no time to die // J. Barber ✔

sixteen

"Jacob! Amelia! ", the reporters shouted as Amelia and Jacob went out. Jacob and Amelia looked at each other before looking back at their steps.

they walked to the parking lot and soon, arrived at their car and decided to drive home.

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Jacob and Amelia watched the news on Jacob's laptop, seeing them talk about their trial.

'hey', Sara suddenly texted on Jacob's phone. "reply to her", Amelia nudged his shoulder.

'hey', Jacob texted back. "say something else, you dry texter", Amelia joked, making Jacob chuckle.

'so how was YOUR day? ', Jacob texted. "do you have to do that? ", Amelia rolled her eyes playfully.

"no, but i want to", Jacob said. 'LOL. r u ok? it looked intense on tv', Sara replied.

'free ice cream would help', Jacob texted back. "really? free ice cream? ", Amelia asked.

"like you don't want any", Jacob looked at his sister. "i do", Amelia said as she wrapped her hands around Jacob's neck.

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"my heart was kind of pounding for Ben cause he wasn't answering me", Gianetto pointed out.

"i couldn't see how he looked until i got close", Gianetto nodded. "and did you call for help? ", Logiudice asked.

Gianetto nodded, "i remember crawling up backwards against the slope, dialing 911".

"thank you, Gianetto", Logiudice nodded before returning back to his table.

"Ms. Klein? ", the judge asked, making Joanna shoot her head up, "no questions, your honor", Joanna smiled.

WITNESS #2

"the dog park, yes", he nodded. "what time was this? ", Logiudice asked. "around 8 am", he said.

"like i said, it sounded like a boy's voice i heard", he repeated, "he said, 'stop, your hurting me' ".

"stop, your hurting me", Logiudice repeated as he nodded. Jacob and Amelia looked at each other before looking at one of the people in the courthouse.

WITNESS #3

"detective, is it standard procedure for an assistant district attorney to direct the homicidal investigation? ", Logiudice asked.

"yes", Peterson said. "and who was the assistant DA assigned to the case that day? ", Logiudice said.

"objection! relevance", Joanna said loudly, making Logiudice scoff.

"side council to the side bar", the judge demanded, making Joanna and Logiudice to go to the judge's table.

"witness will answer the question! ", the judge said. "Andrew Barber was in charge", Peterson said.

"and did you find it strange.. that Mr. Barber was handling a case that involved his own son's and daughter's classmate? ", Logiudice asked.

"not really, no", Peterson shrugged. "and once his son and daughter were charged with the murder? ", Logiudice asked, "any concern? ".

"i wasn't happy about it", Peterson shook his head. "detective, have you ever heard of a prosecutor being involved in the investigation of his own children? ", Neil asked.

"objection! ", Joanna said loudly. "sustained! you made your point, councilor, let's move on", the judge said.

"no more questions, your honor", Logiudice said before going back to his table, "Ms. Klein? ", the judge asked, making Joanna stand up.

"detective Peterson, you were one of the first amongst in the crime scene, was there a murder weapon found that day? ", Joanna asked.

"no, ma'am", Peterson shook his head. "besides 2 fingerprints found on the victim sweatshirt, was there any evidence that we covered that day? ", Joanna asked.

Peterson thought, "no", "and of course the fingerprints were not identified until later", Joanna pointed, "yes? ".

"yes", Peterson nodded, right". "so is it fair to say that at the beginning of the investigation, neither you or Mr. Barber had any obvious suspects? ", Joanna asked.

"we did not", Peterson shook his head. "and was the defendants the first suspects to emerge? ", Joanna asked.

"no, we initially-", Peterson said before Logiudice cut him off, "objection! relevance? ".

"overrule", the judge stated. "we initially pursued Leonard Pats, he had a record for indecent assault, batting on kids, things like that", Peterson pointed.

"so a registered sex offender and that's what made him a person of interest? ", Joanna asked.

"that and he lived near the park", Peterson nodded. "he didn't just live near the park, he was known to walk at the park most mornings, isn't that true? ", Joanna pointed out.

"objection, leading the witness", Logiudice said. "overruled", the judge simply said.

"yes, in fact he admitted to being in the park that same morning", Peterson answered.

"no more questions, thank you", Joanna nodded before going back to her seat.

"detective", Logiudice stood up, "who's idea was it to pursue the investigation into Leonard Pats? ".

"Andy Barber brought it to my attention", Peterson said. "Andy Barber.. i see", Logiudice nodded.

"and.. Mr. Pats was then cleared, when Mr. Barber's own son and daughter was charged with the crime? ", Logiudice asked.

"yes", Peterson nodded. "no further questions, your honor", Logiudice sat down.

"your honor, we'd like to recross", Joanna said as she stood up. "go ahead", the judge nodded.

"detective, when Mr. Logiudice had asked if you had cleared Leonard Pats, were you certain of his innocence? ", Joanna asked.

"certain? no", Peterson shook his head. "did you agree with Mr. Barber's decision to investigate Leonard Pats? ", Joanna asked again.

"yes", Peterson nodded, "absolutely". "what about other decisions Andy Barber made? any concerns at all? ", Joanna asked.

Peterson shook his head, "none of I can think of.. he's the best I got.. the best I used I to have anyways".

"thank you, detective, no further question", Joanna smiled before going back to her chair.

"commonwealth.. prepare to call your next witness", the judge said.

"uh yes, your honor", Logiudice snapped from his trance.

⇏-------------------------⇍

"the beam refracts from each slit and makes a pattern of lighting conduct on the other side, why? ", Joanna asked as Amelia and Jacob payed attention.

"because light isn't made out of particles but..", Joanna said, letting the 2 kids finish her sentence.

"waves? ", Jacob and Amelia said in unison. "exactly", Joanna smiled.

"and it is the intersection of the waves that doesn't make the patterns", Joanna explained.

"so this physicist decide their gonna solve what's goin by installing a device that allows them to see exactly which slit each electronics pass through", Joanna said.

"only the moment, that they try to observe it, the electrons stop behaving like waves and behave like particles again", Joanna said, making Jacob and Amelia look at each other amused.

"what? that's impossible", Jacob said as Amelia smiled in amusement while Andy's phone rang.

"google it", Joanna said as Amelia took her phone from the table. "I tell my wife it's exactly like me in the Celtics, the moment I turn on the game, they lose", Joanna said.

Jacob and Amelia smiled when Joanna mentioned her wife, making them both look at each other and chuckle.

word count: 1135 words.