Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal Judgement Day Pale Fire Journal | Page 39

death was a natural one.
But really, how many references are there? Sybil forbids him from drinking
alcohol; sure. Page 182, Kinbote comments on alti-
tudes that would be too high for John’s heart. Alright.
Page 246, Shade is described as having had a heart
attack on Oct. 17th, 1958. But is that enough? I think
not. I think that’s hardly scientific evidence! Why
should one heart attack prove
(MORE)
ZEMBLAN LAWYER (cont’d)
the existence of another? How does that disprove the murder theory?
AMERICAN LAWYER
There are more examples -
ZEMBLAN LAWYER
The prosecution will, having exhausted its evidence based on social con-
structs and pseudo-science, try to convince you that
numerous outside witnesses deny the details of Kin-
bote’s story in regards to Shade’s death. The key fig-
ure in this tactic, and this case, is Sybil Shade, who
we are supposed to believe is suing for the rights to
her husband’s work because she believes it has been
wrongly stolen from her by a liar. Ha! I think she is the
one that is lying, ladies and gentlemen. I think she is
using this case to destroy the reputation of a man she
never liked, a man who may have been closer to her
husband than even she. The true villain here is not
my dear king, but a spiteful woman’s jealousy!
AMERICAN LAWYER
Objection!
ZEMBLAN LAWYER
Why should we believe that Sybil is impartial in her account of Kinbote? In
Pale Fire, she alienates him and makes him feel like
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