A/N: The final witness will finally take the stand. All that's left is to tear away the veil of lies hiding them, little by little. I look forward to see you how well everyone figures it out. Enjoy, my readers!

April 28th, 2029

District Courthouse, Defendant Lobby #3

12:30 p.m.

"I gotta say, Junie. I've been in some pretty crazy trials before, but this one… this one is up there." Athena said.

"Thena, you were once in a trial where the defendant was an orca whale," Juniper pointed out.

"And there's at least two conspiracies running around in this case!" Athena countered. "I would say that's pretty crazy!"

"Two of them? I know that Dakota and Mr. Solomon were working together to get me sent to jail," Mr. Artisan said. "I don't understand why they did it, but it happened. But what's the second conspiracy?"

"Miss Sapling testified that neither she nor Mr. Solomon were the ones behind the tampering. The thing is, she was being honest," Athena explained. "Not only that, but the one that allowed the tampering was a detective, allegedly. Which could mean…"

"There could be corruption inside the police." Juniper finished. I don't understand what's happening. Why are there so many parties trying to force a guilty verdict?

"Miss Woods! Athena!" Ema called out, as she entered the defendant lobby. "I need to talk to you!"

"What is it, Ema? Do you have a message from Robin?" Athena asked.

"I do, but I also have some forensic results to report to you," Ema said, taking some papers out of her carrier bag. "First of all, because of the crowd that was rioting yesterday we unfortunately couldn't analyze the blood in the victim's book."

"So we still don't know who that blood belongs too." That means it won't be as impactful as evidence.

"Is there anything that we can figure out about the book?" Juniper asked. "Don't spare any details."

"I swear I looked through every page in this book. Not only was it not touched by Mr. Iraman, but it certainly wasn't signed by him either," Ema explained. "Well, the publishing company is called the 'National Author's Association'. Make of that what you will."

Skylar's book updated in the Court Record

"Now, with Mr. Kent's previous testimony, we did get a warrant to investigate the convention center, and confirmed that only Mr. Solomon accessed the wallpaper," Ema continued. "So he and Miss Sapling are currently being interrogated as accomplices. As you'd expect, progress has been… frustratingly minimal."

"In other words, all that's left is to take down the real killer pulling the strings! Pas de problème!" Athena exclaimed.

"As for the message from Prosecutor Newman…" Ema cleared her throat, and recited, "'Thanks to you, Juniper, we have Mr. Iraman on the stand! So together, let's finally bring this case to a close'! So you'd better give it your all in there, Miss Woods."

The real reason that we've all made it this far is because of you, Robin. Having you across of me… gives me the strength to keep standing. So in return, I will do my best to help you too, no matter what happens!

April 28th, 2029

District Courthouse, Courtroom #4

12:50 p.m.

"Court will now reconvene for the trial of Andres Artisan," The Judge said. "Prosecutor Newman, where is the witness?"

"The subpoena was delivered and the witness is in the waiting lobby," Robin said, wearing her audacious grin. "So with your permission, I'd like to call him!"

"Very well. The court gives the prosecution permission to call the witness to the stand!"

Here we go. Time to reveal the real face behind this conspiracy!

Mr. Iraman arrived at the witness stand. Then, two people came along and placed two poles at either side. Then, more people arrived, stacking tall piles of books around him.

A line formed to the witness stand, and Mr. Iraman started signing books and giving them to people.

"OBJECTION! Hey, now wait just a second!" Robin yelled, her fists shaking. "We called you here to testify, not sign stuff!"

"Testify. Verb. To give evidence as a witness in a law court. Yes, I do believe I was called to do that," Mr. Iraman said. "But I can't turn down my fans. So I ask that you allow them to get what they want."

"Well, we do need to get this trial moving. And the line will run out eventually," The Judge said. "So let's just move onto the testimony."

"Your Honor, please rethink that… we haven't even heard the witness introduce himself." Juniper's plea fell on deaf ears. Okay, when I become a Judge, I need to remember to not let witnesses get away with these kinds of things.

-Witness Testimony-

Mr. Iraman's account

"If you want to know what I was doing on the day of the crime, I was holding a special event," Mr. Iraman said, signing books. "I was on stage the entire time."

"And that is all. I do not believe I need to say anymore."

End Testimony

"...! Mr. Iraman, is that really all you have to say?" Juniper asked.

"I cannot tell you what I do not know," Mr. Iraman said simply. "There is no way I could have done anything else besides what I'm doing right now."

"Oh, I don't buy that for a second!" Athena snapped. "Okay, Junie. Drag the information out of this creep!"

"HOLD IT! About this special event. We have heard previous testimony to indicate that it was a raffle. Could you tell us more about it?"

"For a moment, Mr. Iraman paused. Then he said, "Raffle. Noun. A means-"

"OBJECTION! The defense did not ask what the word meant! She asked what happened during your raffle!" Robin called out.

"Very well. It was part of a meet and greet event that I was holding at the time. Everyone that attended the event got a ticket to the raffle."

"The court will add this statement to the testimony," The Judge said. "...What are all those surprised looks for? After all these years, I know how trials tend to go."

Juniper wasted no time. "Objection! Mr. Iraman, you should know that there is proof that Miss Scribe attended your meet and greet event. On her body, a raffle ticket was found. And again, witness testimony confirms this."

"You should have said so earlier. Yes, the victim did indeed attend my raffle. In fact, she won. However, she died before she could claim reward." Mr. Iraman said.

"Hmph. I don't hear any sadness in his tone over it," Athena said, becoming indignant. "She was one of his fans, and he doesn't even seem to care!"

"Calm down, Thena. We're getting answers out of him, even if it's slowly," Juniper said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Defense, are you really stopping right now?" Robin asked. "Or do you have further questions for this witness?"

"I do have one more question! So, how would you describe the raffle itself? Don't leave out any details!"

Mr. Iraman raised an eyebrow at this. "This seems like an unnecessary detail to go into, don't you think?"

The crowd around him started becoming rowdy.

"Don't bother his time with such pointless questions!"

"You should stop speaking, attorney!"

The Judge banged his gavel. "Order! I let you stay to get autographs, but if you become disruptive, you will all be removed!"

"You shouldn't have let the crowd stay for autographs," Athena muttered to herself.

"That being said, the court grants the defense's request," The Judge continued. "Witness, please answer the question."

"It was exactly like one would expect. I collected the tickets from everyone in the crowd, then put them into the raffle cage. Then, I picked Miss Scribe's ticket," Mr. Iraman answered. "She must have been very lucky that day."

Skylar… you did not deserve to die. And you did not deserve to have your name slandered by Miss Sapling earlier. Juniper's eyes hardened with determination. But now, I finally have a path to clear your name!

"Objection! Are you absolutely sure, Mr. Iraman? That you personally set up the raffle, and no one had the chance to tamper with it?"

"Correct. I can provide the cage itself, if you need further evidence," Mr. Iraman said, impatiently tapping a pen against the witness stand.

"No, you can't. Because a woman named Dakota Sapling claims to have stolen your raffle cage," Juniper said.

Mr. Iraman's eyes widened, and he dropped his pen. "She did what?!"

"It looks like our witness didn't know that. So we can take that to mean that the raffle cage Miss Sapling provided is the real d-e-a-l!" Robin said, grinning.

"The court checked the entry tickets. They were all the same as Miss Scribe's ticket. So that means…" Juniper smacked her bench. "The raffle was rigged. And it could have only been done by you!"

The people around Mr. Iraman all had shocked expressions on their faces. The man himself had no verbal reaction, but he'd stopped signing books.

"Do you deny this, witness?" The Judge asked.

"...Defense, a question. Why would I want to rig my own event? I treat all my fans fairly," Mr. Iraman said. "There's no reason why I'd want to do this."

"No, you can't claim that! Earlier, you claimed that you personally set up every aspect of the raffle," Juniper countered. "So please, explain yourself!"

Mr. Iraman shook his head, his bangs shaking but not revealing his eyes underneath. "Before I explain that, explain something to me. Why am I testifying?"

"I knew this guy was gonna be difficult, but he's infuriatingly stubborn!" Athena exclaimed. "Will he ever give a straight answer?!"

"If you want to know, then I'll tell you," Juniper said. "Because as the defense, we believe that you are the third finalist of the World's Collide contest."

"In other words, it would then give me motive to want to murder Miss Scribe," Mr. Iraman said. He took a book, signed it, and gave it to the nearest person. "Then I have no choice. I must make it clear why that's not possible."

"Very well, witness. Testify to the court at once!" The Judge demanded.

-Witness Testimony-

The Impossible Crime

"It's true, I was at the main hall on the day of the crime," Mr. Iraman said. "Being that it's only a short distance from the crime scene, I would fall under suspicion."

"But I was in the main hall only for my book signing and the meet and greet. There is no relation to the contest, even if it took place in the same hall."

Mr. Iraman tapped his fingers against the witness stand. "Which also means I do not need to explain why I handled my raffle the way I did."

"So if there are no more questions, then I would like to be excused."

-End Testimony-

"This is the crux of the entire case- Mr. Iraman must be connected to 'World's Collide somehow," Athena said, reviewing the evidence. "But so many people have covered up for him. This is going to be a rough ride!"

"Defense, you heard the witness. If you don't make your point clearly, he's going to walk away," Robin added.

So everything is riding on how I handle this next testimony. Right, no pressure… "*cough cough* *cough cough*" Juniper paused to breath into her sunflower.

"HOLD IT! About that. Why would the convention center let your signing take place in the same hall as a national contest?" Juniper asked.

"It's not as if it was on the same day," Mr. Iraman said. "The announcement of the contest's results were going to be the day after."

"However, the announcement was delayed because of Miss Scribe's murder," Robin said. "According to the judges not currently arrested, the idea was to hold the announcement after this trial's conclusion!"

Juniper turned towards Athena. "Now that we know Skylar and Mr. Artisan were meant to be the winners, why would the judges want to go ahead with the contest with Skylar dead?"

"This is just my theory, but taking Mr. Solomon's actions into consideration," Athena said. "I'd say he's the one that suggested the contest move forward. For the sake of our 'mystery contestant'."

That does make the motive behind this crime a little more clear. But I need to keep going!

"HOLD IT! Please don't leave the stand yet. Maybe your signing wasn't related. But you haven't made clear if you're a contestant or not!" Juniper carefully studied Mr. Iraman for his response.

"Do you have a paper with my name on it? Evidence that clearly states I was involved?" Mr. Iraman asked.

I… don't have anything like that. What Juniper did have was evidence that indicated a possible connection.

"I know that look. It's time to bluff, isn't it," Athena wearily. "Good luck, Junie."

That's really where we right now, isn't it? "Objection! Actually, I do have evidence that points to you as a contestant."

"I'd like to see it, then," Mr. Iraman said cooly.

"It's none other than the roster for Worlds Collide," Juniper said, presenting the roster to the court. "As previously discussed, Dakota Sapling is here- under the name 'Aphrodite Sweetheart'."

"I believe I see where the defense is going, but I'll ask anyway: What does this have to do with the current witness?"

"Your Honor, you must have also noticed that Miss Sapling is infatuated with Mr. Iraman." Juniper took a deep breath, then dived into her main point. "With that in mind, Look at the other pen-name, 'Mercury Genius'."

"If your theory is that this is the witness' alias, do you think he has an inflated ego?" Robin asked.

Athena's eyes widened. "I see it now! Both pen-names are based off of Greek mythology!"

Of course Thena would be the one to see it. "Exactly. I believe that Miss Sapling modeled her alias after Mr. Iraman's!"

Robin slammed her hand on her bench. "In which case, we must look into-"

"Heh heh heh. Heh ha ha ha."

Everyone fell silent at the sound of the chuckling. After he finished, Mr Iraman said, "I must inform the court of something I overhead. Apparently, records for that roster were lost. So I don't believe we'll find out who this 'Mercury Genius' is."

"Mr. Solomon must have destroyed those records!" Athena shouted. "Argh, does this cover up never end?"

The Judge shook his head. "It appears the defense has no way to prove their theory."

"HOLD IT! Don't be so quick to say that, Your Honor!" Robin cut in. "To answer this question once and for all, all we need is some kind of record!"

"Okay, Robin gave us one last chance. Do you think we have anything in the Court Record that could help, Junie?" Athena asked.

Juniper looked through the evidence. To be sure, there was plenty she still had questions about, but none that seemed to directly prove her theory. Then, Juniper happened upon the autographed book she'd been given.

Mr. Iraman gave this to me. Maybe I could find something if I study this close enough?

Juniper opened the book, and looked at the copyright page. As she read through it, her eyes fell on something: "Published by the National Author Association"

Come to think of it, the grand prize for Worlds Collide includes an exclusive publishing contract. And this same publishing company also published Miss Scribe's book. That means...

The Judge banged his gavel. "That's long enough, Defense. If you have evidence, please present it now."

Here goes nothing. "TAKE THAT! I have a book that was written and signed by none other than Mr. Artisan himself."

"Ah yes." A small but prideful smile appeared on Mr. Iraman's face. "Now that I think about it, I did give that to you."

"Mr. Solomon, one of the contest's judges, mentioned something once. That the winner of Worlds Collide would have their entry published," Juniper explained. "The publishing notes of this book mention a 'National Author's Association."

"I get it! If we look into this publishing company, we can discover if it's related to this case!" Robin exclaimed.

Juniper nodded. "In other words, it would prove once and for all that Mr. Iraman is the final contestant!"

At Juniper's words, Mr. Iraman's face went completely blank. "...There's no need."

Juniper mentally prepared herself for . "So, you admit it then?"

Mr. Iraman lowered his head. "About the name 'Mercury Genius'. As the defense said, it is taken after the God Mercury, known as a patron of writing. And the reason I chose it…"

He slowly drew his arms inward, and Juniper could swear everything started shaking. Then Mr. Iraman smacked the two poles behind him with his fists- and the banners unfurled, revealed pictures of himself on them, wearing a crown.

"Is because it is the only pen-name worthy of me, the greatest author alive!"

To be continued

A/N: The true killer has revealed their real form! And with two chapters left in the trial, you know they aren't going down any time soon. So brace yourselves for the upcoming battle. See you next time! Please review.