Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Banban's Revenge

"Thank you, Your Honor," Holloway said. "As Ms. Meyer has pointed out, the evidence presented so far can only state that the arson occurred. It is not certain who broke into my cabin and attacked and killed Momo and set fire to my house." Regardless of whether he knew in advance that there was a surveillance video at the scene, the person involved went to great lengths to conceal his true identity. He wore a ski mask on his head, gloves on his hands, and the most common, thousands of worker And contract surveyors can buy boots from Zara Group general stores. It can be said that he deliberately tried to avoid identification."

"But," said Holloway, "something happened that he didn't expect." Holloway brought up a short clip from the previous video: Scabbers jumped out and scratched the man with blood all over his face. "This man obviously didn't expect to be beaten by a fur," Holloway said. "Let's see, he was unprepared, and suddenly he was scratched by a small animal's nose and eyes," Holloway said. He stared straight at Dries, who was grinding his teeth, "It must have been completely unexpected for him to be taught a lesson by a cat-sized animal. Come on, let's watch it again."

"Unless you get to the point next, Mr Holloway," said Soden. "That's right, Your Honor. I'm getting to the point now." Holloway played back the video again in slow motion, "In addition to beating the man, Mao Mao also tore the face severely -- you can see the seriousness here. scratches, tooth marks and other wounds. And it has been a week since the incident.” Holloway paused the video, walked to his prosecution desk, pulled a photo from a folder and presented it to Thorden. "Here's a picture of Mr. Dries that I took three days ago, with the same surveillance camera. You can see the bruises on his face. Actually—" He pointed to where Dries was sitting, "— — you can still see the scars on his face a week after the incident.”

Soden looked to Meyer. "I guess you have some other explanation for the scars." "Yes, Your Honor." Meyer glanced at Driss after finishing speaking, and nodded for him to speak. "I was drunk," Dries said. "I got too drunk at the boozer's tavern, and I fell into a bush on the way home." "Congratulations," Soden said. Dries shrugged. "I'm not proud of it, anyway, that's how the injury came." "Mr. Holloway?" Soden asked instead. "I also know that Joe is a heavy drinker. Normally, I am very happy to believe his words." After speaking, Holloway walked to the prosecution table and pulled out another piece of paper with charts and words printed on it. "Unfortunately, here is a DNA evidence."

Soden took the paper and frowned. "The person who set fire to your house left DNA evidence?" she said. "He stayed." Holloway walked back to the table, "As you can imagine, a lot of blood was left at the scene. The suspect attacked Mao Mao, and Mao Mao resisted and scratched him. I tested the blood, and most of it was Mao Mao Blood, after all they were shot and attacked viciously, there must be blood all around them. But I also collected some human blood, enough for DNA analysis." "Ms. Meyer?" Soden asked. "Is the procedure for the plaintiff to collect and analyze the evidence provided by himself reasonable, Your Honor?" Meyer questioned.

"I charged a Zara group sheriff with arson and property destruction," Holloway said. "The circle of sheriffs here is very small. I have every reason to doubt that any evidence collected by them for analysis will be destroyed. And given the This DNA evidence was collected and analyzed by the Zara Group’s biological lab personnel, and the sheriff’s evidence was processed by the same lab, so I just skipped the middleman.” "Was this blood sample taken from the floor of Mr. Holloway's house?" Mayer asked. Soden turned to Holloway inquiringly. "Yes," he said.

"The floor was covered in fire suppressant foam," Meyer said. "The chemical in the fire suppressant degrades the blood thinner, and the DNA evidence from this blood sample is not reliable." "My colleague was so right." Holloway was pleased to see the smoldering anger on Mayer's face - he dared to call himself her colleague.Harroway bent down and lifted a medical freezer from under the table and placed it on the table. "Fortunately, we still have DNA evidence from tissue samples." Holloway said and began to unsnap the freezer lid one by one. "Where did you get the tissue samples?" Thorden asked.

"Not where," Holloway lifted the lid of the box, "Who is it?" Before he finished speaking, Holloway reached into the freezer and carefully lifted Scabbers out of it.He gently laid Mao Mao's little body flat on the table, and Meyer involuntarily made a gasping sound. "You don't need to bring a dead body into court, Mr Holloway," said Thornden sternly. "No disrespect, Your Honor, but I disagree," Holloway said, "and if I don't bring it, I doubt Mayer will accept the veracity of the evidence, and there are two kinds of evidence here," Harloway said. Lowe held up Mao Mao's small palm, "One is the human blood and skin tissue found under Mao Mao's nails." After saying that, Holloway put Mao Mao's hand gently, and took out a small jar from the freezer. "The second is the bullet taken from Mao Mao." Then he took out the third piece of paper from the folder, walked to the judge's bench, and presented the bullet and documents, "This is an application to seize all the guns of Mr. Dries for ballistic analysis ’ Soden took the papers and the jar.

"The provenance of this bullet is unknown," Meyer protested, "and the presence of a bullet hole in a victim does not definitively indicate that the wound was caused by this particular bullet." "The bullet was removed by a Zara biologist," Holloway said. "The biologist also performed subsequent DNA analysis and compared it to the Zara employee database. I believe If given the opportunity, she would be willing to testify in court on this." Soden looked up and asked him, "If there is a chance?" "She's being transported to Earth," Holloway said. "She's on the same interstellar flight as Mr. Sullivan."

Soden glanced at Meyer. "Ms. Meyer, is there any particular reason for the sudden removal of all personnel in favor of Mr. Holloway's case from this planet?" "I believe it's just a coincidence," Meyer said. "Aha." Soden said noncommittally, "I'll have my clerk conduct another 'search and rescue' operation and ask her to come and testify. In the meantime, Mr. Holloway, please return the body to the freezer. I This evidence will be kept temporarily." "Yes, Your Honor," said Holloway.He walked back to Scabbers, gently put Maomao back into the freezer, and closed the lid to block out the monotonous hum of the condenser.He picked up the freezer and put it next to the judge's bench.

"We must point out that the biologist mentioned is Dr. Isabel Vanga," Meyer said. "She and Mr. Holloway were in a past relationship." "I'm aware of it," Thorden said, "and that's one of the reasons I'm keeping the animal carcass." "Not an animal," Holloway corrected. "Creature." Thorden changed the word. "Satisfied, Mr. Holloway?" "Well, your honor," Holloway replied. "I will order an independent DNA collection analysis of the DNA under the creature's fingernails, along with ballistic analysis of all of Mr Dries' weapons," Soden said. "The remains of this...creature have been in Mr. Holloway's custody during this time," Meyer protested again. "We are almost certain that this evidence has been falsified." "How to make a fake?" Holloway said in disbelief. "I don't know how to cut a piece of flesh from Mr. Dries and stuff it under Mao Mao's nails? It's too laborious." "This body is now in my custody, and I will send someone to check carefully for any traces of fraud," Soden said, "unless you have objections to my arrangement." "No objection, Your Honor," Meyer said. "Now you know why I insisted on bringing the body to court, Your Honor," said Holloway. "If there were no body, you can imagine how much Ms. Meyer would have objected." "Enough is enough, Mr Holloway," said Soden. "Sorry, Your Honor," said Holloway. "We are adjourning for half an hour now, waiting for my clerk to bring Dr. Vangar from the terminal." Soden said and stood up. "See you in thirty minutes." She walked into the office.Holloway sat at the plaintiffs table, watching Meyer and Driss discuss angrily. Sullivan walked up from the auditorium and took a seat directly behind the plaintiff's seat. "He doesn't look very happy," he said to Holloway, nodding his chin in Dries' direction. "That's because Momo, who he thought was eaten by Zara Athlon, came back to haunt him," Holloway said. "His stubborn stupid brain finally realized that he might be judged for it. If he really gets to that point, he will definitely lose." "And you enjoy it," Sullivan said. "Of course I enjoy it, damn it," said Holloway. Sullivan smiled. "That's the Holloway I know," he said, "and he'll sell you for a bargain." "It's not cheap." Holloway said, "The Zara Group has already lost 600 billion." "It's not a bad morning." Sullivan admired. "It's still early," echoed Holloway. "Janice is here," Sullivan said.Holloway looked up and saw Meyer standing in front of him. "Let's talk," Meyer said. "No problem," Holloway said briskly.He got up and followed Meyer out of the courtroom, leaving Dries and Sullivan behind. "This thing got completely out of control," Meyer said.They entered an empty conference room. "I gave your client a hard time with the evidence for saying that," Holloway said. "Stop raising yourself up," Meyer said. "It's one thing to use animal carcasses as a show in a preliminary trial, but I'm going to knock that off when it comes to court. Damn it, Holloway! You've been hiding that thing for a week? Do you really think I'm not going to raise a reasonable doubt to rule out this kind of evidence? Let alone doing so is simply sick." "I see," Holloway sneered, "so you want to do me a favor so that I don't lose my face at the grown-up interrogation game." "Stop that," Meyer said. "I know what you're up to, Holloway. I know you used to make a living out of it. I know you were doing well before you beat up your client. I also Know that you beat your client not out of real rage. You did it with purpose, you made a fortune, and you're on this planet for a long vacation. So, Holloway, I know you're good. Is that okay?" "Well, that's about it," Holloway said. "But we all know it's bullshit," Meyer said. "You and Dries have an old grudge. It's okay. This time he crossed the line. We all know it. Let's just admit he's a jerk and get over it." Let's do this." "What's your condition?" Holloway said. "Charges dropped," Meyer said. "Driss pleaded not guilty but will apologize. The Zara Group fired Dries and put a note on his employment record that he was not allowed to hold any policing-related jobs— — but no criminal record. We send him off this planet, and he'll spend the rest of his life washing dishes in God knows where, and be thankful for that. And, while you probably don't care at this point, Mr. Billionaire, Zara Group will also reimburse you for damage to your cabin and all other property lost as a result of this fire." "How much in total?" Holloway asked. "Anyway, we won't lose you for what we should give," Meyer said. "What about Fluffy?" Holloway asked again. "What happened to Maomao?" Meyer asked back. "Your client stomped one, shot one, and ended up killing two," Holloway said. "Is that worth anything?" "You make an offer," Mayer said, "but don't open your mouth like a lion." "It's not a bad deal," Holloway said. "You've got everything you want," Meyer said. "Hell, everybody's got everything—Driss can't be sheriff anymore. His presence is a threat, and you've done everyone a favor. " "Only if you get him to say yes," Holloway said. "You don't have to worry about that," Meyer said. "It's my job, and I'm not cheap." "I guess so," said Holloway. "So we're done?" Mayer said. "Absolutely not," said Holloway. "No?" Mayer asked. "No way," said Holloway, "no way to kill." "Can I ask why?" Meyer said. "Because, Ms. Meyer," said Holloway, "while I greatly admire your intelligence and expertise, you still have no idea what I really want out of this business."
Isabel's testimony process can be said to be dull to the end.Yes, your honor, Jack brought this body to me for examination.No, your honor, as far as I can see, the remains have not been damaged in any way.Yes, I removed that bullet myself.No, I am not a qualified forensic officer.Yes, this DNA analysis is preliminary.They said I was going to be transferred, and I was locked out of the lab for half the week.No, I don't know why they locked me out of the lab.Holloway smiled at Isabel as she walked off the witness stand.Now everyone is here. "Mr. Holloway, before I start calling the defense evidence, do you have any other evidence to present?" Thorden asked after Isabel took her seat in the gallery. "There is no other physical evidence, Your Honor," said Holloway, "but I have an arson witness. He can definitely identify Mr. Dries as the murderer in the mask." "Very well," said Thorden, "bring your witnesses, Mr. Holloway." "The witness is in my ship, Your Honor," said Holloway, "at the park." "Then send someone to bring him," said Soden. "Mr. Sullivan knows which one my spaceship is, and he can go." "Okay," Soden said impatiently, "Hurry up." Holloway nodded to Sullivan and handed him the key.Sullivan took the key and left. "Is there any particular reason for you to keep the witness in the ship, Mr. Holloway?" Thorden asked while they waited. "The witness wanted to spend some time with my dog," Holloway said. "Is there any personal relationship between this witness and you, Mr. Holloway?" Mayer asked. "You could say that, Ms. Meyer," Holloway said with a laugh. The court door opened, and Sullivan came in, followed by a small figure. Papa Fluffy is here.