kenjichan
Level 0
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« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2017, 10:39:25 AM » |
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*bows* I thank you for the challenge.
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The room was cold and desolate - stark white walls met a stark white floor, with a ceiling just as blank. A small wooden table sat in the middle, surrounded by black, foldout chairs, providing the only color and contrast in the room. There was no music, no other decorations, nothing. It was a room where either a lot was accomplished... or nothing at all. And whichever it ended up being depended on who inhabited the room at the time.
One by one, people filed in. A well-dressed woman wrinkled her nose at the poor interior design, but regardless took a seat. A corpulent man stepped in and imperiously sat down. He huffed - he wasn't allowed to smoke in here. That was bound to put him in a horrible mood. A younger, twitchy man walked in. Nervously nodding towards the other two, he took another seat. Another woman stepped in. She wearily sat down, barely acknowledging anyone else. And finally, a man in a suit with a briefcase walked in, just getting off his phone, and took the remaining seat.
They all looked at one another, regarding one another for a second. There was no clock to tick down the seconds, making the silence oppressive and stifling.
"Well, out with it!" the corpulent man barked out. "I haven't got all day, and the damned criminal ain't getting any deader!"
"Excuse YOU, unlike some vulgar dog, I'd rather not be prone to such a rash decision," the first woman huffed. She bright aside her bright blonde hair and looked them over. "Come now, as time-consuming and tedious as it is, we need to come to a decision on this person. Guilty or not guilty?"
The twitchy young man looked up, rubbing his hands nervously. "W-well, I dunno," he stammered out. "He d-doesn't seem like the type t-to commit a c-crime. I mean, just... y-yeah, doesn't seem like the t-type.."
"And there's a type now?" the corpulent man boomed out. "Boy, if there's one thing that's universal, it's crime. So don't go telling me such a damned thing! Why, I could say you're the type to commit a murder. Does it make it true? Does it?!" The twitchy man struggled for an answer, his mouth opening and closing several times as he desperately sought words.
"Now, come, come, no need for high tempers," the man in the suit interjected, raising his hands in a placating manner. He leaned forward with an easy smile on his face. "At least some of us have a bit more time to decide. Let's just consider the evidence and work from there, alright? I'm sure we can come to an agreement about the verdict."
The tired woman flicked her eyes upward in an irritated glance. "Easy for you to say," she grumbled. "Shift starts in an hour and I've already had to wake up early for this stupid trial." Then she sighed, rubbed her forehead, and gave a rueful smile. "Sorry, it's been a very long week. Not exactly in the best of moods."
The well-dressed woman reached into her purse and pulled out a small metal case, which she passed over to the tired woman. "Caffeine does wonders, my dear," she said, giving a sympathetic smile. The tired younger woman blinked and grinned. "Agreed," she replied, taking a piece of gum out of the box and popping it in her mouth before passing the box back. The corpulent man had his arms crossed, tapping his finger against his arm.
"We done making friends?" he growled. "Good. Now, a kid enters into a house in the dead of night, robs a house, kills the old man inside, and books it. Seems pretty clear-cut to me. I say he's guilty."
The twitchy man shifted uncomfortably. "B-but why w-would he kill s-someone i-if it's just t-to rob them?" he questioned. "I m-mean, he's j-just taking stuff, so..."
The corpulent man bangs his hand against the table, causing it to creak. "So he can get the hell away without anyone knowing it was too late!" he roared. "The owner would know better than anyone that it was missing, so as soon as he noticed, the jig was up! Why else could he have done so?"
The younger man shrugged. "M-maybe h-he just p-panicked?" he squeaked. He was looking more anxious by the second, glancing frightfully at the larger man whose temper only seemed to worsen with every word he said.
"Well, in the heat of the moment, things do happen," the well-dressed woman said, fingering the chain of her bracelet. "Didn't that coroner say that he died from a blow to the head? That's how you knock a person out, right? Maybe he misjudged his strength?"
The tired woman snorted, half amused and half exasperated. "He's been watching too many movies if that's the case," she replied with a sardonic grin. "If you've been smacked on the head that hard, chances are damn good you have brain damage at least, dead at worst. And I've seen those pictures. Either the kid really panicked, or he swung with literally everything he's got. That wasn't a blow to K.O."
The man in the suit stared at her. "You seem to know an awful lot about this kind of thing," he quietly observed.
She shrugged without a care. "Where I grew up, you see gangs beating each other all the time - with baseball bats, brass knuckles, whatever you could get your hands on," she said rather matter-of-fact. "You learn quickly when someone was swinging at you to scare you... or to kill you."
The room fell silent, everyone looked toward the woman with a mix of surprise, horror, and apprehension. The twitchy man licked his lips before asking, "S-so, then, wh-what do you think? W-was it deliberate?"
The tired woman scowled. "Deliberate? Hell no," she stated bluntly. "That kid outside looks even more nervous than you - no offense. Chances are good he just panicked, whacked him, and bolted. I mean, did you guys remember what the prosecutor said about the stuff he stole?"
The well-dressed woman frowned. "I was considering that as well - a thief who doesn't take their goods?" she asked. "An oxymoron. What is the point?" The tired woman nodded in confirmation. "You don't break into someone's house to rob and not leave with any loot, not a house like that," she stated. "And less the entire sack in the middle of the floor."
"I'm still not convinced," the corpulent man snarled. "What if it's just a set-up? He acts like he's gonna rob the place, then clubs the poor bastard and runs. Gets himself an easier sentence than homicide. Or hell, maybe he was hired by someone else to off him. The old man was rich enough - he's had to have SOME people with a grudge against him."
"Are you suggesting he was assassinated?" the well-dressed woman asked rhetorically, glaring at him. "Come now, this world is not populated to the brim with scum. I've made enemies in my time and yet here I sit before you. This isn't some sort of spy thriller, good sir."
The suited man nodded. "Gonna have to agree on this one," he responded. "My family's pretty well off, and even though I had one or two bodyguards, I was never in any danger. And I've stuck it out by myself, and like she said - I'm still here. So yeah, I'd say the chances of him being assassinated are pretty remote."
The corpulent man glared at the both of them. "Yes, look at you preening like prized birds in your damned golden cages," he snarled. "If you're damn well protected more than the ordinary person, of course you'd be safe! You wouldn't be robbed, let alone assassinated! And here you are, parading yourself like damned roosters! So why don't you pull your head out of your ass and just think of the goddamned facts?!"
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Unfortunately, this is all I have time for at the moment - work starts in a bit - but let me know what you think! I'll finish this later on when I get the chance.
Edit: I forgot to mention, this is actually my first time ever writing in this kind of setting or scenario, so please keep that in mind.
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