A Victim for Six Years

Chapter thirty-one: Evidence Against Him

I went over his testimony again and again in my head, and as he started to restate his testimony, I racked my brain for any contradiction I could find.

"I then heard the defendant yell, 'get away from my niece!!!'" My father recalled. There!!

"OBJECTION!!!" I exclaimed. The whole courtroom went quiet. For a few seconds, I just stood there, enjoying the silent tension. This has to be the quietest I've ever heard the courtroom.

"Erm, Miss Edgeworth? Your objection?" The judge asked.

"Yes, my apologies, your honor." I said, doing a bow like my father would sometimes. When I came back up, my father was sitting there looking at me and having a proud dad moment.

"Mr. Edgeworth..." I said, putting my hands on the table. "Will you please explain to me why your claim contradicts Mr. Gumshoe's testimony?!" The jury murmured amongst itself, and the judge banged his gavel a few times.

"Order!! Order!!" He said. "Miss Edgeworth," he said, turning to me. "We have already cleared up that detective Gumshoe didn't hear the gunshot right. We proved that in your own testimony."

"That would be correct, your honor." I nodded. "But there's one thing that's been bothering me."

"And what's that?" The judge asked.

"You remember that we concluded that Gumshoe had come around the corner about the time after the second gunshot was fired, as he saw Franziska and I near my father, correct?" The judge nodded.

"That seems to be the case, yes. What about it?" The judge asked.

"If Gumshoe rounded the corner after the second gunshot, and saw me and Franziska near my father, while I was still conscious, then..." I slammed my hands down on the desk. "How come he didn't hear Franziska's yell?!"

The jury murmured even more excitedly, as the judge banged his gavel.

"OBJECTION!!!" Von Karma bellowed. "Mr. Gumshoe has already testified!!! There's no need to revisit this testimony!!!"

"HOLD IT!!!!" I fired back. "For one, Mr. Von Karma, as far as I remember, you can't object to an objection in the court of law, which, I believe, is a rule that we should have established much earlier in this case. And two, the reason that we're here is to find the truth of this attack, not to frame Franziska, not to get the guilty verdict, not anything else."

"OBJECTION!!!" Von Karma yelled again. "I take orders from no one, Miss Edgeworth, especially not from a freshman girl in high school!!"

"And apparently not the judge, either." Phoenix remarked beside me.

"For your information, Mr. Von Karma, I'm in my sophomore year of high school." I say. "And also, as prosecutor, you're supposed to take orders from the judge when he says to shut up."

"Miss Edgeworth, I'm about to make you wish you never stepped foot in this courtroom." Von Karma growled.

"We'll see about that." I answered.

By now, the jury was buzzing loudly with excitement, and the judge was banging his gavel like crazy.

"Order!!! Order!!!! I SAID ORDERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!" The judge exclaimed. "Mr. Von Karma!! Miss Edgeworth!! Will you two please stop quarreling like second graders and act mature, at least in this courtroom?!!"

"My apologies, your honor." I reply, doing another bow and feeling a bit more comfortable in my surroundings. "I was merely trying to explain the basic rules of the courtroom in a way that Mr. Von Karma could understand."

I could have sworn that I heard Phoenix, Maya, and Franziska all go, "Oooooooooooh. Burn." Behind me after I said that.

"I believe that the defense may need to learn to watch. Her. Tongue." Von Karma said.

"Miss Edgeworth, please elaborate on your objection from earlier." The judge said.

"Gladly, your honor." I replied. "Detective Gumshoe said that he heard a single gunshot, and then ran to the scene of the crime. He didn't, however, say that he heard Franziska yell at the attacker to get away from me."

"What exactly are you proposing, Miss Edgeworth?" Von Karma asked. "Are you suggesting that your aunt had not yelled out? That's the only evidence that you have that she didn't do it."

"Far from that, Von Karma." I answered. "I'm proposing that there was something else that had to have kept Gumshoe from hearing Franziska yell." I looked at Phoenix, and he made a go on motion with his hands. "I propose that we bring Gumshoe back in to testify."

"WHAT?!!!!" Von Karma screamed. "Judge, she can't be serious!! You can't let her do this!!! She- it- this is insane!!! We proved the defendant guilty!!! We should have gotten our verdict weeks ago!!! You've given the verdict, have the bailiffs take her away!!!!!!" He yelled.

"Mr. Von Karma. As...excited as you are to share your opinion, and as sure of yourself as you seem, you still know that we try to find the truth, and the whole truth at that, in this courtroom. Perhaps we didn't give the detective enough time to testify. I say that for the first time, in the history of this courtroom, we will call a witness back to the stand!!!"

And the sound of the gavel rang through the courtroom before Von Karma could object again.