Author's Note:

Oh-em-gee! Two updates in two days? What is she doing? Obviously, not her homework. But that's what college is for, right? Haha…yeah. Sigh. It's just that I was suddenly overwhelmed with all of these ideas, I just had to get them all out. So. Here you go.

As always, reviews are highly appreciated.

And yeah, disclaimer: sadly, I don't own any of PW's fascinating characters. I wish I did, though.

July 17, 10:47 am, Courtroom 2

"Well, Mr. Wright? Does the defense have any further questions before we dismiss the witness?" the Judge looked expectantly at Phoenix. The defense attorney looked up with a slight smile, still holding the photograph of the crime scene in one hand.

"Actually, the defense does," Phoenix said. "Detective, can you tell me what this item in the photograph is—this one right here, near the victim's outstretched hand?"

Gumshoe peered at the photograph in question, and his face suddenly lit up in recognition.

"Of course I can—what do you take me for, pal? That's the victim's cell phone, which, it so happens, I have with me today. Here you go, knock yourself out," Gumshoe said, and without further warning, lobbed the phone in Phoenix's direction.

"Ack," Phoenix said, leaning out over his bench and snatching the phone just before it fell to the ground. "Um, thank you, Detective."

The cell phone was a slim, candybar type phone, small enough to fit in a pocket, or a tiny handbag—a style popular with women, who seemed to appreciate the phone's convenient size.

I wonder, Phoenix thought, and promptly began scrolling through the phone's functions to find the call log. Upon finding it, his eyebrows drew together in an expression of perplexity; from across the courtroom, Edgeworth watched Phoenix's face closely, trying to gain some indication of what the defense attorney was thinking. Seeing that Phoenix had no intention of sharing his thoughts anytime soon, Edgeworth took the initiative of distracting the Judge, who was starting to look restless.

"Ah, Detective, the prosecution would like to have something clarified," Edgeworth said. Gumshoe was thrilled to be of service.

"Sure thing, sir," he said.

"Ah, this phone," Edgeworth said, casting a glance at Phoenix; Would you hurry up? He thought irritably. "You're sure that this is the victim's phone?"

"Yep, it was definitely hers," Gumshoe replied. "Her listed cell phone number matches this phone, see?" He promptly plucked his own phone out from his pocket—He can afford a cell phone? Edgeworth thought mildly—and pressed a few buttons.

"Ack!" Phoenix exclaimed, nearly dropping the phone in his hand as it started to ring, blaring out the lyrics to a rock song—a song that was somehow vaguely familiar to Edgeworth; for some reason he associated it with a certain section of the prosecutor's office (but, strangely enough, he remembered, only when all the doors were open. He would have to look into it later; why didn't he have a soundproof office?).

"I see," Edgeworth said, looking at Phoenix, who was still tinkering with that blasted phone. All right, that's enough of that, Edgeworth thought grimly.

"Wright, I realize that the newest model of phone is far better than anything you're carrying right now, but would you please leave off playing with it and finish your cross-examination?" he paused. "Or perhaps you're done with this witness and we can move on to the verdict?"

Phoenix's spiky head snapped up; That got his attention, Edgeworth thought with satisfaction.

"Ah, wait!" Phoenix looked at Gumshoe. "Detective, I wonder; did anyone report receiving a call from the victim?" the defense attorney asked.

"No, obviously she was going to call for help," Gumshoe said, "but she just didn't make it on time."

Phoenix had evidently been waiting for just that answer; he grinned, an expression that Edgeworth had begun to associate with a bad time for the prosecution.

"That was my first thought, too, Detective," Phoenix said, unable to keep the smugness out of his voice. "However, upon looking through the call record, you can see that the last outgoing call was at 8:36 pm on July 5th, which is supposedly after the stabbing. And do you happen to know who the victim tried to call?" he asked.

No, but I bet you do, Edgeworth thought heavily. Just out with it, Wright, we don't have time for dramatic suspense.

"The last person the victim called…was none other than the defendant, Mr. Ayden Onyx!" Phoenix declared. He looked around with a triumphant smile that quickly faded. Clearly, the reaction in the courtroom was not what he had been expecting; everyone just stared blankly at him, including the Judge.

"Um, and…what exactly is your point, Mr. Wright?" the Judge asked tentatively.

"Your Honor, if you were the victim, bleeding all over the floor and most likely dying, would you waste your last phone call on your killer?"

"Oh!" the Judge exclaimed, realization hitting at last.

And 'Zvari!' Edgeworth thought wryly; he blinked. Where did I get that from?! Bemused, he forced his attention back to the proceedings; the witness was attempting to counter the defense's attack on his own. Oh hell.

"Well, maybe she didn't know who her killer was," Gumshoe was arguing; Phoenix opened his mouth, already armed with a swift reply, but someone else beat him to it.

"Objection!" Edgeworth said, lifting his hands in that familiar indolent gesture. "We already received a testimony yesterday that confirmed the witness' appearance, and it was you yourself who pointed out that only Mr. Onyx had a spare key to the apartment. Furthermore, we have established that there are signs of a struggle—the victim would definitely have had time to see her killer's face." He smiled broadly, until he realized that everyone in court was staring at him.

"Mr. Edgeworth," the Judge began, but the prosecutor shook his head.

"My apologies, Your Honor, for stealing the defense's thunder. It's simply that the prosecution didn't want to be held responsible for such outrageous claims." He looked meaningfully at the hapless detective standing in the witness stand. Gumshoe's face fell.

Ouch, Phoenix winced. Isn't it enough that he docks the poor man's salary every two months? But Edgeworth was speaking again; Phoenix listened closely.

"However, it is entirely possible that perhaps the victim was trying to leave some sort of message for us; namely, trying to point out the murderer!" the prosecutor said.

"Objection!" Phoenix said instantly, shaking his head. "That seems a fairly roundabout way to do it, wouldn't you say, Mr. Edgeworth? If she was going to point out her murderer, wouldn't it be the best thing to call the police? Not to mention that, if she had called 911 instead, there was the slightest chance that an emergency response team could have made to her apartment on time."

"So what are you suggesting, Mr. Wright?" Edgeworth countered, his gray eyes narrowed. Phoenix shrugged.

"It seems simple when you consider the context, Mr. Edgeworth. Knowing that she was going to die, Ms. Emeraldine made her final call to her lover—Mr. Ayden Onyx!"

The courtroom burst into sound as women sniffed tearfully into their handkerchiefs—and a few men, too, Phoenix noted with surprise. Even the Judge was tearing up. However, the man standing at the prosecutor's bench was obviously not impressed.

"I concede that you tell a nice tale, Mr. Wright," Edgeworth said coolly, "but that is all. You say that the victim called Mr. Onyx after the stabbing; well, perhaps she did, but did you bother to check the call timer? It says '0:10,' which, you must admit, is rather short for a tearful farewell. In fact, it's far too short—ten seconds is actually just how long a mobile number will ring until the voicemail picks up! Mr. Onyx didn't answer his phone!"

Ack,he's right! Phoenix thought, staring at the call record once more. He looked over at his client, who was wearing a look of resignation, as if he had been expecting things to take this route. And if he was at home, just relaxing like he said he was, he would have had no reason not to answer, Phoenix thought, his eyes calmly studying the defendant. What is going on here?

"What is going on here?" the Judge echoed Phoenix's own thoughts exactly, giving him chills. "Mr. Edgeworth, do you have an explanation for this?"

The prosecutor shrugged. "Perhaps the defendant simply had nothing more to say to her. After all, what do you say to someone you just stabbed to death?"

"Objection!" Phoenix had to shout to be heard above the uproar that had erupted in the courtroom. "The defense still maintains that there is no reason for the victim to call her killer, right after the stabbing!"

The Judge banged his gavel fiercely. "Order! Order! If it does not quiet down in here, I will have the audience removed from this court!" At that, the uproar died down to a dull muttering, and Phoenix could hear all kinds of whispered speculations.

"Well, then, Mr. Wright. The prosecution has given us its take on the matter; if you do not agree, what do you propose happened?"

There's really only one course of action, Phoenix thought, feeling a rivulet of sweat run down the side of his face. I can't explain what happened…but there is someone who can.

"The defense has a proposal to make," he said, with more confidence than he felt.

"Oh?" the Judge said. "Let's hear it."

"Yes. The defense would like to call a different witness to the stand, one we believe may be able to shed some light on the situation."

"A new witness? Intriguing. And who is this witness?" Edgeworth cut in. Phoenix shrugged.

"Surely you should be able to guess, Mr. Edgeworth? The defense asks that the defendant, Mr. Ayden Onyx, be made to take the witness stand." As he said this, Phoenix threw a quick look in Onyx's direction, to see how his client would take it; he was not really surprised to see Onyx incline his head slightly, signifying his acceptance of the task.

The Judge stroked his beard, looking thoughtfully at both the defense attorney and the defendant.

"Very well," he said, nodding once. "I believe we may benefit from hearing this side of the story. The court will take a ten minute recess; Mr. Edgeworth, prepare your new witness."

"Understood," Edgeworth replied curtly.

"Good. This court is now in recess." The gavel fell once; the court cleared.

July 17, 11:18 am. Courtroom 2

"All right, I assume that we're all ready, now?" the Judge asked, looking around the courtroom.

"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor," Edgeworth said; Phoenix nodded his agreement.

"The defense is also ready, Your Honor."

"Very good. Let us begin with our second witness of the day. Mr. Edgeworth?" the Judge turned it over to the prosecution.

"Witness, name and profession, if you would," Edgeworth said crisply.

"My name…is Ayden Onyx," the defendant answered, his voice low but clear. "I am a jeweler, by trade."

Ok, raise your hand if you saw that coming, Phoenix thought dryly.

"Indeed!" the Judge exclaimed, obviously intrigued. "Any relation to House Onyx, by chance?"

Phoenix was surprised to see the defendant actually smile; slight as it was, it was the first genuine smile he had seen Onyx wear all day. He blinked; behind him—and actually, all around him—the courthouse was filling with dreamy sighs. Was he missing something here?

"House Onyx? Yes," the defendant said, idly fingering the white gold stud Phoenix had noticed that he wore in his left ear. "I'm actually…the owner."

"Oh!" the Judge chortled. "How remarkable!" He leaned forward over his bench, speaking in a conspiratorial whisper.

"I don't suppose you'd consider having another sale soon?" he asked hopefully. "My wife has been going on about your new spring collection for what seems like months now, but I just haven't had the time…"

Ithas been months, Phoenix thought. It's summer! And incidentally, what happened to 'No badgering the witness?' Penalty!

"I'm sorry, I really couldn't say," Onyx said apologetically. "I'm more involved with the design and crafting of our products rather than the actual sales of them."

"Ah, I see," the Judge said, looking disappointed. "That's all right then, I understand." He straightened up and looked around.

"Well Mr. Edgeworth, what are you waiting for? Let's get this testimony started!"

Edgeworth didn't even bother to roll his eyes. He looked over at Phoenix.

"Well, Mr. Wright? You're the one who wanted this witness to testify. What will you have him testify about?"

Phoenix had expected this, and spent the ten minutes of the recess carefully thinking it out. As such, he was ready. He grinned, but inside he felt like he was sweating buckets. It would take a lot of fast talking to get this one through.

"The defense requests that the witness testify about the victim; as someone who spent three years in a close relationship with Ms. Emeraldine, he is unarguably very well suited to tell us about any enemies she might have had—in short, what possible reason someone might have had to kill her!"

"Objection!" Edgeworth retorted. "What an abysmal waste of time that would be, Mr. Wright. Your Honor, the defense is clearly trying to lead us astray; we've already established who the killer is!"

"Objection!" Phoenix fired back. "We've established nothing besides an unusual set of coincidences—the story the prosecution would have us believe is riddled with plenty of healthy contradictions. The defense believes that there is definitely some merit in this line of questioning, Your Honor." He waited, watching the Judge nervously. The older man seemed to giving it a lot of thought.

"Very well," the Judge said finally. "Mr. Wright, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Don't disappoint me."

Phoenix gave him a weak smile.

"Of course, Your Honor." He turned to the defendant, his manner suddenly brisk and professional.

"All right, Mr. Onyx. Could you please tell us about the victim? Include anything that might be helpful—anyone who might have harbored a grudge toward her, or anything she might have done recently that could have endangered her life in this manner."

Onyx nodded, his handsome face grave. There were shadows under his eyes, Phoenix noted with a faint twinge of remorse. But there would be time to rest later—for everyone. Right now, they had to get to the truth, even if it meant digging up old wounds and secrets. Worse things waited if they couldn't.

"As you probably already know, Carmen worked for a small construction company as a structural engineer. We met a little over three years ago, when I contracted that company to work on the extension I wanted to have built onto the store." Onyx smiled, though his dark eyes were still sad. "She loved her job; I heard a lot about it over those three years. She got along well with her coworkers and her boss; none of their projects ever turned into lawsuits or anything unsavory like that. I can't imagine that anyone connected to her work would have some sort of grudge against her." He paused briefly before continuing.

"As for her life outside of work, well. Carmen was an easygoing, carefree woman, with a lot of laughter and…generosity of spirit. She had a lot of friends and few enemies—although of course you can't go through life without stepping on a few toes. But it never seemed to me that she had any reason to fear someone from her past."

Phoenix frowned. This wasn't going well. Onyx was right; there appeared to be no blatant reason for anyone to want to kill Carmen Emeraldine. Edgeworth was wearing his superior, "I told you so" face, and even the Judge looked skeptical. Keep it together, Phoenix.

"There was nothing that you can think of?" Phoenix pressed. "Nothing, not even a chance meeting or accident she might have had, that would inspire something other than friendliness in an acquaintance or even a stranger?"

The defendant shook his head slowly, but Phoenix noticed that the witness' face had grown paler—if that was even possible—and he seemed even more uncomfortable than he had upon first stepping up to the witness stand.

"Mr. Onyx, I don't think I have to remind you that the court requires complete honesty and frankness from all of its witnesses," Phoenix added, piling on the pressure. Onyx fiddled with his earring, looking decidedly unhappy.

"There is…something," the defendant said finally, with a sigh. "You see, I had my car broken into early last week—the 28th, I think it was. I had been on my way to the bank, and had just stopped briefly over at Carmen's to pick up her grocery list—I had offered to do it for her since I was on my way into town, anyway. So I had a lot of important documents in my car that day, especially concerning the storage and shipment of the store's raw materials, security details, and the like."

Phoenix stared; he could see where this was going.

"All of those documents were stolen that day, along with a few other things I usually kept in my car—a spare coat jacket, sunglasses, spare glasses—those sorts of things, but nothing else nearly as important as my paperwork. It wouldn't have been a severe problem—the store has its own insurance coverage, of course, but…it had happened at a bad time. I was expecting a shipment of uncut gems the next day, and now that all the information concerning the usual safety deposits and secure storages had been stolen, I wasn't sure that I could utilize those safes. I didn't have time to sort through all the data and reset everything, you see."

"So the victim—" Phoenix began, but he was cut off.

"—offered to store these gems for you, temporarily," Edgeworth finished. Onyx nodded, looking miserable.

"Carmen had her own safe in her apartment, which I don't even know the code to," he said. "She insisted that it would be perfectly secure—it took a bit of convincing, actually, since I could only think of the risks that presented for her. In the end, though, I was reassured, and I sent my assistant over with the shipment as soon as it arrived."

"I assume this assistant can confirm the transfer?" Phoenix asked. Onyx nodded.

"Yes."

"So the defendant would have us believe that what occurred was a theft," Edgeworth said, the doubt plain in his voice. "If that's the case, why wasn't this mentioned earlier?"

"Actually, I did try to tell the detective during my questioning," Onyx ventured helpfully. "But I'm not entirely sure he was paying attention to me."

Edgeworth closed his eyes, fighting to maintain his patience.

"Baliff!" the Judge called. "Dispatch someone to investigate this matter of a safe in the victim's apartment, immediately." The baliff nodded, sprinting off toward the door.

"We'll have a confirmation of these details soon enough," the Judge said. "Let's move on for now. Anything else you'd like to ask the witness, Mr. Wright?"

Phoenix nodded. "Yes, actually. Mr. Onyx, you said that you were expecting the gems the day after your car was broken into—the shipment arrived on the 29th of June, then?"

Onyx nodded. "Yes. They arrived late that afternoon."

Phoenix frowned. "But the murder took place on the 5th, practically an entire week after Ms. Emeraldine agreed to store them for you. Surely it doesn't take that long to set all your affairs in order—why didn't you pick them up from her before then, especially if you were worried about the situation?"

The defendant looked away.

"It was…well, I mentioned it to her, but I trusted Carmen completely, and well…I suddenly wasn't really ready to begin work on any new pieces at the time, so I wasn't in any rush to have them back. I was concerned, of course, and offered to remove them or grant some additional security measures, but Carmen's apartment is in a gated complex, and the security is usually quite efficient." He didn't state the obvious—that it evidently had not been good enough to prevent a murder.

Phoenix shook his head. He wasn't satisfied.

"Mr. Onyx, I get the feeling that you are hiding something from us. Perhaps we can try a different method. When did you last see Carmen?" The defense attorney watched the witness closely, trying to detect any sign of sudden uneasiness or discomfort, but Onyx simply accepted the accusation with his usual gentle dignity.

"The last time I saw Carmen was on the first of the month, but just very briefly; I stopped by her office to return her key."

Phoenix frowned.

"Her key?" he repeated. "What key is this?" Uh-oh, he thought uneasily. I have…a bad feeling about this.

The defendant looked down at his hands for a moment, curling his fingers, and then he relaxed them. When he raised his head again, his dark eyes carried a certain other expression—one of wistfulness, or perhaps regret.

"Her apartment key—as the Detective said, I had had a spare in my possession for quite some time. But, it was no longer necessary—or even appropriate, I suppose—for me to hold onto that, so I returned it."

Phoenix stared. Now he definitely had a bad feeling about this. But they had come this far, and the secret that his client had been hiding was practically staring him in the face. He couldn't back down now.

"What do you mean, Mr. Onyx? Why was it 'no longer necessary' for you to have her key? You were lovers, after all."

Onyx gave a sad smile.

"Ah, but that's the thing, Mr. Wright. As of June30…we weren't."

Phoenix groaned inwardly as the rest of the courtroom exploded with conversation. The Judge was staring wide-eyed at the witness; women were exchanging glances and whispering loudly.

"Hah!" Edgeworth said, somehow making the exclamation sound sophisticated. "Well, well, it looks like something good came of this little detour after all, Mr. Wright." He wore a triumphant smirk. "I confess, the one thing that has been bothering me this entire time has been the issue of motive—friends and family of the couple all declared them to be a happy, well-suited pair. But now we see the motive, plain and clear. Murder, as a scorned lover's revenge."

"No!" Onyx cried, as everyone started talking all at once, even more loudly than before. The Judge was banging his gavel down repeatedly, but no one paid him any attention.

"It was mutual—we both decided it was time, but there was still nothing but respect and trust between us!"

"Yes, rendering the victim perfectly unaware of your true intentions…until the last moment!" Edgeworth agreed. Frustration marred Onyx's usually serene features, but Phoenix could think of nothing to say. Why did his clients always want to surprise him in court with these big, explosive secrets? Didn't he say, over and over again, that he wanted to help them? Argh!

"Objection!" Phoenix shouted, struggling to be heard over the uproar in the courtroom.

"Oh really?" the Judge shouted back; obviously he had given up on trying to maintain order in his courtroom. "I personally can't say I see what you're objecting to, Mr. Wright—the prosecution's claim does make a certain amount of sense."

"YOUR HONOR!!!!!!" a screeching, obnoxious hollering blared over the cacophony of the courtroom; everyone fell silent almost immediately, staring around in shock.

"YOUR HONOR!!!!!!" the newcomer repeated, shrieking loudly, his voice echoing in the now-silent hall.

"There's no need for shouting, baliff!" the Judge shouted back. Phoenix rubbed his temples in pain.

"I'm so sorry!" the baliff cried, coming to a halt in front of the Judge's bench. "But we've found the safe! It was concealed behind the victim's bookshelf, as predicted. And, Your Honor, sir, the safe door has been removed!"

Phoenix dropped his hands from where they had been covering his face, incredulous. No way! He glanced across the room at the prosecution; Edgeworth was staring at the baliff, his face thunderstruck. Yes! Phoenix practically crowed with relief. This has got to earn us another day, at least!

And so it did. The Judge banged his gavel for the last time that day.

"I've had enough today," he said wearily. "There have been just too many surprising revelations; I'm tired. I trust that the prosecution and the defense will do their best to look into these matters, so that all of this might be explained in a nice, peaceful manner tomorrow morning. Court is adjourned." With that, he hobbled off his stand and into his own personal lobby, slamming the door behind him. Phoenix looked at his client, grinning broadly.

"Well, Mr. Onyx? You heard the man. We've got one more day to figure this out." He could only hope that it'd be enough.