Finally got some motivation back, so here's the next part!

ON WITH THE SHOW!

Rei Ryghts: Ace Attorney

Turnabout Of The Night

by Derald Snyder

Trial- Day 2 (Part 2)

Court Record:

Demitri's Autopsy Report

Holy Water

Simone's Footprint

Crime Scene Diagram

Crime Scene Photos

Bloody Mace

Vampire Aura Tracker

Simone's Combat Cross

Security Camera Footage

Locker Fingerprints

November 14, 10:27 AM

Lastation City District Court

Courtroom No. 3

"The prosecution calls Lisa Paler to the stand!" Willard announced. Lisa promptly walked into the courtroom, dressed similarly to the other day, but now having a long leather coat draped over her shoulders, her cigarette holder empty. "Please state your name and occupation for the record."

"Certainly. My name is Lisa Belmondo-Paler. I work as executive assistant manager for Paler Sunscreen Industries. And I'm the victim's sister-in-law as well. And fair warning: I tend to get a bit temperamental if I suffer nicotine withdrawal... but I'm aware smoking isn't permitted in the court."

(Explains why she brought the empty holder,) thought Rei, (must be hoping for a placebo effect of some sort...)

"Well, we shall try to refrain from upsetting you too much," Willard assured her. "Though considering that you've lost a family member... it's why I refrained from calling you yesterday."

"Hmph," Lisa shrugged as she sucked on her empty holder, causing a slight whistling sound. "Anyway, may I begin my testimony? I want to get this over with..."

"Of course, Miss Paler," the judge nodded. "Any time you're ready."

"Thank you, Your Honor," the platinum blonde responded politely, before beginning, "Well, that night, Demitri and I were supervising the night shift as usual... but Demitri doesn't do so well with the atmosphere inside the plant when the equipment's running, so he has to go outside on occasion, lest he suffer from diarrhea, or worse..."

"T-too much information!" Rei mildly protested.

"Objection sustained!" the judge agreed. "No need to go into detail on THAT, witness... just focus on detail's surrounding the victim's death."

"...Yes, Your Honor. Anyway..." Lisa took a breath to compose herself. "Demitri went outside like usual, I told him to be careful since the floodlight had burned out... but he said he'd be just outside the door, so nothing to worry about." She chuckled bitterly at this. "So, after making sure none of the workers were slacking off, I went up to my office on the second floor for a smoke. I opened the window so I wouldn't stink up the place too much, but before I could light up, I saw movement outside... It was someone wielding a spike ball on a chain..."

"In other words, a morning-star whip," Willard clarified.

"If that's what it's called... Anyway, I took a closer look and realized that person was beating someone lying on the ground! I tried to scream, but no sound came out, I was so horrified, even though the darkness masked the grisly scene... then the person ran off, and I quickly stumbled over to my phone to call the police..." Lisa sucked on her empty holder again. "Oh, poor Demitri... he didn't deserve that..."

"Did you see any identifying features about the man beating your brother-in-law to death?" Heinlein inquired.

The pale-skinned woman just shook her head. "The only thing I know for certain is that they had long hair... I couldn't make out anything else..."

The judge solemnly shook her head, before stating, "To be frank, Mrs. Paler, your testimony is rather vague at best..."

"With all due respect, Your Honor, that's why I called Thomas Hall to the stand yesterday," Willard pointed out. "His account of events seemed far more reliable, at least at first glance..."

"Maybe something will come up in the cross-examination?" K-Sha ventured.

"Well, I suppose it can't hurt," the judge acquiesced, banging her gavel once. "Go ahead with your cross, Miss Ryghts."

"Yes ma'am," Rei nodded. (But where do I start?) "...Mrs. Paler, if you were so worried about your brother-in-law, why didn't you accompany him outside? Especially if you wanted to have a smoke..."

Lisa visibly hesitated. "Well, to be honest, Demitri doesn't have the highest opinion of me outside of my business savvy... He actually tried to get Vlad to break off relations with me in the past, before we tied the knot, though things have cooled off a bit since then..."

"Your husband pretty much said the same thing when we questioned him yesterday," K-Sha said.

"Yes, one of the few things Vlad and his brother disagreed on," the platinum blonde nodded. "But Vladdie couldn't deny his heart's desire... Demitri even refused to attend the wedding..."

"Bad blood, huh?" K-Sha mused.

"Well, in that case," Rei smirked sinisterly, "how can we trust that your testimony about the victim's death is accurate?"

"E-excuse me?!" Lisa grunted.

"Well, if Demitri was so against you and Vlad being together, that must have been quite a sore spot for you," the ex-villain elaborated with a cruel smirk. "How do we know you didn't hire a hitman to bludgeon the victim to death, and my client was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Y-you..." Lisa's eyes went wide at hearing this, her grip on her empty holder tightening until it abruptly snapped in half. "HOW DARE YOU?!" The gallery abruptly cried out in shock as the woman suddenly lifted the entire witness stand over her head! "How could you even suggest I would do something so cruel! My poor husband is torn with grief, and you dare to suggest I had a hand in his brother's death?!"

"Kyaaaaa!" K-Sha screamed. "I-I think you hit a nerve, Miss Rei...!"

(You think?!) the bluenette thought to herself as sweat beaded on her forehead. (She's a lot stronger than she looks...!)

"Order! Order! Order!" the judge cried as she banged her gavel repeatedly. "Mrs. Paler! You will set that witness stand back down this instant, or I will cite you for contempt and have you arrested for damaging public property!"

"Huh?!" Lisa seemed to come to her senses, looking up, before suddenly setting the witness stand back down, turning red with embarrassment. "O-oh dear, I am so sorry...! I-I beg your forgiveness, Your Honor...!"

"Sh-shouldn't that witness stand be bolted to the ground, anyway?" Willard grunted aloud.

"Yes, it should be," the judge acknowledged. "I remember that a witness stand had to be replaced after being broken by an unruly strongman who had just been convicted of murder... I didn't realize it was this one, though. Clearly the contractors that were hired cut a few corners!"

"I feel sorry for those contractors..." K-Sha sweat-dropped. "Her Honor's probably going to have them tossed in a holding cell for shoddy work!"

"N-no comment," Rei sighed, taking a pull from her water bottle. "Mrs. Paler, I-I'm so very sorry f-for upsetting y-you like that... B-but as a d-defense attorney, I have t-to make s-sure all angles are c-covered..."

The platinum blonde heaved a sigh as she crossed her arms. "You've got some nerve, Miss Final Boss... But I suppose you did that just to see my reaction, to prove I wasn't lying earlier... apology accepted."

"Getting back to the case at hand," Willard cut in, "Miss Ryghts, do you have any way of proving that this long-haired person Mrs. Paler saw was not your client? After all, Thomas Hall had short hair, so that rules him out..."

"Unless he was wearing a wig," K-Sha whispered to Rei. "But there's no proof of that, either..."

(And evidence is everything in a court of law,) the lawyer mused. "Y-Your Honor, I need a minute t-to regather my thoughts, a-after Mrs. Paler's recent o-outburst..."

"I have no objection," Willard demurred. "I'm still a little freaked out from that display of strength myself..."

"...Alright, Miss Ryghts," the judge acquiesced, "But try not to take too long, or it's a penalty on your record!"

"I understand," the bluenette nodded. (I have to try and re-examine this case from the beginning... something's been nagging at me, and I need to figure out what it is!) With that, she closed her eyes, going into deep thought...

(Let's start from the murder itself. Demitri Paler was bludgeoned to death by someone wielding a morning-star mace, in order to frame Simone Rondo for the act. From this, we can infer that this person was likely a vampire trying to escape from being destroyed by the hunter. But just committing the act wouldn't have been enough... what did the culprit do to strengthen the case against Simone Rondo?)

*He switched the maces*

(That's right, Simone's Combat Cross was switched out for the actual murder weapon. But if the guilty party was a vampire, they couldn't touch it without harming themselves... so who or what did they use to switch the weapons for them?)

*Thomas Hall*

(Of course, Tom Hall. He died from bleeding out through the neck, or in other words, the vampire sucked him dry and then used Hall as a puppet. And given that the Combat Cross was found in the men's locker room, we can reasonably infer that the culprit is male. ...But there's a problem. Security is airtight at the police station, especially at night. How could Thomas Hall have gotten inside at midnight to switch the maces...?)

*He hid inside beforehand*

(That makes sense. The vampire likely just hid Hall's body somewhere inside the station until the time was right. But where did he hide Hall at...?)

*The medical examiner's office*

(Of course! Given that Mr. Hall was already dead, no one would have questioned seeing another dead body on a slab at the medical examiner's office! ...But that doesn't help me prove who manipulated his body. Is there proof that anyone else was at the evidence locker at midnight on November 12th?)

*The security camera footage*

(That's right! There was a man visible on camera when the blackout cleared up! And he had long hair like Lisa Paler described! But his face was obscured by his cap... But haven't I seen him somewhere before?)

*At Paler Sunscreen Industries*

(Now I remember! The janitor I saw with Vlad and Lisa when I first questioned them! He's a dead ringer for the guy on the camera footage! And didn't he have another connection to the investigation...?)

*The Combat Cross was found in his locker*

(That's right! And I had to destroy a padlock to get inside, which means he likely knew what was inside, and didn't want anyone to find it! So how did we discover it?)

*The vampire aura tracker*

(And that fact can only mean one thing!)

THE JANITOR IS THE REAL VAMPIRE!

(Yes! It all fits! The vampire worked as a janitor to stay under the radar, hoping that if a hunter came looking, they'd suspect Vlad or Demitri first! It was his insurance policy if he was ever discovered! Of course!) Rei's eyes opened as she smirked in triumph... "Mrs. Paler, I have some evidence to show you. If someone could please cue up the security camera footage from 12:30 AM on November 12th..."

"Certainly," Willard assented."Bailiff, if you would please." The footage was promptly brought up on a holo-screen, showing the moment the man shooed away the bat that had been roosting on the camera.

"HOLD IT!" Detective Thomas suddenly shouted. "That's not our night-shift janitor! Not even close!"

"Are you sure about that, Detective?" Willard asked.

"Sure as shooting a bullseye on the firing range! I know all the personnel here like the back of my hand!" Thomas insisted.

"No... it couldn't be..." Lisa said with wide eyes.

"Do you know this man, witness?" the judge inquired.

"I'm... I'm almost certain that's the janitor who works the day shift at the main factory!" the pale woman elaborated. "But what would he be doing there?!"

"Most likely, he was helping Thomas Hall steal my client's morning-star whip!" Rei declared, slamming her fists on the bench for emphasis. "After all, said morning-star was found in his locker!"

"WHAAAAAATT?!" Lisa screeched in shock, causing the gallery to chatter.

"Order! ORDER!" the judge cried, as her repeatedly banged her gavel. "Mrs. Paler, calm yourself!"

"OBJECTION!" Willard suddenly yelled. "Miss Ryghts, would you mind telling me how these two men could have gotten in the police station so late at night?!"

"Well, it's not a stretch to think that the man in the camera passed himself off as the night-shift janitor, and was lucky enough to avoid people like Detective Thomas," she nodded toward the bearded man, "who would have seen through the deception!"

"And what about Thomas Hall? Do you have an explanation for that?" the prosecutor challenged.

"I do," Rei nodded. "After all, Prosecutor Heinlein, you've already conceded that necromancy was involved in this case..."

"OBJECTION! How does that prove anything?!" Willard shot back.

"HOLD IT! Let me finish, maggot!" the ex-villain slammed her fists on the bench again. "Now tell me, where did you find Mr. Hall yesterday when he got lost?"

"Where did I find him?" the white-haired man's face contorted in confusion. "Well, I believe it was over by the medical examiner's office... Gaahhhhh!" he screamed as realization dawned!

"Exactly, worm," Rei smirked as she crossed her arms. "After all, if Tom Hall was already dead, no-one would bat an eye seeing his corpse on a slab at the medical examiner's office!"

"G-good heavens! You make a good point, Miss Ryghts!" the judge gasped incredulously. "It would indeed be possible for that undead man to pose as just another cadaver!" the audience chattered in disbelief at this revelation, forcing the robed woman to gavel them down again.

"Are you saying that janitor is the one responsible for poor Demitri's death?!" Lisa growled in barely restrained anger.

"At the very least, he's an accessory to tampering with evidence!" Rei said with a flourish of her pointer finger. "Seeing as you're technically his boss, Mrs. Paler, perhaps you could have him brought in for questioning?"

"Gladly!" the platinum blonde nodded. "I'll have that miscreant down here in no more than a half-hour! If you'll excuse me..." She promptly stomped out of the courtroom, pulling out her phone to make a call...

"...Well then, I suppose we'll take a recess while this mystery janitor is summoned," the judge stated. "We'll reconvene in 30 minutes, so don't wander too far!" With that, she banged her gavel to signal temporary adjournment.

To be continued...

Up next, the confrontation with the true culprit! Read and review!