Case - 2 : Objection, your honor!

Gracewell sat by my side once her time to speak finished.

Her bombastic speech had left a lasting impression on the crowd behind us, no doubt.

'I wonder how Justia will rule to cut me off in some way or the other this time.'

'Perhaps a fine for having my network connection turned off?'

'I could argue that it was because I was using AR glasses and they were faulty, after all no one can check those, they broke during the accident.'

'But I think it'll be better if I slap the money on his table and call my fine a simple sum that I could afford to pay for the rest of my life.'

Her face was mostly impassive and expressionless, as if she meant none of what she'd just said.

But there were occasional threats of a smile breaking on to it.

Like a thunderstorm breaking out on a sunny day, rare and exciting.

'If she cares about me so much, then why didn't she come to check on me during the week I was depressed about Larkin's death?'

I looked back at Justia who was kvetching about something under his breath, no doubt cursing me if his occasional glares sent my way were any indication.

"Mr. Argentum, your time has begun, if you could speed up I would be glad."

"...I...will see what I can do." Morpheus said as he walked over to the podium to continue speaking.

"I would like to...call on my second witness to the stand, Mr. Sterling."

Gracewell shifted in her seat as did everyone else as they looked at the second head peek in through the doors from behind everyone.

"Is it my turn yet?" Revanche asked as Morpheus nodded and gestured for him to walk in with a back nod.

Revanche walked into the room wearing a highlighter orange jumper, standard issue prison clothing so that the criminal can be located easier if he escapes.

"Good morning Mr. Sterling...would you like to introduce yourself?" Morpheus asked with his arm open indicating Revanche had the stage.

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Argentum. I am Revanche Sterling, the owner of a small scale business that handles sound engineering gigs in parties and functions called Inking Studios."

"You mentioned a small scale business is that right Mr. Sterling?"

"Revanche please, and yes small scale."

"Was it always small scale?"

"No, before the untimely death of my wife it used to employ three other people, all of whom I had to let go to cover the costs of my wife's funeral after her death."

"Is that so, then that means that you did not have enough funds to cover for your kidney surgery, how did you get it done?" 

"I only had enough money for it because my wife's insurance was submitted as a joint insurance and covered for me too."

"And...why wasn't it in the system records?"

"I did not intend to keep it a secret, I only got to know it wasn't in the records when Sergeant Dave told me about it, indirectly."

"What did Sergeant Dave...tell you...that informed you?

"He was asking me about my surgery and talked about it as if it was something hidden, which made me confused since it should be something easily accessible for the police to find out."

"Objection your honor." Gracewell raised an objection which Justia accepted with a soft thoughtful nod.

"Mr. Sterling, are you saying that you did not have your surgery in the outskirts?"

"No, I did not go to the outskirts for my kidney removal surgery. My insurance money wouldn't have been accepted by them otherwise."

"Your honor...I would like to...add media number twenty one, the receipts Revanche received...from the hospital...to the case evidence." Morpheus said as screens popped up with the picture of receipts in everyone's interface as long as they were connected to the network.

"As you can see these receipts were given to Revanche on behalf of the hospital and we can clearly see which insurance plan Revanche was a part of." Morpheus practically drooled with excitement as he pointed out the facts.

"Objection your honor." Gracewell objected which Justia grumbled about for a moment as he looked at Gracewell and spat out the word, "Granted."

"Your honor, this is a deliberate attempt by Mr. Argentum to mislead the case. The hospital on the bill does not exist, or rather it is a hospital that only does physical checkups and does not have proper doctors. Clearly either Mr. Sterling participated in a money laundering scheme knowingly or unknowingly. I request the court to allow the police to investigate this hospital."

"Proposal denied, the hospital could very well be the parent company of another hospital that works under it, the court cannot waste the states time and resources on meaningless work." Justia denied almost instantly but everyone in the courtroom realized what he really meant.

The implied meaning was, 'The hospital belongs to Suimanto, so don't touch it. Even if you do, it'll only be a waste of time.'

But that was enough since Gracewell's goal had been reached. Everyone now knew that there was a possibility of fraud in the hospital bills and not to trust it as something reliable.

"What do you want to do Mr. Argentum? Do you want to continue questioning Mr. Sterling?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then please continue."

"Revanche, could you describe Sergeant Dave's attitude when he visited you for an interview?"

"Yes, he was very jumpy and cautious, I could see that his body language meant he was ready to escape from the place or even ready to fight since when I met him I saw him reaching out for his Waver. Fortunately he didn't have it on him or I don't know what he would've done."

"So your evaluation of Sergeant Dave would be jumpy and unstable? Perhaps he was suffering from PTSD after having been-"

"Objection your honor." Gracewell timely interjected.

"Granted."

"I would like to remind the defense that Mr. Sterling is not a psychologist."

"..."

*snigger* *snort* *snigger* 

A few sniggers were heard throughout the crowd but no one raised their voices for the fear of being kicked out by Justia.

"Do you have any other questions, Mr. Argentum?" 

"Yes."

"Then please, hurry, we have another case queued up after this one and I want to go home quickly today."

"Yes, your honor."

"Mr. Revanche, why did you have a clip tie pen that also contained a thin box for flies to live in it?"

"It was a gift from my late wife. She gifted it to me because the flies are very special, they can help detect and catch some forms of cancer."

"Are you saying you had not planned to use the flies as a disguise for your edited wavelength ID?"

"No, I had in fact completely forgotten about it. It is not everyday that you are asked to register your changed wavelength after all."

"Objection your honor."

"Granted."

"If what Mr. Sterling is saying is in fact the truth and he had an operation in a hospital not in the outskirts then his new wavelength should've automatically as per protocol been recorded immediately and updated in the govt. database, he would've never needed a reminder."

"..."

There was a soft silence as all parties involved accepted the fact that Gracewell had raised a valid point and put the defending party in a deadlock between a rock and a hard place.

So Morpheus did what Morpheus does best.

He ignored it.

"Mr. Revanche could you recall for the court what words Sergeant Dave used at the end after he arrested you and your companion?"

"He pulled my helpful companion Mrs. Morrigan by the hair and asked her who paid her, I believe the exact words 'Bitch, who paid you?' or something along those lines."

*whisper* *gasp* *whisper* *gasp*

Short gasps and whispers filled the hall as I wondered, 'Do these people have no other business other than gossiping so much about everything?'

"Objection your honor. Mr. Argentum is trying to derail the court and wasting its time again, your honor."

"I agree. Mr. Argentum, Sergeant Dave's mental state has nothing to do with our current case hearing unless proven otherwise, please handle the questioning accordingly."

"Yes, your honor."

"Mr. Revanche why were the things from your house inside Mr. Waltinger's when the picture was taken at his time of death."

"Because my wife, Cassandra owed him money which she had taken to help me start and run my business, but after her Mindwipe experience, the laws annulled any previous contracts she might've had. So to prevent Mr. Waltinger from suffering any losses we sold our antique collection to him at a very cheap price as collateral."

"I see. So there was never any force involved and you were in a very cordial relationship with Mr. Waltinger?"

"Yes, we were happy to help each other at any given point in time."

"Objection your honor."

"Granted."

"Your honor, I would like to call in the third witness of today's trial into the courtroom."

"Please do." Justia nodded in a quick fashion, interested in what Gracewell was going to do this time.

"I would like to call Ms. Anneliese."

Annelise soon peeked her head into the hall as she looked around with her curious eyes until she spotted me,when she waved lightly in my direction as I nodded for her to enter.

Walking to the stand that had been emptied after Revanche was taken away into protective custody, Anneliese stood tall as she looked at Gracewell who was ready to ask her questions.

"Could you please state your name and time of service from a week ago Ms. Anneliese."

"I worked as the receptionist in Quants Anonymous Casino."

A spellbound silence overtook everyone as they were confused as to what a call girl was doing on the stand.

Everyone paid rapt attention to Gracewell's next question as well as Anneliese's answer since things were bound to get interesting.

"Could you explain to the court Ms. Anneliese, why you have been called to the stand? What is your relation to this case?"

"My relation to this case is simple, I observed Mr. Waltinger bring a woman, whose name I later learned was Cassandra Sterling, into the Quants private rooms for some personal time."

Loud *WHISPERS* along with several *GASPS* immediately broke out as Justia had to *SLAM* the gavel onto the pad to quieten everyone down for the next few seconds.

"Objection your honor. This has nothing to do with the case." Morpheus stood up.

"Objection overruled. Do you have any other questions Mr. Argentum?"

"Yes, your honor."

"Then please ask them."

Morpheus walked towards Anneliese and began to ask her questions to reduce the value of her testimony to do damage control.

"Ms. Anneliese, good morning."

"Good morning."

"Could you tell the court where your current workplace is?"

"It's the Police HQ, I am working towards being a Cadet. Helping people and protecting them has always been my dream job given the life I've lived so far."

"I see. So that means you might've agreed to give a favorable testi-"

"Objection your honor. Miscellaneous questions in an attempt to badger the witness."

"Granted. Mr. Argentum please don't do blatantly wrong things in such a high court, please waste your own time if you want to, not ours."

"I have no further questions, your honor." Morpheus nodded and bowed as he left back to his seat.

Gracewell took his position once again as she spoke in a kind voice.

"Thank you for risking your life to inform us of this Ms. Anneliese." Gracewell politely bowed and stepped back as Anneliese was escorted back out of the courtroom.

"Your honor, as you saw, there is clear reason for Mr. Sterling to commit the crimes he was accused of. I request the court to expedite this case so that the criminal can be charged and sentenced as quickly as possible. As the saying goes in Inception city, justice must be delivered even to the dead."