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Three weeks later.
In the courtroom.
Both the prosecution and the defense had completed the formalities, and it was time for the jury to decide the outcome.
The prosecutor and the law firm were waiting outside.
"The jury is out,"
someone announced.
"So soon?"
the female lawyer was startled, a sense of foreboding washing over her.
According to their earlier analysis, one of the jurors was biased against their client, and the consensus process would likely be lengthy.
They had mentally prepared for a long wait.
And yet, the jury had only been deliberating for 20 minutes.
Chuck nodded at her.
The female lawyer finally breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, straightened her suit, and walked in with the others. As the jury filed in, she looked at Chuck again.
"The verdict is not guilty,"
Chuck observed the jurors' expressions and offered his expert interpretation.
"Are you sure?"
Diane, the law firm's senior partner, also arrived.
"They saw Mr. Bauer's expression showed slight relief. Yes, I'm sure,"
Chuck nodded.
Diane and her lawyer accompanied their client, Mr. Bauer, to the defendant's table. Diane gave Mr. Bauer a reassuring look, and Mr. Bauer, overcome with anticipation, watched as the jury handed the slips containing their verdicts to the judge, awaiting the judge's final verdict.
"Members of the jury, have you reached your verdict?"
the judge asked.
"Yes, Your Honor,"
the jury foreman stood up and announced the verdict: "We find Mr. Bauer guilty of first-degree murder!"
This was like a thunderbolt for Mr. Bauer, who looked at his lawyer, Diane, in panic.
This was Illinois, a state with the death penalty; if convicted of first-degree murder, the death penalty could be imposed.
"Don't say anything, we'll appeal,"
Diane frowned, but she could only offer reassurance. A touch of regret welled up in her heart. She should have accepted the prosecutor's plea bargain of 25 years for second-degree murder.
Now that the jury had reached its verdict, even if an appeal was possible, it would generally be difficult to overturn it.
Afterwards.
Chuck left and met Kalinda who was walking over with a suppressed smile. He said calmly, "Congratulations."
"Congratulations for what?"
Kalinda asked knowingly.
"My failure, your raise was successful."
Chuck said, and walked past her.
Kalinda turned around in a daze and looked at Chuck's departing back.
She had just discussed a salary increase with her direct supervisor, Will Gardner, and succeeded...
"Ma'am?"
A familiar voice came into her ears, making her come back to her senses and look over. She saw her best friend walking and talking with the jury foreman not far away.
"I'm from the defense."
"I recognize you."
"I want to ask you a question. You don't have to answer it, but if you can, it will be very helpful to our future work."
"I don't mind. Ask away, Mrs. Florrick."
"The verdict came out very quickly."
"Yes, because there were no objections."
"I see. What did you base your decision on? I mean, you clearly didn't take the building manager's testimony seriously... None of this affected your decision?"
The female lawyer listed the results of her side's efforts.
"No, it didn't,"
the jury foreman said. "Because we didn't think it was important."
"Then what is important?"
the female lawyer was extremely puzzled.
"He did it!"
the jury foreman said seriously.
The female lawyer was speechless.
Kalinda, who had been watching the scene silently, suddenly narrowed her eyes. She turned abruptly to look in the direction where Chuck had gone, and without even waiting to greet her best friend, she hurried away.
The next day.
In a Chicago art gallery.
"Do you like abstract paintings?"
Chuck paused to admire a painting when Kalinda approached, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, looking at the painting he was contemplating.
"People need a little imagination,"
Chuck said noncommittally.
"You did it on purpose, didn't you?"
Kalinda was too lazy to beat around the bush and stared at Chuck sideways: "You knew from the beginning that Juror No. 3 had found Mr. Bauer guilty, but you deliberately didn't say it and told us that his attitude had softened, making us mistakenly believe that we had a sure win. You didn't change your strategy of defending innocence and gave up the option of a plea bargain with the prosecution. Why?"
"Everyone makes mistakes, and my success rate is only 80%."
Chuck said calmly: "Mr. Bauer knew this before he hired me."
"Don't lie."
Kalinda stared at Chuck: "I admit that you are very capable. How could you, such a capable person, make such a big mistake? I was researching the cases you took on last night. If many successful cases weren't people like Mr. Bauer, I would suspect that you had a vigilante complex."
"People like Mr. Bauer?"
Chuck glanced at her.
"...You know what I mean."
Kalinda paused. "Everyone knows he killed his father. He killed someone a year ago, and was acquitted because the jury unanimously found him not guilty. That's why he's willing to spend so much money to hire someone like you. He's gotten a taste for jury acquittals, and he's willing to spend anything for even a slight chance to increase those odds, isn't he?"
As a top investigator at one of Chicago's top law firms, she and her bosses can usually tell at a glance whether a client is guilty. But that's not important. What matters is that the client has money, and they can make money.
That's their legal right.
As for morality, they have legally mandated professional ethics that they can use as a shield.
If Chuck truly did it on purpose, then he'd be taking a fortune from his client and then sending him to death row. That's utterly unethical.
"Do you know the difference between you and Juror Number 3?"
Chuck remained calm.
"It can't be that he's harder to read microexpressions, is it?"
Kalinda sneered.
"The human heart is the most complex and changeable. Ordinary people are easily influenced by the outside world and make unpredictable changes in an instant. Therefore, no one can guess what others are thinking 100%, and mind reading does not exist."
Chuck said, "But people with strong will like you, on the contrary, have patterns to follow, because you will stick to your beliefs and are rarely influenced by the outside world. So it is easy for me to understand you, but I misread Juror No. 3."
"Come on, Juror No. 3 said that he believed Mr. Bauer was guilty from the beginning."
Kalinda felt that Chuck was making excuses.
"After Juror Number 3 found Mr. Bauer guilty, he naturally said he believed him guilty from the beginning. He wouldn't say that the doubts you uncovered shook his correct beliefs for a time, and that he finally came to his senses."
Chuck looked at Kalinda. "People tend to rewrite their past, don't they, Lina?"
As Kalinda listened, she began to think this was plausible. She was just beginning to wonder if she'd overthought Chuck's motives when she heard him call out Lina's name. A flicker of fear flashed across her eyes, and every muscle in her body tensed.
(End of Chapter)
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