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Post by Franziska von Karma on Jul 11, 2009 17:31:23 GMT -5
So, this was Paris. Franziska couldn't say she was impressed, though she was surprised. It was rather lower-tech than she had expected. No matter; that just meant that it would be easier to have evidence the way she wanted it.
She would have things the way she wanted them, too. America had been a debacle, one she was not intending to repeat, especially as that...that foolish lawyer was not here. It was with her head held high and a secret smirk that she had gone to show her credentials, before going out to relax on the town while she waited.
As might be expected, it didn't take long before the first case opportunity presented itself, and she showed up promptly, in her full uniform and announced by the cracking of her whip in enthusiasm. It was a rather small, dark room, and she paused, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness so she could see the witness better.
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Jul 11, 2009 18:08:05 GMT -5
Miranda had been in the darkness long enough for it to bother her less, and Miranda had less problems with darkness in general. Light was pretty, of course, in her opinion, very pretty, but not necessary for her to have a feeling of security.
The sound of the whip made her shoulders lift and her head tilt, although she did not jump. It was the sort of sound that made one perk up and draw to attention, but it did not instill fear in Miranda. Perhaps this was due to her unique perspective on the world (which would have been neatly termed naive for some); then again, maybe at this point she'd just been through something awful enough to not be easily intimidated.
"Are you an equestrian?" she queried, tilting her head and peering up at the woman who had entered.
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Post by Franziska von Karma on Jul 11, 2009 18:16:17 GMT -5
Dark, on the other hand, was equally comforting to Franziska. She'd spent long enough, after all, in a darkened room with only a small lamp, trying not to be heard. Either way, that had little bearing on the matter at hand, and she brushed away any reminiscent fancies.
Stepping forward, she took a better look at the witness in the seat, sizing them up (as usual); it was good that she could snap to attention like that. They could get somewhere faster. Thus, she leaned over the table, having no need to hit anyone just yet. Well, this woman was clearly "innocent", and charming enough to probably win over the judge, which were also pluses.
Being questioned point-blank almost surprised her. "At times," she admitted, briefly, accent heavy if understandable. "But that is not what this whip is for. Name and occupation?"
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Jul 11, 2009 18:44:16 GMT -5
Although Miranda did have a tendency to glance up at the ceiling or the sky while speaking that could get very unnerving or irritating to a certain personality after a short while of it, she was also good at looking someone in the eye when she spoke to them, in a familiar yet extremely aloof fashion. It looked Victorian enough to allow her to get by comfortably in this version of Paris, but to anyone who did not have Victorian stereotypes to fall back on, it was a little harder to place. Only a little.
"Miranda," she replied. "I am a maid to Monsieur le Vicomte de Valmont, and I volunteer at the hospital two streets down from the... From the encounter," she finished slightly euphemistically.
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Post by Franziska von Karma on Jul 11, 2009 18:58:01 GMT -5
Well, that was a way that Franziska was used to using herself. Still, it was going well so far (her visit, that was, as well as the case); no major problems she could see with the witness. Expressions were not something she was terribly good at reading, though she could manage it; and, of course, she needn't have tried to fit in for the prosecutor's sake. It was the twenty-first century for her, normally.
"Yes, the 'encounter'," she agreed, nodding and drawing up a chair. "You will tell me all about it, omitting nothing, if you please." She cracked the whip at the floor, just reflexively.
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Jul 11, 2009 19:36:49 GMT -5
Why on earth would I omit something, though Miranda vaguely, her expression again altering just slightly to accommodate faint curious alarm at the crack of the whip. She subconsciously likened it to someone who reflexively cracked their knuckles to keep themselves alert when the circumstances required mental agility, and assumed that when things had settled into a more comfortable pattern, the other woman would not require such behavior.
She detailed said encounter with perhaps a little too much specificity in her obedience, describing all the details that occurred to her, even the ones that seemed a little less-than-relevant, such as the state of street-lamps on that particular route. But her memory was more than usually good, because her concept of time was unusually structured, and she could recall it all as though it were happening at that instant.
She only pulled out of that strange reverie with slight unease when she got to the part about helping in pulling the man off the young woman this young woman represented. Her expression was vaguely queasy, not as though she were nauseous but as though she had just realized something she would rather not know, and she abruptly ceased to speak.
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Post by Franziska von Karma on Jul 11, 2009 19:55:03 GMT -5
Actually, that was a fairly accurate description, though she couldn't know for sure; Franziska had always carried a whip, and when she wasn't using it on people, it was just to help her calm down. Naturally, she didn't think that Miranda would intentionally leave anything out, probably; it was just that she had dealt with so many witnesses who were both incredibly stupid, and bad liars. She could deal with stupidity, as long as you could cover for it. In her favor, of course.
Throughout the account, the young prosecutor listened intently, nodding and filing away which details would help her case and which would not. Thus, when she saw that Miranda had finished, she nodded. "Very well. Now, allow me to advise you. You have no doubt about what you saw. It was the defendant," (it didn't matter who) "and if they press you on a point you're not sure about, don't say anyth--what? What is the matter?"
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Jul 11, 2009 20:29:42 GMT -5
Miranda did not precisely fidget, not in the sense that the word usually meant, but she spread the fingers of one hand and rubbed them with the fingertips of the other in a manner that signified a great deal of indecision.
While she had heard the prosecutor's advice, she had not entirely caught it. The memory, vivid as it had been, had made something that had seemed natural and right - Joan of Arc marching against the English or Catherine of Aragon refusing steadfastly to leave her husband - at the time she'd done it seem ludicrous now.
Her voice had dropped, becoming soft but not inaudible in this silence, when she finished staring off to her left as though something were wrong and looked back up at the other woman. "Does that sound... peculiar now?"
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Post by Franziska von Karma on Jul 12, 2009 16:10:25 GMT -5
Body language. That was better for Franziska, she could read it; there were those who would even swear that she could smell fear. She did nothing to disprove the rumors, and now her eyes narrowed. Was there something she wasn't being told here? It was as though the witness was becoming confused as to what she had actually seen or done, as strange as it may have been, and she couldn't have that.
She frowned. "It is unusual. But...that shouldn't be a problem. Not as long as you keep quiet about what I say."
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Jul 12, 2009 16:25:28 GMT -5
Miranda was on such a completely different topic that she was at first very surprised at what she was told, but her expression cleared up.
Witness. She had told the young woman she would give evidence in trial, and assist the police in tracking down the man who had attacked her by confirming details of his appearance and the like. She was being advised in procedure, not life decisions. Miranda shook her head, not to disagree, but to clear it, and gently pushed her hair back into place behind her ear afterward.
"Yes," she said, perhaps a little bleakly, but more calmly. She would order this out, yes, she'd been trying for some time now. It would just take a little more time. "What do I need to keep quiet on?"
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Post by Franziska von Karma on Jul 13, 2009 9:13:57 GMT -5
Truth be told, Franziska had very little patience for talk of anything vaguely supernatural, or really for a lot of musing from witnesses. It just slowed down the process of justice.
Nor was she a guidance counselor; she didn't need to deal with distraught witnesses. Besides, she was able to handle her own emotions even in court--since she was thirteen. Why shouldn't others be able to do the same out of court? Irritably, she waited for Miranda to recover, then nodded.
She still doesn't understand? "Well, anything that contradicts the official story, of course. We wouldn't want them to get confused."
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Jul 13, 2009 13:53:07 GMT -5
No, she still didn't understand.
"Why would anything contradict the story?" asked Miranda in obvious shock. "There is only one."
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Post by Franziska von Karma on Jul 18, 2009 7:04:53 GMT -5
((That was an annoying interruption in my schedule, but I'm here.))
Of course not. That would make her job too simple.
"Of course, only one actually happened," she explained, as patiently as she could, and avoiding the use of the whip at least for the time being, "but it's easy to get confused as to what one actually saw, yes? That's why we need your help with that--the defense, assuming there is one, will pull all kinds of tricks. Of course, if there isn't any, then, well, just stick with the official story."
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Miranda
- Ingenious Pilot -
All that we see, or seem, is but a dream, a dream within a dream.%\1\%
Posts: 221
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Post by Miranda on Jul 18, 2009 11:42:35 GMT -5
"Oh," said Miranda, sinking back slightly as she processed this. "Yes, he probably is going to lie somewhat, isn't he."
She thought on that, looking preoccupied. Daniel would not lie about that; he hadn't acted for a moment as though he had not understood. Daniel probably understood what had happened better than Miranda did.
It did not take long before even Miranda knew there was something wrong with the fact that she was thinking this, and she looked back at the seafoam-green-haired young prosecutor. It occurred to her for perhaps the first time that they were strikingly close in age, which was, she thought, unusual. She nodded. "The official story, then," which she took to be the true one. It obviously wasn't anything else.
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