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The Court Case Of Mary Maloney A continuation of Roald Dahl's Lamb to the Slaughter

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The Court Case Of Mary Maloney A continuation of Roald Dahl's Lamb to the Slaughter
The opening scene of the play is a court. There is a judge facing the audience. Mary Maloney is in the defendants seat , looking very calm.

Prosecutor: The defendant, Mary Maloney, is accused of murdering her husband, Patrick Maloney. Although she is currently pregnant, I urged your honour not to sympathise with her, as evidence shows that she is a cold-blooded killer.

Mary Maloney pretends to cry upon hearing that.

Defending Lawyer: Objection! No one is guilty until proven so in front of the court of law. Besides, the supposed weapon was never found

Judge: Objection sustained but, defendant, please control your emotions.

Defending lawyer: Today, my client is accused of a crime she did not commit. She is a dutiful wife who loves her husband dearly. I hope that Your Honour would see through the pack of lies the prosecuting team is presenting you.

Defending lawyer sits down.

Prosecutor: May I call the Detective Jack Noonan to the stand.

Jack Noonan walks in and take the stand. He swears to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Prosecutor: According to your report, the were no signs of struggle at the scene of the crime. Am I correct?

Jack Noonan : Yes.

Prosecutor: So that means that the murderer must be someone the victim knows. Someone like her wife, Mary Maloney!

Defending lawyer: Objection! The murderer might be anybody the victim knew, not necessary his wife.

Judge: Objection sustained. Prosecutor, please proceed to your next question.

Prosecutor: He knew both the suspect and the victim. Did that cloud your judgement. Why did you allow Mary Maloney to stay at the scene of the crime? Why didn't you bring her to the police station?

Jack Noonan: I...I...

Defending lawyer: Objection! The prosecutor is pressurising the witness for an answer.

Judge: Objection overruled. Witness, please answer the question.

Jack Noonan: She had an alibi and there was no evidence pointing to her so I assumed that she was not the murderer.

Prosecutor: You did not do a thorough investigation. You gave an opportunity for Mary Maloney to destroy all the evidence.

Defending lawyer: Objection! The prosecutor is making a hypothetic statement.

Judge: Objection sustained.

Prosecutor: I have no more questions.

He sits down and the defending lawyer stands up to cross-examine.

Defending lawyer: How long have you know Mr and Mrs Maloney? Were the relationship between them good?

Jack Noonan: I've known them for a long time. Their relationship was always very good. There were only a few quarrels now and then.

Defending lawyer: I have no more questions. Now, I would like to call Sam the Grocer to the stand.

Sam walks in the courtroom.

Defending Lawyer: In your recorded statement, you said that Mary Maloney went to your shop and bought some groceries. What were her reactions?

Sam: She was quite cheerful and natural. She couldn't have killed Patrick, she couldn't.

Defending Lawyer: I have no more questions, the prosecutor may now cross-examine the witness.

He sits down.

Prosecutor: I have no more questions. I would like to call upon another witness, Miss Scarlet.

A beautiful young woman dressed in red walks into the room.

Prosecutor: Describe your relationship with Patrick Maloney.

Miss Scarlet: I'm his mistress. (The crowd begin to murmur.) We've been together for quite sometime.

Prosecutor: When was the last time you saw him?

Miss Scarlet: I still saw him on the day of the murder. He said he was going to tell his wife the truth. He was going to leave her and be with me. (sob......sob) It must be this witch! (Stands up and points at Mary Maloney) She couldn't accept that Patrick was leaving her so she killed him.

Judge: Witness, please control your emotions.

Miss Scarlet sat down

Prosecutor: How was the relationship between the victim and the accused, according to the victim.

Miss Scarlet: It was on the rocks. He said he cannot stand that witch fussing over him all the time.

Prosecutor: Your honour, I have no more questions.

Defending lawyer: Do you have any proof that you are the victim's mistress.

Miss Scarlet: No......

Defending lawyer: How do we know that it was not you who killed Patrick Maloney. Maybe he got tired of you but you were to jealous and would not let him go. So you killed him. You.....

Miss Scarlet: No! No! That's not true. I loved him with all my heart. (Miss Scarlet was so agitated that she fainted)

Prosecutor: The defending lawyer deliberately made an hypothetic statement and made my witness faint.

Defending lawyer: Miss Scarlet was afraid of the truth so she became frightened.

Judge : Objection overruled. Proceed with next witness.

Defending lawyer: Now, I would like to call the forensic scientist of this case to the stand.

Forensic scientist walks in.

Defending lawyer: What was the cause of death of Patrick Maloney?

Forensic scientist: He was dealt a severe blow on the head with what is thought to be a large piece of metal.

Defending Lawyer: A large piece of metal? My client was SIX months pregnant at that time. How could she have the strength the wield such a heavy weapon. Even if she could, how could she have knocked a strongly built man like Patrick Maloney out so easily? I have no more questions.

Prosecuting lawyer: Forensic scientist, in your report, you said that there was trace of alcohol in the victim's body. This shows that the victim might be drunk at the time of his murder. A drunk Patrick Maloney would have be easy prey for Mary Maloney. I have no more questions and no more witnesses.

Judge : Both lawyers may now make their concluding statement.

Defending lawyer: The prosecuting team has been misleading the court into believing that my client is guilty. In fact, she was a good wife who was trying to please her husband but came back home only to find him dead. However, some people have tried to distort the facts and accused my client of a crime she did not commit.

He sits down and the prosecutor stands up.

Prosecutor: Mary Maloney realised that her husband was leaving her. In a fit of jealousy and anger, she killed her husband. She was afraid of conviction so she cleverly thought of a plan that would destroy all the evidence against her. She deliberately went to Sam the grocer to buy some groceries to find an alibi for her. All these points that Mary Maloney is a cold-blooded and sly woman so I urge the jury to convict her of her crime.

Judge: The jury may now decide on if Mary Maloney is guilty.

All the members of the jury go inside a small room, away from the audience. Moments later, a member of the jury hands the judge a piece of paper.

Judge: The court has found Mary Maloney (paused) not guilty of her crime and shall be acquitted straightaway.

Curtain drops.

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