Sunderance Chapter 29: Wraith Part 2 (Patreon)

  Update at last! More to come soon, we promise! Enjoy!

   The tigress stood in the witness stand with her hand raised as she spoke the oath. She had all of the poise that one would expect from a decorated officer who had, in her years on the force, been in that exactly spot at least a dozen times. Knowing what to expect, knowing what kind of questions would be ask, and knowing how to give the answers. And the most important factor of this witness in Judy’s mind: knowing that her answers were true to the best of her knowledge.

   But even with the familiar setting and the strength of truth behind her words, the tigress was also nervous. She, like everyone else in the courtroom that day, was aware that nothing about this appeal could be considered normal. Everyone - from ZNN to the Administrator herself - knew that the original trial had been bungled on every level at best and was a rushed attempt to hide something rotten about the inner workings of the city at worst. She, as a good cop who had been partnered with a bad cop, had found herself in the middle of something bigger than she should have to face. At least in Judy’s mind, she understood that Officer Fangmeyer had nothing to do with the murder and the following coverup and she intended to do her best to make sure that everyone else saw that too.

   But to do that, she needed to catch the tigress off guard and prayed silently that she would be able to do it.

   Once the oath was finished and the tigress was given leave to be seated, Judy stood slowly with a glance at the young fox who sat on the opposite side of the courtroom. He looked back at her and met her gaze for a moment, a little glint of appreciation in his eyes. In his cross-examination of Mayor Lionheart, he had rather effectively attempted to dismiss Lionheart as a character witness based on his lack of a personal relationship with the accused. While his point had been a strong one, she had objected herself by stating that Lionheart – while not personally close to Otterton – had been aware of his work, his nature, and had spent enough time talking to him to make a generalized assessment. In the end, the Chief Justice had allowed the testimony to stand based on the fact that Lionheart was a trusted public servant in good standing. This had, in Judy’s mind, been swayed by the fact of the clandestine relationship between Bellwether and the Mayor. Her using that, even in a small way, was not technically right but it was not strictly illegal, either. But even though it had been allowed to stand, Corsac had still picked apart the testimony by citing cases where seemly peaceful mammals had killed throughout history. Whether or not it had any real effect remained to be seen but she was as glad for it as she was annoyed by it. A mistrial wouldn’t help anyone at this point.

   Returning her mind to the questions at hand, she walked forward with her paws folded behind her back.

   “It’s good to see you again, Officer Fangmeyer,” she began, finding it easy to put on a smile for the larger female as she stayed close to the front line of the defense and prosecution tables. This made it easier for her to look up, meet the eyes, without having to tilt her head up to an angle that would be ungainly for a long period of time.

   “And you, Miss Hopps,” the Tigress replied, allowing a small smile to curve the corners of her broad muzzle.

   “I am sorry that I have to call you again for this case, but there are a few things that I feel need to be looked over again before anyone will be satisfied that this case is closed one way or the other.” This drew a quick, curt nod from the tigress as the bunny stopped her pacing and stood for a moment. “According to your report, on the date that Mrs. Otterton was murdered, you received a call at 9:55 pm requesting officers at the Otterton home. If that correct?”

   “That’s correct, yes.”

   “And did you respond immediately?”

   “Yes,” was the instant reply, followed by a brief pause. “Well, not immediately.”

   “Oh? Why is that, officer?”

   “My partner, Officer Weaselton, was using the gas station restroom at the time,” she said, ears flicking lightly as she said it. Even here, Judy would see her annoyance at the ritual long bathroom breaks. “He sometimes took a while, though when he came out this time, he said he was delayed by other factors. By the time he got back, it was 9:58 pm.”

   “This was not in your report?” Judy asked, wrinkling her brow slightly as if confused. In reality, she knew exactly when they had left the gas station thanks to a few minutes of grainy video. She also knew that Otterton’s car had left two minutes before.”

   “Well, we don’t put minute by minute details on how we arrived at the scene of a crime, generally,” she commented, though she did not look happy suddenly. “The report starts from when we received the call and includes everything that happened when we arrived at the scene.”

   “I understand, of course. The response time, in this case, was already impressive regardless,” Judy continued, pausing to pick up a folder from the defense table. “That is, in part, because you were right around the corner from the Otterton home. Is that correct?”

   “Yes,” she replied, seeming to relax again now that the subject returned to what was in the official report. “We arrived at the scene at 10:02 pm.”

   “Geographically, you were less than half a mile from the scene.”

   “I… Guess.” It was clear that she was uncertain in the reply.

   “But it still took you five minutes to reach the scene from the gas station?”

   Now, she quickly recovered with information that she was certain of. “It was a block down, another block over, and in a subdivision. In populated areas or residential communities, we keep to the speed limit unless we are on an emergency call. At the time, we were not aware that it was an emergency call and the speed limit in the subdivision was 15mph.”

   “So, accounting for traffic, that makes the time about right driving,” Judy confirmed, all information that she knew seemed pointless. “Thank you for clearing that up. How fast can you run, Officer? How fast can you run a mile, for example?”

   “Objection, you honor!” the fox burst out suddenly, enough to have her nose twitching for a second before she turned to face him with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t see what relevance that would have in this case.”

   “I don’t see how it could hurt your case,” Judy said calmly, causing him to blink slowly at the realization that she seemed to be right at the moment. “I am trying to get and give a clear image of the scene in a case that has until now been devoid of a lot of details. If Officer Fangmeyer doesn’t want to answer the question, I will accept that, though.”

   Bellwether seemed to consider for a moment before she nodded. “Overruled, but with the understanding that you are under no obligation to answer the questions, Officer.”

   “I don’t see why not,” she said,  her expression one of consideration or an attempt to remember. “My personal best was two minutes, forty-five seconds but my average is closer to three and a half.”

   “Whew, that’s a good time,” Judy said, smiling ruefully as she waved on paw. “My record back in high school was something like five minutes, but I always had my nose in the books. Are there faster officers in the ZPD?”

   “Of course. I am somewhere in the middle. The current class speed demon is Clawhauser, but, you know, he is a cheetah.”

   “I met him outside,” Judy grinned, keeping the friendly smile on her muzzle as she continued to aimlessly pace. “Slim build like that, I expect he puts all of you to shame. How about your partner?”

   “He’s surprisingly fast for a smaller species,” was the instant reply, giving Judy a little thrill as she continued. “I mean, I am faster at base running speed but on the obstacle courses he is in the top ten percent.”

   “So, if you and your partner had decided to jump out of the cruiser and run to the Otterton house straight across, not following the roads, how long do you think it would have taken?”

   “Objection!” came the call again, which caused her to sigh inwardly as all eyes turned to the fox again. “Unless she is trying to say that the ZPD are at fault for their response time – which everyone agrees was very prompt - this line of questioning clearly has nothing to do with the Otterton case.”

   “Is there a point to these questions, Miss Hopps?” the Chief Justice asked, adjusting her glasses as she focused her gaze on the bunny.

   “There is, your honor, and I will get to it. This is the last question of this sort, so I beg your indulgence.”

   She knew very well that she was begging indulgence at this point, even if she kept her tone composed and professional because the line of questioning had nothing to do with the case. Not until she called her next witness, anyway. The long pause for consideration that followed had her fighting to control the twitching of her nose before Bellwether gave a curt nod.

   “This is the last seemingly irrelevant question you are allowed, Miss Hopps. Overruled, following the same condition as before. That Officer Fangmeyer is not required to answer it.”

   It was all she could do not to explosively sigh in relief, somehow managing to keep her expression calm as she turned her eyes towards Fangmeyer again. The tigress seemed to consider for a moment, watching the bunny curiously and a little warily before her expression turned to thoughtful. The sort of expression someone had when they were trying to figure out a math problem.

   “Having chased suspects through the bushes and other mammal’s back yards before, I would guess I could do it in five minutes. Weaselton probably faster. Like I said, he’s better than most on the obstacle courses.”

   “Thank you,” Judy replied, loving it when witnesses offered up more information than was needed. Especially when she had cornered her into asking no more questions that were considered off-topic. “Moving on, as promised. You arrived at the Otterton residence at 10:02 pm. Can you go over what happened from there?”

   “Well, when we arrived at the scene everything was quiet,” the tigress began, reciting what Judy knew was a prepared or at the very least memorized retelling of the report. “It wasn’t until we reached the door of the Otterton home that it became obvious that something was wrong. The door was open, and the smell of blood was coming from inside. At that time, we decided that entering was justified…”

   “Who went in first?” Judy interrupted, causing the officer to pause.

   “Weaselton offered to go in first.”

   “Was this normal?”

   “Not usually,” she replied, shaking her head slightly. “It was generally his belief that suspects would be more intimidated by a larger predator that a smaller one when we entered the scene. This time, though, the house was made for smaller mammals and I would have been at a disadvantage. So, he went first.”

   “Well, as I said, he went in first,” she continued, taking a deep breath as she collected her thoughts. “Inside, the smell of blood was overpowering, and I knew immediately that we were not walking into a scene of a simple domestic squabble that ended in a few cuts and bruises. I was about to warn Weaselton but he had already rushed ahead and into the house.”

   “Rushed ahead without his big, intimidating partner to back him up?” Judy asked, tilting her head as if she didn’t really believe it. Because she didn’t.

   “Yeah,” the tigress said, hesitating on the word before she spoke more clearly. “Yes, he moved down the hallway faster than I could follow. I was on my paws and knees, because of the size of the house. By the time I caught up with him, he was dragging Mr. Otterton away from the body of Mrs. Otterton, telling me to check on her. Of course, by that point it was too late.”

   A part of her wanted to press further, but a larger part of her didn’t believe she needed to. Not just yet. The fact that Fangmeyer had not seen Otterton over the body with her own eyes was not something she wanted to make public, as it would bring her report into question. Something that could damage her career, especially if the appeal succeeded. And Judy didn’t want to see a good cop go down with her partner. A partner that she had been assigned specifically to keep under control.

   “All right,” she said, deciding to move on as she looked down at the paper she still held. “According to crime scene reports, none of the neighbors claim to have heard anything.”

   “Yes, that is correct.”

   “So, an argument that was so loud and violent that it led to the brutal stabbing death of the victim was not heard by anyone?”

   “From what I understand, yes,” she said, her eyes focused on the bunny as her muzzle drew into a calm line. “I didn’t take part in the questioning of the witnesses or the follow-up investigation. We were too busy giving statements to the detectives that arrived from Homicide.”

   “Aside from the fact that you didn’t question them, do you find it strange that no one heard anything?” Judy asked, shaking her head and looking confused, “While the anonymous caller claimed that things had become loud and obviously violent? Isn’t that strange?”

   “Objection, your honor,” came the protest, which this time almost managed to make her roll her eyes as she turned to face the standing prosecution. “Leading the witness.”

   Damn. He had her there. She released a small sigh before she raised her hand in acceptance. “I will reword the question.”

   “Carry on,” the sheep nodded, motioning for the fox to take his seat.

   “Officer Fangmeyer, in most cases of loud and possibly violent domestic altercations, are the neighbors normally unaware of it?”

   “Generally, no,” she replied, shaking her head slowly. “In most cases, if it gets that bad, it is a neighbor that calls the ZPD to investigate and calm the situation. Except in some neighborhoods, where talking to the police is frowned upon.”

   “Did the Ottertons live in that kind of neighborhood?”

   “No, they did not.”

   “Do you trust your partner, Officer Fangmeyer?”

   The sudden shift in topic and the nature of the question caused the already silent courtroom to seem to empty into a soundless void. This was exactly what she had expected, given the fact that the tigress in the witness box was not giving the immediate answer that would normally follow a question that, to most police officers with partners, would be automatically positive. When Judy turned, the expression on Fangmeyer’s face was perfect. Absolutely perfect. She looked halfway between surprised and reluctant to answer the question. The result was a grimace of discomfort as she averted her eyes, looking entirely too thoughtful.

   “Officer? Should I repeat the question?”

   “No, no,” she said quickly, in a tone that was just a little distant. As if trying to figure out how to answer the question, she opened her mouth and nothing came out for a full two seconds before she said, “Officer Weaselton and I have only been partners for a short time. I like to think I trust him, but that kind of trust builds over time.”

   “Thank you, Officer. You’ve been a very pleasant witness,” she said, offering a friendly smile that was genuine in her delight before she made her way back to her seat. “I have no further questions at this time.”