Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Twelve Angry People ❯ What the eyes can see ( Chapter 8 )

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

TK got up rubbing his hair in frustration. Joie shook his head in dismay, but Matt… he just bolted right up from his seat and let it out. “I don't understand you guys! I'm look at all this stupid points you make. They don't mean anything!

 

He continued to rant and rave about kids and how they were useless, and no good freaks, despite that he was no perfect example himself when he was younger. Even though the others knew it was only his cold and the heat making Matt angry, and he wasn't himself, one by one everyone just got up and moved away from the table. “Where are you going?”

 

“What's going on here? You're making a big mistake!”

 

Even Sora went away, and even TK, who voted Guilty with him, was fed up to the teeth with his brother's screaming. Matt suddenly began to feel isolated and embarrassed, and he quieted down a little. “Come one… look you guys… just listen. Listen!”

 

“We have…” Joe said deeply to him. “Now sit down and don't open your mouth again!”

 

Matt felt like he was a little kid who was just sent to his room. So instead of taking his seat again, he took his chair and moved closer to the water cooler away from the table which prompted everyone else to retake their seats.

 

The vote was still nine to three, and was amazing at how far they all had come, and Davis pointed out that sometimes, “Prejudice can always be there to obscure the truth.”

 

He also pointed out that even though he and the eight others voting with him were convinced the boy was innocent, he also admitted they were probably wrong, but maybe they weren't. “But we do have reasonable doubt, and that's the most important detail we can have. We also can't understand why you three are still so sure. Maybe you could tell us?”

 

“Well I'll try.” Joe said. “Now you did make some excellent points, and I am impressed, but I'm not convinced. I still believe the boy is guilty of murder, and for two reasons. One… the evidence given by the woman across the way who actually saw the murder committed.”

 

TK nodded in agreement, “As far as I care… that's the most important testimony of them all.” he said.

 

Joe nodded, “And two…” he replied. “The way that she described the gunshot… She swore positively that she saw that boy himself grab the gun with both hands from his jacket-pocket and shoot his father's Digimon directly in the chest.”

 

“Now, this woman… she said she went to bed at 11 pm. Her bed was next to the window, overlooking the monorail tracks I between the buildings. This meant that she could look outside while lying down. She was tossing and turning because she couldn't sleep, and then she turned toward the window at 12:10 am. It was at this very point that she saw the killing right through the windows of the monorail that passed by...”

 

“She said that lights did go out immediately after the killing, but she did get a very good look at the boy just as he shot his father's Digimon. Now the way I see… that evidence can't be shaken approved otherwise. So what do you think…?”

 

Davis was actually at a loss for words. Completely lost! He was actually starting to believe that he was actually wrong about the way he voted after all.

 

Joe gazed at Yolei, “Well then what about you…?”

 

Yolei shook her head and hesitated. “Well gee… there's so much evidence. So much to sit on… I don't know what to think.”

 

“Well what I'm thinking about and trying to clear is how you can vote for acquittal when the evidence given by the woman is plainly pointing to the guilt of the boy.”

 

“And besides…” added TK. “You can throw out the rest of the evidence. The woman saw him do it! So what do you want?”

 

Yolei took sighed hard, “All right, fine! I'll change my vote. I vote Guilty again.”

 

“Yolei…?” Ken said. “You can't just vote like that. Remember what I said to Tai?”

 

TK stood up, “I think perhaps you should change your vote too Ken. Come on now get with the winning team.”

 

Ken stared up at him and made it clear that he wouldn't change his vote. Not like that.

 

TK had finally given up, “All right, that does it. I say we declare a hung jury. We may as well take it to the judge.”

 

Nobody else agreed with him. “Come on! We're not going to go though all this again, and Yolei's is getting confused.”

 

“Take it easy TK.” Joe said. “You're acting like this is a contest.” He checked his watch, it was 6:15. Then he took off his glasses, and sleepy began to rub his nose in a peculiar way. That's where Cody noticed something…

 

“You feeling okay Joe?” he asked.

 

Joe looked up, “Yeah, I'm okay…” he said. “Why do you ask?”

 

Cody grinned, “It was the way you were rubbing your nose… you just reminded of something I'm sure that might change a few things.”

 

Joe decided that he couldn't argue with that, and he put his glasses back on. “Okay then… I'm listening.”

 

Cody first wanted to lay out some examples. “So I was wondering if you could tell me why you rubbed your nose that way.”

 

“Oh, come on… will you?” TK groaned.

 

Cody shot him a straight look, “If you don't mind TK I'm talking Joe. Please don't interrupt me again.” Then he turned back to Joe and repeated his question. “Why were you rubbing your nose?”

 

Joe really didn't seem to know what the difference was, but he answered. “Well if you must know… I rubbed it because it was bothering me. It was itchy.”

 

Cody nodded, “Yes… I see. Tell me… was it because of your glasses?”

 

Joe sighed irritable but answered, “Yes, it is.” in calm manor.

 

Cody pointed out that the nose-grips on Joe's glasses made two markings on the sides of his nose from sitting there for too long. This prompted Yolei to look at her face in a compact mirror she dug out from her purse. She also had those two marks on her nose, “Whoa… I never noticed that before.” she said.

 

Cody nodded, “See what I mean? You and Joe have marks on your noses because of your glasses…”

 

Tai was getting really bored with all this nonsense. “Cody, will just make your point already.” he said irritably.

 

Cody grinned again and stated, “The woman who testified that she saw the killing… had those very same marks on the sides of her nose too.”

 

The others began to exchange remarks about Cody being right, as they all saw the woman's nose in court and she did have those marks. Even Joe began to realize that too…

 

Cody motioned everyone to settle down so he could finish. “Now I didn't think of it much then… but I did get a good look at her face, and I've going over it carefully in my mind. She had those marks, and she kept rubbing them awkwardly rubbing them in court.”

 

Kari's head perked up, “He's right. She was doing that a lot.”

 

“Yeah…” added Sora, “She rubbed her nose exactly like Joe did.”

 

Cody then stated, “This woman was about in her late forties. She was making a large effort to look at least ten years younger for her first public appearance. She got a permanent, and her hair dyed. She used heavy make-up, and brand new clothes that really should have been worn by a younger woman. I could also see…no glasses. Some women do that, you know. See if you can tell what I'm getting at.”

 

TK was confused. “What do you mean? You think she wears glasses, just because she was rubbing her nose?”

 

Kari sighed irritably, “Now look TK, she had those marks on her nose. I saw them.”

 

“She's right TK…” Izzy said. “I saw the marks on her nose too.”

 

TK felt like he was spinning in circles. “Well so what? She had dyed hair, new clothes and marks on her nose. What does it all mean?”

 

Cody asked Joe who would know the answer, “Could those marks be made by anything other than glasses?”

 

Joe was silent for a second and then shook his head, “No. They couldn't.”

 

TK exclaimed in frustration, “I didn't see any marks on her nose.”

 

Joe looked at him, “Well I did… and for the life of me, I can't see why I didn't think of it before.”

 

“Well then shouldn't the lawyer have mentioned anything about it?”

 

Davis stepped into the conversation, “We're the ones who are trying to determine the case, TK. In fact the rest of us didn't think of this bit either.”

 

“Well why would they actually allow the woman to be testified without her glasses?” TK asked.

 

“TK…” Sora said to him. “Some women don't like to wear their glasses in public because they think they spoil their looks. Sure Yolei may not feel that way, but some women do. I know I would…”

 

TK decided to give into that. “Well there is one other thing though.” he said. “True she may not have worn them in public, but when she saw the boy kill his father's Digimon she was home alone. As in… not in public…”

 

Davis turned to question Joe and Yolei, “You guys don't wear you're glasses when you go to bed, do you?”

 

“No, I don't.” Yolei answered.

 

“I don't either…” added Joe, “No one wears eyeglasses to bed. It's not natural, and painfully uncomfortable.”

 

“Exactly right…” replied Davis. “Which obviously means the woman wasn't wearing them either while she was in bed trying to fall asleep.”

 

“How do you know she wasn't wearing them?” TK asked.

 

Davis admitted that he was only guessing. “I'm also guessing that she didn't put her glasses on when she looked out through the window, and since the lights went off a split second after the murder was committed when she saw she wouldn't have had time to put them on.”

 

“And get this… maybe she honestly thought she saw the boy commit the murder. I say she saw nothing but a blur.”

 

TK, still as stubborn as ever, wasn't convinced, “How do you know all this?” he asked loudly. “How do you even know all this works out? Maybe they were just sunglasses! Maybe she's farsighted! Maybe she was even wearing contact-lenses like a lot of women do wear… but what are you trying to get at here?”

 

Davis stared at TK very seriously, “All I know is, the woman's eyesight is in question now, and from the looks of things, she couldn't possibly have seen the murder being committed clear enough.”

 

“He's right…” added Ken. “From all that was said, she had to be able to identify a person sixty feet away at night, in the dark, through a monorail without glasses or contacts.”

 

“You can't send someone off to die on crummy evidence like that.” cried Mimi.

 

“Oh, don't give me that.” grumbled TK. “I don't think that this woman made a mistake. She said she saw the boy, so it's not possible she could be wrong.”

 

Davis decided to get up and take other opinions. He started with Yolei, “Do you think it's possible?” he asked. Yolei nodded, “It's big time possible.” she answered, and she changed her vote. “Not Guilty.”

 

Davis then went to see Matt by the water cooler. “Do you still think he's guilty?”

 

Matt with a shocked impression on his face, shook his head, “Not anymore. I'm with you now.” he said while patted Davis shoulder. “Well I think he's guilty.” Said TK, but Davis ignored her and questioned, “Do you Joe…?”

 

Joe turned and looked up at Davis. “No.” he spoke softly, “I'm convinced… Not Guilty.”

 

“Are you crazy Joe?” cried TK.

 

“No I'm not.” Joe protested. “I have a reasonable doubt now.”

 

“It's eleven to one.” Cody said happily.

 

TK was running out of options. Somehow he had to try and convince the others to vote guilty again. “Well what about all the other evidence? The gun. The old-man. All that stuff…?”

 

“Well you said we could throw out all the other evidence.” Mimi reminded him.

 

This was it. It was all down to just TK.. but the others knew that getting him to change his vote was not going to be easy.