"Yesterday, mine companion and I journeyed to the director's abode—"
"Hold on! Why did you two go to meet him?"
"We haven't heareth about a part in thy script. We traveleth to his abode to commune with him about it."
"Did you see anything unusual while you were outside?"
"Nay, nothing."
Why do I feel like I'm in the medieval period?
"Once we arriveth, mine companion rang the bell—"
"Hold on! By 'bell', do you mean the doorbell?"
"Yes, exactly what I saith earlier."
Sorry Mr. Medieval…
"Not receiveth an answer, I intruded into the abode—"
"Hold on! Okay, a few questions. First one, why did you enter his house?"
"Thy director dealest with some health problems. We becameth worried and intruded."
"Okay…now, how were you able to get in?"
"The front door wast unlocked."
You almost…almost had a good, modern sentence…
The judge shook his head. "Continueth on, witness."
Not you too…
"Seeth not the director, I callest out his name—"
"Hold on! So you didn't immediately see his body?"
"No. His body was hidden thither, behind thine couch."
Miranda shook her head. "Please continue."
"Mine companion soon screacheth, discovering the body—"
"Hold on! Where was your companion before he discovered the body?"
"Behind me. He was too terrified to entereth before me."
He's slowly getting better…with his speech…
"All thine evidence pointeth to the girl—"
"Hold on! What evidence?"
"Thy murder weapon, the fingerprints, and the bloody writing."
"OBJECTION!"
Miranda shook her head. "Mr. Philip, was it?"
"Thou art correct."
"You see, not every single piece of evidence is beyond reproach."
"What dost thou mean?"
"I'm saying this, one piece of evidence has a pretty clear fault in it!"
The crowd starting chatting, soon to be silenced by the judge. "Ms. Veal, please tell us, which piece of evidence has a fault line in it?"
…no, don't say anything…
"Not a fault line, your honor, just a contradiction." Miranda took out a picture of the bloody writing. "This is the evidence that contradicts everything."
"How so?"
"Just by its very existence. You see, according to the autopsy report, the second shot was post mortem, two minutes after the first shot. Now, if the victim was already dead by the second shot, then the only time he had to write the name in blood…was after the first shot, correct, Mr. Inger?"
"…yes."
"However, it's pretty obvious that the writing was there. If my client was the killer, she would have seen the writing. Now, your honor, what would you do, after killing somebody, and seeing your name written in blood?"
"Why…I would wipe it away."
"Exactly, but that's now what we see here. It's still in plain sight!"
"OBJECTION! There is the possibility that she didn't see it!"
"OBJECTION!" Miranda smirked and shook her head. "Mr. Inger, tell me, would you miss such big writing?"
"…"
Miranda smirked. "It seems Mr. Inger is too stunned for words."
The judge shook his head. "Indeed…I never thought of that…"
"OBJECTION!" Jack started chuckling. "Ms. Veal, I didn't survive years of being an undefeated prosecutor for nothing. I already thought of that, which is why I have another question to ask my witness."
Philip's head bobbed. "My name wast calleth."
"Mr. Greo, did you, in any way, touch the body?"
"…actually…I did."
Miranda looked at Philip. "You—you what?!"
"I moveth the body. I did not knoweth whether thy director was deceased. I knelt by his side, and flipped the body over."
"You…flipped the body over?"
"Yes…however…"
"However what?"
"I…don't remember seeing the bloody writing there."
"You…don't?"
"No…I don't."
The crowd started murmuring amongst themselves. The judge banged his gavel. "Wait…so if the witness doesn't remember the writing, then that means that the writing is forged!"
Miranda shook her head. "Exactly!"
Jack smiled. "Thank you witness."
Miranda was puzzled. He looks…pleased, even though the testimony is against him…
"Now, tell me, witness, what did you and your companion do after you discovered the body?"
"We left thy house and calleth the police."
I sure hope they recorded that…I need a good laugh about now.
"Now, that is interesting. First, there is no writing, then, there turns out to be bloody writing…after the body was left alone for several minutes. Now, again, witness, tell us what you saw when you went back into the house?"
"…we saw…the girl…running in the backyard."
Miranda's eyes widened. "You saw her…running?"
"Yes. I thinketh she was trying to escape the scene of thy crime."
"You think?"
"Yes. She had a look of fear on her face, like she knoweth what happened."
Jack smiled. "Thank you, witness. As you just heard, the defendant was at the house, after the murder, alone with the body. That was when the bloody writing was written."
"OBJECTION! According to you, then my client wrote her own name in blood!"
"OBJECTION! I interviewed the witness myself. She was…remorseful, at the death of her father. In her sorrow, she decided to turn herself in another way, by writing her name in blood."
"OBJECTION! You have no proof of that!"
"OBJECTION! Sorry to say this, Ms. Veal, but I do. Your honor, I have another piece of evidence to present to the court."
"Another piece of evidence?"
"Yes. When the victim was apprehended, there was drying blood on the tip of her right index finger. DNA evidence confirmed that the blood…was the victim's."
"W—WHAT?!"
The judge banged his gavel. "I want to see evidence of this immediately!"
Jack handed the bailiff a picture and a report. The judge was handed he evidence and looked through them. "…why, he's correct. He has a picture of the defendant's finger, soaked in blood, and the report stating the blood on the finger matched that of the victim."
The crowd started talking loudly.
"That girl has to be guilty."
"Why prolong the trial? We all know of her guilt!"
"GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!"
The judge loudly banged his gavel. "Order! Order!"
Miranda sighed. This is bad. If this continues the way Jack wants it to, Leah will be pronounced guilty before she even arrives!
The judge banged his gavel again. "Ms. Veal, do you have any objections to the prosecutor's arguments?"
I…I do…but…I can't…say anything…
"OBJECTION!"
The entire court looked to the left of Miranda, at Josh. "Your honor, the defense has an objection!"
The judge was stunned. "Who—who are you?"
"My name is Josh Evanson, I'm an assistant to Ms. Veal. There's something I noticed about the trial, that the prosecutor may be trying to hide from the rest of us!"
The judge's eyes widened. "Why…what is Mr. Inger trying to hide?"
"The second witness! Notice, he never called him forward, yet, our current witness keeps mentioning him! Why not send him up to be a witness as well? He could have spotted something our current witness hasn't!"
"OBJECTION!" Jack slammed on his desk. "You're just wasting the court's time! The second witness has nothing else to say that our current witness hasn't already—"
"OBJECTION! Then prove it! Your honor, I request that the second witness be called to testify!"
The judge shook his head. "I, too, am intrigued about this second witness. Mr. Inger, you will—"
"Stop right there!"
The entire court looked at Philip. "There is no need for that!"
The judge looked at Philip. "Mr. Greo?"
"My companion doesn't need to testify! I, alone, am enough!"
Miranda slammed on her desk. "Mr. Greo, the court needs to know his testimony! Therefore—"
"And I'm not allowing you to! I'm staying here for the rest of the—"
"OBJECTION!" Jack stared at Philip. "We finally get to see your true colors, Mr. Greo. Now, put your petty feud aside! The court will hear his testimony."
"Mr. Inger, I still have—"
"No you don't. The court is done questioning you. Go sit out in the lobby and wait for the trial to finish."
Philip's face turned red as he stormed out. "My apologies, your honor. It seems that he and the second witness…have a bit of a fight going on between them."
"As I can tell. Anyways, please call your next witness."
Soon, another man walked into the courtroom. "Name and occupation."
"My name is Philip Greo. I'm an actor."
"…! You—have the same name as the previous witness!"
Jack shook his head. "Indeed, the source of their rivalry."
Miranda groaned. Oh great…
Jack looked at Philip. "Mr. Greo, please tell the court what you witnessed…"
"Yes sir!"
"That day, Philip and I were going to the director's house to talk about who was going to get the main role in the play. Philip rang the doorbell several times. After not getting an answer, he pushed the door open and went inside. Loudly calling out his name, Philip continued to walk into the house, while I stayed outside. Soon, I heard him scream. I rushed inside, and looked for what spooked him. There, on the floor, was the director's body, shot to death."
The judge shook his head. "I see…Ms. Veal, please commence with your cross-examination."
"Yes…your honor." I have a bad feeling about this…his testimony is completely different from the other Philip…
