by Jan Stryvant
“So, will this thing start on time?” Shadow asked and yawned again.
“Impressive set of fangs you have there, Mister Shadow. If I might suggest, it would be best to cover your mouth if yawning in front of the jury.”
Shadow nodded to Bert and made a note of it, “As you say, Bert. You understand this more than I do.” He turned to Charles then, “Any advice?”
“Stick to the subject they are questioning you about. Don’t stray into other subjects. We’ll raise objections if they try to go into areas they should not.”
Shadow nodded. “I’ll try. I’m just a bit foggy this time of day. I normally don’t get up for a few more hours yet. Six a.m. tends to be my bedtime.”
They both nodded.
At exactly nine sharp the doors opened and they were filed into a waiting room. Bert was summoned by an aide to go talk to someone and Charles stayed with him. Shadow quickly fell asleep in the chair he was sitting in, waking up when he heard Charles call his name.
“Hmm?” He asked and stretched with a yawn.
“Your turn, Shadow.” Charles said.
Shadow looked at his watch and noticed almost an hour had gone by, he felt a little better for the short nap and getting up followed Charles into the hearing chamber. It was an interesting room; it sloped up like an amphitheater, with three rows of tables that had about eighteen people sitting behind those tables. He guessed they were the jury; they were dressed pretty much like regular people.
At the pit of the amphitheater there were two tables and a stand. One had the DA and the court stenographer, and what Shadow guessed were prosecuting attorneys. The other had Bert sitting at it and Charles went to it as well. To the right of the two tables was the testifying stand like he’d seen in courtrooms. They led him over to that and he sat down.
As they swore him in he looked over the people in the room. The members of the jury were all but staring at him. He suspected they’d never seen the likes of him before, maybe a few pictures on the news if that; he tended to keep a low profile whenever he could.
The DA got up after a minute and walked over to stand by the witness stand, and spoke into a microphone there. Shadow guessed everything was probably recorded on tape as well as by the stenographer.
“Please state your name, age, and place of residence for the record please.”
“Shadow Cat, age, well somewhere between twenty-five and thirty. Residence, P.O. Box eleven thirty-six, Lower Hanford.” Shadow Cat said into the microphone.
“Excuse me a moment, you don’t know how old you are?” The DA said stopping and looking a bit surprised.
“Well I was a bit young at the time, I can’t seem to recall it properly,” Shadow said causing a few chuckles among the jury members.
“I don’t find this particularly funny, Mister ‘Shadow Cat’.” The DA said looking a little angry.
“Sir,” Shadow said shrugging, “I think we’ll all agree here that my condition isn’t what anyone would exactly call normal? I don’t have a birth certificate, so it is a bit difficult for me to give the date of my birth. Furthermore I have no surviving family whom I can ask about it. Well none that I am aware of at least.”
The DA looked a bit mollified at that, but still moved on, “Next I’d like to ask you about your name: Shadow Cat. Just what sort of name is that sir?”
“The one I am known by.” Shadow answered bluntly.
“It sounds like a secret identity to me; surely there is another, more reasonable name you are known by?”
“Objection!” Bert stood up, “The real identity act clearly states that for all super normals, and super heroes that the name they are known by is all they are required to submit to any court of law.”
“I would hardly say Mister Shadow Cat here is a super hero,” the DA replied.
“The law has clearly stated that the term superhero in the legal arena applies to those with the power commonly associated with superheros, regardless of whether or not they actually act like superheros.”
Bert turned to Shadow, “You do not have to answer that question.”
Shadow nodded. “I’ll follow the advice of my attorney.”
The DA continued on with some more questions about his identity, making sure he was the only one known as Shadow Cat, and then moved on.
“Okay,” The DA said, “How long have you been a resident of this city? Including the area known as Lower Hanford.”
“About four years”
“And where did you live prior to coming here?”
Shadow shrugged, “Any number of places, I moved around a lot. Mostly the northeast, primarily New York.”
“I haven’t been able to find any records of you living in New York, Mister Shadow Cat.”
“Objection!” Bert was on his feet again, “Failure to have run afoul of the law is not a crime. Please refrain from making it seem as though it were counselor!”
Shadow smiled, Bert was good.
“Mister Shadow Cat, what exactly is it that you do here in our fair city?”
“I own and operate two restaurants.”
“And just how did you manage to come by the money to open such establishments?”
“A lot of hard work, a little bit of legal gambling. Ask the IRS, they have my tax returns.”
“Surely you don’t expect me to believe that you raised all of that money legally, Mister Shadow Cat?”
“Objection! Leading the witness!”
Shadow looked at him, “Sir, could we just move on to whatever it is I’m supposed to be here for? I’m nocturnal, usually I’m sleeping now, I’d like to do my civic duty and go home and back to bed so I can work tonight.”
“And just what kind of work is that, Sir?” he asked Shadow.
“This is pizza night at my Italian restaurant.” Shadow smiled again, “Thursday is when a lot of people get paid, so they like to take their families out for dinner. The rush usually starts around five thirty, that’s the younger crowd, single kids. By seven thirty though my cooks will be up to their ears in dough and sauce, making pizzas, we get a lot of families coming in, and a lot of take out orders. So I have to get down there around one and make sure that we have enough dough pre-made for the pies, and cheese and toppings cut up. Thursdays always run late, so I let them, my employees, come in late and do the prep work myself.”
The DA looked daggers at Shadow, who smiled back. Tuesday night was Thai night, another big night for his other place. He did actually show up and work at his restaurants. Mainly because Shadow loved both Italian and Thai food, but also because he enjoyed the business.
“Is there anything else about your background you’d like to share with us at this time, Sir?” He asked Shadow.
“Not really. May I go back to bed now?”
“No, there is a little matter of your relationship with the former Mayor Hendrickson.”
Shadow looked up and scratched his head, he was curious as to where this was going to go next. “I wasn’t aware I had any sort of relationship with the former mayor.”
“Well then how would you explain certain steps the mayor took against you seven months ago back in April of this year?”
“I’m still drawing a blank here, Sir,” Shadow said shaking his head.
“On the twelfth of April, a bar you were in was firebombed. A manikin was found in the ruins burned up as well. One that apparently had been made to look like you apparently, though the head was missing from it. Why was that manikin there, Sir?”
“Are you saying that the mayor was the one who did that?” Shadow said looking rather surprised. “Who set the place on fire?”
“Tell me about the manikin, Mister Shadow Cat!”
Shadow shrugged and looked at the jury, “I was playing a joke on a drunk in the bar. He’d come in smashed and sit down across from me fairly often. Start talking, going on about all sorts of things. I wanted to see how long he’d go on before he realized it was a dummy.”
“Really now, Mister Shadow, yo
u expect us to believe that?”
“I still want to know about the mayor firebombing O’Malley’s.” Shadow said.
“Answer the question sir!”
“What was the question?” Shadow replied.
“The question is: do you expect us to believe that the manikin was solely there as part of a practical joke to be played on a drunk customer!”
Shadow nodded, “Pretty much. I made that thing up ages ago, thought I might as well get some use out of it.”
“On April eighteenth there were reports that you engaged in a sword fight on thirty-eighth street. Would you care to answer that report, Sir?”
“Answer it how?” Shadow asked.
“Did it happen?”
“I wouldn’t exactly have called it a sword fight.”
“What would you call it then?”
Shadow shrugged, “A demonstration really. With practice swords. When we realized people were watching we got embarrassed and left.”
“Objection!” Charles had stood up this time. “You brought my client here to question him about the death of the former mayor. So far you have asked him about his background, you have pulled out two completely unrelated incidents, and accused him of some sort of a relationship with the mayor, but as of yet have offered no proof. Either quit wasting my client’s valuable time, or cut to the chase, George. Bert and I have better things to do with our time as well.”
Shadow remembered the phone conversation from the other day. So this was George, and George was a straight shooter. An honest DA? Interesting concept.
“I have a witness who will testify that on March twenty-third of this year, the mayor engaged him to take out a contract on the life of Mister Shadow Cat here for a fairly substantial amount of money.”
“And the reason for this supposed contract?” Charles asked.
“My witness did not divulge the reasons for the mayor’s actions, only saying that Mister Shadow Cat here had committed a grievous act against the mayor’s son.”
“If that were the case, why didn’t the mayor, or his son, file charges against my Client? Are we to believe that the mayor of this city, the former mayor that is, routinely hired assassins to kill people he had felt wronged him? And if the mayor did indeed hire someone to kill my client, why is my client still alive? Furthermore, what does that have to do with the death of the mayor? You’re grasping at straws here, George.”
The DA turned to Shadow and asked him, “Did you kill Mayor Hendrickson in an effort to void the contract he had taken out on your life?”
“Objection! Don’t answer that question.”
Shadow turned to Charles and asked him, “Why not?”
“Because we were told that you were a material witness to a possible crime associated with the mayor’s death, assuming the mayor was in fact murdered. Now however it appears that you are a prime suspect in the current investigation. We’re not prepared to deal with that at this time, and don’t want to open up that avenue of questioning today.”
“In that case I will have to insist that you schedule your client to return here tomorrow and that you prepare yourself to continue this line of questioning then.” The DA replied to Charles.
“Twenty four hours is hardly sufficient. Tuesday of next week would give us reasonable time to prepare!”
Shadow watched as they argued the point another minute and finally settled on Monday. He looked at his watch, it was only eleven o’clock.
“Does this mean I’m done for the day?” He asked and yawned, remembering to cover his muzzle as he did so.
“Yes,” Bert said and came over to lead him down from the witnesses stand. There were a few more exchanges and Shadow agreed to come back on Monday, and even had his request for a noon start time agreed to. He then followed Bert and Charles out of the courthouse.
“So tell me guys,” Shadow said to them, “What was that all about? That was the weakest and lamest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Actually that was a pretty standard opener. The Jury gets a look at you, and gets the chance to get over how you look and who you are. They feel embarrassed for the DA and he gets to build sympathy with them over the next day and a half. Tomorrow, or Monday before you arrive, he’ll have his witness on the stand to tell all about the terrible things you did. Somewhere in there he’ll also have a few character witnesses, probably guys in jail looking for leniency from the parole board, come and testify about you as well. So when you come back to testify again, the jury won’t be on your side and will be looking for excuses to indict you with.”
“So, why me?” Shadow asked curiously.
“He wants to break up the underground and is looking for a wedge he can use to drive it apart. He thinks you might be that wedge.”
“But he has to prove that the Hendrickson wasn’t only murdered, but that I was the one to do it. Based on what? The word of criminals looking to cut a deal?” Shadow shook his head, “Sounds pretty shaky to me.”
“You’d be surprised at how many criminals, and even honest people, will roll over and tell everything they know rather than risk going to trial and maybe prison.”
“Also,” Bert put in, “If he were to spread his own rumors that Mister Shadow was cooperating with the investigation, then the pressures from the other members of the underground might induce Mister Shadow to ask for protection and tell everything that he knows.”
“Yes, another possibility,” Charles agreed.
Shadow sighed, “Sounds a little underhanded for an honest man.”
“Maybe, but applying pressure is one of the few tricks the District Attorney has,” Bert said.
“Well I’m going to get an early lunch, would you two care to join me?”
“To be honest, Shadow, we do have other work to deal with currently.”
Shadow nodded. “Well if there’s a cafeteria in this building that you could point me too, I’d appreciate it. I’m up now so I might as well eat then head over to my restaurant and start prepping for the evening rush.”
“So you really do all that work?” Charles asked looking amused.
“In the restaurant business, if you don’t keep an eye on things, you’ll suddenly find out that you’re not in business any longer. The cooks appreciate it, so they’re more willing to talk about work with me. And the manager realizes that I have my eye on him, so he knows he has to behave as well. The rest of the staff is impressed that the owner is willing to pitch in and do the hard jobs like the rest of the hired help.”
“A rather impressive business strategy I must admit, Mister Shadow.”
“Well, Bert, I don’t really have an impressive criminal career to pay your impressive salaries, so of course I must do something impressive!”
They both laughed at that. Shadow was pretty sure they both believed one hundred percent that he had killed the mayor. But neither one would ever ask him that, because as things went, he was one of their nicer clients.
They showed him to the cafeteria and he took a nice public table in the center and sat down with his food and ate. He took his time, Shadow wanted to be seen, he wanted everyone to know where he was. He was sure Nance was expecting him to be in court all day, he knew he had been. So he didn’t want to get tagged with being prime suspect on the icing of the DA’s major witness after his having announced there was one.
Shadow was halfway though lunch when he decided to notice the group of people standing around him. He tried been doing his best to ignore them but one of them had cleared their throat several times now.
Shadow looked up. It was Tomas of course, and Fiona was glaring daggers at him, Thadieus had a hand on her shoulder and Shadow was sure he thought he was restraining her. She put up such a wonderful act of hating him in public. Centurion was there too, standing to his right, Chen was on his immediate left. Shadow bowed to Chen as he sat there, Chen bowed back eyes amused as he recognized the Master’s bow Shadow had given him and returned it with his own Master’s bow.
“Ladies, Gentle
men, please, sit! Better yet, get some food and join me. I’ll even treat.” Shadow purred smiling. He couldn’t have asked for better babysitters if he’d tried.
“Surprised to see you here,” Tomas said softly. “I thought you did not care for our little justice system.”
Shadow snorted, “Little? Hardly. Had to get out of bed at like seven this morning for this stupid grand jury thing. Can you believe that? Getting me out of bed before I even had the chance to get comfy in it? Now that’s a crime.”
“Excuse me if we don’t share you sense of outrage,” Tomas smiled and sat down. “And we already ate.”
“Oh you can join me in some desert at least. Really, I insist.”
“Well in that case,” and Shadow watched as Tomas went and got some cake and came back and joined him. The others looked a little surprised and after a minute went and got some as well.
“So, to what do I owe the honor of the presence of the city’s most august super team?” Shadow said while taking his time with his own desert.
“Apparently the District Attorney wants us to keep an eye on you.”
Shadow put down his fork and started laughing, “You’re kidding me? He wants you to watch me? When? Till I’m due back here next week!” He wiped his eyes, “Oh that’s rich. No wonder you guys all look so mad! Having to follow me around! Sheesh!”
“Be that as it may, we’re here to see you stay out of trouble.”
Shadow nodded and grinned. “Well, I have to head down to my restaurant to prep for tonight. You guys have your own vehicle?”
“As a matter of fact, we do.” Tomas nodded.
“Good, then you can drive me there and I can save the cab fare,” he purred and finished his glass of milk. “So where are we parked?”
Tomas was doing everything he could to keep from laughing out loud; he suspected the others might not appreciate it. Well, maybe Fiona would. Shadow was curled up in a seat in their large box van sound asleep. Tomas could tell he wasn’t faking it; the others however were completely stunned, and even rather insulted.
“I can’t believe he’s sleeping in our van!” Centurion said for like the third time in a row. “I mean the nerve of him! It’s like he has nothing to fear.”