THE judge saw the hand raised in court. It was going to be another witness, but no one knew who he was for.
“You have something to say?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“But you are not on the witness list. Anyway… what do you think, Lawyers?”
The sitting judge wanted the Bar to decide whether they wanted the new witness or not.
And at that moment, Antonio Bembe eyed Cannon’s counsel and nodded his agreement.
Nobody in court knew this young man, except Bembe. It was his game plan, his Plan B.
For he had planned that if the court didn’t seem to believe him, then Alvaro should speak for him. And lend more weight to his statement.
Yes, it was Alvaro who raised a hand to witness now. He was the man in dark shades that night of the murder.
Now the defense counsel caught Mr. Bembe’s signal. He knew what this meant, so he hurried to convince the Bar to allow him.
He was his last card, so he wanted him.
Peter Pedro’s team didn’t know that the man was Bembe’s person. So they only wondered what he had got to say.
Alvaro took Bembe’s place in the witness stand. And then, he gave his testimony.
“I was there with Professor and Lucius that night.
“And I believe anyone would be able to tell from this evidence if what was going on was really some acting or not.”
The man handed a flash drive to the court. And then, the clerk played the file.
It wasn’t an audio file this time, but some footage.
Alvaro had recorded the crime that night by means of a spy camera on his pair of glasses.
The spy lens captured the footages in ultraviolet rays. Making it able to record live action in dark places.
The man was a master’s student at Cannon University. He was reading Criminology there.
Again, he was from Puerto Rico in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Isles.
So he planned to get a job at the nation’s security agency. And he chose Cannon University to stand a better chance.
Yet the young man wasn’t quite good academically. And he had failed several papers, then had a delay.
So when he realized he wasn’t doing well, Alvaro got quite desperate. And the open arms which welcomed him were Antonio Bembe’s.
Professor Bembe saw that Alvaro was intelligent but wasn’t book-smart. So he recruited him as his aide. And made him do his dirty job.
He got him to shut up his victims. Including the psychomicide ones.
Still, Alvaro couldn’t complete his program at Cannon. So he went on working for Bembe, so he could help him get his lecturers to pass him.
Now his video recording was played. And everything that happened that night came on screen.
The threats. The victimization. And the murder of Lucius Barnabas.
At this point, Barbar was confounded. He saw had just dug his own he grave.
“Y—YYour Honor!!” the old man staggered back.
He had no words after.
By now, Peter was standing. He took on the speaking floor.
“Your Honor, what more do we need, to see that Attorney Barbar has been feeding this court with lies he called Drama?
“We have the whole truth now staring back at us!”
He turned to the witness.
“Mr. Alvaro, why are you showing us this evidence now?”
“Because it’s exhausting!” sighed the young man.
“I just wanted to be a detective. But this path that I’m taking only leads me farther.
“And the weight of a man’s life. It’s just too much a burden for me!”
There was a moment’s silence in court. Those last words hit people hard.
Alvaro raised his head after a sigh.
“I worked for Professor Bembe, so he could help me talk to my lecturers and get me a pass or something. So I can finish my master’s.
“But then I got involved in things I never set out for. And then, we killed.
“At first, I told myself it will be fine so far he helps me. But how can I go ahead when we killed someone?
“Now I want to forget my plans and just come bare before God and man. I really want peace again!”
Everything went quiet again. And then, Lawyer Pedro spoke.
“Well, this is a character in Professor Barbar’s story. Showing us the whole footage and telling things different from the script!”
The courtroom laughed. Then after some calm, the lawyer intoned:
“Still the sad thing here is that we lost a precious life. In a bid to fight for a brilliant mind!
“And through it all, Cannon stood her grand to protect this evil.
“How do we entrust our kids in the hands of a school anymore? When we know they can murder minds, or take lives!
“How do we get people’s hope revived, if these bad stocks are not rooted out?
“If the whole school went this far to defend a man, then we can be sure that what this man is, is what Cannon is!
“So then whatever it is that can pull out this bad tooth and purge the school of the disease, then let it be done to Cannon!”
With this, Pedro rested his case. And then a small recess followed.
The verdicts were passed.
The judge ordered the arrest of Associate Professor Bembe of Cannon University’s Pure Chemistry. Alongside his personal aide, Alvaro.
Then he ordered the police to do a thorough investigation of the university. And to find out other assailants of psychomicide acts.
That investigation cut through and through. It shook the school to its bones. As many more victims showed up, and many of its lecturers were fired.
The university had to shut down for several months. As many of its lecturers had been forced to resign, with others facing one charge or the other.
Antonio Bembe was charged for murder, and sentenced to life in prison.
The university was found guilty of the psychomicide charge. So they were levied with a heavy fine to compensate June Martinez.
“The Martinez” won without a fight. And so the couple basked in the awe of that wonder. With June doing interviews and retelling the story of her victory and faith.
Peter Pedro took a year break. He spent the year resting, and thinking about that moment he wielded no sword and still got a win.
He was stuck in the awe of that wonder. So he paused work as he wanted to brood on life. And ponder on a Faith that is stronger than all he’d known.
Cannon was left to the hands of its new recruits – the likes of Marcuz López everywhere there.
For those newly recruited were quickly promoted to hold things in place. Many more lecturers were employed to keep the school running.
But still Cannon had suffered so much loss that it would take some time to grow.
So Marcuz stayed and nursed the nursing mother, his Alma Mater.
And then, he had time to think a future with a friend.
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