Phoenix arrived at the detention center with Athena. Walking in, he signed in and was escorted into the visitation room. Gumshoe was already there waiting for him. "There ya are Pal, and Little Miss."

"Where's our client?"

"He's being escorted here as we speak. I still can't believe the Chief would suspect him to begin with…there's just no way."

The door on the other side of the glass opened, revealing a uniformed officer being followed by several guards. He was heavily chained.

Sitting down, Phoenix picked up the phone the same time his client did. "You must be my client."

"I am. My name is Michael Perrit."

"Nice to meet you Michael. So tell me, what happened?"

"Well, we received a call from a pretty distraught man around eight this morning. I was the first officer on the scene and rushed into the building, where I met the man and a middle aged woman. They were blabbing and I couldn't understand a word they were saying, but they kept pointing to the other room. I told them to stay there and went inside. There…I saw a half-eaten body. I kept my emotions in check as I walked forward. I spotted a glass box strapped to the victim's abdomen…with three bloodied rats scurrying about through the hole they clawed and chewed through in his body."

Athena gasped and Phoenix was stunned. "Rats…dug a hole in his body?! Who would do such a thing?!"

Michael cleared his throat. "Well, hundreds of years ago, the Spanish Inquisition and other countries used this form of torture. It was actually allegedly practices also in a couple South American Countries in the mid to late twentieth century."

Phoenix looked at Michael. "And you know this…why?"

Michael looked down. "I was once in college going for a history major. I loved reading about the middle ages, and inevitably, I read about the various torture techniques of the time."

"That…could be bad…"

Michael chuckled. "Yeah…that's one of the reasons why I was suspected, but that's not the only reason."

"What's the reason?"

"Well…the victim, Detective Rick Urith and I, were at odds."

"'At odds?'"

"Yeah, you see, there has been a slew of home invasions recently, and I told him that they were all connected, but he didn't believe that was the case. Discussions about the home invasions then escalated into arguments, and personal attacks against each other. So put two and two together…I'm the suspect."

"I see…so other than those two circumstances, is there anything else that makes you suspicious?"

"…I'd rather not talk about that right now."

Phoenix could see everything turn black, and two psyche locks appeared. Psyche locks?! I guess there's even more to this case than meets the eyes.

"Mr. Perrit, why should I represent you?"

"I'm innocent of this! We may not have gotten along, but there's no way I would have killed someone. Besides…my own parents were murdered years ago. There's no way I would do the same thing to a family! I know the grief that comes with it!"

Phoenix looked at Athena, who was tearing up. Phoenix then looked back at Michael. "Alright, Mr. Perrit, I'll accept your case."

"Thank you Mr. Wright! Thank you! Detective Gumshoe here speaks very highly of you. I'm so glad that you accepted!"

Phoenix nodded his head. "I'll do my best to get you acquitted and find the monster who did this. Now, what else can you tell me that would be beneficial for me to know?"

"The murder happened on the west side of town. I was on the east side at my girlfriend's house during the time of the crime."

"Can anyone else confirm this alibi?"

"My girlfriend can, and I told Gumshoe where I was going after my shift was over."

Phoenix glanced at Gumshoe who nodded his head. "He did tell me he was going to go to his girlfriend's after the shift, but he also said he was going to propose to her too."

Michael looked down. "That didn't happen…I lost my nerve when I got to the house. The police have the ring right now."

"Well, that's good news for us. The ring can be used as proof that you were at the very least wanting to go to propose and not murder."

Michael smiled. "Exactly!"

"Anything else I should know?"

"Not really, other than the address of the building."

Gumshoe took out a piece of paper and a pen and quickly scribbled down the address. "It's about a fifteen minute drive from here. I've been removed from the investigation, so I can't help you anymore than I already have. Good luck Pal."

Phoenix took the piece of paper and nodded at Gumshoe. "Thank you Detective Gumshoe. Don't worry Michael, I'll be back later today with what I have found."

Michael smiled. "I'll be waiting."

Phoenix walked out of the room, hearing Athena call out her goodbyes. Soon, they walked out of the building. "What did you think of him?"

"Do you mean Michael?"

"Yep."

"Well, I could tell that there was a bit of noise coming from his heart, but it seems like he honestly believes he's innocent."

"I believe he's innocent, but there's more to the story than he's letting on. I say we have to prepare for some skeletons to come out of the closet."

"I agree. Anyways, we should head over and start investigating!"

"Yeah, let's get going."

Phoenix waved down a cab, told the driver where to go, and waited for them to reach the destination. The cab drove up to what looked like an old warehouse. After paying the driver, they both got out of the cab and stared at the building. Athena sighed. "It looks like this came out from a horror movie."

"You mean you wouldn't want to live here?"

"Not really, no."

Phoenix chuckled and walked towards the building, immediately being met by a policeman. "Who are you? This is an active investigation. Authorized personnel only."

"My name is Phoenix Wright and this is my assistant Athena Cykes. We're here on the behalf of Michael Perrit."

"Ah, you must be defending Michael in court then. I was told to expect his lawyers to show up. Please follow me."

Phoenix and Athena followed the officer into the building. After walking up a few flights of stairs, the officer led them into a room. Athena gasped. "Oh my goodness…"

In front of them stood a metal table, soaked and covered in blood. "This was the place the victim was murdered. The rats were taken back to the police station, and the body is currently undergoing a second autopsy."

"A second autopsy?"

"Yes. Anyways, I was also told to alert the detective in charge when you arrive, so I'm going to do that now. Please don't touch anything that would hamper the investigation, which is everything." The officer saluted Phoenix and walked away.

Phoenix looked around the room. It looks like we'll have a lot of work to do.