December 24, 6:00 P.M. District Court, Courtroom No. 2
The jury spoke for a shirt moment, and the judge banged his gavel soon after.
He said, "Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Lance Let."
Phoenix heard the voice of Miles Edgeworth note, "The prosecution is ready, Your Honor."
He followed with, "The defense is ready, Your Honor."
The judge continued, "Mr. Edgeworth, it seems that Mr. Let killed his brother using a handgun. Is this correct?"
The reply was, "Yes, Your Honor. It appears that he was killed in cold blood!"
At the same time, Phoenix took a gaze at Maya, who was in her usual garb and was shivering.
She said, "Nick, it's cold in here!"
He answered, "I don't see a reason why."
However, he then noticed that her kimono was only an inch thick, and obviously was not suited to the cold.
He asked, "Maya, is this what you normally wear in December?"
She shook her head. He figured, "Is it because you're all out of the winter variation?"
She accepted his reasoning. Phoenix thought, "Well, it's obvious that one inch is not as good as 3 inches."
"The prosecution calls the defendant, Mr. Lance Let, to the stand.", boomed Edgeworth.
He climbed onto the stand and sweated.
Miles began, "Mr. Let, is it true that your girlfriend had left you for your brother?"
He screamed, "What do you mean? She loved me!"
The prosecutor chuckled, "Tsk tsk tsk. It seems that you are completely oblivious to her actions, Mr. Let! It seems that she had been getting preparations to marry Felix!"
The court roared. Lance shook and said, "No way. This can't be happening to me!"
Miles, however, was insistent. "The evidence supports my claim as well. You must have had such a hate for your brother's relationship with Rachel that you seeked revenge! That handgun was fired at him from point blank!"
The judge banged his gavel. "Well," he said, "It seems that there is no reason to suspend this trial. Nor is there any doubt that the defendant is responsible."
He started, "This court finds the defendant, Lance Let..."
Suddenly, Phoenix screamed, "Hold it!"
Miles buried his head in his hands. The judge blinked. Maya stopped shivering.
He screamed, "We haven't called a witness to prove him guilty!"
Miles responded, "Objection!"
He continued, "It is futile and unnecessary to call a witness! The evidence points to the defendant being at fault!"
The judge added, "Objection overruled. Mr. Edgeworth, do you not realize that evidence may be forged?"
He gasped and grimaced. Miles then said, "The prosecution calls Dennis Solder to the stand."
After he mounted the stand, he announced to the court, "The name is Dennis Solder. I work as a security guard in a nearby department store."
The judge smashed his gavel. "Very well, then. Please begin your testimony."
"I heard a struggle of some sort in a back alley around 2:00 P.M. I heard a man fighting another and knocking him to the floor," he said.
"There was about 30 soft thuds and then it stopped. I bet that there was a murder back there!"
The judge nodded in agreement. He continued, "Mr. Wright, you may begin your cross-examination."
Phoenix, however, noted, "Your Honor, if I may ask, can Maya cross-examine the witness?"
He replied, "Well, sure, why not?"
Maya got to her senses. She felt warm inside and got herself situated for the scan.
The witness repeated, "I heard a struggle of some sort in a back alley around 2:00 P.M. I heard a man fighting another and knocking him to the floor. There was about 30 soft thuds and then it stopped. I bet that there was a murder back there!"
She screamed, "Objection!"
Maya slammed her hands down on the table. "Mr. Solder, if there were quiet thuds, then you are highly mistaken! If a gun goes off, it emits loud bangs!"
Dennis gasped and began sweating.
The judge nodded, "Mr. Solder, Ms. Fey is correct. A firearm fires with a loud noise, not a dull thud."
Phoenix looked over at Maya and cheered, "Way to go, Maya! Keep doing that! Find those contradictions!"
Solder jumped, "Well, I was in a secure area at the time of the murder!"
The judge nodded, "Very well, then. Let's hear your testimony again."
After his testimony had been delivered, the judge seemed to agree that his testimony was without holes.
He noted, "Ms. Fey, begin the cross-examination!"
Mr. Solder made a strange face as he spoke. "Well, I was in the monetary vault at the time of the murder! The thick walls must have shielded the gun's blasts! Not only that, but the door was locked!"
Maya screamed, "Objection!"
She continued, "Mr. Solder, did you forget that the back door wasn't locked?"
The witness jumped and sweated some more.
The judge agreed, "It seems that our witness has a serious problem with testimony. I feel as if he is not giving us the whole picture."
The judge banged his gavel. "It seems that our witness here is not giving us any leads in this case. We will have to resume this trial at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow. And with that, court is adjourned!"
He banged his gavel again.
December 24, 7:30 P.M. Defendant Lobby No. 2
Maya sighed. She was relieved that she did not have to do Phoenix's job any longer. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned around to find him standing behind her.
He said, "Maya, that was a good performance out there! It almost seemed to remind me of Mia a little bit."
In response, she drooped her head and replied, "Nick, it would help if you didn't bring up Mia on Christmas Eve. After all, when did I channel her last? Wasn't it back in September?"
Pearl popped in from behind, but Maya soon found that the girl behind her was busy as ever, channeling Mia like a charm.
She noted, "Well, it seems that my sister wants to both be The Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique and a lawyer! I never knew that!"
Maya screamed, "I don't want to be a lawyer, Mia! I was helping Nick during the cross-examination of Dennis Solder!"
The late mentor shrugged, "Solder? Who has a last name like that?"
Phoenix reasoned, "There are some crazy last names out there, so there is at least one guy in the world with the surname 'solder'."
Mia then left. As soon as she was out of earshot, Maya asked, "Nick, would you like to come over to...um...my place?"
He responded, "Of course! Why not, Maya? We will have a great time!"
December 24, 9:30 P.M. Fey Manor
Maya opened the door, and Phoenix followed. She said, "A while ago, I got my own section here. I usually like it here."
Phoenix was impressed, as he figured that a 17-year-old girl would not own this much property.
He inquired, "Which name did you receive first? Your Japanese name, or your English name?"
She sweated a little and laughed. She replied, "My English name. Anyways, I should explain. When my Japanese name was considered, they gave me the first name Mayoi because it resembles my first name in English. My Japanese surname, Ayasato, is a compound word. Sato seems to mean 'village' or 'town', but the Aya part doesn't mean anything, so it was basically filler."
Phoenix got a kick out of it, and laughed along with her reasoning. He asked, "By the way, where did you come up with the name 'Naruhodo A. Wrighto'? What is with that?"
She laughed, "I mixed up your last name in Japanese, the word 'ace', and some nickname of yours!"
Maya quietly noted, "Nick, I'm getting ready for bed. I'll tell you when you can come in."
She went inside. Phoenix sighed, "Oh, boy. What is she up to now?"
He sat there and waited. A bit later, he checked the clock. Maya had been getting ready for the past 15 minutes.
He thought, "What could take you 15 minutes to get ready for?"
Suddenly, Maya said from inside, "Nick, you can come inside now!"
Phoenix sighed, "I hope this is good."
He walked inside and saw Maya laying in her bed. She said, "Come on, Nick! Don't be shy!"
He slowly walked closer and got inside. She whispered, "You better not tell Pearly...ever!"
She pulled back the blankets and asked, "Well, what do you think?"
Phoenix shook and yelled, "M...Maya! What are you doing?"
She teased, "Nick, aren't you excited?"
He blushed hard and sweated, "Um...OK."
Maya instructed, "When you hit the ball, only go to third base. DO NOT make a home run! We'll save that for later!"
Phoenix sweated, "Here it goes!"
