Part 22: Case 3 - Turnabout Samurai - Trial (Day 2) - Part 2

Case 3 - Turnabout Samurai
Trial (Day 2) - Part 2







: (I think I'll wait and see where this goes.)



: I suppose, since there weren't any additional crew members at the studios that day... It's quite likely that it was the defendant inside that costume.
: I see no problem with this evidence.





: (He still doesn't seem that convinced to me... I hope.)





: Hold it right there! We keep talking possibilities, but we have to agree that this photo shows the Steel Samurai!
: Nowhere in this photo can we see Mr. Will Powers!
: Hmm...
: The defense has a point. I also wonder if someone else not caught on camera could have killed Mr. Hammer. We have to consider that possibility, also.



: Then allow me to remove that doubt from your mind, Your Honor...

Convergence.

: Will the witness continue her testimony, please?
: No need to ask twice!













: Hmm...
: So, if no one else went to the studio...
: Then it would have to be this "Steel Samurai" who did it.
: Mr. Wright, you may cross-examine the witness.






: How do you know that?
: Eh? Didn't I just explain? I gave donuts to the young detective.
: And then, after some rubbish about it being a "secret, pal" he told me everything.
: (I see Detective Gumshoe shares his fellow officer's fondness for donuts.)





: Are you absolutely sure!?
: Oh, quite, quite, sonny. Nobody suspicious lookin' passed by at all.
: (Nobody suspicious lookin'... Right.)





: What about before you got to the guard station?
: You mean before 1:00?





: Not to mention...





: Are you sure!?



: The witness has answered the question!



: That's right, sonny!
: You let 'em have it, Edgey-boy!
: (E-Edgey-boy...?)
: ...

And we loop.



: Old windbags have a way of skipping over important details, after all... Or, for that matter, entirely forgetting them.
: How convenient.
: (Something for you to look forward to, perhaps?)

So, where's the problem?















: Hold on!





: Yesiree, sonny.
: So, whenever anyone passes by here, it automatically takes a picture?
: And here I thought you didn't know your head from a hole in the ground.



: It's also true that the computer in the guard station records all security cam data.
: Ooh! You know, if you wanted to work at the studio, we might have an opening.



: Note that on the back of the photo are printed the words: [Oct 15, 2:00 PM, Photo #2]
: Even I know that means it was taken at 2:00 PM on October the 15th! Really, sonny!
: Actually, I knew that too.
: The issue here is the bit at the end where it says: "Photo #2"...
: "Photo #2"...?



: Don't you think that's odd?



: Shouldn't this photo be "Photo #1" if it really was the ONLY photo!?







: Order! Order!
: Please tell the court what you mean by this, Mr. Wright!
: Actually, that's what I want to ask the witness.
: This evidence shows that not one, but two people went to the studio that day. Yet there is only data for one of the photos! Who could have erased the data for the other photo?



: Only someone with access... the security lady herself!



: The only person I saw that day was Will Powers!



: But the camera on the gate fired twice! That means two people went by!
: Umm... well, yes... that's what it would seem to mean...
: Can the witness explain this to the court?



: Umm... E-Edgey-boy! Help!



: B-believe me, I want to, but I don't know what this means either.
: Humph! Some help you are! You're a whippersnapper too! ...



: Whippersnapper...?
: Something the matter, Ms. Oldbag?
: Ah! That's right!
: I... I just remembered something!
: Let me guess...
: Someone else passed by the gate... someone other than the Steel Samurai?
: Er... well, yes, I suppose you could put it that way.





: *sigh* I see.
: Your testimony, please.













: M-Ms. Oldbag! This is the first I've heard of this!
: Well, of course, sonny! I've only just remembered it.
: Right... anyway, Mr. Wright, please begin the cross-examination.
: Well, I'd say this was a turn for the unexpected, but I kind of expected this...







: Another "job"?
: T-that's right. I check all the people that passed by the main gate that day. I look closely at every one of the photos that security camera takes.
: Do you backup all of the security camera data?
: Well, they keep telling me too, yes.

Not my misspelling there.

: But those computers are just so frustrating.





: How exactly do you determine what isn't "suspicious lookin'"?
: Oh, you can tell by looking at their faces. For the most part.
: F-for the most part?



: This is a murder trial, Ms. Oldbag!
: Well, I didn't touch that suspicious lookin' Will Powers's photo, did I?
: (I think she's missing the point.)







: Well, who in the heck was in that photo you erased!?
: Humph. A fanboy.
: F-fanboy?
: Steel Samurai fanboys. Real freaks, if you ask me. They get information about the rehearsals from gosh-knows-where.
: They're always hanging about. One was there that day.



: W-wait a second! Didn't you just say no one else could get in!?
: "I locked the main gate so no one could get in"... Those were your words!
: Well! If you must know, there's a drain that goes into the Employee Area.





: It leads outside, and well, that's where they come in.
: They come in through the drain?
: I told you they were freaks. Oh, and...
: And...?
: They're kids. Children. Whippersnappers.



: So, on the photo that you erased...?
: It was a boy. Probably 2nd or 3rd grade.









: O-order! Order!
: Let me get this straight. You saw two people pass by the gate on their way to the studios that day? One was the Steel Samurai, dragging his leg. The other was a boy who looked to be in about 2nd or 3rd grade?
: Oh yes, well we see his type there every day. Can't stop 'em. Can't catch 'em.
: A boy in 2nd or 3rd grade? Hmm... I assume it would be hard, if not impossible for a young boy to wield the Samurai Spear?
: Impossible, I'd think. It's quite heavy.
: Right! As I said, I didn't pay him much mind. That's why I erased the data.
: Um, Nick? What's going on?



: Yeah, and they're already trying to "un-suspect" him.



: I'd like to take a five minute recess.
: I want the defense and the prosecution to consider this new information... And no forgetting vital information this time!







: Y-yes?
: Tell me straight: were you really in your dressing room? You didn't go to the studio?
: I-I didn't go to the studio! I was s-sleeping, honest.
: So who was the "Steel Samurai" in that security photo?
: How should I know? The Steel Samurai costume was off in the corner of the dressing room. Anyone could have walked in and taken it, really.



: I couldn't imagine anyone would want to steal a Steel Samurai costume! So... where does thi leave me?
: It doesn't look good...
: *sniff*
: You're the only likely suspect, right now.
: Nick!
: W-what are we going to do!?
: First, we play for more time. We'll start targeting someone else that could conceivably have done this!
: And it'll take them so long to shoot us down that we can get another day!
: Right... but if we pick the wrong person, we might lost on the spot.
: You... don't sound very optimistic.
: I'm not optimistic at all, actually.
: Hey, Nick. It's time.
: Okay. Let's go. *sigh*
: What does that men... Please don't sigh like that! *sniff*

Next time: Back to trial.