A murmur filled the courtroom, and Judge Centris needed to bang his gavel a few times before the audience was silent again. He nodded, content.
"Very well," he said, after the room had quieted. "Prosecution, your first witness." Bob nodded and stood up.
"Thank you, your honor," he replied. "For my first witness, I call to the stand Kimberly Marie Spears."
"Davy," Nicole whispered. Davy leaned over so that he could hear her.
"What is it?"
"I know her," she whispered.
"Know who?"
"That girl," she replied, nodding towards Kimberly, who was now taking the stand.
"Yeah, that's Kimberly. You remember, Petah told us about 'er?" he said, not understanding.
"No, I mean I know her. She used to go to school with me. After I left, she and Bob became a couple," she explained. Davy nodded.
"Oh, I see."
"Tell Mike," she whispered.
"Me? Why me?" he asked.
Nicole rolled her eyes. "I can't go up there. He'll see me. You can tell him."
"You want me to go up there and tell Mike?" Davy asked. "I'll disrupt the whole courtroom. They'll 'ave me thrown out."
Nicole sighed, rolling her eyes again. Sometimes, she thought, Davy could be stupider than Peter.
"'Ey, I 'eard that," Davy said, hearing her thoughts through his telepathy.
'I know,' she thought. 'This is how I want you to tell Mike. No one will know.' She watched as Davy's eyes grew wide in understanding.
'Oh, I get it now,' he sent back. Nicole grinned outwardly but rolled her eyes.
Mike leaned back in his chair. He wasn't really paying attention to Kimberly's testimony. She was saying basically what Bob had said that she'd say. The problem was that if he went up there and asked her questions, she'd probably give the same lies.
He sighed, letting his mind wander as he thought about what he could do, when suddenly, something happened to catch his attention. At first he thought it was a noise, but he calmed down when he heard Davy's voice speaking in his head.
'Calm down Mike, it's only me,' Davy sent. Mike sighed.
'What is it?' Mike thought back. 'You nearly gave me a heart attack, sneaking up on me like that.' He heard laughter trickle through as Davy giggled.
'Sorry,' he apologized. 'Nicole needed me to tell you something about Kimberly.'
'Oh?'
'Yeah. She says she knew 'er in high school. She and 'er were always rivals for Bob, and after Nicole left, she and Bob got together.'
'Really?' This could be what he was hoping for with Kimberly. Davy's response was affirmative. 'Thanks, Dave,' he replied. 'Hey, is Micky here yet?' he asked.
'No, no sign of 'im. Want me to look?'
'Nah, no need for that. I'm sure he's ok. Just wonderin' where he is,' Mike replied.
When Bob finished questioning Kimberly, Mike took his turn. He knew it would be pointless to ask the same questions that Bob had asked, because he'd probably get the same answers, and there was no way to prove those answers were lies. So he asked different ones.
He strolled over to the witness stand. The jury and the rest of the court waited patiently while Mike stood still, thinking about his questions for a few minutes before begining.
"Okay, miss, let me get this straight, all right?" he began. "You said that you were watchin' the volleyball game and got seperated from your friends, right?"
"Yes, that's right," Kimberly replied somewhat smugly.
"And then, you just happened to see a man sittin' on the beach?"
"Yes, that's right."
"How soon after the end of the volleyball game did you see this man?" Mike asked.
"Oh, I can't be sure exactly, I wasn't wearing a watch, you know," she began.
"Well, just an estimate, if you can?"
"Um, about a half-hour, maybe," she replied. "I can't be sure. "
"I see. And what did you do for the half-hour before you saw this man sittin' on the beach?"
"Well, I guess I just kind of wandered around, looking for someone to help me," she replied.
"Wandered around? For thirty minutes?"
"Yes."
"I see. Ok. And how many people would you say were at the volleyball game, do you think?"
"Oh, well, I-"
"I know," he interrupted impatiently. "You can't be sure. But just an estimate. Were there a lot of people there, or just a handful?"
"A lot. "
"Say..a couple hundred?"
"Maybe," she replied, hesitantly. "I-.."
"I know, you can't be sure," he replied, waving this aside. "So there were a lot of people on the beach watchin' the games?"
"Yes."
"And then the tournament ended, am I right? What did all those people do?"
"I don't know," she said impatiently, failing to see how this was relevant. "I guess they all went home."
"I see. And they all dissapeared in a flash?"
"Well, no,.."
"Miss, if I may.. There was a tournament, right?"
"Right."
"And there were a lot of people there, right?"
"Right."
"Ok, and then, they left, right?"
"Right."
"Now, since there were so many people there, it took a while for them all to get off the beach, I imagine, right?"
"Well..-"
"I mean, a hundred or so people, they take a while to get off the beach, right?"
"I guess..-"
"Right. So while all these people were gettin' off the beach, you just...waited..until they were all gone and then started to wander aimlessly?"
"I guess..-" Kimberly was getting confused now.
"Ok. So, with about a hundred people wanderin' around on the beach, leavin' the beach, etc, why didn't you ask one of them for a ride home?"
"I-"
"Why did you wait approximately thirty minutes until the beach had been cleared and then askin' this one particular man? Why did you ask this man?"
"Well, I-"
"Objection," Bob interrupted. Mike turned in surprise.
"What for?" the judge asked.
"I fail to see how this is relevant," Bob replied.
"I do. Continue." the judge replied with a nod to Mike. "Go on," he added to Kimberly.
"Why did you ask this particular man?" Mike asked again.
KImberly looked around the room nervously. "I..I.."
"Answer the question, please miss," the judge said.
All eyes were on Kimberly. "I-don't know. He was the first one I saw."
Mike rolled his eyes and snorted his disbelief. The judge looked on in surprise. "A hundred people on the beach, and he was the first one you saw?" the judge asked.
"Um, yeah?" she replied hesitantly.
"Why am I finding this hard to believe?" he asked. Mike smiled to himself.
"Thank you miss. Thank you. No further questions," he said. With a nod to the judge and the jury, he sat down.
