"Leonard Speaking"
'Leonard Thinking'
Leonard was sitting in the back of an extended Lincoln, with Mike sitting at his side. Louis, who the duo had picked on the way to the courthouse sat in front of them, discussing the case.
Louis explained, "Our communication records and research files should have cast off most of the suspicion regarding the trades. Now, the only thing they can get us on are two things."
Mike listened intently to Louis. He was a phenomenal civil and criminal lawyer, but the finance and corporate sector was Louis's forte. Mike took this case as a learning opportunity. He asked, "And those would be?"
Louis looked pensive, "Unreplicable trades and moral corruption. If the prosecutor can show that the trades are non-replicable, our evidence would be considered a smokescreen to insider trading. Like creating a puddle to show rain. It is where Leonard will be on his own. We cannot interfere with that because we haven't made any trades. Frankly, I would never have the courage to trade like Leonard."
Mike nodded absentmindedly, before asking, "And what about moral corruption?"
Louis glanced at Leonard and explained, "They will try to show that Leonard is a dishonest man. Any colleagues, past relationships, workplace conflicts will become weapons to attack his character. Should they convince the judge that he is habitually dishonest, our claims of honesty will fail."
Leonard looked at the two lawyers, worrying about his case. Unconsciously, a smile appeared on his face. He waved off their concerns, "Don't worry about it. Technically, we are sound; as far as their claims of dishonesty go, things will work out at the end. Now, Louis, how have you been? Is everything ok at work?"
Louis saw through Leonard's attempt at dispelling the tension. He appreciated the effort, "Well, our other name partner has shown up. He is having a constant tug of war with Jessica over the control of the firm."
Leonard thought of something, "Daniel Hardman? I read about him when I decided to hire you."
Louis nodded, "The very same."
Leonard commented, "He looked like a sleazeball. Not an ounce of honesty in his eyes."
Louis chuckled, "Leonard, we are lawyers. You won't find many honest ones among us."
Mike seemed to nod in agreement. He has had quite a lot of experience with dishonest lawyers in Seattle. He spoke, "When companies have such a conflict, partners are the first to get embroiled. My previous firm in Seattle would use such conflicts in other firms to poach their lawyers."
Leonard added, "Louis, if you feel trapped in that place, our doors are always open. While our legal departments don't have any name partners, you could head our finance and corporate divisions."
The group kept talking as the courthouse approached. The car stopped in front of the stairs, as Leonard walked out of the car in a dark blue suit and powder blue shirt. He would have liked to bring his cane, but he felt that it would give a bad impression.
Federal Courthouse
The trio arrived at the courthouse as Chuck sat in the prosecutor's seat, with Bryan and Kate sitting at his side. Chuck looked at Leonard, meeting his eyes with carefully concealed hostility. Leonard understood that this was no longer about law or justice. For Chuck, it was about ego.
Suddenly, the bailiff announced the Judge. Judge Marx, with his thick beard and shiny head, sat down in the Judge's chair. He banged his gavel, announcing, "The court is now in session."
The court clerk announced, "The State vs Leonard Hofstadter."
As the two lawyers stood up, Judge Marx spoke, "The prosecution should have examined the evidence thoroughly over the past three days. What are the findings?"
Chuck stood up, straightening his tie, before addressing the court, "Your honor, we have deeply studied all the evidence presented by the defendant. The files were immaculate, with pretty intelligent research. The contacts were clear as well, showing no direct connection to company insiders. But there were some issues that needed clarification."
Judge Marx crossed his hands in interest, "Such as?"
Chuck answered, "The impossibility of the trades your honor. The prosecution would like to call Dr. Leonard Hofstadter to the stand."
Judge Marx nodded as Leonard stood up from his chair and took the Witness Chair. Chuck approached Leonard, carefully observing him, "Dr. Hofstadter, please tell the court about your profession."
Leonard answered, "As of right now, I am an independent researcher under Chaldea Research. I was an Experimental Physicist with California Institute of Technology for the past eight years."
Chuck nodded as the audience and the judge looked at Leonard. He commented, "Dr. Hofstadter, please tell me if I am wrong, you don't have any educational background in Economics, right?"
Leonard answered, "No. I do not."
Chuck hummed and spoke, "But you have done well at the stock market."
Mike stood up, "Objection your honor, education in economics is not relevant to the case. Stock trading and investing is not an industry with such barriers."
Judge Marx announced, "Sustained, please be on point prosecutor."
Chuck nodded, before asking, "Can you explain how someone, without any relevant knowledge of economics, can earn millions of dollars on the stock market?"
Leonard stopped for a second, a tiny smile appearing on his face. He asserted, "I have extensive experience in the field of mathematics. Markets rely heavily on data after all."
Chuck asked, "And where did you learn these skills? Is there an online course that teaches how someone can make millions like this? "
Leonard answered, "There isn't. You must understand, while anyone can learn how to drive, few become professional race car drivers. What you can achieve will be dissimilar to what I can achieve."
Leonard's words seemed to annoy Chuck, as he gritted his teeth, hiding his irritation. He calmed down and said, "How long have you been a scientist?"
Leonard answered, "I have worked as a scientist for eight years, though I have been one for most of my life."
Chuck seemed to consider the statement, before remarking, "It's funny how you, in this long life of yours, never considered going into the financial sector, despite your apparent talent."
Leonard explained, "Money is just means to an end after all. Finance has never been the sector I was deeply interested in."
Chuck stared at him with narrowed eyes, before saying, "No further questions your honor."
As Chuck sat in his chair, Mike stood up, addressing the court, "Your honor, while the prosecutor thinks that a degree is more relevant than talent, I would like to bring the court's attention to the source of this problem. So far, we have discussed the culpability of my client. Now, I would like to explore the culpability of the SEC. I would like to call on stand, Mr William Stanley."
At Mike's call, a thin, black haired man, with slightly pale skin and thick glasses stood up and sat in the Witness Chair. Mike approached the stand, "Mr. Stanley, can you please tell the court what you do?"
Stanley nodded and answered, "I work as an analyst for the SEC."
Mike nodded and asked, "According to the files, you were the first one to discover the discrepancies in my client's account. When did you first notice these discrepancies?"
Stanley explained, " It was around 22nd May 2012. I was going through trade records when I noticed the discrepancies."
Mike hummed before asking, "Can you tell me what exactly were the discrepancies?"
Stanley nodded, "I noticed that the defendant would buy certain shares, sell them every two or three days. The problem with that was how frequently the trades were made. None of the trades reached limits, but they multiplied quickly and fell right after the defendant chose to sell them."
Mike considered the answer, "I see, that does seem like insider trading. But that is a lot of data. Don't you have software to flag such trades."
Stanley nodded, "We do. But they don't detect insider trading if the trades do not reach a certain threshold."
Mike nodded, "According to you, my client's trades were genuine according to your official software. So did you flag my client's account because he was too successful in his trades?"
Chuck interrupted, "Objection, your honor. The Defense is leading the witness.
The Judge commanded, "Overruled, answer the question Mr. Stanley."
Stanley was taken aback by the question. He tried to explain, "While trading itself is not seemingly fraudulent, no one earns millions of dollars by such trading unless he has insider information."
Mike seemed to smile, "So, your accusation of my client is based on the belief that so much money cannot be earned without engaging in insider trading. If so, you made assumptions, as they say, assumptions make an ass out of you and me."
Chuck stood up, "Objection your honor."
Judge Marx, with his face concealing his amusement, commanded, "Sustained, Mr. Ross, please refrain from using vulgar language in the court."
Mike nodded his head in acquiescence, "No further questions your honor."
Chuck stood up, "Your honor, the Defense has based this entire case on their clients ability, but my next witness can give us a clearer grasp of Dr. Hofstadter's ability. I would like to call upon Dr. Sheldon Cooper, Dr. Hofstadter's former roommate of eight years."
Leonard looked at the door, watching Sheldon come into the room, accompanied by Amy, Sheldon, Raj, Howard and Penny. Sheldon quickly approached the Witness Chair. As he approached the chair, his lip curled in a slight sneer of disgust. He quickly drew a can of sanitizing spray, before spraying the chair generously. While Leonard was amused, Judge Marx felt irritated, "Sit down young man. The court's time is precious."
Sheldon shot back, "I don't know how many people have sat in this seat. Who knows what kind of pathogens they were carrying. I can't risk the future of the scientific community for a few minutes."
Judge Marx bit out, "If you don't sit now, I will hold you in contempt."
Sheldon reluctantly sat down, feeling uncomfortable in the chair. He looked at Leonard, noting his even gaze, before Chuck came up to question him.
Chuck addressed, "Dr. Sheldon Cooper, how long have you known Dr. Hofstadter?"
Sheldon admonished, as if he was speaking to a child, "You have to be more specific. Are you talking about Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, Dr Beverly Hofstadter, Dr. Robert Hofstadter, the Nobel Prize winning physicist…"
Chuck interrupted, "I meant Dr. Leonard Hofstadter."
Sheldon started, "I met Dr. Leonard Hofstadter exactly eight years, two months and four days ago, it was just after…"
Sheldon would have continued, but Chuck interrupted with force, "So, you have known Dr. Leonard Hofstadter for eight years. In all these years, did you ever see Dr. Leonard Hofstadter to engage in stock trading, or any kind of investments?"
Sheldon thought for a second and answered, "He usually doesn't invest in anything, except his collection of action figures, comics and technology. He mined Bitcoins once, about a year ago, but nothing beyond that."
Chuck seemed to grasp something, "So, he wastes money on action figures and comics…"
Sheldon was outraged, "That is preposterous, don't you know how much comic books are worth? They cost a fortune to collect, and maintain. I even have a safe deposit box for my comic books."
Many people in the room chuckled, including Judge Marx. It was clear that Sheldon and Leonard were nerds, obsessed with comic books and movies, after all, many people have had their own nerd phases.
Chuck interrupted, "Now, I want to ask, is Dr. Leonard Hofstadter capable of creating predictive models using mathematics to predict stock market trends?"
Sheldon explained, "The predictive model is very easy to create. While Leonard is not as good as I in mathematical calculations on string theory, Stock market calculations are quite easy, being a simple example of Chaos Theory. The problem is sifting through a large amount of data to discover that pattern."
Chuck asked, "And is he capable of sifting through the data?"
Sheldon shook his head, "Leonard could do that. But over the past few years, he has taken to having regular intercourse. This has dulled his mind's keen edge. Last year, he thought that he could play three-person chess with me, without a third person."
Chuck seemed to have gotten what he wanted and said, "No more questions your honor."
Judge Marx asked, "Does the defense want to question the witness?"
Mike stood up, "No your honor."
As Sheldon left the Witness Chair, he walked to the audience stand, where Raj, Howard, Amy and Penny were looking at him with slightly annoyed faces, though Amy hid her expression well.
Mike stood up, addressing the court, "Your honor, till now, we have established a number of things. We have established that there was no contact between company insiders and my client, we have established that the information my client used was public record. We have established, with Dr. Cooper's testimony, that it is possible to predict stock market changes using mathematical models. And we also know that the only reason my client's account was flagged was his success rate. I believe it is perfectly clear that my client did not trade using privileged information. He was either very lucky, or skilled to earn millions on the stock market. But he did not earn this money through illegal means."
Chuck suddenly stood up, "Objection your honor, if we look at court records, we can see that Dr. Hofstadter claimed that he was skilled, so we cannot dismiss his case based on the fact that he was lucky. We have to go to the last aspect of trading, replicability. Could his successful trades be repeated in the courtroom?"
Mike stood up, "Your honor, I need to confer with my client."
Judge Marx, now fully interested in the trial, announced, "Very well, the court is adjourned for a fifteen minute recess."
With a bang of his gavel, Judge Marx stood up from his chair, and walked out of the chamber.
Conference Room
Mike paced around the room as Leonard sat calmly at the long table, writing something on a piece of paper.
Mike muttered, "I was afraid of this. How can we replicate such success in such a small time."
He turned to Leonard and asked, "Do you have any ideas? It took you six months to grow from one million to a hundred million. We will not have enough time to prove these trades."
Leonard calmly said, "Sit down Mike."
Mike seemed to hear the seriousness in the tone. He sat down, though the stress was making his head throb. Leonard looked at Mike, half with amusement and half concern. He said, "While I understand your stress, this was as far as you could take it. Now, the rest is up to me. I don't need much, just everything on this list."
Mike took the list, glancing at the contents, "Seven curved LED monitors… are you going to trade in front of the court?"
Leonard grinned, "That's right. Wouldn't it be amazing, earning millions in about an hour? Once we do this, every charge will be proven false."
Mike asked, "Are you sure?"
Leonard smiled and nodded. Mike sighed and said, "Lets bring it up with the judge."
Courtroom
Judge Marx sat down at his seat. He announced, "The court is in session."
Chuck stood up, "Your honor, we were discussing the replicability of Dr. Hofstadter's experience. I hope the defense has a sufficient explanation for this."
Mike nodded and stood up, "Your honor, my client has certain material requirements. I am presenting a list to the court of what my client needs. As soon as we receive permission for bringing these items, my client is willing to demonstrate his trade process in court."
With that, under Chuck's disbelieving gaze, Mike handed a list to the bailiff. The Bailiff gave the list to the Judge. He looked at it for a minute before asking, "How much time will it take for the defense to gather these items."
Mike answered, "A day at most your honor."
Judge Marx nodded, "Very well, the court allows the defense to gather these items for a trading setup within a day. Tomorrow, we will test Dr. Hofstadter's claim that his success is replicable. The court is adjourned for the day.
As Leonard and Mike passed by Chuck, Leonard whispered with a smile, "We'll see you tomorrow, prosecutor Rhoades, I hope you have a very good day."
Chuck turned to look at Leonard, only to see him leave without a care in the world.
AN: Thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey. This arc is nearing completion. Stay tuned for more.
AN2: This arc will end after chapter 32. From there, I will transition into an arc of Hard Sci-fi and political battles of the protagonist. I hope you enjoy the story as we move forward.
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