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theturnaboutbegins · 3 years ago

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Chapter 1: Turnabout Newbie

[July 18th, 9:45, Outside the Courtroom]

Rebecca’s heels clacked against the linoleum as she ran down the hall to the courtroom. It was her first case and she was not going to be late. She saw her mentor, and waved at them.

“Boss! Boss, I’m not late!”

“I can see that, Rebecca. Almost late, though.” Cass looked at their watch.

“Not late means I wasn’t late!”

Cass laughed and pet Rebecca’s hair. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

Rebecca pouted before sighing. Jeez, how did you end up being so late, you failure of a human being?! Cass thinks you’re unfit for this, and you know they do!

“I don’t like what you’re thinking.”

Rebecca looked up. How did they know.

“I can see it on your face. You can do this, Rebecca. I have faith in you.”

Rebecca smiled. “Thanks. I got this… I’m fine!”

Cass covered their ears. “I’m surprised I haven’t gone deaf, yet. You always shout in the office.”

“Sorry.”

“Rebecca!”

The young woman turned to her friend who ran up to her. Rebecca pulled her into a hug as she cried and shouted. Cass gave them a look.

“You know your client?”

“Yeah. She and I are friends.”

“Huh. I hadn’t known that.”

“It’s not something that’s well known.”

Cass nodded before walking away from them. Rebecca gave her friend a reassuring smile. Or at least… it was supposed to be a reassuring smile. Ndesah Jones frowned even deeper before pulling away.

“What’s with that look?! Do you really I killed him?!”

“No! I promise! I’m just really bad at reassuring people who have been accused of murder.” Rebecca’s tone was flat by the time she finished her sentence.

“Yeah, that was obvious. Alfred’s really worried about the outcome of the trial, y’know?”

“Yeah, of course I know. But!” Rebecca jabbed a thumb on her chest. “I’ll get you off! I promise!”

“That’s what he said.”

“Nice to know you’re still in there.”

Ndesah was taken by the bailiff and Cass walked over to Rebecca.

“C’mon. Trial’s starting.”

[July 18th, 10:00 AM, Courtroom #17]

The two walked into the courtroom, and stood on the defense’s side and looked across, seeing the prosector. Rebecca gulped in fear, and Cass patted her shoulder.

“Calm down. You can do this.”

Rebecca nodded. “Yeah…”

The judge banged his gavel, gathering everyone’s attention. “The trial for Mrs. Jones will begin. Is the prosection ready?”

The woman standing across the room from Rebecca nodded. “The prosecution is ready, Your Honor.”

“T-The…” Rebecca lost her voice for a second. She was really nervous. You’re fine. Yell out you’re ready! “The defense is also ready, Your Honor!” Rebecca bellowed, scaring everyone in the courtroom.

“Counsel, are you okay-”

“I’m fine!” She shouted once again.

“R-Right…” the judge cleared his throat, “Um, p-prosector, your opening statement?”

The woman cast a glance at Rebecca. “Yes, Your Honor. The prosecution will prove that Mrs. Jones was the one who brutally murdered the poor Mr. Vargas.”

Ndesah winced and Rebecca nodded. This prosecutor means business. She’s so intimidating. But also… seems kinda weak.

“The prosecution would like to call Detective Stormy to the stand.”

Detective Stormy took the stand, looking out at everyone. “Good morning, courtroom.”

“Good morning, Detective.” The judge greeted.

“Please state your name and occupation for the court.”

“Stormy. Occupation: Detective.”

“So, detective. Explain the crime scene.”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am. The scene was simple. One man and bullet hole through his eyes. There wasn’t a gun found at the scene or the surrounding area, but Mrs. Jones was found across the street from where he was killed-”

“OBJECTION!”

Rebecca banged her fist twice on the desk. “That’s not enough to say my defendant did it!”

“QUIET!”

Stormy banged the witness stand. “Actually, Mrs. Jones was also found with a gun as well. And the bullet matched her gun.

“Did you look at Mrs. Jones’ hands?”

Ndesah, what the fuck where you- oh, it was probably Alfred’s gun. Alfred, why the fuck do you own a gun?! Rebecca was screaming internally. She sighed thinking about all the facts.

“What?”

“I know Ndesah personally and she doesn’t really like wearing gloves. While most people would to keep their fingerprints off the gun, I doubt Ndesah would since I think her husband’s would’ve been documented accidentally. Did you see any gunpowder or test the gun for prints at all?”

Stormy’s face flushed. “Um…. no. We did not. We assume everyone uses gloves.”

“WHAT?!”

Stormy cowered behind the stand. “It wasn’t my decision! It’s the forensics team’s decision to do that!”

“OBJECTION!”

Rebecca frowned. Dumbass forensics team. “Fine. But you still don’t have enough evidence to convict her!”

Everyone was directed to the prosector. “We actually have an eyewitness who says he saw Mrs. Jones commit the crime.”

Rebecca groaned loudly and Cass patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry Rebecca. You got this. You really believe your client is innocent?”

“Yeah?”

“Then fight. Fight till the very end and keep on fighting to make sure the court also believes she’s innocent. Got it?”

“Yeah… I got this!”

Cass smiled. “Let’s tone down the random shouts, yeah?”

“Sorry.”

“The prosecution would like to call our eyewitness.”

A man joined Stormy on the stand and Rebecca immediately noted his unruly eyebrows. He wore a dull army uniform and his blonde hair was messy.

“Please state your name and occupation for the court.”

“Arthur Kirkland. I’m a chemistry teacher.” The man had an English accent.

“Please tell the court what you saw.”

Arthur cleared his throat. “I was walkin’ past the room when I saw her. She had the window open, shot once into place where the man was, killin’ ‘im instantly! I ‘eard the glass shatter and everything! I ran away and called the police!”

“I see this as open and shut. Therefore, the defendant is-”

Rebecca placed a hand on her chin. Damn, that was an airtight testimony. But… it’s weird… Right!

“OBJECTION!”

Rebecca banged her fist twice against the desk again. “Something doesn’t line up here! Detective Stormy!”

The detective jumped. “Huh?! Yeah?!”

“Was there any glass on the floor where the victim was?!”

“Uh, n-no. Jeez, newbie, why’re you shouting?”

“Volu-” Cass started, but they were cut off by Rebecca shouting once more.

“So then, Mr. Kirkland has contradicted the detective! He couldn’t have heard the glass shatter since the window was open! Wasn’t it, Detective?!”

“Ah, y-yeah, it was. Jeez, you’re loud…”

“-ume.” Cass finished.

“Huh?” Rebecca looked at Cass.

“Volume, Rebecca. You were loud as fuck.”

Rebecca looked around. “Ehe… sorry.”

“Well, you’re right counsel. Mr. Kirkland? How do you explain this?”

“Oh, well! Um… well… you see… bollocks. Um, I remember! Someone down the hall had knocked over a vase down the hall! I heard the shattering of that glass!”

Shit. This is bad. He’s got a good testimony. Rebecca groaned and slammed her face onto the desk. Cass jumped and patted her back.

“Rebecca. What did I say.”

“Fight, fight, fight… why not just lie down and accept that I’m not winning this?”

“Because do you really think she did it?! Fight to get her off the hook!”

Rebecca raised her head up. “Mr. Kirkland…”

“Y-yes?”

“I have to ask… Where did you see Mrs. Jones?”

“Apartment 35.”

Rebecca’s eyes shot open and she stood up straight. “Room 35?! Mr. Varga was a floor above her! She couldn’t have shot him! Detective Stormy said it was a straight shot!”

“That it was,” Stormy informed.

“So, she couldn’t have done it if she was in Room 35!” Rebecca shouted louder than she had ever shouted, making everyone in the courtroom cover their ears in pain. “Um… sorry again.”

“Right…” Stormy sighed, “I think Miss Rebecca is right, there’s no way Mrs. Jones could’ve-”

“SHUT UP!”

Everyone looked at Arthur who looked pissed. He breathed in deeply and punched the witness stand several times.

“I’m telling you, she did it! I saw her! And what I saw is the only damn thing that matters!”

“Mr. Kirkland!” Rebecca banged her fist against the desk. “You should know that conclusive evidence is the only evidence the court accepts!”

“But I’m a bloody eyewitness, goddammit! I know more than anyone else in this courtroom!”

“You also should know that Mrs. Jones lives a floor below you as well! And since you’re a floor above her, it gives you a perfect straight shot into Mr. Vargas’ room!”

This statement caused Arthur to fall back, and glare at Rebecca. She glared right back, and before Cass could calm her down and stop her from shouting even louder, Rebecca was talking again.

“This is what happened. You shot Mr. Vargas and knew that it would be hard for you to get away from it so you framed your downstairs neighbor. You called the police and said she did it and you were hoping that the court would see that you were the perfect, innocent witness when it was all a lie! Isn’t that what happened?!”

Arthur lowered his head and looked at the ground. He was silent for a second before he yelled out, making Rebecca and Cass cover their ears from how loud he was. Rebecca screwed her eyes shut and when he finished, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Are you done sir?”

“Yes… and I must admit… I thought I was going to be able to get away with it. I suppose that might’ve been a bit too ambitious.”

Rebecca took a second to realize what she had just heard. “WHAT?!”

Cass pushed a finger into their ear. “Wow… no blood and I’m still able to hear.”

“Sorry, Cass.”

“It’s fine.”

“Mr. Kirkland are you-”

“Yes, I killed Feliciano and tried to frame Mrs. Jones. Lock me up and throw away the key, officer.”

He turned to Stormy who was still surprised. “U-Um. Yeah.” Stormy pulled out a pair of handcuffs and proceeded to handcuff him and take him out of the courtroom.

“Well… it’s not everyday that we have someone arrested within the courtroom.”

Rebecca and Cass nodded slowly. The judged cleared his throat, banging his gavel.

“Well… this is a formality at this point, but the court finds Ndesah Jones not guilty!”

Rebecca sighed out a breath of relief and dropped her head on the desk. She felt Cass pat her back and when she looked up, they had a smile on their face.

“Nice job, Rebecca. Especially for your first trial. Very impressive.”

“Thanks boss.”

They left the courtroom and saw Ndesah and Alfred hugging each other.

“You’re not going to jail! I’m so happy!”

“Yes! Yes! It’s amazing!”

Rebecca smiled at the scene and walked over to them. She tapped Ndesah’s shoulder and when she noticed Rebecca, she hugged her as well.

“Thank you! I knew picking you was the right choice!”

“Yes, thank you, Rebecca!” Alfred pulled her into a tight hug.

“Ack- Alfred! Thank you for the hug, but it’s too tight!!!”

“That’s what he said,” The couple spoke at the same time.

Rebecca sighed and wriggled her way out of his hold. She breathed and watched the couple cooing at each other. Rebecca walked back over to Cass and when they saw Rebecca, they ruffled her hair.

“Great job, kid! You’re really something! I can see great things for your future.”

“Really?!”

“Of course! In a single trial you got a not guilty verdict and you revealed who the real murderer was! That’s way more than what I’ve done in my 5 years of being a lawyer. And I know that my first trial wasn’t like that.”

“Really?”

“Uh, hell yeah! You’re fricken amazing, Rebecca! And trust me, you’ll do amazing things. And I can’t wait to see them all.”

“Thank you, boss.”

Cass patted Rebecca’s back once more before holding up their wallet. “You wanna get some drinks? My treat. You did win your first ever case.”

“I’d like that! Let’s go!”

@lucifers-golden-bitch-apparently @notajerusalemcricket @nagytoe @strawberry-lemonade @suck-on-my-jingle-bells

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