Shortly earlier
'The burden of proof normally falls on the prosecution…'
In this court, it falls on the defense!
The clock was ticking.
Enza had five minutes to explain how someone other than Dirt could have committed the vandalism.
She pushed everything out of her mind, even the shock of Arto's death.
This was the unexpected, and she was going to face it. She considered the details of the case.
Who could have done it, other than Dirt?
I disproved the evidence, but in a way, that makes this more difficult. There's so little I can use to form a theory.
However, she remembered something from earlier in the case.
There was a specific person who the prosecution had mentioned as a source; Enza had wanted to get more information. And now, she was pretty sure that person was standing right in front of her.
First, Enza looked up at the three remaining on the judge's stand. "It was mentioned that a new exhibit was being installed in the museum, unrelated to the one that got vandalized. Just going off what I know, the exhibits in this museum are extremely valuable, so surely an expert would be required to do the installation. Would I be correct in saying the candlemaker was the one who installed the exhibit?"
All of the judges nodded.
Enza forced herself to look at Arto's murderer, Richard Fiedler.
"Am I right to say that you are the candlemaker?"
Richard nodded.
Enza spoke again to the judges. "It seems impossible to say for sure that Dirt was the culprit if someone else was entering and exiting the museum over that time frame. What if this man, Richard Fiedler, hid himself in the museum after entering legitimately to do a task?"
There was an immediate shake of the head from red-headed Jari. "Since the crime happened late at night, Dirt should have already locked the building and done a final security sweep. How would Richard still be in there?"
"What if my client just happened to miss him? It seems unlikely that Dirt would be that familiar with the museum's layout yet, considering he was just a substitute."
Enza turned to Richard. "Where were you on that Wednesday night in October?"
"It's hard to say… I was probably out on a stroll."
Is there anyone who can confirm Richard's alibi?"
The judges looked at each other silently.
Enza had considered whether to include Dirt's testimony about the strange ghost inside the building. On one hand, the eccentricity of what she guessed was a costume aligned with that of her current suspect, Richard. But on the other hand, if she didn't have to introduce more evidence into the equation, why make things more complicated?
There was no response from the judges, and the time had almost run down. Enza was starting to think she had really won.
"If that's all, can I have my Instrument?"
The judges nodded wordlessly, making Enza think, "Isn't that a little anticlimactic?"
However, when Enza said the word 'Instrument', Dirt's head whipped over to look at her. He had a terrified expression. "Oh no…"
"What's wrong?"
"Before the trial, they force-fed me that bizarre object, and called it an Instrument…"
Dirt stood up, his terrified expression mixing with an angered one as he faced the judges.
"What kind of trial is this? I thought the accused was supposed to go free when the trial ends. If this woman gets that 'Instrument', then what happens to me?"
The judges just yawned.
"Nobody ever said you would go free if the case was won. We only said that you would be allowed to speak your name."
Dirt remembered:
"In this court, it's the defense's responsibility to give a follow-up explanation for how the crime happened and who committed it—an explanation that covers all loopholes. Only then will Dirt be allowed to speak his name."
"This is anything but fair! Motive hasn't even been part of the discussion yet; how could things end like this already?" Dirt shouted.
Enza added, "What are you all talking about? Do you mean to say he will die if I claim the Instrument?"
One judge said, "Fairness exists only in special pockets of the universe."
Another judge replied to Enza, "Yeah, he will die. You'll have to tear the Instrument out of his stomach to get it."
Enza stood completely still.
The judges spoke again. "But there's another option. You can bring him with you alive, but you'll have to give up on the Instrument."
Someone added, "And of course, Dirt knows the final option."
Dirt's face had gone completely pale.
"To face my sentence," he said softly.
He looked right at the judges with a hard look in his eye. "I won't go with this Enza woman. Even if she promises not to kill me now, how can I know that will still be true in the future, when she gets too curious about the Instrument? For the sake of my survival, I confess to defacing the statues."
Enza agreed with Dirt.
If the Instrument could only be gained by ruthlessly killing a person, she wanted nothing to do with it.
Sure, that Instrument might end up being very useful for her goal of reaching the fourth stratum alone, but to kill someone for it with her bare hands?
The gavel slammed down. "The prosecution did well, so the defendant will be permitted to speak his name before facing solitary confinement."
Dirt leaned toward Enza and whispered, not wanting those heartless people on the judge's stand to hear.
"My real name is…"
But at that moment, Athalia had won.
Dirt's body exploded and drenched Enza in blood and gore.
Enza's reality started to flicker.
This was just too much, right?
Too much blood.
Too much blood.
Too much blood.
This was too much.
It was only her second expedition.
She wiped it off her eyes.
She wiped it off her mouth.
She stood up and fell down in the pool.
Then she crawled out of it and stood up again. It was all over her. It was all over everything. It was everywhere.
This thick puddle wasn't anyone she knew closely.
But why?
What was the reason for this senseless death?
She didn't care about the grudge against the Hymyläns right now.
Hearing about death is different from being covered in it.
Azarias had given her a clue back then, at the top of the hill.
A clue that was supposed to help her in this courthouse.
"To succeed, you will need history. Enza, history isn't just something that exists within words. History is alive—it lives in the marks it leaves on the physical world, and it lives in human memories. I'm only a partial historian, but you must become a true one."
Enza didn't understand the deaths of Arto and Dirt.
She didn't understand this terrible courthouse one bit.
But Azarias was telling her she had to understand.
It wasn't a suggestion.
You 'MUST' become a true historian.
"If the history is like this, why would I want to uncover anything else?" Enza whispered to the blood-thick air.
This courthouse was supposed to be a clue.
Azarias had implied that learning the history of this world might help her reach the fourth stratum.
But even that goal, which she had reached through an epiphany after a very long time in a dream, was being questioned.
She couldn't look at the judges.
She couldn't look at Arto.
She couldn't look at Dirt, whatever his real name might have been.
She didn't get the Instrument, but who cares?
She wasn't even sure if she could be an Explorer anymore.
She wasn't even sure if she could make it down the Mountain.
First there were Athalia's injuries, then there was seeing Azarias, then there was everything that happened in the courthouse.
She was scared of these memories.
She didn't want to hold onto them.
She didn't know if she could move with their weight pooling around her.
All she could do was shuffle her feet forward, almost unconsciously.
She walked down the stairs and into the underground passageway.
To her left, there was a strange door made of plastic.
Enza had planned on coming back to explore it, but now, she just kept trudging slowly. Secrets and mysteries didn't matter right now.
On the way in, she had released explosive gas in the underground area as a precaution.
Right now, she didn't care if she was breathing it in or not.
She briefly considered blowing this whole place up, but more blood wasn't what she wanted.
Rays of light were shining in from a sunless blue sky.
Enza climbed the ladder into their soft glow.
This time, there weren't any blue guts.
She left the courthouse without looking back, heading straight across the field of turf in the direction of Hymylä.
***
Inside the courthouse, there was Richard Fiedler and the three remaining judges. They were changing out of their costumes and removing face makeup, hanging their heads solemnly while doing so.
Someone said, "They were good actors, weren't they?"
Someone else said, "Yeah, and damn good friends. I'm going to miss them."
A third person said, "I wonder who really defaced the statues, and why they did it. What a strange court indeed, to not bring up motive."
The last one said, "It's hard to believe this really happened on Earth. I wonder what Azarias's role was…"
***
Enza had just reached the hill where Azarias had delivered the clues.
The crowd wasn't here.
The winner had already been declared; everyone had gone back inside. The festival was over. Azarias was nowhere to be found.
Then, Enza saw Athalia.
She was caked with dust and grime, but was smiling wide as she held something in each hand.
In her right hand was a big magnet with a starter cord like a chainsaw. In her left hand was a creepy fishing rod with strange attachments and thick fishing wire.
Athalia noticed Enza. "Hey, Enz! Ha ha, sorry you lost, but look! I got two Instruments! A free bonus; the prize was supposed to be just one!"
But then she stopped laughing as she saw Enza was drenched with blood and human remains.
"Holy shit…"
Enza just shook her head. "Come on, let's go."
Athalia's mouth gaped open as she followed Enza toward the church.
Even then, neither of them forgot to keep their eyes on the ground.
'Don't look behind the church'…
***
In the village of Hymylä where everything was inverted, Azarias stood on the roof—or the foundation, depending on how you're thinking about it—of an inverted house.
He watched the two Explorers enter the cathedral.
Enza getting soaked in blood- now that was part of the plan.
But there was something he was quite surprised about.
That fishing rod… Could it be?