A/N: Nothing much, but this one's full of new revelation to the story.

Don't forget to review after reading!

This chapter's playlist:

SCENE 1:
[OST Gyakuten Kenji 2] "The Imprisoned Turnabout" - Noriyuki Iwadare

SCENE 2:
[OST DANGAN RONPA] Beautiful Days - Masafumi Takada

SCENE 3:
[OST Gyakuten Saiban 1 and 2] Ayasato Mayoi ~ Gyakuten Sisters' Theme 2001 - Masakazu Sugimori
[OST Gyakuten Saiban 1 and 2 ] Itonokogiri Keisuke ~ It's Detective Itonoko, Pal - Masakazu Sugimori

SCENE 4:
[OST Gyakuten Saiban 1 and 2] Detention Center ~ Elegy of the Security Guards - Masakazu Sugimori

SCENE 5:
[OST Gyakuten Kenji] Investigation ~ Opening 2009 - Noriyuki Iwadare

SCENE 6:
[OST Gyakuten Kenji] Investigation ~ Middle 2009 - Noriyuki Iwadare
[OST Gyakuten Kenji] Deduction ~ Contradiction at the Crime Scene - Noriyuki Iwadare

SCENE 7:
[OST Gyakuten Kenji] Noisy People - Noriyuki Iwadare
[OST DANGAN RONPA] DISTRUST - Masafumi Takada

Chapter 15: One Case Down, Another Case Comin'!

# INVENTORY INFORMATION #

::: COURT RECORD CONTENTS :::
-Defense Attorney's badge [one of my posessions]
-Magatama [one of my possessions]

::: ORGANIZER CONTENTS :::
-Prosecutors' badge (2) [one of my possessions, as well as Franziska's]
-Franziska's whip [belongs to Franziska]
-Case Files [received from Det. Dick Gumshoe]
-300kg of Meths [received from Det. Dick Gumshoe]
-400kg of Ecstacy [received from Det. Dick Gumshoe]
-360kg of Heroin [received from Det. Dick Gumshoe]
-Box of Hypodermic [received from Det. Dick Gumshoe]
-Bomb [discovered at the crime scene by Const. Barton]
-Detailed Case Files [received from Insp. Clamp Grosky]
-Mark's backpack [received from the innkeeper]

HINT COINS COUNT: 49
PICARATS: 0224

####

[June 12, 1.05AM,
Detention Center,
Defendant's Cell]

Schmidt and Nevis were locked up in two separate, but adjacent cell in the detention center shortly after they were being arrested and taken to America to be put on trial. The two of them couldn't have an enjoyable sleep after being interrogated by the police and now, they couldn't contact any of their members because their belongings were confiscated, and all the members of the Dark Alley had been arrested.

"Now what?" Schmidt began, "We're doomed now,"
"What if Master finds us here?" Nevis asked.
"Pipe down!" Schmidt snapped, asking him to lower down his voice, "You'll gonna' make us end up in a solitary cell for defendants like us!"
"S-sorry, boss,"
"Such a disgrace for all of you peeps," another voice boomed.
"M-m-m-m-Master?!" the two of them exclaimed in unison.

A shadowy figure began to appear in the hallways of the detention cell. Slowly, it approached to the cells where Nevis and Schmidt was place. The shadowy figure then approached to Schmidt's cell.

"M-Master?! What are you doing here?" Schmidt asked nervously.
"I was the one who were supposed to ask that!" the shadowy figure retorted, "How the hell did you end up here,"
"Those lawyermen from this state chased us all the way to London and ended up arresting us on the spot," Schmidt explained, "Later on, the cops shipped us back here and put us into this cell-"
"Foolish people!" the shadowy figure shouted, "SUCH A DISGRACE FOR HAVING AN INCOMPETENT SUBORDINATE!"

Schmidt lowered down his head and bowed in fear, begging for mercy. The shadowy figure suddenly pulled out a gun and...

"P-please... Give me mercy, Mast-" Schmidt begged, "AAAAAARGH!"

*BANG! BANG!*

But somehow, he was being stopped, and shortly after what happened, he collapsed and froze on to the floor, lying in a pool of blood. Eventually after that incident, someone was knocked unconscious with a glass bottle.

It was Nevis who was being knocked down. The shadowy figure somehow mysteriously disappeared from the sight.

####

[June 12, 7.00AM,
Edgeworth Residence,
Lounge]

Edgeworth, Franziska and Kay were sleeping in the luxurious lounge room. Kay slept on her sleeping bag on the carpeted floor, while the two prosecutors slept together on the couch comfortably. They had been enjoying a movie night watching the latest movie of the Steel Samurai, which was 'Steel Samurai and Jammin' Ninja VS The Global Hero Onyankopon'.

In the peaceful silence of the room, suddenly, the alarm clock rang.

"Ngghh... what time is it, Kay?" Edgeworth asked as he tried to bury his face into Franziska's hair.

Kay has been awakened by the alarm clock. She got off from her sleeping bag and checked the clock on the coffee table.

"It's 7 AM, Mr. Edgeworth," Kay replied in a half-awakened-half-asleep tone, "Get out of the bed now,"

Edgeworth turned Franziska's body so that she was facing him. He rested her head on top of his shoulder, then approached to her forehead to give her a quick peck on it. Franziska then woke up, only to see her 'little brother' smiling upon her.

"Good morning, Franziska," he began as he smiled.
"G-good morning, Miles," she replied.
"C'mon, Mr. Edgeworth and Ms. von Karma!" Kay interrupted, as she slammed her hands onto the couch's backrest, "Quit that lovey-dovey moment for a while!"
"W-we're not lovebirds, Kay!" Edgeworth snapped while he held onto Franziska.
"Well then let's go, Miles Edgeworth!" Franziska suddenly blurted out, then pushed Edgeworth off from the couch, causing him to fall off from it.

Edgeworth fell down to the floor on his back, causing him to bump on his back slightly. He then sat up and rubbed his back.

"Franziska, what the heck was that for?!" he asked.
"Proof that we've got some business to do today!" she replied, lending out a hand at him.

Kay walked away from the couch and approached to Edgeworth. Apparently, she was wearing a black T-shirt with a Hinagarasu mascot in the middle of it, and a pair of brown shorts for her nightwear.

(A/N: For those of you who watched Haikyuu, you guys might know about this hinagarasu thingy. Those who don't just feel free to google it XD. BTW, Hinagarasu is a combination of Hinata as in Hinata Shouyou, the protagonist of Haikyuu, and 'Karasu', the Japanese word for crow, and in the story, the school where the protag was schooled is Karasuno High, in which the mascot is a crow. Go and watch it or read the manga!)

"Mr. Edgeworth, get up now!" Kay began as she pulled his left arm while dragging him off the floor.
"Kay, stop this thing!" Edgeworth exclaimed.

####

[June 12, 7.45AM,
Wright and Co. Law Offices]

Phoenix, Layton, Clive and Luke were watching the morning news on the TV while Maya, Emmy and Flora were preparing the breakfast. Apparently, according to the news announcer, there was a shocking incident at the detention center as there had been a murder and an assault happening at the same time and location.

"Don't tell me someone will come to us and ask for help?" Phoenix began, hoping that no clients will come.
"I'm not sure, Mr. Wright," Layton replied, "But I have a bad feeling that..."

Suddenly, the detective barged in to the office.

"HELP ME, PAL!" the detective shouted as he enters the office.
"W-What's with this sudden intrusion, Detective Gumshoe?" Phoenix asked, now looking rather dazed.

Gumshoe stopped a bit and scratched the back of his head. His face was all nervous-looking, as he seemed to sweat bullets.

"My subordinate, he..." Gumshoe began, but he seemed reluctant to continue.
"What is the problem here, Detective?" Layton asked him calmly.
"H-he's been arrested, pal!" Gumshoe replied, looking rather unhappy now.
"W-who is this subordinate of yours?!" Phoenix asked back.
"Why don't we have a calming cup of tea for a moment?" Layton suddenly changed the subject amidst the questioning.
"That's a good idea, pal!" Gumshoe agreed.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Phoenix blurted, "I was still asking some questions!"
"Let's just do as the professor says, Mr. Wright," Luke cut him off, giving him a mental facepalm as he walked away.

####

"Tadaaa!" Maya began, "Breakfast is ready!"

The girls had been racking their brains for breakfast, and today, they came up with someting 'fancier' - A perfectly(?) done English breakfast, complete with the egg sandwich toast, sausages, and a fried egg with its yolk in the middle of it.

"You're preparing an English breakfast today, Maya?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.
"You can thank Ms. Altava and Flora for these!" Maya replied, then pointed at Emmy and Flora as they gave a light smile at him.
"Please, just call me Emmy, okay?" Emmy corrected her as she blushed at the moment Maya addressed her with a title.
"Let's have a treat!" Luke began, then began to eat slowly on his breakfast (this was a Japanese reference to 'Itadakimasu', despite for Luke being a British).

Since Gumshoe had been in their office for a moment, he decided to join in their breakfast session, because apparently, he had been too flustered to make a breakfast ever since he received the information about the case (he had been eating instant noodles for his daily routine meals thanks to Edgeworth too).

"Wow, thanks a lot for this treat, pal!" Gumshoe thanked Phoenix, "I haven't been eating anything other than instant noodles lately, pal!"
"Oh dear, how much did you earn every month, detective?" Layton asked sympathetically.

Gumshoe simply gave a puppy-dog eyes at him.

"I don't think you want to know, Professor," Phoenix replied instead.
"Mr. Edgeworth should give him a raise next time," Maya added with a grin.
"My word," Layton simply gave them a mental facepalm as the others bursted into a slight laughter.

The group continued to eat their breakfast after they had done laughing. Later on, when they had finished eating, Phoenix began to ask a question to the detective.

"Umm... Detective, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, pal," the detective replied.
"Will you take us to the Detention Center today?"
"Well um, yeah, but... the crime scene is AT the detention center, pal," Gumshoe added, now looking rather nervous.
"Wait-WHAT?!" Phoenix exclaimed, "The detention center?!"
"Sorry to surprise you, pal, but it's true," Gumshoe continued as he scratched the back of his head.

The group fell silent all of a sudden. No one could imagine it, but whatever Gumshoe said just now, only leaves them to see the scene first hand.

####

[June 12, 8.15AM,
Detention Center,
Parking Lot]

The detention center was packed with police cars and vans. A group of police security personnel guarded the front door, preventing any unauthorized entry into the building.

The group arrived at the scene thanks to Gumshoe's van. As they got off from the car, they saw that the building was packed with uniformed personnel.

"W-what's with all these so many cops?" Emmy asked with a surprised look.
"I told you so, pal," Gumshoe replied, "We've been taking over this place to conduct a full-day investigation here, so it might be difficult for you to investigate, too,"
"This might be a tough start," Layton commented, "Anyway, who ordered you to perform this investigation?"

Gumshoe broke into a brief silence, and scratched the back of his head.
"Umm... a newcoming prosecutor, pal," he replied, "He called himself the Anonymous Prosecutor, so everyone in the precinct calls him 'Anon',"

Don't tell me this Anon guy was inspired by that good-for-nothing coffee addict? Phoenix thought as he recalled back a certain prosecutor that he last met earlier this year.

"What a strange guy!" Luke commented, "I mean, anyone can be called anonymous too, but this guy, he's just being too um... strange,"
"Luke, remember to save those words for yourself," Layton added, "A true gentleman never comments badly on a stranger,"
"Anyway, even though that guy was in charge for the prosecution, he didn't show up at the crime scene," Gumshoe continued, "Which is odd, pal,"

Layton stopped and pondered upon Gumshoe's mentions, while Phoenix continued to ask the detective.

"So, do I get the chance to see my client?" Phoenix asked.
"You already met your client, pal!" Gumshoe suddenly pumped up as he stomped his feet, "I AM that client!"
"W-wait, WHAT?!" Phoenix exclaimed, "Why don't you tell me before, Detective?!"
"I already told you before, my subordinate's under detention right now!" Gumshoe added, "He can't meet you at your office in person, so I have to represent for him, pal!"
"Okay, okay, I understand now, Detective," Phoenix finally gave up, "You represent for him as a client, so now I'll have to see him in person as an attorney,"
"That's right, pal!" Gumshoe continued, "And now, I'll have to take you to the visitors' room ASAP, pal!"

And with that, the detective took them inside the detention center to meet the defendant.

####

[June 12, 8.25AM,
Detention Center,
Visitor's Room]

The group had been sitting inside the waiting room for a moment, but the defendant hasn't showed up yet, let alone the detective.

Phoenix examined the clock on his mobile phone. It read '8.25AM'.

"How long are we going to wait?" Emmy asked.
"We've been waiting for ten minutes," Luke added as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"Umm... are you, by any chance, the Wright and Co. Law Offices?" a voice suddenly boomed from behind them.

The kids suddenly screamed as the voice suddenly called them. Phoenix and Layton, as well as Emmy and Clive turned around and found a young boy in his late teens, sitting behind the glass window.

"Oh, hello there, young man," Layton greeted him, "What brings you here?"
"And yes, umm... We're from Wright and Co. Law Offices," Phoenix added, "I'm Phoenix Wright, attorney at law, at your service,"
"My name is Hershel Layton," Layton continued, "I'm Mr. Wright's close friend,"

Phoenix turned behind to examine the kids. The kids were still hiding under the chairs.

"Guys, get out there now," Phoenix began, "There's no ghost here, it's just another person coming,"

Luke poked out his head from beneath the chairs. He slowly crawled out of it and stood up straight. Maya and Flora then followed suit.

"Boy, that really send me chills, Nick!" Maya replied as she made her face looked like an inflated pufferfish.
"Anyway, this is our client," Phoenix continued as he introduced him to the defendant, "His name is... umm.. what was it?"
"Robin Chance," the boy replied, "Full-time office boy at this detention center, 16,"
"S-sixteen?!" Maya exclaimed, "Don't you go to school?"
"I can't afford to pay the school fees, so I couldn't go to school," Chance explained, "I don't have a place to live when I turned 12, because my dad was fired from his job, and we couldn't pay our rent. My mom doesn't work, and she's currently sick, so I have to work to earn a living,"
"I'm sorry for your current situation, my boy," Layton commented with a sympathy as he lowered the brim of his hat.
"I don't know what to do, sir," Chance continued, "I have been suffering long enough already, and now, I've fallen into more pitfalls of bad luck. I've been accused for murder, what should I do, sir?"
"Don't worry, Robin," Emmy comforted him as she placed her hands on the bench, "We'll get you out of this trouble!"

As the group were having a conversation with the defendant, Gumshoe appeared from behind the defendant's room and approached to them.

"I-I see you've met your client, pal," Gumshoe began."Well yeah, I did, Detective," Phoenix replied.
"Give him a 'Not Guilty' verdict or I will not forgive you, pal!" Gumshoe continued, and suddenly pumped up.
"Just trust me, Detective. I will,"
"Together as a team, we will!" Maya added, with her both fists clenched tightly.
"Yeah, do too!" Luke added.
"See, everyone's here on your side, Robin," Emmy said to the defendant, "So there's no reason to be afraid now, okay?"
"Yep, just stay calm and believe in them, pal?" Gumshoe added as he pat Chance's left shoulders.

Chance was speechless. He was totally beamed with gratitude as everyone around him were now on his side.

"T-thank you, guys...," Chance thanked him, "I-I don't really know how to say this, but, thanks a lot, Mr. Wright!"

Chance was totally happy that he even began to cry in happiness. It was the first time that someone was bound to help him.

####

[June 12, 8.40AM,
High Prosecutor's Office,
12th Floor]

Franziska and Kay had been waiting near the staircase for about forty minutes as they waited for Edgeworth to scale all the 24 sets of staircases.

"Ugh... how long do we have to wait for him to scale all those stairs?" Kay began as she fixed her eyes onto her stopwatch, "Can't he just use the elevator?"
"Miles Edgeworth despised it, Kay," Franziska replied, No wonder his body was all that ripped.

As Franziska made a mental note on Edgeworth's ripped, manly body, she suddenly blushed. Kay shifted her eyes onto her and noticed that the prosecutor's face was all red.

"Umm... Ms. von Karma, why are you blushing?" Kay asked, "Are you thinking about Mr. Edgeworth?" she then continued with a grin.
"Urk-!" Franziska gulped, "I-it's not like I like him, Kay!"
"Teehee... You're blushing again, Ms. von Karma!" Kay giggled, "You like Mr. Edgeworth, right?"
"S-stop it, Kay!"

As the two girls were indulging a conversation, Edgeworth finally arrived at the 12th floor. He stopped for a while to catch some breath.

"Mr. Edgeworth!" Kay suddenly switched her conversation to him, "Ms. von Karma said that she-"
"OBJECTION!" Franziska interrupted, "Ignore her, Miles! She's just blabbering about some random foolishne-"
"HOLD IT!" Edgeworth cut her off, "What is the meaning of this, girls?!"
"Umm... nothing, Mr. Edgeworth," Kay replied with a grin, "We're just having some fun talking,"

Edgeworth simply replied with a 'hmph'.

"Whatever you girls are talking about," he muttered, "Anyway, let's head in to my office,"

The girls nodded, and with that, they followed him to his office.

####

[June 12, 8.44AM,
High Prosecutor's Office,
12th floor, Room 1202]

"So, where do we begin, Mr. Edgeworth?" Kay asked as she placed her palms on the desk while Edgeworth began to fetch some files left by Detective Gumshoe earlier this morning on his sofa.
"We need to deal with some documents here for the trial tomorrow," Edgeworth replied while placing the documents on his desk, "Franziska, don't you have any cases to prosecute?"
"No, not yet as for now," Franziska replied.
"If so, could you be my co-counsel and witness for my trial?" he asked back.
"Well, surely I can, since I've got a lot of things that I witnessed, and so do you, Miles Edgeworth," she replied with a smirk.
"Oh yeah, you guys were kidnapped by them, so I guess that can be a solid testimony and evidence, right?" Kay added.
"Exactly," Edgeworth replied, "We've got some solid proof for what they've been doing, and there's no way they can get out of this,"
"Yep, and... Zvarri! The truth has finally been revealed!" Kay continued.

|| POV MODE: MILES EDGEWORTH ||

Alright, now that we've arrested all the culprits behind this hideous case, let us recap what this case is all about.

CASE INFORMATION:

The criminals are involved in an illegal drug trafficking from Europe to North America through an international drug organization called the Dark Alleys. They also targeted lawyers and usually bribed them to legalize this very criminal, with a threat of murdering important people such as the President and whatsoever, or bombing the courtrooms worldwide by sending terrorists to targeted countries if the lawyers deny their requests.

CRIMINAL LISTS:

-Paulo Schmidt, 45, leader of the drug syndicate. Arrested on the spot in the hideout in London, Great Britain.
-Kane Nevis, 29, subordinate. Arrested on the spot in the hideout in London.
-Jack Stacey, 20, subordinate. Arrested after being searched by the Interpol in Italy.
-Marley Juana, 23, subordinate. Arrested after being searched by the Interpol in France.
-Cody Cocaine, 25, subordinate. Shot after attempting to escape from Interpol's arrest.

UPDATE: All the current members were already arrested, but however one mystery arose.

According to an old witness's account (dated December 01, 1989), there is still another mastermind behind this case, and yet, the mastermind is believed to be the successor of the late mafia boss, Dark DeVille. The successor's whereabouts are still yet to be clarified, but rumor has it that the successor is the son of Darke DeVille, which is still yet to be confirmed as well.

LIST OF EVIDENCE AVAILABLE AT THE MOMENT:

-300kg of Meths.
-400kg of Ecstacy.
-360kg of Heroin.
-Box of hypodermic.

UPDATE:

-Bomb
-Mark's backpack (late reporter's bag full of evidence regarding this case, although very old, but is connected to the case)

|| POV MODE SWITCH TO: FRANZISKA VON KARMA ||

Alright, now that Miles Edgeworth had explained the updated summary for the current case, let me explain the solved and the new mysteries that we found so far:

1- Mystery Man's origins

The mysterious man who called Mr. Wright a few days ago requested him to legalize drug trafficking, but unfortunately, Mr. Wright didn't happen to know this man. Who is this guy exactly?

ANSWER: The mysterious man who called Mr. Wright a few days ago was a person from an international drug syndicate called the Dark Alleys. His actual identity is still unknown, unfortunately.

2- Dark Alleys' current whereabouts [SOLVED]

The two remaining culprits, Paulo Schmidt and Kane Nevis were most wanted by the local police and the Interpol, but sadly, no one knows their current whereabouts. The other three has been arrested, one of them were shot to injury in an attempt to escape from the Interpol's arrest.

ANSWER: We now had discovered that the Dark Alley were based in London, exactly at the abandoned port at the center of the metropolis. We had successfully arrested the criminals behind the organisation.

3 - Edgeworth's whereabouts [SOLVED]

After what happened this morning, Edgeworth, Emmy, Clive and Franziska were knocked out unconsciously as they tried to arrest the goons, and were kidnapped by them. Kay tried to search for them for the whole afternoon, but came home empty-handed.

Where could've they stowed Edgeworth and the others away?

ANSWER: Edgeworth and his companies were abducted and were stowed inside the warehouse where the Dark Alley was based. The warehouse were apparently located at the abandoned port in Central London.

4 - The two goons [SOLVED]

These troublesome duo caused a havoc down the bustling streets in London this morning, but somehow, by the time we were about to arrest them, they seemed to be more hostile than expected as they came with a surprising number of minions. Were they related to the Dark Alley?

ANSWER: The two goons were apparently the henchmen assigned by the Dark Alley to foil our plans to arrest them, but ironically, it was because of them that we finally found the Dark Alley's hideout.

5 - DeVille's successor.

Rumor has it that the late criminal mastermind, Darke DeVille had a son, who was believed to be his successor, and somehow, he was the person behind all of this shenanigans. What was his purpose for doing so?

ANSWER: None. Still finding leads.

Looks like that's all I can gather so far. Over and out.

|| POV MODE ENDS ||

*BEEP BEEP!* Edgeworth's phone suddenly rang in the middle of their discussion. He then took out the phone from his pocket and answered the call.

"Yes, this is Edgeworth speaking," he began.
"Sir, there's a mass investigation to be conducted at the detention center!" the voice, who turned out to be Gumshoe, replied.
"Mass investigation?" Edgeworth continued, "What do you mean?"
"I know you're busy doing the work for tomorrow's trial, sir, but this is super urgent!"
"Hmm... alright, Detective," Edgeworth agreed, and with that, he disconnected the phone call and put the phone back into the pocket.
"What is it?" Franziska asked.
"There's a mass investigation at the detention center, and this is super urgent," Edgeworth stated as he walked towards the door.

Kay and Franziska shifted their eyes at each other, then nodded and followed suit.

####

[June 12, 9.00AM,
Detention Center]

"So, are we going to start our investigation, Detective?" Phoenix asked as Gumshoe took them to the crime scene.
"No, not just yet, pal," Gumshoe replied, "You need Mr. Edgeworth to help you out,"
"What? I thought he's working on the smuggling case trial?" Phoenix replied back with a single brow raised.
"This murder is somewhow connected to his case, pal," the detective continued, "The people involved in this case are the members of the Dark Alley, pal,"
"W-whaaaaat?!" Luke and Maya exclaimed.

As they walked through the security gate leading to the detention cell, Edgeworth, Franziska and Kay came in and approached to them.

"I heard there's a mass investigation in this place, is that correct, Wright?" Edgeworth began as he entered the scene.
"Mr. Edgeworth, right in time, sir!" Gumshoe called him out.
"Just what on earth is going on here, Scruffy?!" Franziska asked as she lashed a whip at him.
*CRACK!* "Yeeeooowww!" Gumshoe shrieked in pain, "T-there's a murder at the detention cell, sir, and my subordinate was accused for the crime, sir!"
"Oh, and what about it?" Franziska asked back as she pulled her whip.
"The people involved are the members of the Dark Alley, sir!" Gumshoe continued.
"Whaaaaat?!" Kay exclaimed, "Really, Gummy?!"

Gumshoe simply nodded, and led them the way to the crime scene.

####

When they arrived at the crime scene, it did cause a shock among the group. A corpse was lying inside the rightmost cell, surrounded by the forensics who were examining the body on the spot.

Blood was splattered around the body, and one forensics member were examining the blood.

"EEEEEEEEK!" Flora screamed.

Flora suddenly fainted the moment she saw the body. Clive caught her before she collapsed to the ground.

"Flora, are you okay?" Luke asked, but obviously she did not respond.
"Clive, Emmy, take Flora out for a while," Layton ordered the journalists.
"Okay, Professor," Emmy nodded, and with that, Clive lifted Flora up and carried her away, while Emmy followed suit.

The group returned to the topic and continued to examine the scene.

"So, where do we stop just now?" Phoenix asked.
"We still yet to investigate the body, Mr. Wright," Layton replied.
"Alright, so I supposed we should start another collaborated investigation, right, Miles Edgeworth?" Franziska added, then shifted her eyes to Edgeworth.

Edgeworth simply nodded with a 'Hmm'.

"Okay then, so let's get moving, guys!" Phoenix continued, then raised his fist up.

[INVESTIGATION MODE TURNED ON, POV MODE MACHINE TURNED OFF WHILE INVESTIGATING]

####

|| BEGIN INVESTIGATION ||
SESSION: PHOENIX WRIGHT AND HERSHEL LAYTON

The cell where the victim used to reside was once inhabited by a recent criminal who was involved in a big case last spring, and also once a murder scene related to the big case as well. But all that was left now was another memories of a murder scene that happened earlier last midnight.

Phoenix and Layton entered the cell as the group split up. As the two protagonists entered, Phoenix had his attention on to the forensics who happened to examine the victim's body.

"Umm, sir, are you done with the examination of the victim's body?" Phoenix asked.
"Almost there, sir!" one of the forensics replied with a salute, "We're currently writing a report, so you can have a look now, sir!"
"Thank you, officer," Layton thanked the forensics and tipped the brim of his hat.
"You're welcome, Professor," the forensics replied in unison.

With that, the forensics moved aside next to the body, letting the twosome examine the body first-hand.

It was really gruesome. The victim was shot twice, one on his chest, which left a bullet stuck between his lungs and heart, and one on his stomach, which penetrated the body to the back. His face was pale, but was stained with blood because he collapsed on to the floor with the front facing the ground, and his expression was full of fear and despair, presumably due to the fear from encountering his true killer.

"I can see that the second bullet was the cause of his death," Layton deduced, as he placed a hand on his chin.
"Huh? Really, professor?" Phoenix asked.
"Yes, Mr. Wright," the professor replied back and nodded, "Take a look at the first bullet. It was stuck right between his lungs and heart, and surely that really led him to the brink of his death,"

Phoenix took a look at the victim's chest region once more. The professor was correct. Without having to cut open the victim's body, the professor can deduce that the victim's cause of death wasn't there.

The professor is really amazing, Phoenix took a mental note as he watched the professor examining the body, He can just simply deduce the answer by basic logical thinking.

SESSION: LUKE TRITON, MAYA FEY AND KAY FARADAY

Luke, Maya and Kay gathered in front of the victim's cell as the professor and Phoenix were investigating inside the cell. The three of them were discussing about the drug smuggling case, which was now under Edgeworth's hands, and the murder case.

"So, do you think the murder of the victim is somewhat related, Kay?" Maya asked.
"I'm pretty sure yes," Kay replied, "I mean, the victim is the leader of the Dark Alley, so surely our cases are intertwined,"
"Speaking of which, if Mr. Schmidt was killed, then who's gonna' testify about the smuggling activities?" Luke asked as he shifted his eyes from his notebook to the two girls.
"I guess that would be the other culprit, Mr. Nevis," Maya replied, "Because he was the only one left now,"
"Good thinking, Maya!" Kay commented.
"Thanks, Kay," the acolyte replied back with a grin.

USER: HERSHEL LAYTON AND PHOENIX WRIGHT REJOINS SESSION

After the short discussion, Phoenix and the professor exited the cell with a document in their hands. The threesome were wondering what it was, so they decided to approach the two men.

"Professor, what's that you're carrying?" Luke asked.
"Oh, this is the victim's autopsy report," Layton replied, "I got it from the forensics,"
"Whaaat?!" Maya and Kay both exclaimed, "Let's check it out!"

[SCHMIDT'S AUTOPSY REPORT ADDED TO THE COURT RECORD]

Phoenix opened up the autopsy report and examined the contents of the document. The document read:

"Victim's name: Paulo Schmidt
Age: 45
Time of death: June 12, 1.06AM

Location of death: Detention Cell #1

COD: Shot twice on the abdomen - first bullet stuck on the chest, right between the heart and lungs, only caused injury, while the second shot penetrates the body through the stomach; major cause of death is the 2nd shot."

"Ugh... how gruesome," Luke commented in a disgust.

Aside from the reports, there were also photos depicting the victim's condition at the time of discovery and examination. Layton picked up one of the photos and examined it.

How could anyone do this? Layton pondered as he took a closer look at the photo of the victim during the forensics' examination.

SESSION: CLIVE DOVE, EMMY ALTAVA AND FLORA REINHOLD

Clive and Emmy were sitting outside the visitors' room while waiting for Flora to recover from her unconsciousness.

Emmy turned on her laptop and continued to write on her report regarding the smuggling case in which they teamed up with Phoenix and Edgeworth. So far, she had covered about their discovery of the smugglers' hideout, and the backstory behind the case.

"Don't forget to input about the murder case that Wright's currently working on, Emmy," Clive noted her as he watched her working on it.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Emmy asked as she raised a brow.
"I heard that one of the smugglers was murdered in Wright's case," Clive replied, "I'm not sure which one, but they said the smugglers were involved,"
"And so, the plot thickens," Emmy added sarcastically.

As they were chit-chatting, Flora finally regained her consciousness.

"Oh boy, what happened?" Flora murmured as she rubbed her head.

Clive and Emmy shifted their eyes to Flora the moment they heard her voice.

"Flora, you're awakened!" Clive began, "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay," she replied, "It's just that I'm not really used to seeing a dead body,"
"That's alright, Flora," Emmy comforted her.
"By the way, where's the professor?" the girl asked back.
"They're in the middle of their investigation," Clive replied back, "I supposed I should be heading in again,"
"Nice one, Clive!" Emmy agreed, "But I'll be staying here, if you don't mind,"
"Don't mind me!" Clive added, "I'll be gathering some more information for our report,"

With that, Clive stood up and walked back to the crime scene, leaving Flora and Emmy behind for a while.

SESSION: MILES EDGEWORTH AND FRANZISKA VON KARMA
USER: CLIVE DOVE REJOINS

Edgeworth and Franziska were investigating the cell next to the victim's cell. The cell happened to be where Nevis was held onto detention.

Clive entered the crime scene as they were pondering onto the cell. The two prosecutors shifted their eyes onto him the moment they heard his footsteps.

"Ah, if it isn't Clive Dove, what brings you here?" Franziska began.
"Well umm... I'm trying to help you guys, of course," Clive replied as he scratched the back of his head.
"Right in time, Clive," Edgeworth continued, "We need to examine this cell carefully. There's something fishy about this cell,"

Clive simply nodded. But before that, the professor, Phoenix as well as the kids approached to the second cell as well.

USER: HERSHEL LAYTON, PHOENIX WRIGHT, LUKE TRITON, MAYA FEY AND KAY FARADAY REJOINS

"So, you guys are going to inspect the second cell too?" Phoenix asked.
"I suppose it's not a problem when we work together," Edgeworth replied with a shrug, "Considering how the two cases seemed to be intersecting each other,"
"Well then, shall we began?" Layton asked as he approached to the second cell.

The group simply nodded, and with that, Layton opened the cell's gate and entered the cell.

####

When they entered the cell, they found nothing really suspicious, except that there were a few traces of blood on the floor, as well as some shattered pieces of a glass bottle.

"Nothing much to be found here," Phoenix commented.
"Hold it, Wright!" Edgeworth interrupted, "What about these traces of blood on the floor, as well as these pieces of shattered glass bottle?""Oh, is that so?" Phoenix asked back, "I guess I didn't really paid so much attention to tha-*CRACK*aaaaAAAAT!"
"A foolishly sad excuse for foolishly missing out a foolishly visible evidence, Phoenix Wright!" Franziska snapped out the moment she lashed her whip at him.
"Good grief," Edgeworth sighed, "Anyway, these broken glasses really caught my curiosity,"

[BROKEN GLASS ADDED TO THE COURT RECORD]

"Excuse me, Detective, but may I ask who happened to be kept here recently?" Layton asked.
"Umm... It was the victim's subordinate, Kane Nevis," the detective replied as he scratched the back of his head.
"And where might he be now?" Edgeworth added.
"He was knocked unconscious by the culprit, perhaps by using that broken bottle, and now he was taken to the hospital for a treatment," Gumshoe continued.

Layton took another look at the broken glass on the floor to confirm the detective's testimony.

"I see," Layton simply replied, "Thank you for your cooperation, Detective,"
"No problem, pal!" Gumshoe replied back.
"So, where does this leave us to?" Phoenix asked.
"We still have yet to ask Nevis regarding the incident last night, considering that he is the prime witness of the incident," Layton explained.
"Indeed, Professor," Edgeworth agreed, "Wright, I suppose that you should go to the hospital to visit him, then,"
"Well, I really am going now," Phoenix added, "How about you, Edgeworth?"
"I'll be returning to the office for now," Edgeworth replied, "I'm going to prepare some documents for my case's trial tomorrow,"
"I suppose we should part our ways from this point again, Edgeworth," Phoenix continued, "All the best for you tomorrow,"
"I wish you a good luck too, Wright,"

And with that, the group had finished conducting their investigation at the detention cell for that day. Edgeworth, Franziska and Kay returned to the Prosecutors' Office to prepare for tomorrow's trial, while Phoenix, Layton and company went to the hospital to visit the case's prime witness.

|| INVESTIGATION COMPLETE ||

[INVESTIGATION MODE TURNED OFF, POV MODE MACHINE TURNED ON]

####

[ June 12, 10.10 AM,
General Hospital,
Lobby]

Why are we back in this accursed hospital again? Phoenix thought as he recalled back the incident that involved Franziska being shot on her right shoulder, and the moment where they were being welcomed by a certain irritating 'doctor'.

"Hmm... Mr. Wright, are you okay?" Layton asked, "Why the long face?"

Phoenix snapped out of his bad memories and returned to the reality.

"Huh? Umm... nothing, Professor," he simply replied.

As the group were standing in the lobby near the reception center, suddenly, a familiar, weird-looking doctor appeared in front of them, which caused Luke and Flora to jump in astonishment.

"Hello there," the creepy doctor greeted, "Can I help you with anything?"
"EEEEPP!" Flora screamed and scurried to the professor.
"Yikes! It's Dr. Frankenstein!" Luke shrieked.

Luke scurried to Phoenix's back and hid away from the doctor. Surely that doctor is 'creepy'.

"Come now, Luke, Flora," Layton said to them, "It's just an normal doctor,"

Normal?! More like crazy to me, professor! Phoenix thought once again.

"Would you like to be treated here, Missy?" the doctor asked to Emmy.
"Thanks, doctor, but nope," Emmy denied, "I'm absolutely fine today?"
"Or would you like to have a massage on your body?" he added as he began to do that 'squeezing' pose at her.
"Eww! No thanks, doctor!" Emmy replied with a disgust, I guess Phoenix's right about him being a pervert.
"Oh dear," Layton murmured, "Pardon me, doctor, but we're looking for a patient named Kane Nevis. Do you know anything about him?"
"Nevis, eh?" the doctor repeated, "Well, I'm in charge of him at the moment,"

WHAT?! Him?! Phoenix exclaimed in his thoughts, No way in hell he's in charge of him!

The doctor, who happened to be Director Hotti, was in charge of taking care of the victim of the current case, which was an unfortunate turn of event for Phoenix, since this doctor had been helping him on some of his previous cases. However, in truth, all people can say about this doctor is nothing but perversions.

"Could you let us pay him a visit?" Layton asked.
"Sure, sir," the doctor replied, and with that, he led the group the way to the patient's room.

####

When they arrived at the patient's room, they found Nevis lying on the bed, now awakened from his unconsciousness and was being treated by the nurses.

"Good morning, Mr. Nevis," the doctor greeted him, "How's your condition so far?"
"Umm, so far so good, Doc," Nevis replied as he scratched his back.
Nevis made a quick glance at Layton, Phoenix and the company. He was surprised to see them in this place.
"W-why are they here, sir?" Nevis asked.
"Calm down, sir," Layton ordered him to calm down, "We are here to ask some information regarding the incident last night,"
"We heard that you were involved, sir, so we would like to gather some information regarding what you witnessed last night," Phoenix added.
"Incident?!" Nevis repeated, "I know no incident last night! I swear I didn't know anything about the murder, sir!"

Suddenly, from Phoenix's point of view, the scene turned black and Nevis began to be surrounded by chains and locks. Altogether, there were five locks attached to him. At the same time, the Magatama in his Court Record glowed.

"Oh no, not some Psyche-Locks...," Phoenix murmured.
"Psyche-Locks?" Layton repeated, "What on earth is that, Mr. Wright,"
"They are some imaginary chains and locks that surround you when you are hiding some secrets from people," Maya explained.
"The only way to see these locks is when you have this," Phoenix added and showed them the Magatama.
"Plus, you need to gather some crucial evidence to break those locks," Maya continued.
"At this point, I can surely say that we can't break those locks, right?" Kay added.

Phoenix and Maya simply nodded.

"Let's go, guys," Phoenix ordered them.

And with that, the group left the hospital for the moment to gather enough evidence relating to these two cases.

####

# END OF CHAPTER

A/N: Too bad we stopped by another cliffhanger! Sheesh, what a pain!

Anyways, I really need to take a break from writing Turnabout Intersection at the moment. Since this is a holiday season, I want to treat myself with a MitsuMei and my other otp from PL and K (yep, apparently I watched K last month, and it was good!) doodles.

Last but not least, Happy Holidays, guys! Over and out.