For Better And For Worse
Chapter 14

The investigation into this famous Mr. Gauthier went nowhere so Krist remains the culprit. His trial takes place in a week, the whole town knows about it. Krist’s parents were informed, Krist’s friends who know him very well were very surprised. Some visited him to inquire about the situation. Others agree to testify in his favor. Krist therefore replaces enough strength and hopes to get through it but Gauthier for his part does not give up either. This morning, at 8 a.m., he goes to see the judge who is in charge of the case, as Bruno.

Gauthier: hello Mr. Judge.

Judge: ah, Mr. Bruno, hello! How are you ?

Gauthier: I’m fine.

Judge: Please take a seat.

Gauthier: thank you. So, how are the activities going?

Judge: ah, offenders to be sentenced every day, it’s a heavy task but that’s okay.

Gauthier: I imagine. I think in a week you’re going to judge a certain Kristian?

Judge: absolutely.

Gauthier: Well, I would like to ask you a favor.

Judge: I’m listening to you.

Gauthier: I would like that at the end of this trial, that he be absolutely condemned, for at least five years.

Judge: why is that?

Gauthier: Because I hired him for a job and he brought drugs into my business. Such people do not deserve freedom.

Judge: you are probably right Mr. Bruno but the verdict belongs to the jury and what’s more, if he seems innocent, I cannot convict him.

Gauthier: I know and I also know that the jury will replace him guilty and it is up to you to pronounce the sentence. Do this for me, Mr. Judge, you have a great reward.

He places an envelope containing a large sum of money on his table. The judge takes the envelope and counts the money up to 3 million.

Judge: it’s perfect sir, it will be done.

Gauthier: I like when business is going well.

They shake hands and Gauthier leaves. He gets in his car and his driver takes him there. On the other hand, Krist still remains a prisoner in the anti-drug squad because his release on bail was refused at the risk of him selling drugs on the streets again. His wife and Stella visit him from time to time and encourage him. Maître Célestin also visits him in the hope of meeting Stella but their visiting days never crossed paths until the day of the trial. The court was full that day. Everyone was there, the body of judges entered and the room rose. She then sits down with the judge’s authorization. So the trial begins.

Judge: Defendants, stand up! Mr. Kristian Djimadjimbaye, born March 25, 1987 in Moundou, your criminal record does not mention any conviction until then, but today you are sent to the Assize Court for possession, consumption and illicit sale of narcotics precisely Drugs. Explain what you are accused of.

Krist: Mr. Judge, I did nothing at all, I am innocent of what I am accused of, I was simply framed, Mr. Judge. I am a straight and honest man. I fear that this investigation will be carried out thoroughly.

Prosecutor: no, but wait!

Judge: any questions, Mr. Prosecutor?

Prosecutor: Are we going to let the accused question the work done by the commander and his inspectors?

Judge: definitely not. He’s yours.

Prosecutor: Mr. Kristian, you worked for Bill’s company for a few years, then you lost your job and you found a job as a waiter at the five-star restaurant where you worked for almost two years and you lost your job again, can you tell us why you lose your job every time?

Célestin: objection your honor, we are not investigating my client’s past.

Judge: objection rejected, please respond Mr. Kristian.

Krist: The reasons I lost my first job are written in my termination letter.

Maître Célestin gives them the letter.

Krist: As for my job as a waiter, I lost it because of a misunderstanding with the boss’s daughter.

Prosecutor: Be a little clearer.

Krist: She was harassing me to have a romantic relationship with her, which I refused so she told her father that it was me who was harassing her and without thinking, he sent me away.

Prosecutor: Could the girl in question confirm these facts?

Everyone looks in the crowd to spot the girl in question but she is not there but her father stands up.

Felix: This girl is my daughter. She is on a study trip but everything he says is true, my daughter confirmed it to me.

Prosecutor: Why didn’t you give the job back to Mr. Krist?

Félix: when my daughter confirmed this to me, I called Krist to apologize and ask him to come back to work but it was his wife who answered me and told me that her husband had an accident and that he is unconscious in the hospital.

Judge: can Madame Isabelle confirm this?

Isabelle: yes, it’s true what he says.

Prosecutor: That will be it, Mr. President.

Judge: Master Célestin is yours.

Célestin approaches Krist.

Célestin: Mr. Krist, how many times are you condemned by the laws of this country?

Krist: never master.

Célestin: Explain to the court what really happened.

Krist: when I was still serving at a five-star restaurant, a gentleman named Gauthier offered me a job, an offer that I rejected because I was already working, but he gave me his card here so that I could call if I was ever looking for work. When I lost my job, I called him and he arranged to meet me at a bar. I didn’t want to go but I left and the man offered me to deal drugs, which I categorically refused and left. Interestingly, on the way home, two men attacked me. We fought and I dominated them. Two more appeared and blocked me from behind. The other two first beat me up before one of them took out a bag of drugs. Those in the back pulled my head back and those in front made me swallow the drugs through my mouth and nostrils then released me and the four beat me again. I was no longer myself, I was no longer aware of what was happening or what I was doing. I found myself the next day in the hospital handcuffed to the bed. I ask what’s going on and I’m told I’m very dangerous because I’m a drug addict. When I think that in the doctors’ reports, there is no mention of traces of aggression anywhere, I wonder why they are doing this to me. I wonder how they would feel if they were in my place.

Célestin: please continue, Mr. Krist.

Krist: The inspectors are arriving and I accompanied them into the bar to investigate. The bartender directly accused me of selling drugs in the bar even though when I arrived at the bar that day, he and I had not met. We never met once. We then went to see a certain Prosper to view the surveillance videos, he also accuses me of the same thing and I don’t know by what witchcraft they see me on the video selling drugs. At that moment, I was put in handcuffs and I lost all my rights at that moment. I prefer not to talk about the torture I suffered because the brigade doctor did not mention that I was hospitalized following the torture. But Inspector Kevin witnesses it as do all the medical staff of the brigade.

Célestin: that will be all.

Judge: I ask the first witness to take the stand, Commander Boris.

Boris: it was morning, we had no urgent matters to attend to. I received a call from Doctor Roger telling me that a drug addict is hospitalized and will be transferred to the detox center. We went there and what happened next is written in my report.

Judge: Mr. Prosecutor, do you have any questions?

Prosecutor: no.

Judge: Maître Célestin, do you have any questions?

Célestin: obviously! So Commander, why did you go to the bar that day with my client?

Boris: to try to spot Mr. Gauthier on the surveillance cameras.

Célestin: but why did you abandon this mission as soon as you got your hands on my client?

Boris: we continued but this gentleman he is talking about does not appear on any of the cameras. We had also retrieved the number with which he called to look it up but it was a prepaid Sim so there was no response. Krist told us that his boss at the five-star restaurant knew the gentleman but he also told us that he just knows him as a good customer. He gave us his description and we searched but he doesn’t appear in any database, he’s just a ghost. All this is written in my master report.

Célestin: very good, my client claims to have been tortured and hospitalized following his torture, so how do you explain the fact that there is no mention of these facts anywhere in your report?

Boris: simply because he wasn’t tortured, I just scared him.

Stella: he’s lying, I saw Mr. Krist unconscious in their infirmary and he stopped us from seeing him.

Isabelle: it’s true, he almost killed my husband.

Judge: Commander, it is forbidden to lie under oath.

Boris: I didn’t torture him, I just went a little hard to push him to talk. This is necessary in some cases.

Célestin: why didn’t you mention it in your report?

Boris: because it wasn’t very serious.

Célestin: Do you replace it less serious that a person loses consciousness following torture?

Boris: I tell you that he did not lose consciousness. He was in withdrawal and the doctor gave him medicine which calmed him down, it was at this moment that Miss Stella and her wife saw him.

Célestin: I would be surprised if this fact was not mentioned in your report.

Boris: It was just an oversight.

Célestin: I’m done.

Judge: As the next witness approaches, I call Inspector Kevin to the stand. Master Célestin, he is yours.

Kevin introduces himself.

Célestin: inspector, did you assist Commander Boris in this investigation?

Kevin: yes, I was always present alongside the commander in this investigation that we carried out.

Célestin: can you tell us whether or not my client was tortured?

Kevin: Well, while he was questioning him, he took me out of the room so I don’t know. But afterwards, it was the doctors who went to pick up Krist and take him to the infirmary.

Célestin: why did you leave the room?

Kevin: The commander gave me the order.

Célestin: why did he ask you out?

Kevin: Because I didn’t agree with him about the threatening tone he used to question her.

Célestin: when the doctors brought my client in, what did you think first?

Kevin: that he had tortured him.

Célestin: and what did he tell you?

He stares at the commander for a moment.

Célestin: inspector, what did he tell you?

Kevin: He didn’t tell me anything.

Célestin: so my client was tortured. Did the commander have a habit of losing his temper sometimes?

Kevin: Yes, sometimes.

Célestin: I have finished, Mr. President.

Judge: The trial is suspended and resumes in an hour.