The room's furniture was quite sparse, as was the audience. Three men were already sitting behind the biggest table. All three were in uniforms. The man on the left of the table was a general in the B.C. armed forces. The man on the right was a retired, high-ranking officer of the now defunct Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The man in the middle, and the man in charge, was a brigadier-general in Saskatchewan's armed forces. They would act as justices in this meeting. A fourth man in a gray suit was sitting in a chair off to the side. He was the Chief Justice of the Ontario Supreme Court. All four men were facing the tables and chairs that would constitute the rest of a courtroom.
Also at the front of the room, adjacent to the sitting men, was a young aboriginal girl with a recording machine in front of her. That machine identified her as the secretary who would record the events and conversation that would take place in that meeting room that morning. The young boy who had brought the soldiers down to the meeting room took a chair from the audience, placed it next to the court recorder, and sat down – also facing the audience and the two big tables that have yet to be described. He would serve as bailiff. He was the same boy who had assigned food stamp colours in Maple Loaf Gardens, but the prosecutor never recognized him.
The table on the far left facing the judges had three chairs, the middle chair being currently occupied. The table on the right had only one chair and that was occupied by the prosecuting attorney.
"What's going on?" Judge Lewis demanded as he entered the room and recognized the seating plan. "I have received no formal notice of impending legal action against me. As such, anything that happens within this room today is illegal."
"I have not been charged with any crime," Prosecutor Lee accused. "I have had no opportunity to obtain a defense counsel to represent me against baseless accusations that the people in this room might bring against me."
"Relax Forest, Dennis," Hector said. "This is not a trial. It is merely a hearing – an investigation into certain events that you may have information on that will assist these officers in the execution of their duties. No charges have been laid because these men have not had the opportunity yet to even talk with you. That was because the search for Forest was unsuccessful for so long. It was horrible what those terrorists did to you, Forest. Holding you in captivity in the wilderness for so long and trashing your mansion like they did."
"What?" the judge exclaimed. "They trashed my home?"
"We believe that they did that the night of all of the explosions," General Cameron explained. "My soldiers looked in your home as part of our search for you and saw the destruction. With the information we've been able to gain on the damage these terrorists have caused, we believe you were their target."
"Me? Whatever for?"
"Good question, Forest" Hector said. "That's what we'd like to determine so that we can be sure there'll be no more attacks from black-clad terrorists. They did kidnap you, after all. The damage they did to your home suggests anger. Your sisters lost their lives and their businesses. More evidence of anger. Before we remove your protective custody, we want to be sure that Toronto will not be subject to more attacks."
"I was held in a prison cell without any charges and without access to an attorney."
Hector responded again. "Well Dennis, as I've explained, we were merely keeping you protected against attack by the terrorists. All of the people from city hall and the police station received that protection. Brigadier-General MacLatchie explained that to you. The men in this room will make some inquiries that will allow us to determine if you face any further risk from the terrorists. Afterwards, if the situation warrants it, you will be released."
"Hector, I was imprisoned in a cell."
"No Dennis, you weren't. All the cells in that block were open. An elevator was at the end of the hallway. There were stairs leading up to the main floor. You had ample food and water. You were free to leave the cellblock at any time."
"The elevator wouldn't work. The hallway door to the stairs was locked!"
"Really? I don't know how that could have happened. Are you sure?" For a chief justice of a supreme court, Hector was remarkably adept at stretching the truth.
"I'm sure."
"Who's this man?" Judge Lewis was pointing at the man sitting at the defense table. Teenager, actually.
"I've been told you know him," General MacLatchie said. "His first name is Lucas."
"I've never seen him before in my life," the judge exclaimed.
"Lucas.... Lucas.... Yes, I think I remember," Prosecutor Lee admitted. "He came to me before Christmas last year with some outrageous story about one of our respected citizens murdering a young girl. My staff investigated and found there was no substance to his allegations. He never came back to our offices; we figured he had left town."
"What's he doing at the table?"
"Judge Lewis, Lucas will be serving as your military advisor in the event that such service becomes necessary. He'll provide legal advice, act on your behalf, but only as necessary of course." Jock had explained the situation in almost the exact words that the judge had explained why Dennis Lee had to be present at Lucas' fake trial.
"Why is he in uniform?"
"Judge Lewis, Mr. Lee may have informed you that Toronto is under martial law," General Cameron said. "That means that any legal proceedings that occur during this current period of instability must be military proceedings. Think of this as a military tribunal tasked with collecting information. We three justices have military backgrounds and have the necessary rank to sit as a military tribunal. By military law, the people under investigation must be represented by a military officer. This young man volunteered for this service and acts in that regard as a second lieutenant. He will serve on your behalf. Mr. Rodrigues is attending this meeting to ensure that your legal rights as far as Ontario law is concerned are respected. Why don't you sit down and we'll start."
They did, but reluctantly.
"Mr. Lee," the Brigadier General took over. "The man at the prosecutor's table to your right will ask you some questions. During this interview, Judge Lewis will not be present. Since you will not be sworn in as a witness, and since this is only an informal hearing, any answers that you provide to the prosecutor's questions must go through your military advisor. He will answer on your behalf. You cannot speak directly to the court. Once the prosecutor has finished with you, he will pose questions to Judge Lewis – many of them will be the same. You will not be present to hear his answers. Again, Lucas will answer on the Judge's behalf. Later if we find it necessary to get clarification, for example if the two of you have answered a question differently, we will seek that clarification individually. Throughout this process, Lucas will relay your answers to the court."
"I don't like this," Judge Lewis complained. "Why the separate inquiry? Why can't we answer directly? What happens if this teenager doesn't understand the nuances of our answers? We should be together so that we can extend our legal experience to each other's benefit."
"Judge, that's the nature of an informal inquiry," Hector replied. "Police don't conduct interrogations in a group format. You know that. They question suspects individually, but not under oath. The only way to conduct an investigation where the two of you are together would be to make the inquiry more formal."
"How would that work?" Prosecutor Lee asked.
"You and Judge Lewis would give testimony under oath. Your case would be combined together with his. This would allow you to hear his responses and he to hear yours. If the two cases were combined, that would allow Judge Lewis to represent you as your attorney, and you to represent him. If you stay with the individual interrogations, Ontario law does not allow a person to represent himself, even though both of you are highly qualified lawyers. Lucas would have to be your military advisor."
"And the findings in a formal inquiry?" Judge Lewis asked General MacLatchie.
"By combining your cases into one case as joint defendants, any findings of the militar
y court would apply to both of you. If the findings were negative, they would apply to both; if the findings were positive, they would apply to both."
"That's consistent with Ontario law," Hector confirmed.
"Joint proceedings?" Judge Lewis turned to Prosecutor Lee.
"Definitely joint," Prosecutor Lee replied.
The brigadier-general took over. "Now that these formalities are out of the way, why don't we start? Lucas, you may sit in the courtroom as an interested party. Winnie, would you provide some refreshments?" (Hank had asked Winnie to be the court secretary so that she could give them a truth/lie ruling if such were necessary. Reese had asked his dad if he could attend the trial to see how very bad people showed up in his colour chart.)
"I have coffee and hot chocolate," Winnie replied. "The coffee is very weak, I'm afraid. I'd recommend the hot chocolate, but the taste might be unusual."
"Pass," Judge Lewis said.
"Pass," Prosecutor Lee said.
So far, so good, Stu thought. He had noticed that the judge and the prosecutor had not reacted in the slightest when they saw Lucas. These guys were good! But Lucas' presence had pushed them into accepting a joint, fully formal hearing. If he could prove one of them guilty of one charge, both would suffer the consequences.
"We have other interested parties who have requested that they be present in this room while you are being questioned," General MacLatchie announced. "I advise both of you that any or all of these interested parties may be called as witnesses. We believe they may have information about your activities that would be useful to this tribunal. Bailiff, please bring the other interested parties into the courtroom."
# # # # # # # #
Mom, they want the interested parties now.
I'll be right down, Reese.
Yolanda had been waiting at the entrance to the courthouse for Mrs. Lee to show up. She must have changed her mind about coming to the trial. Yolanda hustled down to the courtroom and sat next to Eldreadth. Marie was on her other side as was Lucas. Yolanda noticed that Eldreadth was wearing a light green cotton dress with yellow daffodils scattered front and back. She was wearing a green bonnet with a yellow daffodil pushed through the top. This daffodil was real. Her hair was hanging in some disarray to her shoulders. She was wearing round glasses in a black tortoise shell frame. These were sitting slightly askew because the bridge of the glass frame had been broken at some point and she had mended it with a Band-Aid. Yolanda noticed that Eldreadth was wearing no belt. The dress would hang off her shoulders like a sack. All of this gave her, shall we say, an unconventional appearance. Yolanda turned slightly towards Eldreadth and offered her hand. "My name is Yolanda. I'm here because Judge Lewis tried to kill my son. He's the teenager sitting beside Marie. I like daffodils too."
Stu began the proceedings by asking each defendant a few questions about murders and poisonings. Both Judge Lewis and Prosecutor Lee responded No to each of them under oath. They also added a lot of incredulous denials, but I won't bother repeating those.
"These questions are ridiculous," Judge Lewis protested. "I demand the right to face the person who has made such scandalous allegations. I am a respected sitting judge. If these accusations came from my sister, I must reveal that she has been in and out of mental institutions and has always expressed a desire to take more of my money. I support her fully out of the goodness of my heart, but that's never been enough for her. Perhaps she sees the opportunity to snatch all of my wealth now that my other sisters are dead."
Marie took Eldreadth's hand and squeezed it.
"What makes you believe that the charges stem from your sister?" General MacLatchie asked.
Neither accused had anything to say to that.
"Bailiff, bring in the box," Stu instructed.
# # # # # # # #
Reese came into the courtroom with a common cardboard box that at one point may have held a dozen cans of vegetables. Clearly, it didn't hold cans now because Reese was holding the box high over the Judge Lewis and Prosecutor Lee's heads with one hand.
Stu explained. "The cardboard box that the bailiff is holding over your head contains a number of bots that Eldreadth Lewis made available to us. One of you may put your hand in the box and pick one bot at random. We will review the contents of the bot together. The justices have not seen the contents of the bots."
"Objection!" Judge Lewis sprang to his feet, nearly upsetting the box of bots. "Before the contents of these bots are admitted into evidence, I must determine the means by which they were obtained. I should be allowed to ask questions on where they were found, who obtained them, and much more."
"Very well," the general said. "Ask your questions."
"The defense calls Eldreadth Lewis to the witness box."
"Objection," Stu rose. "The prosecution is presenting its case. The defense will have to wait its turn."
"I'll be happy to wait my turn if the defense proceeds with its case without reference to these bots. If not, I must insist that the legality of their presence here is determined first. I must ask my sister some questions since apparently, she was the one who gave them to you."
The justices conferred. Two heads were showing signs of reluctance to allow the questions; one head was adamant. Hank convinced the other two and ruled on behalf of the tribunal. "The defense has the right to establish that this evidence was obtained legally. He has the right to call Ms. Lewis to the stand because this court itself indicated that her presence here might extend to being a witness. Judge Lewis may ask her questions under oath. Bailiff, we need a chair for the witness." Hank was a big believer in justice for all.
"But I don't want to testify," a rattled Eldreadth squeaked. "That's not why I came here."
"Mr. Prosecutor. You may have a ten minute recess."
# # # # # # # #
During the recess, Judge Lewis and Dennis Lee met in Mavis' closet. The three justices and Hector retreated to the anteroom. Stu was on his own with the three interested parties. He started to explain why the bots were so important. With six minutes to go and Eldreadth tuning out, Marie took over the conversation.
"Stu, you say that these bots can prove Foster Lee guilty. How will they do that?"
"Marie, each bot has a visual record of a trial where both Lewis and Lee conspired to kill innocent people. In these bots, the judge explains to his victim exactly how he will kill them and why. Dennis Lee is shown as an accomplice."
"If Eldreadth doesn't agree to being a witness?"
"The two of them may walk out of her free. If Eldreadth does sit in that witness chair, we will still have a hope."
"But Foster always gets me so confused. I can't fight against him with his fancy words."
"Eldreadth, let's take a little walk," Marie said. "You can do this and I'm going to tell you how."
"I'll come too," Yolanda said. There's a women's washroom down the hall. We'll have some privacy."
As Marie led Eldreadth out, Yolanda looked at Stu's waist and then at Lucas'. "Stu, I need your belt. Quick, quick."
"My pants may fall down."
"Believe me, nobody wants that to happen. Be sure not to stand up."
...
With Reese knocking on the washroom door and calling "Mom," Yolanda put Eldreadth in front of the mirror. The hat was gone. Stu's belt gathered the green dress at Eldreadth's waist but Yolanda had fixed it so that the belt itself could not be seen. Yolanda had braided Eldreadth's long grey hair and was tucking the ends of those braids into a chignon at the back of her head. "Eldreadth, you look very nice," Yolanda praised as she finished.
Eldreadth looked in the mirror and lifted a hand to pat her hair. "I've never had my hair done before."
"You're a different person now" Marie said. "The other Eldreadth who let her brother boss her around is gone." Marie had been working on Eldreadth's confidence while Yolanda was removing the batty charwoman look.
Yolanda made a final adjustment by removing the eyeglasses.
"I can't see without those."
"Marie will help you walk to the witness chair."
"You don't need to see Foster," Marie said. "You only need to hear him. Picture him in your mind as the bratty little boy he used to be. Just answer his questions truthfully. You have nothing to be frightened about."
# # # # # # # #
Judge Lewis jumped right into the examination of his witness.
"Eldreadth, who owns the house that you're living in?"
"You do."
"Did I ever tell you that you could let strangers search through MY house?"
"No."
"Did the person or persons who came to MY house while I was away show you a search warrant or any other kind of document that gave them the permission to search MY house."
"No."
"Your honours. These bots were obtained illegally. First, they had no search warrant, which automatically makes their search of my house illegal. Also, since my sister had not been given the authority to give anybody access to my house, she couldn't act on my behalf and allow them in. Anything that the prosecutor found because of that search must be ruled inadmissible. I'm done with this witness."
"Mr. Prosecutor, you may cross-examine the witness."
...
Stu's voice was gentler; almost conversational in tone. "Eldreadth, do you have any guests that come to visit you regularly?"
"Yes. Doctor Sandman."
"Do you have to ask your brother for permission to have Doctor Sandman visit you?"
"No."
"If I wanted to visit you, would you need to ask for your brother's permission?"
"No."
"Has he ever given you any instructions on who could visit you and who could not?"
"No."
"These bots that some of your visitors found. Where were they?"
"In the basement."
"What else is in that basement?"
"My paintings."
"How many do you have?"
"I don't know. Hundreds, I guess."
"So the basement would be part of the house that is yours. Like your bedroom. Would that be correct?"
"I guess."
"Do you need permission from your brother for you to go to your bedroom every night?"