Court Revelations

This book is still very new, but thank you for the support so far with it! I am not the best when it comes to coming up with crimes, but I'll certainly be doing the best I can! Especially when it comes to the Critical Cases. Naturally, I may make mistakes every now and then, but that's just human nature.

Finally, English is my third language, so I apologize if my grammar so far has been mediocre at best.

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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If there was one thing about this world that he had come to learn since having arrived, it's that there were certainly far more incompetent individuals here compared to his old world. Things that he'd usually find rather obvious prove to be hidden details to these people.

Perhaps this naivety and such sprung forth from the vastly different environment in which these people compared to those back in his old world. The human imagination is probably one of the most terrifying things in the world, as it can surge either miracles or nightmares.

It wasn't really his place to say, but perhaps the people of this world have yet to know just how cruel and terrifying humans really are.

Whatever the case may be, after Xander had given his firm and resolute declaration, audible whispers immediately began sounding from the audience. To them, it seemed that his words were truly unexpected and ridiculous.

"Me...? It was that bastard there who killed my husband with that hammer!" Elaine, the person whom Xander declared the murderer, was naturally the first to retort and complain about Xander's words. "Why in the world would I kill my own husband?! What reason could I possibly have to do such a thing?!"

"I believe you already know the answer to that." Xander responded calmly as he gently gripped both of his biceps after crossing his arms. "While a bit bold for me to say, admitting to your wrongdoings will save not only us but you as well. You're the murderer, aren't you?"

"O-Objection! You are speaking utter nonsense!" Floyd stuttered slightly as Xander merely glanced toward him with an indifferent look on his face. "Your Honor, the defense's claims are outrageous! He has no evidence to support them!"

"That is indeed the case." Neuvillette then turned to look at Xander. "Mr. Xander, an accusation like that holds great weight. Do you have the necessary evidence required to support such claims?"

"I do, Your Honor."

"N-Nonsense, you have no such thing...!"

"That's not for you to decide, is it?" Xander scoffed after hearing Floyd's words. "Allow me to enlighten you all. I have already mentioned the positioning of the glass shards, but I already had a feeling that wouldn't be enough to fully sway you all. Thus, I have prepared other pieces of evidence."

After saying that, Xander put away the photo he had presented previously before taking out what looked to be the murder weapon which was currently being kept in a large plastic bag, along with two small pieces of clear white paper.

"As we all know, the weapon identified to be the murder weapon was this hammer." Xander spoke as he lightly shook the bag holding the hammer. "Utilising a specialized dusting method, I was capable of extracting the fingerprints of the people who held this hammer."

"Th-The fingerprints?"

"Please have a look." Xander waited until Neuvillette and Floyd both had the same items in their hands as he did, minus the weapon of course as there was only one. "These pieces of paper have fingerprints that I've taped onto them after extraction, the paper labeled 'one' has the prints found on the hammer."

True to Xander's words, the piece of paper he was talking about had ten pieces of transparent tape, all of which had dusty but clear black fingerprints stuck between the piece of paper and the tape.

"The first set of prints belongs to Mademoiselle Elaine herself. The fact that I extracted these from the hammer at least shows that she had held the weapon at some point."

"W-Wait just a moment!" Floyd spoke up as he pointed at the paper in his hands. "Unless you can prove that these prints belong to Ms. Elaine, this evidence simply cannot be used as hard evidence to label her a murderer!"

"Who said I couldn't do that?" Xander chuckled before glancing downward. "In fact, I must send my greatest thanks to Mademoiselle Elaine. You were the one who provided me with the evidence to back up this piece of evidence!"

Naturally, Elaine was taken aback by this. "Wh-What...?"

"You remember, don't you?" Xander felt a small smirk form on his face after seeing Elaine's confused look. "After my first time investigating the crime scene, I had asked you for a... favor. Do you remember what that was?"

"Favor...wait!"

"Seems like you realised." With a nod, Xander then picked up the second piece of paper that he had taken out. "Please turn your attention to this next piece of paper. These hold the fingerprints belonging to Maxwell, Raoul, Elaine, and Estelle."

"Estelle?" Neuvillette repeated. "As in the young woman from the Beaumont Workshop?"

"Indeed. I had gone around to the numerous blacksmiths around Fontaine, and that's when I found out that Mademoiselle Elaine had commissioned a metal hammer to be forged at the Beaumont Workshop three days ago. Speaking of which, the other set of fingerprints belong to Mademoiselle Estelle, as can be seen, if you match the fingerprints from both sheets."

After hearing that, both Neuvillette and Floyd, since they were the ones who had the other two copies of the evidence, examined and confirmed that Xander's words were indeed true. The five fingerprints belonging to both Elaine and Estelle matched up perfectly.

"Only two sets of fingerprints were found on the weapon, yet none of them belong to Monsieur Raoul." Xander shook his head as he said this. "The defendant was apprehended while fleeing the scene, and according to the reports from the Gardes, he was not wearing any gloves or similar accessories. Thus, if he had held the weapon, fingerprints would've appeared. But as we can see, that simply isn't the case."

There was another thing Xander realised about the law forces here in Fontaine, and probably elsewhere in the other nation too, and that was that the concept of forensics was either nonexistent or at a very base level.

For him, searching for fingerprints was a very common and reliable method, but it seemed to be a rather rare or unused method of investigation here. People truly do underestimate the power behind looking at fingerprints, they can reveal an entire world behind the crime.

It also helped that Fontaine takes evidence at face value, as long as it sounds correct and solid, they'd accept it as truth without placing any true doubt on its authenticity. That in itself was honestly a problem with this nation, but it wasn't like he was telling any lies here.

"Wh-While that truly is rather puzzling, I believe that we've forgotten two important things!" Floyd seemed to smile as Xander merely raised an eyebrow in response, and the crowd all obviously tuned in even more. "First of all, how could Ms. Elaine have smashed the window if the sound of it breaking was what led them downstairs anyway? On top of that, how do you explain that the defendant happened to be at the scene of the crime just at the right time and place!"

"True, that doesn't make sense..."

"It couldn't have been Elaine then."

"The defendant is really suspicious."

"Before I ultimately counter that question, it should be the wrong time and place. In any case, the answer to your first question is actually very simple." Xander stopped before nodding toward the guard behind him. "As long as you took the time to search the shop, you would've found... this."

Stepping to the side, he allowed the guard to push a portable table over with what looked to be a relatively large contraption placed atop. It seemed to be made from both wood and metal, with what appeared to be a black disk carefully placed flat down on the main body.

"A phonograph?" Floyd frowned after seeing it. "What do-it couldn't be!"

"Seems like you figured it out. I ask everyone here in this room to please be silent and listen carefully!"

With that, all the noise seemed to die down as Xander gently picked up the handle containing the pin before placing it down onto the rotating disk. A few crackling sounds were heard before a sound rang out that caused everyone to jump, with a few exceptions of course.

The sound that happened was none other than the sound of glass breaking.

This phonograph was the last piece of evidence that Xander had failed to find initially after having first investigated the crime scene, which he later returned to after collecting other information that could've helped him figure out what he needed to look for.

"As you can hear from this record, it has a very loud sound of shattering glass." Xander closed his eyes for a moment before 'glaring' down at Elaine who seemed to have some sweat running down her face. "Rather odd sound to keep on record, isn't it? Especially since deciding to hide it in an enclosed and locked space."

Frowning, Xander then raised his arm before pointing down at where Elaine stood.

"So, please do tell, Mademoiselle Elaine! Why keep such a unique vinyl record? Was it perhaps... to deceive your husband?"

"I-I...uhh..!"

Seeing how distressed and nervous Elaine was, the audience was obviously suspicious and more convinced by Xander's words. In response to this, the scales on the Oratrice quickly tipped over to favor his side of the argument.

"Then what about the appearance of the defendant?!" Floyd quickly raised his voice in a bit of a panic after seeing the scales move. "We still don't know why the defendant was there at the time of the crime, and there's no proof that the phonograph was directly involved with the crime!"

"You mean aside from the fact that it happened to play right before the murder happened and that it was hidden right between the stairs and the front of the shop where it could easily be heard? Whatever floats your boat, Monsieur Floyd."

Obviously, Xander's casual tone was a form of hidden mockery as Floyd seemed to immediately flare up as it didn't take him long to realise the true meaning behind Xander's statement just now.

"As for the defendant, it's just as simple." Xander chuckled before glancing at Raoul. "I happened to interrogate him prior to the trial, and I have come to learn that Monsieur Raoul was personally invited by Mademoiselle Elaine. I even have his signed affidavit."

"Wh-What?" Floyd was taken aback. "You can't just trust his word! He could obviously be lying!"

"Y-Yes, he's lying!" Elaine seemed to chime in after Floyd made his statement, once again getting everyone's attention as she stepped forward while looking up at Xander. "How could I have invited such a person? I've never seen him before!"

"Objection!" Xander's booming voice made a lot of people flinch back, especially Elaine as she could only stare up with widened eyes. "I'm afraid you have just dug yourself a deeper hole, Mademoiselle Elaine. You do in fact know the defendant, and I can prove that."

After saying that, Xander produced another few pieces of paper from his folder before showing them up for everyone to see. The two guards with both Floyd and Neuvillette saw said papers before taking out the same ones and handing them out to the two next to them.

"On these papers are statements I've collected from the surrounding shop owners on the same street where the crime occurred. According to them, they had all at some point during the middle of the day, the very same day of the crime that is, seen the defendant conversing with Mademoiselle Elaine."

This information was what he had collected after his interrogation with Raoul, he found it rather important ever having since learned about Raoul's supposed invitation. He knew Raoul's affidavit wouldn't be enough, so he naturally prepared more foundations.

"This means nothing!" Floyd shouted. "Ms. Elaine could've easily forgotten the defendant! It is not a shopkeeper's duty to remember the name and appearance of their customers!"

"Perhaps, but that would only work if the shop was open that day."

"What...?"

"The shop wasn't scheduled to be open that day. The defendant couldn't have come as a customer since the shop was not to be open during that day." Xander shook his head as he responded. "So, Mademoiselle Elaine..."

With a small dark glare, Xander looked down at Elaine.

"You invited the defendant over that night for one specific reason, and that was to frame him for the murder that you ultimately committed! You, Mademoiselle Elaine, killed your husband in cold blood and were attempting to use Monsieur Raoul as a scapegoat!"

"N-No, I...!"

Xander's words had a great effect on everyone as the audience once again erupted into conversation, and the Oratrice quickly tipped once again towards Xander's direction. Evident by the Oratrice, the audience was obviously heavily sided with Xander.

"Wonderful! Absolutely splendid!" The voice of Furina herself drowned the noise of the audience as she seemed to give a cheer up on her little throne. "This has truly been an incredible turn of events!"

Fueled by Furina's own contribution, the audience immediately went into an even louder discussion as Neuvillette had no choice but to tap his cane against the ground before speaking. "Order, order. It would seem that the potential verdict as right now is rather clear."

"P-Please hold on, Your Honor!" Floyd stuttered as Neuvillette silently glanced at him, and seeing this, Floyd quickly continued. "There is absolutely no reason for her to do such a thing! What possible motive could have led her to kill her own husband?!"

"Th-That's right"! Elaine chimed in once again. "We were married for over five years... we loved each other!"

"Do tell, detective! What could possibly be her motive?!"

"You ask for her motive?"

Xander dragged on the silence for a bit as he closed his eyes, giving a small sigh before slowly opening his eyes. Due to his way of delivering those words, the crowd could all feel the heavy tension.

"Her motive is very clear if you do a little background checking and are capable of putting things together. " Xander spoke casually, but his voice carried through the entire room. "Her motive is something that has been one of the main causes of injustice even before the dawn of man, and one of humanity's greatest sins."

Xander stopped talking as he looked down at where Elaine stood, though right now her legs were shaking visibly, and seemed to be having trouble standing. Xander had no pity nor sympathy though, instead staring down with shadowed eyes.

"Her motive... is greed."