Chapter 4

When a Lawyer Must Force their Biggest Smile

Waking up the following day was difficult. Not only for Apollo- he could see how Maya's shoulders were slouched a bit, could hear the despair under the mountains of peppiness in her voice. He could only imagine how Trucy was feeling.

The car ride to the courthouse was quiet. Maya had permitted him to drive again, much to his surprise. He took is easy this time when behind the wheel- he had paid attention to Maya's driving abilities the night before to learn what was more "socially acceptable" to do. Using his blinkers, for example, came a lot more naturally to him than he thought it would be.

When they arrived, there was a mass of news reporters outside. It came as a genuine shock to the both of them when they were stopped and interviewed about the case and about Phoenix himself. Neither of them had realized how well known he was or how big of an impact his murder would have on the legal world. Apollo suddenly began to feel self doubt and anxiety creep up on him again.

After forcing themselves through the crowds of reporters, a guard ushered them into Defendant's Lobby Number 2, a place they were both intimately familiar with. Trucy was already there talking to someone in a vibrant yellow suit. Apollo smiled, glad to see she made it back safely.

"Athena!" Maya called out to her as she raised her hand in greeting. "Long time no see!"

Athena ran up and embraced Maya warmly. "Yeah I know! We have so much to catch up on after all this." She glanced slyly at Apollo. "I have so many embarrassing Apollo stories to tell."

At this point, Apollo wasn't even phased by her teasing. "You got here late last night, right? Are you sure you're well rested enough to be defending today?" Through the vibrant smile, Apollo could see tiredness clouding her eyes.

Athena placed her hands on her hips in annoyance. "Of course I am Apollo." Her necklace, Widget, suddenly turned red and an angry face appeared on the screen as she curled her fists upward in determination. "We have to work together to figure out who killed Phoenix!"

'Glad to see she's the same as ever.' Apollo thought. "How did your relatives take the news? Were they okay with you cutting your trip short?"

Athena nodded. "Oh yeah, they completely understood. They were the ones to get me an overnight flight back here!"

He turned his attention to his sister. "How you doing Trucy?"

She smiled sincerely at him. "I'm doing great knowing that you'll be the one defending me, Polly!"

A small robotic voice saying "What about me?" made Apollo burst into laughter. Trucy gasped and turned to face Athena. "And I'm positive you'll do great too Athena!" Apollo could hear Athena apologize to Trucy over Widget's outburst over his laughter.

"Oh yeah, Trucy," Maya suddenly said, "I've been meaning to ask- what time did your train get here yesterday?"

"Oh, uh." She thought briefly. "Probably 11AM. Why?"

Apollo was ashamed he hadn't asked her sooner. Knowing when she arrived in Los Angeles was probably one of the most important things for the upcoming trial. "Because we needed to know if you had an alibi." Apollo replied for Maya.

Athena stared at him in concerned disbelief, Widget having turned a slight purplish color. "Is there anything else that's important that you're missing?"

"Yes actually!" A familiar voice answered before Apollo could. They all turned to see Ema walking towards them. "Potentially the most important piece of evidence of them all: this briefcase."

Apollo's heart skipped a beat. "Wait, you mean…?"

Ema tilted her head up and looked down on him ever so slightly. "Yep, the analysis is complete. Did you really doubt me?" She laughed at her own question.

'Yes, actually…' he thought. "So what were the results?"

"Just about what was expected." She replied, handing the case to Apollo. "The blood wasn't Mr. Wright's. We couldn't find a match for it unfortunately, but it does confirm that someone tried to wipe it away. Also, and I don't know if this is important or not, but the amount of blood was small. Really small. As if someone had pricked their finger and let a single droplet fall onto the case. It looked like a lot in the luminol because it had been smudged over the top."

Although he couldn't see the relevance of it now, Apollo nodded in agreement. It'd probably end up being a vital clue later down the road. Thinking about it, that's how most of his trials ended up- something useless ends up turning the tide of battle. He laughed dryly at the thought.

Ema glanced down at her watch and slapped her cheek in shock. "You all better get going on in, it's just about time for the trial to start." She grinned genuinely, something that caught Apollo off guard. "I wish you all the best of luck." The tone of her voice was suddenly serious and Apollo could tell she wanted nothing more to see Phoenix's killer be put behind bars. And he couldn't agree more.

The courtroom had a somber feel about it. Usually full of liveliness and energy (ironic given that most of the trials held there were for murder), the members of the gallery were oddly quiet save for a hushed whisper here and there. As the three members of the defense readied their papers and looked over the Court Record one final time, Apollo glanced upward and for the first time since the previous day saw his opponent. Edgeworth is staring diligently at his paperwork and even from across the room, Apollo could see the exhaustion in his eyes.

"Poor Mr. Edgeworth," Athena suddenly said as she brought up the Mood Matrix. "The Mood Matrix is going crazy- his emotions are all over the place. He doesn't want to think Trucy is guilty in murdering Phoenix but… he has to." She frowned and looked down sadly. "This is going to be a really rough trial for him."

"Well lucky for him, Trucy isn't guilty!" Maya said. "We just have to prove it."

The pounding of the gavel brought their attentions to the front of the room, where the judge was sitting. "Order, order in the court!" His voiced, although aged, was booming and authoritative. "The trial for the murder of Phoenix Wright is now in session!" He paused momentarily, his eyes closed. "I never thought I would ever have to say those words. Today is truly a tragic day."

"No offense Your Honor," Edgeworth coldly cut into the judge's train of thought, "but now is not the time to be reminiscing." He slammed his hand onto his bench with a loud bang! "Now is the time for finding the truth."

"Although I do not quite agree with the prosecution's tone of voice, Mr. Edgeworth does have a point. Let the trial commence!" There was a brief pause and Apollo could just tell the judge was confused about something. "Now hm, I seem to have forgotten the name of the defendant in this case."

Apollo could hardly believe his ears. And Athena couldn't either, apparently. "I think it's about time the good judge here retired if he can't remember the name of the defendant…" she muttered under her breath.

"Not a problem your Honor." Edgeworth smiled. "The defendant in this case is none other than the victim's own daughter, Trucy Wright." Her mugshot suddenly appeared on a huge screen behind the judge. Apollo was suddenly reminded that the courthouse has been trying to become more modern as of late in attempt to "streamline" things. Each bench now had a touch screen monitor built into it (leaving enough room for desk slams) that was basically a digital Court Record: it contained evidence and profiles and could be updated with just a few simple inputs. Smaller pieces of evidence could even be placed upon it and it'll automatically scan it and provide basic information on it- such as a model of gun or what a piece of cloth is made of. While he appreciated that it made the sharing of evidence between benches easier, Apollo still preferred presenting physical evidence opposed to simply making them show up on a screen. He had to admit, it was pretty cool though.

The judge squinted at his own monitor before widening his eyes in amazement. "T-trucy Wright!?" He looked towards Edgeworth in shock. "You mean to tell Mr. Wright was killed by his own daughter?!"

"OBJECTION!" Apollo couldn't help but yell the word. "That's conjecture! There's no definitive proof that she's the killer!" His outburst was met with a heavy silence and he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.

"Apollo," Maya looked at him exasperation, "Edgeworth hasn't even given his opening statement yet. Calm down."

"Oh ho ho! I hadn't even noticed you Ms. Fey!" The judge smiled earnestly at her. "It's been quite some time since I've seen you behind that bench. But indeed, you are correct about the opening statements- Mr. Edgeworth would care to share it?"

"But of course Your Honor." He glanced down at his monitor as if contemplating reading from it, but instead grabbed some paperwork. He adjusted his glasses and began to read. "The victim's body was discovered at approximately 12:10 PM by the defendant. He was found at his desk with a throwing knife plunged into his neck." There was a noticeable pause after he described the state his friend had been found in. "A glove belonging to the defendant that was covered in the victim's blood was found at the scene of the crime. The knife was also part of a throwing set belonging to the defendant, who is a magician."

"Excuse me Mr. Edgeworth," Apollo put his finger to his forehead in thought. "But what is the time of death?" He had realized he didn't actually know when Phoenix died.

Edgeworth smiled smugly and shook his head. "Surely you've checked the autopsy report, Mr. Justice?"

"The autopsy..?" No one had handed him a copy of it.

"Remember Apollo, they're going digital!" Athena leaned over and pressed a button on the monitor. Suddenly, a digitized version of the paperwork appeared in front of him. Feeling ashamed he had forgotten about digitized evidence, he quickly scanned over it, looking for important pieces of information. He found that Phoenix had died at about 11:30 AM and that he had lived for "no longer than 5 minutes" after being stabbed. The thought of Phoenix slowly suffering made his stomach churn.

"Now that Mr. Justice has done his homework, I'll let the good detective finish my opening statement." Edgeworth motioned towards the witness stand, where Apollo had just realized Gumshoe was standing.

"Sure thing, pal!" Gumshoe yelled in excitement. "Mr. Edgeworth pretty said everything, actually…" His smile dropped into a frown momentarily before perking up again. "That doesn't mean I'm here for nothing though!"

"Oh, then what is it that you have to offer?" The judge asked.

Gumshoe pulled out a device that kind of looked like a smartphone to Apollo and tinkered with it briefly. "If you would look at your monitors, you'll see a crime scene photo, pal."

Maya and Athena huddled up next to Apollo as he slowly opened the photo that had just been added to the Court Record. The ensuing image made Apollo look away briefly. It was a full color photo of Phoenix's body. He was slouched over his desk, with his right arm on top of it. A pen was barely visible under the palm of his were no papers on the desk (Apollo remembered Edgeworth mentioning that yesterday), but there was some blood splatter. The knife had been removed from his neck, but the gash was still there, crusted with dried blood. Apollo felt sick. He had seen countless bodies before but this was different.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hey you okay?" Athena smiled at him but she looked shaken as well.

He nodded and forced himself to smile back, closing the photo out. "I'm fine I just… I hadn't seen the body before." He glanced over the prosecution, to see if Edgeworth was having a similar reaction as him. But he was standing as cooly as ever, arms crossed. Apollo couldn't help but seethe slightly at the sight- he seemed like he didn't care.

As if she could read his mind, Maya spoke. "Don't let Edgeworth bother you. He's hurting too you know, he's...just not showing it." Remembering how he appeared the day before at the crime scene, Apollo nodded.

Looking back up at the detective, Apollo saw him fidgeting with the phone like device. "We also found a hat, pal."

"A hat?" Confusion lit the judge's face.

"A magician's hat, to be precise." Gumshoe huffed with a smile. He tapped one more button on his device and a 3D model of what was unmistakably one of Trucy's magician's hat appeared on screen. "A hat belonging to the defendant. And before you ask, the only traces of hair found in the hat were Ms. Wright's, pal."

"Where was the hat found?" Athena inquired.

"In a dumpster a block away from the crime scene." Gumshoe replied.

"Hey Apollo," Maya whispered, "didn't Ema say she would could tell you if they found anything…?"

She had a point, but Apollo had a rebuttal. "They probably found it after Gumshoe rejoined the investigations." There was no way Ema would hide anything from him, as cynical as she was.

"Thank you Detective Gumshoe." Edgeworth said as Gumshoe finished his statement. The detective smiled at him as he left the stand. "Now that the opening is statement I would like to call forth my first witness, if that would be alright Your Honor."

The judge nodded. "If the defense has no further questions, you may proceed Mr. Edgeworth."

As Apollo expected, the stoner they met the day before was Edgeworth's first witness. He couldn't help but smile smugly- this guy was going to be easy.

"Poor guy must be really tired." Athen squinted at Tony. "His eyes are bloodshot."

"I don't think that's the reason, Athena…." Athena cast him a quizzical look and Apollo heard Maya snicker behind him. 'I can't tell if she's just missing the point or if she's ignorant.'

"Witness," Edgeworth commanded, "name and occupation please."

"Huh?" The prosecution's voice snapped him out of a daze he had been in. "Oh yeah. The name's Tony Sharpley and I'm a professional slacker."

"Professional slacker? Why I had no idea such a job even existed!" The judge seemed to sincerely believe what Tony had said. His question was met by obnoxious laughter, however.

"Got ya baldy!" Tony wiped a tear from his eye. "I can't believed you fell for that- I guess the rumors are true!"

"R-rumors!? Why I-" The judge sounded offended.

"But in all seriousness I'm a landscaper for the company next to that law office that the murder took place in."

"Mr. Sharpley here witnessed the victim entering the building before his death. As a result, he is the last person to have seen Mr. Wright alive." Edgeworth looked up from the paperwork he had been reading.

The judge nodded and with a pound of his gavel requested that Tony give testimony about seeing Phoenix enter the law office.

With a disinterested sigh, he began to relay what he saw. "So I saw the lawyer dude enter the building at like...11:25 yesterday morning? Something like that." He ran his fingers through his mohawk. "After that I didn't see anyone else enter or leave…. and then at like 10 past noon I heard that cute girl from next door scream. The cops showed up 10 minutes after that I think." He took out his clippers and began to play with them in a bored fashion as he finished speaking.

Apollo stayed silent, flabbergasted at the absurd amount of uncertainty in his testimony. "That was one of the flimsiest things I've ever heard." Maya voiced his thought. Apollo turned to her and she grinned. "Which means it should really easy to pick apart."

She was right and he already knew exactly where to start. He already had an idea where to start. "Mr. Sharpley, can you repeat your second statement please?"

He shrugged and put the clippers away. "Yeah, whatever. I didn't see anyone else enter or leave the building after sir spikes."

"Objection!" It felt good to call the first real contradiction of the trial. "I'm afraid that is just not true, Mr. Sharpley."

"And what do you mean by that?" Edgeworth asked.

"I mean this." He tapped his screen and the 3D model of the magician's hat appeared on the screen behind the judge. "When I questioned you yesterday, you said you saw someone in this hat leave the building 10 minutes after Mr. Wright entered the building." He thrust his finger in the direction of the stand. "Which is an explicit contradiction of what you just said!"

Athena jumped up and clapped her hands together in joy. "Great job Apollo!" He smiled and rubbed his hair antenna down in embarrassment. 'Thanks… but it was pretty obvious.'

Tony had a scowl on his face and was snipping his clippers in a frenzy. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"Well I ain't calling you a truther!" Apollo retorted.

There was an audible growl from Tony as he slowly regained his composure. "Look, I just forgot alright?"

"It seems like a pretty big thing to forget." The judge mumbled. "Witness, please add this to your testimony."

Tony groaned and Apollo officially decided he didn't like this guy. "Fine. I saw someone- the girl- leave the office about 10 minutes after the lawyer got there. Happy now?"

'Oh yes, because you just gave me some more firepower!' Apollo slammed his fist on the desk, careful to avoid the screen. "Hold it!" He glanced down at his notes. "Before the trial began, Ms. Fey asked Ms. Wright what time she arrived home via the train. Her response? 11AM."

"Hmph, and what is your point Mr. Justice?" Edgeworth crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Yes Mr. Justice, just what is significant about the time of her arrival?" The judge asked and Apollo suddenly felt the familiar sensation of being teamed up on.

"What's significant about this is not only the time of arrival but also how long it takes her to get to the Wright Anything Agency. Ms. Fey," he turned to her, "you frequently come to the city via train. How long does it tak on foot to get to the office?"

Maya, clearly caught off guard by being put on the spot, stumbled over her words a bit before answering. "Oh, uh on foot? Maybe an hour and ten minutes?"

"Thank you. Now if Ms. Wright arrived at 11 AM and it took her an hour and ten minutes to walk to her father's place of employment…" He found himself pointing again. "It would make it impossible for her to have committed the murder at 11:25 AM!"

"ACK!" Tony yelled as he nervously began to trim the hairs on his mohawk.

"That is very true Mr. Justice!" The judge sounded proud of Apollo's deduction skills. "It would seem like it's not possible for the defendant to have committed to the murder!" His words were barely heard over the murmuring of the gallery and he had to bang his gavel multiple time to restore order.

When the room finally quieted down, Apollo's smile melted at the familiar sound of 'tsk, tsk, tsk' coming from the bench opposite his. "Mr. Justice I believe it was you who said 'evidence is everything in court' during the trial of Ms. Cykes a few years ago." He slammed his hand on his desk. "Now I demand to see that evidence! Show me proof that Ms. Wright arrived at 11 AM."

'Evidence? The only thing I have to go on is Trucy's word! And I know she's not lying but how do I explain that to the court!?' Apollo wiped his brow, surprised at how sweaty he was. "I uh… the defense… doesn't have any physical proof."

"As I thought." The smugness in Edgeworth's voice angered Apollo. "The defendant could have simply lied about her arrival time to create an alibi for herself."

"But-" Athena leaned forward on the bench. "Even the prosecution has to agree that there is a chance she's telling the truth! And if she is, there's no way she could have killed Mr. Wright!" Edgeworth stayed silent, and Apollo recognized the gesture as one of agreement. Even the judge seemed to acknowledge the theory.

"Although he lacks sufficient proof, I believe we should further delve into the defense's theory. Mr. Sharpley, please testify about the person you saw leaving the office." A pound of the gavel made the decree official. 'For once the judge is on our side!' Apollo thought happily.

"So the guy I saw leaving the office; I didn't get a good look at them." Tony started. "I saw them from above- was trimming the hedges ya know- so the brim of the hat was blocking their face. I think they had short hair? Hell if I know. I didn't get a good look at their outfit but for some reason the fact they were only wearing one glove stood out to me." He paused for a second. "Yeah that's it, man."

"Are you positive they were only wearing one glove?" Apollo asked. He could see the pieces falling into place in his mind's eye.

"Yeah. I dunno man, it was weird to me."

"Good, because that, without a sliver of a doubt, proves that this person wasn't Trucy." Apollo crossed his arms and grinned. He saw Edgeworth raise and eyebrow and was pleased to see fear flicker in his eye for a brief moment.

The judge looked lost as ever, so before he even got a chance to ask, Apollo brought an image of the glove up on screen. "This is a glove found at the crime scene that is covered in the victim's blood. Now, look at this picture." He brought up a picture of Trucy's mugshot. "This image was quite clearly taken yesterday. Now, tell me- how many gloves is she wearing?"

"Why, she's wearing two!" The judge said after a brief moment.

"Exactly." Apollo nodded. "Then why did the person Mr. Sharpley saw only have one?!" He felt confident. The trial was turning in his favor!

"Objection!" Edgeworth slammed his hand again and scowled at the defense, "She could have simply put on another glove before calling the police!"

"Objection!" Apollo shouted back. "Why would she wait 45 minutes before replacing the glove!?" He smiled confidently as Edgeworth leaned forward on his bench, eyes wide in anger and disbelief. "There's only one explanation! The killer, having grabbed a spare pair in the living room, didn't know where to find others to replace it! Which means it couldn't have been Trucy!"

"WHAT!?" Tony and Edgeworth yelled the word at the same time as the gallery started to get loud again.

"Way to go Apollo!" Maya congratulated him. "But...what about that hat with Trucy's hair in it? That's some pretty incriminating evidence."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Apollo dismissed her quickly, but it was a valid point, even if it wasn't relevant right now.

"So there was a second person in the office at the time of the murder who wasn't Ms. Wright?" The judge gasped.

"Exactly." This trial was going much smoother than Apollo expected.

"Where do you supposed this second person came from, Mr. Justice?" Edgeworth asked harshly. "No one else entered the office!"

"No one entered the office via the door." Apollo rebutted. He brought up the photo of the crime scene. "See this window?" He drew a circle around a window near the desk with his finger. "It's kept unlocked during the summer months because of how stuffy the office gets." He slammed his desk with purpose. "It's possible the true killer snuck in through that, waited, and killed Mr. Wright when he opened the office for the day!"

The murmuring of the gallery turned into a full on uproar that took many gavel poundings to calm down. "Order! Order in the court! Mr. Justice, are you saying that someone waited in the office specifically to kill Mr. Wright?"

"This is exactly what I'm saying."

"Hmm. It's certainly a believable theory. Mr. Edgeworth, what do you think?"

Apollo's confidence plummeted when he saw Edgeworth's cocky grin. "But it's just a theory. An untrue theory."

"U-untrue?" The judge reeled back in shock. "That's quite a bold thing to say."

Edgeworth shrugged. "But it's the truth. And I have proof- we have a witness who saw the moment of the murder."

"WhaaaAAAAAT?!" All three members of the defense yelled in shock. This was the first they were hearing of this.

Apollo began to panic. A witness who saw the moment of the murder? Oh no. This is bad. This is really bad. What are they going to do?

"Y-your Honor! The defense would like to request a recess to uh, go over evidence!" Athena asked in an attempt to stall for time. It wasn't a total like- they needed to get their facts straight. A witness who saw the murder is bad news and they need to be as ready as possible.

The judge considered it for a moment then nodded. "I agree. We will have a thirty minute recess and then the prosecution will bring in their second witness." A pound of the gavel sounded.

As the members of the court and gallery gathered their things and proceeded to leave the room, Apollo stayed still. He had done...well! Of course none this might matter depending on what the next witness says but he still mentally patted himself on the back. he still had no idea what was really going on, but as he finally stood up he knew he getting closer to finding who killed Phoenix.