Today's your lucky day, EclipseKuran. I happened to finish writing the entire fic (ten chapters!) last night (okay, early this morning), so for the next three chapters, I'll just update whenever someone leaves a review.


March 10, 5:30 AM, Kurain Village, Detention Center

"Oh my g- Wright, stop crying."

"Edgeworth, I thought you were going to die! Also, I'm not crying."

"Yes you are. And technically, I already died."

Phoenix glared at Edgeworth, who merely twitched the corner of his mouth down in anxious irritation. "You know what I mean."

He sighed shortly. "Yes." Beat. "It's a good thing you noticed that footage."

Phoenix shrugged. "I had to do something. I couldn't-" he cut himself off, slightly embarrassed. "Well, anyway…"

Edgeworth looked down and to the side, one hand nervously clasping his other arm. "I know, Wright. You couldn't just… not after-"

"But we'll be done with this by tomorrow morning," Phoenix blurted out. "I'm still not sure how exactly Adrian got turned, but hey, Mrs. Ruthven's gotta know something."

Edgeworth looked back up and spocked an eyebrow. "Mrs. Ruthven?"

"The old lady talking to Adrian." Phoenix sat back slightly. "The only vampire who was around Carmilla Apartments at the time of the crime… kind of suspicious, isn't it?"

"Indeed," Edgeworth said, his brow furrowing. "She's been a servant for the von Karma family as long as I can remember, though. It would be… odd for her to do anything to break vampiric law."

Now Phoenix was raising his eyebrows. "Heidi made it sound like she stopped working for the von Karmas before Eva was born."

"Oh, Heidi wouldn't know," Edgeworth said, "before Eva was born I believe she was either a maid or a nanny, or perhaps a cook. She stopped working in the household itself after the accident where she lost her foot - I'm not certain what exactly happened, but I heard she was hit by hit by car while riding a motorcycle - and a few months later she was turned into a vampire… but she's been in the von Karma family's pay this whole time."

"Doing what?" Phoenix said.

"…I'm not sure. I was never privy to these matters." He frowned. "As far as I can tell, she was just a 'contact' for the von Karmas - a vampire in their pocket. I believe that this was why she had her eyes gouged out, actually."

"She snitched on someone?"

"I assume so." He looked Phoenix dead in the eye. "There are dangerous forces at work in the vampire world, Wright."

Phoenix broke eye contact quickly, and snorted. "Obviously. Someone went really out of their way to frame you. If they'd been just a little more competent with video editing…" he shuddered.

"…yes," Edgeworth said slowly, "I do wonder why I, specifically, was framed. It wasn't just a matter of convenience, since they did - well, they did hypnotize me."

"So you were hypnotized after all, then?"

Edgeworth's eyebrows worked. "It seems that way. Mr. Zadzoe's testimony caused me to remember what exactly I was thinking while I was at the library - I kept thinking that I didn't particularly want to be there and I should have been somewhere else, and I repeatedly decided to get up and leave, but didn't until closing. It was odd…" He blinked. "And Adrian appeared to be a human on the footage taken after I left Carmilla Apartments, even though I remember turning her, sort of. I suppose I was right when I said those memories weren't… real."

"Planted memories, huh," Phoenix said, "oh, what do you mean by Adrian 'appeared to be a human' in the CCTV footage?"

"Vampires don't yawn, Wright."

"…yeah, I guess that's kind of obvious. There's no reason for Adrian to have faked it." He frowned. "What bothers me is the fact that she didn't remember talking to Mrs. Ruthven."

"It could have been the benzodiazepines like Eva said."

"I guess," Phoenix said hesitantly. "This whole situation is just… weird. I mean, we still can't figure out why you were even turned in the first place."

Edgeworth gave Phoenix a very unimpressed look. "What does that have to this?"

"Well, Lana was hypnotized into turning you," Phoenix said, "and you were hypnotized into drugging Adrian's drugs and screwing up your own alibi. It's not the same MO, but it's similar."

"Hypnosis isn't an uncommon MO," Edgeworth said.

"I just think maybe the same person is behind both of them. Maybe not the same hypnotist, but it could be that someone's out there, giving orders," Phoenix said, "someone who hates you in particular."

"I don't recall any particular occasion where I angered a vampire," Edgeworth said dryly, "and I'm not aware of anyone who has any reason to hate me being turned in prison."

"You've got to admit it's one heck of a coincidence," Phoenix said, "that someone would implicate you in Adrian's turning so soon after you were turned yourself."

"Perhaps someone was merely being opportunistic," Edgeworth said, "although it is interesting that, while they apparently wanted me truly dead, they would choose to turn someone completely unrelated and set me up to be slain as punishment, instead of just killing me themselves."

"What, the fact that we still don't know who hypnotized Lana isn't bothering you?" Phoenix said.

"I didn't say it wasn't bothering me. I'd love to know," Edgeworth said darkly, then sat up a little straighter and said more evenly, "at this point, we have nothing to indicate that the two incidents were related."

"I feel it in my gut, Edgeworth."

"Ah, yes," Edgeworth said sarcastically, "you and your amazing, crime-solving gut."


March 10, 10:00 AM, Wright & Co. Law Offices

Maya stood defiant with her hands on her hips. "Alright Nick, spill," she said, "how'd court go last night? Who turned Adrian Andrews into a vampire?!"

"We don't know yet," Phoenix said, raising his hands, "we might have a lead but Mr. Gregory says Franziska has her stashed away somewhere and he hasn't seen her all day. I don't know what's going on."

Maya huffed, puffing out her cheeks. "Ugh, Franziska! That's her little brother on trial!"

"Well, I think at this point, we're going to get a not guilty even if it turns out Mrs. Ruthven can't tell us anything," Phoenix said, flopping onto the couch and yawning. "I know the Judge doesn't usually go for that reasonable doubt stuff they taught us in law school, but since it's Edgeworth we're talking about, Franziska'll probably just rest if it gets bad enough." He stretched his arms. "They can't actually prove he was at the crime scene when it happened anymore, since the footage was edited."

"Yeah, but," Maya said, putting one hand to her face, "isn't Edgeworth gonna be the only vampire who can actually get into Adrian's apartment?"

Phoenix frowned deeply. "That's exactly why they couldn't let the case against Lana go," he said. "And she was also hypnotized…"

"Sounds related to me."

"That's what I was thinking, yeah. Edgeworth disagrees."

"Well, what does he know?"

Phoenix snorted. "Anyway, I'm sure there was another vampire who got into Adrian's apartment somehow. Or maybe she just wasn't turned in her apartment like we've been assuming - Mrs. Ruthven might be able to shed some light on this."

"I hope so," Maya said, "I don't want Edgeworth to die. That'd be… really bad…"

"Yeah," Phoenix said, his voice softer than he really intended. He cleared his throat. "By the way, where's Pearly?"

"Oh," Maya said, "I hired a tutor to help her with her spelling. She's been going to his house with some other kids and learning stuff during the day."

Phoenix raised his eyebrows. "Really now."

"Don't worry, I asked around about him first," Maya said, "Edgeworth knows him, he's cool."

"Ah, okay."

"His name's, um… Jojo Zadzoe."

"Oh… yeah, he's cool."


March 10, 11:50 PM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby B-1

"Mr. Gregory, how much do you know about Mrs. Ruthven, anyway?"

Gregory blinked. "Do you suspect her, Phoenix?"

Phoenix shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know. At this point, not really. But I was talking about her with Edgeworth this morning, and…"

Gregory raised his eyebrows. "Edgeworth knows her? Hm. I knew she was somewhat close to Eva, but I didn't think…"

"She used to work in the von Karma house," Phoenix said, "before she was the receptionist at Ossenfelder."

Gregory rubbed his chin. "Yes, I'd heard of that," he said, "I'll admit it is interesting…"

"But it's not really relevant," Edgeworth cut across. "Wright is just grasping at straws, as usual."

"Hey, it's your undead butt on the line here, Edgeworth," Phoenix said.

"He's sure that this case has something to do with my own turning," Edgeworth continued, ignoring Phoenix.

Gregory was silent for a minute, with a kind of blank 'not now, kids, Daddy's busy' expression. "Well," he said neutrally, "we'll see how this turns out."


March 11, 12:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom B-1

"Court is now once again in session for the trial of Miles Edgeworth."

"The prosecution is ready, your Honor."

"The defense is ready as well, your Honor."

Franziska snapped her whip. "Now, picking up directly where we left off last night," she said, "the prosecution calls Allegra Ruthven to the stand."

Mrs. Ruthven walked calmly up to the stand, her artificial foot dragging slightly and clunking ominously against the floor with every step. Her sunglasses gleamed in the harsh fluorescent light. Phoenix swallowed involuntarily.

"Witness, name and occupation."

"Allegra Ruthven," she said in a clear, almost forceful voice, "I'm the night receptionist at Ossenfelder Funeral Home and Condominiums. Part-time babysitter, too."

"Let's get right to the point, witness," Franziska said coldly, "you were caught on video having a conversation with the victim shortly before she was turned."

Ruthven raised her eyebrows. "I wasn't aware of this."

"The footage was edited out," Gregory said, "it was not corrected until the trial last night."

"Hmm," Ruthven said, "well, it is true that I did have a little conversation with Miss Andrews."

"What? Do I look like a 'miss'?" Phoenix heard Adrian say from the gallery just behind Franziska. Franziska cracked her whip and Adrian shut up.

"What did you talk about?" Gregory said.

"Actually, tell us what exactly happened," Franziska said, "spare no detail. And do not try to tell us that you cannot remember; we know full well that vampiric memory is not affected by your old age."

Ruthven snorted. "Well, alright," she said, "I was out for a walk, getting a little fresh air, when I got turned around. I went up to the nearest building to touch the door and figure out which one it was so I could get my bearings and head back to Ossenfelder." She frowned slightly. "I got a phone call just then. It turned out to be a telemarketer, and it took me a minute to give him a piece of my mind and tell him to put me on the no-call list." She sniffed, and turned her head slightly towards the defense bench. Phoenix got the impression that her empty eyelids were narrowing under her glasses. "I was about to leave when Miss Andrews came out. I suppose she thought I was waiting to go in the building or something - she shook my hand and introduced herself, and we made a little small talk for a few minutes. I remember that she sounded very tired - she yawned and I told her to just go to bed instead of whatever she was leaving the building to do. She agreed and left. I went back to Ossenfelder right after that, since there wasn't any point in sticking around at Carmilla."

"Hmm," said the Judge, "Mr. Edgeworth, your cross-examination."

"Actually, I have a question," Phoenix said, "why exactly did you go out for a walk?"

"For a little fresh air, Mr. Wright," Ruthven said, smiling.

"…we're in Los Angeles. Also, you're a vampire. You wouldn't need fresh air even if you could get it here."

Ruthven's eyebrows raised, giving the distinct impression of eye-rolling sardonicism. "It's just a turn of phrase. I can change my testimony to stretching my legs or because I could if you like."

"It's fine, witness," Gregory said, "I'm more interested in why the security footage shows you standing around for so long after Adrian had gone back into the building."

"It's a free country," Ruthven said.

"Witness," the Judge said warningly.

Ruthven's mouth straightened. "I was just taking in the sounds of the city. Nothing strange going on." Her posture stiffened slightly - if Phoenix hadn't been getting such an odd vibe from her for the whole time she'd been in the courtroom, he wouldn't have even been paying enough attention to notice it. "Am I a suspect?"

"Well," Gregory said.

"Yes," Franziska said.

Ruthven obviously stiffened this time. "Why should I be a suspect? I don't even know Miss Andrews - I couldn't even make it into her apartment!"

"Are we sure the crime even took place in her apartment at all?" Phoenix said, "I mean, if it hadn't, then the pool of potential perpetrators really opens up."

"We are fairly certain that that the crime took place in her apartment," Franziska said, crossing her arms irritably, "according to Adrian Andrew's own testimony, she was turned while sleeping - and she fell asleep in her apartment."

"But she didn't remember talking to Mrs. Ruthven," Phoenix pointed out, "maybe the benzodiazepine kicked in while she was walking back to her apartment, and she passed out in the hallway but just assumed she fell asleep in her own room because that was where she woke up."

"Even if she didn't fall asleep in her own room, the fact that she was there when she woke up proves that the perpetrator had the ability to enter her apartment," Franziska said, slamming her whip against the bench, "because even if she had been turned outside of her apartment, she still would have had to be carried back to it."

"Maybe a human accomplice was the one who carried her back to her apartment," Phoenix retorted.

"Maybe a human accomplice was the one who pulled the metaphorical trigger," Gregory said.

There was a pregnant pause.

"What are you going on about, Mr. Edgeworth?" Ruthven said at last.

Gregory put one hand to his chin sagely. "The venom was in a syringe, was it not?"

"It was," Franziska said, "…I see. Anyone, human or vampire, could inject that venom into Adrian Andrews' bloodstream."

"Well, this certainly changes things," Ruthven said, with a hint of sourness.

"…we did already check to see if any of the human residents or employees of Carmilla Apartments had any connection to the vampire underworld, just in case they had heard something," Franziska said, "we did not turn up anything."

"I suppose it didn't need to be someone who lived or worked in the building," Gregory said.

Phoenix blinked. "Hey," he said, "it didn't need to be anyone at all."

There was another pause, but more of an incredulous one than a pregnant one.

"And you make no sense, as usual, Phoenix Wright," Franziska said.

"No, no," Phoenix said, "I mean - what if the one who injected the venom into Adrian's bloodstream… was Adrian herself?"

"What?" the Judge said.

"It's a possibility," Phoenix said, "I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to hypnotize a neurotic human…"

"I resent that remark," Adrian said loudly. Franziska cracked her whip again.

"Anyway," Phoenix pressed on, "here's what could have happened - someone hypnotizes Edgeworth into breaking into Adrian's apartment and leaving a syringe full of venom in it, and then that same someone also hypnotizes Adrian so that at a certain time she'll put on gloves, retrieve the syringe, inject it into herself, and then go to sleep until the sun comes up, and then snap out of it."

"Interesting," Ruthven said flatly.

"Yes, very interesting," Franziska said, "however…" and she suddenly thrashed her whip across Phoenix's face.

"Aaaagh!"

"Even if she was under hypnosis, how was she supposed to inject herself when she was under the influence of benzodiazepines?!"

"Ugh…" Phoenix said, holding his face where Franziska had whipped it - he was going to need an ice pack later, and maybe some bandages too, judging by the slightly wet feel - "I didn't even think about that…"

"Of course you did not," Franziska said, "you never think, Phoenix Wright."

"The dinner deal's off, Franziska."

"Actually, you had a pretty good idea there, Phoenix," Gregory said as Franziska scowled at Phoenix, "Ms. von Karma, was a blood test done on Ms. Andrews when she showed up to report her turning?"

…don't you use a urine test to look for benzos? Phoenix thought, actually, I probably don't want to know why he's not bringing it up…

Franziska grimaced a bit. "Ah… no, we didn't, and at this point in time we wouldn't detect anything." Her face smoothed out. "Are you implying that Adrian Andrews was not really on benzodiazepine?"

"Well, we've been assuming that was, because we've been assuming that she was actually able to take her medicine that night," Gregory said.

"She always takes her medicine at night," Franziska said.

"Hypnosis may have interfered with her schedule," Gregory said, "there is a simple way to this, of course. All we need is a copy of her prescription."

Franziska' jaw clenched and unclenched. Finally, she said, "your Honor, the prosecution would like to request a fifteen-minute recess in order to acquire this prescription."

"Request granted," the Judge said, banging his gavel. "This court will now take a fifteen-minute recess."


March 11, 12:45 AM, District Court, Defendant's Lobby B-1

"That went in almost the complete opposite direction as I was expecting," Edgeworth said.

"Yes, good job, Phoenix," Gregory said.

"Ehe," Phoenix said, scratching the back of his head, "it just kinda occurred to me…"

"Yes, I figured," Edgeworth said dryly, "this is how you usually handle someone's defense."

"Is this better or worse than the time I cross-examined a bird for you, Edgeworth?"

"Excuse me, but what?" Gregory said.

"Nevermind," Phoenix and Edgeworth said at the same time.


March 11, 1:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom B-1

Court was back in session. The bottle of SRIs and a copy of the prescription for it were sitting on the defense bench.

"Alright, Mr. Edgeworth," the Judge said, "go ahead."

Gregory picked up the prescription. "This prescription was last refilled the night - after 10:15 - of February 26 with 70 pills. If Ms. Andrews was taking two pills a day from the 27th until the sixth, she would have taken 16 pills so far, meaning there should be 54 pills in the container right now." He nodded at Phoenix. "How many are there, Phoenix?"

Ugh, why do I have to count all them? Phoenix grumbled internally and poured the contents on the bottle onto the desk. He counted them out, sorting them into groups of five as he went for easy verification when he was done.

One, two, three, four, five. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five. Twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five. Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty. Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five. Forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty. Fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four.

Fifty-five.

"There's an extra pill," Phoenix said, almost gleefully.

"Are you sure?" Franziska said.

Phoenix pointed at the eleven groups of five. "Yeah, I'm sure. There's an extra pill."

"I highly doubt the pharmacy would overfill a prescription," Gregory said, "meaning that Ms. Andrews failed to take her medicine at some point between the morning of the 27th and the night of the sixth."

"Impossible," Franziska said.

"The extra pill is right here," Phoenix said, then put his hands on his hips. "But I agree, it is impossible… under ordinary circumstances!"

"I'd say this practically proves that the victim was awake at the time of the crime!" the Judge said, "first we see her walking around outside just a few minutes before the crime took place, and then we find out that she never took the benzippitydoodahs at all!"

"This does lend credence to the defense's hypnosis theory," Franziska admitted.

"But does the defense have an idea as to who could have been the hypnotist?" the Judge said gravely.

"Well, there was one vampire who was interacting with the victim right before the turning," Phoenix said, "so…"

"The defense would like to call Allegra Ruthven back to the stand," Gregory finished.

Ruthven took the stand, and the previous odd vibe had intensified to a full-on dangerous aura. Phoenix could swear he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up… more than they already were, anyway.

"Am I still a suspect?" she said with a huff.

"There are only two vampires that the victim is known to have come into contact with," Franziska said stiffly, "and the other one is not even old enough to hypnotize a lizard."

"To be fair, lizards can be pretty smart," Phoenix said under his breath. Gregory snorted.

"We would like you tell us a bit more about Adrian Andrews' behavior while you were talking to her," Franziska was saying.

Ruthven's nostrils flared. "She sounded tired," she said stubbornly, "that's all I know."

"And why would she have sounded tired?" Gregory pressed, "do you know?"

"I don't. Maybe she just had a long day at work." Ruthven's fingers drummed on the witness stand for a moment. "Wasn't she supposed to have been drugged with sleeping medication?"

"That seems unlikely at this point," Franziska said. "The defense's theory is that the defendant was hypnotized into leaving a syringe full of venom in the victim's house, and that the victim was later hypnotized into injecting herself with the syringe."

"And you were seen with the victim shortly before she would have injected herself," Gregory pointed out.

"What, and you think I hypnotized them?" Ruthven said defensively.

"It's a possibility," the Judge said.

Ruthven scowled, fangs bared, and abruptly ripped her sunglasses off her head and stared directly at the defense bench. Well, stared- she didn't have eyes - she just had scar-tissue-covered eyelids stretched over black, black abyssal holes in her face where the windows to her soul were supposed to be. Phoenix couldn't stop himself from reeling back a bit at the emptiness.

"How am I supposed to hypnotize someone with no eyes?" Ruthven demanded, her void stare seeping into Phoenix's very being, so that he could feel a little of that hollowness himself.

"I - I don't know," Phoenix stammered, but did not look away, "I'm sure there's some way to do it. You could have used your voice-"

"-or your hands," Gregory said, "I know hypnotism, Mrs. Ruthven. You need some sort of contact to carry it out - usually, people use eye contact. But physical contact can work as well."

"Objection," Franziska said, "while it is plausible that the witness was the one who hypnotized the victim, it is impossible for her to have hypnotized the defendant!" She struck her whip against the prosecution bench. "The defendant is a von Karma, whether he likes to think of himself as one or not. Even if he is out of practice, it would be nearly impossible for someone of the witness' age and power to implant a hypnotic command or suggestion, no matter how inane!"

"Mr. Gregory," Phoenix said quietly, "how long have you been a vampire compared to Mrs. Ruthven?"

"She has been a vampire a few years longer than I have," Gregory muttered, "but when I hypnotized Miles at the detention center it was done so with his consent, which makes it vastly easier. I believe Ms. von Karma does have a point here."

"Maybe it wasn't the same person who hypnotized both of them," Phoenix said, "all we need to do is prove that Mrs. Ruthven hypnotized Adrian."

"And then, I suppose, it would naturally follow that Miles Edgeworth was also hypnotized," Franziska said, scoffing.

"Well, now that we know what to look for, why don't we watch that security footage from the night of the sixth again?" Gregory said, "someone going under hypnosis will have some subtle, although distinctive, changes in body language."

"Good idea," said the Judge, "bailiff-"

"That won't be necessary, your Honor," Ruthven sighed and put her sunglasses back on. "I may as well not waste another few minutes of the court's time."

"Are you confessing?" Gregory said.

"Of course I am," Ruthven said, "I did indeed call that poor girl down to the front of the building, hypnotize her, and tell her to go back to her room and shoot up with that venom."

"So you were the real- well, the real culprit!" Phoenix said.

Ruthven laughed once. "Nope, Mr. Wright. I'm just the accomplice." She grinned. "Young Mister Edgeworth was the one who planted the sleeping drugs and the syringe, and the one who told me to get Miss Andrews to inject herself with it." Her grin didn't widen so much as her lips pulled back from her teeth. "So perhaps I was the one to pull the trigger - but young Mister Edgeworth was the one who loaded the gun and put it in my hand." She drew herself up. "I know I'm going to get slain for this. But save some room in the vacuum for him."

There was a brief pause.

"Very complex," the Judge mumbled.

"This sort of complexity is in-character for the defendant," Franziska said smoothly. Wasn't she bothered at all? Was she up to something?

Phoenix's breath hissed out between his teeth. "What do we do, Mr. Gregory?" he whispered, eyes still fixed on the Pyrrhically victorious Allegra Ruthven. "We're back to square one - maybe worse."

"We need to figure out how to prove that Miles was, in fact, hypnotized," Gregory said, then raised his voice: "Your Honor, if we may go back to something that was brought up last night…"

"The lockpick marks on the victim's door, no?" Franziska said.

"Were you ever able to confirm whether the marks came from the night of the crime or the attempted break-in?"

"…I sent the lock to forensics yesterday," Franziska said, "however, the results have not yet- whose phone is that? Who did not turn off or silence their cell phone in this holy garden of judgement?!"

There was brief interlude as everyone listened to "Now whip it/Into shape/Shape it up/Get straight/Go forward/Move ahead/Try to detect it/It's not too late/To whip it/Whip it good!" Franziska abruptly blushed, muttered what Phoenix assumed were a few choice German swear words, and answered her phone.

Wouldn't have taken Franziska for a fan of Devo… Phoenix thought exasperatedly.

Franziska slammed her phone on the desk, coming precariously close to shattering it. "Forensics has just reported…" she said a little louder than necessary, then cleared her throat and continued in a normal volume, "…either someone locked and unlocked Adrian Andrews' door several hundred times between the crime and when it was reported, or the lockpick marks are several months old."

"Well, I think this is fairly obvious," Gregory said.

"If Edgeworth could only get into Adrian's apartment by turning into mist," Phoenix said, slamming his hands against the desk, "this proves that he was hypnotized at the time!"

Ruthven's mien didn't change throughout this whole conversation, but now she shuddered through a full-body twitch.

"Give it up, Mrs. Ruthven," Gregory said, "I'm sure you know who is really behind this crime."

"I'll never talk," she said in a low hiss.

"It is not as though there will be any particular consequences for you," Franziska said coolly. "After all, you're already going to get slain."

Harsh, Phoenix thought.

"It's true that there's no reason for me not to tell you anything, but there's no reason for me to tell you anything," Ruthven said, her surprisingly strong hands gripping the witness stand. "Even unto true death, I am loyal, Miss von Karma."

"Loyal?" Franziska said, "to who?"

There was a soft tmp sound sound as Phoenix saw, out of the corner of his eye, Eva jump over the gallery's railing. She stalked towards Ruthven, stake in hand.

"Tell us who you're working for," she said flatly.

"Nope," Ruthven said, turning up her nose.

"That's an order, Allegra Ruthven," Eva snapped.

"I won't say."

Eva scowled ferociously. "You say you're loyal and then disobey me! I am the current head of the family von Karma, and as such you must do as I say!"

"W-What? Why?" Franziska said. Did she not know about Ruthven's true employment status?

"I said," Ruthven said in a low voice, "I will not say. I am under orders to remain silent."

Eva stared at Ruthven for almost half a minute, eyes wide, and jerked her head up towards the Judge and said rapidly: "This is a matter that requires further investigation but Allegra Ruthven is of no use to us and Miles has been proved innocent already. Your verdict, now."

The Judge blinked. "Er- any objections? Mr. Edgeworth?"

"None, your Honor," Gregory said calmly.

"Ms. von Karma?"

Phoenix could see Franziska's hands trembling on her whip even from all the way across the court floor. "I have no objections, your Honor," she said, in a tone of voice that also said, "I would like to know just what the hell is going on here."

"Very well, then," the Judge said, nodding, and raised his gavel. "This court hereby declares the accused, Miles Edgeworth… NOT GUILTY." The gavel fell. "Mrs. von Karma, you may now-"

Bones clattered to the floor.


I had to put another JJBA reference in there with Maya mixing up Mr. Zadzoe's name, I'm sorry. I love JJBA and it is so totally relevant. (Wryyyyy!)

The name "Allegra" is like one big incestuous orgy of literary references. Okay, kind of. Allegra was the name of the illegitimate daughter of Lord George Gordon Byron and Claire Clairmont. Why does this matter? Well, for one thing, Claire Clairmont was the stepsister of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, a seminal work of Gothic fiction - and you can't have vampires as we know them today without Gothic fiction! Speaking of Gothic fiction, did you know that Polidori's "The Vampyre", or more specifically the character of Lord Ruthven, whom Mrs. Ruthven is named after, was inspired by Lord Byron himself?!