"Would the prosecution please call their first witness to the stand?" Judge Brown stated. 

  This was it!

  In order for Seth to convince the jury that Mr Benjamin had committed the crime of killing his best friend, he had to have a solid witness, one that would give an excellent reason and testimony.

 I doubt he had one.

   Seth is a great lawyer. He was also a great friend and an excellent lover but there was no way he could get a witness that could prove that my client was guilty especially since I now have proof that he wasn't. 

"Thank you, Your Honor. The prosecution would like to call Mariam Samuels to the stand." Seth announced. I looked at the back to see the bailiff escorting Mariam to the front. When Mariam was standing on the stand, Seth stood, ready to begin his argument. 

   Why didn't I guess this? Of course, he'd put Harrison's wife on the stand first. But I don't mind because he just made my day a whole lot easier. 

    Seeing him was unnerving. It had my emotions all over the place but I knew I had to stay in check, this was the last hearing for this case and I couldn't mess it up. Maybe after the case was close I could try and talk to him but for now, my head had to be hundred per cent in the game and not on the opposing attorney who happened to have confessed his love for me then threw me out of his apartment. 

 I sighed.

  Stop!

Focus on the case!

  "Mrs. Samuels, can you raise your right hand." Mariam obeyed, "Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing the truth so help you, God?

  'I do."

  "Please be seated."

   "Mrs. Samuels, please introduce yourself to the court," Seth asked as he gave me a small reassuring smile. 

 "My name is Mariam Samuels, Harrison Samuels was my husband," she answered her voice cracked when she said his name. 

"Can you describe the relationship between you had with Mr. Samuels?"

  "It was great, of course until I found he was cheating me." the blonde woman answered almost immediately. 

"And when exactly did you find out that your husband was cheating on you?"

"About two years ago."

Seth nodded his head and place his hand in his pocket. 

   "Mrs. Samuels, earlier this week you told me that you thought Mr. Benjamin had killed your husband why is that so?" I little thought in my head told me to object but I didn't I wanted to hear every little detail that came from her mouth. 

"I saw them arguing about a week before his death."

  Seth walked over to the side of the jury and stopped then asked, "What were they arguing about?"

  "I think Matthew found out that Harrison and Grace were having an affair."

Matthew tapped me on my shoulder and then whispered in my ears, "That's a lie."

  I nod my head at him and whispered, "I know."

  Seth turned to the jury, "A love war we see. Matthew Benjamin found out that Mr Samuels, his best friend was sleeping with his wife. He reacted by killing him." he turned to judge, "No further questions, Your Honor."

Seth walked over to his side of the court and took a seat, he didn't look over my side.

The bad blood and tension were boiling.

"Does the defence want to redirect?"

 I stood from my seat, "Yes, Your Honor."

   Judge Brown gestured for me to begin and so I did, "Ms. Samuels, you found out your husband and Ms. Grace was having an affair three years ago. Based on documents, you just started the divorce papers about five months ago, why is that?"

   "Love. I don't believe in that saying 'If you love someone let them go.' I believe if you love someone you fight them and I tried to fight for him for two years but he didn't want me and so I gave up."

Her little statement gave me chills. I loved Seth but he hated me now. How do you fight for someone who doesn't even want to look at you?

I cleared my throat and continued, "Ms. Samuels, earlier when Mr. Parker asked you why Mr. Benjamin was arguing with your husband, you answered by saying you THINK it was because he found out about the affair. My question to you is, Could the reason that Mr. Benjamin and your husband was arguing be because of something else?"

She remained silent.

"Ms Samuels." I urged.

"Yes, there is a possibility that they could have been arguing about something else."

"Thank you," I turned to the jury, "The last time we were here we saw a woman confessing to a man that she had being cheating on him for three and a half years and you know what we saw, a man who was shocked, a man who was close to tears. Mr. Benjamin did not find out that his wife cheated until that court session. No further questions."

"Mrs. Samuels, you may step down."

I took a seat in my chair and waited for the bailiff to escort Ms. Samuels out of the courtroom once more. 

"Does the prosecution have any more witness to call?"

"No, Your Honor. The prosecution rests."

I had the urged to look across the courthouse, but I didn't. 

Stay strong Kari!

You can do this. 

"Will the defence call their first witness to the stand, please."

I stood up once more, "The defence would like to call Aaron Williams to the stand."

Aaron slowly made his way to the stand, after the rights were to him, I asked with a smile, 
"Mr. Williams, how long have you been working at Pizza Pizza?"

"Two years, part-time."

"And on what nights do you usually work?"

"Every night except Tuesday and Sundays."

I nod, "So you were working Wednesday, June 6, 2018?"

"Yes, I was."

"Thank you." I pointed to Mr. Benjamin, "Do you remember delivering to that man's home that night?"

Aaron looked behind me and nod, "Yes, I remember him."

I smiled, "And why exactly did you remember?"

"He gave me a large tip."

I nod, "One last thing, what time did you deliver the pizza?"

"Sometime after nine."

I nod, I walked over to my desk and picked up the piece of paper that would make this case. I walked over to the jury and lifted up the paper. "Who can tell me what this is?"

One of the jurors raised his hand, "It's a receipt."

I nod my head and smile. "It is indeed."

"Ms Jones, take that to me." Judge Brown said. 

I walked over to him and place the receipt in front of him. 

He nods, "You can continue."

  "Ladies and Gentlemen of the court, I'm going to read what's on the receipt for you." I took a deep breath then continued, "One large Pepperoni Pizza with Pineapple topping and extra cheese. Date, Wednesday, June 6, 2018, at 9:53 pm."

I walked over to Aaron who was still sitting patiently at the stand, "One last quest for you, When is the receipt printed."

"Well, Mr Benjamin used his debit card and so it was printed after I gave him his pizza."

"And he gave you cash for your tip right."

"Yes, he took it out of his wallet the same time he took out his debit card."

I nod. I was making sure I covered all the aspects. I could not afford Seth questioning my witness, especially not after what happened with Grace.

"Thank you, Aaron. No further questions."

"Would the prosecution like to cross?"

"No, Your Honor," Seth answered. 

I had the urge to smile but I didn't.

"Does the defence have any more witnesses to call?"

"Yes, Your Honor. The defence would like to call Grace Benjamin to the stand."

When Grace was seated I started, "I only have one question for you. Why was Mr. Benjamin alone  the night of Harrison Samuels death?"

"I went out of town for a conference and when I was to return by nine but my flight got cancelled and so Benjamin didn't have to pick me up that nine, he was home alone."

"Thank you, no further questions."

"Would the prosecution like to cross?"

"No, Your Honor."

I was content that the prosecution didn't have anything to say on the matter. It seemed like they realized that they were going to lose.

"Does the defence have any more witnesses to call?"

"Yes, Your Honor. The defence would like to call Mariam Samuels to the stand." In regular cases, a witness wouldn't come to the stand twice but if I had asked Mariam the questions that I wanted to ask her how it would have probably ruined the case that I had stayed up all night just to work on.

Mariam entered the courtroom a second time and was read her rights a second time. I walked over to my briefcase and took out some files from it. "Ms. Samuels where were you on the night of your husband's death?"

"I was at home. The police asked me those questions already."

"And I'm asking again. Do you have an alibi?"

She nods, "Yes, my friend Carmen."

"And was Carmen in the car with you when you were speeding on the freeway?"

"Pardon?"

   I opened the folder that it's in my hand and placed it in front of her. "These are pictures of your car speeding down the freeway at 10:15. By the looks of the picture, you were the only one in the car unless you Carmen was at the back and I highly doubt that. Let's not forget that the freeway is the same one that goes straight to the harbour. Do you know what's the weird thing is? The time of death for your husband was 10:09 pm?

"Objection!" Seth finally decided to shout.

"Sustained."

   I laughed a little bit, "You what's even weirder?" I took up the photos from in front of her and walked over to the jury with them. "If you look at the picture at the back you will see pictures of the same car at 10:29. At 10:29, your car passed Mr. Beta's hone? Who is Mr. Beta? Well, he is Mr. Benjamin's neighbour who recently installed security cameras on his property because some high school students were vandalising his vehicles.  And you know what's the weirdest thing? I turn to look right in Mariam's green eyes. "Your car passed Mr. Beta's home at 10:33 which meant it took you about thirty minutes to find the perfect hiding place for the weapon you had used to kill your husband. Now the real question is did you really let go? Earlier you said you didn't to let go, Harrison, because you loved him so much. Is that why you pushed a knife in his chest, not once, not twice but three times."

  "Ms. Jones."  Judge Brown warned.

   I looked at Mariam waiting for her to deny all the claims that I just made but she bent her head the tears falling from her eyes. "He didn't love me anymore. He loved that whore! He chose her after all the things I did for him, he wanted her."

"And is that why you killed him because if you can't have him no one can."

  "Precisely." she laughed. "Loving is cruel, especially when they don't love you back." 

Her words hit me but killing isn't the answer. 

Especially since you loved them.

Just let them go.

.........................

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