March 12
Courtroom No. 1
12:00 PM
Cotoli Morix
"If Mr. Lent was lying about being there at the time of the crime, then that means that he was there when the attack took place. He remained hidden the whole time that the defendant was speaking with the victim since he didn't see a reason to show himself, but he was undoubtedly nearby the scene during their conversation," I began to explain. "If he was at the scene of the crime, then that immediately comes off as rather suspicious, especially given that we are looking for someone who attacked the victim from behind."
"You think that he's been lying up to this point because he was the one who attacked the victim then," Prosecutor Shield commented. "If he claimed that he wasn't present, then it would be hard for us to say that he was the one who attacked the victim, but if he was there... Well, it's easy to see how that would make all the pieces fit together."
"I think that we'll need to look over what the witness claimed that he was doing at the time of the crime again. After all, if he was present as you suspect, then that could make him a potential culprit," Judge Frost agreed with a firm nod.
Mr. Lent let out a heavy, frustrated sigh and shook his head. "I don't know what you're on about. I wasn't there at the time, and you have no evidence to prove that I was there. Why don't you just drop it already?" he asked angrily.
"Well, I do have a proposal, as a matter of fact," I said. I might not have had any evidence to use against him, but I could still put forward the one main idea that I had related to Mr. Lent. "I believe that I know something about the motive that Mr. Lent would have had if he were the culprit behind this case."
The members of the gallery began to talk above us, instantly bursting into chatter at the mention of a motive. I turned to Chrysalis with a small smirk, hoping to see if she had any thoughts about what I had said. She looked over to me and nodded in approval.
"Do you think you know what I'm talking about?" I asked her, praying that she was keeping up with the conclusions I had come to. I didn't want to leave her in the dust, as she couldn't help me out if she didn't know where I was going with this.
"I do. The motive has been sitting right in front of us all along, and it would be ridiculous of us to dismiss it when it's clear what it is," she agreed. "Looking back on it, the motive seems perfectly obvious, and I assume that's the reason that he was trying to hide where he was at the time of the crime. If anybody realized he was there, the pieces would fit together all too well before he would be able to recover."
Judge Frost raised his gavel and slammed it down on the podium before him. "Order in the court!" he roared, a frown on his face. The chatter in the courtroom began to calm down, and he let out a heavy sigh before shaking his head. "Now, defense... I would like to know what you think the motive is behind this crime. Please explain your reasoning to the court."
"It's perfectly logical when you think about who the witness is. I want you tot tell me his occupation one more time," I told Judge Frost with a small smirk creeping onto my face.
"Um... He's a security guard," Judge Frost told us, still frowning. "I don't understand what that would have to do with his motive though. Is his occupation the reason that he would have committed this crime?"
"It is, as a matter of fact. He was hired to ensure that the defendant was kept safe. The defendant asked Mr. Lent to come in and ensure that there were no violent outbreaks while he was sharing a discussion the victim. Mr. Lent's job was to make sure that there was no issue with physical fighting," I began to explain. "I'm sure that should start to put all the puzzle pieces together for what happened at the time."
Judge Frost took a moment to think to himself before he let out a small gasp. "Preventing what happened would have been his job," he realized. "And you think that led him to this crime?"
"I do. If he thought that the victim was going to get violent, then he would have lashed out to protect his employer. He would have gotten in a lot of trouble and feel rather guilty if his companion was hurt in a potential attack, so he lashed out in order to keep him safe," I explained. "However, as far as we can tell, there were no signs that the victim was going to be violent. She simply gathered her things and went to leave when an argument began between her and the defendant, meaning there were no indications that a fight was going to start. That's why he wanted to hide the truth from us. If he confessed to it, the crime likely would not have been seen as justified since nobody actually got violent until he appeared."
"That makes sense," Prosecutor Shield nodded. "He was clearly at the scene of the crime, and by lying and claiming that he wasn't there, then he was hoping that we wouldn't pick up on that major detail... I believe that this is rather plausible, and we should certainly consider this as a possibility regarding how the crime took place."
"You're all jumping to conclusions. You have no evidence to show that I was present at the time of the crime. Someone could have snuck into the building while I was on off duty, and they could have easily committed this crime," Mr. Lent exclaimed, his hands clenched tightly into fists. "I want you to stop accusing me when you have no real proof that I was the one who did it."
"We can surely prove that you were the one who attacked the victim though, which would show that you were at the scene of the crime when the assault took place," I declared. "The defense would like to request to hear the testimony of the victim one more time. There's something else that I would like to ask her."
"She should be resting out in the defendant lobby right now. It should be very easy to call her in and hear her testimony once again," Prosecutor Shield pointed out. "Why don't we go on and summon her back to the witness stand? I'm curious to hear what the defense believes will lead us to the truth behind this case."
"I have one important question to ask her, and I think that will lead us to the truth behind this case," I said, looking up to Judge Frost. "Do we have your permission to call her to the stand once again?"
"No!" Mr. Lent roared. "You're jumping to conclusions, and it isn't going to work out in your favor in the slightest. I don't understand how you can go about your business this way, claiming that an innocent person is guilty of a crime without any sort of burden on your conscience. I didn't attack the victim, and there's nothing you can say or do to dispute that undeniable truth. Quit accusing me already."
"There's one question that we can ask the victim that could very easily lead us to the truth. Are you asking that we obscure the truth from the world by allowing this chance to pass us by?" Chrysalis asked, her expression neutral as she looked at Mr. Lent. It was probably the calmest she had ever looked in Mr. Lent's direction, but it was clear that her voice was dripping with condescension. I was sure that he deserved it given what we had figured out about him already, so I did nothing to stop her.
Mr. Lent frowned and shook his head. "You're making a huge mistake," he grumbled. "I'm out of here. Ask her whatever your damn question is. I doubt it will get you far in the slightest, but it wouldn't hurt to try, if that's what you're about."
"Please step down from the witness stand, and do your best to avoid the outbursts of attitude in the future," Judge Frost told him sternly, a heavy frown on his face. He shook his head before turning to the prosecution. "Please summon the victim at once so that we can speak with her."
Mr. Lent shuffled away from the witness stand, clearly not at all satisfied with the turn that this was taking. Anton dashed away from the prosecution bench before leaving the courtroom. I watched the door for a moment, waiting for him to reappear with Polly.
"I think I know what question you're talking about," Chrysalis murmured. "If somebody snuck into the building, then there's one thing that would undoubtedly change. The atmosphere of the area would undergo a small shift if another person entered the building, and it's that atmospheric change that will prove whether or not he left at the time of the crime."
"Exactly," I nodded. "It's crucial that we find the truth here. Polly will undoubtedly be able to supply us with an answer. I hope that everyone understands what we're going at here. I'm praying that Polly will catch onto it rather quickly, though if she doesn't, that's understandable. After all, she has been through a lot, and I doubt that her mind is in a suitable condition at the moment."
Anton returned soon afterwards, and Polly shuffled up to the witness stand. Anton was hesitant to let her go, but he walked back to the prosecution bench soon afterwards, sadness on his face that he was unable to stay with Polly. I felt a small pang of pity for him, and I made a mental note to check up on him as soon as this trial came to an end. I doubted the case was doing any favors to his mental state.
Polly leaned forward on the witness stand, placing her head in one hand. A sigh left her lips, and she closed her eyes. Somehow, she seemed even more disheveled than before, and I got the feeling that we caught her in the middle of a nap. She had been told to rest up, and she couldn't exactly object given her condition. Polly was as stubborn as it got, but she still knew when not to go up against the instructions of others, and this was one time where she was happy to listen to what her superiors had to say.
"What do you need?" Polly asked, frustration dripping from her voice. She opened her eyes a crack and looked over at where I was standing next to Chrysalis. I got the feeling she was less mad at us and more angry at the situation, so I didn't mind the grim expression that she was giving the two of us. "I was told that somebody wanted to ask me a question, but I never got specifics on what that question is about. Would anybody mind filling me in on what I missed?"
"I have one important question for you regarding the time of the crime," I answered. "The attack took place yesterday, quite clearly in May. It would be natural to smell flowers and pollen when one stepped outside, yes?"
"Yeah. That's what it smelled like when I first got there. Why do you ask?" Polly questioned with a small frown.
"Before we move on, I must question you on the temperature when you arrived at the house as well. How would you say it compared to the temperature inside of the building?" I asked, trying to remain as calm as possible despite my plans very clearly coming together.
"Um... It was warm outside. It was cooler inside of the building since it was on the humid side," Polly answered. "I don't understand what you're trying to say by asking all these questions though. Are you trying to say that the outside has something to do with this case?"
I nodded. "Your Honor, under these circumstances, if someone opened a window, wouldn't you be able to tell that there was an intrusion from the outside? It would be clear based on the smell and the temperature compared to what can be found outdoors. If a fourth person really did sneak into the building as Mr. Lent claimed, then it would be clear as day that they had crept inside because of the shift in smell and temperature," I remarked.
"I have minor allergies to pollen. When a window gets opened and I can smell it, I instantly feel the effects. The smell is rather strong, and if the room that the crime took place in was directly connected to a window, then it would be rather easy to tell," Chrysalis commented. "So, I think what we're trying to get to is this one key question..."
"Did you smell pollen or feel a rise in temperature at the time of the attack?" I questioned.
Polly shook her head. "No. It smelled like the inside of the house at the time, and the temperature remained cooler than it was outdoors," she answered. "It didn't get warmer by any significant margin while I was there."
"In other words, it was impossible for someone to have snuck in through the window to commit the crime!" I declared. "The only three people that were in the building at the time of the attack were the Polly Burke, victim, Collack Strann, the defendant, and Jeff Lent, the witness. It seems clear as can be now who committed this crime if you look at it from the proper perspective."
"If Mr. Strann didn't do it and Prosecutor Burke was the one who got attacked, that leaves only one possibility regarding the culprit," Prosecutor Shield nodded. "It must have been Mr. Lent. There were no other people present at the time of the crime. I would have learned about them during my investigation, and I'm sure that there are others involved with the case who can back up that statement as well. Only one person could have done this."
The gallery burst into chatter once again soon after Prosecutor Shield finished talking, and I looked over to Chrysalis with a small smile. She smirked in response before turning her attention back to the trial. The gentle din of conversation surrounded us, but we didn't do anything to stop it. After all, we were going to find the truth sooner rather than later, so they could talk for as long as they wanted. It wasn't going to impact us in the slightest, so we might as well let them continue. Besides, they probably weren't going to listen to us anyways, assuming they could hear us without a gavel above the noise.
Judge Frost picked up his gavel and slammed it down once again. "Order in the court! I will have order!" he roared. It felt like it took a thousand years for the chatter buzzing around us to calm down, and once it did, he let out a sigh, clearly not liking that he had to be so aggressive. "If there were no signs that somebody snuck in, then that means that only one person could have committed this crime... Prosecution, how do you respond to this? Do you have any objections to what the defense has proposed regarding the case?"
"I do not," Prosecutor Shield said, turning his attention over to Mr. Lent once again. "I must ask though... What do you have to say about being accused of this crime? Do you have a rebuttal?"
Mr. Lent walked back up to the witness stand with rage in his eyes. He glared at Polly as she passed him by, but she returned the favor with a fierce gaze that would make even the strongest of souls shudder. She returned to the lobby as Mr. Lent found his place behind the stand, and the door shut behind her with a loud tap.
"You cannot really mean to say that I committed this crime," Mr. Lent declared angrily. "I would not attack the victim. I didn't know her, so why would I hurt her?"
"You not knowing the victim ties directly back to why you would commit this crime. If you knew her, then you would be aware that she was not the violent type, and that would keep you from attacking her in the first place. However, since you do not know her, then you could have attacked her and tried to justify it," Prosecutor Shield answered.
"If you were aware of how she regularly behaved, you would know that she isn't violent. You wouldn't have attacked her when she began to yell at the defendant if you had known that she was not a violent person. Your lack of knowledge about her shows when it comes to who committed the crime," I continued.
"I can't believe that you're basing your entire argument around the smell of the building from the time of the crime. In case you didn't already notice, she was attacked, so her memory could be fuzzy. Maybe she's blending different occurrences to use her testimony against me," Mr. Lent suggested. "She's clearly conspiring against me."
"Why would she conspire against you? You saw that she was in the lobby outside of the courtroom until recently. She had no idea that you were a suspect, and she had no way of knowing either. She was not conspiring against you because there was no way for her to be aware that you were a suspect," Prosecutor Shield pointed out, clearly getting sick of what Mr. Lent was claiming.
"If you're going to say that she's against you, then you had better come up with a better excuse than that," Chrysalis remarked with a shake of her head. "I think that we should go back and cover all the ground that we've gone over so far. After all, it's important that we know where we've come from in order to figure out where to go next."
"A lot has happened on this case as of late, and it's important that we hear all of the details before continuing," Judge Frost agreed before looking to me. "Mr. Morix, would you like to explain to the court what happened the day of the crime? I get the feeling that you have an idea of how to tell the tale."
"I do, as a matter of fact," I declared with a nod before looking over to Chrysalis. "Alright... I think this might be the last little thing we need in order to finish off the case. If we can get everyone to see that there are no other possibilities aside from the witness committing the crime, then he'll stop trying to fight back. He'll realize that fighting against a court that has already decided on his guilt has no choice. The gallery does more than just talk at inopportune times."
"I agree," Chrysalis nodded. "Well, there's no time to lose now. How about we go on and get into it? The sooner we can finish this, the better. Poor Polly needs to catch up on lost rest."
I took in a deep breath before looking to the courtroom at large. "Alright. The case took place at the house of the defendant. He asked the victim to come and visit him since they both wished to discuss something with the other. The defendant was curious about if the victim knew about the Oracle of the Law, and the victim was wondering what the defendant knew about the previous head of Interpol, Cade Green. The victim arrived at the assigned time, and she entered the house to begin talking to the defendant," I began to explain.
"Of course, they were not alone in the house. The defendant asked for a security guard to watch his back in case anything happened. He didn't know the victim very well and was concerned that she might get violent with him, so he asked the witness, one Jeff Lent, for help ensuring that nothing went too wrong," Chrysalis continued. "Mr. Lent watched their conversation from afar, and the victim was unaware that he was present, thinking it was just her and the defendant."
"Mr. Lent watched as the two began to talk about the Oracle and the previous head of Interpol. However, neither one of them got the answers they wanted from the other, and an argument broke out. The two began to yell at one another, and the victim began to gather her things with hopes of leaving the building behind. She saw that she wasn't going to be learning anything new, so she resolved to step away," I went on, picking up where my sister had left off.
"However, she was not able to leave the building. She was cut off when she was hit on the back of the head. She was facing the defendant at the time of the crime, so he could not have hit her on the back of the head. A third party who the victim was not aware of could have easily done so though. He was hiding nearby, and when he sensed that an argument was picking up, he grabbed a vase and slammed it into the back of her head, knocking her unconscious immediately," Chrysalis said next. "As for who the culprit is... I think we all know."
"Mr. Lent claims that he left the scene of the crime to go to the restroom and that a fourth person committed the crime. However, this is not the case, as if a window or door was opened to allow someone to sneak inside, the smell of pollen and the humidity of the outside air would become apparent, and yet, nobody recalls that. He must have been there at the time to attack the victim," I went on. "If he was not present, then another person must have done it, but we have already shown that a fourth person could not have attacked Prosecutor Burke. That leaves only one possibility, and it points to the witness, Mr. Lent, having been the culprit behind this case."
"The defendant and witness do not know the victim well. This was one of the first times that the victim spoke with the defendant, and she still has not spoken to the witness. They had no ways of knowing that she wasn't a violent person, and because they assumed that she might wind up attacking them, the defendant hired the witness as a security guard. Mr. Lent watched on silently until he thought that his client was in danger, and he jumped into action, hitting the victim on the head to knock her unconscious and effectively end the argument. However, there was truly no reason for him to lash out given that she didn't seem to have any intentions of attacking the defendant or witness," Chrysalis declared.
"I believe that it's rather clear at this point who committed this crime. It was the witness, believing that the victim was a violent person, who lashed out. He tried to cover it up and hide the truth behind who committed the crime, blaming it on a fourth person who does not exist," I frowned. "He didn't try to accuse the defendant because Mr. Strann was the one who hired him in the first place, and he didn't want to break his laws of loyalty, it seemed."
"He was willing to put his pride on the line for the sake of keeping him from being accused, but he still didn't own up to his crime. If he said from the start why he committed the crime, maybe it wouldn't have had to be like this," Prosecutor Shield remarked.
"Actually, I believe it would have wound up like this regardless," I said. "Even if he had confessed to his crimes, the fact remains that there was no physical violence leading up to the attack. He simply lashed out because he suspected something would happen, but nobody had been hurt at that point. Since there was no harm done at the time that he attacked, then he would have found himself in trouble regardless. He attacked somebody who had not provoked him, and that is a crime."
"It can't be called justified self-defense, in other words," Prosecutor Shield murmured. "I believe that this explanation of the case makes sense. It's easy to see why this conclusion can be made, and I don't see any other possibilities regarding who could have committed this crime. He attacked the victim because he thought she would be violent, but he had no evidence to back up such a claim. He attacked her over an argument that never got to the physical stage."
"Also, I want to say that there were no other weapons found at the scene of the crime. There was only the vase as far as we are aware, so even if she did lash out, she wouldn't have had anything to attack with, and in case you haven't already noticed, she isn't exactly strong enough to fend off the defendant, much less the witness on top of that," I said next. "She didn't lash out in the first place, and she had no weapon to fight with. The defendant bears no bruises from attacks. It seems rather clear to me, and I'm sure that you all have come to this conclusion just as I have. The culprit is none other than Jeff Lent!"
The gallery burst into chatter once again, and I looked over to Chrysalis. She knew just as well as I did that nobody was going to be believing him anymore. There was no way for him to weasel his way out of this one. The gallery thought that he had committed the crime, and there was a clear outline of the case that showed he was the culprit. He had no options aside from confessing at this point. He had no ways of getting out of this now.
Judge Frost picked up his gavel and slammed it down once again. It took a while for everyone to calm down, but once the voices all fell silent, Judge Frost looked to me and Chrysalis with an intense gaze. He knew just as well as I did who had committed this crime, and I didn't think there was anything that could be said that could change his mind at this point. The truth was clear as day, and all we needed at this point was a confession from Mr. Lent to seal the deal once and for all.
"I think there's only one question that remains at this point," Judge Frost commented once he was in control of the courtroom once again. "Mr. Lent. How do you respond to this accusation? Unprovoked assault is a heavy crime, and you have one last chance to defend yourself and come up with an alibi."
"Remember that we will not tolerate any other lies of yours. You have already lied enough to this court today when you claimed that you did not commit this crime. You have openly tried to obstruct the truth from the court here today, and that is a crime that cannot be denied. Even if the attack took place under the terms of self-defense, hiding the truth is a heavy crime," Prosecutor Shield cut in.
"There's nothing that he can say at this point that will get him out of this mess. The court isn't going to listen to the defendant until after he's proven not guilty, even if we all know the truth behind this case. He can't rely on the one who hired him to defend him anymore. Even if Mr. Strann did say that Mr. Lent didn't do it, he would get in trouble for obstructing justice," Chrysalis whispered. "I can tell that the end is coming soon. In fact, I believe that everyone can feel it. He's not talking now, so maybe he's trying to prolong his safety for as long as possible."
I looked to Mr. Lent, crossing my arms over my chest. Even if he wasn't talking, it was clear as could be that he was stressed. Sweat was forming on his brow, and a heavy frown was on his face. His hands were clenched into fists, and I worried that he would break skin if he held that position for any longer.
Nobody said anything for the next few moments, and the seconds seemed to crawl on for years. We all stared at Mr. Lent, waiting for him to offer a response to the accusation, though he didn't seem to be eager to do so. I understood why he didn't want to say anything, but he was only making this harder on himself. Remaining silent wasn't going to help him out of this situation.
The air grew thicker and heavier the longer that we were quiet, and I found myself glaring at Mr. Lent. He had grown almost eerily still, staring down at the floor as if he thought it might swallow him and save him from the accusations of assault piling up against him. Even without the assault charges factored in, he had already done more than enough to obstruct the truth, and he couldn't run away from that either.
Mr. Lent remained silent for a while longer, and he slowly tilted his head to look at the rest of the courtroom. I felt a shiver run down my spine, but I didn't let him get me down. After all, the end was in sight, and I couldn't back away now.
---------------------------------------------------------
My computer is dying let me yeet
-Digital