"We have a surprise witness, Your Honour," Alexander Bull spoke, standing. "She is a witness for all five members of the defence, but mostly Miss Roland's client."
"Call her to the stand, then," the judge said.
"The defence calls Elizabeth Rae to the stand."
Vinícius, Abraham, and Mason looked at the couple to their right, catching the smirk on Nate's face.
There was a noise from the back of the court room and everyone turned to watch as a young, dark haired girl in a pinkish-purple dress and black ballet flats making her way to the gate. Someone in the front row stood and opened it for her. She made her way to the bailiff and he said the oath to her and explained it in a way she could understand and she accepted. He helped her up to the witness seat.
The girl looked at the prosecution table, then over at the defence. She saw her father and smiled and waved.
"Hi, Daddy!"
Nate smiled widely and waved back slightly. "Hey, Peanut."
"Mr. Cooper," the judge said, "shut up."
"Yes, ma'am."
Libby giggled a little, then stopped when the judge cleared her throat.
Alexander made his way up to the stand and stood there for a moment before stepping to the side a few times and whispered to the judge:
"We were wondering if all five of us could question her, since she has had interaction with all of the clients."
The judge thought it over for a moment, then nodded.
"Miss Rae will be questioned by all five from the Defence, due to her affiliation with all of the clients," she said.
The questioning from Alexander started.
Meanwhile at the back of the courtroom, Jameson looked at Evie, wide-eyed.
"Why is she up there?" he asked. "How is she up there?"
"I signed the papers for her to be a witness," Evie admitted. "She really wanted to do it, she wanted to help Nathaniel."
"And you let her?"
"I didn't have a choice! It was either I fill it out or she and Nate band together and forge my signature. Or he'd sign it for her."
"He legally can't do that," Jameson said. "1) He's not her legal guardian, she's not under his care. And 2) He's on trial so he wouldn't be able to do that anyway."
"Wait, seriously?" Evie asked, turning sharply toward her fiancé.
"Yes, seriously."
"So they lied to me. They lied to me so Elizabeth could testify!"
"You already filled out the paperwork, honey. It's too late to do anything."
Evie looked back up at the stand and watched and listened as Libby answered questions being thrown at her.
"Mr. Cooper is your father, correct?" Stephanie Roland asked as she replaced Alexander in front of the child.
"Yeah!" the little girl replied.
"Can you point him out for me?"
The girl pointed to the man seated beside Riley. "Right there! We said hi when I got up here."
"Did he ever do anything... bad when you were around him and his friends over there?"
"No. I mean, he and Miss Riley did some adult things upstairs and he gave me a phone without telling Mommy. She doesn't want me to be around him but I like him. I like my dad a lot! He's a nice man. He hasn't done anything wrong in a while."
"I see." Stephanie glanced toward the other defence lawyers. She looked back at the little girl.
"So he never took anything from anyone or threatened to hurt anyone?"
"He only did as a joke with his friend Mr. Vinícius. Mr. Vinícius said he would eat all of the pizza if Daddy and Miss Riley didn't come downstairs fast enough."
"You're sure it was a joke?"
"Uh huh! 'Cause right after, Mr. Vinícius said that he wouldn't and that he needs him and Daddy said, 'Dammit you're right.'"
A few gasps from the back of the courtroom set everyone off.
"She's eight!" someone shouted. "She shouldn't be using that language!"
"Teaching a child that kind of language should wind him up in prison immediately!" another yelled.
"Tough crowd," Nate snorted.
"Stop saying these things about my Daddy!" Libby screamed over the ruckus. "He never was around kids before me!"
Everyone quieted down.
"So she heard us say that," Riley listed her head.
"And it's kind of obvious," Mason interjected.
"Elizabeth, thank you for answering my questions," Stephanie said kindly. "You've been a big help."
"Really?" Libby asked excitedly.
"Yes, really."
The child looked over at her dad, and he gave her a big smile and a thumbs up.
***
"Riley Swanston, please approach the bench."
"Wait, what?"
YOU ARE READING
The Art of Being a Con: A Guide by the Lion and the Fox | COMPLETE
Mystery / ThrillerThey're unstoppable. You never know when they'll strike. You won't even see them coming. Masters of disguise and draining your bank accounts. This is why your parents tell you not to talk to strangers on the internet and to look out for signs. They'...
