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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4454253" data-attributes="member: 3285">Belly of the Beast: Part 4 – Lucius Roby’s SentencingHis lordship was the most punctual of judges, and at the stroke of ten thirty Justice McGowan emerged from a little door as though he were one of the automata which once flanked the dial of the great clock; he bowed with somewhat of an air of cast-iron courtesy to the Bar and the spectators generally, and took his seat on the Bench.The jury came tumbling into the dock and went through, in the usual uncouth and ungainly fashion, the process of being sworn. In a minute or so, the swearing-in completed, the jurymen settled down in their places, looking, on the whole, as if they knew that they were about to be profoundly bored.“Deese gentlemen ‘ere,” pointed Price, “re Barrister Buzfuz an' Barrister Anders, wiv their juniors, Mr. Skimpin an' Mr. Phunky. Mr. Pickwick no longer wears shorts an' black gaiters, yet 'e still sits occasionally on da low bench just benearf da desks ov da Sea Lord's Counsel.”Kham noted that the desks were constructed for the convenience of attorneys who from that spot could whisper into the ear of the leading counsel in the case any instructions that might be necessary during the progress of the trial. “THAT’S my defense?”Of all the men of law, Anders was the most distinct, for she was not a man at all.  She was clearly of orc heritage, although Anders made an effort to present herself in the most civilized manner possible.  Her lustrous black hair was immaculately cleaned and pulled back into a single long brad.  Highly polished calf-high black boots added to her imposing demeanor.  Anders’ hazel eyes watched the world through gold-rimmed glasses.  She wore a black silk glove on her left hand and walked with the aid of a custom-made steel cane. “Aye.  ‘er left hand and leg were crippled once when she tried t’ snatch a bone from a mastiff.” Price shook his head in disbelief. “She’s a tough one, that.”The witness-box looked like a kind of pulpit with a brass rail, and in the background, high up towards the gallery, there was the same numerous muster of gentlemen in wigs and gowns, who presented as a body all that pleasing and extensive variety of nose and moustaches that were pretty plentiful, and even beards made a far from infrequent appearance among the Counsel.“We call upon the case of Mr. Lucius Roby versus the People.”Kham cocked his head.  “Lucius?”Price leaned in, arms crossed.  “Aye. The world don’t revolve around you, mate.”Justice McGowan wrapped his black robes round him and, comfortably ensconced among his cushions, seemed to be taking his first nap. “He asleep?”“Awww, nah,” said Price. “Don’t be led away ter adopt an erroneous inference by da triflin' circumstance what Justice McGowan is ter all appearance fast asleep durin' a greater part ov da cases 'eard befawer 'im. He contrives ter follow every sen'ence in da addresses ov counsel fer da plaintiff an' da defendant, an' every jot an' title in da examinashun an' cross-examinashun ov da witnesses. It is only Justice McGowan's way ter close 'is eyes an' ter appear ter be wrapped in da arms ov Morpheus. When da time fer summin' up arrives, i' turns aaaht what 'e 'as made careful notes ov da entire body ov evidence, an' 'e proceeds ter astonish da jury by da exhaustiveness ov 'is knowledge ov da sui' an' da lucidi'y an' cogency ov 'is commun's thereon. Trust me, I’ve seen i' befawer.”Kham looked sideways at Price.  “Sometimes I can’t understand a damn thing you say.”Mr. Skimpin opened the case in a not very interesting succession of drawls, lisps, and sniffs, and then barrister Anders proceeded to address the jury for the plaintiff. Listening to Skimpin, in whose nasal organ perhaps the sound of the loud bassoon was too frequently audible, one might yield to the pleasant presumption that if there existed on the face of this earth an individual who was only a little lower than the angels, that person was Mr. Roby. Somehow or another, Anders, contrived to mingle with the merely legal elements in her client's case the information, doubtless so highly pleasing to the jury, that Mr. Roby was a devoted librarian. “The plaintiff's learning,” Anders, continued, “is prodigious; and as for his lexicon, it might be read from cover to cover by a whole High School full of Young Persons, and all the sweet girl-graduates of the Freeport Institute to boot.”Then he put Egil into the box as a witness. “Oh, e’s gonna make a mess of it, ‘e is,” said Price. Egil spoke with a very low and foggy voice to begin with, and he had a deplorable habit of biting his nails when he was asked a question.  Egil’s voice was so indistinct that Justice McGowan woke up and exclaimed, "Speak up, sir!" in such a thunderous tone that the unhappy Egil collapsed for a moment over the brass rail of the witness-box. The poor man had really a plain tale to tell, only he failed to tell it plainly; and even his friendly advocate was compelled every so often to snort at him half-angrily and to entreat him not to wander from the point.Kham rubbed his forehead.  “It gets worse,” said Price.  “Buzfuz ain’t got to him yet.” Barrister Buzfuz, who led for the defendant, had been eyeing Egil and licking his lips throughout the whole of his examination. Then came the hideous agony of cross-examination. Buzfuz rended the unhappy Egil, figuratively speaking, limb from limb. He cut him up into ten thousand pieces; he tied slow matches between Egil’s fingers and set them alight; he heated copper basins and clapped them on the shuddering priest’s pate; he turned Egil inside out, and then suspended him by the hair of his head, tied to a rope which passed through a pulley in the ceiling of the court.At the expiration of about half-an-hour's torture, this wretchedest of Egils emerged from the witness-box, streaming with perspiration, staggering feebly, and groping in the air with his hands as though he had been dazed with some fierce light. So he had. Bozfoz had brought his biggest guns to bear upon him, and what with the fire and the smoke, and the smell of villainous saltpeter, the poor wretch was for the moment all but bereft of his senses. The jury looked upon Egil more scornfully than compassionately. While Egil was being examined by Anders, their countenances seemed to show that they considered Lucius Roby to be an honest man, although a bit of a blunderer. But when Bozfoz was done with Egil, and flung his remains into the well of the Court, to be picked up and put together again by his solicitor, the jury had come to the conclusion that if there ever cumbered the earth a hardened miscreant deaf to every dictate of honor and morality - a despicable caitiff who would think nothing of committing murder, libeling the continent, and setting Freeport on fire - that wretch was Lucius Roby. “Wonder why Roby didn’t retain Bozfoz,” said Price.“Who can afford him?” asked Kham.  “His own brother wants Lucius in prison.  And I hear Grahame’s got money.”“Aye, it’s all about that, innit gov?”When it came up that there was another witness for the defendant, the magistrate inquired as to whom.  A whispered conference indicates that said defendant was charged with murder, whereupon Kham’s testimony was thrown out without ever being heard.  The magistrate summed up the evidence, including Lucius Roby’s confession.  The jury was directed to consider their verdict.The officer of the Court put the usual question: “How say you, do you find the prisoner at the bar guilty or not guilty?”The foreman replied, “Guilty.”That was enough for McGowan.  “Lucius Roby is hereby sentenced to The Hulks, effective immediately.  The next charge on the list?”“Kham val’Abebi.”</blockquote>

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