Our Trial Begins

"Well, I usually like to start off with a few lesser cases to get warmed up, but I think that will do for today. Now, let us go straight to our feature case. Bailiff?"

The bailiff stood and announced, "The people of Chrystal Heights vs. Christine Collinsworth, Erica Mullen, Laura Sadler and Tonya Stuart."

Steven stood up, and we followed suit.

"Alright, let's get started. Now, it states here you four broke into the museum and attempted to steal several artifacts. How do you plead?"

Chrissie said, "That's not what happened, your Honor. You see, there we were, taking some presents to the orphanage, when-"

"STOP!" said Judge Hanover. Then he turned to the bailiff. "How many times did we get the presents to the orphanage story last week?"

"Four, you Honor," said the bailiff.

"That's what I thought." The judge turned back to Chrissie. "Now try again, young lady, and this time I better not hear anything about orphans, nuns or hospitalized children."

Suddenly stripped of our defense, Chrissie began to stammer. The judge shook his head in exasperation.

"I will have the Truth," he said. "Swear them in."

The bailiff brought a book over and had us each in turn place our hand on it. Each time, the judge would look at us and say, "Do you Swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" Our voices sounded strangely strong and vibrant when we answered.

We were now sworn in. Judge Hanover looked to Chrissie again. "Alright, Christine, tell me what happened that night at the museum."

Chrissie smiled. She had obviously had time to think of a new story. A good one, I hoped.

"Of course, your Honor. We really were just trying to return the glass pieces to the museum, because we hadn't known what they would do when we stole them. After Tonya got pregnant, Laura became a baby and Erica and I kept getting the glass dil...glass piece stuck inside us, we realized that something was up with them. So we traded the crystal we had stolen at the same time as the glass pieces for information on how to stop the effects. To stop the effects, we had to return the glass pieces to the statue that was there. So that's why we broke in. We really were trying to return the items."

Tonya, Laura and I stared at Chrissie incredulously. Steven looked pained. Chrissie's eyes were wide, as if she couldn't believe she had just said what she had said.

The judge nodded. "So essentially, you broke into the museum, stole several artifacts, realized you had made a mistake, and tried to return them. Hmmm. This is an interesting situation."

We began to squirm. The judge was working himself into a rage.

"I do not like thieves. You stole from an institution which does not operate for personal gain; rather, it provides for education. To steal, let alone steal from an educational institution, for personal gain is despicable. I am loath to sentence you to jail time, inasmuch as you were trying to return the items, although that wasn't for altruistic reasons. Furthermore, it appears you stole more than just the artifacts in question."

The judge paused. Then he looked at each of us in turn.