-Prologue-

March 21
Gatewater Hotel

Hotel Lobby

"You young'uns are so disrespectful of your elders. Dragging me to the police precinct like I am some kind of criminal! Oh, how I wish my Edgey-poo was here. He, at least, knew how to handle a lady…"

Franziska smirked before stretching her whip. She usually refrained from hitting the children and the elderly, but just for this one time, she was ready to step away from her golden rule.

"… ever since I was a little girl in elementary school, everybody has treated me like dirt. The truth is I was too nice to all of them - Give me my blaster back! "

The security guard winced and let out a shocked cry when the blow landed on her wrist. She let go of her helmet as she clutched her hand.

She watched with wide eyes as Franziska calmly coiled back her whip before stepping closer to her.

"Don't forget. You're one of the decisive witnesses for tomorrow's trial."

Wendy Oldbag couldn't help but cringe.

"Just do as you were told, old woman. And trust me- Matt Engarde will find no escape from his guilt on my watch."

"W---whip-persnapper…."

"I'm afraid I can't hear you. Would you care to repeat that for me?"

"That's right. Now- I've wasted enough time due to your foolishness - Where is Mr. Engarde's manager?"

-Chapter 1: First Confrontation-

March 21
Gatewater Hotel
Engarde's Hotel Room

Adrian Andrews was curled up on the sofa, with her arms around her knees and her head buried in her lap.

After Matt's lawyer and his kid assistant had left, she had felt the tiredness of her sleepless night catching up on her. She had eventually gotten home from the police station at 3 am, after having spent hours repeating the same story over and over again to a stupid-looking detective.

Still, the sunrise had found Adrian up as usual, and planning on performing her manager duties… to the man she had helped get arrested. Ultimately, those duties came down to nothing, for no one related to the case was to leave the Gatewater Hotel.

"Direct orders from the prosecutor's office, pal." The detective had explained, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Therefore, Adrian couldn't even visit Matt… Not that she intended to anyway. She was much too scared of what might happen if he ever discovered what she had done. In fact, she was much too scared of what would happen if anyone found out…

All she could do for now was pray and hope. Pray and hope that the police would be careless enough to overlook the possibility of a forgery. Pray and hope that they never followed the trail back to her, a woman with too good a reason to want Juan Corrida dead.

The clicking of the door opening had her look up nervously, much too nervously for someone whose conscience was clear.

A silver-haired woman was staring at her from over the doorstep, not embarrassed in the slightest. The girl looked younger than herself, barely out of adolescence; Still, there was something of the accomplished business woman about her.

As a professional manager, Adrian had an eye for people and she could tell, just by looking at her, that she was dealing with someone that was proud, sharp, and used to having things go her way. A closer look revealed the badge that shone on the woman's chest, as well as a … whip that hung from her belt.

Adrian's gaze flew to her face, only to be ensnared by a pair of icy gray eyes, now firmly fixed on her. The Nickel Samurai's manager had already been warned that the investigation would last the whole day before Matt's trial. However, she didn't expect those investigators to be so… intrusively inquisitive.

Clearing her throat haughtily, Adrian mustered her most confident tone to confront the intruder.

"What can I do to help you?"

"I'm looking for Adrian Andrews." The cold-looking woman announced, looking utterly unimpressed.

"I am Adrian Andrews."

"Ms. Adrian Andrews, I am Franziska von Karma, the leading prosecutor for the murder of Mr. Juan Corrida."

As soon as she had clarified her identity, von Karma's gloved fingers closed around her prosecutor's badge, which she slipped into a pocket of her coat.

"Nice to meet you, Prosecutor von Karma."

She extended her hand politely but the woman blatantly ignored her, merely looking around the bedroom.

"As I'm sure you must have figured out, I'm here to ask you about the night Mr. Juan Corrida died. I learnt from the investigation team that you're the one who discovered the body."

"I've already been interrogated on the matter by the police yesterday-"

"I am aware of that." Franziska interrupted briskly. "As it turned out, your testimony proved to be of the utmost importance. And, when it comes to major witnesses, I trust no one but myself."

With Franziska von Karma comfortably settled in a soft armchair, Adrian Andrews prepared to feed the unsuspecting prosecutor a steady stream of lies.

She did her best not to squirm under the steely gaze as she admitted to having disturbed the crime scene by pouring herself a glass of juice, all while conveniently neglecting to mention the broken flower vase.

The young prosecutor, however, seemed thoroughly unmoved. She listened to her in silence, only interrupting from time to time to ask for the manager to elaborate on some part of her statement.

It didn't take long for Adrian Andrews to understand that she was walking a tightrope. Each and every of von Karma's question hit home, unveiling shadowy points in her testimony, and forcing new lies out of her. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before she contradicted herself. Her mouth got drier by the minute.

Naturally, she did a pretty good job of hiding her nervousness. This wasn't the first time she found herself in a hot spot, and like they say, practice makes perfect.

But, no matter what she did, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had landed herself in a fine mess…

At last, after what felt like hours, Franziska von Karma got up. Against all odds, Adrian had managed to wriggle her way out of her clutches, and she could still hardly believe her luck as she walked the prosecutor back to the door.

"That'll be all for now. Thank you for your time, Ms. Andrews. I'll have one of my men hand you your subpoena by the end of today."

As soon as she had turned her back to her, Adrian wiped her clammy palms on her trousers.

Franziska was on her way out when she suddenly froze, her hand resting on the door knob. Slowly, she twisted back around to face the other woman.

Her brow was slightly furrowed and her eyes were narrowed in a way Adrian had never quite seen before. She soon understood that what showed through the mask that was normally the prosecutor's face was nothing else than newfound suspicion.

"There is that one last question I want to ask you."

In the blink of an eye, von Karma was back to her intimidating self. The ruthless attorney returned and, with her, the looming threat of prosecution.

"And what would that be, Ms. von Karma?"

Franziska took the time to close the door before speaking, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth.

"Please, take a seat. We aren't done yet." She said.

Adrian felt the stab of cold panic worm its way into the pit of her stomach. She found her way back to the closest chair, thousands of questions going through her mind.

"You've been regrettably vague on the topic of your exact location during the break that followed the award ceremony. Where were you before you discovered the victim's lifeless body?" The still-standing prosecutor asked.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Haven't we been talking about this for the last forty minutes?"

She made her voice sound bright and arrogant, but even as she talked, she knew that her worst case scenario had become reality.

Up until now, the tricky issue of her whereabouts had been merely dealt with. Franziska's haste to get to the crucial part of her tale- in other words, the discovery of Juan's body- had prompted her to let the matter slip by without a second thought.

Adrian was well aware that, were they to dive in the depths of her flawed story, her fabricated alibi would shatter into a thousand of pieces. It would then be a matter of time for Prosecutor von Karma to put the pieces of the puzzle back together… and finger her as the new main suspect-

"I have no intention of justifying myself to you, Ms. Adrian Andrews. I suggest you stop wasting both of our times and answer the question."

Despite the precariousness of her situation, the manager pulled herself together, as best as she could. Letting her brains and smugness take over, she let out a falsely exasperated sigh.

"I've already told you a number of times- I remained in the hotel lobby. I was helping with the preparations for the post-ceremony show."

"Did you stay there the whole time?"

The question sounded awkward. Even and composed, as coolly polite as Adrian's had been heated, von Karma's speech revealed nothing of her intentions.

The question would have had all the looks of a perfectly harmless one, hadn't it been for the tiniest hint of mockery in her voice.

The trap was slowly closing in on Adrian Andrews.

Desperate for a mean to avoid the upcoming disaster, she had no choice but to add yet another untruth to the ever-growing pile.

If only she could bluff her way out of this…

"… Yes."

As soon as the word was uttered, she regretted it. But it hung in the air above them, sounding exactly like the lie it was.

A stony silence fell upon the room. The prosecutor was frozen, her features lifeless as those of a statue, yet her eyes had hardened into a glare, faithful reflection of what was on her calculating mind – Nice try. Better luck next time.

"That's… intriguing." She mused. The stark contrast between her light tone and the coldness of her gaze was chilling Adrian's blood.

"You know." She resumed pleasantly. "I had a little talk with Mr. Will Powers earlier. He did very well at burdening me with foolishly useless details… But, thinking back on this right now, I think he may just have said something crucial..."

Adrian's eyes broadened ever so slightly, and though it was the smallest and quickest of motions, she knew better than to think it had escaped her accuser's notice.

"Would you like to hear about it?" The German woman suggested obligingly, then laughed softly.

"Silence implies consent, I suppose. Given that it concerns you directly, I'll do you a favor and let you in on it. He confessed to having seen you cross Viola Hall toward the hallway, right at the estimated time of the murder."

Upon hearing this, she opened her mouth to try and object, but her protest was swiftly nipped in the bud, seemingly effortlessly.

"Don't even think about denying it. The assistants that helped putting up the stage corroborated his words …"

Speechless and vulnerable, all she could do was stare as von Karma took several steps closer, invading her space deliberately.

It almost didn't surprise her when Franziska abruptly dropped all pretense at courtesy. Her gloved hand tightened around the whip at her belt, her gaze boring into her like a dagger.

"I know you're lying." She hissed. "You were loitering around the crime scene yesterday night… far before you even thought about calling the police."

"I was only passing by-"

Blood was pounding Adrian's temples, making coherent thinking an unachievable task.

"To go where? That corridor is a dead end. There are only two places where you would go, and that would be either the defendant's or the victim's suite."

Slender fingers balled into fists, nails digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood.

"I needed…to use the bathroom… at the end of the hallway."

"Why would you, pray tell, bother to use a public bathroom when you dispose of a private one? Besides, I can hardly believe you were in there for a whole half-hour. "

The prosecutor let out a soft sigh as she came and stood behind Adrian, looming over her so that the blond manager had to shift in her seat to face her. Her gloved hand came to rest on the woman's shoulder and she gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Ms. Adrian Andrews, there is no sense denying the obvious truth…" She reasoned softly. "You are withholding information regarding Mr. Corrida's death, aren't you?"

Confess now- And I'll leave you be, the silver eyes coaxed. You can bring this to a speedy end, if you just say the word.

The unfortunate woman was given a way out… in accepting the one-way ticket to jail her persecutor gracefully offered.

If she remained silent now, it would be the same as confessing…

"N-No."She finally choked out. "You are wrong."

A glint of angry disappointment flashed through the cunning eyes.

"I am… Am I?"

Wholly undismayed, Franziska von Karma switched back to her previous strategy of intimidation. No falsely comforting hand lingered on Adrian's arm anymore, as she continued with what was- according to the manager- all but psychological harassment.

"According to the autopsy report, the estimated time of death is 8:00 PM. Coincidentally, it was around that time you chose to have your little stroll…

I don't believe for a second that you were off for using a bathroom!"

"I didn't kill him!"

She was on her feet before thinking, her eyes wide and her body trembling with pent-up fear.

"There, there. No one went and accuse you of something like that. All evidence clearly points to Mr. Engarde. Now, would you answer the question- Where were you at the time of the murder?"

"I… I…"

"Why would you lie about it?"

Pressing Adrian Andrews for an answer hadn't gotten Franziska anywhere.

The more pressure she had put on the blond manager, the more frightened she had grown, up to the point where discussion had become impossible. And obviously, von Karma's subtle insinuations that she could arrest Andrews for obstruction of justice had only succeeded in making things worse.

The manager had now retreated into a stubborn refusal to cooperate, insisting that she had told the prosecutor about everything she knew. Even though she hadn't suspected her in the first place, Andrews's behavior had turned out to be so suspicious that Franziska had seriously considered having her arrested on the spot. The watertight evidence against Engarde was the only thing that kept the woman away from police custody… for the time being.

In the mean time, Franziska had decided to get to the bottom of whatever secret the manager was so desperately hiding. If there was something her encounters with Phoenix Wright had taught her, it was that nothing should be left to chance.

There would be no Mimi Miney this time, no Acro to crush her plan and steal the victory that was hers by right. It would take what it would take, but she was determined that this was a battle she would win.

By the end of the day, Adrian Andrews would have no secrets from Franziska von Karma.