Morix: Web of Mistrust

Turnabout Masquerade, Part 16

November 23

Courtroom No. 6

10:00 AM

Deirdre Brigit

As we arrived in the courtroom, I looked carefully around the area. Everything seemed to be a bit less disastrous than it had been in the past, and the members of the prosecution were calmer now. They had come to understand what was happening with Mr. Morix, and that seemed to have made all the different for all of them. They had previously not known enough to truly come to any conclusions about what had happened, given that they were granted with minimal information about the fact that the victim was a branch of Oracle's aliases and nothing else. I would have been upset and anxious if I was in their position as well, so I couldn't blame them for acting strangely in the past. 

Even though he hadn't been upset previously, Anton seemed to be feeling much better as well. I assumed that it was because the stress was gone from the others around him. That meant he wasn't constantly surrounded by their anxiety, and it seemed to be doing him infinite amounts of good. He was far less fidgety and nervous than he had been previously, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight of him so calm. 

"Court is now in session," came the cry of Judge Diaphan as she hit the gavel against the podium before her. Her voice was strained and concerned. Given all the messiness of the case leading up to this point, I couldn't exactly blame her. I had seen more than enough stress in the past few days as well, and I was anxious about how this was going to go much the same. "Are the defense and prosecution both prepared for the trial to come?"

"The defense is ready," I announced confidently with a nod. Both Victoria and Yuri followed the gesture from beside me, and I glanced at them out of the corner of my eyes before squaring my vision once again on the prosecution. 

"The prosecution is also ready," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke announced next. He cleared his throat before looking up to Judge Diaphan once again. "If it's alright with you, Your Honor, the prosecution would like to open today's segment of the trial by calling a new witness to the stand. We have been given reason to believe that someone has figured out the identity of the culprit without us needing to inquire with the previous witness."

Judge Diaphan nodded. "Of course... If you don't mind my asking, just where is the victim?" she asked carefully. "I don't see her in the courtroom at this time. I would assume that she would need to be here given her important role in this case."

"She's waiting in the prosecution lobby right now," Prosecutor Burke replied. "She's with a friend right now, and if she just so happens to be needed at any point during the trial, we will call upon her. I think that she's still exhausted from recent events and is looking for a break from the hustle and bustle of all that has taken place. We decided to honor her request by giving her as much space as she requires."

"I understand," Judge Diaphan murmured. "I suspect that we will need to summon her to the witness stand soon enough, but for now, we have much to take care of. You said that you had a witness who would be able to reveal the identity of the culprit, yes? Go on and call such a party to the witness stand."

I glanced to the others on the defense team out of my peripheral vision. They both seemed to be just as nervous about this as I was. I wondered who it was that would be called to testify. Part of me already seemed to know, but I figured that it would be for the best if I gave it time to see what came next. It was the least that I could do, especially after all the highs and lows that this case had provided to us throughout its duration. It was hard to believe that it had only been a few days given how stressful and difficult the investigation and trial had both been since the case first came to our attention.