It seems I am going to write a first draft of The People v. Simon Harper. Today, I did another 1800+ words of Simon agreeing to a physical examination by a Dr. Aristian. Paley claims Simon exposed himself but noticed nothing unusual about his genitals. Simon points out he has a tattoo on his penis, thanks to Alain, and the man would have seen it if his claim was correct.
The doctor is going to see for himself and describe it for the record. Well...he's called doctor over and over, but not once does anyone mention that he just has a PhD in Jurisprudence; no medical background.
Walstead and Manville are scrambling with this case. They don't understand how dark Simon is, inside; all they see is an older man who looks gentle and easy to push around. Walstead was certain that if he pulled in another witness to counter Simon's evidence, that would make him roll over. Instead, it only pissed him off to the point he will not talk to the prosecution, again.
I'm letting myself write sections that grab me instead of trying to maintain any form of linear progress. And the story is changing shape, as I do. Initially, I was going to have Dr. Aristian brought down during the first half of the trial to do the examination, and Simon find out in the courtroom that he's not a physician, then toss a fit.
But it worked out so much more naturally to have them break for lunch and give the doctor not only time to get to the courthouse and be filled in on what's happening, but Simon time to research him and be unclear as to who the man is. Until he meets him just outside the courtroom and works it out.
He notes ReShawn has not shown up to witness what is happening and won't respond to texts, so he plows ahead to make the best of it he can. He winds up setting off a bomb with Aristian by suggesting his doctoral committee wouldn't like it if they knew how he was using his PhD to help the DA's office use tricks to convict people.
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