January 25, 1:00 PM

Wright Anything Agency

Apollo exhaled sharply as his bracelet finally slid off his wrist. There was a bright red mark where it once was, and Apollo could now feel blood flowing through his hand. "Are you sure you're ok, Apollo?" Pearl asked concernedly.

"He's fine, Pearly," Trucy said fleetingly. "He's just making a big deal 'cause his bracelet acted up."

"She was lying," Apollo mumbled faintly.

"Who?" Maya asked. "The witness?" Apollo shook his head.

"von Karma," Apollo answered. "She was lying through her teeth, and she wouldn't stop. That's why…"

"That's why you kept getting that pained look on your face," Phoenix finished. "Because your bracelet wouldn't stop tightening."

"Well is your hand ok now?" Maya asked. Apollo shook his hand feebly and flexed his fingers.

"Yeah," he answered a bit more confidently. "I think so."

"Then we should get investigating," Phoenix advised. "Put your bracelet back on. It shouldn't bother you now that von Karma isn't here, apparently lying through her teeth." Apollo slipped his bracelet back on, and he couldn't help but feel a bit irritated that it came on so easily.

"That's so weird…" Maya mused. "I couldn't even tell she was lying."

"Neither could I," Phoenix admitted. Suddenly, the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Apollo volunteered as he stood up and walked over to the phone. He picked it up with the hand with the bracelet. "Wright Anything Agency… Yes, this is Apollo Justice speaking."

"Who is it?" Maya whispered loudly. Apollo waved his hand dismissively.

"Oh, Ms. von Karma!" he gasped, his eyes widening in alarm.

"von Karma?" Trucy almost yelled. Apollo shot her a furious glare and waved his hand at her.

"Oh, so you saw the trial then?" Apollo asked.

"The other one," Phoenix muttered to everyone else. "Franziska."

"W-Well, I…" Apollo mumbled awkwardly, his face turning slightly red, scratching the back of his head. "I-I'm fine, really…"

"What happened to old whipface?" Maya asked.

"I would pay to see him on the receiving end of her whip," Phoenix sighed.

"Daddy!" Trucy reprimanded. "Be nice!"

"R-Really?" Apollo gasped. "You would do that? Thank you so much! You have no idea how… no, thank you." Phoenix simply rolled his eyes and snatched the phone away from Apollo.

"Hey Franziska," he said casually into the phone. He paused as he listened to her for a few seconds. "Mmhm. Got it. Thank you. Bye." And with that, he hung up.

"What did you do that for?" Apollo asked, glaring furiously at Phoenix.

"She's too old and too violent for you, Apollo," Phoenix said smoothly. "That, and her sister's a liar, as you said."

"I wasn't—" Apollo refuted.

"Anyway, she said she would give us permission to investigate the new crime scene," Phoenix said.

"That's kind of strange, coming from her," Pearl observed. "Wouldn't she want to do everything she can to help her sister?"

"Something tells me there's more to this generous little offer than what meets the eye…" Trucy mused.

"We should probably start investigating," Apollo said.

"Why don't we head down to the detention center first?" Maya suggested.

"That's not really going to do anything," Trucy said. "Ruka's just as in the dark about this case as we are."

"But her testimony doesn't really match up with what we revealed in court today," Phoenix pointed out.

"What testimony?" Apollo yelled. "She didn't say anything! She couldn't say anything!" Phoenix sighed heavily.

"If she were a witness, this would be perfectly understandable," he said sadly. "But she's the defendant, and if she can't testify, she's as good as dead."

"Then let's start at the crime scene," Maya said. "The real one."

"We're not going to get anywhere if we don't go there anyway," Apollo muttered.

January 25, 1:22 PM

Parking Garage

A Block

"Are you kidding me?" Apollo asked incredulously as he glanced around the A block. "Why is this crime scene so clean? Didn't Ms. Starr say that there was a lot of blood here too?"

"What we really need right now is Luminol," Trucy said.

"It won't do any good." Ema stood in front of them, frowning, her hand placed gently on her hip.

"Ema!" Trucy called cheerfully.

"There are traces of bleach on the ground," Ema explained. "Bleach produces the same effect as blood when tested with Luminol. Scientifically speaking… the real killer did her research."

"Are you so sure it's female?" Phoenix asked.

"Yeah," Ema replied, playing with a strand of her hair. "Ms. Starr said that a woman was carrying two bodies across the parking garage. I think it's pretty obvious that that woman is the one that murdered Maddie Thompson."

"If Ms. von Karma comes, tell her that Ms. von Karma gave us permission to investigate the crime scene," Trucy said.

"Wait, what?" Ema asked, frowning.

"The chief prosecutor," Apollo explained hurriedly.

"Oh, right," Ema said, beginning to play with a strand of her hair. "Her sister's the chief prosecutor." She smiled and pulled her glasses down over her eyes. "So go ahead. Investigate to your heart's content."

"Thanks Ema," Phoenix said. Apollo spotted a particularly large bottle of bleach lying innocently in the shadows.

"So this is the bleach Ema mentioned…" he mused.

"I'll bet you anything the real killer poured it everywhere to cover her tracks," Maya said.

"That probably was the general idea…" Phoenix agreed, "but there's still traces of blood at the fake crime scene."

"The B block…" Trucy mumbled.

"But remember the real killer was trying to convince all of us that the B block was the real crime scene, and not the A block?" Pearl pointed out.

"That's true," Phoenix said. "But why go through all that trouble?"

"Why not?" Apollo retorted. "Think about it. If you were trying to kill someone, wouldn't you want to make the crime as confusing and vague as possible? What's the point in making it really obvious if you're going to get caught anyway?"

"I'm kind of scared to ask…" Trucy said, her eyes widening, covering her mouth with one hand. Apollo sighed and shook the bottle.

"It's empty," he observed. "So I think this is pretty much a guarantee that this was one of the bottles of bleach the killer used to cover her tracks." Bleach added to Court Record.

"Wait a minute!" Pearl interjected. "If Luminol reacts to bleach just as it does to blood, wouldn't there be a stronger reaction where the blood is?"

"Nice one, Pearly!" Maya said cheerfully. "This will help us for sure!"

"It won't," Ema called from across the A block. "Luminol only produces one reaction. "

"Huh?" Trucy asked confusedly.

"It means everything will turn blue regardless of where the blood really is," Phoenix clarified. "The exact same shade of blue."

"Nick, why is the murderer so good?" Maya whined.

"Well wouldn't there be fingerprints on the victim and defendant's clothes?" Apollo asked. "That's what helped us in Kay Faraday's trial. Barrymore's fingerprints were on Franklin's clothes."

"You think I haven't tried that already?" Ema asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him. "Do you honestly think that someone who used bleach to camouflage the blood splatter from the murder would risk getting caught over something so obvious?"

"In other words, she dusted the victim and defendant's clothes for fingerprints and didn't find anything," Phoenix explained.

"There was absolutely nothing," Ema complained.

"If we all agree that this third person was the one who murdered Maddie, why is this trial still going on?" Trucy asked. "Finding the real killer isn't really our job. We're just supposed to prove Ruka innocent, and we did."

"Not exactly," Apollo refuted. "In the prosecution's eyes, it's still entirely possible that Ruka killed Maddie. The only thing we proved is that the A block was the real crime scene, not the B block as we thought."

"And we're trying to convince the jury here," Phoenix added. "As long as von Karma keeps coming up with new ideas and claims, the jury's going to be eating out of the palm of her hand."

"And that doesn't change the fact that Ruka's fingerprints are on the murder weapon," Ema concluded. "So scientifically speaking, if you don't find out what really happened that night, you won't be able to prove Ruka innocent." Ema gave a heavy sigh and turned her head to the side. "I'm so getting fired for this. I feel like Detective Gumshoe." Detective Gumshoe? Apollo thought. Is that his real name? That's so redundant!

"U-Um…" Pearl piped up. "What if… what if it really was Ruka's fault, but it was justified self-defense?"

"What?" everyone asked simultaneously.

"Think about it!" Pearl insisted. "Her fingerprints are on the murder weapon, and Maddie, her best friend, was killed. But what if it was by accident?"

"That shadow…" Apollo muttered. "The one in the drawing."

"I think it's safe to assume that that shadow is the woman Ms. Starr saw," Maya said. "Are you saying that shadow attacked them?"

"It's possible," Phoenix conceded. "But again, we have no proof." Trucy groaned.

"Seriously, what's up with this case?" she ranted. "There isn't enough evidence here either!"

"We don't need evidence," Apollo retorted. "We just need a good enough argument to convince the jury that the defendant's innocent."

"It'll be a little hard to do that without evidence, though," Maya pointed out.

"How about this?" Phoenix interjected. "Maya and I will run some background checks on the defendant, the victim, and the witness, while you three go and interview the defendant and witness again."

"What more can we get from their testimonies?" Pearl asked.

"A lot more," Phoenix replied. "Particularly from Ruka's."

January 25, 2:05 PM

Detention Center

To Apollo's immense surprise, Franziska was standing in front of Ruka's cell. "Ah, Mr. Justice," she greeted, turning to face him. "Ms. Ruka Mills was just summoned for questioning."

"Ok, what about Mina?" Trucy asked.

"She has been called for questioning as well," Franziska replied. Pearl sighed heavily.

"This isn't getting us anywhere…" she mumbled. "Ms. von Karma, do you know anything?" Franziska's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Unfortunately, no, Miss Fey," she said. "My sister didn't feel the need to… how did she put it? Bore me with unnecessary details."

"They're totally necessary!" Trucy shot back.

"Yelling at her isn't going to solve anything, Trucy," Apollo reminded her exasperatedly.

"Did you investigate the new crime scene?" Franziska asked.

"Yeah, and we didn't find anything," Trucy replied.

"The killer spilled bleach all over the floor to cover her tracks," Pearl explained. "It produces the same reaction as blood when tested with Luminol."

"And Detective Skye," Franziska continued. "Is she—"

"She's just as clueless as we are," Apollo answered flatly. "She's thoroughly convinced that the defendant's innocent, and she's doing everything she can to help us."

"Hmm…" Franziska mused, gazing off to the side. "Perhaps another detective would be beneficial?"

"Hey, Ema's doing her job," Trucy told her. "Don't cut her salary or anything just because she—"

"I was going to do nothing of that sort," Franziska refuted. "What I mean to say was that perhaps another detective – an older, more experienced one – would be able to help clear this case up."

"Who did you have in mind?" Apollo asked.

"This particular detective, unfortunately, is retired," Franziska said, "but he truly was amazing at what he did." She pulled out a slip of paper and began writing. "I'll give you his address. If you have any problems, I will speak to him personally." She handed Apollo the slip of paper.

"Detective Tyrell Badd?" Apollo read off the paper. "I thought he was incarcerated for grand larceny."

"He was," Franziska told him.

"Wait, what happened?" Trucy asked.

"I don't know the details," Apollo began shakily, "but there was this great thief several years ago, Yama-something—"

"Yatagarasu," Franziska corrected.

"Yeah, that," Apollo amended. "That great thief was actually three people trying to take down a smuggling ring and Detective Badd was one of them."

"The other two members of the Yatagarasu were Byrne Faraday and a woman whose real name I still do not know today," Franziska added.

"Faraday?" Pearl repeated. "As in Kay Faraday?"

"The defendant from the last case?" Trucy asked.

"Yes, Byrne Faraday is Kay Faraday's late father," Franziska said. "But that story is irrelevant. Go speak with Detective Badd, and come back to me if you have any problems."

"Thanks Ms. von Karma!" Trucy said cheerfully.

"Apollo, do you really think a different detective will be able to help us?" Pearl asked quietly.

"I don't know," Apollo answered honestly, "but he's better than nothing."

Court Record:

Evidence

Attorney's Badge – No one would believe I was a defense attorney if I didn't carry this.

Switchblade Knife – The murder weapon. Carries traces of the victim's blood.

Ruka's Sketch – A drawing by the defendant depicting a shadow attacking the victim and the defendant holding out a knife.

Blood Stains – Three small splotches of blood found on the floor of Block B of the Parking Garage.

Manager's Note – A note written by the manager firing Larry Butz for deleting all the security videos taken the day of the crime.

Maddie's Autopsy Report – Estimated time of death: January 23, 8:02 PM. Cause of death: loss of blood from one stab wound to the chest.

Crime Scene Photo #1 – Depicts the victim lying dead on the ground of the parking garage.

Crime Scene Photo #2 – Depicts the defendant lying unconscious near the crime scene.

Parking Garage Map – Check for details.

Bleach – Traces found at the real crime scene. Reacts to Luminol in the same way that blood does.

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.

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

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

Klavier Gavin, 25 years old – A rock star turned prosecutor from Germany. Recently took a year-long vacation after convicting his best friend and his brother of murder to the first degree.

Mina Asou, 19 years old – A university student dragged to Gavin's concert by her two friends.

Maddie Thompson, 19 years old – A university student, and the victim in this case.

Ruka Mills, 19 years old – A university student, and the prime suspect in this case.

Franziska von Karma, 27 years old – The chief prosecutor, and Klarissa's younger sister.

Larry Butz, 33 years old – Mr. Wright's old friend and the security guard who was on duty the night of the murder.

Mia Fey, Deceased – Mr. Wright's old dead mentor who's back from the dead to help us with this case.

Angel Starr, 41 years old – A woman known as the "Cough-up Queen" who claims to have seen something related to the case on the day of the murder.

Tyrell Badd, 68 years old – A veteran (now retired) detective who was incarcerated for his affiliation with the Yatagarasu.

XX

Whew! This chapter was… rather tedious to write, actually. Investigation chapters usually are pretty tedious to write. PLEASE REVIEW!