//------------------------------//
// The Trial 
// Story: Dressed to Steal 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	As Sly sat in the courtroom waiting for the judge to arrive, he glanced over to where the lawyer he'd been assigned was sitting.  He almost couldn't believe his luck.  Sitting next to him was a defense attorney who was famous world wide for having never failed a case, despite having been a lawyer for several centuries...a phoenix by the name of Porcupine.  When asked why he went by such a name, he would only ever say it was an obscure joke before changing the subject.

As the judge arrived, Sly straightened, ready to face justice.  Even with this lawyer on his side...he knew he'd done the crimes.  He knew that everyone knew it.  And he knew that Carmelita - who knew intimate details of the Gang's workings - would be called as the star witness, the one who'd captured him.  It was bound to be a lock up of a case.

Elsewhere in the courtroom, Carmelita was also waiting to be called, looking rather sick to her stomach.  To keep her daughter safe, she would have to do everything in her power to throw Sly in jail...despite the fact that she wanted more than anything to fail.  Still, she would do her duty.  She was a cop.  She would just have to find a way to learn to live with it...





At long last, Carmelita took the stand, answering questions for the prosecution as she delineated every time she'd seen Sly at the scenes of crimes, every theft laid at his doorstep, and every calling card she'd ever found.  She could see in the judge's face that this was going to be more than enough evidence to throw Sly in jail, possibly for life given how many grand thefts it totaled.  Unless that Porcupine had a masterful strategy, Sly was doomed.

"Cross examination?" the judge asked, turning towards Porcupine...who up until now hadn't asked a single question of any witness.

Smiling, Porcupine stood up and walked up to in front of the witness stand, his ancient gaze taking Carmelita in in her entirety, seeming to gaze right into her soul.  "Inspector Carmelita Fox," he asked calmly, "how much do you know of Sly Cooper outside of your hunting of him?"

Carmelita blinked in surprise.  She hadn't expected this sort of questioning.  "A...good amount," she allowed.  "I'm not sure how to quantify it."

"Do you know the events that led him to become an orphan?" Porcupine asked flatly.

There was a stir throughout the courtroom.  That tidbit of information hadn't been brought up as of yet.  "I do," Carmelita confirmed.

"Elucidate," Porcupine instructed.

"The criminal known as Clockwerk had long hated Sly's family," Carmelita explained.  "Somewhere in excess of several centuries.  He finally tracked down Sly's father...and killed and devoured him."  Carmelita heard someone in the vast chamber struggling not to vomit.  "It is my understanding that Sly was hiding in a nearby closet as this was happening...and witnessed it through the door crack and keyhole."

"Then, it would be understandable that Sly might dedicate himself in taking down this Clockwerk, who was wanted dead or alive with a bounty in excess of twenty million American dollars on his head," Porcupine observed to no one in particular.  "This would explain his fierce battle against Clockwerk himself, which you were both a witness and participant in, and his pursuit of recovering his still functional parts from the Klaww Gang, another gang of criminals...another sequence of events you were witness to and, in the later stages, a participant of."

Carmelita lowered her gaze, afraid this was going to get her indicted right alongside Sly.  That wouldn't be good for Coco.

"Aside from the thefts of the Clockwerk parts - which evidence indicates you encouraged as part of an Interpol operation to prevent his resurrection and - failing that - take him down permanently, did you actually witness Sly or anyone in his gang perform any actual thefts?" Porcupine asked sharply.

Carmelita jerked her head up in surprise, as did the judge.  She hadn't thought her involvement in the Klaww Gang incidents could be classified as a long running undercover op utilizing criminal resources.  That placed all Sly's 'crimes' during the hunt for the parts firmly in the grey area of 'legal if not strictly ethical'.  Returning to the actual question, Carmelita responded, "...no sir, I never actually saw him or any associate of his steal anything but the Clockwerk parts."

"Has any security camera ever captured Sly or any member of his gang in the act of theft?" Porcupine continued.

"...no, they have not," Carmelita confirmed.

"Has any eye witness come forth to finger Sly or his 'gang' for a theft?"

"...no, they have not," Carmelita murmured, her voice awed as she suddenly saw where this was going.

"Then on what evidence was Sly and his associates fingered as responsible for so many thefts?" Porcupine inquired diffidently.

"The...raccoon mask calling cards," Carmelita explained.  "Many of which were found in Sly's possession."

"This is true," Porcupine allowed.  "However, I submit defense exhibits A through G, being a supply of such masks in my possession, your possession, and the possession of the Honorable Judges five children respectively."  He smirked softly.  "The furor around the so-called 'Cooper heists' made for much interest across the world, and duplicates of said 'calling cards' are available in any collector's shop.  Surely you wouldn't accuse the Judge's children of these crimes for owning the masks?"

"N-no sir," Carmelita insisted firmly.  "However, I also saw Sly and his associates at the various locations the thefts occurred in."

"You were there," Porcupine pointed out.  "Should we accuse you?"

Carmelita said nothing in response.

"Let us instead turn to one area of evidence considered above reproach," Porcupine continued.  "Inspector Fox...is there any forensic evidence at any of the crime scenes connected to the so called 'Cooper Gang' that connects them to the thefts?"

"...no," Carmelita finally allowed.  Of course there wouldn't be, she thought silently.  Sly told me himself the first Cooper family technique he learned was one to ensure he never left any of his 'essence' - that very forensic evidence - behind, and he probably taught Murray and Bentley.

Porcupine turned to look the judge in the eye.  "While I in no way impugn Inspector Fox's skills as an Interpol Officer nor imply that her arrest of my client was in any way a bad arrest, the fact of the matter is that there is not enough evidence to implicate my client's guilt in any of the cases being addressed this day, save those where he was working alongside Interpol to take down a creature far worse than even what he was made out to be.  As such, I hereby move for a summary dismissal of all charges."

The judge stared at Porcupine for a time, then turned to where the prosecuting attorney was hanging his head, plainly at a complete loss.  "...motion granted," the judge allowed, banging his gavel.  "Next case."

Sly stared in shock as Porcupine walked back to his side.  "And now you know why I told you not to enter a plea," he whispered before making his way out of the court.