September 23, 1:05 PM, Long Beach Wedding Hall

The wedding had been thrown into complete disarray. The police had been summoned (which meant Gumshoe had left) and the crowd had broken up into little chattery clumps, the largest of which – the one that Maya was a part of – centered around Edgeworth. Everyone wanted to know what had happened – who died? Where was the body? But why? When? How?

Needless to say, no one was getting married today. Maya was sure that Pearly would be pleased at that, but instead she yelled, "You interrupted the wedding before Mystic Maya could steal Mr. Nick away at the altar!" and slapped Edgeworth.

"I was planning on doing that?" Maya commented.

"Apparently," Nick replied.

"Mr. Edgeworth, Mr. Edgeworth," a girl about Maya's age – a friend of Nick's, what was her name again? Emma Sky? – was saying, "tell us what happened!"

Edgeworth paused for a moment before sighing and saying, "Will Powers is dead."

"What?" Nick said, "Will Powers?"

"He was stabbed. I found his body in a closet."

"Who would want to stab Mr. Powers?!" Maya demanded.

"When did he die?" Pearly said, chewing on her thumbnail.

"Rigor mortis had already set in," Edgeworth said, "so most likely a few hours ago."

"But… all day there hasn't been anyone here except for people who are, how to phrase it? - are related to the wedding," Hester said, crossing her arms tightly.

"Will Powers was a guest, was he not?" Edgeworth replied coolly.

"Yeah," Nick said, "He said he was looking forward to it. I was wondering why he didn't show up, actually."

"Then most likely the killer is someone related to the wedding," Edgeworth declared. The Emma Sky girl muttered something that sounded like, "sooooo cool…"

"R-Related to the wedding…?" Hester said hesitantly.

"Either a guest or one of the staff," Nick said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Who do you think it was, Pearly?" Maya asked.

Pearly shrugged. "Maybe it was one of the kay-ter-rers."

"Who could possibly have a reason to stab Mr. Powers, though?" Nick said, "he's the last person in the world someone would want to kill."

"Maybe it was a random death," Emma said.

"…maybe… maybe someone did it to stop the wedding," Hester said quietly, looking down at her hands.

"Why would someone want to stop the wedding?" Nick said.

"Or at least want it enough to kill someone," Maya whispered. Pearly made a face like she wasn't sure if she was supposed to laugh or not.

"It is as solid a motive as anything else," Franziska said, walking up. She was followed by a blonde woman Maya had never seen before.

"But who in their right mind would want to stop the wedding?" Nick repeated himself.

"Hmm," said Franziska, "Hester Ioides. You appear to be dwelling on this. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?"

"…m… um," Hester said, nervously clutching herself, "well, I did have an idea…"

"Ooh, do tell," Maya said.

"I – I think it could only have been… Mr. Edgeworth," Hester said, looking aside, "I mean, he did leave during the ceremony; maybe that's when he did it. And we already know that he doesn't want Phoenix and I to get married… Yes," she said, firing up in a way that Maya found particularly unimpressive, "Mr. Edgeworth! You killed Mr. Powers in order to stop the wedding!"

There was brief silence in which the only response from the collected group was Edgeworth raising his eyebrows slightly. Then Nick smiled kindly and put a hand on Hester's shoulder. "Don't be ridiculous," he said, "Edgeworth just said that rigor mortis already set in. It was impossible for the murder to happen during the ceremony."

"Then he did it earlier," Hester insisted. Was that a note of hysteria Maya detected?

"But Mr. Edgeworth would never kill someone!" Emma said.

"And if he did, he wouldn't use a knife to do it," Maya joked.

"Yeah, he'd be more likely to use a gun, I think," Nick said, "or poisoning."

"Definitely poisoning," Maya said.

"What do you think, Mr. Edgeworth?" Pearly said.

"Why are we having this conversation?" Edgeworth said, still as unamused as he had been when Hester accused him.

"B-But-" Hester started again.

"If he wanted to stop the wedding, would Miles Edgeworth not be more likely to kill you?" Franziska said haughtily, "it seems to me that all of his problems with the marriage revolve around your involvement in it…"

"Really, why are we having this conversation?" Edgeworth said. Meanwhile, Hester was looking at the floor, clearly frustrated.

The conversation continued along more or less those lines for a while, with Maya only half-listening. She noticed that Nick and Edgeworth kept glancing at each other, like there was something that happened between the two of them that they weren't sure if it happened or not. At least that the impression she got from Nick's face, anyway. He was easy to read like that. Maya wondered if Edgeworth had shown up at the bachelor party the night before, and also what exactly guys did at bachelor parties, anyway. Hester's bachelorette party had consisted of a chick flick and some awkward conversation. Also cupcakes.

Those were some pretty good cupcakes.

Maya's thoughts of cupcakes were rudely interrupted by some teenaged kid with a very loud voice saying, "That's her! I'm sure that's her!" She turned out. Said teenage kid had brown hair with funky spikes in front, a huge forehead, and an interesting bracelet, and was also pointing at her.

"Who am I now?" Maya said as Gumshoe, who was with the kid (was this someone from one of the [few] cases Nick handled without her?), wandered over, looking unusually dour.

"Um, Maya," Gumshoe said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly, "we have an eyewitness here who says that you might have been, um… involved in the murder, pal."

"Involved!" the kid said, taken aback, "she did it, Detective! I saw her!"

"Saw me?" Maya said incredulously, "saw me do what?"

"What's going on?" Nick said, now that the whole cluster's attention had been thoroughly diverted to the imminent arrest. Because who was Maya kidding-

"I'm getting arrested again," Maya groaned, putting a hand over her eyes.

"Sorry, pal," Gumshoe said.

"Phoenix, who's this?" Hester said, tilting her head towards the eyewitness, who immediately hid behind Gumshoe, "Are any of your friends old enough to have a child this age?"

"Maybe Larry's new girlfriend?" Nick said distractedly, "didn't he mention she had a kid already?"

"That was the last one," Edgeworth said.

"Wait, when did Larry and Loreen break up?" Maya said, "who's this new girl?" She looked over at Larry, on the other side of the room, with a sexy brunette hanging off of his arm. She didn't look like a mother.

"I thought her name was Cissie," Hester said.

"No, it's Wynonna," Nick said.

"It's Anastasia," Edgeworth said, "which doesn't sound similar to either Cissie or Wynonna, you pair of imbeciles." Okay, that last part was only implicit.

"Mr. Nick!" Pearly yelled suddenly. "Are you going to defend Maya or not?!" Wait, had she been trying to get their attention?

"Of course I am," Nick said.

"Now that that's settled," Gumshoe said, "you'll have to come with me, Maya."

Maya sighed deeply. Couldn't they just go back to talking about Anastasia? "Okay sure, Detective… but could someone stop by the office and bring me my channelling robes or pajamas or something? I don't want to stay in the detention center dressed like this…"

"I'll handle that," Nick promised, "is the crime scene ready for investigation yet?"

"We need to find out who's prosecuting first, pal," Gumshoe said apologetically.

"I'll handle that," Edgeworth said, and left swiftly. A little too swiftly, Maya thought. Maybe something really did happen at the bachelor party last night!

September 23, 4:45 PM, Long Beach Wedding Hall

In true LAPD fashion, the all-important eyewitness had been whisked away before Phoenix got the chance to talk to him. However, he already got the gist of it: he had seen Maya commit the murder. Somehow. There would inevitably be a lot of holes in his story, and not just because he looked like he was maybe twelve. So Phoenix was feeling pretty confident on that front.

The confident feeling faded when he got the chance to take a look at Will Power's body. Poor Mr. Powers, he thought sadly. He had been stabbed in the chest - about at arm-height for a short woman, which didn't really help Maya much - and then shoved awkwardly in the hall closet, where rigor mortis had frozen him in a painful-looking twisted position. The knife had been removed, getting now-dried blood not only all over the closet but all down the front and side of Powers' orange tuxedo - Phoenix recognized it as the same one that he had worn to the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix ceremony. He felt a twinge at the memory of that. Better not to think about that right now.

"What exactly is the time of death?" Phoenix asked the nearby labbie.

"We're guessing 'round eight or nine, maybe even as late as ten-thirty," the labbie said, "definitely before noon. But we're still waiting for someone to come get the body for the autopsy."

"Hmm," Phoenix said, "the wedding started at noon, and everyone was seated ten minutes before that…" he rubbed his chin, thinking, "and the only person missing at that point was Mr. Powers." And Edgeworth, he thought, realizing that Edgeworth had slipped in five minutes late, much to Franziska's chagrin.

"Maybe it was actually a bit closer to the start of the wedding," Ema said thoughtfully, appearing from nowhere at Phoenix's side. "Mr. Wright, did you know that rigor mortis sets in faster if the dead guy was exercising right before he died?"

"Mr. Powers was a pretty sweaty guy," Phoenix said, nodding.

"Oh, we took that into account," the labbie said.

"Okay," Ema said, a little crestfallen. "Hey, what other evidence do you have against Maya?"

"Um," the labbie said, "dunno if I'm allowed to tell you that…"

"Just a hint?" Phoenix said, pulling out the ol' puppy-dog eyes.

"Let's just say her fingerprints have been found in some pretty inconvenient places, Wright."

Phoenix and Ema turned around. Edgeworth was standing in the hallway behind him, looking remarkably unruffled for a self-proclaimed "big fan" of Will Powers'.

"Edgeworth," Phoenix said, frowning, "you're prosecuting?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?"

"I thought Maya was your friend!" Ema said.

"I don't really know her all that well."

"You know her well enough to know that she would never stab anyone," Phoenix pointed out, "let alone stab the Steel Samurai."

Edgeworth glared at him for half a moment before saying, "we'll see how this turns out, Wright. Do you want to hear about the fingerprints or not?"

"What are you-"

"Let's hear about the fingerprints, Mr. Edgeworth, please," Ema said, a little too loudly.

Edgeworth gave a single nod. "Both the cake knife and the cart that the caterers used to transport the cake were found to have traces of Powers' blood on them. The handles of both of them had Maya's fingerprints."

"No way," Ema breathed. Phoenix threw up his hands irritably.

"Were they smudged, or-"

"They were clean," Edgeworth said, "no one seems have touched them after Maya did."

"That's not good," Ema mumbled.

"No, it's not," Edgeworth said, turning and beginning to walk away, "nor is the statement I managed to get out of your wife, Wright. Oh, sorry - your fiancée, still."

"That was a low blow, Edgeworth!" Phoenix yelled at his back.

September 23, 7:00 PM, Detention Center

Since Nick was busy with the crime scene, Pearly had taken it upon herself to bring Maya her spirit channelling robes. And since Pearly wasn't allowed to wander around Los Angeles on her own, she had channelled Mia. Maya was not complaining about that. She was, however, complaining about the fact that Nick was taking so long with the crime scene.

"C'mon, doesn't he have to talk to his client sometime?" Maya said, puffing her cheeks out angrily.

"Maybe there's a lot of evidence," Mia said.

"Not helping, sis."

"She's right, though," Nick sighed, leaning against the doorway. "Your fingerprints are all over everything - Maya, why are your fingerprints all over everything?"

"…define 'everything'," Maya said evasively, "Where's Hester?"

"Yes, Phoenix, where's Hester?" Mia said, "I still haven't met her."

"I know, I know," Nick said, standing next to Mia, who didn't bother getting out of the sole chair, "I couldn't find her. I need to ask her about…"

"About what?" the Fey sisters said simultaneously.

"Apparently Edgeworth got a statement out of her," Nick said, touching the back of his neck sheepishly.

Mia raised her eyebrows. "She's testifying against Maya tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Nick sputtered, "well - it's just a statement, not-"

"I knew I couldn't trust her," Maya joked. Nick glared at her. "Sorry. Sore spot?"

"Nevermind," he sighed. "Maya, why exactly were your fingerprints all over the knife and the cart used to move the body?"

"Beats me," Maya said.

"What else were they used for?" Mia said evenly. Nick explained, then he and Mia both looked at Maya expectantly.

"I didn't try to steal some of the cake before the wedding!" Maya protested, "why would you even think that?!"

"…no one even suggested it, Maya," Mia said, smirking.

"Whoops," Maya said. Nick facepalmed.

"Are you going to be ready for the trial tomorrow, Phoenix?" Mia said.

"Of course," Nick said, "Edgeworth's prosecuting, by the way."

"Raise your hand if you saw that coming," Maya said, raising her hand. Nick and Mia ignored her.

"He's up to something," Mia said.

"That's pretty obvious," Nick said, crossing his arms, "so that's what worries me. We can," he hesitated slightly, just long enough to be noticeable, "trust him to help me get you acquitted, Maya, because he already knows that no matter what the evidence seems to say right now, you're totally innocent."

"Totally," Maya said.

Mia frowned. "So what is he up to?"

September 23, 11:15 PM, Long Beach Wedding Hall

"Good question," Miles said.

"That is not an answer, Miles Edgeworth," Franziska snapped, also snapped her whip.

"What makes you think I'm up to something?" Miles said, "do I need to have some sort of ulterior motive for taking a case?"

"When Phoenix Wright is involved, yes," Franziska said, "moreover, you do not seem to believe that Maya Fey is the true culprit."

"What makes you say that?" Miles said, craning his head to look up at her.

"The fact that you are currently on your hands and knees, scouring every inch of this building looking for more evidence," Franziska said haughtily.

"And?" Miles said, standing up and brushing his pants off with gloved hands.

"And your current case against Maya Fey is almost perfect."

"Almost perfect," Miles said, "as you say so yourself."

Franziska scoffed. "I only say 'almost' because Phoenix Wright is involved."

"Exactly."

"But you know Maya Fey."

Miles looked at her evenly. "Do you think she is the true culprit?"

Franziska paused. "…what I think is irrelevant."

"I didn't say your opinion was necessary, I merely asked what it was."

Franziska paused again, much longer this time. "No," she said slowly, "actually, I do not think that Maya Fey would kill anyone, even if she harbored a great dislike towards them."

"There's also the problem of motive," Miles said, "Powers was Maya's hero. There are few circumstances in which she would feel inclined to stab him, and none of them are very likely to happen in the first place."

"Hell hath no fury like an otaku scorned," Franziska pointed out. Miles glared at her. She glared back. "What of the fingerprints, Miles Edgeworth? The eyewitness testimony? The bride's statement?"

"I'd call them a little too perfect," Miles said.

"Well, who else could it have possibly been?" Franziska said, losing patience.

Miles looked pensively towards the altar where, almost twelve hours ago, Phoenix Wright had very nearly become a married man. "Who else, indeed…"

I think this is the shortest chapter of the fic. Trial starts next chapter. Be prepared.

By the by, all of Larry's girlfriends were name after random artists on my iTunes playlist. Mostly electric swing artists, if I remember correctly.