Chapter 230: Of A Guardian And Serpents

[FROLO]

"Be seated," Chief Justice Orlov said as the court quietened and the session resumed.

The three judges looked like they had taken a much-needed water break and still had not even a clue as to what they were to expect.

Especially given the blood spots on the floor of their courtroom.

The witness stand rail was broken, and it wasn’t even hard to know who could have done it, especially given the way the court marshals were suddenly so alert.

The judge looked around the courtroom, sighing softly before speaking again.

"During the recess, the Court reviewed some portions of the testimony alongside the evidence submitted by the prosecution.

"We have noticed some consistencies," he began, and Justice Reginia looked toward the prosecution desk.

The witness stand was still empty.

All three witnesses hadn’t returned to court at the moment.

"Counsel, you requested a joint examination. Does the city still intend to proceed?" Justice Reginia asked as she looked at Prosecutor Rostova.

"Yes, Your Honor. The city believes the witnesses’ individual testimonies cannot be properly assessed without confronting them together."

"Very well. Bring the witnesses back separately," the Chief Justice said.

And one by one, the doors behind the court holding cells opened, and the witnesses walked in. The professor was first, then the surgeon, and finally the therapist.

They all looked ten times worse than when the judges had last seen them.

This right here was a sight that reminded the judges that they needed to ensure justice prevailed.

Because at the end of the day, if they failed at their jobs, maybe the city would give them matching facial reconstructions like the ones on the three defendants.

The defendants refused to look at one another, which was interesting for a crew that had worked together for five long years.

"The witnesses remain under oath," a court officer reminded once the witnesses took the stand again.

"Proceed, Counsel," Justice Orlov said.

Unlike the early session, this time, the prosecutor walked to the witnesses with nothing in her hands, as if she had already gotten what she wanted.

But then maybe she was trying something again, right?

"Witnesses, you’ve all admitted to participating in a criminal conspiracy spanning nearly five years," she began.

Neither responded, just stared at her with blank yet knowing faces.

"You’ve admitted to falsifying medical records," she said as she looked at the professor.

"Yes."

She then turned to the surgeon, "To intentionally ending the life of a viable fetus."

"Yes," Doctor Hamid said, shifting his eyes in frustration.

"And to knowingly manipulating a patient’s psychological recovery through falsified medical information," she looked at the therapist.

"Yes," Belyaeva nodded.

"Great. Maybe the simplest question of the day will be the most important one; who planned it?"

Oh, how the courtroom suddenly became deathly silent.

The three witnesses stared ahead as if they had suddenly been hit with amnesiac episodes.

"I’m sorry, maybe you didn’t hear me," Prosecutor Rostova said, repeating herself.

"Who planned this conspiracy?"

Of course, there was silence.

Justice Reginia leaned forward, like she was done with the lengthy moments of quiet the witnesses were showing.

"The witnesses will answer."

Still, neither said a word, and the prosecutor just nodded like she had been expecting this.

Funny how these were the same people who had made a lengthy confession four days ago. And now that they had the chance to settle their sins, they were backing out politely.

Oh, the irony of the trade of secrets.

The prosecutor then turned to Professor Sorokin.

"Professor Sorokin, who approached you first?"

"..."

"Answer the Court."

"I..." he hesitated, breathing through his mouth.

Then...

"Doctor Hamid," he sighed like a man who couldn’t wait for this to be over, before adding, "the surgeon called me."

"That’s a lie," the surgeon said fast, as he snapped toward the professor on his side like he thought this was the greatest of accusations.

Was it, though, even as the murmurs and gasps rippled through the once quiet court?

"Order," the court marshal reminded.

"Doctor Hamid, you disagree?" Rostova pressed, looking at the accused.

"He recruited me."

"You were already performing illegal consultations before I met you. Don’t you dare put this on me," the professor piped up instantly.

"Consultations, not murder; don’t try to rewrite history," Doctor Hamid insisted, as if that was supposed to make things any better.

"I wasn’t killing children before I met you!" he added, earning more gasps from the courtroom.

Everyone was watching the three medics turn on each other, and it was depressing rather than entertaining because these admissions were more horrid than anything the city had ever witnessed.

"ORDER!"

"Doctor Hamid, who instructed you that the fetus was never to survive?" Prosecutor Rostova asked, like the chaos in the courtroom was something she was getting used to now that the marshal had managed to quiet them down...

Again.

"..." Doctor Hamid froze.

"Professor Sorokin?"

"No."

"Doctor Belyaeva?"

"No," the doctor said, making the judges look at each other as if trying to gauge what the surgeon was getting at.

"Interesting... if neither of your co-defendants instructed you, then who did?"

"..."

"Doctor Belyaeva, who instructed you to continue reinforcing a diagnosis you knew was false? Your co-defendants?" she asked, turning to the therapist when the surgeon had apparently buffered in court.

"No."

Then the surgeon suddenly spoke.

"It wasn’t supposed to be like this," he sighed like a man done with everything that was going on.

Only that the therapist didn’t take it lightly, because she...

"Stop it! You’re both lying!"

"Then tell the Court the truth," Rostova said amusedly.

"None of us started it... We didn’t create the plan."

Everyone in the courtroom glanced at each other, trying to understand what the therapist was saying, and trying to figure out if she was ever worthy of trust at this point anyway.

"Who did?"

Neither of the trio answered.

Not even the therapist who had suddenly received enlightenment inside the courtroom.

"This Court reminds every witness, withholding the identity of a co-conspirator constitutes obstruction," Justice Reginia pointed out.

Yet even then, there was still nothing save for the low murmurs that came from those who had come to the court to see how this would end.

Besides Justice Reginia, the Chief Justice opened another folder quietly, the resolve on his face that of a man who had been part of this circus enough times to let it drag any further.

It was already late in the day anyway.

"Very well. Perhaps this will help," he said as he lifted several bank statements from the file.

"From these records, every payment entered the same offshore account and left through one intermediary. You all received identical deposits over the course of five years," he added.

The three medics slowly looked at one another, like the gates of doom were about to open on them.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, right?

Maybe if they kept their composure, they would get through this unscathed, no?

But perhaps if they survived the Moskowskys first.

Fuck.

"So, according to all three of you, none of you instructed one another," Justice Hoffman spoke, folding his hands in exhaustion before continuing:

"Yet somehow, this went on without coordination?"

The witnesses didn’t answer.

Instead, they kept looking at each other, as if mentally deciding which answer would be best to get them out of this without giving up the person who had hired them into this madness.

"Who controlled the account?" the prosecutor asked when no one had answered, and still, there was no answer.

The witnesses had suddenly gone mute.

All of them.

Still, the prosecutor continued.