After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 59

January 26, 1993. 8:49 AM.

The Langley family were the second family to find their seats in Courtroom 4 on Tuesday morning. Ralph was surprised to see the that Merridew family had arrived before them. Jack turned around to watch as the Langleys walked in. When his eyes incidentally locked with Jack's, it felt to Ralph like the room shrunk more than a few square feet in size. The blond boy very quickly turned back around, too quickly really. Ralph hadn't seen him since the two of them bumped into each other behind the hotel on Friday night when Ralph went to take out the garbage. That was surely the reason the older boy couldn't stand to look at him now. Ralph couldn't help but feel hurt by the subtle rejection.

Only moments later, the other boys and their families slowly started trickling in. The courtroom was filled with quiet whispers among parents and children, and lawyers and clients. Ralph's family sat in front of the Merridews today, and it was taking everything in the brunette boy to keep from turning around to catch a glimpse of the youngest Merridew.

"All rise" the bailiff began moments after the jury filed in. The jury, along with those in the gallery and at the prosecution and defense tables, rose as Judge Eldeson entered the courtroom. Once the opening proceedings were through, Andrew Murray ventured to his place front and center of the courtroom.

While listening to the tapes of the Flag State interviews was daunting for Ralph, he didn't mind the break from listening to Dana Barnes the shark's relentlessly cruel voice. Andrew Murray was much more tolerable in general, in spite of the evidence he was here to provide.

"The Flag State calls Taylor Welsh to the stand at this time" Murray announced.

As predicted, Taylor Welsh was another agent with the Flag State who interviewed a select number of the boys the week after they were rescued. Yesterday, they heard from Eric Sweeney, one of the agents who interviewed Greg, Roger, Mikey, and Larry. There hadn't been anything especially unusual about any of the four interviews, at least not in the parts of them that were played before the court. The most interesting tape was Roger's, but Ralph had been expecting that. He wasn't the first to admit to being an active participant in the ending of Simon's life, but he was the first to not express guilt, sorrow, or even regret over what happened.

Though, that wasn't what surprised Ralph about Roger's interview.

What caused Ralph's jaw to fall and his eyebrows to rise was that Roger implicated Jack in his interview. Roger very blatantly claimed that Jack was the one who identified Simon as the real monster. He conveniently left out the part where Jack told them all to kill Simon, but he provided Jack's name nonetheless. It made Ralph's blood boil a little to recall the way Jack doubted that he might've lied about his decision not to implicate him, when it was really Roger he should've been doubting.

The other three interviewed on Monday didn't name anyone in specific. The little ones, Mikey and Greg, were evidently still afraid of Jack and Roger at the time in which their interviews were conducted. They said nothing about Jack's role in Simon's death. Like the others, they claimed that it was too loud and dark and chaotic to know for sure what happened. Larry's interview offered no contradictions.

Presently, Ralph watched Taylor Welsh take his seat on the stand. Boland swore him in before Murray began with his round of foundational questions, starting with the agent's name and occupation as it relates to the case.

"How many boys did you interview between February 4th and 8th of 1991?" the prosecutor asked.

"Three" Agent Welsh answered.

"And what are the names of the three boys you and your partner interviewed between February 4th and 8th of 1991?" the prosecutor asked.

"Percival Madison, Jack Merridew, and William Owens" the Flag State agent responded.