Cold Case

Act I Chapter VII

The next day everyone returned to court, the accuser, the suspects, the jury, the lawyers, the audience all took their seats. Only the judge his seat was empty, as was custom. But on the seat next to him sat an old man, all dressed in blue. He was the civil administrator, who was summoned only in difficult court cases. Everyone was waiting for the judge to arrive, to start the trail and finally pass his sentence over the suspects.

The civil administrator rose from his seat and said in a roaring voice "Everyone, rise for the judge!" and all people followed suit.

The doors swung open. And the masked judge entered the room, everyone's gaze was upon him and only him, as he walked through court. Finally reaching his seat, facing all of his subjects.

He cleared his throat "Maintain order. We are back here today to continue the case of the estate vs. the Daven Rajert de Viktoria Katherine Dagr di Paleti and Hulja Jugr de Miljarat, who are suspected to be involved with the murder of Jurdisja, a crime of which guilty they can be charged with a maximum of 12 years of imprisonment, forced labor worth $ 380.000 or one of the traditional punishments according to law." He paused

"The suspects may now come forward to plead their opening statements which should be answered by either guilty or not guilty. In the case of pleading guilty, according to the law, they state their opinion on fitting punishment." The judge looked at the three suspects on by one "We will proceed. Mr Hulja, please come forward"

Hull rose from his chair and walked forward to the stage.

"How do you plead?", "-not guilty" Hull immediately responded

The masked judge continued "Please return to your seat. Next up Mss. Cathy, please come forward."

Now it was Cathy's turn

"How do you plead?"

Cathy was looking miserable, with her hair all messy and a face as if she hadn't slept for a single hour.

"Not guilty" she said in a crackly voice.

Daven looked down at his shoes, he knew he was the one that would be next. The trail felt as if it was going extremely fast, as if he didn't even have time to catch his breath.

"Please return to your seat Mss. Katherine, next up Mr. Daven. Please come forward"

Daven walked towards the stage, until he stood right in front of the judge. He had to raise his chin in order to look him in his masked face towering above his colossal desk.

"How do you plead?" -A silence fell

Daven turned around and looked at Cathy, who sat down next to her lawyer and was shaking her head. He felt pity for both him and her. He felt that, what started as one of the most amazing nights ended up in a tragedy that they would both carry with them for the rest of their lives.

This silent moment felt like a whole minute, he took a deep breath "Guilty your honour, I was the one that was behind the steering wheel when the accident happened, I shouldn't have but I had been drinking"

Cathy's eyes became large. The audience started to mumble. Daven's lawyer looked shocked and angry.

"So you admit your guilt, according to the law you have the right to state what you think is a fitting punishment for you" The judge said.

"Your honour, I am guilty of breaking the law for drinking in driving, and as a result of this I hit Jurdisja." He continued "And I cannot tell you how sorry I am for this has happened. But it was not by any means a deliberate action, and I promise I will never drink and drive ever again." As Daven was telling his statement he became more and more emotional. What the audience saw was not a criminal standing in front of the judge, but a boy. "I think the most fitting punishment is forced labour for me your honour"

"You may return to your seat" said the judge "Now that we know who was behind the steering wheel, that definitely makes this trail a lot easier, especially for Mss Katherine"

As Daven was walking back to his seat he looked at Cathy, and nodded his head as if he wanted to say that it was all going to be alright.

"Let the trail commence!" The judge said in a loud voice, and slammed his hammer on the desk.

"There is no need to introduce ourselves, since we are with the same people as yesterday" He looked at Hull "Only now Mr. Hulja is here as a suspect"

He waved the accuser to walk forward "According to the law, the accuser may now state their opinion on a fitting punishment"

The man with black hair came forward.

"Thank you your honour" he said as he was walking towards the judge. He stopped and stared at the mask.

"Unfortunately there are no witnesses to this case, which makes it difficult" He paused for a moment.

"The only evidence we have is the knife that was found in the snow, close to the incident. The victim was stabbed. And the only one who was there besides the victim and of course the couple in the car was Mr. Hulja"

Hull clearly frustrated, was rocking left and right on his seat.

"We cannot allow this man to freely walk on our streets after a crime as serious as this. He must answer for the murder, locked up in prison." He turned toward Daven

"And whoever was behind the steering wheel, I'd say is guilty too, without him Jurdisja might have lived. I say imprisonment for both of them would be a fitting punishment."

"Thank you Sir" said the judge "Please return to your seat"

"Now the defendant has the opportunity to respond to this"

The lawyer of Hull rose from his seat "Thank you your honor" he continued

"CHAOS, absolute chaos that is what the accuser is trying to make use of. My client is INNOCENT, there is no proof whatsoever that the knife belonged to my client."

"But we have proof the victim was stabbed before the incident with the car, how do you explain that?" The judge replied

"That I don't know, your honor, my client swears he had nothing to do with the stabbing at all. He was outside at Grinfield when he heard breaks of a car and only arrived at the scene after the incident happened."

-Silence fell in the audience

"Your honor" said the man with black hair "If I may"

"-Go ahead"

"I did my homework on this case as well as on Mr Hulja turns out Mr Hulja has lost his job a couple of years back as a police officer because of 'anger issues' is this true Mr. Hulja?"

The face of Hull turned red "Yes" he said, while holding back his anger.

"What do I mean with 'anger issues' I quote your honor, fired after multiple warnings with cases of physical violence against subjects with no resistance. Your honor, he was beating up people who were completely innocent."

The judge nodded.

"We also know the victim was working at a bank, doesn't that feel a little bit suspicious? He was also working all alone that night. Now this man had the motive 'money' the opportunity 'only a single old man guarding the bank' and he has a track record of anger issues"

The judge scratched his head, and looked at the accuser.

"I made up my verdict. Mr Hulja you are charged guilty of murder and according to article 42 of the laws of our estate shall be punished accordingly which will be 12 years of imprisonment" And with that the judge striked his hammer on the desk.

"YOU LIER!" Hull screamed and jumped over the desk, and tried to run towards the accuser. Immediately two guards came at him and put him on the ground.