Cloud: God I did it AGAIN! Pearls is supposed to be seventeen, not effin' fifteen! …slaps self… I'm so friggen mentally challenged, but anyways, I'll fix it later. Speaking of Pearls, expect to see her again later in this case.

Case 3: Turnabout Bride

Chapter 4: Collateral

Maya smiled and slammed the tea cup down on the tray, causing it to echo in the meditation room, "And then Nick slammed his hands on the desk and shouted, 'That is a faulty testimony!'"

Trucy put her finger to her chin and frowned, "But how was that, you just said it was rock solid Miss Fey." She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her crossed legs.

Maya's smile didn't fade, "That's the way it always was with him. No matter what, even if a testimony is rock solid, even if the evidence is one hundred percent guaranteed to prove his client guilty, he plows forward."

"Are you two still gossiping about me?" Asked Phoenix as he walked back in from the winding way with another tray of tea and eyed the two girls sitting in the room.

"Is it true Daddy?" asked an enthusiastic Trucy.

"Well, sort of," he said, making his way over to them and setting the tray down, "Should you really be drinking tea in here Maya?"

She smiled and stuck out her tongue, "I'm still the master until the next year officially starts. And as for you Nick, what do you mean by sort of? It happened tons of times, just when you were down and out and were about to lose, you'd pull some big comeback."

Phoenix loosened his tie and smiled, "Yeah, I guess it is true." Phoenix's cell phone began to ring; he reached into his pocket and flipped it open before putting it to his ear, "Phoenix Wright, defense attorney."

"Mr. Wright, how's Trucy?"

"Ah, Apollo, she's doing a lot better now. You can come and pick her up if you want to."

"Good, I'll be there in a couple of hours, sorry to interrupt your day with Miss Fey."

"Don't worry about it, I sure didn't expect someone to commit murder today, and so soon after my last trial."

"No kidding, see you in a few."

"Okay."

Phoenix hung up his cell phone and put it back in his pocket, "Apollo's coming to get you," he said to Trucy.

She nodded and tilted her hat a bit, "I feel a lot better now. It was a big shock for me."

"So," said Maya, clapping her hands together with a grin, "Where did I leave off?"

"Maya," scolded Phoenix, "I'm not some super hero!"

"Nick, you so are a super hero! You're like the Steel Samurai of the court room, admit it."

"I have no clue what you're talking about," he said with a frown.

Maya pouted, "Ugh, you're no fun at all."

"So this is it huh?" asked Trucy, looking at the bleak warehouse building they had been told to go to.

"Yeah," said Apollo, reading the small paper over once more to make sure. Top Tune Engineering was a small company started by a hand full of college dweebs after they graduated. Ever since then they had been working on cars, building houses, making robots, anything really. Apollo just didn't expect their headquarters to be a rat infested warehouse a block away from the city pier. "It looks like this is the right place, wanna take a look around?"

"I don't know Polly, this is the kind of place I avoid walking home from the theatre."

"Um… doesn't Mr. Wright pick you up?"

"Daddy is very green, he says we shouldn't emit anymore of a carbon foot print than we have to."

Apollo sweat dropped, 'More like he can't afford gas,' he thought.

Apollo stepped forward with Trucy and they walked to the side of the building, passing cargo crates as they made their way to the entrance door. A small paper hung from it saying, 'Out to lunch, be back tomorrow.'

"Um," said Trucy, "That's kind of a long lunch, I guess we should try again tomorrow."

Apollo shook his head, "No, the trial is tormorrow, and this is one of my last leads to get Alice off the hook." He stepped forward and tried the door, surprisingly, it opened right up.

"Not very secure, kind of like your house Polly."

"You've broken into my house?"

"I forgot my hat," she said with a pout, "A magician is nothing without her hat!"

"Whatever, let's see what Eric Black has up his sleeve for me." The warehouse was as he had expected it. Spare parts from cars and experimental robots were scattered across the floor. The only semblance of order in the entire building was a small table with a chair by it in the center. Apollo made his way to it, Trucy tagging closely behind and looking around in wonder.

When he stopped at the table she bumped into his back and squeaked, "Polly, watch it!"

He glared and frowned, "You watch it; you're the one who bumped into me because you weren't paying attention." Cutting off their little argument, he lent towards the desk and examined it closely. On it was a small paper with a letter.

Eric,

I have what you need most; please kindly deposit the ten thousand dollars in my bank account. You may retrieve the item when the transfer is complete. Please don't delay.

Riley.

"It sounds like a blackmail letter," said Apollo, "Better add this to the court record just in case."

"Polly, look, there's a photo attached to it, it looks like a wedding veil."

He pulled the photo from the back of the letter and examined it closely, "Yeah," he said, "It looks like the veil that Mayor Clives wore before she was shot."

"Her wedding veil," said Trucy sadly. "Well? Is that it? It's not much."

"The prosecution must have the rest, we'll just have to make due. Although there is one thing that's been bothering me, I have yet to speak to one of the witnesses."

"Who Polly, who?"

Apollo pondered it for a moment, and then nodded, "Yeah, he must have witnessed exactly what we did."

Trucy frowned, "If you don't tell me I'll make you disappear."

"Miles Edgeworth, King of Prosecutor's."

Apollo knocked lightly on the wooden door, "Come in," said a gruff voice from inside the office.

When they walked in Trucy let out a soft gasp. The office was perfect to say the least. At the end of it sat Miles Edgeworth in his desk, signing and stamping papers, seemingly oblivious to his visitors. A small chess set sat on a tiny table to the right of his desk. To the left was a plush red leather sofa, and above it a framed suit, "Mr. Edgeworth," said Apollo.

"What is it?" he asked, "I've got a huge case load right now, so I'm sorry if I can't really give you one on one time."

"It's not that," said Apollo as Trucy looked curiously around the office, picking up random books and trinkets. "That murder that happened yesterday, the one at Jennifer Clives' wedding, I'm the defense attorney for Ms. Wonder, and I was wondering if you could answer a few of my questions."

Edgeworth smirked and pushed his hair out of his eyes before looking up at Apollo, "I'm sorry, but as the prosecution, I have the right to withhold information before the trial starts."

"Urk, you're…"

"That's right; I'll be prosecuting for this case. Wright says you're good, so don't expect me to take it easy on you."

Trucy suddenly appeared at Apollo's side and grinned, "Don't you worry Mr. Edgeworth, Polly always does his best, if his client's innocent then he'll get a not guilty verdict in no time."

"And if they're not," said Edgeworth, his smirk widening, "Then I'll get my guilty verdict."

'Why do I feel faint?' thought Apollo.

"Polly, you ok?"