May 2nd, 11:45am
District Court
Hallways
"I can hardly believe it… she actually answered the call… she's actually coming down here…"
I had to support myself by leaning my arm against the wall, since this came so much of a surprise. Heatherd showing signs of cooperation was definitely not expected.
"Well, I guess there's only so much she can do before she gets into serious trouble, "Maya assumed with a shrug. She was right. Heatherd, no matter how stubborn and disrespectful she might have been, was still a Defense Attorney and couldn't go too far. Because for us Defense Attorneys, one step too far across the line could be the last we make with our badge pinned to our lapel. I knew that all too well. For some reason, I didn't want to think about it, however. I felt compelled to switch the topic, as quickly as possible. And so I did.
"So…" My eyes turned to Edgeworth. He was standing not too far off from the two of us, alongside Dahlia. "I think we both have the same suspect for the crime in mind, Edgeworth. Right?"
"Hm…" Edgeworth's head only moved into my direction slightly. "As I said before, Wright, we aren't yet at the point to coin new accusations. However, I do find myself to be interested in who you have in mind, though… I think I already know."
"Heatherd." I stated bluntly, seeing no point in making any kind of secret out of my suspicions.
Maya didn't look very surprised, yet slightly caught off guard.
"The doughnut girl, right? But… Is there evidence that makes it look like it was her? I didn't notice anything…"
I smiled, much to Edgeworth's surprise, as he showed.
"Actually… there is a bit of evidence pointing towards her."
"Hm?"
"Edgeworth," I turned towards the man in the red suit, pulling something out from my files. "Here. This is an updates version of the list with the fingerprints on the doorknob we both have."
Slight surprise on his face, Edgeworth accepted the update and took a quick look at it. "You filled the missing name in."
"I figured it through a questioning yesterday afternoon. Turns out Heatherd was covering for the owner of the last set of fingerprints all along. I didn't have the forensics compare the prints yet, but I'm absolutely sure that it's correct."
"Hm…" Edgeworth's eyes were on the list again. "'Sengage'… The name is oddly familiar. There was a case regarding him a few years ago, if I remember correctly…"
He stopped there, his eyes opened wider than before. Something had come to his mind just now, it was easy to see. When he raised his head again, he immediately gave me a look which, unmistakably, asked me: 'Is it what I think it is?'
And I answered him with a short nod. I had known that Edgeworth, being the perceptive, well-informed person he was, would catch on as soon as he saw the name. A few moments passed, with Edgeworth merely carrying a considering, pondering look on his face, before he began to turn.
"I think I will have to pay the courtroom archives a short visit. If you will excuse me…"
"Not necessary."
In my hands, I held the article I had printed out the morning before, offering it to him.
"Here. I made two copies."
A strict look appeared on Edgeworth's face,
"Wright…"
"Don't go saying I was making it too easy for you," I interrupted him. "This is evidence, and I think it's about time you knew about it. And had we already known about this during the investigations, I am sure this trial wouldn't be happening right now. At the very least not with this defendant. And even if I am a Prosecutor right now…
I kept my hand in the same position as before, waiting for the man before me to take the piece of paper out of my hand,
"I sure don't want to be the kind of Prosecutor who denies the existence of evidence until it's convenient to him."
"Hm…" Edgeworth looked at me, a slight smile of approval forming on his lips. "Fair enough, I suppose."
He finally accepted the article and immediately started skimming over it. It wouldn't take him long to finish, as he had always been a quick reader, yet he started talking to me again as he was only halfway through, not leaving his eyes of the sheet of paper,
"Though I am wondering how this fits with the remaining information we have. Didn't you say Ms. Heatherd herself was your prime suspect?"
"It'll make sense," I assured him. "We'll figure out how it makes sense. And once we figured out that… The rest will come by itself."
Edgeworth looked up from the paper. "How very much like you."
He sounded somewhat satisfied when he said this, maybe because he saw my mindset as proof that I was really 'Phoenix Wright', which, at least to him, meant 'that' Phoenix Wright – the one he knew – was not beyond salvation in terms of moral standards. All I could do was return him a shrug. What else should I have done? Even if I had wanted to discourage him – which I, for the record, couldn't have brought myself to do anyway – he wouldn't have believed me. And so, trying to argue this point would have made little to no sense. I let it be.
It was weird how used I had gotten to this by now. Being considered a prosecutor by most people and being considered an amnesiac prosecutor with delusions by Edgeworth. The only one to whom I was 'me', the only one who knew and understood who I really was, at least to a degree, was Maya. And I was surely glad I had told her. Her knowing gave me confidence that it was true. It was like a 'reminder' of sorts, so I wouldn't forget. Because, no matter how odd it might sound, from time to time just 'forgetting' that I wasn't who or what Edgeworth believed me to be seemed a surprisingly tempting thought.
Speaking of Edgeworth, his eyes were once again focused on the article,
"…I think even with this, it would be better to do a bit of research on the case myself. It is a better way of spending this break than simply wasting it with idle chitchat. Dahlia?
He looked up at the young woman. "Will you be allowed to accompany me?"
With a nod, Dahlia presented her right arm, showing a kind of metallic bracelet on it. A red LED lamp was flashing on it,
"They gave me this, in order to make sure I don't leave the building. The Detective said that I can move anywhere else I want on my own accord though."
Edgeworth confirmed to have understood by nodding himself,
"In that case, I'd like to ask you to come to the Courthouse Library now. Finding the case files will be easier with help."
"Alright, I'm coming."
Dahlia moved to Edgeworth's side as soon as he started walking away from our small group.
"I will see you in the courtroom after the break, Wright," he said, leaving for the staircase with Dahlia. Maya and I stayed behind.
No more than ten seconds had passed when Maya addressed me.
"Hey, Nick?" she started. "You know, I think you were really doing well out there, given that was just your second time."
"Might be because I was actually somewhat trying this time around," I replied, leaning against the wall. "Yesterday was just horrible. I had absolutely no idea what to do. But I think I might be getting the hang of it… Still, good that it's almost over. The idea of actually getting good at prosecuting before Lana is acquitted… I don't like it. Not at all."
"Well," Maya leaned against the wall next to me. I didn't need to see her face in order to know she was grinning. "I guess you'll need to pay attention to get the right culprit during the initial investigations next time, so you can see how well you'd do when you're actually trying to win! Heh…"
"Maya…
It was only due to the tone in my voice that Maya realized what she had said. I was looking at her by that point, so I could see how her face fell. She knew she had said something she should have kept to herself. And I knew why that thought was going through her head in the first place.
"Maya," I tried to sound as calm and comforting as possible. "I won't be here forever, you know. The other 'Phoenix'… 'Your Nick' will be back sooner or later. So… don't get that used to me."
Maya's head had sunk. She was now staring at the tiles of the floor, her fringe obscuring her eyes completely.
"Maybe it'd be better if he didn't come back," Maya then admitted.
"Don't say that," I told her. "I mean… the two of you are friends, right? No matter what he's done… There's probably some kind of reason for it. Actually, I'm getting more and more sure of that…"
I was partly lying. My opinion of that "other Phoenix" was, like before, still not exactly high. I doubted that he was a person I would enjoy meeting and dreaded the moment I would have to fix his mess once I returned back home. But if he was Maya's friend, like I could read out of that one letter I hadn't been able to resist opening… Then there seriously couldn't be all hope lost for the guy. Maybe, just maybe, all he needed was a push in the right direction. Maybe someone just had to come and drag him away from 'his path' and a bit closer to 'my path'…
"I'm sure you'll be able to patch things up, no matter what happened." I continued telling Maya. "After all… you still believe in him, right? If you didn't you wouldn't have said the things you said when we met down at the river."
I smiled at Maya. "If you still believe in him, I'm sure that everything can still turn out alright."
Maya stayed silent, remaining in the same position she had been in before I has started talking. It took her some time to formulate a reply.
"It's not that much about what he's done," she whispered. "But… what I've done…"
"What you've done?" Something told me that she wasn't talking about her behavior before her heartfelt apology to me… at least not entirely. I turned. "Maya, what do you mean?"
Instead of the sound of Maya's voice replying, I was greeted by the rattling of chains. The Psyche Locks were back again.
(Argh… Maya…)
I suddenly felt the weight of the Magatama in my pocket, as if it wanted me to take it and use it on Maya. It was tempting. Maya knew something and this 'something' could possibly have been important after all. To my situation, or to the case. Or to both. But I couldn't. I couldn't just try to crack her open, for two reasons. One being that I didn't even have anything I could have revealed her secret with. And the other…
"I'm sorry… but you're not him," she said. "There are things I shouldn't tell anyone but him… So I won't. Excuse me."
There was something desperate to Maya's voice when she said this. This despair to keep her secret protected… Made me decide that it couldn't be worth it. Maya had already gone through enough the past days. I would have been a lousy friend, had I now tried to interrogate her like a criminal, especially seeing how it wasn't really all that urgent. So I let her be.
"Anyway…" Maya's tone had changed again. All of a sudden. "…What 'cha gonna do now, Nick?
When I turned my head to face Maya, she was grinning at me. I didn't know whether to feel relieved by that or not. On the one hand, I liked Maya smiling better than her being sad. On the other, I didn't want her to just shove all her worried aside, instead of talking about them. But there wasn't much I could have done about that now, was there?
"I mean, we've got half an hour of break left now and Miles and Dahlia have gone to do research, right? Isn't there anything we could do to pass the time?"
"Well," I pondered to myself a bit. "We could try to make sense of what really happened at the apartment building the day… Reconstruct the timeline, you know?"
"Hm, reconstruct the timeline?" Maya, too, tried to think about it, before she went on. "Well, Mom was first at the building, right? That was around half past four."
"Right. And then, a few minutes later, you arrived."
"Yeah, but I was quicker than Mom, because she used the stairs. That's also how we missed each other. The Doughnut Girl, however, claims that neither of us was there… But the letter proves that I was there."
I nodded. "Which is why her testimony is in doubt now."
"Mom met Ms. Skye when she entered the building, so she came after both, me and Mom had left."
"Right. And then, around five o'clock, Ema came up… and was killed," I concluded. "Meaning that the only people who should have been present in the apartment at the time were Lana and Ema, but…"
"But I saw something moving in the apartment, so someone was already there before either Mom or me arrived."
"Another person that doesn't exist if we believe what Heatherd said…"
I tried to picture everything that happened in my head, though having some kind of chart would certainly have helped. The additional person Maya mentioned troubled me a bit.
"… Do you think it was Ema?"
"Hm?" Maya looked at me with inquisitive eyes.
"The person you noticed. Do you think Ema could have come earlier?"
"Well," Maya supported her head with her hand, pondering. "I just wonder why she'd do that. What would the point have been?"
"Exactly. There wouldn't have been one," I was more talking to myself than Maya now. "Ema would have had no reason to come sooner than I asked her to. Which leaves us with one other possibility: That the person you noticed wasn't Ema."
"But… who else could it have been?" Maya wondered, "I mean, there's not that many people with a keycard…"
"Well…"
I would have explained my suspicions to Maya, but we were interrupted. We had been alone in the Hallway up to that point, but now voices attracted our attention.
"Remember, Vanilla is my favorite!"
"Yeah, you said that before... Wait, just a sec, I'm just getting my wallet out…"
"I want three packs!"
"T-Three?"
Maya and I both turned our heads when we heard the voices on the other side of the hallway. It came from the wall with the vending machines. There were two people standing by one of the machines, one of them holding a brown leather wallet, some sweat pearls shining on his face. The young girl with him, however, didn't seem to mind his slight distress too much and kept on smiling merrily with the radiance of a hundred suns.
It was Apollo and Trucy.
"What do you need three packs of Vanilla Milk for?" The poor boy was staring at his wallet in despair. For some reason, however, it didn't seem like he was just going to tell her 'No' anytime soon.
Trucy started justifying herself,
"Well, I want to make sure that it's really enough! You never know… My thirst could be greater than I think it is!"
I heard Maya giggle from my side.
"Hey, looks like Trucy found herself a friend," she said. "Isn't she just adorable, Nick?"
Still watching the kids, I nodded.
"Yeah…"
(And slightly greedy…)I felt sorry for Apollo, just looking at how the small magician used those irresistible puppy dog eyes of hers to get him to pay her snacks.
"That reminds me, Nick. I haven't eaten since breakfast." Maya has a wide grin on her face. " Come on, let's go get me something. You don't want me to pass out from hunger, do you?"
The reason for my sympathy should be obvious, I guess.
"All the vending machines in the world couldn't stop your hunger," I told Maya, as she was still grinning at me. "Say, I just wondered…"
"Yes?" Maya was looking at me, ready for my question. So I proceeded,
"Why is she here anyway? Trucy, I mean. I was pretty surprised when I saw her up in the gallery..."
"Oh, her Uncle was busy setting up for the next scene, so we took her along," Maya explained. "With Mom, Iris and me all gone, there'd have been nobody to watch her otherwise."
"Nobody to watch her?" My eyes opened wide. The implications of what Maya said sounded slightly… unsettling. "What do you mean? What about her parents?"
- And there it was again.
The moment I thought the question, it had started and as soon as I asked it out loud, I could feel it clearly, the piercing sensation in my head as if someone stabbed a needle right into it. My hand was at my forehead right away, but I could keep myself from making any kind of sound. Meanwhile, Maya had lowered her head. I found my suspicion reaffirmed by that before she even replied,
"Looks like her mother died already a few years back. As for her father…"
"He ran away."
Maya's eyes bolted over to me. I was still in the same position as seconds before, but only now she noticed. And it was getting worse. I didn't know why I had said that. I didn't know where it had come from. But I had suddenly just known how to… end Maya's sentence.
"Nick…?" Maya seemed worried. No wonder, given what she saw. "Are you alright? How did you know that?"
"I don't know," I replied, my hand still on my head. "I don't know why I know this… But…"
I halted, Maya's worried, almost shocked eyes on me. I couldn't go on. I felt as if I was standing in front of a door and something was knocking from the other side, attempting to get out, but I couldn't open the door, no matter how hard I tried, all I got were the muted sounds of whatever was trying to break through, punching against the blockade. My legs shook and the same feeling of faintness that I had already felt two days ago at the concert was starting to overcome me again.
'Something went wrong.' were the words that I wanted to end my sentence with. 'Her father ran away, because something went wrong'. But… more details just wouldn't come to me. I knew that there was more to this 'something' than I could recall. But no matter how much I tried, the 'something' kept eluding me.
I could see them again. These locks. But they were shaking. They were close… so close to finally cracking down… just a bit…
"Yes… Yes, you're right, he did run away…!" Maya repeated. Her voice was too distant for me to make out the emotion in it though. "Nick? Nick, what's wrong? Come on, snap out of it!"
It was only then, when Maya put her hand to my shoulder that her call finally got through to me. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath.
"I-I'm alright," I said. Or, rather, lied. I was not alright. I knew that now more than ever.
"I was worried," I heard Maya tell me. "I thought you were going to pass out at any second."
A sigh was all I could produce at the moment. Yet another blackout on my part, caused by these White Psyche Locks. If I didn't solve their mystery soon, I was definitely going to the asylum sooner or later. Most of all, however, I kept worrying the people around me with those fits, so this had to stop.
"I'm sorry. This just… keeps happening lately. I have no idea why, but…"
"It's alright," Maya quickly stated, crossing her legs, as she still leaned against the wall. She smiled cheekily.
"It's not every day you end up in a parallel dimension, after all! I bet your memory does not like all the stuff that is suddenly different, right? No wonder your brain's strained!"
"Eh… r-right…
Maya was looking so abnormally happy and cheerful when she said that, combined with how casually she spoke about things like alternate universes and the likes, it was almost creepy. The fact that what she said wasn't even too far off the truth didn't exactly make it better… Though, it wasn't like I even knew the exact 'truth' myself. However, I was getting closer, I felt it. My eyes rested on the little girl on the other side of the hallway,
"So… her father ran away," I repeated. "When was that?"
"Uhm, not too long ago," Maya replied, turning her head as well. She seemed curious about why I was so interested in that girl's story, but she still didn't outright question it, just telling me what I wanted to know straight out.
"It happened in late April. The movie was in the middle of being shot then," she explained. "Her Grandfather died. Someone had shot him. Her father was the prime suspect."
"So there was a trial…" I concluded, feeling the dizziness return again already, like I was smacking my head against a door. This was when I realized… This was my chance. After all, this case obviously was part of whatever I was blocking out and Maya seemed to know about it. Maybe I could lead her into breaking the locks for me? She was far more likely to have 'evidence' to accomplish this than me, after all. Taking a deep breath, I started to try suppressing and ignoring the dizzy feeling that had captured me again, without stopping the thoughts that seemed to cause it. I just put my hand to my forehead and trying to somewhat stay in reality alongside Maya, so I could listen to what she said, while still keeping the locks before my mental eye.
Like this, I went on to ask Maya,
"…There was a trial and Trucy's father was the Defendant, right?"
"Yes, exactly. That's what happened."
"Right… Her name is Trucy… And her father's name is… Shadi. So it was the trial of…"
"Nick…?" I heard Maya ask again, worry in her voice. She probably looked worried too, but I couldn't tell. I had my eyes closed. But I could hear her and I understood what was going on around me, not drifting off into trance or blacking out again. That was all I needed.
My left hand was in my left pocket, enclosing the Magatama,
"…The trial of Shadi Enigmar," I finally finished my sentence.
My eyes snapped open when I did. Just that moment, I had heard something, a rather familiar sound. It had been the noise of a breaking Psyche Lock, no doubt. And incredibly close by too.
A broken Psyche Lock…
I took a deep breath, feeling how the cool air went through my body. It felt as if a huge burden had just fallen off me, and I knew why. I had broken one of the Psyche Locks. One of the white locks was down.
Finally. I hadn't felt that relieved in a long while now.
"It was the trial of Shadi Enigmar, Trucy Enigmar's father. But he's better known under the alias 'Zak Gramarye'. He's a member of Troupe Gramarye, whose stage magic is world famous," I finally managed to go on. Suddenly, the words just came to me. Suddenly, it was all so easy. It just felt good to be able to recount this all to myself without the blockades going into place again and suffocating every thought I want to start, so I didn't really care if Maya was listening or not. I just spoke. "In the end of April, Magnify Gramarye, founder of the troupe, was murdered. Since he was going to die soon due to his condition anyway, the list of people with a motive to kill him was pretty short and Mr. Enigmar was the prime suspect. He hired an Attorney, but—"
And there it was again. The blockades were back. Well, it had been fun while lasted.
"…but something went wrong. Something just didn't quite work out as he had hoped it to," I went on in a slower pace than before with the few words I could still find, before I was brutally shoved out the door I had just managed to open. "He lost the trial… But, before he could be declared guilty, he ran away, fleeing the courthouse, leaving behind his daughter…
I finally gave up trying to find more. I took another breath, opened my eyes and turned to Maya.
"Is that about right?"
Maya looked rather baffled. Her mouth opened a bit, she nodded her head slightly, her eyes seeming amazed and puzzled at the same time.
"Nick…How did you…?"
"I think the same thing happened where I came from," I told her, massaging my hurting head a bit with my right hand. "…Except, now that I think about it, I can't remember the last week of April very well for some reason, so the details are foggy…"
"What? So you really do have some amnesia after all? I didn't know that!"
"It's just a few days… I didn't think it was that important…"
But, apparently, it was important. My lack of memories of the last few days of the previous month had never been as obvious to me as it was right now. And apparently, this was, in fact, just what those mysterious, white Psyche Locks were trying to keep from me, as I realized just now. I finally began to understand that the reason for the gap in my memory was probably very specific… and probably also tied to the deeper secret those locks were still hiding. There was no doubt about it. I had been tied to the Enigmar trial somehow…A trial that the Defense had lost.
I didn't like where this was going.
But this wasn't the time to falter and reconsider if I should try to get to the bottom of this or not. Fact was that I most likely had to break my Psyche Locks if I ever wanted to get back home. Researching this case would be a good point to start with this, at the very least.
"Who was the Defense Attorney in that trial?" I finally asked Maya. If there was one person, who could give me more information about this case, it was the lawyer who investigated into it.
"Uhm… there were two, actually," Maya replied.
I listened up. "Two?"
"Well, three actually, if I think about it," Maya went on to confuse me even further, looking not too sure of what she was saying herself. "It's… complicated. From what I gathered, Mr. Enigmar had a first lawyer, whom he fired, and then he hired Diego, my Sis's boyfriend…"
Armando… My face sunk into my palm. Of all the people that I couldn't possibly ask, it had to be him. Seeing how Maya didn't seem to know the name of Lawyer No.1 either and I wasn't too keen on being bequeathed a mug to the head by Armando, Lawyer No.3 seemed my only remaining option. I listened as Maya went on,
"But Diego quit, just a few minutes before the trial, refusing to defend Mr. Enigmar, so they quickly appointed a third lawyer."
(Hm… Armando quit?) I wondered to myself.
(That's weird… He's not usually the type to just give up without a fight. I wonder what happened…)"Do you know who that third lawyer was, Maya?" I finally asked and she nodded.
"Yeah, kinda. It was a friend of Miles, who used to work with him. I know that because he told me after the trial… I didn't quite catch his name though. I'm sorry."
A friend of Edgeworth, whom he used to work with… That helped. It meant that he worked either at Edgeworth's or Edgeworth's father's law office at some point. This should make finding this person a lot easier.
"Don't worry about it, you said all I need to know," I shook my head at Maya. "Thanks for telling me all of this."
"You're welcome, Nick." Maya smiled.
"There's one last question I have, though…
My eyes wandered over to the two children, who were now sitting on a bench in the hallway, enjoying their treats. They looked almost like brother and sister like this, which was actually rather cute… and ironic, considering I knew now that neither of them had any family left. My eyes rested on Trucy especially.
"What's going to happen to her now?" I asked. "After all, she's lost both of her parents, right? Where's she living right now anyway?"
"She's staying at Kurain alongside her Uncle for the shooting of the movie, since she refused to quit, despite what happened," Maya explained to me. It was obvious that she'd rather have seen the girl take a time out after the trial and I really agreed with her on that. "But you know, us entertainers and our 'The show must go on' mentality."
(Hm… That Trucy must be pretty strong for her age, if she can just go on like nothing had happened,) I thought to myself. (Still. Poor girl. I can't even begin to imagine what she must be going through.)I felt reminded of Pearl again, who was roughly the same age as this girl and had been going through a similar situation the past few years. I wondered if maybe all young girls had this kind of inner strength and I just didn't realize, because Pearl was the only young child I ever had a lot of contact with since my own childhood. Or maybe it was just a coincidence that these two girls' ways of dealing with this situation seemed so alike.
"For the time being, we take turns watching after her. Diego's helping too, whenever he has time. However, her Uncle committed perjury in that trial and it looks like he altered the crime scene too, so after we're done with the shooting of the movie, he'll have to spend some time in detention for that."
"He altered the crime scene…? That means he'll be gone for quite a while," I concluded.
Maya nodded. "Yeah, we're lucky that the studios managed to convince the court to wait with executing his sentence 'til we finished this, otherwise we'd be in huge trouble. Still, nobody knows where Trucy will go after that… There doesn't seem to be anywhere she could stay. And, now that I think about it, her Uncle doesn't seem too keen on keeping her around forever either anyway, for some reason, so he might not take her back after he's released. In the worst case, she might end up in the local orphanage, I guess…"
My eyes were immediately at young Apollo when Maya said this. The orphanage. He had described it as a place that wasn't as bad as one might believe. Still, was this really where this young girl should go? I didn't really know what to think of this. It was true that Apollo didn't seem too bothered with this situation, but, then again, the boy had apparently never even known his parents. Trucy, on the other hand, had always had her father by her side, up until recently. A great change like suddenly living in a home might be a bit much for her, especially after just having lost him. At least, that's how I saw it. She was still very young, after all. I thought maybe there was a way for me to help that girl somehow, but I couldn't come up with anything…
As usual, it was Maya's voice that interrupted me in my thoughts.
"Ah! Sis! Iris! Over here!"
I turned my head to see that Mia was walking down the hallway, accompanied by a smiling Iris. Just when I had taken notice of them, Maya had already bounced off the wall and started to skip over to them.
"Hello again, Maya." Mia smiled, then her glance wandered over to me. "Hello again to you as well, Mr. Wright."
"Ah… Yeah, hello, Mi… Miss Fey." After correcting my slip-up, it was time to turn my attention to the other woman who had joined us. "Hello, Iris…"
Iris immediately blushed when I addressed her, but a happy, honest smile remained on her face.
"Hello…Feenie.
I couldn't help but blush myself when she used the nickname, in fact I was probably blushing ten times worse than her.
"I wanted to thank you… For bringing Dahlia here. It was really nice to see her again without… a pane of glass between us."
"Ehm… Yes. I can imagine…"
This was probably the most insensitive thing to say, given the situation. But it was the only thing I could come up with. Still, now that I actually had said it, I knew that it would probably have been better to just keep my mouth shut. I probably deserved a smack for this one, right? Iris didn't seem to mind though, well, at the very least she didn't show it. Her smile and blush remained on her face, when she looked to the side,
"…I am so glad..."
A confused look, accompanied by a slight tilt of my head was all this got out of me. I didn't really know what she meant by this, as she didn't seem to be talking about Dahlia anymore either. There was a slight suspicion, but not much more. She didn't go on to say anything else either.
It was Mia who kept the scene from falling silent then,
"Talking about Dahlia, I don't see her or Mr. Edgeworth anywhere…"
"They're down in the archives," I explained.
Mia brought her hand to her chin. "The archives?"
I nodded. "They went to look something up ,"
"No surprise here," Maya threw in. "Miles always investigates everything to death before drawing any conclusions."
"It's unusual for him to only research something after the start of the trial though," Mia noted, only to have me explain the situation.
"That's because he didn't know about it until a few minutes ago. It's some information I mentioned to him just now."
Mia seemed slightly surprised.
"You mentioned it to him?"
"I found it more or less by coincidence myself. I thought Edgeworth should probably know as well. When I told him, he went to look up details right away."
"Oh… I see," Mia smiled, understanding. "You are still not planning on winning that trial then, I guess."
I shook my head. "Not when that means possibly getting an innocent woman a life sentence, no."
"Hm… Yes, I think I see that now," Mia replied, closing her eyes. The calm smile on her lips was downright comforting to me, given how familiar it was. She crossed her arms, taking a short breath, before she went on. "You really surprised me in there, Mr. Wright. I saw some things today that I really didn't expect."
And the tone in her voice told me that she meant this in the most positive sense.
"Mia…"
"Because of this," she said and her eyes opened, her expression going somewhat more serious. "I think I might be starting to believe you. The things you told me two days ago, I mean."
"R…Really?"
Mia smiled, nodding her head. "Really."
I looked at Mia in silence but felt my heart slightly jump when she said that. She didn't think I was crazy anymore. She believed it.
"There's… a question I'd like to ask you," Mia then went on, stepping towards me as she spoke. Maya and Iris had meanwhile engaged in a conversation on their own, so they weren't really paying attention to what Mia told me now. She seemed to be rather glad about this, as she now spoke slightly more quiet than before, as to probably not attract their attention too much,
"The other Mia you mentioned," she started her question. "I wondered if you could tell me a bit about her. Just a few details… especially differences between her and me. That would be really helpful."
A big question mark probably appeared on my face as she asked this. 'Helpful'? How exactly was telling Mia about an alternate version of herself which only existed in a timeline that she was never going to see supposed to be any bit helpful to her? Still, I decided to just go along and started to explain,
"Actually, there aren't that many differences between you and her. Aside from her being a Defense Attorney, of course. She looks the same, talks the same, her personality is pretty much the same too…"
I left the entire part about 'my Mia' being dead out on purpose once again. I just didn't find it necessary to explain something as unsettling as this to her.
"I see," Mia replied calmly when she saw where this was going. "Alright, this is going to make things easy then… Thank you."
Another clueless look on my face. Mia seemed to be speaking in riddles and even though this wasn't an entirely new situation for me, it still was a confusing one. Nevertheless, Mia's smile remained in place, thankfully and obviously with a kind of idea hiding behind it. I could just wonder what it might be.
It was still weird to know that Mia was here, right in front of me, and yet she still wasn't. It was a strange feeling to know that this Mia in front of me wasn't the brilliant Defense Attorney I had known. But in the end, it didn't matter. It didn't matter, because I didn't need that brilliant Defense Attorney right now. I could do this by myself, without any guidance, without her hints and clues.
The rest of the recess consisted of Maya and me talking over her testimony again, until she finally had persuaded me into buying her some chocolate milk from the vending machines. I went on to buy Mia and Iris some as well, and we then feasted on treats altogether until Edgeworth and Dahlia reappeared from the archives. Lilie Heatherd arrived at the courthouse not even fifteen minutes later and I knew I was ready. I knew that this trial would end today. No doubt about it.
May 2nd, 12:15pm
District Court
Courtroom No. 2
Franziska was still giving me the silent treatment. I can't believe I am saying this, but this was starting to unsettle me. My eyes were on her for quite a while as the trial was about to start again. I was waiting for the moment she would snap at me with an unfriendly remark again and pull out her whip, but that moment never came. Edgeworth, meanwhile, had already taken place in his bench. To my surprise, I couldn't see Dahlia anywhere, however. I also found Edgeworth reading a bundle of paper, much thicker than the article I had handed him, his eyes looking… worried. Almost as if what he was reading there was everything but good… What had he found? And where had Dahlia gone?
The judge's gavel ended the recess,
"Court will now reconvene. I trust the witness is ready?"
I nodded. "Yes, Your Honor. Miss Heatherd is here and ready to testify to us again."
"Very well. Let us hear what she has to say then."
No more than two minutes passed when the doors to the courtroom opened, the short figure of Lilie Heatherd stomped in through it, arms crossed, eyes at the witness stand she was walking up to – not, however, at the judge or either attorney – and she told us exactly just what she had to say,
"Why am I here?" she hissed up at the Judge with a poisonous tone in her voice, which resembled that of someone who has just been called out of the bathroom in order to answer the phone.
It wasn't the judge, but Edgeworth who replied, one hand on the desk,
"To tell us the truth, Ms. Heatherd. The whole truth."
I too, had my hands on my desk. Both of them.
"And should there be any gaps in your memory this time around, don't worry. I think we have enough 'reminders' by now to fill them."
Heatherd then went on to shoot both Edgeworth and me a glare. However, the one she shot me was notably longer for some reason.
Finally, she seemed to somewhat regain her 'cool'. She proceeded to play with her hair, lean back ever so slightly, stare at the ceiling, and say,
"You know what I hate? People who can't take a 'No' for an answer. They are annoying me to death, because they are uselessly wasting time that could be well used for other stuff.
She went on to look up to where the judge sat.
"I mean, seriously! The court already heard my testimony! Isn't that enough? In the time you are dancing around the point of finally declaring that murderer guilty, there could have been a dozen other trials in this courtroom…"
"And in the time you spend trying to justify your lack of will to testify to this court, we could have made all the progress that is needed to finally, truly solve this case!" Edgeworth interrupted her, while hitting the desk with his hand.
Heatherd immediately made an attempt to turn Edgeworth's reaction against him, by addressing the judge.
"Your Honor, the Defense is-"
"-Speaking just my mind," I stated before she could even finish her sentence, my eyes focused on the witness before me. "Ms. Heatherd, I called you here in order to testify, not to explain to us how to conduct trials. I want you to do exactly what you are here for. Now."
I swear, I heard the angels sing their hallelujah when this happened – the judge, too, agreed with us.
"Witness, I frankly believe that at this point nobody here has any patience whatsoever left for your antics," he stated, a strict look on his face. "You will listen to what the Prosecution told you just now, or otherwise, there will be sanctions."
Oh, yes. The Judge had just told a witness to listen to me. Why did this feel so incredibly awesome? Whatever the deeper reason was, it was at least enough to make me stand up straight, my hands at my hips, and smile my probably most confident smile in the past three days.
Heatherd most definitely did not share my good mood, however. Seeming like she was searching for some unfriendly remark to counter us with, before remembering that the judge would probably not approve very much of this, she finally crossed her arms once again, a fire of anger burning in her eyes.
"You want to go over the same stuff all over again?" She went on to stuff her hand into her pocket and pull out a pack of something that looked like chocolate covered bread sticks, which she opened in a 'threatening' way, as if she was trying to mime the movements of drawing a weapon. "Fine! Have it your way!"
She shoved a chocolate stick into her mouth and proceeded to testify.
What I 'witnessed'"Again, I 'saw' nothing.
But I can tell you that the victim, the defendant, and I were the only ones to go anywhere near the 20th floor yesterday afternoon.
The victim showed up first. That was between half past four and quarter to five. The defendant followed soon after.
And then, somewhere around five, maybe even sooner, I heard screams. Then I called the police. That's all." 'Stubborn' didn't even come close to describe the expression on Heatherd's face. Same went for her actions.
There was a deep silence in the courtroom once she had stopped talking, only broken when the Judge felt the need to state what everybody else was merely thinking,
"Witness… Isn't that the exact same testimony you gave yesterday?"
"Well, you wanted a repeat. I gave you one," she said, having gone to spinning her hair on her finger once again, as she was still gnawing on her choco-stick, "Any problems with that?"
Edgeworth shrugged and sighed.
"As childish as it may be, no, I don't necessarily see a problem with it, after all… it is all I need."
He had his pointing finger at his forehead when he said this.
(I just wonder how she managed to remember all of that,) was my sole reaction, and even that I kept to myself. Arguing about something like this with Heatherd really wasn't necessary now. All that mattered now was the cross-examination. This time, after all… there was more evidence.
"Again, I 'saw' nothing.
But I can tell you that the victim, the defendant, and I were the only ones to go anywhere near the 20th floor yesterday afternoon.
The victim showed up first. That was between half past four and quarter to five. The defendant followed soon after. "Yes, I remember these same claims from yesterday… I was wondering, could you maybe elaborate closer on what you saw when the Defendant entered the apartment?" Edgeworth asked, pressing her on one of the most crucial moments of the crime's entire timeline. I knew that this was probably a smart thing to do. If we were able to find a contradiction in this moment, Heatherd's testimony, for all it was worth, would lose its last bit of believability.
"I saw… the Defendant, of course," Heatherd answered shortly, drawing another chocolate stick from her box and eating it.
(I doubt this was what Edgeworth wanted to hear…) was my mental note on this.
Edgeworth proceeded to sigh and become more direct.
"Miss Heatherd. I want you to describe to the court now every detail about Miss Skye that you noticed when you saw her enter the Apartment."
"Geez. You really love dancing around on the same points over and over again, don't you?" Heatherd stuffed two sticks at once in her mouth and gnawed them down faster than should be humanly possible, "Well, OK, once again for you then: I saw Lana Skye. She was alone, it was her, she wore the same clothes she wears today and there was absolutely nothing else interesting about her! Nothing. She had nothing on her, except for her keycard, and that one she got out of her pocket."
Edgeworth smirked. It was that moment that I knew: Heatherd had said exactly what he had wanted her to say. She was done for. He would take her apart now… with evidence. I watched and listened intently, as he shrugged and stated,
"So, she had nothing on her? Hm, interesting…"
"Mr. Edgeworth," I could hear the Judge's voice coming down from his seat. "Is there something wrong with this statement?"
Edgeworth nodded. "Indeed. Very wrong, in fact." He then leaned forward, and put one hand on the desk. "The witness' testimony stands in conflict to not one, but three pieces of evidence, Your Honor! For example…"
And Edgeworth picked up an object from his desk and presented it to the Judge,
It was the crime scene photo, the one that showed the unconscious Lana lying in the shower. The moment I took a look at said picture then, the contradiction to what Heatherd had said was more than just obvious,
"The handbag," I said out loud. "The handbag is there on that photo, next to Ms. Skye. That shouldn't be the case if she didn't have it on her at the time."
Edgeworth agreed, "Exactly. And this isn't the only thing that should be impossible if Ms. Skye didn't have anything on when she entered the crime scene."
"What do you mean, Mr. Edgeworth?" the judge asked, prompting Edgeworth to prepare even more evidence to present.
"Firstly, remember the rope which the Defendant allegedly used to commit suicide. It was rather heavy and long. Definitely not something Wright would keep around at home for no good reason, or something that one could easily carry around unnoticed without some kind of vessel. Similarly, isn't it unlikely that the murder weapon was Ms. Skye's knife, which, as some here know, was always contained in her handbag if she didn't even have said handbag on her person at the time?"
As Edgeworth was still talking, I was thinking through the situation, biting my lip. I found a hole in what I heard, and, no matter if I liked it or not, it pretty much made all of what he had said invalid. I had no choice but to point it out to him.
"Edgeworth, there's a problem with what you just said," I started. "Even if Ms. Heatherd just said that Lana had nothing on her at the time, the photo proves that Lana really did have her handbag on her when the crime occurred, so none of this actually means anything. Also, Lana could just have hidden the rope and knife in my apartment during her last visit, so she technically didn't even need to be carrying them on her when she came that day. In the end, the only thing this contradiction really does…"
I glanced over to Heatherd, who was, again, spinning her hair around her finger,
"…is making me wonder why the witness made such a strange mistake in her testimony…"
Heatherd's reaction was a mere shrug, decorated with the words,
"Well, I just misremembered, I guess. I mean, it's just a handbag. Nothing too noticeable. Can you blame me for forgetting that?"
"Hm…" The Judge did not seem all too satisfied with this reply. "The witness's memory is, frankly, starting to worry me."
(Her memory is really not the most "worrisome" quality of this witness, Your Honor,)
I thought to myself, as Heatherd kept sullying the floor with crumbs from her choco-sticks, her eyes apparently marveling the architecture of the courthouse.
[i](As long as she keeps dodging the contradictions we find like this, our only way to make her testimony finally fall is to find undeniable proof that she's just making the entire story up. But how…?)On the other side of the room, I could see Edgeworth pondering about something, looking over his notes in a small organizer. Finally, he turned towards the judge again,
"Your Honor, I would like the witness's statement about not remembering anything noticeable about the Defendant to be added to her testimony."
A nod from the Judge.
"The witness will amend her testimony then."
"Hmph. Fine." Heatherd just grunted, unimpressed.
"There was absolutely nothing interesting or weird about the Defendant when I saw her enter."
"Allow me to ask the Prosecution a question before I proceed," Edgeworth started his explanation.
"Uhm… Me?" I was somewhat taken aback. I had expected Edgeworth to address Heatherd, not me, so I wasn't quite sure how to react. I smiled nervously, as I had no idea where this could be going.
"Yes, you, Wright," he went on, "You are the owner of the apartment which happens to be this case's crime scene. Now, let us assume you need a ladder for something. Would you have the ladder stored somewhere in your apartment?"
"Uhm…No, I don't think so," I explained, still having not more than an extremely vague idea what he was trying to prove. Though, slowly something was starting to dawn to me. "A ladder's not something I'd need every day, after all. It'd just be in the way and take up space. I'd probably keep it in the building's cellar or borrow one from the Janitor if I need it…"
"Which fits perfectly well with the fact that nothing even resembling a ladder was found at the crime scene, correct?" Edgeworth went on.
"Uhm… Yeah, I guess so…?"
(…Ladders…? Why does this sound so familiar…? Wait… Maya said something about this, didn't she…?)Just when I was starting to grasp what was going on, Edgeworth began to smile. "Well then, if the court may please turn its attention to the scene of the alleged suicide attempt now, please?"
Edgeworth went on to show the photo of the unconscious Lana again.
"I took the liberty of taking some measurements during my investigations and came to the conclusion that it would have been absolutely impossible for the Defendant to place the rope where it was found, unless she was making use of a Ladder of some kind."
"To be exact, it would have needed to be a stepladder, Edgeworth…" I interrupted him…
…and earned myself awkward silence weird stares from the entire courtroom. And a glare that pretty much asked 'What in the world, Wright?' from Edgeworth. Suddenly, I didn't feel well at all in my skin anymore. Especially when I glanced to my left and noticed Franziska Von Karma's eyes shooting ice-beams at me…
It was enough to make me shrink a few inches behind my desk in shame and force a nervous smile,
"J-Just saying… Heh… Never mind. Carry on."
Edgeworth did exactly as I had suggested him to do, which I was thankful for.
"In any case, there was no kind of ladder, or anything else like it found at the crime scene, as I mentioned before. And just now, Mr. Wright told us that he did not keep anything like this at home himself. Therefore, I ask the witness…" This was the point where Edgeworth raised his voice loud enough to make sure that even Heatherd couldn't ignore him. "How could have the Defendant moved such a big, noticeable object to the crime scene, without you noticing it? How should she have removed it again, when she was, in fact, unconscious at the time?"
Heatherd froze at this moment. For a split-second, it looked like she was trying to come up with a witty remark but obviously this attempt failed. Her face fell. And her hair fell from her finger. She finally just stared at the ceiling for a short while, before she, finally stumbled and shrieked.
"Eeek!"
"Ms. Heatherd," I called out to her before she could even recover, demanding. "If there's anything you haven't told the court so far, you better tell us now!"
"Shut up!"
And that was when Heatherd suddenly snapped at me. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! I have nothing to tell to you! Not to any of you! Nothing!"
In spite of her suddenly yelling at me, I stayed in a tense position, glaring at her as menacingly as I could,
(Yes, you do. It doesn't take a genius to see that. The entire courtroom has understood it by now!)Before my eyes, I could see the Psyche Locks on the girl, though obviously not the same as I had broken the day before. Heatherd was still not ready to reveal her secret, despite all the pressure. Wasn't she afraid of the consequences? Her yelling suggested she was, but yet she stayed stubborn. Though, there was something else. Something Heatherd hadn't shown until now, a quality I only noticed now that she was starting to run out of excuses. I looked closer. I couldn't quite say what it was, but there was something in how she yelled, how she denied everything despite tons of evidence to the contrary, how her face twitched as she did and how she fletched her teeth. There was something… familiar.
(This face… this expression… I've seen it before,) I realized.
(But… where…?)"Your Honor," it was Edgeworth who spoke now. And he seemed rather confident too. "As we have demonstrated, the witness's testimony, according to all rules of logic, would have to be a lie, unless we assume that this witness possesses an unusually bad memory…"
"Shut up!" Heatherd yelled once more and now, she didn't even seem to be thinking what she was saying anymore. "My memory's fine! Absolutely fine, I tell you!"
"Or…
Edgeworth had raised the attention of the entire room once more. There was a satisfied smirk on his face. "Or we assume that she is, in fact, not lying about having seen Ms. Skye when she approached the crime scene. Meaning that, Ms. Skye, was, in fact, not carrying anything else on her at the time. This, in turn, can only mean one thing…"
"What, Mr. Edgeworth?" The Judge asked bewildered. "What does it mean?"
And still, Edgeworth was smiling, when he began to explain. "It, of course, means that Ms. Skye was not the one who attached the rope to the shower-rod. Which leads us to the conclusion…"
He hit his desk with one hand, as to make sure that everyone was listening.
"That someone else entered the crime scene that afternoon! A person Ms. Heatherd still refuses to reveal to us! That is her true lie!"
And with this sentence, Edgeworth had once reminded the entire courtroom of his rather clear goal regarding that girl's testimony: Making it fall. Fall so hard, that not even the most creative and interesting excuse could make it look true anymore.
(Without Heatherd, there's no witnesses left for the Prosecution's side,) I thought to myself.
(And if that is the case… All he needs is for Lana to pull back her confession and find a plausible alternate suspect. Then she will be free.)"True lie? Oh come on! That doesn't even make any sense!", Heatherd insisted. She actually hit the witness stand with her fist then. "There is no "lie"! All I say is the truth and you're just trying to make me look like the villain here without even having any actual proof! Jerk!"
(Sorry, but the bratty schoolgirl act isn't cutting it anymore, Miss,) I added mentally, before reminding myself.
(Of course, the only thing it ever 'cut' in the first place were my nerves…)"Well then, Ms. Heatherd…" Edgeworth glared at Heatherd his most convincing glare. It was a pretty cold one. "If your words are so 'true', why don't you explain to us why exactly they are more correct than the entirety of what the Defense has yet proposed in this trial? In a testimony?"
There was an eerie glare in Heatherd's eyes that resembled that of a starving animal about to leap at its prey.
"That you can have, Mister," she sounded out her declaration of war. "As many times as you want. My testimony. Will. Not. Change."
"Your Honor," leaning forward a bit I spoke next. "Given how many times we have now already discovered discrepancies in this witnesses' testimony, I say we should make this Ms. Heatherd's last chance to correct her testimony. Should this next testimony be as unbelievable as the past ones, I propose we send her out and continue this trial in disregard of a witness testimony and let the evidence speak instead."
Immediately, I found myself yelled at from the center of the courtroom in the most outraged voice you will ever hear.
"What? What side are you on anyway?"
"The right one," I replied factually. "And to be bluntly honest: You're not making it any easier to believe that that's not Edgeworth's side. Not one bit easier, in fact."
"Ghh…"
"So? Ms. Lilie Heatherd?" I repeated once more, trying to sound as serious as I could. "Your last chance… otherwise, this prosecution sees no further reason to keep you in this courtroom any longer."
"This… That was a huge mistake, Mr. Phoenix Wright… A great one…"
Heatherd's eyes were at the floor, both her hands balled to fists.
"I… I… I'll show you. You'll be sorry for that." She looked up again. "And I won't change my testimony! And I'll tell you the reason why! Right here, right now!"
Slight surprise hit me. By now, I would have expected Heatherd to make some kinds of amendments, but she still kept insisting on her claims with iron resistance. I couldn't remember having ever seen a witness act like this before. It seemed strange to me. It was as if there was… something on stake for her if she even made as much as simple alterations to her testimony. I kept watching her, as Heatherd, finally, appeared to grow slightly calmer again. Eating a few more choco sticks – why exactly wasn't that box empty yet? – she continued her testimony.
The Truth"Everything I said so far was true. The problems with my testimony are just because I misremembered some stuff.
Having a faulty memory is not a crime. Likewise, it doesn't change the facts of the case.
One of those facts is that there are only a few people who could have entered the crime scene.
And except for the Skye sisters none of those was at the building that day.
Nobody else could have opened the door and nobody else came by and did. That is the truth." Heatherd suddenly gave off a vibe of 'security', as if she had managed to completely calm herself with the thought that her current position was, in fact, absolutely safe. She seemed to trust in her testimony a lot.
This, however, was something I didn't understand in the least.
(What's that?) I found myself shaking my head at the testimony instinctively.
(That testimony… It's… It's a lie! A blunt lie! It contradicts everything she told me yesterday... Why would she make such an obvious mistake? Did we shake her that much already?)I was about to open my mouth and object to the testimony before Edgeworth could even be asked to cross-examine it, but, I was distracted the moment I laid eyes on the witness stand again. Heatherd was glaring in my direction. Not at me, not at anyone else, just into the direction I was standing. It was, in a way… as if she was looking through me. Nevertheless, the glare in her eyes was menacing, full of anger and spite. Her hands were balled to fists and shaking. It was obvious she was trying to tell me something with that look, something beyond 'I hate you'… But what that was, I couldn't understand. I found myself puzzled and only barely aware of the conversation Edgeworth and the Judge were leading in the meantime.
"Hm… I remember, we discussed the problematic of the security system of the apartments before in yesterday's trial," the judge recalled, as Edgeworth was already nodding.
"Yes and we have indeed made the discovery that it would have been impossible to circumvent this system with the conventional methods."
The judge's eyes were closed as Edgeworth explained that, but I doubt he managed to miss the special emphasis Edgeworth had put on the word "conventional". He was on to something and I knew to what. After all, it was me who had given him the evidence. Before I knew it, the judge had already given Edgeworth the permission to cross-examine the witness once more.
"Everything I said so far was true. The problems with my testimony are just because I misremembered some stuff.
Having a faulty memory is not a crime. Likewise, it doesn't change the facts of the case.
One of those facts is that there are only a few people who could have entered the crime scene.
And except for the Skye sisters none of those was at the building that day.
Nobody else could have opened the door and nobody else came by and did. That is the truth." "It ends here, Ms. Heatherd."
Edgeworth was smiling, his finger was tapping against the side of his forehead.
"Yeah," she replied. "Your career most likely does, if you come up with some kind of baseless, convoluted complaint n-"
"Your Honor," Edgeworth didn't even try anymore to pay attention to Heatherd's rambling. "The testimony's last statement directly contradicts a vital piece of evidence."
And before the judge even said anything, I found myself nodding and agreeing.
"Yes. And this time, it is something she can't blame on her memory… Since she told me about it before."
As Heatherd heard me talk, her cool, immediately, was gone again as if it had never existed. Shocked, she turned to my side, screeching, "W… What are you doing?" but I decided to just ignore her and go on, my finger outstretched in her direction.
"Your Honor. She knew it. Which means that she knowingly lied in her testimony. The witness was fooling the court and committing intentional perjury all along, Your Honor!"
The crowd, naturally, began rambling, as the judge's face gave us all an exceptional display of confusion and surprise in once.
"What? Am I the only one who feels utterly left out of the loop in this room right now?" he asked. "Mr. Wright, Mr. Edgeworth, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"Wright, please allow me to continue here," Edgeworth told me with a slight bow – it looked different from the bow I was used to from him. Was this Gregory Edgeworth's bow, maybe? – and then, he continued. "Your Honor, it appears Mr. Wright performed an additional questioning on the witness yesterday afternoon, which resulted in some rather… interesting results. To explain it more clearly: A previously unknown set of fingerprints on the doorknob of Mr. Wright's apartment were identified…"
"Stop!" Heatherd yelled through the entire courtroom. "This has nothing to do with the case! Stop! Stop right now—"
The Judge's gavel interrupted her screaming. "Witness, I ask you to stop right now and let the Defense explain their deductions, otherwise I will have to penalize you with a high fine."
"But! But…"
"Mr. Edgeworth, please continue!"
(Wow, the Judge can actually bite? ) I realized with more than just surprise, finding that I was actually backing off a bit. It sure took a lot to make our good old Judge become as active as this, but Heatherd had gone and done it. Impressive.
"Very well," Edgeworth did as the Judge had told him with a nod. "Allow me to present to the court… The updated list of the fingerprints on the door."
"Hm…" The judge took a close look. "The last missing name was filled in… Dylan… Sengage? Just where did I hear this name before?"
"Perhaps this will jog your memory, Your Honor." Edgeworth now brought out yet another piece of evidence. I expected it to be the newspaper clipping I had given him, but… Edgeworth, of course, had gone a step further than that. I should have expected that, though. Edgeworth had never liked leaving details up to coincidence. Just like back in our school days.
In his hands, Miles Edgeworth held an entire case file.
"STV-01. I trust you are familiar with this case?"
The Judge's eyes were closed, as he tried to recall.
"ST… Oh, yes, now I remember! State VS. Sengage. It was the case of this book…"
"Indeed," Edgeworth nodded. "The Defendant was a professional locksmith. Rather passionate about his work. One of the duties of a locksmith is to open the doors of clients who locked themselves out of their homes. This, as you probably know, sometimes required damaging the lock, a situation Sengage, seeing lock-making as a kind of art,wanted to prevent at all costs. This tendency caused him to develop a sort of passion for… lock-picking."
"Lock-picking?" The judge asked confused.
"If done correctly, lock picking can open a door without damaging the lock. Which is precisely why Dietrich Sengage began developing lock picking techniques in order to circumvent the necessity of damaging the lock once and for all. And eventually, he had managed to develop techniques to pick every lock developed by this point successfully, without leaving grave traces. Sengage was proud of his work, so proud in fact, he decided to write his entire knowledge down and make it known to the world… he eventually published a book. However… this is where the trouble began."
"I remember now," the judge nodded. "The book was outlawed by order of the court."
"Yes, naturally, as it would not have only made the work of locksmiths, but also that of the common thief laughably easy."
(If all you had to do in order to crack each and every lock in the world was to just buy a single book...) I pondered to myself.
(…the chaos would be perfect. It'd be a burglar's paradise.)"Anyway, the case took a tragic end," Edgeworth explained. "With the verdict, not only had all the effort the Defendant had put into the book been in vain, his reputation was ruined as well. Sengage, who had by this point become utterly obsessed with his work was devastated by the outcome and found that his life was ruined. He committed suicide not long after… in the bathroom of his apartment."
"In the bathroom of…" The Judge's eyes widened. "Wait! Doesn't that sound just like the case on hand?"
Edgeworth hesitated a bit to say something, as if he had to think through something first. Then, however, he spoke. "It isn't an exact match, but, yes, a certain similarity can't be denied. However, what is much more important… When Sengage died, he left behind a child. A son, to be precise."
"A son…?"
"The child was thirteen years old when the incident occurred, Your Honor." Edgeworth elaborated. "He is very intelligent and possesses a photographic memory, which enables him to remember great amounts of information within a small time span and in great detail… It is therefore entirely plausible that the boy knew the exact contents of the aforementioned book… by heart."
And then, even the judge needed no ten seconds to realize what Edgeworth was meaning to point out. Eyes wide open, he had his full attention turned to Edgeworth, as Heatherd, in the witness stand… began to cry?
I was baffled. That was not the reaction I had expected. Wordless, I stared at the witness stand, where the young woman was standing, shivering in fear, her eyes turned at the stand. She opened her mouth, but what came out wasn't yelling. I could make out what she whispered.
"K…Keep him out of this," she whispered. "Please… d-don't… don't drag him…into this…"
I felt a bit unsure what to think about what I was seeing there. This was so different from anything of this girl I had seen so far. And yet… it seemed genuine.
And why shouldn't it have been? What could she have possibly gained from this?
"A child… with knowledge of how to open every lock that was produced before the year 2017…?"
Edgeworth nodded. "Exactly, Your Honor."
"And if I might ask, Mr. Edgeworth, what might the name of this boy be?"
"Dietrich Sengage's son's name is… Dylan Sengage. The same name as on Mr. Wright's list. Today, he should be fifteen years of age. Here. A photograph of the boy was among the files of the case."
"Given that the name matches… I assume the court can accept this case file into evidence," the judge decided.
The sounds of the voices of the people in the gallery were echoing through the entire courtroom. People were drawing conclusions. None of them disadvantageous for Edgeworth. He had it. He was almost there.
In order to get the Court's attention again, Edgeworth hit his desk with his hand once,
"Your Honor. Let us take a look over the facts again now. We know that a person by the name 'Dylan Sengage' touched the doorknob of the door to the crime scene. Most likely this was on the day of the crime as well. Otherwise they might have been wiped off long since then. Also, we know that a boy by the same name was likely in possession of knowledge that would have allowed him to open the door without the necessary keycard… adding another person to the list of people with the ability to access the crime scene. Further, we have by now discovered that, while Lana Skye would have been able to commit the crime, it would have been impossible for her to prepare the suicide attempt, given the state the crime scene was found in. That, and the fact that the suicide note most likely wasn't written by her makes it rather likely that she was, in fact, framed for the attempted murder-suicide. And the revelation that there is the possibility that a third party opened the door on the day of the crime makes this even more likely."
The Judge listened intently and seemed to not disagree with a word Edgeworth said.
"I see…"
"However," Edgeworth continued. "There is still one thing that contradicts the idea of someone other than Lana Skye having committed the crime and that is Lilie Heatherd's testimony. Why this, most likely, cannot exactly be considered 'solid proof' is something I don't believe I have to elaborate on further."
"Indeed."
"It does, however, bring up a question…"
I took the liberty of finishing Edgeworth's sentence there.
"'Why did Heatherd lie regarding the people who entered the crime scene?' …That's the question you mean, right?"
And Edgeworth nodded once more.
"Yes."
"And why did she?" The Judge then asked. "Can you answer this question, Mr. Edgeworth?"
"In order to find an answer to this question, Your Honor, we have to ask ourselves a few other questions first," Edgeworth continued. "Like, why did Ms. Heatherd deny the existence of any other witnesses so determinedly? Why would she spend several hours in the hallway for such a puny reason as eating? Why did she not notice Mrs. and Ms. Fey, why did she keep the existence of Dylan Sengage's fingerprints secret to the court, even though Mr. Wright's questioning proved it and why did she lie in her testimony? All those questions combined have just one answer for me, Your Honor,"
Edgeworth then pointed at Heatherd in the most accusing way possible,
"Ms. Lilie Heatherd did not only know that Dylan Heatherd was present the day of the crime, she was also aware that he had opened the door to the crime scene. And, what's more… She knew the purpose. And was most likely involved in it as well! And said purpose was… To commit the murder of Ema Skye and frame her sister, Lana Skye, of the deed!"
And the volume in the courtroom was back to maximum level once more.
Heatherd had finally managed to yell something out again,
"That…That …" She seemed to have difficulty talking, as if she was out of breath. Soon, however, she finally yelled. "That's all absurd! You're saying I covered for a boy I don't even know? Why should I do that?"
"Oh, Ms. Heatherd. I am not saying that you covered for him," Edgeworth said, his finger still pointing at her. "I am saying that you were directly involved in the murder of Ema Skye! You were at the crime scene and are at the very least partly responsible for her death!"
"W-What?"
It was a weird, almost painful shriek Heatherd had sounded out there, as if a small bit of air had just exploded out of her before her airways had suddenly closed on her voice. And yet, it had been much louder than it logically should have been.
"That… NO!" She yelled. "No, I didn't! I've got nothing to do with it! NOTHING! I've got no motive, no way to enter the crime scene… There's not even evidence connecting me to the crime!"
"Actually, there is," Edgeworth claimed, making Heatherd look like someone had cut off her air supply. She froze like a statue, as he went on.
"I took the freedom to investigate the rooms of the 20th floor yesterday, with some help by the police," he explained. "While doing so we made an… interesting discovery."
And then, Edgeworth presented an item to the court. A photograph, showing an apartment living room, not unlike the one the murder had taken place in, yet the furniture was different… And there was an item leaning against the wall that really caught my attention. And the Judge's as well.
"Your Honor… This photograph was taken in the interiors of Ms. Heatherd's apartment," Edgeworth explained.
"Why, Mr. Edgeworth," the Judge said as he took a look at the picture. "… Isn't this… a stepladder?"
(That's just like Edgeworth,) I still found myself amazed at all the evidence he had found in that short time in which I had only found a few pieces myself.
(He really investigated into everything, didn't he?)"Indeed, Your Honor," Edgeworth nodded. "And, wouldn't you know it, it is just the correct height too. With something like this, even someone of Ms. Heatherd's stature could have easily attached the rope to the shower rod."
"That doesn't prove anything!" Heatherd yelled. "Just because I own some stupid ladder, it d-d-doesn't mean I k-killed a girl! I wouldn't… I couldn't! I couldn't have gotten on the… the crime scene… I…!"
"Actually, you could."
This was me. And once more, Heatherd froze. By now, her face was wet with tears and her body was shaking like she was standing in Antarctica wearing nothing but shorts and a tank-top.
"Mr. Wright?" The judge looked at me, as I went on to explain,
"Your Honor, Prosecution or not, I will not let the witness get away with such an obvious lie. In fact, she herself told me the reason she could have easily accessed the crime scene on the day of the crime."
"She did?" Surprise was written on more faces than just the judge's. I smiled confidently.
"Why, yes, she did. With a little help by… a friend."
"What is the Prosecution trying to say with this?" I heard the Judge ask, causing me to turn and look up to him.
"Your Honor, if you remember back, earlier in this very trial, Ms. Heatherd mentioned someone: Her boyfriend. This is relevant." I put my hands on the desk. "Because I know for a fact that this very boyfriend is actually… Dylan Sengage. The son of Dietrich Sengage."
"No!" Heatherd was exclaiming once more, obviously out of ideas what else to yell at us. "Stop it! That's a… a conspiracy! I'm just a witness! I just reported the murder, I… I don't know any Sengage! He's lying, I don't! You can't prove it!"
"Actually, I can," I then said... for the first time today surprising even Edgeworth.
"You can?" he asked.
"You can?" the Judge repeated. "But… isn't that boy only 15 years old today?"
And I nodded at both of them. "Yes, I can. I know, it sounds strange, but I have proof that this witness and Dylan Sengage are involved with each other. And that proof is…"
Once more, the fact how incredibly lucky I was came to my mind. Of course, any normal prosecutor wouldn't have found themselves lucky for being able to present evidence that could get the Defendant off the hook, but I wasn't exactly a 'normal' prosecutor, was I? In any case, I pulled the small object that would unveil Heatherd's little secret out of my pocket, opening it with a short click as I did. I presented the clover pendant and the picture within to the court.
"If the court would please pay attention," I started. "…to this photograph of Lilie Heatherd and her boyfriend. Compare the boy on the photo to the photograph Edgeworth showed earlier you will find that there is an… uncanny resemblance."
I had expected the pendant to turn into the courtroom's number one source of gossip the moment I presented it and this expectation wasn't betrayed. As soon as I had showed it, there seemed to be no other theme in the Gallery. A situation Heatherd was clearly everything but happy about. There were still tears on her eyes and in her eyes and she frantically looked all over the courtroom, almost spinning like a tiger caught in a cage. She was also being stared at like one.
"Order!" The Judge attempted to somewhat restore silence to the room. "Order in the court!"
Edgeworth spoke as soon as it was possible to hear him clearly. "Your Honor, the Defense deduces the following: The witness, Lilie Heatherd was very much able to enter the scene of the crime with the help of Dylan Sengage, with whom she shares a close relationship. There is also a high possibility that she was involved in the altering the crime scene. Furthermore, she lied several times throughout her testimony."
"It makes no sense!" Heatherd shouted. "Lanny's just a kid! Why should he help me d-do… something like… Why should we do that? Why should he help somebody kill a person! He wouldn't! He would never…"
"Which is why I am not suspecting him," Edgeworth interrupted Heatherd, who then, momentarily, halted.
"Y…You don't…?"
The expression on her face said nothing, was like a clean slate. She slowly turned her head to Edgeworth then, apparently watching him as he went on.
"No, Ms. Heatherd. I don't believe a child would have knowingly helped commit an atrocity like this. But Sengage trusts you. It would have been easy for you to trick him into opening the door for you… That would have been all you would need."
"I… tricked… Lanny…?"
I couldn't see Heatherd's face, as she had turned completely towards Edgeworth by that point, but her voice… it was surprisingly soft. I had no idea what was going on. She was being unusually meek, moved little, unusually focused on Edgeworth… Almost calm. Her behavior, had, yet again, changed…
"Yes, you tricked him, Ms. Heatherd," Edgeworth proposed. "You used the boy to open the door for you, gaining access to the room and enabling you to play a role in the murder, whatever that role might have been! I am not exactly sure yet, how many culprits there were and how exactly the murder was committed, however… One thing is for certain…
And, once again, Edgeworth, glaring straight down at Heatherd in the witness stand, pointing at her, declaring,
"You, Lilie Heatherd, are the culprit in the death of Ema Skye! You are a murderer!"
For a moment that seemed to last several minutes the entire courtroom was silent. Not a sound, not even from the gallery… The right side of the gallery- the side that could see Heatherd's face well, unlike me- seemed rather shocked.
Among them were the children I had noticed earlier, Apollo and Trucy. And now, I could see they were holding hands. For some reason, they were holding hands.
(W-What is happening over there?) I wondered to myself, feeling as tense as I hadn't felt all day.
"Miss… Miss Heatherd?" I heard Edgeworth ask from the other side of the room. His face, too, showed clearly that something was definitely wrong over there. Yet, the courtroom remained in silence.
When the eerie moment finally ended, a voice broke through the silence, whispering. I had to think for a bit, before I figured out the voice's source. It didn't seem familiar right away. Only when I listened closely, I realized… It was Heatherd.
"P-Please… don't hurt me," she whispered.
"Go…away…"And then, from one second to the other, the moment was over. And from one second to the other, with a loud noise… Heatherd collapsed in the witness stand. She made a weak, disoriented attempt to regain her balance by placing a hand on the stand, but it was futile. Her legs failed her and then she was just lying on the floor. And this was the moment were the spell of silence over the courtroom was finally broken completely.
"Bailiff!" The Judge had gotten up from his chair. "Get a medic in this courtroom immediately!"
Meanwhile, Edgeworth, me and even Franziska had all left our places in the courtroom and rushed to the witness stand. Franziska was there first, and she immediately checked on the pulse.
"Unconscious," she stated. "Most likely due to the stress."
Edgeworth, however, disagreed, shaking his head. "No. That wasn't just stress… at least not the regular kind."
"Edgeworth…?"
My eyes were on him, most likely looking, asking. Probably because I wanted to ask. So many things that I was confused about.
"This woman wasn't merely stressed and shocked before she collapsed," he then said, as if to respond to my expression. "The moment I looked into her eyes and accused her… She looked as if she was
dying."
And there was a deep worry in his voice when he said this. His eyes drifted off, as if he felt that he had made a horrible mistake.
"D…Dying?" I asked, more to myself than anybody else. I didn't understand.
I didn't understand what was going on. I didn't know what had happened or why Heatherd had collapsed. All I knew is that two minutes later, a medical team came to the courtroom, taking away the unconscious Lilie Heatherd. They said the same as Franziska that it was merely a shock and she'd be awake again in half an hour, at most. But Edgeworth had stated differently and that worried me.
Taking Lilie Heatherd's testimony apart had been easy enough. We had, however, never expected to be also taking apart Lilie Heatherd herself.