• The following links are prior chapters to this story:


    A Mystery to Ponder Over: http://gaiaonline.com/arena/writing/fiction/vote/?entry_id=100789887#title

    A Mystery to Ponder Over-ch 2: http://gaiaonline.com/arena/writing/fiction/vote/?entry_id=100795465#title






    It was drizzling as I stepped into the cab with Jim. We both sat there, staring out the window.

    "You know, Jim. I was thinking..." I started, breaking the silence.

    "You were, were you?" Jim said with a tone of sarcasm. We looked eachother straight in the eye.

    "Yes, Jim, I was. By your point of view, this case does seem a bit too 'clear', if you know what I mean." He nodded, and replied with a thoughtful sort of voice,

    "I suppose. But...obvious or not, it does not change anything. All it means is that the murderer was not a very skilled one."

    "Don't you think it's a little early to jump to conclusions?" Jim shook his head, and made a little snicker,

    "Jump to conclusions? Who's doing that? There is no contradictory proof that will help you claim that Mr. Macknollen is NOT the murderer. He will be convicted...and the truth will be let out...as it always is." I gave a slight nod. He was right, of course. But there was something churning inside of me...a feeling...possibly my conscious...telling me this was all wrong.

    "It is a pity, though," I said.

    "What is?"

    "Well, it's so ironic. Mr. Macknollen...killing his own wife."

    "You forget quickly. They were getting divorced."

    "More the reason NOT to murder your own wife."

    "Why would that be?"

    "Well," I started, "if they were getting divorced, why WOULD he want to murder her?"

    "Well, simply because he was still angry with h--"

    "But they were already getting a divorce," I interrupted. "Why would he start a divorce but murder her? There's not much of a point of starting a divorce there."

    "Ah, but what if he hadn't planned to murder her before the divorce? What if something happened that made him so infuriated that he was brought to kill Mrs. Macknollen?"

    "You can keep 'what if-ing', but you can't prove any of that."

    "Neither can you. You can't prove that the murder had been planned prior to the divorce, my dear hypocritical friend."

    "Hey, are you guys talking about Mr. Macknollen?" a voice sounded from the front. It was the cab driver.

    "Yes, but it's none of your--"

    "Are you talking about the murder? The one of Mrs. Macknollen?" he continued.

    "Yes."

    "I got a friend. He says he witnessed somethin' related to the crime."

    "Who?"

    "Edward Nickelback."

    "What did he say?" Jim interrogated, leaning his head towards.

    "He said he saw the crash, you know, the car crashing into the ditch. Says Mr. Macknollen stepped out of the car. But that's about it." Jim gave me an uneasy grin.

    "You see, Tim, this is irrefutable evidence. As long as this guy Edward character is telling the truth, Mr. Macknollen is the undeniable murderer."

    "But there's no telling if he's telling the truth or not."

    "Yes there is. Courtroom, cross-examination, tomorrow."

    "Wait...you already scheduled a trial?"

    "Yes. Oh, and you might want to prepare. You are going to summarize how the crime took place."

    "You mean...I'm going to testify?" Jim nodded.

    "Yes, and we're going to win this case."

    Testify, huh? Does that mean I get cross-examined? How nerve wracking...