Miranda was sitting in the defendant's lobby with Josh, waiting for the trial to begin. The door opened, and Leah was escorted into the lobby. "Ms. Veal, how was the investigation?"
"Pretty good. We managed to dig up two new pieces of evidence, but we couldn't find anything else afterwards. The police were also unsuccessful."
"What are these two pieces of evidence?"
"A blood stain and a picture of the family of whose dogs you were taking care of."
"…! Wait, you're saying—"
"I'm not sure just yet, but it's a possibility. I'm sure the prosecution have been made aware of this…and have something up their sleeve."
Leah shook her head. "Alright. I'll leave everything up to you."
The bailiff came out of the courtroom. "Ms. Veal, the trial is about to begin."
Miranda stood up. Let's do this!
The talking of the crowd was silenced when the judge banged his gavel.
"Court is back in session for the trial of Leah Morritson."
Miranda stood up. "The defense is ready, your honor."
Jack just chuckled. "The prosecution is always ready, your honor."
The judge shook his head. "Yesterday's trial turned out to be quite…the spectacle. However, one theory came up that there was a third party in the house that looked like the defendant."
Jack shook his head. "That is correct. The prosecution did its own investigation and, along with two pieces of evidence from the defense, am prepared to counter this theory."
Wait…he has more evidence? Why didn't—
Josh sighed. "It appears our detective friend didn't know about Mr. Inger's own personal investigation."
Jack cleared his throat. "First, I would like to present the evidence the defense helped find. The first, is a tiny drop of blood on a bed sheet."
The judge looked shocked. "A…bed sheet? Didn't the murder happen in the living room?"
Jack shook his head. "Yes it did, but I'll deal with that later. Next, is a photograph."
Jack took out a copy of the picture. "This is the family who's dogs the defendant was taking care of. As you can see, their daughter looks almost exactly like the defendant."
"…why it does! This evidence gives credibility to the defense's theory."
"On the surface, yes. However, delve a little bit deeper into it."
"Delve deeper?"
"Yes, the person in that picture is Carmen Lotter, a year younger than the defendant. She has a…troubled past, and her DNA is in our system. However, when we ran the DNA, it didn't match."
Miranda clenched her fists. I figured that would happen…but what route is he going to take with it?
"And if that doesn't cause you to doubt the theory, this will."
Jack took out a little piece of paper. "What's this?"
"It's a plane ticket, your honor. The family arrived late last night. Needless to say, they were a bit surprised about these sudden…accusations, and gladly let us have the tickets. They weren't used until last night. That includes Carmen. She was still on vacation when the murder occurred!"
The crowd started chatting amongst themselves, only to be quieted down. "Order! Order!"
Jack slightly grinned. "Now, I will give credit to the defense, since their theory isn't completely wrong."
Miranda tilted her head and looked at Jack. "Huh?"
"There was a 'third party' in the house that day at the time of the murder. He finally came forward last night, and the DNA from the blood stain on the sheet matches his DNA."
The judge banged his gavel. "Bring this witness in please!"
Jack shook his head. "The prosecution calls Darren Stark to the stand."
A brown headed teenager wearing a hat walked into the courtroom.
"Name and occupation."
"Darren Stark. I'm in high school…so no…uh…what was it again?"
Jack sighed. "Occupation."
"Yeah, that."
The judge looked at Darren. "Is it true? Were you at the crime scene yesterday?"
"Yes I was."
"Please, tell us what you saw."
"Sure thing Gramps!"
"I visited the old man two days ago. I had a sudden interest to act and wanted to know if he had a part in his upcoming play. He told me he did, and we talked for about twenty minutes. I got up to leave, but had to go to the bathroom before I left. When I came out, I saw that blonde chick shooting the guy. I ran into the bedroom, but I hit on something metal."
The judge shook his head. "So, you were in the bathroom at the time?"
"Yes I was."
"And you came out at the wrong time…what a pity. Ms. Veal, please begin your cross-examination."
Miranda shook her head. "Yes, your honor."
"I visited the old man two days ago—"
"Hold on! By 'old man' do you mean the victim?"
"Yeah. I saw one of his plays at school and decided I wanted to join. I figured out his address and went to visit him."
"You're sure it was the victim?"
"…I'm almost completely sure."
"'Almost completely'? "
"Yeah."
"Why aren't you totally sure?"
"I dun know."
Miranda sighed and shook her head. Teenagers…
Josh chuckled. "I remember when I was like that. Brings back memories…"
Somehow…I can't picture you being like Darren…
"I had a sudden interest to act and wanted to know if he had a part in his upcoming play—"
"Hold on! So after you saw his play, you wanted to act in it?"
"Yeah. My friend is on vacation and he won't be here for a couple months. I figured it would be a good thing to pass my time, you know?"
Well…it's better than a lot of other things.
"He told me he did, and we talked for about twenty minutes—"
"Hold on! So while you were there, you didn't notice anything suspicious about him?"
"No, not really, except—"
"OBJECTION!" Jack shook his head. "Your honor, if there were something suspicious about him, the witness would have said something sooner."
The judge shook his head. "You're right. Ms. Veal, please keep your line of questioning relevant to the case."
How in the world was that not relevant?!
Josh sighed. "He's hiding something. Mr. Inger is keeping something secret."
But what could it be? We noticed nothing out of the ordinary while we were there.
"I got up to leave, but had to go to the bathroom before I left—"
"Hold on! So the bathroom you used was the one nearest the living room?"
"Yes."
"You didn't see anything else while you were on your way?"
"…no, not that I can remember."
Miranda shook her head. "I see…please continue."
"When I came out, I saw that blonde chick shooting the guy—"
"Hold on! So the 'blonde chick' is the defendant?"
"Defendant?"
Miranda pointed to Leah. "Her."
"…I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Well…she looks like her…but she doesn't…I don't know!"
"OBJECTION!" Jack glared at Miranda. "Stop badgering my witness!"
"OBJECTION! If badgering your witness means me asking questions concerning the case, then so be it! Your honor, I request that I continue my line of questioning!"
The judge shook his head. "Very well. You may proceed."
Miranda looked back at Darren. "Darren, I need you to try to remember, did the killer look like that woman right there?"
"…"
"Please…"
"…no."
"N—no!?"
Darren shook his head. "Her eyes…they were brown. I remember the image of her pointing the gun at him quite clearly. I remember her eyes were brown."
"OBJECTION!" Miranda slammed on her desk. "Your honor, I wish to speak with you about something."
"What is it, Ms. Veal?"
"Earlier, the prosecution made sure I couldn't continue with a certain line of questioning. Then, he tried again, only to fail. What we uncovered here is beneficial to my case. It could be that what he stopped me with before, is also beneficial, but he is not wanting to reveal it. I am requesting that I continue with my earlier line of questioning."
"…permission granted."
Miranda looked at Darren. "Darren, earlier, when I asked you if you noticed anything suspicious about the victim while you were there, you said 'except' when you were cut off. What were you going to say?"
"…well…during the conversation, after he told me there was a part for me, he went to hand me a script for the play. When I was getting up to go to the bathroom, he started frantically searching through the room, searching for something."
"Something?"
"Yeah…something about 'notes of a murder' or something like that."
"Did he find it?"
"…no…because…he gave to me…thinking it was the script."
"What? Do you have it with you?"
"No. The prose…prosecutor over there has it."
The judge banged is gavel. "Mr. Inger, please show us what the witness is telling us!"
Jack stood there, before taking out a packet. "Ms. Veal…there is a reason I didn't want this evidence presented."
"What do you mean?"
"The document I have here is indeed a document related to a murder…however…it's addressed to you, Ms. Veal."
"To…me?"
"Yes…Ms. Veal…you are officially a suspect of the murder of Lance Bort!"
"W—WHAT?!"556Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifqS52MWAQ
