Events at Paville (Cross-Examination)

## Overview

"Events at Paville" is the name of Ross Moebus's first cross-examination (found on page 42). His testimony is given in response to this question from Judge Paloma: "Now then, if you could simply tell us about your actions that day, focusing very specifically on your actions at the bridge, and the time it was."

## Text

1. I went to work that day, helping out with the, um, victim. Though she wasn't a victim yet! The VIP!

2. After lunch, I decided to ask Mr. Johnson for, um, clarification. I knew where'd he be, so...

3. Then there was the pulse, and Ms. Kranf panicked, and I had an idea that calmed her down, and that worked.

4. I... went over to the island later. Some time later I went back... I... don't recall when that clearly.

5. I thought that the island was abandoned, but I guess I didn't check that carefully, so I left...

6. I saw Jackie and... tried to ask her for help, but... that didn't work.

7. I, uh, tried on my own a bit, but that didn't work, so I... left eventually.

## Information Derived from Pressing

* For some reason, Ross Moebus mentions being worried about the time when pressed by Crowe for a rough guess as to when he spoke with Riemowski.
* Moebus gives the time he spoke with Riemowski as being between 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM. According to his submitted and graded test, the time of submission was 7:45 PM, and according to his and Riemowski's testimonies, the test was submitted at the end of their conversation.
* Johnny Smiles "waved him past" and did not examine him that carefully.
* Moebus mentions asking Kranf if she had a back-up of the data she lost as a result of the electromagnetic pulse that took place on the day of the murder. This is elaborated on much later with it being explained that she did indeed have a back-up.
* Moebus mentions trying to meet with Nick Johnson, the defendant (statement 2), after lunch, but was too shy to ask for assistance. By the time he had "worked up the strength... he was busy with Ms. Alexandra and, uh, Jackie." (this is not elaborated on for unexplained reasons.) Meeting with Johnson was why he went back to the island later on.
* Moebus's testing is focused on "geometry stuff" by his own admission. Based on the submitted and graded test his tablet displays (which we see on page 50) he was participating in a study in which he took math tests that he was apparently terrible at. Unusually, however, on a question asking for the Pythagorean Theorem, Moebus's answer of "A^2+B^2=C^2" is marked as incorrect despite being completely true.
* He was particularly stressed about this "geometry stuff" before the trial started?
* During pressing, it comes out that Moebus had taken lorazepam that day for his nerves (page 44).
* While Moebus thought he had the medication all day, he cannot be certain of this.
* According to Moebus, Riemowski is "smarter than you might think" (page 47), but unrelated to the testing.
* Moebus not noticing the loose rope on the bridge is brought up and promptly concluded to not mean anything special.
* He generally backs up Jackie's account of the electrical pulse from the time it started to Ms. Kranf verifying her external drive was not corrupted. He adds that he simply didn't bring his tablet in the room.
* The geometry tests were usually submitted electronically, and he tended to go to Johnson for help in the (frequent) event he needed it.
* He observed nothing strange at the bridge, and at the time he went to the crime scene right before he crossed the bridge, he claims to have not observed a body. He was characteristically calm about this one, and later emphasized that he saw nothing strange at all, *and* there was no reason to doubt him.
* Something grabbed Paloma's attention when he said: *Mr. Smiles saw me coming and waved me past... It looked like he was busy on the bridge, and... he was just so intimidating, how alert and dangerous he was!* She was spotted gesturing to the court stenographer immediately after.
* There is usually only one bridge guard. The usual person there is widely considered to be very reliable, and Moebus said he "always wanted to pull one past the guy." This was never elaborated on.
* The bailiff's words on asking Jackie a question something mid-cross: When I asked how the conversation ended,

 she got pale, apologized for not telling the court such important
information, and told us that with great difficulty, she eventually got
him to just turn the thing in right then and de-stress himself with a
walk, or the like. She said she saw Ross hit the submit button herself.And just like you said, no leading the witness! Jackie also volunteered that she saw the timestamp when it was sent, same position, same numbers.

## Contradictions

It was a matter of general interest why Ross didn't see a body just before he crossed the bridge. The matter was never resolved.

During this testimony, Ross Moebus's Test Results were revealed, providing further proof that Smiles's original timeline was an hour off. The defense used this to argue that Moebus was the killer, but Crowe countered that the proof was still speculative, and if Moebus was the killer, he went out of his way to look suspicious, based on the Bridge Conversation. Defense argued that with his access to the lorazepam, and his lunch preparations, he was in a unique position to administer it.

## Fulbright's Report

Just as the cross-examination ended, Fulbright reported on some miscellaneous evidence:

The moat draining concluded, and they found items including soda cans, ropes, plastic bags, a lunchbox, and even a white jacket, but nothing particularly suspicious.

Fingerprint matches on persons of interest for the Brain Imaging Lab elevator gave: Ross's prints and Alexandra's are on all the floors, and Johnson's are
only on the fourth floor and the ground floor. His office is on the
fourth floor.

The visior's log is negative for Alexandra Kranf or anybody related to her on the day before the murder.