APRIL 4, 2019, WRIGHT AND CO. LAW OFFICE

Gack! Where the hell did I file my extra copies of that paperwork? Phoenix groaned as he dug through his filing cabinet for the tenth time. "I know I put it in this cabinet," he grumbled.

"Ah...um, Mr. Nick, are you looking for these?"

Pearl held out a stack of papers. Phoenix smiled and took them.

"Yes. Thank you, Pearl."

"I wonder what happened between Mr. Edgeworth and Ms. Licia," Pearl mused. "And I wonder why Mr. Pinkerton wanted this case so badly."

Good question, Phoenix thought. Considering that Gumshoe couldn't ask me to help her with Edgeworth in earshot, I'd say that Licia's loathing for Edgeworth is mutual. But why? And why would Gumshoe want me to help her?

"There must be some kind of heartwarming, though tragic story between them!" Pearl sighed.

Phoenix shook his head. That's probably not a good thing, Pearls.

"What should we do now?" Phoenix asked. "We have to go back and give Ms. Puccini her paperwork, but.."

"Did you check her for Psyche-Locks?"

"To be honest, Pearls, I didn't even think about it." Maybe I should.

"Remember what happened with Engarde!" Pearl chided.

Phoenix groaned. That particular case had been over a year ago and thinking about it still made his skin crawl. I don't think Ms. Puccini could have hired an assassin like Matt Engarde did. Not if the people at the opera saw her commit the murder. I should probably check her for Psyche-Locks anyway, though. She might be hiding something.

"Let's hurry and get this paperwork to Ms. Puccini, okay, Pearl?"

"Okay!"

APRIL 4, 2019- DETENTION CENTER

When Phoenix and Pearl arrived at the Detention Center, they found that, somehow, Licia had acquired a change of clothes. She was wearing a modest, blueish-gray button-up blouse and black slacks. She'd also removed the heavy eye makeup and had taken her hair out of the elaborate, curled style. Her black hair was wavy and fell just below her shoulders. She'd braided some of the hair on the sides of her head and had tied them back. Phoenix thought that she looked paler than the last time he'd seen her. Her eyes were puffy and red, like she'd been crying.

"You were gone for about two hours," Licia said. "I figured I'd see about getting a change of clothes while you were gone. I can't very well go to court in my costume tomorrow. It's terribly cumbersome...so I had a friend from the opera bring me some clothes..." She smiled broadly at Pearl.

"What an adorable little girl! I was going to ask when I saw her earlier, but...is she yours, Mr. Wright?"

Gack! "Um...er, no, no she's not. She's...a sort-of niece."

"I see." Licia didn't appear to be convinced.

Phoenix handed her the paperwork and a pen. "If you'll just sign it anywhere it says to sign."

"Thank you, Mr. Wright." Licia took the paperwork and began reading through it.

"Uh, Ms. Puccini?"

"Yes?" She looked up from the paperwork and slightly tilted her head.

"I've got a few questions for you. It's very important that you answer me honestly."

"I'll be happy to answer any questions," Licia said. She looked up from her paperwork and leaned back in the chair. "Fire away."

Phoenix reached into his pocket for the magatama that Maya had given him and closed his hand around it. "Did you kill your husband?"

"No." Her brow furrowed. "Didn't we go over this earlier this morning?"

Phoenix squinted. No Psyche-Locks here. Next question.

"This might sound really strange, but, um, did you...hire an assassin to kill your husband?"

Licia glared at him. "How ludicrous." She bent back down over her paperwork. Then she she looked back up. "Why would you even ask me something like that?"

No Psyche-Locks appeared when she answered. Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief.

Nope, she definitely didn't do that, either.

"S-sorry," Phoenix stammered, "It's just...I once had a client who..."

"Matt Engarde, right? That was all over the news last year," Licia said. She neatly rearranged the paperwork and handed it to Phoenix. "All done."

"Yeah, him," Phoenix said, trying to contain his disgust. He took the paperwork from Licia and put it in his Court Record. "Now, can I ask you about the night of the murder?"

"Of course."Licia leaned back in her seat. "Let's see, I was called to the theatre about two hours before the performance so that I could have my hair and make-up done." She put a finger to her lip and looked off to the right. "Luci was going to come about an hour after I did. He hadn't been feeling well all that week, and he was going to drop Ben off at the sitter's, because Ben is a little young for Tosca. When I got there I found out that our stylist was ill, so the assisstant helped me with my hair and makeup. Anyway, things went off without a hitch for the first act. But I saw my understudy and the assisstant over by the prop table during the intermission. Something about it felt strange. I thought maybe my understudy had been caught doing something she shouldn't have, because the assisstant was giving her an earful. After the intermission, we started the second act. And that went off without a hitch until...until..." Licia bit her lip and looked down.

"How long was the intermission?" Phoenix asked.

"Fifteen minutes," Licia said.

That's long enough for someone to tamper with the props...

"Do you know why the assisstant was...um, scolding your understudy?"

Licia shook her head. "I wish I did, Mr. Wright."

Phoenix felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down at Pearl.

"Uh, Mr. Nick," she said slowly, "What's an...un-dur-stuh-dee?"

"Um, it's...someone who steps in for an actor if that other actor isn't able to perform..."

Licia smiled, almost sadly. Phoenix had no doubt that she was thinking of her own son.

Phoenix looked back up at Licia. "I know this is difficult...but can you tell me about the moment of the murder?"

Licia nodded. "Yes."

FLASHBACK- APRIL 3, 2019- TOSCA SECOND ACT

This was it. The climactic scene was approaching. Licia slowly slid the trick dagger off of the table and into her lap as Luciano wrote.

"And which road do you prefer?" Luciano sang.

"The shortest!"

"Civitavecchia?"

"Yes!"

Luciano finished the note and rushed toward Licia with open arms. "Tosca, now you are mine at last!"

Licia plunged the trick dagger into his chest. There was some stage makeup applied there so that the trick dagger would stick.

"This is Tosca's kiss!" she sang. She paused. Luciano had a line here, but he was staring at her with wide eyes and wheezing, as though he'd lost his breath. His face was sheet-white, but his cheeks were flushed. He'd had a fever all week. Was it getting worse?

"Luciano?"

"Dilly-dally, shilly-shally," he mumbled. "Licia, Licia...the moon sleeps with Endymion and cannot be awak'd!"

He suddenly clutched at his throat and collapsed, face first, onto the stage. Licia instinctively fell to her knees beside him and rolled him over. He was pale, shaking, and sweating. Licia started screaming.

"Maestro! Maestro! Stop the orchestra!"

"I'm flying, Licia," Luciano whispered. "Flying, flying..."

Some of the chorusters swarmed onto the stage, curious about the ruckus they had heard.

"Ms. Puccini, what happened?"

Just then, the maestro stopped the orchestra and climbed onstage. "What's going on? What's happened?"

"It's Luci...something's wrong...it's that fever he's had all week!" Licia sobbed.

A woman who was sitting in the front row climbed onto the stage and pushed her way through the crowd of chorusters. "Let me help! Let me help! Luciano Puccini is my hero!"

The Maestro dragged Licia away from her husband. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know," Licia stammered. "Please...please...it's his fever..."

"He's dead!" The woman's voice cut through the murmurs of the crowd. "She stabbed him!"

"The police are on their way!" shouted a voice from the stage. Licia looked over and saw her understudy with her phone in her hand. "I called as soon as I saw what happened!"

"And that's what happened," Licia sighed. "They took my costume as evidence, even."

Urk, Phoenix thought. This doesn't look good.

"But I couldn't have stabbed him," Licia continued. "The dagger was a trick dagger."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. The trick dagger is much lighter than a real one. It takes practice to pick it up and make it look real...if it had been a real dagger, I would have known immediately."

No Psyche-Locks there, either. She's telling the truth...or, at least, she believes she is.

"I...see." Phoenix quickly made a note about the trick dagger in his Court Record. He shifted in his seat, then sat back down. "Wait. Ms. Puccini, you said he had a fever?"

"Yes. He'd had a fever for most of dress week."

"Do you know what was wrong?"

"No, Mr. Wright." Licia wrung her hands. "You don't think I had anything to do with that, do you?"

"No," Phoenix said.

Licia nodded. "Good."

I guess I should investigate the scene, Phoenix thought. He took Pearl's hand. "Let's go to the theatre, Pearls."

APRIL 4, 2019- RIVERA THEATRE

Phoenix had barely walked into the theatre's lobby when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, pal! The theatre is closed while we investigate!"

Phoenix turned around to see a rather tall, burly man with tousled black hair and a ragged green trenchcoat. The man glowered at Phoenix, but his expression softened when he saw Pearl.

Oh, Gumshoe. I knew I'd find you here... Phoenix thought.

"I'm serious, pal—oh. It's you." Detective Dick Gumshoe grinned, shrugged, and scratched the back of his head. "You took the opera lady's case, then?"

"I did," Phoenix said.

Pearl tugged on his sleeve. "Mr. Nick! What's an op-er-uh?"

"Um...we can ask Mr. Edgeworth later," Phoenix said lamely. He turned his attention back to Gumshoe.

"I bet you're going to tell me not to talk to the witnesses or poke around too much."

"Naw, this case is pretty open and shut, pal," Gumshoe said. "But..." He shook his head. "Edgeworth's really tore up about this case."

"How so?"

Gumshoe sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, when he found out what happened, he was the most miserable that I've seen him in a long time. Wouldn't talk about what was bugging him. Then he decided to head the investigation and got all fired up—you know how he gets, pal."

Altogether too well, Phoenix thought.

"Go ahead and look around if you want," Gumshoe said.

"Gummy-bear!" called a deep, familiar voice.

Phoenix grimaced. Ugh. Prosecutor Pinkerton...

Pinkerton strode toward Gumshoe and grinned. "You can't just let people come in-" He narrowed his eyes. "Oh. Mr. Firebird, was it?" He smirked. "If you came looking for clues, you're too late. We've already found everything, and wouldn't you know? It's all decisive." Pinkerton chuckled and and pushed a few strands of his brown hair out of his eyes. "But by all means, do look around. Maybe you can find one of your precious little contradictions."

Phoenix resisted the building urge to punch Pinkerton right in his smug mouth and nodded. "How gracious of you to let us investigate the scene."

Pinkerton shrugged. "I believe in fair play. Also, seeing your crushing defeat in the face of rock-solid evidence will be amusing. I look forward to watching you flounder tomorrow." Pinkerton turned his attention to Gumshoe. "Gummy-bear. I'm going to forensics. Finish up whatever you're doing here and meet me there in twenty minutes. Don't be late."

"Yes sir," Gumshoe mumbled.

Pinkerton waved. "Ta-ta now." Then he turned on his heel and walked toward the exit.

I think I might hate that guy.

Gumshoe frowned. "Sorry, pal. Pinkerton's...intense about this case."

"So I see," Phoenix mumbled.

"Anyway. You know the drill. Look around, try not to talk to the witnesses." Gumshoe smiled.

Like that's ever stopped me before, Phoenix thought. He started to head toward the backstage area, but Gumshoe tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, wait, here's a map of the backstage area." Gumshoe handed Phoenix the map. "Good luck, pal." Then he walked away, toward the audience area.

Phoenix looked down at Pearl. "So where do you think we should look first?"

Pearl pointed at the backstage area. "Let's try here."