Roald Mole, the defense attorney stood up.

“The defendant pleads insanity, your honour,” he said.

Stephen got agitated hearing this. He was astonished. Benjamin was a bit confused for a moment. He, however, got distracted as the judge started talking.

“The case shall commence from the 10th of this month. In the meantime, the court is adjourned.”

v v v

In the evening, Stephen was at Schimbergs’ home. The three of them were seated in the guest room.

“They have made it really difficult. They have pleaded insanity. Now our job is to prove them wrong. We have to prove that they are lying and Simeon is absolutely sane. If we can’t do that then I’m sorry but they have won the case,” Stephan explained.

“But wait, do you think Simeon is actually insane?” Mr. Schimberg asked.

“I don’t know, ask him. He’s the one who saw him that night.”

“Come on how can I tell by just seeing his face?”

Benjamin replied.

********

“No, Benjamin,” his father said. “When he stepped out of his car after the accident, did he appear normal?”

“Well yeah, he seemed to be walking and moving like a normal human being.”

“So either they are lying,” Stephen spoke. “Or they are just using it as the easiest way to escape.”

“Can you prove it in court?” Mr. Schimberg asked. “That he is normal?”

“I’ll need some past records of his activities first, which can prove that such activities can only be done by a normal person. Like car driving, for example. Now that can prove that if he was the one driving the vehicle then he is normal.”

“Not necessarily.”

“I know I know. In some diseases, the patient is capable of driving. Now we just need to find out what kind of disease they are going to present.”

There was a moment of silence for a few seconds.

“I think we need to talk to other witnesses. The ones who saw the accident,” Benjamin said after a while.

“Were there any?”

“Yes there were plenty of them. But I only remember the face of the security guard who helped me stand up.”

“Perfect, now I need those witnesses to give false testimony.”

“False testimony?” Benjamin’s father asked.

“Yes,” Stephen answered. “We need them to testify that the person they saw the other night stepping out of the car was completely normal and sane.”

“I see.”

“And there’s another issue as well. Today Simeon had a different look. He had a haircut. And the guy you saw stepping out of the car had long hair.”

“So?” Benjamin asked.

“This could be problematic.”

********

One Week Later

Inside the courtroom, Benjamin and his father were sitting tensed with Stephen until they heard the bailiff’s voice:

“All rise.”

Everyone in the court stood up.

“Prosecutor you may begin,” the judge said.

Stephen stood up and walked towards the witness stand.

“Thank you your honour. My client was in a committed relationship with this woman, Evelyn. Evelyn had no family at all. Her parents had passed away and she had no siblings. Benjamin and her father were her entire family,” he said.

Mr. Schimberg closed his eyes realising that the lies could be harmful for their case. Stephen continued:

“This incident took place around two o’ clock in the morning that day. Now how did that accident happen? What was the intention of the defendant? To get the answers of these questions, I ask your permission to bring the defendant’s father, Mr. William, on the witness stand.”

“Permission granted,” the judge declared.

“Thank you, your honour.”

William Spacey stood up and walked towards the witness stand. The prosecutor took a photograph from his file and showed it to the members of the jury one by one and then showed it to the judge. He finally went towards William and said while showing him the picture of the car.

“Is this your car?”

“Yes,” William replied.

“Where was this car on the night of the accident?”

“I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember?”

“Can you be more specific with your question?”

“Sure why not?” Stephen said mockingly, “I’m asking you, where was your car around two o’ clock on that day? The night of the accident.”

“I gave it to my servant Baron.”

“And did you know that your son who you claim to be mentally unstable was hopping along with him?”

“No he wasn’t there with him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure!” William answered angrily.

“Do you want me to prove it in court that you are lying?”

William didn’t respond and looked at him surprisingly. Stephen continued:

“You have been lying since the moment you stepped here.”

“Objection my lord,” Roald spoke standing up, “Stephen must prove it to court that my client is lying. He can’t just claim it like that.”

“Your honour,” Stephen said looking at the judge. “I’d like to call Solomon the security guard, to prove that I’m not lying.”

“Permission granted.”

Next minute while Solomon was sitting on the other witness stand, Stephen asked him:

“The night of the accident, you saw someone stepping out of the car?”

“Yes.”

“What happened next?”

“He looked at the body of the woman he just hit. And then he went back inside his car. He drove the vehicle away.”

“That person you saw stepping outside, is he or is he not seated here inside the courtroom?”

“Yes he is,” the security guard answered spontaneously.

“Can you identify him please?”

The security guard pointed his finger towards Simeon.

Stephen turned towards the judge.

“I’d like to call my second witness, Benjamin Schimberg,” he said.

“Permission granted,” the judge answered.

Benjamin stood up and came walking towards the witness stand where Solomon, the security guard was standing.

“Can you describe the entire incident to us?”

“I object my lord,” Roald said standing up. “Everybody in the courtroom knows about the incident. So repeating the story is nothing but a waste of time.”

“Your honour no one has heard about the incident from Benjamin. He was also a victim and his perspective is important in this case.”

“Objection overruled,” the judge declared.

“Thank you, your honour. So anyway Mr. Benjamin, please narrate the entire incident before us.”

“My girlfriend Evelyn and I were walking at the street when all of a sudden the vehicle came from behind us, there was no honking of horns or anything else. It crashed into us. I survived somehow, but Evelyn was brutally injured. I was lying on the ground when I saw Simeon stepping out of the car. And as Mr. Solomon said earlier, he stood for a while and then went back inside his car.”

“Thank you.”

Stephen walked towards the jury.

“As I said earlier that Mr. William Spacey was lying, I have proved it now. The testimony of these two witnesses clearly states that Stephen was inside the car and he stepped outside to see what he had done. This proves that Mr. William gave a false statement that his son was not there with his servant,” he said.

“That’s all, your honour,” he said to the judge.

He went back and sat on his chair.

“Defense attorney, you can cross question the witnesses,” the judge said.

“Thank you,” Roald spoke standing up and walking towards the witness stand.

“Mr. Solomon can you tell me how far were you that night? I mean when you saw Simeon stepping out of the vehicle, how far were you standing at that moment?” he asked the security guard.

“Well I was…” Solomon tried to recall, “more than five meters away. In fact around ten meters away.”

“And was it dark when you saw him?”

Stephen who was listening to them whispered to himself, say no.

“Yes it was dark, slightly dark,” Solomon replied.

Stephen looked down regretfully realising that the answer had weakened his case.

“And Mr. Benjamin,” Roald said looking at Benjamin now, “can you tell that when you were lying on the ground, how you were feeling?”

“I was in pain.”

“Your sight. Your vision. How was it?”

“It was kind of blurry.”

“Blurry? For how long?”

“I don’t remember exactly.”

“But whatever, you weren’t able to see as properly as you can see now, am I right?”

Oh my God Stephen uttered in a low voice. I’ve lost it here. Benjamin, for God’s sake don’t say yes.

“Yes,” Benjamin replied.

“Point to be noted your honour. Benjamin has admitted that he wasn’t able to see clearly since his vision had gone blur. And Solomon himself stated that he was around ten meters away when he saw someone stepping out of the car, and it was dark too,” Roald said turning towards the judge.

“These words clearly state that they are not sure whether they actually saw Simeon or someone else. There’s a clear possibility that they saw somebody else,” Road said clearly, moving closer to the jury.

“…No I saw him,” Benjamin interrupted.

“You’re not allowed to interrupt like that,” Roald said coming closer to him. “But if you really saw him, can you prove it to court that the person you saw with blurred vision was actually him?”

“Well he had long hair.”

“Simeon does not have long hair.”

“So he has trimmed his hair.”

“That’s not your decision to make. Give us any other strong evidence that you saw him.”

Benjamin was speechless.

“And you Mr. Solomon, can you prove that you actually saw this face?” Roald said turning towards Solomon.

“Well…” Solomon answered getting tensed. “I saw a person with long hair and he resembled Simeon.”

“Resembled? No, you need to prove that you actually saw him despite the fact that it was too dark and you were standing at quite some distance, which is more than ten meters according to you.”

“I object my lord” Stephen exclaimed. “Mr. Roald is manipulating Solomon’s words. Solomon said it was slightly dark and he was around ten meters away, not more than ten meters away.”

“Objection sustained,” the judge claimed.

“Okay,” Roald said. “But Mr. Solomon you still have to answer that are you or are you not sure that you actually saw Simeon stepping out of the car?”

“I’m not sure,” Solomon said fearfully.

Damn it. Stephen said regretfully.

“That’s all, your honour,” Roald said. “I have proved that their testimony is not completely true, since they are not sure as to who they really saw.”

“Do you have anything right now?” The judge asked Stephen.

“No your honour,” Stephen replied.

The judge wrote down something and said after one minute:

“The court requests Attorney Stephen to come up with new and better evidence next time. Till then, the court is adjourned.”

Minutes later outside the court, Stephen was walking all alone until he heard Mr. Schimberg calling him. He didn’t stop and kept on walking. Mr. Schimberg caught up with him.

“What are we up to now?” he asked.

“We have nothing right now. The only way to win this case is by proving through materialistic evidences that Simeon was inside the vehicle that moment.”

“So is there any easy way to do it?”

“We need to get the CCTV footage, but it’s not easily accessible. It shall be expensive.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll bear the cost.”

Stephen nodded and walked ahead of him.

That night, William Spacey was at his home with Roald Mole.

“You did well today. But you need to remember my plan,” William said to him.

“I know your plan. We have to prove that it was your servant Baron who killed Evelyn accidentally. So you can fire him after the case is over and your family’s reputation is restored.”

“Exactly.”

“Now we need a doctor who can explain it in court that the person suffering from autism cannot drive a vehicle.”

“So what’s the truth? I mean a person suffering from autism, can he actually drive?”

“Yes, in some cases he can.”

William thought for a while and then took out his phone and dialed somebody’s number.

**********

Three Days Later

At Stephen’s office, Benjamin and his father were seated opposite to him. He was holding a camera and while watching the video.

“I’m sorry sir, but the video’s not clear enough,” he said.

“Let me see,” Benjamin’s father requested.

Stephen handed over the camera. Mr. Schimberg watched the CCTV footage of the accident. After watching the complete video, Mr. Schimberg agreed.

“Yeah you’re right. Simeon’s face is not clear enough. Although, it’s clear enough that the guy who stepped out of the vehicle was the one driving.”

“Yeah, since he steps out of the driving seat.”

“Anyway, now that we don’t have this evidence, how are we going to prove in court?”

“…We can’t. We have nothing right now,” Stephen replied.

“And there’s one more thing that’s confusing me. Since Simeon was not in the car as per their statement, then why are they pleading insanity? Shouldn’t they plead not guilty?”

“It’s because the case is filed against Simeon.”

“I see.”

“So what are you planning to do now? In court?” Benjamin said.

“We just have to prove that Simeon is not insane. And even if he is, he is capable of driving, regardless of his disease.”

to be continued...