November 19, 6:00 PM

Wright Anything Agency

"That was the most disastrous trial in the history of disastrous trials," Maya said flatly.

"I'm losing my touch," Apollo murmured to himself. "How could I be so stupid? I ended up proving the opposite of what I was trying to prove the entire time!"

"It's ok, Polly," Trucy said consolingly. "It was a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes!"

"Yeah, but if he makes a mistake, then Miss Faraday has to pay for it," Pearl retorted. Apollo coughed for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. "Are you ok, Apollo?"

"I'm fine," he insisted. "My throat's just a little scratchy."

"Don't get sick on us, Polly!" Maya warned.

"Yeah, well even if I do, I'm not backing out of this trial," Apollo replied in a slightly hoarse voice. Iris smiled at Phoenix.

"That sounds a lot like someone I know," she said.

"That bastard," Phoenix practically growled, ignoring Iris.

"Nick—" Maya warned.

"How dare he?" Phoenix whispered. "Taking those paintings and copying them… even worse, selling them for more than the originals' worth… It's unforgivable."

"Wright," Edgeworth said sharply. Mr. Wright has every reason to be angry, Apollo thought. Eight years ago, he was accused of forging evidence and lost his attorney's badge for it. There really was no way he could have done it; his client, Trucy's real father, Zak Gramarye, changed attorneys the night before the trial. There was no way he could have forged evidence in time for the trial… but the board didn't see it that way. He was never well-liked, and all the attorneys on the board were quick to stand against him… except for one, my old boss Kristoph Gavin. It turns out that Mr. Gavin was Mr. Gramarye's old attorney who was fired after losing to him in a game of poker. Angry at being pushed aside, he destroyed Mr. Wright's career by forging evidence and giving it to him to use in court. I guess it's understandable that he's angry at forgeries of any kind nowadays. Phoenix sighed.

"Sorry," he apologized. "So what happened to Kay?"

"The bailiffs took her back to the detention center," Edgeworth said quietly. "There are more guards positioned around her for security purposes, after what happened in court today."

"Well we owe today to her," Phoenix said. "If she hadn't interrupted the trial, we would have lost."

"It's not like she would have just stood there with her mouth hanging open while her own defense failed epically in defending her," Maya grumbled. Apollo winced, and Trucy hugged his arm.

"What are we going to do?" Pearl whispered. Phoenix exhaled sharply.

"First, we need to get back on track," he announced. "We need to go down to the detention center and make sure that what Kay said today was the complete and total truth."

"Doing so would also prove that what Mr. Justice was trying to prove today was true," Edgeworth added, smirking. "He's a lot like you, Wright."

"Reminiscing aside," Iris said, "we also need to investigate the crime scene."

"Of the murder, not of the theft," Trucy clarified. Suddenly, the phone rang and Apollo went to answer it.

"Wright Anything Agency where we're always Wright on your side," Apollo recited dully. "This is Apollo Justice speaking. How may I help you?"

"M-Mr. Justice?" a voice stammered on the other line.

"V-Vera?" Apollo gasped.

"Hi Mr. Justice…" she greeted meekly. "I… I heard about the trial today. If you want to prove that Mr. Barrymore is a forger, then I can help. I… I was one, after all…"

"Thanks Vera," Apollo said sincerely. "That would be great."

"Would you like me to come over to your office, or…" She trailed off, and Apollo chuckled.

"It's ok," he assured her. "I'll drop by your studio in a bit."

"Ok," Vera said. "Bye, Mr. Justice."

"Bye," Apollo replied before hanging up the phone. "Ok, change of plans," he said to the rest of the group. "I'm going to head down to Vera's studio. She said she'll help us with the forgeries."

"I'll come with you," Trucy volunteered.

"Vera who?" Maya whispered to Phoenix.

"Old client," he said fleetingly.

"So come on!" Trucy urged. "Let's go! We've got a case to crack!"


November 19, 6:18 PM

Drew Studio

"Hi Vera!" Trucy greeted cheerfully.

"Hello…" the blue-haired artist greeted quietly. Vera Misham, my last murder client before I defended Pearl. She was unwittingly caught up in that whole conspiracy involving Mr. Gavin and Mr. Wright, and nearly paid for it with her life. Like she said before, she used to be a forger herself, but of course, she didn't even know that it was illegal because she spent all her time cooped up in her father's studio. She's really shy, but she's getting better. "I-I heard that someone accused Mr. Barrymore of being a forger."

"Yeah," Apollo confirmed, "and she was telling the truth." Vera's eyes averted to the side as she began to chew nervously on her fingernails.

"Vera!" Trucy scolded. "Stop doing that! You almost died because you wouldn't stop biting your nails!" Ridiculous, I know. The scary part is that it's completely true. Vera's eyes widened as she slowly removed her hand from her mouth.

"I don't know how much I can do to help…" she admitted sadly, "but I can help you identify forgeries."

"That would be great," Apollo said.

"First things first," Vera explained, striding over to two nearly identical paintings. "Here are two paintings. One of them is the painting 'Warehouse Tiger' by Nicholas Dreinim and the other is a copy I made. Can you tell me which one is real and which one is fake?" Apollo stared at both paintings. They both depicted a vicious orange tiger bending down to bite a green dragon against a vivid orange background. He frowned in concentration as he continued to stare at them. I don't know which one's real and which one's fake… but I can see a difference between them.

"I don't know," Apollo answered, "but I can tell that the signature in the painting on the left is slightly higher than the signature in the painting on the right." Vera smiled brightly.

"Correct," she said. "I noticed something with all of Nicholas Dreinim's paintings. In every painting, he signs his name exactly three inches from the bottom and three inches from the right." Trucy scoffed.

"You're looking too hard, Apollo," she said. "Remember what Miss Faraday said in court today? All of Nicholas Dreinim's paintings come in these special frames where he signs the bottom right corner of the frame and puts the initials of the title of the painting." Sure enough, the painting on the right was encased in a frame with Nicholas Dreinim's signature and the initials "WT".

"I see…" he said quietly.

"Can you see any other differences?" Vera asked, prompting Apollo to take another close look at the two paintings in front of him.

"The dragon," he said after carefully scrutinizing it. "The shade of the dragon in the painting on the right doesn't quite match the shade of the dragon in the painting on the left." Vera nodded.

"That's right," she affirmed.

"But do I really have to look this closely to spot the differences?" Apollo asked, turning to Vera. She stared blankly at him.

"Mr. Justice, forgers strive to make their copies as close to the originals as possible," she said. "Whatever differences there are will be very subtle and not easily noticed by those that just give them a passing glance." Trucy crossed her arms.

"I guess that makes sense…" she said. "So what do we do now, Apollo?" Apollo exhaled sharply.

"I say we head down to Barrymore's mansion," he said. "We need to look at those paintings in his art gallery more closely if we want to find out the truth."


November 19, 6:11 PM

Detention Center

Kay stood behind the glass window, glaring ahead at whoever seemed to be passing by. Her expression softened when she saw Edgeworth and Phoenix approach her cell. "Mr. Edgeworth!" she gasped before hanging her head glumly. "I… I'm sorry for what happened in court today. I… I just lost it. I couldn't…"

"Don't be, Kay," Phoenix said. "We would have lost the trial if it weren't for you."

"Not the most comforting words for your own client, Wright," Edgeworth warned.

"But it's true!" Maya refuted.

"So was what Apollo said in court today true, Miss Faraday?" Iris asked shyly. Kay simply shook her head.

"I think it'll be easier if I just tell you what I know," she said. "Yes, Arthur Barrymore is a forger. He buys as many paintings by Nicholas Dreinim as he can and copies them. Then he sells those copies all around the world for more than the original's worth… but I already said that in court today."

"So you really did give him the calling card beforehand," Phoenix mused. Kay nodded.

"Yes I did," she confirmed. "I got a lead on him about a month ago. I just thought it was too weird that so many of Nicholas Dreinim's paintings were circulating around the world. Yes, a lot of people buy Nicholas Dreinim's paintings, but Barrymore by far has the most. Even worse, he sells those paintings too, and there were too many of the same paintings going out. So I set my sights on him and went at it. I sent him my calling card last week to warn him to come clean or risk having me tell the media myself."

"So Polly was right," Maya said. "He said that Kay had something on Mr. Barrymore and she sent him her calling card, and that he kept the calling card and used it to frame her for the 'theft' of his painting."

"But that doesn't explain the murder at all," Pearl lamented. "All this time, we've been looking at the theft, but we never investigated the murder. You would think the two incidents are related, but they're not."

"We don't know that for sure, Pearls," Phoenix told her.

"So we know what really happened to that painting," Maya said. "Mr. Barrymore burned it, right?" Phoenix winced. "So when we go to investigate today, we have to put all our effort into investigating the murder."

"Just what was Mr. Franklin's relation to Mr. Barrymore besides being the father of the maid?" Edgeworth asked rhetorically.

"Why would anyone want to murder him?" Iris asked sadly.

"We don't even know who he is," Phoenix told them. "We can't say anything for sure yet."

"So all we can do is investigate," Edgeworth asserted. Phoenix sighed heavily.

"Looks like it," he said.


November 19, 6:39 PM

Barrymore Mansion

Front Porch

"Trucy!" Phoenix shouted, waving his arm as he ran up to her and Apollo. "How did it go with Vera?"

"Great!" Trucy replied cheerfully. "She taught us how to tell the difference between the real paintings and the fake ones."

"That will definitely come in handy in this investigation," Edgeworth pointed out.

"So come on!" Maya yelled. "We have investigating to do!"


November 19, 6:41 PM

Barrymore Mansion

Art Gallery

The blank space on the wall and the caution tape were gone. On the wall was a painting nearly identical to the one burned. "The nerve of that bastard!" Phoenix cursed. "He replaced it with a fake!"

"Calm down Feenie…" Iris said consolingly. He might as well just scream to the world, 'I'm a forger'.

"Hey!" Maya called. "Look, over there! It's Shifu!"

"Shifu?" Edgeworth repeated, raising his eyebrow. He looked over at the man in the feather boa Maya was pointing to and smirked. "Oh. Him."

"Friend of yours?" Phoenix asked.

"You could say that," Edgeworth replied. Shi-Long Lang strode over to the group.

"Mr. Prosecutor," he greeted, grinning. "Long time no see. Lang Zi says: greet your fellow wolf with the utmost respect."

"Hello to you too, Agent Lang," Edgeworth greeted pleasantly. "I see you've met Wright."

"Oh yes," Lang said. "He and his lovely assistants were a pleasure to meet." His voice was dripping with sarcasm as he glared at Phoenix and Maya.

"Great to see you again, Agent Lang," Phoenix said, avoiding the sarcasm.

"Hi Shifu!" Maya yelled.

"I didn't know you were investigating this crime," Edgeworth commented.

"I was investigating the theft of the painting in Ivy University, actually," Lang corrected, "but I decided to investigate this theft as well. You see, I believe these two cases are connected."

"I agree, Mr. Shifu," Trucy said. "It can't just be a coincidence that two paintings in two different locations by the same artist were reported missing at the same time."

"I agree," Edgeworth said.

"So are you saying the same thief stole both paintings?" Iris asked.

"That, or an accomplice stole one of the paintings," Phoenix said.

"U-Um…" a new voice piped up. Ellis stood behind the group, her hands clasped together and her eyes averted to the floor. "I-If you need more testimony from me, I-I'm sure I can help…"

"Yeah, that would be great!" Trucy said, grinning.

"So what did we learn today?" Apollo asked.

"That Mr. Barrymore buys paintings by Nicholas Dreinim, copies them, and sells them for more than the original's worth," Pearl answered.

"And Kay sent her calling card to him because she got a lead on him, and he tried to get her off his back by hiding his painting and framing her for the theft," Maya added.

"But that doesn't explain the murder at all," Edgeworth finished, sighing heavily. Suddenly… MUNCH. MUNCH. MUNCH.

"Ema!" Trucy yelled cheerfully as the detective continued to munch on Snackoos. She looked to the group's directions and smirked lightly.

"Nice to see you guys again," she greeted pleasantly. "I have to say Apollo, your own client bailed you out of a tight spot." Apollo hung his head. Yes, I screwed up. Can we please drop it now?

"What is the status on the investigation?" Edgeworth asked.

"Well I highly doubt Kay did it," Ema answered honestly. "I mean… it's pretty clear that she wasn't here at all on the night Mr. Franklin died. We're trying to pull up background information on him, but we can't find anything. I mean, you type Thomas Franklin on a search engine and you get either Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin. It's ridiculous!" Someone was a bit patriotic when it came to naming their child…

"What about the forgeries?" Phoenix asked quickly. "Or the burning of that painting?" Ema smirked and crossed her arms.

"You guys won't believe this," she said. "Arthur Barrymore has an accomplice."

"An accomplice?" Iris repeated.

"Yeah," Ema replied. "Someone named Joseph King. Apparently, he sold all the paintings Mr. Barrymore copied."

"Do you think we could meet him?" Apollo asked. Ema sighed and shook her head.

"I'm afraid not," she replied. "You see, Joseph King is a pseudonym. Joseph King isn't his real name at all, and we have no idea who he really is."

"Then let's ask Mr. Barrymore!" Trucy suggested.

"Like he's ever going to tell us," Apollo muttered sarcastically.

"What do we do now?" Iris whispered.

"It's your case, Apollo," Phoenix said, sighing. "You decide." Apollo exhaled sharply.

"I…" he began slowly. "I want to investigate the crime scene. I haven't seen it yet." Ema smirked.

"Well, as head detective of this case, I gladly offer you my permission to investigate the crime scene," she said. "Just don't touch anything."

"Thanks Ema!" Trucy said cheerfully.


Court Record:

Evidence

Attorney's Badge – No one would believe I was a defense attorney without this badge.

'Distant Traces of Beauty' – A painting by the famed artist Nicholas Dreinim that was reported stolen by the art patron Arthur Barrymore. Depicts four butterflies flying through a meadow of pink flowers under a pitch black sky. One butterfly is caught on fire and two butterflies are covered in blood.

Yatagarasu Calling Card – Found at the original location of Arthur Barrymore's stolen painting. Depicts a three-legged raven.

Locked Art Gallery Door – A locked door in the art gallery in Barrymore's mansion near the original location of the stolen painting.

Wooden Frame Remains – The charred remains of a wooden frame found in the fireplace at the art gallery at Barrymore's mansion. Contains Nicholas Dreinim's signature and the initials of 'Distant Traces of Beauty'.

'The Fragrance of Dark Coffee' – A painting by the famed artist Nicholas Dreinim that was reported stolen by Professor Roland at Ivy University. Depicts a white coffee mug splattered with blood against a black background.

Masque*deMasque Calling Card – Masque*deMasque's calling card. Usually appears when a valuable item is stolen.

Franklin's Autopsy Report – Cause of death: suffocation due to a blow to the xiphoid process. Estimated time of death: September 17, 7:45 PM. Suspect: Kay Faraday.

Crime Scene Photo – Check for details.

Profiles

Trucy Wright, 16 years old – My assistant and my boss's daughter. A magician who recently inherited the great Magnifi Gramarye's trade.

Phoenix Wright, 34 years old – My boss, a defense attorney who lost his badge after being accused of fabricating evidence. He recently regained his defense attorney's badge, but he has to watch five of my trials before he can officially practice again.

Maya Fey, 27 years old – Mr. Wright's old assistant and the master of the Kurain Channeling Technique. She's been dropping by the Wright Anything Agency a lot ever since Mr. Wright got back his badge.

Pearl Fey, 17 years old – Maya's younger cousin and an old client of mine. Usually hangs out with Trucy and me whenever she visits the Agency. Like Maya, can also channel the dead.

Miles Edgeworth, 34 years old – Mr. Wright's old prosecutor rival. Requested that we defend his old friend.

Iris Hawthorne, 33 years old – Mr. Wright's college sweetheart. Was sentenced to eight years in prison after tampering with a crime scene, but was recently released.

Kay Faraday, 24 years old – An Interpol agent who calls herself the great thief Yatagarasu. One of my clients.

Ron DeLite, 31 years old – A man formerly known as the legendary thief Masque*deMasque. My other client.

Desirée DeLite, 31 years old – The pregnant wife of my client Ron DeLite.

Ema Skye, 26 years old – An avid scientist turned detective who was formerly employed under prosecutor Klavier Gavin.

Ellis Franklin, 18 years old – A maid working for Arthur Barrymore. Cripplingly shy.

Arthur Barrymore, 48 years old – A patron of the arts and one of the victims. Had the painting 'Distant Traces of Beauty' by Nicholas Dreinim stolen.

Professor Roland, 68 years old – Mr. Wright's old art professor. Reported the painting 'The Fragrance of Dark Coffee' stolen.

Shi-Long Lang, 35 years old – An Interpol agent from the Republic of Zheng-Fa investigating the theft at Ivy University. Has a thing for wolf metaphors.

Dr. Hindley, 43 years old – Ron and Desiree DeLite's doctor. Did Desiree's sonogram on the night 'The Fragrance of Dark Coffee' was stolen from Ivy University.

Thomas Franklin, 43 years old – The murder victim and Ellis Franklin's father. Suffocated to death either by being strangled by someone wearing gloves or by having his xiphoid process hit so hard that he stopped breathing altogether.

Klarissa von Karma, 41 years old – A prosecutor who recently moved here from Germany after her sister was promoted to chief prosecutor.

Joseph King, ? years old – Arthur Barrymore's accomplice. Nobody knows who he is or what he looks like. 'Joseph King' is only a pseudonym, but no one knows what his real name is.

XX

Writing investigation scenes are so boring. Nothing happens… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! PLEASE REVIEW!