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The day of the trial
"Are you ready?" asked Lindsay.
Skye gave the most confident smile she could muster. "As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."
"I'll be right behind you," said Jax.
"Thanks," she replied. "It makes it a lot easier knowing you'll be there with me."
"Well, just keep a positive attitude," Bobby said, "and hopefully everything will go smoothly."
"I just wish we had found Connie," Skye said miserably.
"There's still time," Jax answered. "AJ and I will be looking for her during every break from the trial. We will find her."
"I hope so," Skye murmured, then went into the courtroom with Lindsay and Bobby. Jax trailed behind, saying hello to Alan, Monica, AJ and Courtney, who had just arrived to watch the trial. The five of them sat behind Skye and the Donnells. Tracy and Jerry came in a few minutes after, and then Carly and Zander arrived. They sat together in the back. Max, Johnny, Benny, and several other men in dark coloured suits sat on the other side; probably associates of Sonny's. Mike Corbin was also there, looking miserable. Skye felt for him; even though she hated Sonny, Mike was a nice guy, and she liked him. What an awful thing, to lose your child. She didn't dare catch his eye, however. She figured Mike probably thought she did it, just like everyone else. She turned her attention to Bobby and Lindsay, who were whispering to each other. Bobby noticed and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I'm pretty confident about this," he said.
Skye nodded. "Good. I'm trying to feel the same."
Then the judge came in so everyone stood up. Skye looked over at Dara Jensen, the DA. Dara caught Skye's glance and looked back at her with a cocky smile on her face. Skye turned away.
Just before Dara began to make her opening arguments, Skye glanced back at Jax. She saw him mouth the words "I love you", and that made her feel a little better. But, she would have felt more reassured if her mother had been there. Skye sighed. Jax had called Rae Cummings a few days ago to tell her what was going on. She wanted badly to come and give her support to Skye at the trial, but unfortunately, she was wrapped up in a trial of her own; she was being sued by Shawna Quinlan, a student of hers at the university, for the whole fake-psychologist mess. She wanted to be there, but unfortunately, she just couldn't. Jax had passed this on to Skye, and she was quite upset by it. She and her mother had never exactly been close, but their last meeting had actually been very pleasant, and Skye believed they were making some headway. It would have been nice to have her there, to reassure and support her, but....what could she do? At least Skye knew that she wanted to be there, and that should would be there in her heart.
She half-listened to Dara drone on about how she was a woman pushed to the edge, how she had killed Sonny Corinthos as retaliation for undermining her business, blah blah blah. After several minutes, Dara was done. She sat down, and Bobby stood up to give his speech. Skye actually began to feel pretty confident as she listened to him speak; he was damn good!! Jax was right, he certainly was the very best.
When Bobby was done, the prosecution called their first witness. Andy Capelli took the stand and was sworn in.
"Officer Capelli," Dara began, "on the night of August 25th, at approximately 11:15 pm, did you get a phone call at the station from a woman who lived in the same neighbourhood as Mr. Corinthos's warehouse?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Could you please tell the jury of the nature of this call?"
"A woman who lived on the other side of the street from the warehouse called and said she had heard two gunshots go off, she believed from across the road."
"And did you respond to the call?"
"Yes. Officer Guittirez, Officer Sweeney and I went to the Corinthos-Morgan warehouse, arriving a few minutes after the call came in."
"What did you see upon arriving?"
"There were four cars in the parking lot. One was a black Acura- it was identified as Mr. Corinthos's. "
"And the other cars?"
"A silver Intrepid, which we later discovered to belong to the defendant, Skye Chandler Quartermaine. Jasper Jacks's Jaguar and Carly Corinthos's Lexus were also present."
"Okay. Now, upon entering the warehouse, what did you find?"
"The hallways were empty; there were no bodyguards in the place. We went down the hall to Corinthos's office, and saw the door partly open. We went in, and found Jasper Jacks and Carly Corinthos standing over the bodies of Sonny Corinthos, and the defendant, Skye Chandler Quartermaine."
"And what were the states of Mr. Corinthos and Ms. Chandler Quartermaine?"
"Corinthos was on the floor, already dead. Two bullet holes in his chest. Ms. Chandler Quartermaine was lying near him, unconscious, with a gun in her hand."
"I offer this as exhibit A," Dara said, holding up a plastic bag that contained Althea's gun. "Is this the gun that Ms. Chandler Quartermaine was holding?"
"Yes," said Capelli.
"Is it the gun that killed Corinthos?"
"Ballistics matched the two bullets that hit Corinthos to the rest of the bullets in that gun. It is definitely that was used to murder him."
"Any fingerprints on it?"
"The only fingerprints we could find on the gun belonged to the defendant, Ms. Chandler Quartermaine."
"Thank you," replied Dara. "No further questions."
Bobby stood up and walked towards Capelli. "You say Ms. Chandler Quartermaine was unconscious when you found her."
"That's correct."
"Were there any other things you noticed about my client? Such as any injuries?"
"She did have a large red mark and bruise starting to come out on her face. And upon further examination, bruises on her abdomen were discovered as well."
"And was it at all possible to deduce when my client suffered these injuries?"
"We can't be 100% sure, but it appears to be approximately the same time as Corinthos's murder."
"Thank you, Officer Capelli," Bobby said. "That's all for now."
"Call your next witness," the judge ordered.
"The prosecution calls Carly Corinthos, your honour."
Uh oh, thought Skye. Here it comes....
"On the morning of August the 25th, did Titans, the company that both you and the defendant co-own, have a meeting?"
"Yes, we did."
"Who was present at this meeting?"
"All the co-owners," Carly replied, "Jasper Jacks, Skye Chandler Quartermaine, Tracy Quartermaine Jacks, Jerry Jacks, AJ Quartermaine, Courtney Matthews, and myself."
"Could you please inform the jury of the events of this meeting?"
Carly explained all about Tracy's return, and the big blowup; followed by everyone working silently until Connie had put on some music.
"What happened when the music came on?"
"Skye took the radio and threw it against the wall."
"Did she seem out of it to you, on edge-"
"Do you mean, did she seem crazy?"
"Objection!" called Bobby. "Miss Corinthos is in no way authorized to analyze my client's mental well-being at the time of the meeting, or at any other time."
"Sustained."
"I'll re-word," Dara went on. "Did she seem upset? What did she say or do after she broke the radio?"
"She closed her eyes and was rubbing her temples."
"Did she say anything?"
"I don't think so. And then Jax took her home."
"But that was not the last you saw of her that day, was it?"
"No. I was working late at the Titans office, and Skye came in."
"Approximately what time was this?"
"I had just looked at the clock, actually, so I know it was 10:05."
"And did the defendant say anything to you?"
Carly took a deep breath, and repeated what Skye had said to her, about Sonny no longer being a problem.
"'After tonight, Sonny will no longer be a problem'?'" Dara repeated, just to make sure.
"Yes. That's right."
"I see. What happened after she left?"
"Jax arrived a little while later, asking if I'd seen Skye. He was worried about her. I told him I thought she'd went to see Sonny. Then he went to the warehouse, and I followed him because he's my friend and he seemed upset. When we got there, we found Skye unconscious, holding the gun, and Sonny..." she paused to wipe her eye. She cleared her throat. "Sonny was dead."
"That's all the questions I have for you today, Mrs. Corinthos. Thank you."
Bobby approached the witness stand.
"Mrs Corinthos, at any time did my client actually say that she was going to kill Mr. Corinthos?"
"No."
"Did she say that she was going to cause any bodily harm to Mr. Corinthos?"
"No."
"Have my client ever said to you personally, on the day of August 25th or any other day, that she wanted to hurt Mr. Corinthos physically?"
"No."
"Thank you. You may step down."
The judge said that Dara could call her next witness.
"Your honour, the prosecution would like to call Ms. Blair Cramer Manning to the stand."
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