with him. You can't pin it on me just because I provided the wine!"

(We'll see about that.)

Kyle smirked. "I bet the defense right now is thinking 'we'll see about that'. A rather unprofessional attitude, I must say."

"I have to agree," Loggins said. "Ms. O'Possum, please try to take this more seriously."

"I-I didn't even say anything!" (He knows me too well.)

"In any case, you may begin your cross-examination."

Cross

Examination

~ The Humphrey Special ~

"I got that little deviled egg's order for the wine not long before the murder."

"I went down to the wine cellar to get it, and brought it back up to the cart."

Hold it!

"Where was the cart at the time?" Delilah asked.

"In the dining room, just outside the kitchen doors. Sunny makes these deliveries regularly, so it's an easy spot for both of us."

"Wouldn't that have made it difficult for Monty to stow away on it?"

"Not as much as you'd think, you spoiled anchovy. The dining room is barely in use outside of mealtimes and I'm usually too busy in the kitchen to notice anyone out there."

"But the knife was stolen from your kitchen?"

"Like I told you, that was just after the breakfast announcement. Things were… hectic."

"It would have been the ideal moment," Kyle noted. "Everyone was distracted by the bombshell Lord Tigre dropped. By the sound of things, Chef Humphrey wasn't even in his kitchen at the time."

"Of course I wasn't!" The camel banged a hefty frying pan against the stand. "I was out arguing with Lord Tigre over…" He reigned himself in, "…his decision."

(This would be EXACTLY the time to argue that any of them could've stolen it if we didn't already know for a fact that it was Monty.)

"I can confirm, that is indeed when I stole the knife," Monty helpfully added. "I am much smaller than the other residents, so I easily slipped by undetected. It was after I requested the wine later on that I then snuck onto the cart."

She groaned. "Thanks…"

"I never did anything else with the wine. Monty was the only one who left prints on it."

Hold it!

"So he really doesn't have any other reason to have touched the wine bottle?"

"None." Humphrey shook his head firmly. "He merely requested the order. He shouldn't have even been in the vicinity of it."

"Then maybe he can help clear this up," Delilah turned to Monty. "Why did you touch the bottle?"

"Hm?" The mongoose toyed with his spectacles. "You know, I honestly cannot remember."

"You freely admit that you stabbed Lord Tigre and now you're being vague?" Delilah slammed a palm on the bench. "I don't buy it!"

"There's no need to purchase what is given freely," Monty replied smoothly.

Kyle snorted. "Good one."

"Thank you."

"But isn't it weird?" Delilah pointed out. "If he really poisoned the wine, why wouldn't he own up to that too? We know now that it didn't kill Tigre, so why lie?"

"Maybe he's embarrassed because he thought it would be immediately lethal when it wasn't," Kyle said with a shrug. "But it would be another attempted murder charge regardless, so he'd have reason to lie just to reduce his sentence."

"That is a factually true statement," Monty agreed.

(And yet he's somehow being TOO honest.)

"So it's that noodle who was wet with blood!"

Hold it!

"That still doesn't mean it could only have been him!" Delilah stressed. "We've already established that you too had a window of opportunity, and even Sunny could've poisoned it if he wanted!"

Sunny gasped. "N-No please, not again! I swear I didn't do iiiiiiiiiiit!" He sobbed into his sleeves.

"Actually, it wouldn't have been possible for him," Monty explained. "The only time Sunny would have had access to the poison was when he delivered the fish earlier in the day, and he clearly didn't know about it then. Also, I find the subject slightly tactless to bring up around him right now."

Objection!

In the middle of chewing on her bench, Loggins did a double-take, not quite sure she heard that right. "I'm sorry, is the defense objecting to… the defendant?"

"Damn right, I am!" Delilah glared at the mongoose. "What is your deal, Gosland?! You're practically prosecuting yourself here!"

"And I do appreciate the break," Kyle admitted. "Spares my throat from having to shout across the courtroom all the time."

"I'm just trying to establish the facts," Monty said simply. "You know how confusing these things can get."

(This coming from the King of Confusion himself?) "So, just to be clear then, you don't admit to poisoning the wine?"

"Correct."

"But you also don't disagree with Chef Humphrey's assertion that you're the only one who could have?"

"Logically, he raises some good points."

"And that doesn't seem strange to anyone else?"

Hold it!

That was Humphrey again. "As a matter of fact, it does! Why are you agreeing with me, you little grease stain?! I know you stole my knife, and with the express purpose of framing me for the murder!" He had a cleaver back in hoof, pointing it around Sunny and at the butler.

(Something about this seems off, but I'm not sure what yet.) "Chef Humphrey, could you please add that last comment to your testimony?"

He looked back at her in surprise. "Huh? Oh, uh, sure."

"He even tried to frame ME for the murder!"

Hold it!

"And why exactly do you think that?"

"What do you mean 'why'? You know damn well he was trying to plant my knife!"

Delilah would've commented on that, but something else caught her attention.

"Nyahuuuuuh…?"

Ria's head was tilted up and she looked unsure, even moreso than usual.

Hang on!

"Something on your mind, Ms. Nepeta?" (Please be something good. Or at least relevant.)

"Eh?" Ria was suddenly snapped back to reality. "Oh. Yeah. Ya see, when Sunny and I found Monty playing with the knife, we had no idea he was trying to frame Humphrey."

"Th-That's right!" Sunny agreed, touching his clawtips together nervously. "When we found him, Monty was putting the knife in his own cubbyhole in the servant's quarters."

Kyle facepalmed. "I'm honestly not sure if the defendant is confessing out of guilt, or just because he's extraordinarily bad at criminal activity."

Delilah, though, had much more on her mind. (Yeah, there's definitely something about this testimony that doesn't make sense. Should I speak up?)

"Wait just a second," she said. "Now that you mention it, neither of you did specify where he was planting the knife when we spoke to you at Casa Tigre."

"I stood outside that door and didn't budge an inch. Up until Monty was caught with that knife anyway."

"Guy yelled at me for tracking mud, but I gestured wildly at the door to the quarters 'till he got the message. We caught Monty inside, trying to plant the knife."

"And you weren't present the only other time it was brought up during the trial," she continued. "But that isn't true of all of you. One of you did seem to know, before the trial even started."

"A little while later, Monty was caught and, well, I found it again. Can't say I appreciate the attempt to frame me, but I'm glad it worked out otherwise."

"Chef Humphrey!" Delilah turned her attention back to the camel. "I'll ask again. Why exactly did you think our client was intending to frame you?"

Humphrey jolted, hard enough to make a few utensils slide out of his drawers to clatter on the floor. "I-Isn't it obvious? The knife belonged to me, so it's only natural that I'd think he was trying to frame me by stealing it."

"Just as I suggested earlier," Kyle added. "The knife was intended as a misdirect all along."

"I wonder…" Delilah said, "...if it's more of a 'misdirect' than even you realize."

Kyle stared intently, challenging her with his gaze. "Explain."

"Since you've been keeping track so well, remind me. Why is it again that we even know about this supposed frame job?"

"That's because…" Kyle suddenly stiffened, gritting his teeth. "Gosland."

"I see you've remembered." Delilah took this rare opportunity to return his own smirk. "That's right. Monty himself is the only primary source we have on this. What was that you said before about never trusting the word of the defendant? Guess that doesn't apply to a confession of guilt, huh?"

"Kch…!" Kyle fell back, his glasses askew, before he swiftly readjusted them. "But why?" he demanded. "Why on earth would he lie about something like that? All it gains him is another charge!"

"…" Monty was, naturally, tight-lipped this time.

(He's not wrong. But there must have been SOME reason for him to lie about this. For Humphrey to even back him up on it… Wait. Could it be?) "I think I can explain it," she said confidently.

"You can?" Kyle asked.

"You can?" Eric asked.

"You can?" Loggins asked.

"Ya can?" Biker Wolf asked.

(Okay, feeling less sure now.) "There's one reason I can think of for Monty to claim he was framing Chef Humphrey. And that reason is…"

She suddenly wasn't sure how to finish that sentence.

- he wanted to stick it to the chef.

- he had to blame somebody.

- he was covering for him.

Delilah slammed her desk. "By claiming he was going to frame Chef Humphrey, Monty was in fact covering for him! Just as he's been covering for him during my cross-examination. If we all believed the chef to be the target of an attempted frame-up, then that would put him above suspicion of wrongdoing himself."

"Ah yes, back to your theory about the chef being the poisoner," Kyle said. "The one that you still have no actual proof for. Even if that were true, what reason would the defendant have to protect him? Surely he must have known he'd just be blamed for the poisoning as well."

Delilah looked back at the two mammals in question. Both were looking away and sweating nervously, Monty hurriedly sipping tea while Humphrey made a show of rummaging through his drawers.

(This is what it's all led to. It's the only explanation that makes sense. I just have to come out and say it.)

Delilah never had much of a verbal filter, so it wasn't too hard for her. "He's trying to protect him because they're both in this together. Humphrey wasn't just his co-worker, he was his willing accomplice!"

"T-That's a load of baloney!" Humphrey exclaimed, slamming the witness stand hard enough to make his hat pop off. He quickly grabbed it out of the air, only to accidentally spurt salt in his face. "AAAAH! MY EYEEEEES!"

Delilah had heard (and used) some good synonyms of the word insane. She'd been to some crazy college parties, had definitely had some wild moments at Mystic Spring. But at that moment, there was really only one appropriate word to use here.

The court went nuts. Voices flooded in from all over the gallery.

"What the hell?"

"Is the possum playing, Mommy?"

"She can't be serious."

"The possum, or the lady who brought her kit to a murder trial?"

"Order!" Loggins shouted, glaring down at Delilah. "Ms. O'Possum! Do you have any idea what you're saying?"

"This doesn't even help your case!" Kyle agreed, practically drilling his anger into her with his eyes alone. "If anything, it would just show more levels of premeditation!"

"Oh, I think it helps me more than you know," Delilah replied, keeping up a smirk just to annoy him even further. "In fact, if what I think is true, this could challenge the foundation of the entire case."

Kyle glared, and swung a finger to point at her. She felt more than ever like she was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. "Then prove it! If this is anything more than you being stupid, then you better show some evidence before I put one between your eyes!"

"Y-Yeah!" Humphrey insisted, his own eyes watery and bloodshot. "Any evidence that ties us together is purely circumstantial!"

"Maybe! Except for the most important evidence of all!" Delilah snapped back. "This should be enough to prove that Humphrey was Monty's accomplice!"

Take that!

"It's the OG fake murder weapon itself: the knife that stabbed Lord Tigre!"

"How does that prove anything?" Kyle asked, finger gun still trained on her.

"This has been bugging me for a while. You see, the only knife Monty would've had access to is the knife used to prepare the victim's breakfast. All the others are in Humphrey's big box on his back. He's claimed as much himself."

"Your point being?"

"A chef takes care of his tools," she replied. "He wouldn't give the tool he uses for such a specialized dish away so easily. If he's an accomplice, I bet he'd have given Monty a different knife."

Humphrey's red eyes widened. Even Monty looked uncharacteristically frustrated, just dumping what was left of his tea on the floor.

"Where are you going with this?" Kyle demanded. "That is no evidence!"

"You want evidence? Just look at the thing! According to everything we've heard about Delishafish, it requires very delicate and precise cuts to not screw it up. But the knife that was used to stab Lord Tigre is something I'd carve a turkey with! There's no way those two knives were one and the same!"

"You're full of shiitake!" Humphrey roared, accidentally dislodging his hat again. As soon as he caught it, he got a facefull of pepper. "ACHOO! ACHOO!"

"Waaaaaaah!" Kyle's finger gun backfired and he reeled back, hunching over as he clutched his trembling wrist. "Rrrrgh… Witness. Can you explain this contradiction?"

"W-Well…" The camel sniffled uncontrollably. "I m-must have been mistaken about which knife he stole… T-That's right! He used to work under a thief! He must've p-picked up the skills to swipe the blade right outta my back!"

Delilah shook her head. "Even if he could, why would he? It would've been much easier to simply steal the one you already had out."

He flinched. "T-Then I made a mistake in which knife I used! I… I must've used the wrong knife to prepare the Delishafish! No wonder it c-came out wrong the first time!"

"This is just getting embarrassing," Eric said. "Especially for a professional chef."

Delilah smiled. "That's because he's neither professional nor a chef!"

"I'm fairly certain he's still a chef…"

"All we have to do now is examine the knife used to stab Lord Tigre. If it was the same knife as our witness claims, then it should still have traces of nogu pufferfish. If it wasn't, then the only reasonable explanation for Monty getting ahold of it is that Humphrey gave it to him!"

Still sniffling, the camel could only glare through tear-soaked eyes.

"That proof enough for you? If you can't take the heat…" Delilah pointed firmly at him. "Stay out of the courtroom!"

Her one-liner didn't make a lot of sense. It didn't have to.

"FFFFFFFFFFFF-ETTUCCINE!" Chef Humphrey staggered back, his hat falling off completely.

But that wasn't all. His sweat loosened the drawers and they fell out one by one, letting loose a deluge of forks, knives, spoons, shears, scissors, spatulas, presses, peelers, measuring cups in every size, whisks, ladles, pots, pans, mixing bowls, serving bowls, sieves, strainers, mashers, graters, pizza cutters, can openers, open cans, and one very sturdy blender.

With all that weight suddenly gone, Humphrey lost his balance and fell forward onto the witness stand, a steady stream of water shooting out of his mouth like a fountain.

(What do you know? He's even got the kitchen sink.)

Judge Loggins shook her head. "What a mess. Bailiff, please clean up the witnesses's cutlery."

The anteater bailiff looked down and sighed before fetching a broom. A big broom.

A few minutes later, the floor was mostly kitchenware-free and Chef Humphrey had composed himself again. "I'd say stick a fork in me, but I think I'm fresh out. Congrats, Ms. O'Possum. You got me."

"So you admit it?" she asked. "You and Monty worked together in a plot to murder Lord Tigre?"

Humphrey opened his mouth, but seemed unable to bring himself to say it.

Monty did it for him. "I suppose there's no point hiding it now. Yes, the two of us were partners in crime."

Monty's Testimony updated in the Court Record

(Still not the greatest words to hear from my own client, but…) "When did this happen?"

The two shared an indecipherable glance.

"Shortly after the terminations were announced," Humphrey replied. "Monty approached me in the kitchen and we came up with the murder plot together. Everyone else was distracted, so we had plenty of time to cook something up. Monty even suggested I give him the same knife I was already using to cover our tracks, but…" He sighed. "My pride as a chef got in the way. It was my first time successfully preparing Delishafish and I didn't want to risk losing that knife to the ZPD."

(And again, it would've been covered in the victim's blood, but I guess that's beside the point.)

Kitchen Knife updated in the Court Record

Humphrey's Testimony updated in the Court Record

"So if the plan all along was for Monty to stab him, why even bother with the poison?"

"It was a contingency plan," Monty answered. "As far as we knew, I would only have one shot to kill Lord Tigre. In the event that I failed for whatever reason, the poisoned wine would finish the job. Nothing like a murder attempt to make a guy want a stiff drink." He sipped some tea.

Humphrey nodded. "I knew about the delay in ingesting the poison, of course. But I figured that would only muddle up the time of death. Needless to say, him being dead to begin with wasn't exactly part of the recipe. If we'd known that, we wouldn't have even bothered."

"And yet, the fact that he was already dead means that your attempted murder was just that," Eric pointed out. "Attempted. You must be pretty relieved that this was all an accident."

Kyle's eye twitched a bit, but he said nothing.

"I guess so." Humphrey let out a small breath. "Depends how bad the courts treat us."

"This is an extremely complicated legal issue," Loggins acknowledged. "Regardless of if you succeeded, you very much planned and attempted to execute a murder, then lied about it both to authorities and under oath."

(Wait, there was an oath? I don't remember an oath.)

"In any case, it seems we have finally reached the truth," Loggins continued. "In an ironic turn of events, the one responsible for Lord Tigre's death turned out to be the only one not trying to kill him."

Sunny closed his eyes and looked away in shame, while Ria slowly raised her paw. "Uhhh, I didn't go along with their plan either."

Loggins glared. "No, you're just guilty of criminal laziness."

"I can live with that. I'm used to underachieving."

"Just one more question," Delilah said, looking back at the two perpetrators. "This was all motivated by Lord Tigre's announcement, right? Otherwise, Humphrey could've just served him the poisoned fish to begin with and played dumb."

"I didn't yet have motive to kill when I made that fish," Humphrey confirmed. "It's only after what he did to us that…" He cut himself off.

"'Us'? You mean, you and the rest of the staff?"

"Our reasons are our own," Monty answered for him. "We refuse to say anything further."

Humphrey nodded in agreement. Even Sunny and Ria went deathly silent.

(That incident at breakfast is sitting at the center of this entire case. And even after all that, we STILL don't know the full story!) It didn't look like they were about to get it either. The only thing that cleared up was that none of the servants were as in the dark as they claimed to be.

Judge Loggins was satisfied enough though. "Has the jury reached a verdict?" she asked, looking down at them as the jurors muttered amongst themselves.

"This could be it, Rick," Delilah said.

"It could…" Eric replied. "But then, why does Kyle look so calm?"

The raccoon was just leaning up against the wall, staring off into space. He caught Eric looking over and gave him a friendly little wave.

"…Oh yeah, something's wrong here."

"I believe we're ready!" Camo Cat announced. "For the record, I don't discount the idea of the bear bein' some kinda spy, but he ain't the one on trial 'ere. A pity." He slammed his lever, sending a fireball into the not guilty side. Now it was 5-1, leaning towards acquittal.

Classy Jaguar crossed his arms and growled a few crass words to himself before speaking up. "Alright, youse made some good points. I still don't trust that mongoose, but all I care about right now is gettin' back ta business." He raised his fist as well.

Objection!

Delilah slammed both palms on the bench. "Kyle, just goddamn do it already, we all know you're going to!"

Kyle quirked his head. "Why, I haven't the foggiest idea what you mean."

"Don't give me that! You were gonna wait until the last possible second and then shout 'Objection!' and come out with some brand new theory to throw everything off again! Just get it over with!"

"Hmmmmmmm, nope. I've got nothing. Good show all around."

Classy Jaguar was still just holding his fist in the air. "…Can I hit the thing yet?"

"In fact," Kyle continued, adjusting his glasses, "I believe it's your theory that warrants further investigation."

"What do you mean, Prosecutor VanDal?" Loggins asked.

"Exactly what I said. While a lot of this sounds reasonable, there's still one part of this whole theory that lacks any evidence whatsoever: the part about this being an accident."

"Sunny's not the one on trial here," Delilah argued. "Whether he did it on purpose is completely irrelevant."

"Why would you even say that?" the bear whimpered.

"I agree!" Kyle said, nodding along. "He seems like a loyal mammal who only wanted to please his boss. A fact that I'm guessing was well-known around the house?"

Delilah's tail went rigid as she understood what he was getting at.

Humphrey, not seeing it, nodded in agreement. "He's a good guy. A bit brown-nosey, but good."

"Aww, thanks!" Sunny smiled.

"...So it was possible that he was purposefully taken advantage of," Kyle finished. "After all, there was already one contingency plan in place, what's one more?"

Loggins thought it over. "You mean to suggest that the poisoned fish may have been left out for Mr. Urshine deliberately?"

"What's easier to believe? That, or the idea that a trained, professional chef could be dumb enough to just leave a highly-toxic dish out in plain sight?"

Otterly Adorable frowned. "Now that he mentions it…"

"That sounds fishier than… the fish!" Biker Wolf added.

"Which is it, Chef Humphrey?" Kyle asked. "Was this Plan C? Or just a textbook example of Hamlon's Razor?"

Humphrey flinched, gritting his teeth as he struggled to form a response.

(Uh oh. His chefly pride is getting to him again.)

Objection!

"Humphrey's also not the one on trial here!" Delilah argued, starting to sweat profusely.

"I know!" Kyle agreed gleefully. "His accomplice is. The one whose actions you just linked directly to Humphrey's. Thanks for proving they were working together for me. That was real nice of you." He winked, shooting another finger gun.

"GAAACK!" Delilah clutched her heart, falling dead on the floor, before springing up again immediately. "Y-You have no evidence to prove intent!"

"I don't," he conceded. "But what I do have is a big heap of reasonable doubt. Your Honor, I would like to formally request an extension on today's proceedings. We have learned many new facts this morning, and I believe we can't rightly conclude the trial without further investigation of Casa Tigre."

"H-HEY!" Classy Jaguar roared. "Hold the hell on! Youse gonna try and drag me back here again?! I don't think so!" He immediately slammed his lever to send a fireball into the scales, changing the leaning to... 5-1. "What?!"

He turned and glared at Biker Wolf, who had just finished reverting his vote back to guilty. "Partly 'cause I'm curious where this goes and partly just to piss ya off."

"YOU LITTLE PUNK!" He threw himself across the seat to lunge for the lupine's throat, Otterly Adorable trying and failing to calm them down. Even Judge Loggins and her gavel had some trouble getting through to them.

"This could be going better," Eric said, watching Kyle now genuinely enjoying that popcorn he'd been saving. "If we want to end this today, we'd better come up with a new angle and fast."

Hold it!

Delilah shouted to quiet everyone down. It didn't. "Huh. That usually works."

Loggins slammed her gavel. "Order! If you two don't cut it out, I'll hold you in contempt!"

Wisely, the two calmed down.

Kyle hummed thoughtfully. "The defense seems eager to continue. I'm not opposed, but I believe we've milked these witnesses for all they're worth. Perhaps Lady Tigre and her daughter could tell us more, if properly questioned."

(Did he just give me a good idea?) It was possible this was a trap. It was also very possible that she had no other option at this point. "I… the defense agrees with the prosecution's suggestion!"

She could sense immediately that she'd made a bad move, but not for the reason she thought. "I must advise against that proposal," Monty said firmly, suddenly glaring at her with an intensity she had yet to see from him. "Lady Tigre and Lara have no involvement in this case."

"We can't know that for certain!" Delilah argued anyway. "There are two living Tigres in the same vicinity and neither of them have even been called to testify! I find it hard to believe that they don't know anything of use!"

"Ms. O'Possum," Monty said, a slight growl in his voice. "I insist you drop this."

"Your Honor, the defense would like to issue a subpoena for—"

"I said NO, dammit!"

That finally shut her up. She and everyone else stared in disbelief at the mongoose who'd made that outburst. "Did you just swear?"

He seemed intent on doing much more than that. Monty reached up slowly with one shaky paw and grabbed hold of his spectacles, pulling them away from his face and then crushing them in his grip. Tossing the shattered remains aside, his bloodied paw proceeded to rip one sleeve off his suit, then the other, revealing a black snake tattoo that traveled up one arm and down the other. He picked up the chain once attached to his glasses and slung it over his shoulder, scowling at the court. "What the hell are you all lookin' at?!"

Camo Cat stared at his exposed tattoo, and wordlessly changed his vote back to guilty.

Delilah ran a hand through her head fur, sweating. "Uhhh... Monty? Might wanna take it easy."

"Don't tell me what to do!" he growled, lashing his chain against the witness stand. Ria yelped, comprehending threats of physical violence better than anything else as she quickly hid behind Sunny. So did Humphrey.

Eric tried to step in. "Mr. Gosland, we're just trying to help you. As your lawyers, we must pursue every avenue to aid in your defense."

"So that's how it's gotta be, huh?" he asked, tossing the chain back over his shoulder. Oddly, he still had that posh butler accent. It just sounded so very wrong now. "In that case, I won't be needing you anymore."

"M-Mr. Gosland!" Judge Loggins gasped. "What are you saying?!"

"What? I didn't make it clear enough? I'm firing my piece of shit lawyers," he informed, leaving no room for argument. "Lord Tigre was a bastard. A monster who deserved to die. I sabotaged the fish, and moved it so Sunny would find it. No one else had anything to do with it."

Objection!

"The hell are you doing?" Delilah demanded.

"The hell are you still here?" Monty demanded right back. "You heard me. You're fired. Go home."

Delilah's mind started racing. She was not going to let it end like this. She couldn't! There had to be something she could do!

Unacceptable!

Turned out she didn't have to.

Kyle clicked his tongue derisively, pushing his glasses up his face. His cane snapped forward, slamming into the bench with a resounding BANG. "The prosecution rejects this confession."

"WHAT?!" Monty responded in kind, brandishing the chain as he bared his teeth at Kyle. "I confessed! You heard me! The whole jury heard me!"

"And all of the parties who heard you will ignore you, if they know what's good for them." Kyle's tone was perfectly neutral and calm, but carried some unknown element that made even Classy Jaguar and Biker Wolf swallow nervously. Grumpy Yeen just looked impressed. "The defendant has clearly entered a manic state, and isn't in his right mind."

"Why are you doing this?!" Monty snarled.

"Simple. I've got you in my crosshairs, Mr. Gosland, and I'm not ready to pull the trigger just yet." Kyle smiled at him. "Now. You and the camel are going to the detention center while the investigation continues. When we're all back here, you're going to fear for your life and run, like a good little target."

"WHY YOU—!"

Loggins slammed her gavel. "That's enough! It's clear to me that we cannot continue proceedings any longer, so I hereby grant the prosecution's request for an extension. As for the defense…" Loggins briefly looked to Delilah, currently frozen in abject shock while Eric tried to comfort her, and gave a sympathetic frown. "If the defendant still wishes to deny his representation, he will be appointed a new lawyer by the state."

"Grrrrrrrrr…!" Unable to even articulate his anger anymore, Monty furiously bit into the chain.

"That is all," Loggins said with finality. "For now, court is adjourned."

SLAM

To be continued…

---

Court Record:

Attorney's Badge

This old thing? Well, it does let me do my job, but it mostly just sits in my pocket until I get the sudden urge to flash it at someone for kicks.

T&C Business Card

Those two are really gonna regret hoisting this off on me. I can think of a LOT of uses for a small piece of cardstock that were probably not intended.

Lord Tigre's Autopsy Report

Cause of death believed to be poisoning, apparently! Estimated time of death is between 3-4 PM. Victim died almost instantly and nearly took our case with him.

Crime Scene Photo

Shows Tigre collapsed on his desk as if taking a nap, somewhat undercut by the gaping hole in his neck. The rest of his desk is mostly visible, though the papers right under him are obscured. Side note: Totally a Number 4. Nailed it.

Food Cart

Monty's ticket inside the study, brought there by the bodyguard. Credit where credit is due, that was a pretty clever plan. Shame he mucked it up afterward, but then again we might not have a client otherwise.

Wine Bottle

Brought to Lord Tigre on the cart. Contains a grape wine and is partly empty. Also contains deadly pufferfish toxin. Bears Monty's pawprints.

Spilled Ashtray

Found on the floor and stepped in by Monty, leaving a trail of tiny tracks that lead around the desk, up the side, and out the window. Let this be a lesson, kits. Not everyone is cut out to be a murderer.

Termination Papers

Almost no blood was found on them despite being right under Lord Tigre at the time he was stabbed, proving that he was already dead. Suck it, Lilac!

Lapel Pin

Monty's personal possession, that he left at the crime scene because of course he did. Found under Lord Tigre's desk.

Tigre's Gun

My secret weapon. I'm not sharing this with Rick, but it's only a matter of time before this thing crackshots the case!

Burnt Scraps

Scraps of some weird material found in the fireplace. It seems kind of like paper, but doesn't have the right texture. Where the heck did it come from?

Manor Map

A map of Casa Tigre so 'graciously' gifted to us by Kyle. I'm half-tempted to relight the fireplace just to chuck it in, but I bet that's exactly what he WANTS us to do so we're gonna use it anyway! Out of spite!

(Archived under 'Casa Tigre Map' on Berserker88x's Deviantart.)

Delishafish Dish

Apparently this dish is a big deal among rich folks and super hard to make right. Even Chef Humphrey screwed it up on the first attempt. Oh, and it turns out it's deathly toxic if you screw it up, which REALLY would've been nice to know beforehand.

Spoiled Delishafish

The first version of the dish that Humphrey screwed up, though the arguably bigger screw-up was leaving it out for Sunny to find. It looks like this thing is what actually killed Lord Tigre and he STILL didn't get past a single bite before tossing it out the window. Later buried by Ria, utensils and all.

Kitchen Knife

A large and thick steel knife given by Humphrey to Monty. The murder weapon? Not even close.

Wall of Thorns

A spiky ring of pain that surrounds the whole perimeter of Casa Tigre. For when you're just too classy to get a barbed-wire fence. Can confirm: hurts like hell.

Monty's Testimony

After being given a knife by Chef Humphrey, he got smuggled in on a food cart, stabbed Tigre in the neck, and then fled up to the roof with the knife before getting caught. He said more, but that's all I'm choosing to believe right now.

Sunny's Testimony

Due to a tragic misunderstanding, he accidentally delivered deadly Delishafish to Lord Tigre around noon. Later, after delivering the food cart to Lord Tigre's study at around 3:30, on Monty's orders, he locked the door with the master key and stood guard outside until the murder went down.

Humphrey's Testimony

Lord Tigre announced that the staff was being fired at breakfast around 8 AM. He clearly knows why and won't tell us. More importantly, he was Monty's accomplice and poisoned the wine bottle.

Ria's Testimony

She was witness to flying fish, surprisingly not a hallucination. Which she then proceeded to bury and not tell anyone about. She later spotted Monty on the roof after he stabbed Lord Tigre, watching as he climbed down a tree and fled around back to enter through the servant's quarters. She and Sunny caught him inside trying to plant the knife.

Profiles:

Delilah O'Possum
Age: 24
Species: Sassy Possum

Finally, it's my turn to shine! I am gonna rock the hell outta this case and show the world that I can handle murder too! Solving a murder case, I mean. Glad nobody else reads these.

Eric Badge
Age: 24
Species: Stuffy Badger

My best friend and partner in (solving) crime. He can be a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes, but I'm always happy to pull him out of it.

Millie Muskerson
Age: 22
Species: Polecat Who Wants to Tap That

Old friend, old defendant, current intern. Honestly worth the effort of hiring her just to see her make goo-goo eyes at Rick all day, but she's pretty well-organized too. Strikes a good balance between my lack of tidiness and Rick having entirely too much of it.

Lucy Sang
Age: 29
Species: Literally Bloodthirsty Vampire Bat

Okay, I know it's kind of unsettling being hired by an actual ex-murderer, but it's also pretty hardcore. And when you think about it, who better to have your back when solving a murder case, right? Not that I'm planning to let her stand behind me anytime soon.

Martina
Age: 29
Species: Questionably Alive Mouse Girl

Lucy's… friend? Servant? Voodoo zombie slave? Was debating even adding her to this, but I get the impression she doesn't have much in life, so here's to you, Marty!

Monty Gosland
Age: 23
Species: Mongoose That Buttles

Our defendant, for better or for worse. After today, definitely worse.

Lord Dominic Tigre
Age: 40
Species: Dead Tiger

The victim. Apparently big into shooting birds for sport and living in high society. Well, formerly living.

Lila Lilac
Age: 28
Species: Stuck-up Skunkette

One of Tooth & Claw's lawyers. Likes: being a tool. Dislikes: peripheral vision. This isn't the only list she's going on today.

Pierce Pierson
Age: 28
Species: Porcupain

Another Tooth & Claw lawyer and a prick in more ways than one. Seems pretty aggro for a guy who's so into defense.

Sigrid 'Siggy' MacTalon
Age: 25
Species: Wolverine on a Warpath

I really hoped I wouldn't have to add her to this. Let's just say mistakes were made and now this hardass detective kinda hates my guts. It's going to be mentally draining dealing with her, and physically draining if she makes me do any more pushups.

Kyle VanDal
Age: 26
Species: Rival Raccoon

This sly prosecutor is known for his keen eyes and dirty tricks. He even has this fancy nickname, the 'Bullseye Prosecutor'. Back in the day, I just thought he was a dork. Now he's a dork with prestige.

Lady Tigre
Age: 43
Species: Bird-infused Tigress

Don't have much of a read on this one so far, mainly because she won't talk to us. Still, this must be pretty rough on her so I'll cut her some slack.

Lara (Not Laura) Tigre
Age: 19
Species: Teenager

Looks like someone's hit their rebellious phase. Not that I can blame her with what little we know of her dad. No, I'll just blame her for totally blowing us off! Probably the one thing she has in common with Lady Tigre.

Lenore
Age: 6
Species: Poetic Stereotype

Lara's faithful pet raven. Or familiar, just in case she's some kind of sorceress and takes offense. Probably eats telltale hearts or something. I dunno, I'm not into poetry. Or birdology.

Sunny Urshine
Age: 26
Species: Teddy Bear

Lord Tigre's ex-bodyguard, obviously not doing too great right now. Accidentally offing the guy you're supposed to protect will do that. I think HE'S the one who needs a hug now. I'll volunteer Rick.

Ellias Humphrey
Age: 20
Species: Camel 2.0

Gotta admire this guy's commitment to his craft. Even at the expense of being an effective murderer. I feel a little bad about putting him behind bars, but maybe he'll get to be a prison chef. I bet his cooking will be better appreciated there.

Ria Nepeta
Age: 31
Species: High As a Cat

Casa Tigre's gardener, and she sure 'enjoys' her job. She may be a cheetah, but she's definitely not quick on the uptake. I guess we should be grateful she saw anything of use and it didn't interfere with whatever sensory nightmares she experiences on a daily basis. Did interfere with the investigation though.

Judge Loggins
Age: 45
Species: Beaver of Authority

Always nice to see a familiar face in these strange surroundings. Better than Kyle's at least. I wonder if she'd chuck her gavel at him if he annoyed her enough. That'd almost make it all worth it.

Now, as you've been waiting for, the true identities of some of our jurors!

Juror No. 1 (Classy Jaguar): Al Catpone from the "When Instinct Falls" series by Upplet

Juror No. 2 (Otterly Adorable): Sam the otter from Zootopia +

Juror No. 3 (Biker Wolf): Felix Dire Junior from the "Born to Be Wilde" series

Juror No. 5 (Grumpy Yeen): Carla Hyenandez from the "Born to Be Wilde" series