Remember that Heortling justice is not about punishment of crimes. It is about compensation for damage done, and maintenance of social balance. Therefore, there need not be the sense of urgency that would accompany a modern search for the arrest and imprisonment of a murderer.
Even in the RW, bringing cases to court takes a long time; awaiting a quarterly moot is not such a long wait.
Winning a Heortling legal case is not about demonstrating beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused has broken a precisely stated law. It requires demonstration that the accused has done serious damage to the social fabric that must be repaired. The judgement is pragmatic; importantly, powerful people are cut more slack, and the winner collects, so you must appear (socially) powerful to win. The most important success factor in a Heortling legal case is therefore to have the support of numerous people (or powerful people, which indirectly amounts to the same thing).
The time awaiting the court proceedings is not to be wasted: gather support. Travel the tulas to call in your favours, and be willing to indebt yourself. In deed, the clan Chief might not present the case at the Tribal Moot if he thinks you will have insufficient support (why should he antagonize the other Chiefs with a case he can't win?). In HW, this means using your Community and Ally Relationships, or purchasing new ones, or using your Wealth.
But if that seems all too difficult, remember that a court case is an alternative to blood feud; violence is always an option. You could just kill the guilty man. But then you would find yourself on the sharp end of a blood feud or legal case; how socially powerful is the guilty man?
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