"It's only two days from now, so let's rehearse it one more time for today," Matthew said to the two.
"Seriously? Again? We've already done it around... ten times..." Daniel grumbled, stifling a yawn and rubbing his irritated eyes.
Emma didn't seem better, either. Her eyelids were already drooping, and whatever parts of her eyeballs were visible were turning red and watery, hinting that she was equally tired.
Only Matthew seemed to be okay, completely unaffected by the sagging atmosphere that resulted from the unenergetic auras of the two other detectives. "Come on, just one more time, and you guys can go home," he begged them.
"Fine. I can't believe we're still doing this at 2 am," Daniel said, glancing at the clock blurrily.
Matthew rolled his eyes. He wasn't complaining; as such, he didn't see why his friends needed to. He saw all of it for their own good, despite knowing it was already late at night. He just didn't know why his friends prioritised sleep over a trial rehearsal.
"Daniel Washington, may you tell us what happened on May 14 in the APD police station you were at with your fellow colleagues?" he directed the question to Daniel, playing the role of the prosecution counsel in the direct examination.
"I swear... that this is the last thing I'm going to say. There was a boar chasing us, and... our... our captain Bryan Harris tried to... kill us alongside the beast..." Daniel said before slumping down onto the couch, about to be knocked out by exhaustion. "Seriously, Matthew. Can we just postpone this to tomorrow or something? I really—," he begged before getting cut off by his own yawn. "I really don't think we can focus right now," he commented as he glanced at a sleeping Emma.
Matthew looked at the countless beer cans sitting and lying around on his coffee table. He groaned. "Of course, the beer wasn't a good idea. You guys must be too drunk or something..." he sighed, sounding tired this time.
"Oh, no. I'm fine. But Emma clearly isn't," Daniel corrected.
Emma didn't hear anything. She was still sleeping soundly and even began to snore blatantly. The comfort of the couch cushions was just too tempting for her, and she gave in to the pressure of falling asleep.
"Come on, Emma. Wake up," Matthew said as he tapped Emma on her shoulder. Of course, she didn't wake up.
"I think she's dead," Daniel remarked jokingly. "I'll send her home." His eye bags began to droop and darken, hinting that he wasn't quite in the state to help Emma out.
"You don't look too good either. I think you should settle yourself. I'll drive her," Matthew suggested, figuring that Daniel probably wasn't keen on taking a detour to send Emma back home.
"I guess that's a good idea..." Daniel said, this time scratching the caruncle of his eye. "I'll get going first, then," he said, waving behind as he strode towards the front door. He knocked into the barstool at the counter as he couldn't see properly with his fingers obstructing his eyesight.
"We'll meet here again tomorrow afternoon for the final rehearsal. I'll send a message to remind you guys," Matthew added as Daniel walked out the door.
* * *
The day of the trial...
"Where is Emma? I've been trying to contact her ever since yesterday afternoon. Something must have happened to her," Matthew questioned, sighing tiredly. It was certainly unusual that she had cut off all her connections, such that the messages of the detectives hadn't even gotten through to her phone.
"We can't do anything about it. If we wait any longer, we'll be throwing away our chance to win. It's either her or the trial," Daniel warned Matthew of the consequences of skipping the trial.
Matthew knew very well that their absence would instantly cause them to lose the trial. He had no other choice. He had to postpone the search for Emma, together with that of his dear friend that he still hadn't forgotten—Megan.
"We'll... we'll go for it..." Matthew said, settling on his decision to proceed with the court hearing without Emma.
"All right. Let's get there now," Daniel nodded as he stepped out of Matthew's apartment and got to the carpark, preparing to drive off to the courthouse...
"All rise," the bailiff announced as the judge, Justice Phillips, entered the court. The judge, who sat down on his seat, signalled to the bailiff to settle the spectators down.
"The court is now in session. Please be seated and come to order," the bailiff followed.
Matthew began to chatter his teeth voluntarily. Not because the nervousness in him had made the chattering uncontrollable but because he found comfort and relief in it. He didn't do it very loudly, however, as he didn't want others to hear it and realise that he was feeling uneasy.
"Will the prosecution please call their first witness?" the judge asked, turning to the prosecution counsel.
The trial had begun. Matthew knew it was time for him to answer his examination questions and give his testimony. He was rather anxious and edgy, praying that he wouldn't mess up. Nonetheless, he knew he had to go up whether he was nervous or not. After all, it would be for the good of him and the detectives to take down the chairwoman of Yael, Georgia White.
The prosecution counsel stood up, ready to reply. "Yes, Your Honour. The prosecution would like to call Matthew Davis to the stand," he spoke confidently.
"Matthew Davis, please take the stand," the judge instructed, directing the detective to the witness box with his outstretched hand. The judge's light blue eyes painted him with an intimidating look, but Matthew didn't care for that. He was anxious about giving the testimony, not frightened by the judge's stare.
Matthew breathed deeply to calm his slightly jittery nerves. He got up slowly, mentally preparing to speak to the court members.
Walking to the witness box, Matthew tried to think positively. He thought about how winning the trial would benefit him and his friends. He thought about how the chairwoman of Yael would never use anyone else to her advantage ever again. He thought about how nothing would get any worse at that point. And not about how messing up his lines could mess up the verdict or cause the court hearing to end as a mistrial.
"Good morning, Mr. Davis. Firstly, could you explain this to us? On May 14, what exactly happened at the Allentown Police Department precinct you were stationed at?" the prosecution counsel inquired, shuffling around at his spot a little, suggesting that he was indeed nervous and restless.
"Well, this boar-like, humanoid creature was killing some civilians and officers inside the precinct. I later found out that my temporary captain, Captain Bryan Harris, was also involved in the killings of the people in the precinct. He was responsible for turning the power off constantly, which he used to his advantage to murder innocent people in the dark," Matthew explained precisely.
Matthew rubbed away a droplet of sweat that was trickling down his forehead. He sniffled a little as the air conditioning began to irritate his nose. The whole atmosphere was just very uncomfortable for him.
"So," the prosecution counsel continued. "You are saying Mr. Harris had assisted that "creature" in the purge?"
"Yes, sir," Matthew replied calmly.
"Then, can you tell me what you saw happening in the Metropolitan Museum of New York City on May 29?" the counsel queried.
"The museum was locked suddenly, and we were trapped in it. We started finding people dead, and we presumed that our captain, Gary Jones, had murdered the museum visitors based on the blood on his shirt. Thus, we shot him in the arm to subdue him. However, he began convulsing and slowly transformed into the same type of creature that we had seen in the Allentown precinct. Eventually, we got out of the museum after discovering that the museum owner, Jake Hernandez and his accomplice, Jamie, were responsible for the killings. We later found a bomb in the museum implanted by them but escaped the museum in time," Matthew continued to explain in detail.
"Thank you, Mr. Davis. Your Honour, we pass the witness," the prosecution counsel said.
Now, Matthew had to deal with the cross-examination questions from the defence, which was to prove the credibility and reliability of his testimony and statements. He very much hoped to win the trust of both sides.
"Will the defence like to cross?" the judge asked, turning to look at the defence counsel.
The defence counsel stood up quickly and pridefully. She seemed very prepared for the trial and didn't seem nervous at all, unlike the prosecution counsel, who was putting on a fake smile. And that worried Matthew a little.
"Yes, Your Honour," the defence counsel answered cheerfully before she began to cross-examine Matthew. "Mr. Davis, did Mr. Harris directly mention that he was affiliated with or hired by Yael Technologies Corporation?" she asked.
"No, ma'am," Matthew answered truthfully and accurately, knowing that he shouldn't lie even if it were for the benefit of one party.
"So, how is he relevant to this case?" the defence counsel queried additionally.
Matthew paused for a while to think of a good explanation. He knew he couldn't wait too long, as the judge might think he was trying to postpone answering the counsel's question. Finally, he thought of a response.
"You see, Mr. Harris didn't have any other motive to kill us. He didn't hold any grudges against us, nor was he prejudiced against us. Working at the APD for ten years and not knowing us until May 11, he didn't have an ulterior motive to murder us that he developed for no reason until some external factor had changed his mind about it," Matthew replied as soon as he could, using logic as a significant element in his answer.
"So, you're implicating that Georgia White from Yael had convinced Mr. Harris to kill you and your detectives?" the defence counsel clarified, with a visible frown emerging from her face.
"Yes, ma'am," Matthew replied.
"What a ridiculously false statement! I—," the chairwoman of Yael, Georgia, retaliated before getting cut off.
The judge banged his gavel and glanced at Georgia briefly, giving her a quick glare. "Order in the court, please!" he shouted for the first time in the trial. It had only been ten minutes into the trial, and the judge already had to suppress someone.
From the way that the chairwoman had expressed her disrespect and unbothered attitude towards the prosecution, Matthew could easily tell what a horrible person she was, after all. He convinced himself that maybe he need not worry so much after all. If Yael wanted to mess up their chance to win the trial, they could do so. After all, it would benefit the detectives, the NYPD, and the state.
"May we continue Your Honour?" the defence co-counsel asked politely, recovering from the interruption.
"Yes, you may," the judge nodded.
The defence counsel paused for a second, thinking of a way to phrase her question. Her eyes then lit up, hinting that she had formulated her query. "Mr. Davis, may we ask how you know that Jake Hernandez was sent by Yael?" she questioned.
"Well, the NYPD did recover Jake Hernandez's phone from the museum, as it was not within the blast radius of the explosion. And we did find a few messages that Yael had directed to him," Matthew elaborated, answering as soon as he could.
The defence co-counsel nodded, signalling to the prosecution counsel that they were done for now. The defence counsel then stood up to look at the judge. "We will now pass the witness," she said before sitting back down.
"Would the prosecution like to redirect?" the judge asked, turning to look at the prosecution counsel.
"Yes, Your Honour," the prosecution counsel said.
Instead of adding more questions, however, the prosecution counsel went ahead to ask for permission to showcase evidence. As such, the judge permitted their request.
A picture of some text messages between Jake Hernandez and the contact titled Yael was then displayed on the TV screens at the front of the courtroom.
Gasps emerged from the crowd, and whispers turned into blatant talking, which overwhelmed the silence of the court.
The judge eventually got annoyed by the noise, so he banged his gavel again. "Order!" he yelled once more, causing the crowd to settle down within seconds.
The defence counsel skimmed through the conversation displayed on the TV screen. It was evident to Matthew that she was ready to disagree with the evidence. The look on her face had given it away.
"Objection, Your Honour. How do we know that the contact titled "Yael" is truly that of an employee from Yael? As the name of the contact is changeable and doesn't need to be the person's actual name or company, Mr. Hernandez may have intentionally titled the name of the contact to be Yael, even when it may not be," the defence counsel argued, just as Matthew had expected.
"Sustained, the judge nodded. "Mr. Davis, how do you know that the contact is really from Yael Technologies Corporation?"
"Your Honour, this piece of evidence doesn't explain itself on its own. But, with an additional audio recording, it will all make sense," Matthew explained. Matthew then eyed the prosecution counsel, signalling for him to ask for permission from the judge to display new evidence. Once again, the judge agreed to their request.
Thus, the prosecution counsel brought out a tablet and connected it to the courtroom's sound system. After pressing the play button on the screen, an audio recording was played and amplified through the speakers surrounding the people. Although it was short, it was important enough for everyone in the court to take note of.
"From whatever that Yael company is?" Emma questioned in the audio recording.
"H-how would you know about that? Oh, Jamie told you? Well, I can't say anything about it," Jake answered, also in the recording.
"To explain the context of this audio clip, Civilian Administrator Emily Anne Watson is questioning Jake about Yael, and Jake indirectly admits that the organisation hired him," the prosecution counsel added, aware that the spectators and possibly the judge himself could have been confused by the audio recording if not for the context that he had given.
Matthew smiled discreetly, enjoying how the trial was going so far. It seemed that everything was on the detectives' side. The prosecution. The judge. The spectators. The state. And he was only the first witness to testify against the wicked chairwoman of Yael. Everything will get better with more witnesses, he thought.
"Does the prosecution have any more to add?" the judge asked, placing his index finger on his chin as if he were thinking.
"No, Your Honour. We pass the witness," the prosecution co-counsel said, knowing that the prosecution's job with Matthew was done for now.
"Thank you, Mr. Davis. You may now sit down," the judge directed.
Matthew walked back to his seat hastily as instructed. He exhaled deeply, knowing his job was over. The examination and testimony were a lot more nerve-racking than he had expected, even though he had rehearsed with his friends a countless number of times prior to the day. But he was just glad it was over. It would be Daniel's turn next.
Matthew sat down, straightening his posture, and continued to pay full attention to the hearing. He knew that it was essential to be aware of how the events played out, even though his task had been completed. He just wanted to be wary and observant.
"Does the prosecution have any more witnesses to call?" the judge continued.
"Yes, Your Honour," the prosecution counsel continues. "We call Daniel Washington to the stand," he announces.
Daniel walked to the witness box, took the oath, introduced himself, answered the examination questions and testified exactly the way Matthew did. His answers were so similar—almost identical to Matthew's, that the prosecution rested its case quickly, and the defence decided not to cross. There was just no purpose in asking and getting the same reply that one had gotten earlier.
"Thank you, Daniel Washington. You may now sit down," the judge instructed.
"Does the prosecution have any more witnesses to call?" the judge asked again.
"Yes, Your Honour. We now call Emily Anne Watson to the stand," the prosecution counsel added.
Matthew's heart skipped a beat the instant that her name was mentioned. His eyes widened abruptly, unable to believe what he had just heard. He and Daniel turned to look at the door, shocked by Emma's sudden entrance. Police officers surrounded her, and she was handcuffed. They removed the handcuffs so that she could take the sworn testimony.
Matthew and Daniel weren't expecting her to appear at all. Her disappearance had initially hinted that she had intentionally skipped the trial such that the police wouldn't apprehend her. Still, instead, she had done something else which could potentially benefit the three in the trial. From the scene, the two detectives managed to theorise why Emma had vanished the day before. She wasn't abducted, and neither did she run away nor hide somewhere and wait the trial out.
She had turned herself into the police.
Free from the handcuffs, Emma walked to the witness box, took the oath, and introduced her name. She didn't look at the detectives, too ashamed to greet them even visually. She noticed that they were there but noticed discreetly, such that they didn't realise her eyeing them earlier on.
The prosecution began with the direct examination questions. They were the exact same questions that Matthew and Daniel were asked, and so she followed and answered truthfully. The prosecution acknowledged that the trio's answers were all matching and thus was satisfied by the result.
Meanwhile, Emma felt equally relieved. She was happy that her answers were probably the same as the detectives' ones because once the judge found that their testimonies matched, they would be more trustable than whatever witnesses came later in support of releasing the defendant. That is, the witnesses that the defence would call in.
"One more thing," the prosecution counsel added, clearing his throat as if the answer he was to get would be valuable. "What happened at Rest Meadow Manor at Oakley Corners State Forest?" he asked as tension suddenly swept back into the atmosphere.
As soon as Emma heard the inquiry, the relief in her mind dissipated. She hadn't expected the question at all, especially since it came from the prosecution. She didn't know what to say and was planning not to respond, at least for a moment.
She gulped nervously and began fidgeting with her fingers. She went into an oblivious spell and suddenly stopped paying attention to whatever was happening in the court. The judge, spectators, detectives, officers, and counsels began staring at her, wondering what was happening to her.
"Ms. Watson? Are you okay?" the prosecution counsel called out, bringing her back to her senses.
Emma suddenly shook her head, coming back to her senses. "Sorry, sir. I'll answer now," Emma replied, now aware of her surroundings once more. She began fidgeting with her fingers again, nervous, but she was paying attention this time. "I... I was ordered to murder the detectives," she admitted anxiously.
The spectators in the crowd began whispering and gasping again, appalled by her statement, causing the court to become as noisy as it was before. People started discussing so loudly and making remarks so blatantly that the judge could even hear precisely what some spectators were saying.
Justice Phillips then banged his gavel again. "Order in the court, shall I say for the last time!" He then turned to Emma. "You may continue, Ms. Watson."
Emma cleared her throat to continue with her story.
"A few days earlier, on May 26, I was abducted by a person in black. I couldn't identify their gender as they wore a full black face mask. They placed a cloth on my nose, and I passed out quickly. When I woke up, they brought me out of the van, threatened me to knifepoint, and said they would kill my father if I didn't help them. Frightened, I obeyed their order, and then they... they instructed me to kill Mr. Davis, Mr. Washington, and Ms. Stewart," she explained.
This time, the people in the crowd restricted themselves from making loud noises as they didn't want to see the judge bang the gavel again, although it was equally shocking as her previous statement.
Meanwhile, Matthew continued to breathe heavily. He understood that Emma had turned herself in so she could testify freely about her crime. As such, she could bring down the company. It was a sacrifice that made Matthew miserable but also thankful. She managed to fulfil her wish of "redeeming" herself after all.
"You see, Your Honour, Yael ordered their assassins to kill the detectives, but they had failed their task. They thought using one colleague within the group would be better than betraying the others. So, they used Ms. Watson," the prosecution counsel explained. "And Georgia White wanted the detectives dead as they had suspected that Yael was up to something."
Justice Phillips nodded, accepting the information. "Now, does the prosecution have anything else to add?" he asked.
"No, Your Honour. We pass the witness," the prosecution counsel replied before handing the witness over to the defence to be cross-examined.
"Would the defence like to cross?" the judge questioned.
"Yes, Your Honour," the defence counsel stood up to answer. She then turned to look at Emma. "Ms. Watson, how did you exactly know that Yael was the one that hired you to assassinate the detectives, not any other company?"
"Well, the person that threatened me said that Yael would come after me if I didn't submit to them. In addition, Yael was the only company that would want us dead because of what we suspected of them. They even said, "Yael will come after you if you don't comply," Emma answered quickly. She was relieved she could make such a long answer on the spot.
The defence counsel nodded, satisfied by her answer. Well, she was satisfied that she would be able to overturn her testimony with that of the opposing witnesses later.
The defence co-counsel then stood up, saying, "Pass the witness, Your Honour."
"Ms. Watson, you may sit down," the judge said, nodding his head as a form of thanking her.
Emma thus went back to her seat, with police officers handcuffing her again and surrounding her again. Despite the fact that she was being restrained, Emma was relieved.
Unlike Matthew and the prosecution counsel, she thought that all the evidence they had provided was more or less enough for them to win the trial, and she was confident about it. She had to be. She turned herself into the police just so that she could testify against the chairwoman. She just couldn't let it go to waste.
"Your Honour, the prosecution rests its case," the prosecution counsel finally said, announcing to everyone that they had no more witnesses to call and also signalling to the defence that they could call their witnesses next.