Here's the next installment of our Metallum Nocturne story. If you need to catch up on any of the previous episodes, click here.
Episode Forty-Six
"Do you swear that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" asked the bailiff.
"I do."
"Please sit, Miss Teller," said the judge.
"Thank you, Your Honor."
Claire settled onto the hard chair as her heart leapt around her chest like a jackrabbit. The courtroom was packed. The reporter area was at overflow. There were so many faces she didn't even see Elle before the Blocks' lawyer approached the stand.
"How are you, Miss Teller?"
"Nervous."
"Nothing to be nervous about as long as you tell the truth," said the lawyer, shooting a winning grin towards the jury, who responded in kind. "On March 13, 2012, you were suspended from your high school for three days. Can you tell me what happened?"
"Objection, Your Honor," said Lamar, rising. "This isn't relevant to the case."
"I will allow this line of questioning as we discussed in the sidebar. The defendant's history has bearing on the events that led to the girl's death." The judge winked at the jury. "Disregard anything we just said there."
"Miss Teller, would you answer the question," said the lawyer.
Claire swallowed and clamped her hands together in her lap to keep them from shaking. With so many eyes on her she felt like a bug under a microscope.
"I was in line at the cafeteria waiting to grab food when a girl who'd been harassing me—"
"Miss Teller," said the judge. "Please only describe the events of that day."
"But I—"
"Yes, Your Honor."
"Yes, Your Honor." Claire's chin dropped. "That day, a girl called me Lady MacDeath."
"And what did you do?" asked the lawyer.
"I hit her with my tray and then punched her in the head," said Claire, staring into the distance.
"What happened to the girl?"
"She lost two front teeth and had a broken orbital bone," said Claire.
"You were lucky to only have three days suspension."
"Objection," said Lamar.
"Sustained. No leading the witness," said the judge.
"Apologies, Your Honor." He approached the witness stand. "How many times were you suspended during your time in high school?"
"I...I don't recall the exact number."
"Give me your best guess," said the lawyer.
"Maybe a half-dozen times."
The lawyer returned to his table where his assistant handed over a folder.
"I would like to submit evidence C for the record." The lawyer gave the packet to Claire. "Can you tell me if this is your high school record?"
"It appears to be."
"And how many times were you suspended?"
Claire paged through the thick folder. The weight of expectations pushed her into the seat. "Thirteen."
"Thirteen!" said the lawyer to the jury. "Not a small number. How many of those were due to fighting?"
Claire went through them again. "Nine."
"And what were the others?"
"Property damage."
Claire felt like she was an ant about to be crushed beneath a boot.
"What kind of property damage?"
Claire paged through the papers, fearing to check for the jurists' reactions.
"I broke a window in the gym from throwing a dodge ball too hard. Then there was the outbuilding we accidentally lit on fire when we were smoking. The last two were the same event."
"What was the event?"
"Slashed the tires of two separate cars."
The lawyer paused, letting the information sink in for the jury. "For that first incident of violence. Why did you hit that girl with the metal tray and break her orbital bone?"
"Because she kept bringing up my parents' death, saying I was the one that caused it," said Claire.
"And you thought that putting her in the hospital was the appropriate response to mere words?"
"Objection, Your Honor," said Lamar.
"Withdrawn," said the plaintiff's lawyer with a smirk. "Why were you so angry in those years, Miss Teller?"
Claire stared at the edge of the railing where she could see nicks and marks from use over the years.
"I don't know," she said quietly.
"Was it your parents' death?"
"Probably," said Claire.
"What changed when you came to the Halls? Were you less angry?"
Claire perked up. "I was. I didn't know where to put my anger in high school, but at Metallum Nocturne, I found something I was good at and enjoyed. It made those feelings go away and I stopped getting into fights, or trouble for that matter."
She saw the nods from the jury and the audience. Finally. She was getting a chance to portray herself in a positive manner. The lawyer walked over to the table and accepted a packet of papers from his assistant, then he turned back, grinning at Claire like a fox who'd convinced the hens to turn over their younglings.
"Then what was your relationship with Terrance Havern?" asked the lawyer, holding up the packet of papers.
Claire didn't know what was on the documents, but she feared it wasn't good for her. She thought she saw letterhead from his shop, which meant they might have records of her dealings with Terrance.
"He owned a pawnshop and was a good source for cheap reagents."
"Cheap reagents? Do you mean illegal reagents?"
"They were legal as far as I knew. I wasn't buying anything weird, or dangerous."
He made a noise under his breath. "Were you aware of Terrance's relationship with the criminal gang known as the Terrors?"
"I was not."
"Were you aware that Terrance was moving illicit goods for Simon Ivankov and the Terrors?"
"Objection, Your Honor. Hearsay," said Lamar.
"Sustained," said the judge.
"On the day that you were taken to the Terrors' headquarters, what happened?" asked the lawyer.
"I was meeting with Terrance to see if he could get some reagents, stuff I needed for my fifth-year project." Claire glanced up with the realization of what she was about to say. She spotted Patron Canterbury in the audience, his forehead knotted with questions.
"What were you making that would require a visit to a magical pawnshop owned by a known associate of a criminal enterprise?" asked the lawyer.
With Patron Canterbury staring directly at her, she hesitated. Claire thought about lying, but feared that they already knew the truth based on the line of questioning.
"A magical ring."
"A magical ring? For those of us unacquainted with a maker Hall like Metallum Nocturne, can you explain what kind of materials you might need for a ring and why you would talk to Terrance Havern?"
Claire dug her fingers into her thigh. "The best trinkets have a reagent from the mineral, animal, and vegetable worlds. The more powerful the reagents, the higher quality the item material must be. Most of the items I was able to collect myself, but I had to talk to Terrance about the base metal."
"Was this the last visit?"
Claire shook her head. "The first. The last one I was just talking about some moderately difficult to acquire reagents."
The lawyer frowned. "What was the base metal?"
Her stomach tightened. "Dark metal, which is sometimes called night metal."
"Have you worked with this metal before?" asked the lawyer.
She felt like she was being led to the guillotine and had no way to escape.
"I have."
"Can you elaborate?"
Claire squeezed her eyes shut so she didn't have to see their reaction. "I was working with night metal the day Mara died."
The crowd and jury reacted as if they'd been hit with a minor earthquake. When she opened her eyes, she saw everyone looking at each other incredulously.
"Objection, relevance," said Lamar.
"I'll get to my point," said the plaintiff's lawyer.
"Overruled. Continue."
"How rare is night metal?"
"It's not illegal," said Claire.
"Please answer the question, Miss Teller," said the lawyer.
"It's very rare."
"Expensive?"
"Very."
The lawyer turned towards the jury as he asked the question. "How does a girl of your means acquire an extremely rare and expensive base metal for your ring?"
"I traded for it. Things I'd made that I didn't need anymore. When you don't have a lot of money, you have to barter to get what you need. I can turn a bunch of random things into something valuable and that would help me trade up to the next level of stuff," said Claire.
"Miss Teller," said the lawyer. "If you were making a night metal ring, but weren't talking to Terrance about it, how were you planning on getting it?"
"I hadn't figured that out yet."
"So you want us to believe that you were embarking on this project without knowing how you might finish it?"
"The night metal hammer was supposed to be my final project. It would help me get the kind of jobs that I wanted. When it blew up, my life was over," said Claire.
"Just like Mara Block."
"Objection."
"Withdrawn." He steepled his fingers before him. "No further questions."
When it was Lamar's turn to ask questions, she felt numb.
"Miss Teller," he said gently. "Were you aware of Terrance's relationship with the Terrors before the day you were abducted?"
"No."
"Had you ever talked to or met a member of the Terrors before that day?"
"No."
"Do you know why they grabbed you at the same time they took Terrance Havern?"
She exhaled. "I saw the car pull up and shady people run in. I went back to the window to see what was going on, but didn't realize there was another person in the car. They put a gun to my head and I had to go with Terrance."
"What happened then?"
"They threatened to kill me to get Terrance to open his safe. Essentially it was a robbery. I think he owed them some money that he'd borrowed to start his business."
"And how did you escape?"
"After they left us, they forgot to take their cart with them. I think they were trying to scare us since it had knives and other stuff to cut us with. I managed to scoot my chair over and get a scalpel from the tray. After that we snuck out the vents and when we were running away, they saw us. That's when they followed us to the church. Terrance was hurt from dropping out of the warehouse window, so I had him hide in the church closet."
"That must have been a scary day."
"It was awful. I feel lucky to be alive."
Lamar turned to the judge. "That's all."
"Do you have any more witnesses to call?" the judge asked the plaintiff lawyers.
"We rest."
"Defense counsel?"
Lamar had just made it back to his table. He turned on his heel.
"The defense would like to call Patron Edward Canterbury."
