Chapter One: New Case

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It was a slow month for Phoenix Wright.

It had been a long time since the master defense attorney had received a good case. Every other case that had come up had gone to less-experienced defense attorneys, as the cases were never in need of someone as skilled as Phoenix. As it stood, there was little to do other than count the dots on the ceiling tiles.

"4,607…4,608…4,609…" Phoenix thought as he reclined behind his desk and stared at the ceiling.

Suddenly, the door to Phoenix's office flew open and in rushed Maya Fey, Phoenix's young assistant and aspiring mystic. She had a paper in her hand and a huge smile on her face.

"Nick!!" Maya said in glee.

The sudden outburst from the young girl took Phoenix by complete surprise, as the spikey-haired attorney fell out of his chair in response.

Phoenix slowly managed t get to his feet again. "Maya, what's wrong?" He asked once he was standing upright again.

"We've got work again!" Maya replied as she shoved the paper into Phoenix's hands. "Some guy named Jonathan McCarthy has been accused of murder and he needs us to defend him!"

"A murder case, eh?" Phoenix asked as he looked over the paper. "While it's too bad that someone died, it's good to get some work again."

"So what should we do?" Maya asked.

"Well, we haven't had any work in a while, so it's probably best that we take it." Phoenix reasoned. "Well, the suspect's probably over at the jail, so let's go over there and ask him a few questions."

"Okay!" Maya nodded. "Let's go!"

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Phoenix and Maya wasted no time in getting over to the jail. After all, this was their first big job in a long time. They wanted to make sure that they didn't screw up. Within minutes, the two were at the jail and close to where their client, Jonathan McCarthy, was being held.

"Is this where Mr. McCarthy is being held?" Phoenix asked the guard by the door.

"Yes, it is." The guard replied. "You visiting?"

"Phoenix Wright. Defense attorney." Phoenix explained, flashing his attorney badge to the guard. "We'll be defending him in court, so we'd like to talk to him."

"Oh! Mr. Wright!" The guard said in realization. "I'm sorry! It's just been so long since we've seen you around. Please go on in. McCarthy is expecting you."

Phoenix and Maya entered the cell and saw their client sitting on a chair. Jonathan McCarthy was a tall man with short, dark hair. He wasn't thin, but he wasn't overweight, either. From his looks, Phoenix guessed that he was either late 20's or early 30's.

"Jonathan McCarthy?" Phoenix asked as he approached the man.

The man looked up and saw Phoenix, then brightened. "Oh! Phoenix Wright! So I take it that you've accepted my invitation to defend me in court?"

"We have." Phoenix nodded with a smile. "However, before we can do that, we need to know what happened."

"I couldn't tell you." Jonathan shrugged. "I was out for my morning run when a police car pulled up and the officer arrested me for murder. Apparently, a witness said that they saw someone that looked like me fleeing the scene of a crime after some guy got shot."

"Do you know of anyone that would try to frame you?" Phoenix asked.

Jonathan scratched his head for a bit, then shook his head. "Sorry, but no. Nobody hates me THAT much." He admitted.

"Well, don't worry, sir." Maya said confidently. "With Nick here backing you up, there's no way you can lose!"

"Thanks, kid. I feel a little better, now." Jonathan nodded.

"Well, if you don't know anything about the murder, it's probably best that we search the scene of the crime." Phoenix said. "You wouldn't know where it is, would you?"

"Well, I heard one of the officers say that the murder happened at the old railway station across the city." Jonathan replied. "I heard that they had sent an investigator there to try and find clues."

"That'd be Gumshoe." Maya told Phoenix.

Phoenix nodded. "Okay. We'd better head out." He told Maya. "Maybe Gumshoe's found something."

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Detective Dick Gumshoe stood alone at an old railway station, searching the area from top to bottom, making sure that he didn't leave any stone unturned. He had been searching the area thoroughly for the past thirty minutes, and although he hated to admit it, he had found absolutely nothing, yet.

"This is ridiculous." Gumshoe muttered as he stood straight and rubbed the back of his head.

"What's ridiculous?"

Gumshoe looked over his shoulder and saw Phoenix and Maya coming over. "Oh. Hey, guys." He greeted. "I was just saying to myself that whoever killed this guy didn't wanna leave any evidence."

"You haven't found anything, yet?" Maya asked.

"Nothing." Gumshoe admitted. "And I've been here for a bit, already."

"Yeesh. The case just started for us and already we've run into trouble." Phoenix shook his head. "This one could be tough if we don't have anything to go on."

Suddenly, the three heard a loud (and VERY annoying) siren coming from nearby and looked in the direction of the noise. The three watched as a police car-convertible torpedoed around a corner and came to an abrupt halt, sending the passenger (whom was creating the siren noise using a megaphone), flying out of the car. The small figure landed on the ground and rolled for about ten feet before finally coming to a stop.

However, as strange as this scene was, nothing could prepare Phoenix, Maya and Gumshoe for what the occupants of the car looked like.

"I'm telling ya, Max! That siren of yours is getting better every day!" The driver laughed as he got out of the car. He was a brown dog standing on his hind legs and as tall as any normal human and was wearing a gray suit with a fedora. He was also walking barefoot.

"Gee! Thanks, Sam!" The passenger, a grinning, white rabbit as tall as a child, replied as he stood up and slapped the side of his head, making dirt fly from his ear. "I've been practicing, you know."

The dog looked towards the three stunned figures standing aside and scratched his head. "What seems to be the problem, citizens?" He asked before looking down at his partner. "Max, is your fly undone?"

"I don't wear pants, Sam." The grinning rabbit reminded.

"Oh, that's right." The dog nodded before looking at the others. "So what's wrong, then?"

"Y-Y-You're…You're a…A giant dog!" Maya pointed out.

"Uh…Huh?" The dog asked, raising his eyebrow. "This strikes you as unusual?"

"That's strange." The rabbit scratched his head. "Where we come from, people see us as normal."

"Well, they see ME as normal." The dog reminded. "They see YOU as a psychotic, deranged rabbity-thing."

"Sounds normal to me." The rabbit shrugged.

"Just…Who are you guys?" Gumshoe asked.

"Oh, you've never heard of us?" The dog asked before striking a pose, placing his hands on his hips. "We're Sam & Max: Freelance Police!"

To be continued…

Author's note: I haven't played 'Justice For All' yet, so I don't know about any of the new characters from that game. So because of that, you won't be seeing characters from that game in this fic.

I know this chapter hasn't really shown it, but don't worry. This fic IS about Gumshoe and it'll revolve around him more from now on.