Chapter 47: Partial Verdict

Early the next morning, Zhou Ming and Alan came to Fenway District Court together and submitted an application to the court, requesting that the court support the request of Wharton Insurance Company to extend the time limit for investigation. The court accepted the request and scheduled the trial to begin at 2:00 pm that afternoon. This was due to the special nature of the case, and of course because the trial was arranged on short notice, Zhou Ming also had to pay a large sum of emergency court fees to the court.

The time quickly came to 2pm, and Zhou Ming and Alan once again appeared in court. Naturally, they were arranged to be in a small courtroom with only one room, with only them, a judge and a clerk.

The judge glanced at the application and said, 'You are Wharton Insurance Company, and since there is a dispute over a claim, you need to apply for an extension of the investigation period. Then please state your views and provide the court with the corresponding supporting evidence.'

'Yes, Your Honour,' Alan nodded, and handed a document directly to the judge, continuing, 'This is an investigation report that I have borrowed from the Brighton City Police through legal means. According to the Brighton City Police, there are many suspicious points in this mass poisoning at the processing plant, and the possibility of someone deliberately poisoning it cannot be ruled out.'

'Your Honour, here is a copy of the insurance company's contract,' Alan handed the judge another document and said, 'According to the insurance company's contract and insurance law, if there is indeed any illegal behaviour, and the mass poisoning at the processing plant was indeed caused by humans, then it will not be covered by the insurance company, or the formal insurance claim process must wait until the criminal investigation is complete.'

The judge took the documents that Allen handed him, looked around, and was about to say something, but then the courtroom door opened and someone came in quickly and whispered something in the judge's ear. The judge immediately stood up and said to Zhou Ming, 'I'm sorry, due to a sudden matter, the court will now be adjourned temporarily. Another judge will take over and continue with the case.'

After saying this, the judge left the courtroom, leaving Zhou Ming and Allen looking at each other.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, don't worry. Although this kind of thing is extremely rare, perhaps the judge who just left really did have to deal with something else. Let's just wait for the next judge to take over. After all, once a case has been accepted and a judge assigned, it cannot be withdrawn. Let's just wait a little longer.' Alan comforted Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming smiled and said to Alan, 'I understand, but I just have a bad feeling.'

As if to prove something, as soon as Zhou Ming's words fell, a plump judge walked in. He sat on the judge's bench and said to Zhou Ming and Alan, 'Hello, I am the judge who will take over this case. I don't know where the previous case was at, but let's start again. So now please state your views and provide the court with the corresponding supporting evidence.'

Hearing this for the second time also gave Alan a bad feeling. He had no choice but to repeat what he had just said, and pointed to the documents left on the judge's bench.

He picked up the documents on the table and read them a few times, saying, 'This is indeed the case, but please pay attention to the problems in here. Neither you nor the police can be sure that the collective poisoning at the processing plant is a criminal case. Everyone is just guessing, so your request is not valid.'

'Your Honour,' Alan said, 'I admit that the reason for our application is speculation, but isn't the source of all cases speculation? If there were no speculation, there would be no suspects. All those who have not been judged are called suspects. Doesn't this mean that the law itself supports doubt and speculation? So now, with such a serious incident at the processing plant, our suspicions should also be supported and protected by the law.'

'I'm sorry, but your reasoning, Mr Allen, is not convincing to this court, and therefore the court rules...'

The judge was about to strike the gavel, but Allen quickly interrupted him: 'Your Honour, I have even more compelling evidence. There is a huge conflict between the chairman of the processing plant and my client. He has been retaliating against my client, both in business and by using his power as a senator to mobilise the FBI. Now he has frozen all the assets of my client's company.'

'His goal in doing so was to block my client, and now he is demanding compensation from my client's company by poisoning it. This is a series of conspiracies!' Alan said forcefully.

However, the fat judge leisurely leaned back in his chair and said, 'Attorney Alan, your story is very well told, but don't you think it's just wishful thinking on your part? Did the chairman of the board tell you this himself?'

'That's right, he told me himself!' Zhou Ming suddenly said, 'On the day the Justice Bureau froze my company's assets, he came to take the opportunity to buy my company and told me the whole truth. I happened to have a tape recorder with me that day, which can be used as evidence.'

Zhou Ming said, took a cassette tape out of his pocket and placed it on his desk.

When he saw the tape, the fat judge was shocked. He muttered subconsciously, 'Damn, you really have it!'

Zhou Ming smiled and said, 'Of course I do. I'm afraid at the time he didn't expect me to have a mini recorder with me, so that's why he said those things to me, but I happened to record it.'

Alan handed the tape to the judge, who then came back to his senses. He picked up the tape and took a deep breath, saying, 'But this doesn't prove anything, because if there was already a conflict between you, then the other person might have said it on impulse and it can't be used as evidence. Therefore, this court rules that Wharton Insurance Company's application for an extension of the investigation time limit is rejected.'

Alan finished and then knocked the gavel, not giving Zhou Ming and the others any chance to explain again. After the gavel had sounded, Zhou Ming and Alan angrily got up and stopped the judge in his tracks, questioning him as to why.

'Mr. Judge, we need an explanation. Regarding today's case, we clearly have sufficient evidence to support our suspicions, and I believe that this evidence can be used to file a case at the police station. I don't understand why, in court, you can't even support our claims. Mr. Judge, we believe that your ruling violates the spirit of the constitution!' Alan accused.

'Are you doubting my ruling?' the judge snapped back, 'I tell you, I have my own considerations. If you have any objections to my ruling, you can always appeal to a higher court, but this time, I am going to reject your lawsuit!'

After saying this, the judge left the courtroom. Alan wanted to go after him, but was stopped by Zhou Ming.

'This judge is really an asshole, how can he make such a rash decision? I must appeal to a higher court, and I will also appeal against this judge's irresponsibility!' Alan said indignantly, and then he remembered something and asked Zhou Ming, "Mr. Zhou Ming, why did you stop me in the end? I think we are now in an advantageous position.'

'The prerequisite for being in an advantageous position is for this judge to stand on the side of justice," said Zhou Ming.

Alan was very surprised: 'Zhou Ming, do you doubt this judge? It was indeed a bit strange that the judge was replaced so suddenly, and the new judge did have a poor attitude, but this is Fenway District Court, so I don't think anyone has the power to control the judge.'

Zhou Ming shook his head gently: 'I don't know who has that power, but I can be sure of my own thoughts, because of that cassette.'

Alan suddenly remembered: 'Yes, Mr. Zhou Ming, when did you have that cassette? I am your lawyer, you should have told me in advance, so that I can formulate a better courtroom strategy.'

Alan said anxiously, 'But now the judge has taken the tape and the other evidence, and that's very important evidence! He hasn't gone far yet, I'll go after it.'

Alan said, and then he was about to rush out the door, but once again, Zhou Ming stopped him. Zhou Ming said to him, 'There's no need for that. Let him take it if he wants, let him listen to it if he wants, let him do whatever he wants, because there's nothing on that tape.'

...

Meanwhile, in a room on the other side of the court, the fat judge was meeting with Old Brook.

'Judge Will, thank you so much this time. If you hadn't stepped in to help, I'm afraid they would have gotten away with it this time. You know that there are so many workers at my processing plant waiting for me to save them, and I have to get the insurance settlement. But these Chinese people simply wouldn't let me do it, and they even deliberately slandered me for it...'

Before Brucker could finish his sentence, the judge interrupted him and took a cassette tape out of his pocket and said to Brucker, 'This is the cassette tape that the Chinese man just gave me. He said that you told him the truth yourself and recorded it.'

'What? That Chinese bastard is really sneaky!' Brucker exclaimed in surprise.

'Stop complaining in front of me. Just be more careful in the future and don't make such stupid mistakes. This time I helped you reject their lawsuit and brought you all their evidence. The rest is up to you,' said the fat judge.

Lao Brook thanked him again, then he called his secretary and asked him to bring his tape recorder. Lao Brook put the tape in: 'Let me hear what that Chinese scum recorded.'

'You can listen to it here yourself, I have to go.'

The fat judge said, and then he left. However, after five or six minutes had passed, there was still no sound coming from the recorder, which surprised the judge greatly: 'This can't be right, I haven't touched it since I got it, so how could it be broken? It's even more impossible that they switched it with another one, I didn't have any physical contact with them.'

Compared to the judge's surprise, Brook seemed to have thought of something: 'Maybe it's not necessarily the case. I guess the tape may be empty after all. The Chinese guy didn't record anything at all. He was just lying to you.'

'That damned bastard, so what's the point of what he did? Doesn't he know that perjury is punishable by imprisonment?' said the fat judge.

But then Lao Brook laughed: 'Judge Will, I think he did it because he could see that you were in the wrong, so he deliberately produced this empty tape, with the aim of exposing you. Unfortunately, you fell for his trick.'

The fat judge also laughed at this time: 'That Chinese guy actually dared to plot against me, but even if he knows that I deliberately ruled this way, what can he do? No matter if he appeals or complains, he can't do anything to me after all.'

'Of course he can't do anything, because you are a member of the Adams family,' Old Brook finally chimed in.