"Another trial, another victory! Isn't that right Nick?"

Phoenix was in a daydream. He had been looking over the Court Record one last time. Only the familiar voice snapped him out of it.

"Hold your horses Maya! We aren't even in there yet!" He replied.

"You're the best defence attorney there is Nick, we're sure to do it!"

Best defence attorney there was, he liked the sound of that. Though he was certain it wasn't true.

"I believe in you Nick!" She was looking at him with stern determination.

Phoenix glanced over at his client. The man wore a cream suit, the collar stained with sweat.

"I wish our client looked as confident as you." He said to her.

"That's just because he hasn't seen you in action yet."

"If he was any more nervous, he would be given me Goosebumps." Wright thought to himself.

It was his duty to appear strong and determined in front of his client, regardless of the charges against them. He had to be his client's shield. It was a lesson he had learnt early on. He had learnt much since taking ownership of his old mentor, Mia Fey's firm.

"Come on Nick, let's kick-start his confidence." Maya spoke with the same bubbly energy.

Usually Phoenix would have some words planned out to calm his client, but this one was so nervous, his eyes darting throughout the room as if he were chasing something in his mind, that he made Phoenix himself feel uneasy about the whole thing. He mustered some words after a moment.

"There's nothing to be worried about Mr Sharp. If you're innocent, I'll prove it!"

"Oh it's hopeless, utterly hopeless!"

Apparently Phoenix's conciliating words were not so helpful.

"Nick!" Maya yelled out, making Phoenix feel like a child about to get a talking to from his mother.

"Because! We'll prove it because he's innocent!"

It was hard to calm Mr Sharp when Phoenix was sweating buckets himself. The fact of the matter was, just from the Court Record, the level of guilt around Mr Sharp was daunting. Phoenix had been in this situation many times, but it was never any easier.

"Can the suspect and his defence team please enter the courtroom?" The bailiff called for them.

"This is it Nick! Time to prove Mr Sharp is innocent."

Before long, Phoenix and his Spirit Channelling assistant, Maya Fey, were in their usual spot. The Judge sat down ominously, his gavel resting beside him on the desk, as if waiting to strike down all hope the defence had of victory. Across from them was a familiar figure. He was clad in a suave purple suit and white cravat. Phoenix Wright's child hood friend and rival Miles Edgeworth was the prosecution. His eyes let out a hint of the clever and witty remarks that Phoenix was about to receive.

With the court settled down, Phoenix took one last glance at his client. He was still sweating, his cream suit doing nothing to conceal the fact, though his erratic movements had ceased. With everyone ready, the Judge began the trial.

"The court is now in session for the trial of Cecil Sharp."

"The Prosecution is ready, you're Honour." Edgeworth was the first to speak. His British accent emitting sophistication.

"The Defence is ready, you're Honour." Wright said, trying his best to sound confident as he always did at the start of a trial. Now was certainly not the time to show any weakness.

"Very well. Can the Prosecution please proceed with its opening statement?"

Edgeworth turned to the relevant page of the Court Record and held the document aloft in front of him.

"This is a rather open and shut case, your Honour. On February 2nd, Mr Charles Corners was murdered at 8 Bit Corp. He was an employee of the electronics corporation. He suffered a sliced neck in one of their laboratories and subsequently died of blood loss. He was killed with the machinery by none other than his work college, Mr Cecil Sharp. Unfortunately for him, a witness saw the whole thing. With evidence and a doubtless witness, the Prosecution is in no doubt of the subject's guilt."

Phoenix half listened to the opening statement as he again looked over the court record. He would study it over and over until he could piece together possible contradictions. From just the autopsy alone, it was impossible to determine.

"You may call your first witness, Mr Edgeworth." The Judge continued.

"Thank you, your Honour. The Prosecution calls Detective Gumshoe, the Chief Officer at the scene, to the stand."

Now this was a face that had become all too familiar. The scruffy Detective made his way to the witness stand.

"Sorry Pal, but Mr Edgeworth is going to beat you for sure this time! The evidence is sound!" he said to Wright in a gruff but friendly voice.

"Boy, I'm glad the Detective has every confidence in me." Wright thought.

"I trust our detectives, Wright." Edgeworth added with a devilish smile and his finger to the side of his forehead.

"Don't let them intimidate you." Maya backed her friend up. "We've beaten them before, we'll beat them again!"

It seemed like everyone was treating the situation as if it were a game. Well, he would just have to win it, for Mr Sharp's sake.

The Detective began his witness testimony.

"We got the call at about 3:20pm, I rushed to 8 Bit Corp as soon as it came in.

What I saw was grim; blood everywhere and the victim lying by the machinery.

The suspect was still frozen in place! I grabbed him as soon as I saw him!

The machinery had been turned off by the time I had arrived.

The only people at the scene were the suspect, and the witness of course!"

"As you have heard, your Honour, only two people were at the scene." Edgeworth supported the testimony. "Ergo… It is inconceivable that anyone other than Mr Sharp could be the murderer!"

"Hold it!"

Wright slammed both hands down on his desk.

"Inconceivable? You heard the witness, there were two people…"

"Objection!" Edgeworth cut him off mid-sentence.

"Let me cut you off there, Mr Wright. You weren't about to suggest that the witness at the scene could have been involved?"

Phoenix knew he had no evidence for such an argument. Still, perhaps he could discover more.

"You're Honour, if there was another person at the scene of the crime, then Mr sharp shouldn't be the only person under suspicion."

"Objection, your Honour."

Edgeworth really wasn't willing to give him any room to manoeuvre.

"I'm afraid your train of thought has been derailed before it's even got going, Mr Wright." He said smugly.

"What do you mean?" Wright knew Edgeworth would object, but the more information he had, the more he could counteract any cards Edgeworth had up his sleeve.

"The witness to the crime saw the suspect from across the room. Only Mr Sharp was found near the machinery, the very machine that was used to murder Mr Corners. Our fellow Detective here has said it himself. Only the suspect was found near the immediate scene." Edgeworth showed off his confidence.

"That's right Pal! The suspect still hadn't moved when I arrived."

Gumshoe's statement seemed strange to Wright. The suspect hadn't moved.

"It's all in their statement, Pal."

Edgeworth presented the statement the detective spoke about.

"Here it is your Honour, for the record."

The employee that had been a witness to the crime had indeed stated that Mr Sharp did not move from the scene. Questions went around in Phoenix Wright's head.

"As you can see, the witness had not gone near the immediate scene of the murder. You're lucky I'm here Wright, to save you from any further embarrassment."

"He sure likes to rub it in." Phoenix thought to himself.

What was with him today? Edgeworth changed in that year he left the country. Prosecutor Edgeworth was dead. From his ashes rose a new man, one that searched for the truth, rather than a perfect win record. Yet, He seemed like his old self to Phoenix that day.

"If you are quite done Mr Wright, please proceed with your cross-examination." The Judge snapped him out of his thoughts.

"From that testimony, I think the Judge is already sure Mr Sharp is guilty, Nick." Maya said to her partner with concern in her voice.

"The Court Record says that only one person could use the machine at once, so it doesn't look good for Mr Sharp. There has to be a contradiction here though!" He answered her.

Phoenix turned to face the detective.

"Detective Gumshoe, could you describe the purpose of the machinery that the victim was lying beside?" he asked confidently.

"Well, it was one of those new-fangled robot arm things. The type used in car and robotics construction. Cool stuff they have over there! That's the machine that killed the victim."

The Judge looked dumbfounded for a moment.

"Hold on Detective." He interrupted. "Did you just say, that was the machine… that killed the victim!?

Gumshoe scratched the back of his head.

"Well… yeah. At least, that's what I think I said. My memory ain't so good sometimes."

"If what you have said is true, then why is Mr Sharp on trial!?"

Phoenix Wright had a feeling the Judge wouldn't be up to speed with a case like this. He had only just got his head around what a cell phone could do.

"I'm afraid the good Detective here has not been as clear as he could have been." Edgeworth began to explain, pointing his finger at Gumshoe as he did so. "You see, Mr Corners was not killed by the machine, per se. Rather, the robotic arm was the murder weapon, used by Mr Sharp to kill his hapless co-worker!"

"Used? In what way?" The Judge still didn't understand.

"You're Honour. As you can see in the autopsy report, the victim died by loss of blood due to a slash wound to the throat. The robotic arm was used to inflict the wound, by none other than Mr Sharp, the only one discovered near the machinery at the time."

"Objection!" Phoenix spoke up for his client.

They kept referring to Mr Sharp's position, but how accurate was it truly?

"Just because Mr Sharp was discovered near the machine during his arrest, doesn't mean he was there at the time of the murder!" Phoenix pointed his finger straight towards Gumshoe.

Edgeworth held his finger to his forehead, his face striking a crafty grin.

"Sorry Mr Wright, but the witness's statement doesn't agree with you! The witness stated that they saw Mr Sharp by the machinery through the whole event."

"I thought that was too easy." Phoenix went over the events again in his head.

"Nick, doesn't this seem strange to you?" Maya gave him a stern look.

"You're right. They are determined to prove that it was Mr Sharp operating the machinery because he was near it."

Maya thought for a moment.

"I guess that makes sense, but there must be something else to this, he didn't do it after all!"

Phoenix thought of another angle to attack Gumshoe's testimony.

"Detective, you say you received the call at 3:20 PM? How long did it take for you to arrive?" Wright scratched his chin as he spoke.

"About five minutes, Pal. 8 Bit Corp is pretty close to the precinct." Gumshoe answered.

That surprised Wright.

"Five minutes? That's pretty fast."

"Well our current motto is 'Efficiency is key!'"

"If I'm not mistaken, that was your motto last month as well." Edgeworth added, crossing his arms.

"Well if it ain't broke!" Gumshoe grinned innocently.

"I need to come up with some motto's for this guy." Phoenix muttered under his breath. "So who made the call?"

"That would be the witness, Ms Emily Drive."

"To see such a despicable act against a colleague must have been shocking." Edgeworth said.

So the call was made by the witness and Detective Gumshoe arrived in five minutes. Wright glanced at the autopsy report. Charles Corners' death was between 3:00 and 3:30 PM. The time of death wasn't accurate enough to determine if there was a gap between the murder and the call. With little room to move there, Phoenix took a strike at another point that had been bugging him.

"Doesn't it strike you as odd that my client was still by the machine when you arrested him?" Phoenix asked Gumshoe.

"What do you mean, Pal?"

"If Mr Sharp had just committed a murder... then why did he not flee the scene!?"

"Objection!" Edgeworth slammed his desk.

There it was, as Phoenix had expected.

"That's what one would normally assume, yes." Edgeworth began. "However, there was an obvious witness to the crime. To run would confirm him guilty of performing the act deliberately. Instead, he stayed in place to make it appear like an accident!"

"Then it is also very possible that it was an accident after all!" Phoenix argued. "My Client may not have even been responsible! It could have been a machine fault!"

Edgeworth was confident in his opinion.

"A nice thought Wright, but the evidence is stacked against you. Robotic arms do not just slice a man's throat by mistake. They require expert skill by a single person. To suggest that the suspect 'accidentally' manoeuvred the complex machinery with such precision is impossible!"

"He's got ya there Pal!" Gumshoe said with excited enthusiasm.

"Of course, if you do believe it was an accident, then you are more than free to change your plea to manslaughter. As to the matter of a machine fault, do you have any evidence to suggest this?"

"Why do I feel like the one on trial all of a sudden?" Wright thought.

"The Judge is nodding, Nick." Maya told him.

"That's not a good sign. I need to find a contradiction quick."

He recollected the testimony.

"Did you say that Mr Sharp and the witness were the only people on the scene?"

Gumshoe thought for a moment. Had he really forgotten his own testimony!?

"Yeah, that's all Pal!" At least he looked positive when he answered.

"Are you sure there was no one else on the scene?"

Phoenix could see Edgeworth about to pounce. Luckily Gumshoe answered in time.

"Sure as day, Pal! No one else but the suspect and the witness."

Another thought process went round in his head. Was it possible that someone not on the scene could be involved? Wright had no idea how or why, but it was an angle to keep in mind nevertheless. He took a glance at the laboratory map in the Court Record. There were various work stations in a row, each adorned with computers with their screens facing away from the machine and towards the entrance. There was a walkway between them all.

The machine was at the back of the room. The operator would be facing the entrance. Nothing looked immediately suspicions from this to Phoenix.

"You say that the machinery had been turned off by the time you had arrived?" he piped up at last.

"Yeah Pal. Not a single machine in the lab looked on to me."

"Why was that?" Phoenix asked.

"A brutal murder had just taken place, Mr Wright." Edgeworth interrupted before Gumshoe could answer. "Surely you don't expect the staff to carry on working, do you?"

"Yeah! Show some heart Pal!" Gumshoe snapped at him.

"That's not what I…" Phoenix looked at the Judgemental stares around the room, all of them aimed at him.

"Why do I always look like the bad guy?" he thought.

Then, like a light bulb, something flashed.

"Something doesn't seem right…" he whispered to Maya.

"Go for it Nick!" he held her hands up in fists.

Phoenix lent back with is hands on his hips.

"Detective Gumshoe, you said that there were only two people at the scene, neither of which moved. So tell me… who turned off the machinery!?" His pointing hand was outstretched.

"That's a good point…" Even the Detective didn't know.

"That's the contradiction! If they didn't move, then who was it that turned off the lab machinery?" he asked Maya.

She shrugged her shoulders and gave him an agreeing smile.

The room had grown silent. The first thing that caught Phoenix Wright's attention was Miles Edgeworth. He had his eyes closed and was shaking his head; a smile on his face.

"Oh, Mr Wright. If this is the sort of contradiction you're going to throw at us today, then this will be over sooner than I expected!"

Phoenix's confidence faded. He lent on his desk.

"What are you implying?" he asked.

"The witness had not left the scene of the crime, true. That doesn't mean that they stood on that immediate spot the whole time!"

"What!?" Phoenix shouted, a little louder than he should have.

"The witness reported that they did indeed stay in the lab until the Detective arrived, but it was the witness that shut down the machinery in an effort to save Mr Corners!"

Phoenix was stumped. How would he get out of this?

"But if the witness shut down the machinery, then they must have gone near the robot arm?" The Judge was confused.

"On the contrary, the witness had no need to. You see, they hit the emergency switch."

That was news to Phoenix.

"Emergency switch?" The Judge was not exactly up to date with laboratories.

"You see, your Honour. In every 8 Bit Corp laboratory there is an emergency off switch. Hitting this switch will shut down all machinery in the room. You see? The witness had no need to be anywhere near the 'murder weapon'."

"Nick, what are we going to do now?" Maya asked him.

"This isn't looking good. Edgeworth is on the ball today. I need to take the heat off Mr Sharp. There has to be something, anything suspicious in the witness's actions. We have to press this further!"