I fought rolling my eyes hard.
“That’s not how it happened,” I said.
“So you’re admitting it happened,” Brynholf said.
“No,” I said.
“We have evidence as well that your first contact at Le Bean Caffeine was a mere one week after William Corcoran bought the building.”
“What date was that?”I asked.
Brynholf rattled off a date.
“Were you there that night?”he asked.
“No,” I said.“But I was there that morning.It was my in-person interview with Feedworthy that day.I had met with my friend Tamara and we picked that coffee place completely at random.It was just close to Feedworthy.”
“You admit you were there, eh,” Brynholf said.“Suspicious.”
“Look, none of this happened the way you’re making it out,” I said.“You can call my friend Tamara to the stand and ask her.I remember we talked about how nervous I was, and then we watched a delivery driver moving a package.”
“So you witnessed the first delivery of tainted creamer,” he said.
“No,” I said quickly.
“We have evidence that the specific date in question Stacey Adams admitted she was present was the first day the dark-magic tainted creamer was being delivered all over the city.That would be Appendix Double Q.”
The Jury and the Judge all creakily turned through pages.
“Shipping manifesto,” Brynholf said.“If you notice.Three days before.William Corcoran signed for a shipment of live Scarab Beetles.”
“Ah, a primary ingredient in a Drought of Deadening,” Drusella said.“And I must say, it does have a bit of a roasted hazelnut smell to it once stewed for seventy-two hours.Yes, this all checks out.”
“But that’s not how it happened!”I snapped.“You don’t understand.I didn’t even know who the owner was at that time.”
“We have evidence that you have admitted was yours from nearly a hundred and fifty years ago,” Brynholf said.“If this was you, then please tell us how you knew it was him and did not know it was him at the same time.”
“I need to consult with my Defense team,” I said.
I sat down and looked at Nagisa and Abe.
“Guys,” I said.“How much trouble am I in right now?”
“You’re looking at execution and likely soul entrapment,” Abe said.
“How much worse of a punishment is there for time travel?”I asked, a wince on my face.
“Time travel?”Nagisa hissed.“Are we really going there?”
Nagisa hazarded a look at Vic behind us, who was grinning as he watched the proceedings.
“Well, it’s not great, and it’s not terrible,” Abe said.“At the least you’d get probation.If we can prove you did it to save everyone…”
I stood up.
“I time travelled,” I said.
Brynholf laughed loudly.The people in the crowd laughed.Even Judge Volkheim laughed.
