The Trail

Nemo, aka Adam Anderson,  had just graduated from law school, and had been hired at his first real job as a lawyer. As the new guy at the firm, he mostly shadowed the partners and filed papers. It was coming up to the end of his first month, when the head partner approached him about a case. “Adam, I have this case, and I think it would be perfect for your first court case.” The partner handed Nemo the thick manila file that had a small white label on the front right corner. “POTATO PLANT POLLUTION”. The case was about the local towns potato plant, which had had a pipe oil spill into the nearby river. The oil pipes, which went from the potato plant to a waste dumpage tank, laid underneath the river’s surface. There had been an illegal boater on the river, which had caused the original damage to the pipes. His boat’s rudder had struck the top of the old pipes, cracking one, and tearing several open. In the police’s hurry to apprehend the man’s illegal activities, they had forgotten to have the pipes inspected. The oil had slowly been leaking into the river over the course of a week, and by the time the leak was discovered, the pipes were wide open and emptying directly into the river, which was also the town’s water supply. The town and several surrounding areas were cut off from their tap water, creating  an outrage toward the potato plant. This had been a very highly publicised issue so far, and had been so controversial that the previous lawyer had quit his job as a result. Not only was this Nemo’s chance to prove himself to the firm, he also had to try to catch up on a case that had already gone to trial. He spent the next 3 days and nights holed up in his tiny office, fueled by energy drinks and coffee, and eating random bits of takeout whenever he got the chance. The more he read up on the file, the more that he realized that the town’s people were suing the wrong person. The illegal boater was responsible for the oil spill, not the potato plant. He looked further into the boaters history, and saw that he had a past criminal record. He went to his online resource to find the arrest records, but the files had been sealed.  Neo was unable to find out anything more than the man’s name and the case number. He scribbled down the name on scrap paper, then went to the police station to hunt down the original file. He walked down a deserted, dimly lit hallway toward the file room. Upon entering the room, he felt uneasy about the people in the room. He had been here many times before in errands from the law firm, and the middle aged woman who managed the file room had been replaced with a troublesome looking young man, who had several gang related tattoos peeking out of his shirt collar. Putting his concern aside, he walked up to the desk and handed the young man the scrap of paper with the offender's name written on it. “Robert Nelson” was hurriedly scribbled on the now crumpled paper. The clerk looked up from the paper slowly and pointed behind him and gruffly mumbled about where the ladder was located. Nemo took his paper back, and went looking for the case box. He reached the far back corner of the warehouse, and quickly realized why he had been told the location of the ladder. The box, dusty and decrepit, was on the very top shelf. He retrieved the ladder and was on his way up to get it, when he heard quickly moving footsteps coming closer. Before he could head down the ladder with the box, someone or something shoved the ladder forcefully, causing it, and Nemo to fall with it. He landed on his feet with only a stumble to regain his balance, but the box had fallen to the ground and scattered papers all over the aisle. He heard the footsteps again, in time to catch a glimpse of a tall, lanky man duck around the corner in a red windbreaker. He bolted after him, but when he came around the corner, all he could see was an empty, dank, row of boxes. He gathered his composure again, and went to retrieve the box and papers. When he came up to the box, he quickly became extremely concerned, because all of the papers were gone, and the box was left open and empty. He did a fast scan of the floor, and noticed a paper’s corner sticking out from under the shelves. Neo pulled it out, and looked at the paper. It was an arrest record from 1995, complete with a mug shot. After a quick scan of the document, he realized that this was no boating accident. Robert Nelson had been arrested for trespassing and defacing the property of a recycling plant in  the next state over. He shoved the paper in his pocket, and hurried out of the file warehouse, noticing that the desk clerk was now gone. Back in the familiarity of his office at the firm, he sent several emails to the partners and one to the police chief, explaining his theories. The next day, he finally left his office to go home and prepare for the trial the next day. Upon getting home, he realized something was wrong when there were police cars outside of his apartment building. He walked past them and towards his apartment, and realized that the police were there in his apartment. He rushed in, and saw his apartment had been tossed, and everything was in disarray. Tables turned upside down, drawers and cabinets all open, broken items littered everywhere. After a conversation with the lead detective, he found out that one of his neighbors had spotted a couple of people picking the lock on the door, and called the police. The police responded quickly but not quick enough. they had missed the perpetrators. Shaken, Nemo grabbed the things he needed, and left to go back to the firm to get ready.

The day of the trial had arrived, and Nemo was ready to prove his case. He walked into the courtroom past photographers and news stations, who were all clamoring for bits of information. He placed his briefcase on the oak desk, and adjusted his tie. The seats were already filling with people ranging from protesters of the plant, to several plant employees. The judge entered and the trial began. Nemo waited for his turn to prove his case, eager for the chance to ease the blame of the potato plant. This proved to be impossible, as the potato plant pleaded guilty to the charge of public endangerment and natural resource pollution. He tried to plead the case to blame Robert Nelson, but to no avail, since he was representing the people who were suing the potato plant. The trial ended, and without solid proof about Robert Nelson, he had no choice but to agree to the court settlement and fines the previous lawyer had decided on.

He left the courtroom feeling defeated and unsuccessful, in spite of the fact that he won the case for his firm. He knew the truth, and he felt so guilty for not fighting for what he knew was right harder. He went back to his firm to go to bed, and after 4 days with almost no sleep, finally was able to pass out on the couch in his office, dreaming of finally revealing the truth.