The Yellow House

Chapter 28: Verdicts and Victims

Kait’s POV

I’m sick of this house, and most definitely sick of the other people I’m sharing it with. If it weren’t for the fact that we’re as close as friends can be, then we wouldn’t be friends anymore.

Closing arguments are this afternoon. Mr. Weatherly only presented five witnesses, and the defense lasted about three days. Now, we’re heading back to the courtroom, to listen to the closing arguments. In the car into town, I’m not talking, and Jack is reading some book he picked out when we were shopping. Anna is fidgeting nervously, absentmindedly, headphones in her ears. She’s not looking forward to seeing Weatherly again. None of us are, to be fair. Tara is back at the house, same as usual. Harkness and Bates are in the front, complaining. And Dan, holding my hand, is scanning the pages of the book he’s reading. The Surgeon reads the title, and I clue in. It’s the book he asked to borrow from Anna. I glance over his shoulder, but am immediately both repulsed and interested.

We pull up in front of the courthouse, as I notice that there seem to be even more reporters and crowds in front of the courthouse than usual. “What’s with all the vultures?” I mutter, angry.

Dan looks up. “Looking for a meal I see.” He sighs, and closes the book. He drops it on the seat, clambering out of the car. I nudge Anna, and she spins, surprised. She pulls her earbuds out, and slips her iPod into her pocket. She’s clearly nervous. We walk inside, fighting our way through the crowd of reporters and camera crews, refusing, as usual, to answer their questions. We get into the courtroom, and immediately, Mr. Weatherly spots us, as the youngest people in the room.

He grins at us, and I glare back at him. I’m sure that Dan is tempted to make a rude gesture, but mercifully he doesn’t.

Mr. Avery stands up once the courtroom is silent, and Judge Lionel is present.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, before you today, stands a man accused on several charges. He was responsible for the deaths of over two hundred teenagers, and nearly ended the life of a sixteen-year-old girl, who happened to also be his son’s girlfriend. He killed a cop, an NCIS agent, and his ex-wife, Sasha Elliot. He abducted his own son, his flesh and blood. He did all this in the name of what? Learning more about the teenage mind?” Mr. Avery is certainly speaking eloquently. “A nineteen-year-old lost her innocence, and is now a single mother, thanks to the defendant. Two teenagers watched their friends die in a bus crash, thanks to the defendant. A sixteen-year-old girl will die in the prime of her life, because of the defendant. Ballistics, DNA testing, autopsies, none of these procedures are capable of lying to you. But man, man is capable of lying. And that is what the defendant has been doing. He has passed himself off as an honorable man, a Marine. But then you dig a little deeper, to the dishonorable discharge, to the weapons smuggling, and he seems like an honest Canadian. But no, he’s an American, he’s not even Canadian, all of his identification is fake. He owns a multi-million dollar company, he’s the son of seemingly normal people, but dig a little deeper, and it gets into the muddy waters of the immoral, not to mention illegal experiments his company has performed on innocent teenagers. If you want to let this man walk free, then it’s your decision, but ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I beg you, give justice. That is all I ask. For Rhys Evans and Jasper Evans. For Tony Russell and Ellie Hall. For Daniel Sawyer and Kaitlyn Barron. For Jack Haven and Anna Peterson. Give them justice. Thank you.”

Mr. Avery sits down, and I have to admire the way he said it. Mr. Weatherly stands up, glaring across the courtroom at Mr. Avery. It could get ugly, but I’d like to see them fight. My money would be on Avery. Even if Mr. Weatherly does seem a little vicious, it’s because he knows he’s beaten.

 Mr. Weatherly stands up, taking a deep breath, straightening his suit, before turning to the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I stand before you today, to ask for your help in proving a wronged man’s innocence. Evidence can be produced when a scapegoat is found, and the scapegoat in this is Benjamin Montgomery. He is a good man, who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He has alibis for several of these incidents, and would have had no reason to kill his own wife.  His wife I tell you. It’s simply absurd. I say give this man justice. Justice is why we are here, it is a word we hear commonly, but are we serving it? I hope we are. Thank you.”