With Neuvillette's solemn announcement, the trial of the sensational, long-standing case officially began.
Lin Yide stood at the plaintiff's stand, his figure straight, like an unyielding pine tree, displaying his extraordinary temperament and demeanor.
Sitting in the second-floor box, Furina gazed at him, suddenly feeling that Lin Yide exuded an irresistible charm and handsomeness at this moment.
Under the gaze of the crowd, Lin Yide calmly and powerfully began to reveal Kent's crimes in detail.
His words were sharp and well-organized, presenting the appalling details one by one before everyone's eyes.
As his voice fell, a wave of angry condemnation erupted from the audience. People accused Kent, who was sitting in the defendant's seat, and denounced his crimes.
At this time, Kent was wrapped up like a zombie ready to be cooked, with only a pair of gloomy eyes exposed.
Sitting next to him was a well-dressed, handsome middle-aged man in a suit – Darwin, the ace lawyer famous in the legal world.
"Silence!" Neuvillette raised his cane and struck it heavily on the hard wooden floor. The crisp sound immediately restored silence to the noisy scene.
He glanced coldly at Kent and said seriously, "Kent, do you have anything to say in your defense against Yide's accusations?"
Kent kept his lips tightly closed, without making any sound.
Darwin stood up gracefully and said in a loud voice, "On behalf of Mr. Kent, I firmly deny all of Yide's accusations.
My client, Mr. Kent, is a dedicated and kind gardener with an excellent reputation in the neighborhood. He could never have committed such heinous crimes."
A trace of imperceptible disgust flashed in Neuvillette's eyes. He did not like these lawyers who specialized in exploiting loopholes in the law. "Then, how do you explain the kidnapping of Miss Ella and the attempt to force her to commit suicide?"
Darwin calmly explained, "Ladies and gentlemen, the facts are not as described by the plaintiff.
As we all know, my client, Mr. Kent, has long been subjected to improper treatment and bullying by Miss Ella.
In that particular situation, he was only playing a slight prank on Miss Ella in a joking manner, with absolutely no intention of harming or using violence."
After hearing this, the audience was filled with anger. Everyone knew that Darwin was just using clever words to try to confuse the public.
Furina was even more indignant. She bit her lip tightly, wishing she could rush forward and expose Darwin's lies.
However, for a moment, she couldn't find any powerful words to refute him.
"Lawyer Darwin, your defense is undoubtedly an insult to the court, to Judge Neuvillette, and to the intelligence of everyone in the audience," Lin Yide said with a hint of sarcasm.
He paused and continued, "Let's make a hypothesis. I stripped your mother naked, but was stopped by righteous people at the critical moment of getting into action. I said I was learning a foreign language, would everyone believe it?"
As soon as Lin Yide's voice fell, the entire opera house burst into deafening laughter.
Only Neuvillette on the high platform still maintained a serious expression, as if he were outside this laughter.
Furina couldn't help but laugh so hard that she trembled. While covering her mouth, she cursed in her heart that Lin Yide was such a rogue, how could he tell such a vulgar joke?
However, it felt so good.
Darwin's face became extremely ugly.
In his more than twenty years of practice, he had never encountered such an embarrassing and awkward scene. He felt like a clown who had been stripped naked in public.
"Judge!" he shouted sharply, "Yide is attacking and insulting me personally! Please remove him from the court immediately!"
Neuvillette glanced coldly at Darwin and then slowly said, "He is just making a hypothesis. However, if this hypothesis really hurt you, I will ask Yide to apologize to you."
Hearing this, Lin Yide immediately took over the conversation and said in a serious manner, "Judge Neuvillette, I now apologize to Lawyer Darwin. I shouldn't have wanted to learn a foreign language from his mother. I was wrong."
As soon as these words came out, the audience burst into laughter again.
The audience laughed even more unscrupulously. This trial had become a joyful comedy performance.
Darwin was so angered by Lin Yide's words that he was burning with anger. He clenched his fists, wishing he could rush forward and beat the other party. However, he quickly realized his gaffe and tried to calm down and regain his composure.
He knew very well that because his previous sophistry had aroused the anger of the audience and Neuvillette, it was now even more difficult for him to defend Kent's innocence.
Therefore, he decided to change his strategy and admit some of the charges in exchange for a more favorable outcome.
So, he stood up and said loudly, "We are willing to admit that Mr. Kent did coerce Miss Ella, but we firmly deny that he killed the Anna sisters.
The plaintiff has not provided any direct evidence to prove that Mr. Kent is the murderer."
Darwin was indeed right.
Although Lin Yide accused Kent of killing the Anna sisters, he lacked sufficient direct evidence to support this accusation. Relying solely on the testimony of Ella and Lin Yide was not enough to convict him.
Lin Yide frankly admitted, "Indeed, I do not have conclusive evidence to directly prove that Kent was responsible for the deaths of the Anna sisters.
The reason for this is that the Marechaussee Phantom agent in charge of investigating the case at the time was Kent's cousin, Kenneth.
He used his position to carefully cover up the truth and destroy all key evidence."
Darwin immediately reacted and retorted sternly, "Yide, you are making unfounded accusations! I must remind you again that if you cannot provide conclusive evidence to support your claims, I will have the right to file a defamation lawsuit against you."
It is undeniable that Darwin's defense strategy was quite clever.
He seized on the lack of evidence, making Lin Yide's accusation that Kent killed the Anna sisters difficult to establish.
In the face of Fontaine's law, evidence is the hard truth, and without the support of direct evidence, any accusation seems pale and weak.