When Kaffee returned home, he began to think carefully. He sensed that something was wrong with the whole situation. It was very likely that Kendrick had ordered the Red Code to be executed, and then Lieutenant Colonel Markinson disappeared. The outline of the case began to become clear.Kaffee and Galloway returned to the interrogation room and confirmed the answer with Dawson and Downey: it was indeed Kendrick who had ordered the Red Code to be executed. Although Kendrick had held a meeting at 4 PM to prohibit touching Santiago, five minutes later, Kendrick went to Dawson and Downey's room and gave them the order: execute the Red Code on Santiago. This meant that the two soldiers were not attempting murder, but merely following orders. This immediately changed the nature of the entire case.Kaffee found prosecutor Ross, but Ross pointed out that Kaffee had no evidence other than the confessions of the two defendants. Other soldiers could prove that Kendrick's meeting was real, and the only potential witness, Lieutenant Colonel Markinson, had disappeared. Ross told Kaffee, "Jessup will be promoted soon, and the division will give me a lot of leeway to spare him and the unit embarrassment."Kaffee knew this was the deal offered by the division, so he asked, "How much leeway?""Manslaughter, two years in prison, and they can go home in six months." Listening to the conditions Ross offered, Kaffee knew that the division actually wanted to sacrifice Dawson and Downey to cover up mistakes within the unit. Currently, the defendants had no evidence or witnesses to prove their innocence, so this was already the best offer the division could give. If the case went to court, Dawson and Downey would face much harsher penalties.Ross firmly believed that Kaffee was an excellent lawyer. Since Dawson and Downey could go home in six months, Kaffee would not take the matter to court and make things irreparable. This was Kaffee's usual modus operandi and a "skill" that an excellent lawyer must possess.Indeed, Kaffee thought this was an excellent deal. He proposed it to Dawson and Downey, but both soldiers were clearly unwilling to accept it because they believed they had done nothing wrong, merely fulfilling their duties, and they would not plead guilty.This completely enraged Kaffee. He believed it was a foolish theory Galloway had taught them. "If you plead not guilty based on your principles, you'll spend the rest of your life in prison! Do as I say, and you'll be home in six months.""What about after six months? We'll be dishonorably discharged, right? What will we do then, sir?" Dawson was also furious. He couldn't accept Kaffee's statements and actions. "We enlisted to live by a clear code of conduct. We felt that in the unit, and now you're asking us to sign a confession that we're dishonorable?" Dawson stood up and shouted his feelings at Kaffee, "You want us to admit we're not Marines. If the court finds us guilty, I'll accept any punishment. But I believe I did nothing wrong, sir. I only performed my duty, and I won't bring shame upon myself, my squad, and my unit just to go home in six months! Sir!"Dawson, who had always followed orders, felt insulted. He even said to Kaffee, "You're a coward! I can't believe they let you wear a uniform."Kaffee was provoked. He decided to give up and even planned to request a change of defense attorney for Dawson and Downey at tomorrow's arraignment. Galloway, however, hoped Kaffee would appear in court to defend them, but Weinberg believed, "Defense is useless for war criminals who massacred Vietnamese, and useless for Nazis at Nuremberg." Clearly, Weinberg still believed the two soldiers were guilty.Kaffee, however, had a different opinion. "Do you really think this is the same thing? They never doubted there was anything wrong with following orders. They're not Nazis." But he still felt it was an unwinnable lawsuit, and there was no need to struggle in vain, so he decided to give up."You know they're innocent, you know how to win, and by walking away, you're deciding their fate." Galloway was making a final effort.But Kaffee remained rational. "The moment Santiago died, their fate was already sealed.""Do you believe they're innocent?" Galloway refused to give up.This made Kaffee feel absurd. "You and Dawson both live in a dream world. The problem isn't what I believe, but what I can prove! So don't tell me what I know and don't know. I know the law!"This made Galloway give up. "You know nothing about the law. You're just a used car salesman, Danny. You're only fit to handle traffic violations as a lawyer. You're nothing, just live that way."Galloway's final words made Kaffee thoughtful. A sleepless night caused Kaffee to be late for the court hearing the next day. After much hesitation, at the last moment, Kaffee entered a plea of not guilty. The judge announced that the trial would resume in three weeks at 10 AM in the Supreme Military Court.Because Kaffee realized that the reason the division appointed him, a lawyer with only nine months of experience, to handle this case was not because of his excellence, but because the division wanted to avoid a trial, knowing Kaffee's past habits – he was accustomed to using the law as a bargaining chip. This indicated that the division wanted the two soldiers to take the blame and shield certain individuals.At this moment, a collective gasp swept through the movie theater. Clearly, the audience was eager to see the final answer. The fate of Dawson and Downey was firmly in Kaffee's hands.Kaffee persuaded Weinberg, who had always doubted the innocence of the two soldiers, to join the case. With Galloway, they actively prepared for the trial in three weeks.The first trial did not make much progress. The prosecution and defense each questioned two events. The first was that the Naval Investigative Service had arranged for an investigator to investigate Dawson's illegal shooting, but the investigation could not proceed because the only eyewitness, Santiago, died before the investigation began. The second was about Kendrick's prohibitory meeting. The prosecution emphasized that Kendrick had clearly convened a meeting to order a ban on harming Santiago, while the defense emphasized that all team members were not in Dawson and Downey's room after the meeting and could not prove that Kendrick had not had secondary contact with the two soldiers.The situation reached a stalemate.The second trial primarily questioned a medical professional. The prosecution emphasized that Santiago died of poisoning, and many toxins could not be detected but were the most likely cause of Santiago's death. The defense, however, emphasized that the deceased might not have died of poisoning but could have had a pre-existing condition—such as a heart-related illness—which was triggered during a violent confrontation, leading to death and presenting symptoms similar to poisoning. The symptoms of this heart condition were precisely the reason Santiago applied for a transfer.Although the doctor strongly denied Kaffee's speculation that Santiago might have had an undetected heart condition, prosecutor Ross still defended with the doctor's authority, endorsing the doctor's diagnosis that Santiago had no illness. Faced with their disadvantage, Galloway lost his composure and repeatedly protested to the judge in court, which angered the judge.This situation left the defense in an unfavorable position.Weinberg was angry at Galloway's behavior, which led Galloway to question, "Why do you hate them so much?""Because they bully the weak, that's a fact," Weinberg said, angrily venting his emotions. "Everything else is nonsense. They tortured a weak young man and killed him because they didn't like him! And why? Because he couldn't run fast."Conversely, Weinberg then asked Galloway, "Why do you like them so much?""Because they are guarding the frontier," Galloway said. "And ensuring, 'I'm on guard tonight, no one can harm you.'" This statement moved Weinberg, softening his tone.However, Kaffee still lacked confidence in winning because they did not have enough evidence. The evidence they currently had was all provided by the suspects, which lacked persuasiveness in court. He believed they would lose very, very badly.The third trial revolved around the Red Code. Defense attorney Kaffee confirmed with the witness that being late for a platoon or company meeting, having messy barracks, or falling behind during a run... all could lead to the Red Code. The witness had once suffered the Red Code because his rifle fell due to sweaty hands, but Santiago had never received the Red Code because Dawson, the platoon leader of Santiago's platoon—who was also the defendant Dawson—did not allow it.Faced with this situation, prosecutor Ross produced a Navy recruitment manual and the Guantanamo Infantry Internal Management Regulations and asked the witness to find the definition of "Red Code" in them to prove that there was no such form of Red Code at the Guantanamo base. The witness said the term did not exist in the book.Kaffee then snatched the two manuals and asked the witness to find the page number for the location of the dining hall in the book. The witness naturally could not find it. Kaffee used this to illustrate, "Does it mean that if the location of the dining hall is not written in the regulations, soldiers don't have to eat?" The witness said they naturally followed in the footsteps of their predecessors. Kaffee successfully demonstrated that things that exist do not necessarily have to be explicitly written down; many are just customary regulations established by predecessors, and the Red Code was an unwritten rule.After this trial, things finally made some progress. After the trial, the disappeared Markinson reappeared. He confirmed to Kaffee that this was a Red Code incident, the order came from Kendrick, and Santiago was never intended to be transferred from the base. The transfer order Jessup had mentioned earlier was temporarily signed on the morning of the day Kaffee and others arrived in Cuba, which was five days after Santiago's death.In addition, Markinson also confirmed that Jessup said the first flight to the United States would be at 6 AM the next day, but in fact, a plane had left the base for the United States seven hours earlier.Markinson's testimony restored Kaffee's confidence, but in a private conversation with Ross, Ross reminded Kaffee that Kendrick and Jessup were both people who had contributed to the country. If Kaffee prosecuted them without conclusive evidence, he could very likely be charged with dereliction of duty by the military court, which would affect Kaffee's entire career.But this not only did not deter Kaffee but instead ignited his fighting spirit. The fourth trial was imminent, and he was filled with boundless confidence!
