CH 207

Matthew Claude instantly flushed beet red. His mouth squirmed, as if trying to find words to justify himself, but wasn’t able to squeeze a single word out.

There was nothing else he could do at this time. No explanation could remove the helplessness he felt, and it was a challenge to bounce back. 

As he stayed mute, once again, Prosecutor Gaunt stood up. “Allow me to explain for Mr Claude. Experience can come in many forms. In addition to accumulated qualifications, natural talent can also account for it.”

Of course, he said this not actually for Gu Yan, but for the jury to hear; to prevent that group of people from being carried away by Gu Yan’s words, jumping ship en-masse.

Lawyer Gaunt kept his tone down and his cadence modulated, which carried the most persuasiveness. “I think everyone, whether it be the judge, the jury, or anyone in the gallery, can understand that some people have a natural gift in a certain domain. It could be that Mr Claude is naturally attuned to cars and just happens to do that kind of work. As the defence lawyer said, he hasn’t seen as many cars as some of us, but is it outside the realm of possibility that he can tell the model of a passing car just by listening to its engine and seeing its silhouette?”

Gaunt turned his eyes to Gu Yan, saying, “At least… we can’t categorically deny this type of thing. What do you think, Lawyer Gu?” 

Gu Yan glanced at him. He didn’t insist on waving around this point but instead nodded civilly. “Indeed.”

Not expecting him to be so agreeable, Gaunt went blank, eyebrows rising to his hairline.

And Matthew Claude, frozen on the witness stand, was visibly relieved, the blood that rushed to his face receding.

Even just for that split second, he was grateful to the defence lawyer for not pressing him further into the spot.

Similarly, everyone watching the trial took this in.

Where the First-Class Lawyers were seated, Parveen, who had been refraining from talking all this time, whispered in Yan Suizhi’s ear again, “Props to him. This attitude of pulling his punches will effortlessly win people’s hearts. It’ll make him seem very classy.”

Yan Suizhi, still with his chin supported on a hand, smiled when he heard this. “What do you mean by ‘seem’?”

“Alright, he is classy down to his bones.” Parveen clicked his tongue. “He’s your student through and through. He conducts himself with finesse beyond his years.” 

Yan Suizhi strongly adhered to the belief that being opponents in court did not truly mean that they were your enemies.

You can expose any opening, point out any imperfection, trip people up in their words, silence the court—but never hammer a plaintiff, witness, or even a lawyer on the opposing counsel down without sufficient evidence.

Just like the police officer who had recorded Chen Zhang’s oral confessions through the night for the George Mason case on Tian Qin. Considering the atmosphere during the cross-examination, Yan Suizhi only needed to add one more sentence to hammer the other side down with ‘using torture to extract a confession’. But he did not.

Because it was actually hard to ascertain whether those who had made a misstep or misspoken were actually harbouring such deep malice. 

Freely attack the evidence but not people.

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This could mayhaps be chalked down to a tacit understanding they shared.

So, it was a brief moment after Parveen finished his empathetic sigh that Yan Suizhi then spoke serenely, “Gu Yan’s conduct is actually irrespective of his teacher. That’s just the way he is.”

Parveen considered that and clicked his tongue again.

However, not everyone could grasp the subtleties. 

In courtrooms charged with aggression, there would always be the inane people who would misconstrue it as a concession due to a guilty conscience.

Such as Gaunt.

After speaking on Claude’s behalf, this lawyer didn’t return to his seat but raised his eyebrows, politely asking Gu Yan, “Since Lawyer Gu agreed to what I just said, does this conclude the witness cross-examination for Mr Claude? In that case, please allow me to conclude to the judge and to the jury: On the whole, Mr Claude’s testimony is not false.”

He still wanted to continue and make remarks that appealed to emotion, but as soon as he said that, Gu Yan calmly cut him off. “There’s no hurry, I still have a few more questions.” 

“…”

The breath that Gaunt had just inhaled got stuck in his windpipe.

You might not be in a hurry, but I fucking am!

That was his inner thought, but owing to the decorum he had to present, he squeezed out a reply, “I see, please carry on.” 

With that, Gaunt was right about to take a seat when he heard Gu Yan say, “Wait a moment. There are a few questions Mr Claude cannot answer that he might need to consult you for.”

“…”

And so before Gaunt’s behind had even brushed the chair, he silently stood back up again.

Matthew Claude subconsciously tightened his core and straightened up, waiting on tenterhooks for Gu Yan to speak. 

“I still need you to confirm specific details about the day of the crime,” said Gu Yan.

Claude nodded. “Okay.”

“You just said that the rainstorm lasted from four to around nine-twenty in the evening?”

“Yeah.” 

“The rain came down at an angle and the wind was strong, beating down on the glass windows for five hours straight during your shift?”

“That’s right.”

Gu Yan projected a photo of the guard post as well as the 013 mountain pass on the holographic screen and asked, “As seen from the photo, the guard post where you work has three windows in total. Were all three sides beaten by rainwater during the storm?”

Matthew Claude shook his head. He reached out and pointed at the window in the middle. “I usually face this window, with the desk in front of me. I remember very clearly, I was lounging on the desk that day and the rain hit the glass window directly in front of me, head-on.” 

“During those five hours, did the intensity of the rain change?”

Claude shook his head. “No. It kept beating non-stop; it didn’t lighten. If I were to describe it, the rain kept getting heavier and at the end, it was almost a sudden stop. That’s a pretty common feature for the storms in our area, though.”

“Then, during those five hours, were there other vehicles travelling towards the warehouse?”

“None at all.” 

“Are you certain?”

“Maybe I got a little sleepy near midnight, which is why I kind of froze when you said two downpours because I don’t quite remember the second one, actually.” Matthew Claude finally admitted. “But I swear I was perfectly awake during these five hours! Just this one car, no others.”

Gu Yan nodded. He pulled up the photo of the muddy Silver Jaguar GTX3 again and then turned to ask Gaunt, “This is the car that my client, Horace Lee, used on the day that the crime took place, is that right?”

Lawyer Gaunt said testily, “Yes. All the marks inside the car can attest to that, as do the mud tracks outside the car.” 

“Is there any evidence that shows him using any other car during the crime?”

Gaunt shot that down. “No. Just this car.”

Gu Yan, “Okay.”

For some reason, this ‘okay’ from Gu Yan inexplicably ramped up Gaunt’s anxiety. 

He saw Gu Yan’s finger lightly tap the screencast keys. The Silver Jaguar GTX3 on the screen was magnified twofold, and the dried mud was presented before everyone like a regional specialty.

Not only were those at the gallery able to see it clearly, everyone watching the livestream across the alliance was able to see it clearly too.

These mud tracks were uniformly flung from the wheel, slanted towards the front and plastered around the wheel.

Gu Yan said in a deep voice, “According to the witness testimony given by Mr Matthew Claude, heavy rain began to pour over the belt of Emerald Valley. The force of the wind was powerful, and the rain beat down at an angle. At 5:15 p.m., a Silver Jaguar GTX3 drove into the 013 mountain pass in the rain and arrived at Crime Scene 7. At 9:10 p.m., the same Silver Jaguar GTX3 returned the same way in the rain. Ten minutes later, at around 9:20 p.m., the rain stopped. During this period, the wind direction and rain intensity didn’t change.” 

“Assuming that the above testimony is without any issue, the Silver Jaguar GTX3 that the suspected perpetrator drove should show two types of mud splotches. One as he headed towards the warehouse, and the other as he headed away from the warehouse. There’s a difference between downwind and upwind, so the two types of mud splotches can’t be in the same direction.”

With an electronic pen, Gu Yan casually drew two arrows on the holographic screen, then set the pen aside. His eyelids flicked up as he looked at Lawyer Gaunt. “Then, may I ask why there is only one type of mud track found on this Silver Jaguar GTX3 that my client, Mr Horace Lee, drove?”

Gaunt’s brain blanked out for a beat.

But he reacted at once and reflexively retorted, “He could have wiped it off. Maybe the defendant wiped off the mud tracks that got on the car after reaching the warehouse? That would only leave one type!” 

Gu Yan, “That’s possible. According to the wind and rain direction and the direction of the 013 mountain pass, the mud tracks of the Silver Jaguar GTX3 should slant forward when heading towards the warehouse and slant backward when heading away from the warehouse. If, as you mentioned, the mud that got on the car on the way to the warehouse was wiped off, then the mud tracks left behind should slant backwards.”

He rapped a knuckle against the electronic page in front of him, and the holographic screen the photo was cast on shimmered in response.

“If it’s no trouble, may I ask all of you to tell me which direction the mud track is slanted in on this vehicle abandoned by my client, Horace Lee?”

It was slanted forward. 

Gaunt was lost for words.

The courtroom plunged into dead silence.