"My Lord."
The court had barely wrapped her head around the bomb Rafael had dropped on her before and from the look of things, he was barely done.
The witness box was empty now but Olivia still remained in her own box, hoping and praying it would all be over soon. She just couldn't wait to be out of that courtroom.
"My Lord, I have one last witness to present to the court, more like a call to make."
The Judge looked at him, squinting her eyes.
"A witness?"
"Yes my Lord." Rafael nodded gently. "Doctor Michael Levy."
She quickly turned back to the file in front of her. She was trying to find his name in the list of witnesses.
"I'm afraid my Lord, my witness wasn't included in the list of witnesses. He works as a pharmacist at Otsuka America pharmaceuticals, the owners and makers of Ariprazole. Thanks to your benevolence my Lord, we were able to retrieve and send a bottle of the pills that were said to have been used to kill the deceased to Otsuka pharmaceuticals a week ago, hoping they could tell us exactly what kind of pill it was, what it was made up of and if it was dangerous enough to kill the deceased or anyone else."
"I was wondering why we had a projector set up in court today."
"My Lord," Philip got up slowly. "The defendant's lawyer should not be allowed to submit evidence that wasn't submitted and approved by the court pre-trial."
"My Lord, we only got news from Otsuka this morning and so we weren't sure yet if we should have added Mr Mike to the witness list until now. My Lord, this might be the only evidence we need to actually free my client from these allegations, I ask that the court give me permission to present this evidence today in court so my client can receive the fair trial she was denied six years ago."
"I'd allow it."
The Judge said
Philip rolled his eyes in disappointment just as Rafael walked to Susan and took his phone from her. He slowly headed towards the clerk that walked up to him and gently took it from him.
"Thank you my Lord."
Olivia took deep breaths hoping that that was it. That that was the last straw. That Rafael was right. That the man that was going to pop up on the small projector was going to be all she needed to be free from the handcuffs on her wrist.
"Hello.
The entire court turned to the white man that suddenly appeared on the screen. He had white hair and a few strands on his jaw. He also had his name "Dr Mike levy" boldly written on a tag which was pinned on his white coat and also on his ID card which he wore confidently on his neck. He had the most jolly face ever especially after he rose his glasses up his nose so he could see them clearly.
"Hello Doctor Mike." Rafael greeted in the most casual tone ever, maintaining a soft smile on his face. "Thank you so much for accepting my request to appear and testify in court today."
The man nodded slowly
"Anything to uphold law and for justice." He said and then turned to the Judge "Your honor," he acknowledged the Judge's presence and she nodded in acknowledgment too.
"Doctor Mike, I'm going to ask you a few questions regarding what you told me this morning, and I'm going to need you to answer them again for the court to hear you and understand, is that okay?"
"Sure." The man replied.
"Okay." Rafael whispered and took a step forward,
"How long have you worked as a pharmacist Doctor Mike?
"Thirty two years." The man answered
"And how long have you been producing drugs for Otsuka pharmaceuticals?"
"Twenty one years."
"So it's safe to say you have a great knowledge of drugs and their components. You can detect a harmful drug and a harmless drug just by looking at them. You can also detect a harmless drug which can become extremely harmful when overdosed a little bit?"
"All I have to do is run a few tests and I can tell you what drug is what and what what drug is made up of. It's no biggie."
Rafael nodded in agreement.
"Doctor Mike, a week ago, I sent a bottle of Ariprazole to your company. Now according to witnesses and evidence and a few pharmacists in my country, it's said that the content of that bottle is exactly of the same description as Ariprazole but it is not Ariprazole. They think it shares the same contents with Secobarbital. As a matter of fact, they think the pills in that bottle, were swapped with the original pills in the bottle which were supposed to be Ariprazole and it killed a patient who happened to take exactly two pills from the bottle, obviously because he thought it was Ariprazole. Now, you've seen the fake pills and you've tested them, and you literally manufactured Ariprazole. Can you please confirm how deadly or dangerous the fake pills are? Can you tell this court your findings? What exactly was in that bottle and just how effective is it at ending someone's life?"
The man exhaled softly and reached for his glasses. He slowly pulled it down from his face and then took it out completely.
"Thank you Mr Okwonkor for reaching out when you did." He started "For six years, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals has been receiving a lot emails and texts, consisting of a lot of questions, ills, curses and racial slurs from a lot of Africans, even when we had nothing to do with the incident that had happened which unfortunately, took the life of one of the most important figures in Africa and so we agreed to help you with this investigation, hoping it could strengthen our reputation once again with Nigeria and Africa as a whole. We have tested the pills you've sent and we are proud to say that the pills in the bottle are not Secobarbital but Ariprazole produced by our company."
The court room burst into light murmurs.
"If the bottle and the pills in it you sent, were exactly the pills that were said to have killed Mr Silver and if according to your calculations, he didn't overdose them and took just the prescribed amount that night then I'm sorry but I might have to ask you to re-investigate this story again because the pills in the bottle are Ariprazole and with the dosage, taken by the deceased, it wasn't enough to kill him or any one else."
Olivia held her breath.
She shut her eyes for a second, trying to control her breathing while the court became a bit noisier.
"So what you're saying Doctor Mike," Rafael continued "Is that the contents in that bottle isn't what was used to kill the deceased?"
"If that was the pill that was said to have killed him and that was the dosage, then yes, Mr Silver didn't die from taking the contents in the bottle you sent to us. I'd advice that you reinvestigate on the real cause of the deceased's death. It could be anything else. A heart attack for instance but with the dosage in question, I can testify that Ariprazole didn't kill Mr Silver."
The Judge turned to the projector.
"And how sure exactly are you of this if I may ask Mr Mike?"
The man smiled.
"A hundred and one percent your honor. I bet my whole job on it."
He answered. The woman exhaled and turned back to her file.
"Would that be all please?" He turned back to Rafael who wouldn't take the smile on his face off.
"Thank you so much for your cooperation Mr Mike, I, my client and this court are extremely grateful."
The man chuckled for a minute.
"You're always welcome." He said right before the screen went blank.
The court was quiet for a minute. No one could believe what they had just seen or heard. Everyone sat still in shock, everyone except Victoria. She had her eyes glued on Rafael and he saw that. He could see her. He could see how comfortable she managed to remain up until that very moment.
He slowly turned back to the judge.
"My Lord," he started "With all the evidence laid in court today, I think my client deserves more than a benefit of doubt. It is safe to say she wasn't at the mansion at the time of the deceased's death, neither was she responsible for swapping those pills because according to Doctor mike, no swap was made which means my client did not kill her husband six years ago and because of the ills of our corrupt system, and lack of accurate evidence, she was also denied her right to a fair trial six years ago. Because of the inadequacies of the law, our law, an innocent woman spent six years of her life, suffering in prison for a crime she did not commit. She was taken away from her loved ones and treated like a criminal when she didn't deserve it. No amount of apologies or years can make up for what we've put this young woman through but right now my Lord, we can at least try to give her a chance to live again, to be free again and not just her my lord, every one else who has been failed by our law. A law which was supposed to be fair to them, to be on their side, to protect them. She can be an example and a bridge to everyone else we have failed to protect just as the constitution stationed us to."
He slowly turned to the rest of the court
"I ask this court today to reinvestigate what happened six years ago. To find out where the problem was, to find out the missing piece and give justice for the death of Mr Andrew Silver and also for the unjust imprisonment of my client. I ask that the court frees my client and works with me to bring the real murders of Mr Silver to book. To give them an equal chance to face the reward of their crimes and put an end to the unjust sacrifice of the poor, and the masses. Of the people that have no power or connections to fight for themselves. It is time for the law to be on their side and protect them just like we were charged to so there won't be cases like my client's in the future. "
He slowly turned to the Judge.
"I ask for justice my Lord." He bowed. That was it. He was done. Everyone watched Rafael walk back to the court and make a quick stop at Philip's table. He leaned closer to him just so he could look at him straight in the eye.
"You asked for relevance." He whispered, smiling for Philip to see. "There you go."
Philip scoffed in disgust as he watched Rafael stand on his feet and walk straight to his table.
"Well done sir." Susan whispered to him as he made himself comfortable in his seat. He nodded at her and turned away right before his eyes met Olivia's. She was staring at him in a way that made him wonder what she was thinking about.
She had an expression he wasn't able to read.
Was it amazement, or surprise, or fear ?
He wasn't sure he knew. But one thing he saw was the tears that clouded her eyes. She knew it was game for her, she could feel it.
"Thank you." She mouthed.
Rafael exhaled and nodded. He smiled a little bit and there it was, his dimples exposing themselves and adding color to his face. It was the first time, the first time she had seen him smile and at that moment, Olivia could feel her heart stop beating and her breathing seize.
She gulped hard as she watched him turn quickly to Susan.
That was it.
That moment, she was sure she just got the keys to her freedom.
It was game over for Victoria.