6 months later...
A thumb length strand of blond hair dropped from the head of Edward Graham and gracefully oscillated in front of his eyes until it landed on the bridge of his nose. Up till that point, Edward’s expression had been stonewalled. His eyes peered lifelessly in to the abyss, completely disengaged from the gravitas of his surroundings. With the prickle of the strand, Edward’s senses flooded back and subtly shook his head to remind himself where he was.
He was sat on a large, brown leather chair, dressed in a dark blue suit and flanked by another suited gentleman scrambling through an executive briefcase that was placed on the table in front of them.
“What are you doing, Jim?” croaked Edward as he looked around the room noticing people taking their seats in the aisles behind him and the gallery above.
“Pulling out some files for my final statement. How are you feeling?” asked Jim.
“Urr, yeah fine” Edward replied still regaining himself. He looked over at Jim, and examined the sweat pouring down his plump cheeks and large nose carefully.
“COURT RISE” announced a uniformed man standing towards the front of the chamber. From the side of the raised platform at the front of the chamber emerged a Judge in a violet robe and a grey toned wig.
A ruffle of chairs interrupted the silence as people rose from their seats in respect of the judge.
Edward remained seated while this took place and only a sharp prod by his barrister Jim Mencow prompted him to rise in shock. Jim exchanged a stern glance with Edward, as if subliminally scolding him for testing the patience of the court.
The judge walked towards a large chair at the centre of the raised bench, located under a British coat of arms emblazoned on the wall.
“You may be seated” said the judge to those in attendance as he took his own place at the front of the court.
The judge quickly glanced over a few files related to the case, as a hush overcame the room. He briefly reminded himself of the key arguments of the case before raising his head towards the court room.
“I believe the prosecution and defence are ready to proceed with final statements. Mr Caldwell, are the members of the jury ready to proceed?” The judge asked of the foreman of the jury.
Mr Caldwell was a short, skinny, spectacled man with a balding head. He was a member of the 12 person jury, sat in a gallery flanking the defence team to the left. Mr caldwell’s seat was closest to the judge and he stood up once again to respond.
“The jury is ready to resume proceedings, your honour”. Mr Caldwell said before once again sitting down.
