Morix: Web of Mistrust

Turnabout Deception, Part 2

March 12

Courtroom No. 1

10:25 AM

Cotoli Morix

I watched as Polly shuffled her way up to the witness stand. To put it simply, she looked miserable. I couldn't help but bite my lip unhappily at seeing her in such a state. She appeared as if she hadn't slept in days, though I knew that wasn't the case. Her hair was disheveled, and there was a certain glare in her eyes that I hadn't seen in quite some time. Polly yawned as she finally found her place behind the stand. She glanced around the courtroom before leaning forward against the witness stand, shutting her eyes against the pressing eyes of everyone in the area. 

"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Frost declared with a firm nod once Polly was settled in. 

Polly managed to pull herself back to her full height somehow, though I could tell that it was the last thing she wanted to do in that moment. She refused to meet anyone's eyes, instead staring down at the ground as she spoke. "Polly Burke. Prosecutor," she said bluntly. She didn't bother to mince words, too tired and upset to bother drawing out her introduction any longer than it needed to be. 

I stole a brief glance over to the prosecutor's bench to see how Anton was holding up. He looked absolutely miserable. He couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to stare at her or look anywhere but her slouched form. It was likely reassuring to him to see that she was alive and alright, but he wasn't used to seeing her show such weakness. Polly didn't even bother putting on a show of being alright. What would be the point? It would take too much of what little energy she still had remaining after the attack. 

"You were at the defendant's house the day of the crime, yes?" Prosecutor Shield asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Polly nodded. "I was," she said simply. 

Prosecutor Shield hesitated for a moment, as if expecting her to say more on the matter, but when she didn't, he continued the conversation. "I am under the impression that you got into an argument with the defendant while you were there. You were discussing something serious, but you were unable to finish your conversation after you had this large argument. Is this correct?" he questioned. 

"Yeah," Polly replied. "I take it that you'll want to hear about what we wound up talking about, right?"

"If you could tell us, that would be great," I told her. I shot her a gentle smile with hopes that it would calm her down at least slightly. She clearly wasn't in a great mood, and testifying was not going to help that. If I could do a little bit to ease her burden, then that was fine with me. Anything to help her out was a step in the right direction after all that she had been through over the course of the past few days.

Polly nodded slowly. "Well, I went over there because I had questions about a previous head of Interpol," she answered. 

"Please explain what you mean by that," Prosecutor Shield instructed with a light frown. 

"Interpol has gone through three leaders within the past twenty years. First, there was a man named Cade Green. He was the leader of the group for quite some time, and his leadership was strong. However, his true name was exposed, and he wound up having to leave behind the company to ensure that no harm came to his family. He didn't just leave the company though. He disappeared off the face of the planet completely," Polly explained. "I suppose that I've always been curious about cases like this, and I decided to investigate it on the side. I wound up running into Collack Strann's name during my investigation, and I went to see him to talk about what he potentially knew about Cade Green."