PART III:

Complications and Setbacks

The case immediately encountered complications. Gustavus Adolphus Brannhard, a highly skilled if somewhat disreputable attorney, took up Holloway's defense. Brannhard, who had a reputation for taking on unwinnable cases and somehow winning them, began constructing a defense that would put the Fuzzies themselves on trial—or rather, put their sapience on trial.

More troubling was the involvement of George Lunt, a lieutenant in the Colonial Constabulary. Lunt, who should have been a neutral law enforcement officer, appeared to have been swayed by the emotional appeal of the Fuzzies. Rather than treating the incident as a straightforward homicide, he filed murder charges against Leonard Kellogg for killing the Fuzzy, treating the creature as though it were a person.

The Company's position was further undermined when Chief Justice Frederic Pendarvis, known for his strict interpretation of the law and his independence from corporate influence, took a personal interest in the case. Pendarvis was not a man who could be pressured or persuaded through the usual channels. His integrity, while admirable in the abstract, made him unpredictable and potentially dangerous to the Company's interests.

The situation deteriorated further when six Fuzzies, which had been properly impounded as evidence in the Kellogg case, escaped from the Science Center. Despite the Company's best efforts to locate them, they vanished into the city. Their absence from the proceedings would have been advantageous to the Company's case, except that Brannhard and Holloway managed to locate other Fuzzies to present in court.

The Frameup Allegation

Perhaps the most damaging development occurred when Nick Emmert, the Resident General who maintained close ties with the Company, attempted to discredit the Fuzzies through a staged incident. A man named Oscar Lurkin and his ten-year-old daughter were persuaded to claim that Fuzzies had attacked the child, beating her severely with clubs. A substantial reward was offered for the capture of Fuzzies, dead or alive.

This operation, while well-intentioned from a corporate standpoint, was poorly executed. When the principals were subjected to veridication—testimony under a polygraph-like device that detected false statements—the fabrication was exposed. Luther Woller, a detective lieutenant who had helped orchestrate the scheme, and several other officials were implicated. The revelation that Company-connected officials had attempted to manufacture evidence severely damaged the Company's credibility.

The Company maintained that this operation had been undertaken by overzealous colonial officials without proper authorization. Victor Grego personally expressed dismay at the amateurish execution of the scheme. Nevertheless, the damage was done. The court and the public now viewed the Company's position with suspicion.