People sitting near the courtroom doors began to sneeze. "I know who the next witness is!" Alice said. "It must be the Duchess' cook."
Alice was correct. The Cook entered the courtroom, carrying her pepper shaker.
"Tell us your story!" the King commanded.
"No, I refuse!" The Cook crossed her arms.
The King didn't know what to do. He looked at the White Rabbit for advice.
"Your Majesty, you must get this witness to tell her story," the White Rabbit said. "The Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen's tarts. This woman is a cook. She knows all about tarts."
"Well, if I must, then I must," the King said. Then he frowned at the Cook for a long time. Finally he said, "What are tarts made of?"
"Mostly pepper," the Cook said.
"Molasses," said a sleepy voice behind her.
"Seize that Dormouse!" the Queen shrieked. "Remove that Dormouse from court! Off with his head! Off with his whiskers!"
For a few minutes, the whole courtroom was in confusion as the Dormouse was removed. By the time everyone settled down again, the Cook had disappeared.
"Forget about the Cook." The King sounded relieved that he didn't have to deal with her anymore. "Really, my dear," he whispered to the Queen. "You must question the next witness. Dealing with all these people is making my head hurt."
"No, it's your job," the Queen said firmly.
Alice watched the White Rabbit hold up his scroll of paper. "They really don't have any evidence against the Knave of Hearts yet," she thought. "I wonder who the next witness will be."
"Alice!" the White Rabbit called loudly.
Alice jumped when she heard her name on the White Rabbit's scroll.
"Here!" Alice leaped to her feet, forgetting how large she'd grown. She knocked over the jury box, and all the jurors tumbled out.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Alice cried. Last week she'd knocked over a bowl of goldfish. This accident reminded her of that. She felt as if she had to put the jurors back quickly, or they'd die.
The King scowled at Alice. "This trial cannot go on until the jurors are back in their proper places."
Alice began working on it. But then she realized she'd put a lizard in upside down. She put the creature right side up. "Putting the jurors back is actually very silly," Alice thought. "None of these creatures will be much help at this trial."
The jurors' slates were found and returned to them. They all began to write about the accident. All except the lizard, who stared at the ceiling.
"What do you know about this tart business?" the King asked Alice.
"Nothing," Alice replied.
"Nothing at all?" the King asked.
"Nothing at all," she repeated.
For a few minutes, the jurors kept writing on their slates. The King wrote in a notebook. Suddenly he called out, "Silence!" even though no one was talking. He read aloud from his notebook. "'Rule 42: All people more than a mile high must leave the courtroom.'"
Everyone stared at Alice. "I'm not a mile high."
"Yes, you are," the King said.
"Almost two miles high," the Queen added.
"Well, I'm not leaving," Alice said. "Besides, that's not a real rule; you just made it up."
"It's the oldest rule in the book," the King said.
"Then it should be Rule One," Alice replied.
The King shook with anger. "Jury, what is your verdict?"