The police officer brought the murder weapon forward, took the bag from Lawyer Peng, and then handed it to the judge.
The judge held the bag, scrutinizing it back and forth.
Then he put it down, opened the document in front of him and read for a while before looking up at Tang Huai, his voice firm and resonant:
"Defendant, what were you doing between 3:30 and 4:30 on January 28th?"
Tang Huai answered truthfully, "Around three o'clock, a man suddenly rushed into my shop, telling me that he was the stage manager and that my good friend Jiajia had fallen from the stage. He gave me the hospital and room number. I rushed to the hospital and opened the ward door only to find that the patient inside was not my good friend, but Zhang Shifang."
The listeners in the court, hearing Tang Huai's words, felt their hearts in their throats, as if they themselves were the ones committing the crime. The atmosphere in the courtroom was so heavy, so tense.
