September 7, 10:00 AM
District Court
Courtroom No. 1

There was no denying I was feeling nervous about this trial. And the reason why was standing directly opposite myself.

Fifteen years since I had last seen my childhood friend. Fifteen long years (and counting) since I had felt anything resembling peace with myself.

He still had the telltale spiky hair, but it was even more accentuated now. The roundness of his nine year old face was gone, replaced by prominent cheekbones and a well-defined jaw. His suit, I noted, was truly deplorable. It was cheap, shoddy, and purchased off-the-rack.

What about me? How would Wright say that have I changed?

I pushed that thought out of my mind. I had a court case to prosecute, after all.

Smoothly, I presented my opening statement, and brought Dick Gumshoe to the stand. Having worked with Gumshoe on three other cases before this one, I knew enough to be somewhat cautious introducing Gumshoe to the court.

You would think that one wouldn't have to worry about bringing your case's chief officer to the stand. But as totally devoted that Gumshoe was to myself, and as willing as he was to do my every bidding, he still had a tendency to say idiotic things in court.

It meant I had to be even more vigilant, just to stamp out any fires his testimony had a tendency to ignite.

Like -- I noted -- not even mentioning in his testimony that bloody receipt he couldn't stop talking about all day yesterday!

"Hold it!" Wright's voice rang out through the courtroom as he was now cross-examining Gumshoe and dissecting every single line of his testimony.

Just like his mentor, Mia Fey...

"You said you arrested Maya Fey because you had 'hard evidence,' am I correct?" Wright asked Gumshoe. "Exactly what about this suspicious woman in pink's claim was 'hard evidence'?"

I smirked at that. Obviously Wright and I had a similar impression of one April May. Well, at least Wright was being diligent in terms of speaking with witnesses. Because on the other hand, his cross-examination skills truly left something to be desired. There is no need to interrupt every single line of testimony, especially if you have nothing good to say! It would be a very long day in court if I let that go completely unchecked...

Gumshoe looked sheepish at that. "Sorry, Your Honor. There was something else I should have told you about first!" He then launched into the details of the memo with the killer's name on it.

As Wright proceeded with his cross-examination of Gumshoe's new testimony, it became clear to me that his plan was to suggest that Maya Fey had been framed. And of course Gumshoe was getting all caught up in Wright's suggestions...

"Don't you find it a little odd that that the victim would write down a name? Especially that of her own sister?" Wright queried.

Gumshoe was looking progressively more confused. "Ah, yeah, actually, you got a point there, pal."

Time to stop this line of questioning...

"Objection!" I looked Wright straight in the eye, then turned my gaze over to the Judge. Our good Judge, I knew, was easily swayed by a little theatrics -- a good suit, a confident demeanor, sweeping hand gestures. It was why I had created quite the collection of them.

"The witness' opinion on the matter is irrelevant. The facts are clear: the victim wrote down the name of the accused." I paused, then slammed the desk for effect. "The victim told us the name of her killer!"

The courtroom began buzzing at that.

"Objection!" Wright shouted, then turned to Gumshoe again. "Detective Gumshoe," he said, slowly. "You say that the victim, Mia Fey, wrote this note?"

"Of course she wrote it!" Gumshoe said. "Who else could have?"

Wright shook his head. I could see the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. "You have it backwards, Detective. The victim is the only person who absolutely could NOT have written it." He produced a sheet of paper, and showed it to the court. "This is a report from your department, Detective. 'Immediate death due to a blow from a blunt object.'" Wright pointed an accusing finger towards Gumshoe. "She died immediately, so she couldn't have written the note!"

Gumshoe! Right in the middle of my trial was not when I wanted to find out that he had been giving out our reports to the other side. I had told him countless times not to speak with the defense lawyers on our cases. But it was so like the guileless detective to speak to anybody and everybody about his investigation.

I pulled the second autopsy report from my stack of papers, which I had received earlier this morning directly from the Medical Examiner's office. Wright was sharp enough to realize the problem with the first autopsy report, I noted. Not bad on his part, but not good enough.

"Objection!" I called out. "Mr. Wright, when exactly did you obtain that autopsy report?"

"The day after the murder," he replied.

I shook my head in response. "It is with some regret that I have to let you know that autospy report is outdated. A second autopsy was performed yesterday, at my request." I held the report up for the court to see, and read aloud the passage I had highlighted earlier. "'Death was almost immediate due to a blow from a blunt object, but there is a possibility that the victim lived for several minutes after the blow.'"

Wright looked shocked after hearing the report's contents.

"Mr. Edgeworth," he said, carefully. "I've heard there's nothing you won't do to get your verdict. What reason could you possibly have had to request a second autopsy report?"

"Mr. Wright!" the Judge exclaimed, looking aghast. "You will refrain from personal attacks on the prosecution!"

I shrugged. How many times had I heard this before? Although it was somewhat odd to be hearing it from the very green Phoenix Wright, during his second court case, of all things.

I had an uncomfortable realization that Wright must have been keeping a watchful eye on me -- and for a disturbingly long time, considering the last time we had spoken was when we were in grade school!

"No matter, Your Honor," I replied coolly, then turned to address Wright again, punctuating every syllable. "Mr. Wright, say what you will, the evidence in this report is undeniable." I presented the autopsy report to the Judge with a flourish, then paused. It was time to call April May to the stand.

"Witness, your name, please," I said.

"April May, at your service!" She winked at the crowd, and shook her chest. Chatter suddenly filled the courtroom again.

I breathed a sigh of relief at that. Luckily, Miss May had understood my advice to her yesterday that "first impressions when you come to the stand are very important." Not that I particularly enjoyed the winking and coy glances of April May, but I had anticipated that it would give me the advantage of allowing me to obfuscate certain details, like her occupation -- that of working for Bluecorp, the rather dubious purpose of this company, and her employer.

"Tell us, where were you on the night of September 5, when the murder occurred?" I asked Miss May, indicating to her to start testifying about the murder. She briefly reviewed looking out her hotel window the night of the murder, and seeing that "mousey girl" attack Mia Fey.

Sparse on details, exactly as we had discussed...

After Miss May finished, I turned to the Judge, looking at him expectantly. "Well, Your Honor?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "A remarkably solid testimony. I don't see a need to trouble the witness any-"

Wright looked stunned at that. "Wait, Your Honor! What about my cross-examination?"

The Judge had a skeptical expression. "I thought the witness' testimony was quite firm. Will you still cross-examine the witness?" he asked.

"I'll gladly proceed with the cross-examination," Wright replied.

Damn. Well, it was a nice attempt to see if I could stop another tedious cross-examination from beginning altogether. Although remembering what I did of Wright and his stubborness, there was no way he would allow that anyway...

I watched as Wright proceeded to challenge Miss May on her failure to comment on Maya Fey's unusual dress and hairstyle, eliciting a request from the Judge for Miss May to provide a more detailed testimony.

This is not good at all. I quite disliked it when my witnesses were asked to retestify. It always made for added... uncertainty. Particularly because I never knew exactly what they were going to say the second time around.

"That... that clock!" Miss May was saying, as she was describing the murder weapon. "Um... the kinda statue-y clock. 'The Thinker,' I think?"

I stopped at that. Why did Miss May call that statue a clock? She had mentioned nothing about that yesterday, and I had examined it carefully... there had been nothing about it that suggested it was a clock.

I noticed, interestingly enough, a slight change in Wright's facial expression at Miss May's statement as well. He's going to press her on that for sure. And where is this going to lead?

"You just said this statue of "The Thinker" was a clock," Wright said to Miss May, then turned to the Judge. "But there's no way of knowing it just by looking at it!" He pointed an accusing finger at April May. "How did you know it was a clock?"

April May definitely looked like she was desperately trying to think of a plausible answer. "Because... I heard it?" she finally said.

Wright shook his head. "That's not possible," he said, emphatically. "That clock is missing its clockwork! Just have a look!" he told the Judge.

My mind was spinning now. How did Wright know all of this?

He had mentioned that this clock had come up for him in a previous case -- seeing as this was only his second case, then it meant that "The Thinker" had been evidence in his first case as well.

I mentally cursed myself for not having had the time to go through the transcript of his first court case. Of course, what was even more striking was why this very unusual piece of evidence should show up in not one, but two of Wright's trials...

Wright was on a roll now. "The 'clock' was empty. It couldn't have rung," he was saying to the court, then paused. "Therefore, this witness is a big, fat liar!"

Yes, there was definitely a look of satisfaction on his face as he said that. Some part of me couldn't help but agree, even if it was my witness that he was denigrating.

It's always an interesting situation for any prosecutor when a trial doesn't go exactly as planned. As much as one can coach your witnesses, deliberate on what evidence to present, and decide how to weave that all together to present a convincing story for the judge, you can never predict what unexpected road-blocks might get in the way. And when they do come, the next best thing to fall back on is logic.

Time to see how Wright plays this game...

"Quite a show you've put on for us, Mr. Wright," I said nonchalantly, gesturing to the court. "I'm afraid you've forgotten one thing, however. Indeed, the clock is empty. However, we must ask: when was the clockwork removed? If it was after the witness heard the clock, then there is no contradiction!"

I noted with some dismay that Wright was completely unruffled by my challenge.

"I have proof," he said, smugly. "And I'll show you the 'proof' you like so much!"

Wright proceeded to present a purple cell phone to the court. "This is the defendant's cell phone, and it contains a recording..."

What!? Gumshoe had told me that he had gotten all he could from Maya Fey's cell phone, which was her saved phone numbers. He had mentioned nothing about a recording!

This case is spiralling out of my control... and fast...

Clearly Miss May was feeling the heat as well because she was glaring at Wright. "What's it to you, porcupine head?" she practically spat. "That stupid clock doesn't matter! She did it! And she should die!"

The Judge slammed his gavel down to quiet the courtroom, which became quite abuzz at Miss May's tirade.

"Tell me, how did you know the weapon was a clock?" he asked, once the court had settled down.

Miss May refused to answer.

"Miss May had heard that the weapon was a clock," Wright supplied. He then presented a wire-tap to the court. "Have a look at this!"

Things were definitely shifting towards the one part of this case that had remained frustratingly a mystery for me. Namely, Bluecorp, Inc.

Miss May had refused to disclose anything more to me about the company's purpose, and there was no information to be had on the company or her boss, Redd White. An unusual lack of information, to be more precise.

And then, of course, were the orders straight from the top not to look into Redd White and his company. There was definitely something that seemed suspicious about Bluecorp, and learning that Miss May had been tapping Mia Fey's phone only served to confirm that suspicion.

"Why the wiretap?" Wright asked Miss May. "Answer the question!"

"Do I have to?" Miss May asked. "Isn't this a murder trial? Isn't tippity-tapping... irrelevant?"

The Judge shook his head in response to Miss May's question. "The defense has a point," he said. "Can you prove you had nothing to do with this murder, even though you tapped her phone?" he asked Miss May.

She smiled. "Of course. The killing happened around 9:00 at night, right? Why, that was just when I was getting room service from that sweet bellboy..."

I sighed at that. I really didn't want to bring the bellboy to the stand. But I would almost certainly have to now that Miss May had brought his name up.

Well, let's try and direct the court's attention away from that...

"Ergo, the witness was not on the scene at the time of the murder!" I said, giving a sweeping bow. "It is my great displeasure to inform you that the witness appears to have been tapping the victim's telephone." I slammed the desk to highlight my next point. "However, that is a separate crime, with no bearing on the current case whatsoever! Her testimony stands! She saw the defendant, Maya Fey, commit murder!"

Wright was looking desperate. You're going to have to say something if you don't want this case to end, Wright...

"Um, the defense would like to call the bellboy as a witness!" he said.

Here we go...

Court ended up recessing for about half an hour as I summoned the bellboy to get to the courtroom as quickly as possible. I was relieved that I had decided to take the time to discuss the bellboy's testimony with him yesterday.

Wright sure was displaying some dogged persistence in getting my witnesses to say more than I would have liked; the problem with that was, that the longer this case went on, the more it would have to move to the topic of the mysterious Bluecorp, Inc. I was sure of that.

The bellboy testified that he had received a call from Miss May requesting iced coffee be brought to her room at 9:00 PM, which he had done. As expected, Wright questioned every single one of the bellboy's statements during his cross-examination.

"Tsk tsk," I said, shaking my head as Wright came to the end of his cross-examination. "If you have any decency, you will end this rather tedious cross-examination here!"

The Judge nodded in agreement. "The witness may leave the stand now."

"Wait!" Wright called out, his face panic-stricken. "One last question... let me ask one last question."

"Objection!" I said. Unfortunately, I was overruled.

The only thing that can come of this is that Redd White is going to be brought up...

"Was someone else staying in Miss May's room?" Wright asked the bellboy.

"Er... yes," he finally replied.

"Why did you not mention this in your testimony?" Wright demanded. "That's the sort of thing you're normally supposed to mention!"

"Ah, yes," the bellboy stuttered. "It was the, er, good barrister there, Mr. Edgeworth, who asked me not to mention it if I wasn't specifically asked about it, sir."

You fool... that's not the sort of thing you're supposed to answer...

Wright looked triumphant at that. "We have just learned of another person involved who may have been the murderer!" he announced loudly to the court.

"Who?" I challenged him. Did Wright actually know about Redd White, and had he been more successful in acquiring information about this man? "Who is this other person?"

"The man who checked in with Miss May," Wright replied.

So it was out now for both the Judge and the entire courtroom... that there was some sort of mysterious "man" who had accompanied Miss May. It seemed, however, that Wright was just as much in the dark about Redd White as I.

"I expect the prosecution and the defense to look into this matter more fully," the Judge declared. "Court is adjourned!"