"We have an eyewitness, Mr. Cartwright," said the detective.

"I'm innocent, I swear!" replied Joshua Cartwright.

"But all the DNA evidence points to you, Mr. Cartwright. How do you explain that?" asked the detective.

Joshua sighed. "I want to call my lawyer."

She arrived promptly …

"I think we'll plead not guilty for you. It's our best hope," said Cindy Marshall, Joshua's costly private attorney.

"But Cindy, I'd prefer to prove my innocence."

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"I strongly advise that you say nothing at all, Joshua. That would cause them to dig more and bury you further."

"You don't believe me, do you?" He frowned.

Cindy appeared expressionless.

"Fine, I'll prove it to you. Let's post my bail."

Once he was out, Joshua entered his home while Cindy followed him to the basement.

"Joshua, my family knows exactly where I am."

"I told you, I'm 100% innocent." He uncovered a large standing circular machine and turned it on.

The machine hummed, and a portal within it became pitch-black.

He typed something into a computer console, causing the portal to display a kaleidoscope of colors that transformed into a slideshow of various locations on Earth.

"That's not just our Earth, by the way … There's many of them."

"Is this some sort of a magic trick?" asked Cindy.

"I'm afraid not." Joshua sighed. "The problem is that once I enter the portal, it's bidirectional, even though it's restricted to allow only my scanned DNA."

"Are you going to plead an insanity defense, Joshua?"

"No, Cindy, I'm trying to tell you that one of my doubles is a murderer and has entered the portal."