Chapter 9 - Unmasking the Mastermind
The courtroom fell dead silent at my direct accusation.
Victor Thorne frowned, leaping to his feet, pale-faced yet forcing an expression of defiance. "Your Honor! The defendant is attempting to deflect public scrutiny and escape liability by slandering a distinguished citizen of this city!"
Prosecutor Robert Sterling immediately intervened: "Objection, Your Honor! The defendant has produced no material evidence linking Victor Thorne to the Queens homicide!"
Judge Harrison looked at me with severe eyes. "Mr. Russo, do you have evidence for that accusation? Empty words carry no weight in a court of law."
I smiled faintly—a cold smile familiar to anyone who had ever opposed me in the corporate arena.
"Your Honor, I never come to court without weapons," I motioned to my lawyer.
My attorney stepped forward, placing a data decryption device on the judge's bench while connecting the courtroom's large screens to a pre-configured secure server.
"Please review the video and audio extracted from the Thorne Corporation's secure servers precisely forty-eight hours prior to the crime," I stated clearly.
The courtroom screens flared to life.
Instead of standard documents, the footage displayed a secret meeting inside an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn between Victor Thorne and the notorious head of the Mendoza cartel. In the video, Thorne clearly negotiated a five-million-dollar payout in exchange for "wiping out the car carrying Dominic Russo's wife and children to teach a rival a lesson, while pinning the blame entirely on Dominic."
The courtroom reeled in shock. Reporters shouted and scrambled for camera angles.
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Victor Thorne turned ashen, stumbling backward, his legs shaking as he realized his flawless plot had been fully exposed to the light of justice.
Prosecutor Robert Sterling stammered, sweat pouring down his brow as he frantically packed his desk files like a man fleeing for his life.
