Klavier went back to his usual composure as he spoke
'Herr Forehead, don't destroy what little respect I have for you!'
Apollo frowned as he narrowed his eyes at him
'I was expecting something a little more... sensible. I guess I was wrong'
'What's this all about, Prosecutor Gavin?'
the judge asked
'His simple story simply makes no sense. Think! That night, my guitar caught fire, yes. The cause... may have been this, indeed. However! The guitar caught fire during the second set!'
trucy gritted her teeth as apollo clinched his fists
'Ack! That's right! Of course! The guitar caught fire during Lamiroir's song!'
'Indeed. Yet the shooting happened during the third set. The two are utterly unrelated!'
'Hmm, yes, that must have been what was bugging me. The whole premise for this is faulty!'
the judge agreed, klavier grinned winded
'See? His story makes no sense.'
Apollo glared as he simply crossed his arms as asked
'Are you sure about that?'
the judge jumped in his seat
'...! What exactly do you mean, Mr. Justice?'
'Maybe it's not the premise for my explanation of the switch that's at fault... ...Maybe it's our premise for the entire case so far!'
'What premise is this, specifically?'
'I'm glad you asked. I'm saying that maybe the killing didn't take place in the third act!'
'OBJECTION!!'
Klavier yelled as he punched the wall behind him with one fist
'What's this? But Detective Ema Skye heard shots and found the body. All of this happened in the third act!'
'OBJECTION!!, Gunshots rang out... And, according to his testimony, Machi was in that dressing room at the time'
Judge eyed down apollo
'Where are you going with this, Mr. Justice?'
'Stay with me, Your Honor! He also told us this in his testimony: Namely, that the victim had already been shot! We all heard gunshots... but no one saw the shooting!'
Klavier stuttered on his words
'This... This is insane!'
'Just before the "shooting" took place, the "shooter" was heard on his headset... ...telling someone to "press the switch"! The next moment, Prosecutor Gavin's guitar burst into flame. We know that a remote triggered igniter was inside the guitar. From all these facts, we can draw only one conclusion! The crime did not take place during the third act... ...but during the ballad performance... The second act!'
Klavier frowned as one of his hands turned into fists
'Whaaat!?'
the court started to go ballistic, as the judge banged down his gavel
'Order! Order! Order! B-But that goes against the evidence!'
'...What does, Your Honor?'
'This crime was carried out according to the lyrics of that song, yes?'
trucy then chimed in
'Hey, he's right! Look! The "bullet" is supposed to come after the "fire"!'
'You're thinking about it the wrong way'
Trucy raised a brow
'Huh?'
'Look... Why would the shooter craft the events of the day to follow the lyrics anyway? It's an awful lot of trouble to go through. ...With little merit for the person doing it'
'Well, I'm sure whoever it was had some reason...'
the judge said, apollo nodded in agreement
'Yes, they did. A reason that made it advantageous to follow the lyrics'
klavier blinked at him
'...You're saying the order was reversed on purpose!'
'Hmm? Reversed, Prosecutor Gavin?'
klavier cleared his throat before he spoke up
'If the criminal followed the lyrics strictly, then yes... ...the shooting would have had to come after the guitar burst into flame. Yet, Herr Forehead has raised another possibility. He's claiming that the bullet came not after, but just before the "fire"'
'...Couldn't have put it better myself. We were only meant to think that the shooting came after the guitar burst into flame! That was the criminal's objective! The crime followed the lyrics to a point, but that was the ruse! Why else would the killer risk discovery by moving the body? That was the final touch to make us think he'd followed the lyrics the whole way!'
apollo said, the court started to go crazy once again at this
'Order! Order! Order! That would explain this most unusual situation...'
'It does! The killer changed the order of events to create himself an alibi! In other words... The killer was someone who had an alibi for the third set, but not the second!'
'OBJECTION!!, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. But sadly, it has. Let me tell you why your little fairy tale makes no sense at all'
Apollo glared at him as he crossed his arms, to his dismay, klavier simply grinned at him
'Oh, it sounds good, I'll give you that. You've given us a reason why the killer bothered following the lyrics of my song. But I question your logic! ...For it's flawed from the very beginning'
'Flawed?'
he challenged
'Yes. A contradiction, Herr Forehead, one I've pointed out several times, no less. At the time of the crime, the small window at the scene was closed... How could Lamiroir have heard a voice through it?'
apollo blinked as his eyes slightly widened
'Oh...'
he mumbled out
'I know that you would like to divert our attention from this critical fact. But you're basing your entire line of reasoning on a false premise!'
"Right... Lamiroir's testimony is my entire case... ...That voice she heard... The shooter's voice..."
Trucy was panicking as she tried to think of something that could help
'W-What if she couldn't hear it, Apollo?'
'Look, what do we have. A man saying "press the switch!" And near the crime scene, we have a switch. Which acts as a remote trigger for an igniter. And last, but not least, Prosecutor Gavin's flaming guitar'
"It can't all be coincidence! But how do I make it work?"
'I see a more direct line of questioning is required. When the crime scene was investigated, immediately after the crime... ...that window was closed! Care to tell us how Lamiroir heard the voice?'
klavier asked
'Hmm... A key point, to be sure. ...Mr. Justice! Can you explain this to the court?'
apollo took in a deep breathe
"OK Justice, you've got one thing to prove, and one thing only. Lamiroir heard a "voice"... ...and she heard it during the second set! Think! How was Lamiroir able to hear the voice?"
he went into his notebook and started jotting down possibilities, he wrote five in total, ..one seemed to be the one to stick out the most to him, he underlined it and began to speak
'When we investigated the scene, the window was closed. The shooter had no reason to close it, had it been open, either. Meaning, it was impossible to hear the voice through that window'
'Ah, it's good to hear you making sense again. For a moment, I was afraid you might be a Borginian, too'
klavier teased, apollo shot him a look to shutup and let him speka
'...As I was saying,'
he grumbled out
'Lamiroir could not hear the voice through that window. So there can be only one explanation. She heard the voice from another location entirely!'
the judge's eyes widen in surprise
'Wh-What's this...?'
klavier shook his head ash chuckled underneath his breath
'Ha ha ha, you do amuse me so. And here I thought you and good sense were back on speaking terms. Now, I'm afraid you and good sense speak two entirely different languages'
apollo stayed silent as he kept his face as natural as possible
'Shall I interpret for you, Herr Forehead? Lamiroir clearly stated she heard the voice through that small window! And there is only one "small window" at the scene!'
'...Are you sure?'
he asked, klavier falttered at this
'Think about it... Isn't there another "small window" at the scene?'
'Th-There is!?'
trucy asked
'Ah, I know that look. He wants us to ask him. Very well. You claim Lamiroir heard the voice from another location? Mr. Justice, show us where this location was!'
the judge asked, apollo stared down at the diagram, if he was right...
'Lamiroir heard the voice from... here..This is where Lamiroir heard that voice from'
the judge's eyes widen
'B-But that's no "small window"! That's the air vent!'
'What did she tell us? She said she's a Borginian, unfamiliar with our language! It's not a stretch to imagine she called this "air vent" a "small window"!'
'OJBECTION!!'
klavier shook his head
'Now you've done it. You've gone beyond ridiculous and into... ludicrous. So Lamiroir was up in the ventilation system listening to this man's voice?'
'That's the only logical explanation, yes'
Klavier scoffted
'"Logical"? I do not think this word means what you think it means, Herr Forehead!'
Apollo rolled his eyes at him as he crossed his arms
'OK asshole!, what about it isn't logical?'
'Hah! It hardly merits saying! Why would Lamiroir be in the ventilation system? Hiding like a rat! No offense intended to her, of course'
'The explanation for that is simple, Prosecutor Gavin. Isn't it... Lamiroir?'
he suddenly said, narrowing his eyes at the singer
'You have been listening to our discussion here, yes?'
Lamiroir nodded as he cupped her hands together
'...Yes. I admit, it's had me quite confused since yesterday. Yes, the small window was closed... ...but why should that mean I could not hear through it? I feared our prosecutor might himself need an interpreter...'
klavier words were caught in his throat
'The problem here is words. Lamiroir, this "small window" through which you heard the voice... Was it up high, on the ceiling of the room? Not low on a wall?'
she nodded
'...Yes, it was up on the ceiling'
Klavier eyes widen
'Whaaaat!?'
the court started to go wild again
'Order! Order! I will have order!!!, ...Witness! You will clarify this statement to the court! Are you, in fact, saying that you were up above the ceiling of the room? And that's where you heard the moment of the crime?'
Lamiroir frowned underneath her mask
'Yes, in fact, I was. I am sorry. I never imagined it would become such an important point...
'Yes, well... why the heck were you up there!?'
apollo said, she bowed her head slightly but didn't say anything
'I believe it's time for another testimony'
'I... I'm not sure I... I can't'
she said in a defeated tone, the judge frowned but spoke in a firm voice, but their was a little gentless to it
'May I remind you this is a murder trial? We will hear your testimony! Tell us why you "witnessed" the crime from above the ceiling of that room! ...Please'
he added politely at the end, Lamiroir said nothing but nodded, complying to the court of law's, apollo flipped a page into his notebook as he started to write
"Well... Looks like I'm on the right track..."