Chapter 6

Fake News

(Author's notes at the end of chapter)

Apollo took a deep breath to clear his head as he reentered the courtroom. Edgeworth was already behind his bench, going over paperwork and didn't so much as glance at the defense attorney and his entourage as they made their way over to the defense's side of the room.

As he took his position behind the bench, he felt a firm hand grasp his shoulder. He turned to see Athena smiling widely. "Don't worry, you got this Apollo." Did he really look as nervous as he felt? But she was right, there was nothing to worry about.

I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine.

The pounding of the Judge's gavel brought him back into reality. "Court will now reconvene for trial of Trucy Wright." His voice bellowed throughout the room, echoing slightly. "Before we begin, I would like to go over the facts of the case." Both the defense and prosecution nodded in agreement.

He straightened out some papers on his desk- Does the Judge not have the screens that we do? Apollo wondered briefly, looking down at the blue screen on the bench that held the all the information both sides had presented about the case so far.

"Trucy Wright is accused of murdering her adoptive father, Phoenix Wright." He began. "Mr. Wright was found dead in his office at approximately 12:10PM by the defendant. The cause of death a stab through the neck with one of Ms. Wright's throwing knives."

"It was not the puncture that killed Mr. Wright," Edgeworth interjected, "but he bled out and drowned in his own blood."

The Judge nodded in agreement and continued. "Yes, Mr. Edgeworth. He remained alive for about five minutes. Also found at the crime scene was one of Ms. Wright's performing gloves covered in blood. One of her magician's hats was also found in a dumpster nearby."

"We also determined that there is a chance that was not the person Mr. Sharpley saw leaving the office after the murder took place." Apollo added almost in a panic. He had to remind the Judge- and the gallery for that matter- that Trucy was innocent until proven guilty and not the other way around. "Ms. Wright is wearing the outfit she was arrested in," he pulled up Trucy's mugshot onto the screens around the courtroom so that the Judge and gallery could see, "as Ms. Wright still has her two gloves. If Mr. Sharpley's testimony is to be believed, the murderer left wearing only one glove."

Apollo winced as Maya elbowed him in the ribs. "Don't forget about the alternate entry point, Polly." She hissed quietly at him.

He felt his ears grow warm as he pulled up the picture of the crime scene. How could he forget what was the most important thing he pointed out before the recess? Purposefully avoiding looking at the body of his boss, he took a stylus on the bench and circled a window on the wall. "We also determined a possible alternate means of entry," he stated, "This window is usually left open or unlocked during the summer months because of how unbearably hot the office can get."

"I never understood why he never installed air conditioner." He heard Athena sigh under her breath.

"Thank you, Mr. Justice." The Judge nodded in appreciation. "Now that the facts of the case have been established, Mr. Edgeworth, would you care to begin?"

Smiling cockily, Edgeworth did a little bow behind the bench. "Of course, Your Honor. The prosecution would like to end this as soon as possible to get justice for Mr. Wright." Apollo wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he could have sworn he heard Edgeworth's voice tremble slightly. "As a result, our next witness will prove without a shadow of a doubt that Ms. Wright is the murderer."

"One moment, Mr. Edgeworth." Apollo interrupted. The prosecutor furrowed his brow in annoyance, but allowed Apollo to continue. He pressed a finger to his forehead and frowned slightly. "I'm sorry to interrupt, as I too want swift justice for Mr. Wright, but there is one thing that has been bothering me."

"What is it, Mr. Justice?" Edgeworth huffed, arms crossed with impatience.

Flipping through the electronic notes, Apollo continued with confidence lining his voice. "Excuse me if I'm mistaken, Mr. Edgeworth but it appears that nowhere in the Court Records do we have a possible motive listed." He looked back up with a smug look on his face. "And as anyone practicing law should know, no motive basically means no case."

Edgeworth recoiled in shock, a look of unmistakable hate lining his features. Got him.

"Great work Apollo!" Athena clapped happily as Widget turned a soft shade of green and beeped in glee. "I had completely forgotten we don't have a motive."

Maya smiled proudly at him. "I wouldn't expect any less from Nick's protégé," she congratulated him. Apollo once again felt his face start to heat up. Protégé? Did Phoenix really see me as his protégé?

His moment in the limelight was cut short however, when he noticed that Edgeworth's confidence had returned. "Uh oh. You actually have an answer, don't you?"

"Much like Mr. Wright, I see you too underestimate me. You two truly are alike." He scoffed.

It took all Apollo could to not shout back at him about disrespecting the dead. A dead friend no less. He felt a hand lightly touch his back and he turned to Maya. Although she didn't say anything, her eyes were read loud and clear. Drop it. It's not worth it.

"Although I will admit we have no solid motive," Edgeworth continued, having either not seen Apollo's aggressive body language or chosen to ignore it, "it is possible that Ms. Wright and her father had a strife of sorts. Perhaps he had refused to pay for next year at school?" He pondered, casting side glance over to Trucy sitting in the defendant's chair.

We both know Phoenix would never do that, Apollo scowled silently. Phoenix would have given up the entire world for Trucy, Apollo knew that for sure. He had never met a father who loved his daughter more than Phoenix loved Trucy.

He also knew that Trucy would never let a stupid argument get the better of her emotions; especially not the point of violence. Although Trucy knew that Phoenix wasn't her real father, you would have never guessed by the way she looked up to him. The two had a relationship that he was pretty sure only a handful of people in the world would understand. He wasn't even sure if he fully understood it himself, but he knew it was deep bond and knew that either one of them would do anything to protect the other.

Edgeworth was just pulling things out of thin air, and Apollo knew it.

"That's a rather flimsy argument," Apollo rebutted. "I expected more from such a legendary prosecutor such as yourself."

"I… admit it is not the strongest of arguments." Edgeworth conceded. "But as you should know Mr. Justice, when a suspect very clearly is guilty a motive is hardly needed."

"Mr. Edgeworth brings up a good point." The Judge nodded. "As a result, I will make an exception and say that a solid motive will not be needed for any potential ruling for this case."

But she didn't do it! He wanted nothing more to yell that at the top of his lungs. Instead he chose to not receive the inevitable penalty and just reluctantly agreed with the Judge's decision.

"With all that out of the way, I would like call my next witness to the stand." Edgeworth proclaimed.

The grand double doors of the courtroom opened as if on cue and from the lobby a woman appeared. Tall and sleek, she wore a very formal outfit; a blue woman's tux hugged her body and her grey tie complimented her grey hair nicely. With a blue skirt, black leggings and expensive looking high heels, she had an air of importance about her.

A closer look at her face revealed telltale wrinkles- Apollo guessed she was in her early to mid-40's- but she wasn't unattractive. In fact, she seemed to glow when she smiled after she took her position at the witness stand.

"Name and occupation, please." Edgeworth ordered.

The woman giggled before she talked. "Felicia Foxx, field reporter." Her voice was calming and easy to listen to.

"Field reporter?" Apollo inquired. "As in, news work?"

In a flash, she pulled out a microphone from the large bag she had slung over her shoulder and spoke into it. "Ya got that right, Horn Head. Here, take my card." From her breast pocket she pulled out a small card and flung it in Apollo's direction with stunning force and accuracy. He almost didn't catch it because he was processing the "Horn Head" comment.

"What's it say Apollo?" Athena asked, leaning over to get a better look.

"'Felicia Foxx, field reporter for WOLF24 news,'" Apollo read, "the rest is just her contact information." He stuffed the card into his pants pocket.

"I can't help but notice your gloves, Ms. Foxx." Apollo observed. "I'm unsure if you are aware but no fingerprints were found on the murder weapon leading us to beli-"

His sentence was cut off by a loud "Objection!" and the sound of a hand slamming the bench from the other side of the room. "Mr. Justice!" Edgeworth scorned him. "I will not have you jump the gun so to speak and needlessly accuse my witness!"

Glancing sideways to hopefully see some support from his benchmates, Apollo's heart sank when he saw Athena and Maya giving him looks of confusion and shock. "Gotta agree with Edgeworth here, Apollo." Athena mused. "She hasn't even testified yet."

Apollo awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "I-I apologize Ms. Foxx. I was just trying to cover all my bases."

To his surprise, Felicia smiled warmly at him. "No offense taken, Horn Head." She held up a hand showcasing one of her black, cloth gloves. "You see, I have a nasty habit of picking and biting my fingers and nails. And, I'm not sure if this is breaking news to you, but my hands are on screen when I hold up my microphone."

Edgeworth huffed. "You see Mr. Justice? Ms. Foxx wears gloves to simply prevent herself from picking at her fingers."

"I see." Apollo nodded. "I apologize for my outburst, Ms. Foxx."

"Ms. Foxx," the Judge looked at her, seemingly dismissing the previous conversation, "am I to understand that you witnessed the moment of the murder?"

"That is correct, Your Honor." She smirked, twirling her microphone by the cord around her finger.

The Judge closed his eyes in contemplation. "Hm, I see. Then it appears that this trial is drawing to a close."

No offense Your Honor, Apollo thought with a chuckle, but you should know by now this is never as simple as having a witness describe the moment of the murder.

"You ready, Apollo?" Maya seemed to be thinking aloud. "Something tells me this news reporter is going to be a tough nut to crack."

Grinning, Apollo crossed his arms. "Well good thing I'm a damn good nutcracker then."

The sound of the pounding gavel travelled throughout the room. "You may now begin your testimony, and Mr Justice, your cross examination."

"I was at the hotel next to that law office, the Gatewater," she began confidently. "I was doing a report on the newly refurbished and redecorated rooms."

"We have video proof that she was indeed at the Gatewater the day of the murder." Edgeworth added.

Nodding, Felicia continued. "It's as Red Coat says." Apollo couldn't help but snicker at Edgeworth's reaction to his new nickname. "I was doing a live interview with the manager that ended at about 11AM. After, I allowed my cameraman to go to the dining area to eat some complimentary food.

"As for me, I headed up upstairs to scope out a room for a segment I was going to do a few hours later. It was maybe 11:25 or so. I was taking a quick peak out the window when I saw the murder happen!"

"This sounds really familiar." Maya sighed with a sad laugh. Confused, Apollo made a mental note to ask her about it later.

"I saw that girl stab the man with the spiky hair!" She yelled, hurling a finger at Trucy with such force that any attorney would be impressed by her pointing prowess. "I was clearly very shaken by the event, but I headed back downstairs to rejoin my cameraman at around 11:55."

Wait, something doesn't add up. She left a gaping hole in her story!

"Hold it!" Apollo shouted. Man, that always felt so good. "Ms. Foxx, are you sure you saw the moment of the murder?"

"Are you doubting my testimony, Horn Head?" She sneered, pounding the microphone into the palm of her hand with a repeated motion. "Of course I saw the moment of the murder! Breaking news, honey, but you don't forget something like that."

"If that's the case," oh yes, he could feel it coming together. He could almost hear her shout of surprise as he slammed his hands onto the bench. "Why didn't you report the murder to the police?"

Her shout sounded exactly like he imagined it. He vaguely heard his companions compliment his deduction skills, but he was having too much fun appreciating the look of shock on Felicia's face. And Edgeworth's reaction was even better.

"My word, Mr. Justice!" The Judge gasped in genuine surprise. "Th-that is a very good point. Ms. Foxx, if you witnessed a murder, why wouldn't you immediately report it to the police?!"

"I-I-" she was frazzled with a red face and heavier breathing. "I-I can explain-"

"She's completely panicking Apollo!" Athena praised him with a toothy grin. "Great work!"

"M-Ms. Foxx!" Edgeworth shouted, a sliver of fear lining his voice. "If you have an explanation I'm sure we would all love to hear it!"

As quickly as Felicia had lost her composure. She took a deep breath, straightened herself out and once again spoke into her microphone. "This just in, sometimes people forget things." Apollo's own confidence plummeted when he heard the confidence in her voice.

"I forgot to mention I didn't know it was a murder until I saw all the police cars." She grinned wickedly.

"W-WHAAAAAAT!?" Apollo reeled back in shock, his bangs drooping for the millionth time in the past few days. Judging by the reactions of Maya, Athena and even Edgeworth, nobody saw that explanation coming. "Ms. Foxx! What do you mean you 'didn't know it was a murder'?"

"Yes, I am quite intrigued myself!" The Judge admitted, eyes wide like a child on Christmas day.

"I'm glad you asked!" She laughed, twirling the microphone again. "You see, that girl was wearing a magician's outfit. I figured that maybe they were practicing a magic trick. I had no idea that the blood I saw was real."

Silence. Not even a mutter or cough from the gallery. Everyone was seemingly in shock.

"O-objection!" Apollo stuttered. He scrambled to find words. "That's ridiculous, what kind of magic show uses fake blood!?"

"Objection!" Edgeworth shouted back, having regained his composure rather quickly. "That has no bearing on the case at hand!"

"Objection!" This time it was Athena's voice that rang out. Looking over he saw the yellow-suited attorney leaning over the bench a scowl on her face. "Mr. Edgeworth, you've seen Ms. Wright's magic shows! They're family friendly and would never involve any sort of blood!"

Edgeworth opened his mouth to respond, but a shout from Felicia interrupted him. "Wait! I've never seen this girls shows before. How am I supposed to know what her shows consist of?"

Silence again, although a shorter one this time. Edgeworth cleared his throat and spoke. "See, Mr. Justice? She has a perfectly sound reason to have assumed the blood is fake."

"As unusual as it is, I have to agree with Mr. Edgeworth." The Judge hummed.

Apollo could feel the sweat forming on his shoulder. I wouldn't call it a sound reason, Your Honor. "I- I agree." He conceded, even though he didn't really agree at all.

"Edgeworth has a point," Maya said, "but it seems really odd to me that she would just assume the blood is fake."

Nodding, Apollo agreed. "Yeah, but there's nothing we can do now to further that line of questioning." Or any line of questioning for that matter. The only hole he had found in Felicia's in testimony had led to a dead-end. So much for being a great nutcracker.

"Well it appears that the defense has no further questions." The Judge's voice made Apollo sweat even more. "It appears that I have reached my verdict-"

"Objection!" Apollo was surprised to hear Maya's voice. "Your Honor, please hold out on delivering your verdict for one moment. Ms. Foxx's testimony about the murder was incredibly vague. Shouldn't a news reporter pay attention to every little detail?"

You're a lifesaver Maya! "I agree with Ms. Fey's statement." Apollo added quickly. "I would like to ask the witness to provide more detail on the murder and murderer."

"I see no issues with the defense's request. What say you, Mr. Edgeworth?" The Judge asked.

Edgeworth was leaned over his bench eyes wide in a comically upset fashion. "I… have no objections Your Honor." He huffed in disdain.

The judge pounded his gavel. "Ms. Foxx, will you please explain the murder in greater detail?"

"Sure thing, Your Honor." She agreed with a curt nod.

"I wasn't able to see the killers face, but I know for a fact that it's that girl over there. She was wearing the same outfit." She started. "The guy with the spiky hair was sitting as his desk when the girl snuck up and stabbed him through the throat.

"After the blow was struck, she reached under the desk and rummaged through a suitcase, pulling out some papers. And that's all I saw." She finished, crossing her arms.

Suitcase? Apollo thought. She couldn't mean…

"Ms. Foxx," Apollo started his questioning. "Are you positive it was a suitcase you saw the defendant going through?"

"Positive." She replied dryly.

Good thing I have a piece of evidence that will positively prove you wrong. He smirked and cast glances to Athena and Maya. The look in their eyes confirmed that they were thinking the same thing.

Reaching down, he pulled up the suitcase they found at the crime scene and placed it on the bench. "Would this be the suitcase you are referring to?"

"Why, yes it is." She sounded surprised.

Apollo crossed his arms and grinned. "That confirmation was just the thing I needed to poke a hole into this testimony!" He yelled with a vicious point towards the witness stand.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Edgeworth yelled. "What importance could this suitcase possibly have?!"

"This suitcase potentially carries the answers to this whole case!"

The gallery erupted in an uproar and Apollo couldn't help but feel smug about how off guard he caught Edgeworth. He was reminded how Phoenix would turn trials around and was saddened momentarily but it was quickly replaced with pride. He knew his boss would be proud of him.

"Order, order in the court!" The Judge yelled, pounding his gavel. "Awful pun aside, please explain yourself Mr. Justice!"

"Oh I gladly will." He held up the case again. "This suitcase was discovered near Mr. Wright's body. The thing is, neither Ms. Cykes nor I had ever seen this suitcase before."

"And of what importance is that?" Edgeworth asked, crossing his arms. "A suitcase in a law office is nothing new."

"Excellent point," Apollo nodded. "However, Ms. Cykes and I know the layout of the Wright Anything Agency like our own homes. He know everything that's in the building and where it is. This suitcase was alien to us."

"Perhaps it was the victim's personal suitcase that he brought between home and work." Edgeworth suggested.

Apollo shook his head. "Again, Ms Cykes and I are intimately familiar with the goings on at the Wright Anything Agency. That was not Mr. Wright's personal suitcase."

"What does any of this have to do with the murder?" The Judge asked.

"I'm glad you asked You Honor, because the answer is quite simple." He had them cornered now, no going back. "My point is, if Ms. Cykes and I didn't know of that suitcases existence, how could the dependent have possibly know about it!?"

"M-Ms. Wright!" The Judge stuttered, "Did you know of the existence of this suitcase?"

"No Your Honor, I've never seen it in my life." Trucy gasped, placing her hand over her mouth.

"You see!" Apollo slammed his hands on the bench. "She couldn't have gone through a case she didn't know existed!"

"Objection!" Edgeworth's voice rose above the muttering in the gallery. "Why does it matter if she knew the case existed? She could have simply gone through it because it was there."

Apollo steeled himself. I guess it's time to propose my smoking gun and hopefully turn this case around. "Mr. Edgeworth, it's not about the case itself but the contents of the case." The prosecutor raised a brow, but remained silent. "Your Honor, what I'm about to propose may seem preposterous, but please hear me out."

"Apollo, you're not going to suggest what I think you am, are you?" Maya asked.

"It's the only thing I can do, Maya." Apollo replied curtly.

"This contains newspaper and official documentation about a case from a few years ago." He said, taking a clipping out and scanning it on the screen to add it to the court record. "I'm sure you remember the case a few years ago that resolved the UR-1 incident?"

"Mmhmm." The Judge nodded. "How could one possibly forget?"

"What are you getting at, Mr. Justice?" Edgeworth asked curiously.

"We all remember that the real Bobby Fulbright had been dead for years and that is was the mysterious Phantom who had been taking his place, perfectly blending into society." Apollo continued. "It is my belief that Mr. Wright was involved in an investigation into the secret company that the Phantom was a part of.

"The papers in this case are splattered in blood, presumably from the bloodied glove, and clearly ruffled through, indicating that someone may have taken some papers from inside."

"And the point of this line of reasoning is?" Edgeworth asked in annoyance.

Here it goes all, or nothing. "What I'm thinking is, what if Mr. Wright found out too much. What if the company had to get rid of him and any documents about them? What if he was about to report his finding to higher ups?" He took a deep breath before continuing. "Your Honor, I would like to formally propose that a member of this company, after months if not years of spying on Mr. Wright, snuck into his law office and committed not only a murder but an act of political assassination!"

The gallery erupted into noise so loud it drowned out both the Judge's and Edgeworth's exclamation of surprise. Apollo was also vaguely aware of Felicia hurling curse words and shaking her fist furiously at him as she was escorted from the courtroom by the bailiff.

It the Judge a few more pounds of the gavel to regain order once again. "Mr. Justice, as outrageous of a theory it is, I cannot deny that it holds water. Mr. Edgeworth, have you anything to add?"

"I-you-" Edgeworth stuttered, once again leaning over his desk. "That's an absolutely ridiculous theory, Mr. Justice! Using nothing more than circumstantial evidence and conjecture! I'm-"

"But it's a theory nonetheless. A theory, which I may point out, would undeniably prove my client innocent."

"Mr. Justice I can see plainly that Mr. Wright was your mentor." The Judge concluded. "You have successfully brought up enough doubt about Ms. Wright's guilt. This trial will continue tomorrow to allow for one more day of investigation." He pounded his gavel one last time. "Court is adjourned."

As Maya and Athena congratulated him for a job well done, Apollo couldn't help but feel a tinge of dread. If this is really as deep as he thinks it is, he has a long uphill battle to find Phoenix's killer.

Eyyy boys it's update time! I've been in FFVII and FFXV hell the last few months, but I've recently gotten in a huge Ace Attorney mood.

3 pages of outline ended up being a 14 page, 4,000 word chapter. Things are starting to get interested, or at least I think so. Also, I realized I've meant briefcase instead of suitcase but it's too late for that and I'm too lazy to change it in previous chapters.

Thank you for your patience regarding this fic. I'm really looking forward to writing chapter 7 so the next update may be sooner than later!