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“Yes but—”

I cut him off. “It was a yes or no question, Mr. Gomez.”

Reluctantly, he answers, “Yes.”

“Your honor, I would like to admit this into evidence.” The judge nods and I walk to the clerk, giving them the document so they could officially mark it into evidence.

I can now use this in any way I want to help my case. I take the paper back and place it on the projector next to Joey. The document is blown up on the screen for everyone in the courtroom to see. I walk back to the center of the courtroom.

I raise my brow at Joey and continue my questioning. “Please identify what’s on the paper.”

He leans close to me and angrily whispers, “What are you doing?” I don’t reply. I just smile.

The judge slams his gravel. We all look to the judge as he says, “Witness, no sidebar. Do as counsel says.”

Joey looks from the judge to me. His nose flares as he finally answers, “It’s an email.”

I tilt my head to the side. “From whom, exactly?”

“Me.”

“And to who?”

Joey glares daggers at me before replying, “Director Taevian Jackson.”

“Please read what is on the paper, Mr. Gomez.”

Joey clenches his jaw. “Director Taevian, how could you promote Aiden over me? I’ve worked my ass off to get promoted to supervisor and—” he pauses and looks towards Aiden. Aiden’s face is stoic, giving away nothing. Joey continues, “—you gave it to Aiden. I deserved it, not him.”

I tilt my head. “Didn’t you previously state you weren’t jealous of Aiden’s promotion?” One of the brilliant ways to show a witness is unreliable is to bring up inconsistent statements. It’s a direct attack to their trustworthiness and is hard to recover once it is gone.

“I wasn’t jealous of Aiden—I was just upset. Aiden is good at his job; he did deserve to be a supervisor.” There goes that past tense again. As if Aiden is guilty and will face his punishment. Real friends would have your back till the very end, believing in your innocence.

“Hm.” I tap my chin. “The day Aiden received the death assignment, you were at Eden, correct?”

I notice Joey’s chest starts to rise and fall a little faster. Just a little. Throughout my years of experience, I’ve learned that a lawyer is a performer. We put on a show. Lawyers tell a story that makes people in the gallery scoot to the edge of their seats. We tailor the facts in favor of our client to prove their innocence. If you’re good at your job, you can take the smallest of details, the things that most people would overlook, and turn it into your whole case.

And I am great at my job.

“No, I was collecting souls like I am supposed to do, per my job duties.”

I walk to my desk and grab the remote to the court room monitors. I really love how high-tech Eden is. I click some buttons and a picture from one of the cameras in Eden pops up, showing Joey at Eden.

“This is you at three in the afternoon on that day, correct?”

“Yes, it is probably when I was dropping off a collected soul at the Soul Directory,” he says, picking at his collar to loosen it.

I click the button again. “This is the list of all your death assignments that day. You had none between twelve and four.”

“Okay, I can take a break, right? Reapers need to eat too.” he chuckles as other reapers in the room laugh along.

I faintly smile at him. “Of course.” I click the button on the remote again. “But here it shows you at the desk of a reaper who sends files to the Collection department.”

“Okay, what’s your point? I was probably checking my email while waiting for one of the girls who I flirt with occasionally. I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not the one on trial.” Way to throw your friend under the bus there, buddy. Let’s see if I’ve got him nervous enough.

“Can you read the time stamp on this photo,” I ask, pointing to the evidence.

“3:05 p.m.”