Anna's Final Letter - Chapter 13: In Court
"Allow me to summarise the evidence against the suspect, Mr. Viramonte, " I say, holding a few sheets of paper that had all of the evidence on them. At the bottom was the letter than Anna gave me. I hated having to use it as evidence as I considered it to be private, but I think it's necessary to have it at hand in case anyone wants proof that I haven't just made it up. Of course, I'm only reading out the parts that are relevant to this case.
"Firstly, there was nothing that the car had to swerve from, and upon examining the car it wasn't found to be faulty." I gave a picture of the car and the notes taken when it was examined to the judge, who looked over them and raised their eyebrows. I continued.
"Furthermore, Anna's father is known to be an alcoholic, and he is under the influence of alcohol most, if not all of the time. When he drank, he was more angry and abusive; I have seen the evidence of his violence towards Anna countless times," I say as I gaze down at the pictures of Anna that I had that were made darker by her wounds and bruises. "In fact, I was present at her house when he broke her arm the third time." I stay quiet for a few moments to let all of what I just said sink in.
People seem to be following what I am saying, but I am not quite ready to say about the letter.
"Objection, your honor!" I hear his defense say, but the judge simple waves him off, and fully concentrates on me as I open my mouth to speak again.
"Allow me to elaborate on the extent of Anna's injuries," I decide to say, handing the pictures of Anna and the medical documents to the judge to look at. I slowly list all the injuries that Anna had been given by her father. "Bruising, cuts, concussion, broken arms, broken legs, and in one case broken ribs."
"And yet another point, Mr. Viramonte's motives are sickening, but completely feasible. Mr. Viramonte blamed Anna for her mother leaving him to go to Los Angeles, and he despised her for reminding him of her constantly. He tried to keep Anna, who was very much a free spirit, under his control." I paused before delivering his main motive for killing her.
"Anna was pregnant." I closed my eyes everyone in the room gasped.
"Anna was pregnant and Mr. Viramonte was angered by this. He intensely disliked that I was with his daughter, and although Anna's pregnancy was an accident, she refused to have an abortion, which in turn angered him further." I had everyone listening to me intently.
"He constantly wanted Anna to do as he said, and when she rebelled, things did turn for the worse. My suspicions, as well as everyone elses I can imagine, are that Mr. Viramonte purposely killed Anna."
I proceeded to say what would have happened on the day of the accident. "Mr. Viramonte owns three cars, one of which doesn't have doors in the back seats and has a low roof. Anna always, without failure, sits in the back. This would have made getting out of the car by far more difficult, as she wouldn't have been able to collapse the seat in front of her, nor would she have been able to swim between the seats and out of the car. Mr. Viramonte would have just had to have opened the door and swim out."
My anger was building and the absolute passion I had for the topic was evident was I said "Mr. Viramonte claims to have gone back to get Anna, but I for one don't believe that for one second."
Noise builds in the courtroom and the judge has to gain everyones attention again. "Anything else, Mr. Turner?"
"Yes, one more thing," I say, as I pull out Anna's letter. "Anna left me a letter."
The judge looks at me and at the letter I hold with interest and holds his hand out, but I slowly shake my head. He leans back with a surprised look on his face. The rest of the people in the courtroom, including the barristers, are clearly shocked, and many have bulging eyes.
"I'm going to read an extract from this letter. It may not provide solid proof, but it shows what Anna was thinking before the accident."
The judge nods, and I begin to read.
"She begins by saying, 'This is the most difficult letter I have ever had to write.' Anna knew that this letter would be her last, and she later says 'I know that I am going to die pretty soon. I don't like it, and I haven't accepted it; but I'll fight on for you and our baby. I know that I am going to die at the hands of my father and his anger, and I'm scared. For now, I have barricaded the door, but it won't keep him out forever.'" I take a deep breath to compose myself before I continue.
"Anna also mentions her pregnancy and how this affected her already deterioating relationship with her father. She says 'I'm pregnant, Blake. If you ever read this letter, it means that I never got to tell you in person, and that I'm gone. I would never destroy our baby, even though we're still young.'
"Anna knew she was going to die that day, and this only strengthens my argument that Anna's death was not an accident, but in fact she was purposely killed by Mr. Viramonte, her father."
I nod my head at the judge to tell him that I have finished, and I slowly walk back to my place, ignoring the shouts and quarrel as Anna's father begins to protest. I place my head in one of my hands as I look down and read Anna's letter over and over again.
The judge finally gets up from his seat and leaves, followed by his jury.
*****
Hours seem to pass before we hear the verdict. Everyone waits in anticipation. The opposition did give very strong evidence that could easily clear his name, but all I can do is hope that what I said was enough. It had to be.
Everything was silent, but then it felt as though a storm had come and struck the room when the judge declared the verdict.
"Guilty of murder."
Anna's father's face seemed to cloud over as I heard him shout incoherably at me as he was taken away by a team of security men.
My whole body relaxed, and I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the peace I felt in my mind.
"We did it, Anna, we really did it." I softly whispered, and I hope Anna heard me and smiled from above.
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Just an epilogue to go and it's 'Au revoir' to Blake and Anna :'(
This chapter does need editing along with the whole story, but I hope you liked it nevertheless :D
I've really enjoyed writing this story and if I could make a sequel, I would ;)
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Anna's Final Letter - Version I
Romance'I'll tell her how I feel tomorrow', he thought. But what if she was gone tomorrow? The love between 17 year olds Blake and Anna was never voiced between them. Anna’s car came off the road and into a river, she was tragically killed by drowning – sh...
