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Chapter 26 The Truth Will Out…Objection!”


Buffy and Spike got a ride off their lawyer from the district attorney’s office to the court. The story was big news-wise both local and nationally, and they were going to be taken into the court via a side entrance so they wouldn’t have to run the gauntlet of the media and all the attention that entailed.

They both looked smart, Spike was wearing a dark suit and shirt, with a dark grey tie, and Buffy wore a cowl-necked knitted dress in fine wool, burgundy shade with black shoes, bag and jacket.

Their lawyer had told them that the psychiatric reports on Angel had come back, and they showed nothing of any significance, and that he would have been quite well aware of his actions and the outcome of them. This was good news for Buffy as Angel’s lawyer was hoping to go for a ‘temporary insanity’ plea.

The jury were sworn in, and everybody had taken their places. Angel and his lawyer had been late and the judge, Joseph Weedall, was not impressed and threatened to charge both Angel and his lawyer with ‘contempt’ if it happened again. The fact that Angel’s lawyer thought that they might need a sympathetic angle in the media wasn’t lost on Judge Weedall, and Angel talking to a news company about how he wants to explain the ‘misunderstanding’ and his ‘great love’ for co-star Buffy irritated him immensely.





After Lunch, Court in session, Judge Weedall presiding.

Angel was in the witness box; his lawyer Miles Wolf was asking him questions.

………”We bought one another Christmas presents, yes, all the cast did” Angel said.

Buffy frowned and leant forward and tapped Mr Farquhar, their lawyer on his shoulder and whispered,

“I’ve never bought Angel a Christmas present!”

“Sure, think now” The lawyer looked at her for a few seconds and Buffy thought, then said

“No, never, come to that I’ve never bought him anything, not birthday, not Christmas, not even a cup of coffee - nothing.”

He wrote something down and said he’d challenge Buffy when she was in the chair about it and she nodded.

___________________




…..”So Miss Summers, can you tell me about the presents you bought for Mr Angelson”

“No I can’t, for the simple reason is, I’ve never bought any, Christmas or otherwise” Buffy answered. Angel smiled and shook his head and looked down at his hands.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, I’ve wracked my brains, I’ve never even given him anything that could have been mis-construed as a present either, not to my knowledge anyway”

“Well Mr Angelson says that on Christmas 2008, you gave him a pair of felt deer antlers”

Buffy frowned and said,

“What? – Oh! Oh god, he didn’t think…oh god how pathetic!” Angel looked up from where he was sitting and looked worried.

“Would you like to share your realisation with us?” the lawyer asked

“Sure. All the cast had been given something silly to wear on their heads as we were filming the Christmas special edition. Harmony, Faith, and I were wearing Santa hats, Willow was given like these baubles covered in glitter on wires attached to a rigid headband, they bobbed when you walked, the kids loved them, I think they were called ‘deeley boppers’, Janette wore some too, she was the lady who used to play the cook, Ford, Xandy and Parker had snowmen deeley boppers, and because Angel hadn’t been in the rehearsal room when they were given out, the felt antlers were the last thing in the box. He came into the room and I held them out to him and said something like, here, you’ve got to put these on, were doing the ‘family dinner’ shot. He objected, saying he’d look a dork, he was fiddling with them and I took them off him and plonked them on his head, I think I said, oh for goodness sake it’s Christmas you can take them off when filming is finished, along those lines anyway”

“And that’s it”

“Uh huh, yes”

“Are you sure you didn’t say here these are for you, I’ve got them for you?”

“No, I didn’t, that would have been a lie, Quentin Travers bought them”

“Thank you Miss Summers. Now I’d like you to cast your mind back to a cast picnic………”




Back home, Spike handed Buffy a mug of coffee.

“Are you sure I did alright today whilst being cross-examined?”

“Baby you were brilliant. You should have seen the looks on the faces of some of the juror’s when Angel thought those antler thingies were a present, they looked at him like he was SO pathetic!” Spike said smiling, sipping his coffee.

“Well he is…trying to build a ‘relationship’ on a few words and actions” Buffy put her mug down on the counter and said,

“Tomorrow’s the clincher, Detective Lindsey said that managed to get footage from another CCTV camera, clean it up and blow it up, it show’s Angel walking away from my bike, the front wheel is in the shot so he can’t say he wasn’t anywhere near it”

“Talking of tomorrow, I managed to get hold of the doctor, he said he’ll see me first thing, I should make it to the court house in time”

“Good – I want you to be there to see his face when confronted with the CCTV footage – he doesn’t realise they’ve got new stuff!”





The doctor shone his pen torch into Spike’s eyes in turn, and when both his pupils dilated he switched it off and slipped it back into his pocket. He began to feel around the base of Spike’s skull from the front, angled his head this way and that until he was satisfied there were no bone abnormalities.

“Headaches?” the doc asked

“Nope, not a one” Spike said

“Good…and how’s the memory?” the doctor sat took out a pen, clicked it on and began to write on one of the chart sheets in Spike’s personal file.

“Fine – I think it’s all back…I still can’t remember the accident though” Spike said. The doc finished writing, closed the file and looked at Spike saying,

“No, well, that’s quite normal actually, not many people do. They might remember setting out, but I think sometimes if it’s a journey done many times before, or you know the route and the routine, you can think you remember, like a false memory – so I think we can sign you off then Mr Giles – you’ve no need to come back anymore. Unless of course you do get a problem, then we will be more than happy to sort it out for you” he stood and held his hand out to Spike, who shook it and said,

“Great, well thanks again doc, see you, bye!” Spike slipped his jacket on and went outside where he got a taxi to the law courts.

He got there just as they were closing the doors to the court room, he slipped in and sat next to Buffy.

“How did you get on?” Buffy whispered. Spike stuck his thumb up, and whispered,

“Fine, not got to go back!”

Buffy grinned and squeezed his hand.

“ALL RISE FOR JUDGE WEEDALL” The court usher called and everybody stood.



Time: 11.00am. Judge Weedall had granted a twenty minute recess so that Wolf could question Farquhar about the new CCTV footage he was going to show the jury. Everybody else took the opportunity to go get coffee.



“Why wasn’t I told of this?!” Angel’s lawyer, Miles Wolf rounded on Buffy and Spike’s lawyer Farquhar.

“You knew we had CCTV footage of Mr Angelson on the studio lot on the night in question, he admitted the offence, so what’s the problem?” Farquhar reasoned.

Wolf was angry that there was no doubt now that Angel HAD done it. He was hoping for a temporary insanity plea, that he had hoped to say to the jury that Angel confessed to the crime while his mind was unbalanced, that plus there was no ACTUAL footage of him committing the crime…and although the crime wasn’t actually on camera, Angel could be seen next to the bike, the back wheel was clearly on show next to Angel’s legs as he stood up and walked away.

“I’m going to ask the judge to render this new footage as inadmissible evidence” Wolf said rounding on his rival lawyer.

“Is that right? - On what grounds?!” Farquhar sneered.

“On er…on the um, on the account that you put down CCTV footage from ‘A’ single camera not several!” Wolf was clutching at straws, he knew it and so did Farquhar.

“Okay then, not that it matters but I’ll ditch the first lot of footage and just show the new stuff…still shows your client…”

Defeated Wolf said,

“Can you leave now, I need five minutes alone with my client, I’ll get him sent up here” Farquhar stood from perching on the side of a desk, when the court usher came bowling into the judge’s chambers.

“Mr Wolf, your client has just taken to throwing himself around the holding cell downstairs, and has knocked himself out. The paramedic’s have been called…” Wolf dashed out. Farquhar gathered up his case and folder file and left the chambers, and went to find his clients.

He caught up with them as they were just going to re-enter the court room.

“Any idea what’s going on, seems a bit – well chaotic people running around shouting” Spike asked

“It’s Angel!” Farquhar said.

“Oh – what’s he done now?” Buffy asked rolling her eyes, leaning on one hip crossing her arms.

“Well I’m not exactly sure, but the usher who burst into chambers just said he started to throw himself around the holding cell and has knocked himself out”

“What a prat!” Spike mused.

“Typical, can’t face the consequences of his own actions, idiot!” Buffy said disgustedly.

Fifteen minutes later the lawyer came to Buffy and Spike to give them the latest news.

“There really was no reason to take him to hospital, I just think that everybody is being a little over-cautious that’s all” Farquhar told Spike after the paramedics had taken Angel away in an ambulance.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow, the judge said he’ll reconvene the hearing with or without him at 1.00pm”
Farquhar shook hands with both Buffy and Spike and they all left.





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