Chapter 59 - Meeting The Villain (8)

She took a deep breath as she entered the courtroom. Her fingers were trembling but she tried to keep her cool composure. Taking her seat next to Yang, she cleared her throat.

"Sir," she began. "I want to cross examine the accused."

Yang pondered at her proposition. Sunye expected him to be outraged and reject her offer but to her surprise, he nodded.

"Very well," he said. "You may cross examine her. What's your angle?"

She quickly whispered to him what she had found out only leaving out the part that SD was the one thow tipped her off. Yang's eyes widened and he was impressed by her sleuthing skills.

"If your theory is correct, then this will be the turning point!" he nodded. 

Just then the judge entered the room and everyone rose once again. 

"Let the session commence," the judge ordered. This time, Sunye stood up and bowed.

"Assistant Prosecutor Han Sunye here!" she introduced herself. "The Prosecution would like to cross examine the accused."

Jinhee sneered while Jung peered at the young woman who had suddenly taken the reins. He did not expect Yang to allow an inexperienced assistant to cross question the accused. What was he thinking?

The jury members also whispered amongst each other, intrigued by the sudden turn from the Prosecution's side. Why were they switching at such a crucial moment?

"Permission granted," the judge stated. "The accused is called to the stand."

Jinhee stood up and fixed her dress. She walked towards the witness box with her back straight and adorned a dignified front. She gave Sunye a scathing look before taking the stand. A plaintiff came forward with the holy book.

"Please place your palm on the holy book and repeat after me," the plaintiff instructed. 

Jinhee placed her palm on the book.

"I, Seo Jinhee, solemnly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

"I, Seo Jinhee," she began. "Solemnly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

The plaintiff bowed and backed away. Sunye stepped forward to question her.

"Ms. Seo, could you please tell the court once again about what happened on the day of the murder?" Sunye asked.

"I came home after getting my hair done at the salon," Jinhee recalled. "One of the servants informed me that Heenim, my husband, was at the study and did not want to be disturbed. So I went to my bathroom to take a shower. After a few minutes, I came out wiping my hair when I thought I heard some noise coming from the study. As soon as I reached the study, I saw my husband lying on the floor. He was dead."

"You didn't see anyone else?" Sunye inquired. "Was the door locked from within?"

"No, it was open," Jinhee said firmly.

"But you just mentioned that your husband did not want to be disturbed then why did he leave the door open?" Sunye pressed. Her earlier nervousness was beginning to ebb and she was getting bolder in her stance, analysing everything the accused was saying.

"I-I don't know!" Jinhee claimed. "Maybe the killer had the keys. My lawyer already established the fact that the new servant was an accomplice of the hitman!"

"That is a possibility, not an established fact," Sunye stated. "As per the testimonials of the servants, it has been stated that only the victim and his wife aka you have the key to the study room. Then how did the servant get them? Moreover, your husband's keys were found in your bedroom drawer when the police searched your home. So that leaves only your set of keys. Unless, the servant in question had the time to unlock the door, let the hitman enter and then somehow run back to your room to return the keys. But we all know that's not possible in such a short span of time. Besides, if he was one of the first ones to arrive at the crime scene then there was no way he could have gotten the time to return those keys. Your mansion is over 20 acres big!"

"I don't have my keys!" Jinhee repeated loudly. "After all, I was in the shower so the servant might have snuck into my room and stolen it."

"Where do you usually keep the keys?" 

"I...I usually keep them in my bag along with all the other keys."

"You keep them with you at all times?" Sunye asked coolly.

"Yes!"

"So if I check your bag right now, I won't find the keys?" Sunye pointed out.

"Objection!" Jung spoke up. "This is an invasion of privacy."

"Your honor, as per Ms. Seo's testimony, her set of keys were stolen," Sunye said loudly. "If she does not have the keys to the study room in her bag right now, then it would collaborate with what she had just said. Permission to have the bag under police custody."

"Objection sustained!" the judge declared. Sunye was speechless upon hearing that. Judge Jeon turned to her and added, "Any evidence which needs to be checked must be submitted to the police first with due procedure. The court cannot allow the addition of new evidence during an official courtroom session. The Prosecution will have to issue another search warrant once the session is over."

Yang was observing the proceedings silently. Sunye made many points but she was still a rookie who did not have enough experience in a real court. The reason why he let her take the lead was due to the fact that her fresh perspective might change the outlook of the case. Even though her request had been denied, she had planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of the jury. 

But how will she reap them?

The jury members were also keen on the rookie prosecutor's arguments. They were scrutinizing Sunye with great interest.

"The Prosecution will go through the procedure then," Sunye stated. She turned back to face Jinhee, who was trying to suppress a grin. Sunye stared at her for a moment, thinking hard of how to play her ace.

"Nice hair!" she suddenly spoke up. To everyone's surprise and confusion, Sunye was admiring Jinhee's hair which was silky and straight.

"You've been styling your hair this way for so many years!" Sunye went on. "It's so beautiful."

"Of course!" Jinhee exclaimed. "I'm a supermodel. We always have to style out hair."

"The salon really did a good job," Sunye complimented. "I don't know why my hair stylist messed up when I tried to straighten my hair. She claimed that it'll stay for a few months at least but when I went home and took a shower, it all just went away!"

"That's coz you're not supposed to take a shower after straightening your hair!" Jinhee scoffed. "If you do, the styling is ruined and-"

She suddenly stopped, shocked by what she had just said. Sunye was now grinning widely, triumphant at the slip of tongue. The Defense lawyer stood on his feet.

"Objection your honor!" he yelled. "This is a court not some fashion house!"

"Your honor, Ms. Seo claimed she was at the shower after she came back from the salon where she straightened her hair!" Sunye stated. "As an experienced model, she should know that wettening the hair after straightening ruins the styling. And yet, she mentioned that she was 'wiping' her hair when she heard the commotion in the study. If that was true, her hairstyle would have been ruined. Yet, it's perfect! Even in the photos published in the papers following her arrest shows that her hair is completely straight. Unless, the jail gave her access to a hair straightener."

Jinhee was shocked to her very core. The lawyer had noticed such a minor detail? But how? Even Jinhee did not think that far!

"This only means that Ms. Seo is lying," Sunye concluded. "She was not taking a shower that day."

"No…"

Jinhee moaned, closing her eyes but Sunye was ruthless. It was time to attack the jugular vein.

"You found out that your husband had been forging your signatures on cheques," she insisted. "Your bank had called you up a week before the murder took place and you were informed that you had millions of dollars in debt. This scared you because even though you're an international model, you did not have that much money to pay off! Upon sleuthing a little, you found out that your husband stole your hard earned money."

"No…" Jinhee moaned again, almost on the verge of crying.

"You were angry and distraught," Sunye pressed. "You wanted to teach him a lesson but if he was arrested, it would ruin your rep. Moreover, if you divorced him, your pre-nup would have prevented you from getting access to his bank accounts. You are broke and without a job for over a year. How would you pay off the money?

"So you devised a plan to murder him and pin it on the loansharks. The police would be looking for them instead. That would help you to get rid of your husband and the creditors in one go! Hence, you framed the servant as an accomplice."

Jinhee gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger. Jung prayed that Jinhee would keep her cool but the woman was already boiling.

"But you knew the police would arrest you first because you had the most motives," Sunye concluded. "So you planted fake evidence in the garden. That footprint was a fake. Probably used cash to buy sneakers, put the print on the garden before entering the house to kill your husban-"

"YES!" Jinhee screamed. "YES I KILLED HIM!"