I, Claudia: Part IV

I didn’t care that my trial would be public or that there would be a transcript. I wanted it that way. I wanted a record in the archives of Imperial Day so that you could find it.

If you are a history purist, you may view my commentary as a contamination of the historical record, or you may view it as delightful ephemera.

If you are a history purist, you may view my commentary as a contamination of the historical record, or you may view it as delightful ephemera.

Claudia McCarthy is accused of election tampering and defamation of character.

Ms. McCarthy stands accused of conduct unbecoming any Imperial Day student, much less its leader, and of damaging the school's legacy through her words and deeds.

Well, someone tried to kill her predecessor in the boys' locker room.

She convinced her flunkie, Hector Estrella, that Cal deserved to die and this was the only way to stop him.

Mr. Hurt has maintained that he has no idea who his assailant might have been.

Erratic as his behavior was, weren't you almost relieved when Ms. McCarthy took his place?

Every single person who got on the Honor Council had been hand-picked and vetted by Claudia.

Isn't it possible that the Honor Council had been overzealous under its previous leadership, and these changes under Ms. McCarthy's leadership merely signified a regression to the norm?

Isn't it possible that the Honor Council had been overzealous under its previous leadership, and these changes under Ms. McCarthy's leadership merely signified a regression to the norm?

First, I wanted to discredit Claudia McCarthy, who, I might add, was such an incompetent Senate vice president that she forgot to hire any security guards for the dance.

I won’t dignify Esme’s ravings with a response, but there is one more thing I’ll say about her.

If I hadn’t meddled her and Hector into a relationship, they wouldn’t have been at that party together.

Ms. Drusus, your tenure at this school has been a rocky one, and your name has come up more than a few times today.

And did you resort to any unconventional—any unsanctioned—tactics in your campaign against him?

You planned to collect these stories about Mr. Hurt's indiscretions and do what, exactly, with them?

According to Ms. McCarthy, you and she were involved in a physical altercation after this story got out.

What would you say if I suggested that you brought these charges against Ms. McCarthy because of hurt or unreciprocated feelings between the two of you?

Which is to say I would find a scenario where the young man happened to be standing in the shower, the fixture fell on his head, and he fell to the floor and knocked his skull on the tile to be far more plausible than one where my pediatric, asthmatic heart patient with leg-length discrepancy carried out an attack.

Which is to say I would find a scenario where the young man happened to be standing in the shower, the fixture fell on his head, and he fell to the floor and knocked his skull on the tile to be far more plausible than one where my pediatric, asthmatic heart patient with leg-length discrepancy carried out an attack.

Mr. Estrella, you are here today because your friend, Ms. McCarthy, is facing some very serious charges. Assault, attempted murder, corruption, election tampering. In fact, the most serious charges I've seen during the time I've been affiliated with this school, which is three times longer than you've been alive.

I find it difficult to believe that you, as Ms. McCarthy's closest friend and ally, weren't at least somewhat complicit in all of this.

All of these things just happened around you and you went blithely on, unaware of it all?

Would you care to elaborate in more than a monosyllable?

Was he frustrated that his last credible suspect had just produced an airtight alibi?

Do you think the testimony we've heard has painted an accurate picture of Ms. McCarthy and her culpability in any and all of the matters we've discussed today?

However, the testimony I have heard today makes me question whether a governing body like the Honor Council should exist, whether you have, through your own treachery and bad faith, forfeited your right to self-governance.

And just like Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Charles I, King Wenceslas, Julius Caesar, Ashurnasirpal II, Richard Nixon, and all the rest of them, when the inevitable knife between the shoulder blades comes for me, I’ll be ready for it every single time.