>Chase: stealthily take out mallet + chuck it at Braid
"Just what do you intend to do to keep me from talking?" Lia asked defiantly as Chase fought to open a plastic bag with just his left arm.
"Hmm. A good question" Braid’s grin was smugger than ever. "Normally I’d just, you know, fiddle with your memories, but that obviously won’t work. I guess… I’ll have to destroy you! Perhaps have your client compress you into a well-dressed cube of steel. Yes, that sounds—"
*whoosh*
"…What was that?"
*CLONK*
…
…
"And what happened after that?" Ken asked.
"Well, after the resounding clonk echoed throughout the courtroom, everyone she had entranced fell unconscious, including her. I was able to rouse Dyme and the judge awake and file the requisite paperwork to drop the charges. Then I carried you to the lobby until you woke up yourself”
"Wow, you’re so brave, Ms. Lia!"
"Aw, you were plenty brave yourself, Ken! Now how’s about doing both of us a favor taking that jacket off already?"
"…Huh?"
"Don’t you remember? The person who made you wear that was a sham."
"….Really? Oh gosh, thank you Ms. Lia!"
There was a brief silence.
"Um, I can’t really, you know… Take it off on my own."
"…Oh, right, haha. That’s the point isn’t it? Here, let me help…"
A few yards away, two police officers watch the touching scene unfold.
"Feels good helping people doesn’t it?" Chuck says.
"Yeah, sure", Chase responds. "So what happened to Lil’ Miss Egomania?"
"Arrested for fraud, perjury, assault, and uh…" Chuck paused. "I’m not sure what crimes were broken by her hypnosis stunt but uh, I’m sure that’s illegal too, probably. Lengths have been taken to prevent her from using her tricks on any officers”
"Well that’s good to hear. We’d better get back to the precinct"
"Right-o, partner of mine!" Chuck exclaimed, already halfway out the door. Chase shook his head.
"Oh hey" the robot attorney asked as she undid the straps. "What did your professor want to talk with you about in your own apartment?"
"…Hmm. I guess I don’t know. Hopefully nothing important…"
…
…
"Have a seat, detective" Lang begins, as always. Chase does as he is told. "Now when I first read in the report that you threw a wooden mallet at the trial’s celebrity witness, my first though was ‘How the hell is he gonna explain this one?’"
"…But?" Chase started grinning expectantly.
“But, after reading into the details, that was pretty much the right decision. So, well done, good job”
"…That’s it?"
"What more do you want, Chase?"
"How about ‘Detective Chase, your unique cybernetic capabilities were the key to saving the day, and your cool special powers, keen intuition, and incredible good looks are far more advantageous the the department than I ever give you credit for’ or something?"
"…You get a ‘good job’ and ‘well done’. Take it or leave it."
"I just got off the phone with my client in the hospital", Dyme began solemnly. "I told him everything the defense has stated. We believe at this juncture that it would be best to drop all charges against Kenneth Ferris."
"Understandable", the judge nodded. "Well, if there are no further objections..."
*AHEM*
"Actually, I've still got something to say" Oh great, it's her. How'd she even sneak back onto the stand like that?
"I think the we've heard enough from you, Sigmund Fraud" I bragged politely. "You'll have lots of time to 'vent' where you're going I assure you."
"Please, it will only take a moment", she said with an almost eerie calm as she withdrew a pocket watch from her breast pocket. "If I may have the court's attention."
Just then she began twirling the watch about its chain in her left hand, using her right to place two fingers on the side of her head. Her irises were doing something strange and I could have sworn I felt some sort of resonation.
"Listen closely, everyone" she spoke with casual authority, twirling the pocket watch over her head deftly. "You are all very tired. You all would like to go home and forget any of this happened. Forget what lies you may have heard about my credentials and forget the details of this case. Augustus will call for a verdict, the jury will find Kenneth guilty, and everyone here, even the few folks in the gallery, will leave questioning nothing. I am just as perfect as you--"
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" I asked angrily.
"...Oh? Are you not entranced yet? Odd..." As she seemed deep in thought, I looked around. Dyme, Ken, the the judge, the jury, all had glazed looks on their eyes. "Could you have some hitherto unmentioned mental defensive capabilities?"
"Um, I'm a machine?" She really did forget...
"Ah, right. I recall you mentioned something to that effect earlier on. At the time I dismissed it as some kind of metaphor... This could prove troublesome..."
"So are you gonna answer me? What is this?"
"Hmm. Might as well tell you. This is what you might call mass hypnosis."
"...What?"
"Of course conventional hypnotism could never achieve this effect on it's own, so I had to tap into my telepathic abilities to maximize the suggestion"
"......Your what?"
"Yes, did I not mention? I've got some psychic talent of my own. I mean, you didn't think you were the first person to get wise to my secret did you? How'd you think I got this far? Bribes and charisma can only go so far you know. So usually I just hop in their mind and do a little... manual memory alteration.
".........You WHAAAT?"
"That's what happened to Dalton, you see. Normally the assault wouldn't have been needed, but his resurgence caught be by surprise. I panicked. It was rather sloppy compared to how I normally do this."
"This...! If you think I'm just gonna let you walk away after everything you've-"
"Kenneth!" she shouted, her eyes bulging. "Time to demonstrate!"
I moved to deliver a few hundred psi to her smug jawline but felt myself restrained by an unseen force. With in moments my movement was restricted entirely and I was floating a few centimeters of the ground.
"...Thank you, Kenneth"
Braid laughed, comfortable in the knowledge that the only intelligent being in the room with any degree of power was her.
...
Her and one other. A man in the largely uncrowded gallery. A man whose mind was not wholly organic. A detective who was at the witness stand just moments ago, who lingered just out of his own curiosity.
"I’m afraid I don’t, Your Honor. If there was no way for my client to use this instrument to attack, then I fail to see—"
"But there is, isn’t there?" Dyme’s tone seemed off somehow. "If he really has the abilities that both he and the previous witness claimed he—"
"Absurd! You don’t really believe there’s a possibility that—"
"Don’t you? Why else would you have been so against a test of his skills?”
"…Argh!" He was right. I’ve already considered the idea of it. If I was truly certain there was a zero possibility, I would have let him try before the court and fail. But if Braid is so confident about it, then maybe…
"Now, I propose we carry out the demonstration, free of interruptions"
"Ah, hold on a second", the detective interrupted. "Sorry but, what’s all this? I’m trying to follow along here, honest to God, but I’m lost"
"Oh, uh…" Might as well. "The current case against my client supposes that he can manipulate metal with his mind, and that’s how he was able to assault someone without using his arms."
"…Huh", he said. "That’s weird"
"Yeah, I know."
"No, no. Well, I mean yes, but… That’s not what I meant, exactly”
"…What did you mean?”
"I mean… This mallet’s made of wood, right?"
"……It is?!? Like, all of it?"
"Yup. Cedar if I had to guess."
Gasps and mumbles filled the courtroom. A commotion erupted between Dyme and Ken about “why had he said nothing about this” and “how did you even use them” and so forth. The judge’s gavel bangs and cries for order went unheard for a good four and a half minutes.
"Actually, Detective, the mere presence of fingerprints tells us quite a bit", I began smugly. "Though you’d be forgiven for not realizing why."
"…What’s your angle, Miss Lawyer?"
"You see, my client was incapable of using his hands on the day in question, due to his… restraining garment. If there are fingerprints on that mallet, that alone is proof positive someone else handled it.”
"Well", Dyme sounds impressed. "I concede that if the mallet is the weapon in question, then this information is strongly beneficial to your case. However, there is still no reason to believe that it is!"
"Then let me pose these questions: Why would someone’s prints be on my client’s mallet and why would that mallet be discarded out the window? If you can provide a reason besides assault, I’m anxious to hear it."
"...Hmm, an excellent point. I suppose I--" Suddenly Dyme winced, gripping his forehead. "Okay, well... Supposing the mallet is the weapon... There is still a possibility that your client used it, correct? I mean, perhaps Braid handled the mallet during her session for whatever reason..."
"Well, Ms. Lia?" Her Honor asked. "Do you agree that there still exists a possibility of your client's guilt in this matter?"
"A hedge just to the right of the door to the apartment. I’m told that matches up with where it should be after being tossed out the crime scene’s window."
"Well, you heard correctly" Looks like that’s as far as asking questions will get me. Perhaps now's the time to make a statement instead?
"Yeah, sure. We checked for prints, and we got some results, but they weren’t clear. Besides, we didn’t have fingerprint files for anyone involved, so it really didn’t tell us anything."
"…Go on."
"Then we tried luminol and, uh, well… See, the officer who retrieved the thing sustained some minor injuries in doing so… We didn’t know how much of the blood was his. I mean, maybe with more thorough labwork, but…"
"Oh, just as well", Dyme says almost to himself. "It’s possible that the weapon could have had little to no bloodstains from the attack anyway…"
Me and a co-worker investigated the requested scene.
We found something, but we can’t be sure it’s the murder weapon.
We could confirm only the presence of fingerprints, but that isn’t really a significant detail on its own
Preliminary blood tests won’t tell us anything either
