Chapter 279 Chapter 279: The Court Commence - 1
Before Peter could answer her question, they heard a commotion at the door.
An officer from the procuratorate brought Melody and Gretchen into the courtroom and directed them to stand in the dock.
The court hearing commenced.
Peter turned his head and whispered to Estelle, “Miss Hudson, when the judge asks you to make a statement, simply share what you know.”
Estelle bit her lower lip and nodded.
She wasn’t aware of the evidence Mr. Mysterious had gathered. He had been occupied with the case lately, and she hadn’t seen much of him. They hadn’t discussed the case much either.
Whenever she brought up the topic, Mr. Mysterious would reply with just two words, “Don’t worry.”
As a result, she wasn’t entirely certain if everything would unfold as smoothly as she hoped.
“Will Cristofer be here today?” she inquired.
“Yes,” Peter replied, pointing towards the public gallery. “Miss Hudson, he’s over there.”
Estelle looked in the direction he pointed and saw Cristofer and Vincent.
Few people knew about the case, and Cristofer and Vincent were the only two bystanders.
Due to his outstanding appearance, Cristofer was particularly conspicuous.
After Vincent whispered something in Cristofer's ear, Cristofer suddenly raised his head.
Then his eyes met Estelle’s.
The next second, Estelle looked away and shifted her gaze to the dock.
It had been just a few days, but Melody and Gretchen looked totally different from before.
They were still neatly dressed, but their glamour and arrogance were nowhere to be seen. They looked as if they had surrendered themselves to fate.
Soon, Estelle understood why they were like this.
A prosecutor dressed in uniform presented the evidence they had collected to the judge and began making statements.
“Based on our investigation, the surveillance video we obtained clearly shows that on the day Mrs. Moorsum was killed, Gretchen was the only one who entered the villa. At the time of the incident, the villa’s owner, Miss Hudson, was resting in the second-floor bedroom. The surveillance video captures Miss Estelle being awakened by a loud noise and looking down from the window in a panic after Mrs. Moorsum fell off the building. She then rushed downstairs.”
“During the examination of the exhibits, the forensic expert discovered a crucial piece of evidence. Before her death, Mrs. Moorsum was handling dessert preparation, leaving flour on her hands. Our investigation revealed that she favored a specific brand of flour. When we analyzed the flour on Gretchen’s clothes from that day, we found it to be the same brand used by Mrs. Moorsum. Furthermore, DNA testing confirmed the presence of Mrs. Moorsum’s DNA in the flour on Gretchen’s clothing.”
“All this evidence points to a direct link between Gretchen and Mrs. Moorsum’s death. Additionally, we collected shoe prints from the rooftop terrace and recreated the situation multiple times. It became evident that Mrs. Moorsum didn’t fall off the building accidentally; she was pushed.”
“We have two key points supporting our conclusion. First, all the deep footprints on the terrace belonged to Gretchen and Mrs. Moorsum, while Miss Hudson’s footprints were shallow, indicating she did not go to the terrace that day. Second, the injuries on Mrs. Moorsum’s body indicate she was falling at high speed, which supports the theory that she was pushed off the building.”
“Based on the evidence and our investigation, we believe that Gretchen killed Mrs. Moorsum,” the prosecutor stated.
Upon hearing this, the judge carefully examined the investigation report.
The prosecutor then passed a copy of the report to Peter.
Peter, in turn, handed it over to Estelle.
Estelle scrutinized the report attentively. It contained surveillance video screenshots and other evidence collected during the crime-scene investigation, such as shoe prints, flour samples, and more. The last two pages of the report were filled with calculation data from simulated experiments.
The report provided comprehensive evidence that incriminated Gretchen.
As Estelle realized the extensive effort and time invested by the police in gathering the evidence, tears welled up in her eyes. She expressed her gratitude to the prosecutor, saying, “Thank you... Thank you so much...”
The prosecutor comforted her, “You’re welcome. It’s our duty to uphold justice. Miss Hudson, is there anything else you would like to add?”
Estelle gathered her courage and spoke loudly, “Six years ago, my father and my ex-husband’s parents were killed in a car crash. The police attributed the accident to my father’s drunk driving, but that’s not the truth. The reality is that Gretchen, who used to work at the 4S shop, sabotaged my ex-husband’s parents’ car and staged the accident. She confessed this to me personally!”
Upon hearing this, Gretchen, who appeared panicked, suddenly stood up and emotionally protested, “Estelle, stop spreading lies! Do you have any evidence to support your claims?”
“I...”
“Of course, we have evidence!” Peter responded, standing up and handing a document to the prosecutor.
“I investigated the two cars involved in the accident and had professionals examine every part. Talcum powder was found on the clutch and brake pad of one of the cars. Additionally, the surveillance video from the 4S shop indicated that Gretchen was the person responsible for servicing the car on the day of the accident.”
Gretchen was taken aback and exclaimed, “Peter... You... Did Cristofer ask you to help Estelle?”
Then she turned her gaze toward Cristofer and questioned, “Cristofer, did you give Peter the evidence?”
“No, it wasn’t Mr. Hans; someone else provided it,” Peter clarified.
Unwilling to accept the situation, Gretchen continued, “Who could it be then? Six years have passed, and the cars were scrapped long ago. It’s impossible for anyone else to find them.”
Remaining composed, Peter replied, “Your Honor, her question is irrelevant to the case.”
“Agreed, no need to answer,” the judge stated.
“Thank you.”
After a moment of thought, Gretchen suggested, “It must be Tim, right? He must be the one. Haha, what a fool he is, having a crush on a divorced woman like Estelle.”
“Order! Order!” the judge intervened, banging his gavel.
“Gretchen, please mind your words.”
Having reviewed the investigation report presented by Peter, the prosecutor submitted it to the judge, stating, “The evidence is sufficient to prove that Gretchen staged the car accident.”
The report was then circulated among the jury members.
Given the extensive evidence, it took the jury about an hour to complete their review of the report.
After half an hour of discussion, the jury agreed that the evidence presented was admissible.
Peter then submitted additional evidence, proving that Gretchen and Melody were responsible for Yvonne’s alcoholism and Yohan's sepsis. He also provided evidence of Melody’s illegal misappropriation of shares and assets from the Hudson Group.
Peter revealed that York provided some of the evidence.
Furthermore, Melody was implicated in numerous other crimes, including fraud and theft, with a significant amount of money involved.
Estelle was completely taken aback and asked, “Peter, did you obtain the evidence from my uncle?”
Peter smiled and replied, “No, it wasn’t him. The evidence was sent to me anonymously not long ago.”
Curious, Estelle asked, “Who could it be then?”
“I have no idea. The package had no sender’s information,” Peter explained. “Initially, I suspected it might be Mr. Hans, but if it were him, he would have contacted me directly. So, my guess is that perhaps Melody offended numerous people in the past, and they wanted her to face the consequences. They might have collected the evidence and sent it to me.”