Closer To The Truth

"I call Donovan Fortune to the stand." said Jean.

Twenty seconds later, he was at the witness stand.

"We would like you to tell us what you were doing at the time of the crime." said Sebastian.

"Fine." responded Donovan, "I came here with some other people and before I knew it, I was knocked out-"

"So," I interrupted, "did you see your attacker?"

"Nope." he answered, "I was unconscious in less than a minute."

"So, what happened when you woke up?" I asked.

"I was in some room tied up with rope- Erica was there as well." answered Donovan, "I was about get myself out and then I saw some guy in the room who helped both of us out."

"That must have been Charles." commented Lucas.

"Was there anything else?" I asked.

"Not really," he said, "after that, we went to the room you guys are in. That's all that happened."

"Objection!" I responded.

"What is it, Ron?" asked Donovan, sounding a bit frustrated.

"What you've just said creates a new contradiction," I answered, "if this is truly the case, then your fingerprints could not have gotten on the rock!"

"Objection!" responded Jean, "The accused must have planted his prints on it while he was unconscious."

"Objection!" I responded, "Then why the bloody hell were Lilith's fingerprints on the knife? Also, you have no proof that any of the things you're claiming actually happened! They are nothing more than possibilities!"

"Then what do you think, defense?" asked Jean, "How would you explain the evidence?"

"Figured it out, yet?" asked Lucas.

"We know who the real killer is. We all do," I replied, "I don't know why we're even having a trial."

"Enough chatter." responded Sebastian.

"Right!" I responded, "First, I'm going to explain two pieces at once."

"Which pieces of evidence are they?" asked Sebastian.

"They are… the rock and the knife." I answered, "The killer wanted… two possible scapegoats to choose from. It is possible that the killer wanted Lilith from the beginning and that Donovan was just a back-up plan."

"Ridiculous." said Jean.

"Let me finish, please." I said, angrily, "Those two pieces of evidence were fabricated by the real killer. Luckily, a piece of evidence was left behind."

"And which piece of evidence is that?" asked Jean.

"One of the victims held on to a note- a note that has the real killer's name written in blood!"

"Show us what you mean." commanded Sebastian.

"Two letters are faded, but the middle two: an 'E' and 'A' are very noticeable." I replied, "However, if you look close enough, you can make out the other two: a "J" and 'N', which point to you as the killer, Jean!"

"Fascinating!" she said.

"Don't think you're getting away with this!" said Lucas.

"Alright." I said, "If you're going to insist otherwise, tell us why you can't be the killer."

"Fine." she said, "If you recall, I invited you and your friends to Dimension F-"

"Hold it!" I interrupted, "That was all a trick. You just wanted us to believe that you were on our side."

"You really aren't as dumb as you look." commented Jean.

"Y-you've already said that!" I exclaimed.

"Calm yourself." instructed Lucas.

"Anyways," she said, "I had no time to commit any murders in here."

"Yes, you did." I said, "Hey, Charles, did you find anything interesting?"

"Um, I found a pair of gloves at the scene during my last search," said Charles, "Perhaps I could run a DNA test on these?"

"Has he been here this whole time?" asked Lucas.

"That would be very helpful." I said, "Jean, if my theory is correct, these are the very gloves you whore when you committed the crime!"

"Even if the gloves turn out to be mine, what will that prove?" asked Jean.

"You had to have worn them when you handled the fabricated evidence," I said, "traces of blood from the victims should be on them!"

A minute later, Charles returned and reported his findings. He found traces of Jean's DNA as well as traces of blood on the gloves.

"Well?" I said.

"It's too late." responded Jean, looking down at a pink cell phone.

"Huh?" responded Lucas.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked.

"Jeff just messaged me," answered Jean, "he's killed Lilith and Jon. Unfortunately, Jason escaped with Iris."

"Wait... WHAT!?" exclaimed Lucas.

"This whole trial was only to distract you," replied Jean, "so that we could get further with our plans."

"But why?" I asked.

"I don't need to explain myself." answered Jean, "Sebastian, do your thing."

"It shall be done." responded Sebastian.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck Donovan. Then, he fell over and died.

"Y-you can't be serious!" I exclaimed.

Jean laughed.

"I will never forgive you." said Lucas, as he jumped up while pulling a knife out of his pocket.

"Nobody move." responded Jean, pulling a gun out of thin air, it seemed.

Lucas dropped his knife in response.

"Sebastian, if you would." commanded Jean.

Sebastian snapped his fingers in response to Jean's command. Suddenly, everything went dark and I no longer knew where I was.