[i]This is gonna be a very long day[/i].

The Chief judge listened to the lawyer’s pleading, rubbing his nose and trying to not roll his eyes.

“So,” the Chief judge said, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. “To put it in a nutshell, you’re claiming that your client is innocent, because the man we saw on the video tape isn’t actually your client but his double from a parallel universe.”

“That’s a perfect summary, your Honor.I know it may sound absurd, but it’s the logical conclusion, knowing that three witnesses have seen my client on the other side of the city when the murder happened.”

The Chief judge was trying his best to not bluntly insult the lawyer. His salvation came from the attorney.

“Your Honor, may I?”

“Please proceed,” he answered, too happy to let the little man handle it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s consider for a moment that parallel universes do exist, as my dear colleague has claimed. There could be several other and more logical reasons for the accused to be in two places at the same time, but let’s say that our failing minds tend to accept some arguments more easily.” He grabbed a small clock from his pocket, turned a wheel on its back, and set it down in front of him.

“What does this clock have to do with anything?” asked the Chief judge.

“I’ll need it at the end of my demonstration, your Honor,” he replied. “So, if we assumed parallel universes exist, we need to establish how many parallel universes exist. I don’t think it’s wrong to also assume there is an infinite number of parallel universes, considering that, each time we look at and beyond the stars, or at and beyond the atoms, we still find bigger and smaller elements. That’s why we call them the infinitely large and the infinitely small.”

“Point taken,”

“Thank you, your Honor. That being said, if the man we all saw on the tape came from one of these parallel universes, it means that travelling between all these universes is possible. Therefore, if travel is possible between the infinity of parallel universes, it means that, the moment the clock I’ve put here earlier will ring, a tall white man with a mustache and sunglasses, wearing blue jeans and a dark red jacket, will appear right in the middle of this court. If not, it will mean that, even if parallel universes do exist, travelling between them is impossible, and therefore, the accused is guilty.”

The moment he went quiet, the clock started to ring. The whole crowd was silent, waiting with nervousness a possible apparition, their eyes on the middle of the room where the attorney had pointed with his finger. 

When the clock stopped ringing, the attorney spoke “I rest my case.”

[hr]

The room was now empty, the trial having ended a few hours ago. Suddenly, in a flash of light, a bearded man with sunglasses appeared in the middle of the room.

“I came to warn you that — Bloody hell, I’m late.”