Apollo went through his notes, mentally preparing himself for the trial. He lounged on the sofa in the defendant's lobby, sheets of paper scattered across the floor, the cushions, and him. So I have Kay's testimony for the foundation of my argument, then I have all my evidence to help me support it along the way. Detective Gumshoe got back to me on that bullet Trucy found, so it was definitely from the same gun that was used against Mr. Edgeworth. That's good. Well, I guess it wasn't really good at the time. It's good for me now though. For the trial.
"Polly, look at the mess you've made!" Trucy said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Do I need to bring up the disorganized array of magic tricks in the office that only you seem to know how to not trip over?" Apollo said.
"It's not that hard, I just watch where I'm going," Trucy said. "Besides, our clients are usually in jail so they don't know what the agency looks like."
Thank goodness. Apollo sat up and looked around. Okay, maybe this is a little bad.
He reorganized the files in his hands and started collecting the loose papers around him. Trucy helped him by picking up the ones on the floor and handing them to him. A couple minutes later, the defense attorney was putting them all together in a neat stack.
"Hey, are there any underneath the futon?" Apollo said.
"No, I already checked," Trucy said. "Are we missing something?"
"I can't find one of the pages from the evidence list," Apollo said, searching through the files again just to be sure.
"Here you go," Kay said.
"Ack!" Apollo said, jumping out of his skin. He turned around and saw Kay holding out a sheet of paper with a smile. "Where the heck did you come from?"
"I came through the door, silly," Kay said. "You just didn't notice."
"And you've been standing there for how long?" Apollo said.
Kay shrugged her shoulders. "A couple minutes, I guess."
"Hehehe," Apollo laughed nervously, still a bit spooked from before.
"Pretty sneaky," Trucy said, grinning.
Yeah, like a thief. Apollo took the evidence list out of Kay's extended hand. "Thanks."
"No problem!" Kay said. "So, how was your investigation?"
"We figured out a ton of stuff with Little Thief!" Trucy said, bouncing on her heels.
"Oh, I guess you talked to Mr. Edgeworth then," Kay said.
"We did, but it was actually Ms. Coldstare who helped us out," Apollo said.
"Yeah, I kind of thought he might pass it on to someone else," Kay said, crossing her arms. "I remember when he asked where the mouse was when he borrowed my laptop."
"Heh, thankfully Ms. Coldstare knows a little bit more about technology than he does," Apollo said. "I'm going to make our findings the focal point of our case."
"Awesome!" Kay said, pumping her fist.
"We should probably get to the courtroom now," Trucy said, looking at the clock.
"Oh, you're right," Apollo said. "Come on, let's go."
It didn't take long until everyone was standing in the courtroom, Kay in the defendant's chair, Klavier behind the prosecution's bench, and Apollo behind the defense's bench with Trucy by his side. The judge, cloaked in his black robes, sat down in his chair and struck his gavel against the podium.
"Court is back in session," the judge said. "I believe when we left off, there was an issue with the witness accounts and the number of gunshots fired."
"You would be correct, Herr Judge," Klavier said. "The prosecution and the police have been investigating since the moment the trial came to a halt and have since uncovered some enlightening evidence."
"Is that so?" the judge said. "In that case, present your findings immediately."
"Of course, Herr Judge," Klavier said. He closed his eyes and began snapping his fingers to a rhythm only he could hear. "There's a simple explanation for it all, really. A silencer."
"A silencer?" Apollo said. "You mean, for a gun?"
"Very good, Herr Forehead," Klavier said.
Well, there aren't very many silencers out there. If there was a fop silencer I would've gotten one a long time ago. "I take it you're bringing this up because you found one at the scene."
"Ja, a certain detective and his trusty metal detector discovered this," Klavier said, holding up a hollow rod.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Trucy said. "If that thing makes guns quiet, then no one should have heard any gunshots!"
"No, Trucy, gun silencers don't make guns completely silent," Apollo said. "It just makes them quieter."
"Really?" Trucy said. "Then what's the point of them?"
"Silencers were invented for sport purposes," the judge said. "Exposing your ears to the sound of a gun firing without any protect runs the risk of damaging your hearing. While they don't completely erase the sound, silencers reduce the amount of noise a gun makes when fired. This allowed recreational shooters to fire their guns without having to cover their ears. However, because they also impair the accuracy and power of a bullet, not everyone uses them."
"Right you are, Herr Judge," Klavier said, putting his hands on his hips. "This explains why the Frauleins Coldstare and Skye only heard one gunshot. With the silencer added to the gun, they were out of range to hear it go off."
"If that's the case, why did they hear the second one?" Apollo said.
"Herr Forehead, this silencer was found on the ground by itself. What does that imply?" Klavier said.
"It means… the silencer probably fell out…" Apollo said, frowning. Thought I had something there.
"Do silencers really just fall out like that?" Trucy said, tapping her chin.
"Oh wait, that's right!" Apollo pounded his desk with two fists. "But if the silencer came out of the gun, who took it out? And why?"
"That's hard to say, but it clearly did," Klavier said. "Perhaps the defendant took it out because she missed the first time, or it was knocked out by the victim in a struggle."
"Objection!" Apollo said. "That's pure conjecture!"
"Ja, it is," Klavier said, rolling his head back. "Like I said, I don't know exactly why the silencer was removed. But you asked, so I came up with a theory. Do you have a better one?"
"I…" Apollo clenched his fists. "I guess I don't."
"Polly, don't give up!" Trucy said. "What about all that stuff we found with Little Thief?"
"That's our trump card, Truce," Apollo said. "Yes, I can prove that Kay wasn't the one holding the gun, but I have to present this in the right way. Besides, I really don't know why the silencer was taken out of the gun yet."
"Yeah, I guess I don't know either," Trucy said, crossing her arms.
"Let's keep going, shall we?" Klavier said.
"Ah yes, of course," the judge said. "Prosecutor Gavin, I don't suppose you have any witnesses you'd like to call to the stand?"
"As a matter of fact, I have a rather crucial witness ready to testify," Klavier said. "It's a rare treat for me to call the victim of the case to the stand."
"The victim, you mean Mr. Edgeworth?" the judge said. "He's recovered already?"
"Not quiet, I'm afraid," Klavier said. "He's still in the hospital."
"Then how is he going to testify?" Apollo said, cocking an eyebrow.
"It's a little unconventional, but we have a way if His Honor will allow it," Klavier said.
"I've experienced many unconventional witnesses in my day, I don't see any harm in one more," the judge said, banging his gavel. "Let the victim come to the stand."
The courtroom doors opened, revealing a bespectacled woman in a black suit. With her head held high, she strode up to the witness stand.
"M-Mr. Edgeworth?" the judge said.
"What?" Maria said incredulously.
"Ms. Coldstare, what are you doing here?" Apollo said.
"I'm here so that Miles can testify," Maria said. She took a small, black device out of her pocket.
Little Thief? Is it a teleporter too?
"Dark skies of evening, when no other bird dares take wing, one alone remains all seeing. Now, witness the power of a real, modern day Robin Hood," Maria said quietly.
The screen flashed, and Maria quickly began typing information into the gadget.
"Ms. Coldstare, are you on your phone?" the judge said.
"Not exactly, Your Honor," Maria said. "This is a device meant to simulate various types of scenarios by creating digital images and projecting them into the real world. It recreates sounds as well, and thanks to its recording process can pick up live sound waves like a cell phone. As I recently discovered, this process also allows it to interact with other devices. Now unfortunately I don't know how to upload specific images to be simulated, but as it turns out that wasn't as much of an issue as I thought."
A flash of white light encompassed the entire courtroom, blinding everyone who didn't have the reflexes to close their eyes. As quickly as it came, the dazzling light faded and the courtroom returned to normal. Except there was now a dark haired figure clad in burgundy standing behind the witness stand next to Maria.
"Mr. Edgeworth?" Apollo said.
"Not quite," Maria said. She extended her arm and effortlessly pushed straight through her partner's chest. "This is just an image of him."
"Correct," Miles said. However, his simulation's mouth didn't move.
He looks so real, yet at the same time so lifeless. It's almost kind of creepy.
"Uh… Ms. Coldstare?" the judge said; his eyes wide. "Would you mind… removing your arm from Mr. Edgeworth's chest?"
"Oh! Of course, Your Honor," Maria said, quickly putting her arm down.
Klavier cleared his throat. "For the sake of formality, please state your name and occupation."
"My name is Miles Edgeworth. I am a district prosecutor," Miles said.
"Now then, Mr. Edgeworth, please testify about the events that transpired the day of the incident," the judge said.
"Gladly," Miles said.
Testimony
I was walking through People Park that day and ended up on the path that leads to the woods.
At some point, I hear a gunshot followed by a girl screaming.
Following the sound, I reached a clearing to find Kay and a man pointing a gun at her.
I tried to stop the gunman from firing again, but in the end he just switched targets and fired at me.
Apollo crossed his arms and smiled confidently. Best. Testimony. Ever. He looked across the room and saw Klavier smiling as he always did. So… why doesn't' he look concerned?
"Look at Prosecutor Gavin, you'd think this testimony was in his favor," Trucy said. "Does he think Mr. Edgeworth is lying or something?"
"He can't be, my bracelet hasn't reacted to a word he said," Apollo said.
"Yeah, sure. But he's not really, is he?" Trucy said.
"I… suppose not," Apollo said, feeling a piece of his cockiness dissolve. "But he would never lie."
"I know, I'm just saying you can't rely on your bracelet right now," Trucy said. "You've still got this."
"Right, I've still got this," Apollo said.
"Mr. Justice, you may begin your cross examination," the judge said.
"Yes, Your Honor," Apollo said.
Cross-Examination
I was walking through People Park that day and ended up on the path that leads to the woods.
"Hold it!" Apollo said. "Why were you in the park?"
"I was driving Maria so she could investigate, then decided I would take a walk around," Miles said.
"Why did you have to drive her? Does she not have a license or something?" Apollo said.
"No, that's not it. She has a license," Miles said, sounding somewhat irritated. "But some idiot rammed into her car. While it was parked. Correctly, mind you, in a parking lot."
"Yikes, talk about bad driving," Trucy said.
Apollo broke out into a grin, staring across the room with piercing brown eyes. Klavier leaned against his desk, cold sweat dripping down his strained face.
"Something you'd think to admit, Gavin?" Apollo said.
"N-Not really," Klavier said, grinding his teeth.
"That was you?" Maria exclaimed, her gaze burning like dry ice.
"Fraulein Coldstare, please, I deeply apologize," Klavier said, smiling and shoving his hands into his pockets.
"You could have 'deeply apologized' days ago!" Maria said.
"I didn't know whose car it was," Klavier said. "I left a note, ja?"
"You mean that scrap of paper with 'My bad' scribbled on it?" Miles said, his image contradicting his irate tone.
"That means sorry, does it not?" Klavier said.
"Non sono la stessa cosa, idiota!" Maria said, venomously.
"Pardon me?" Klavier said.
"They're not the same thing, idiot!" Maria said.
"I should have known it was you, who else in the building writes with a glitter pen?" Miles said.
"Hold on, did you say a glitter pen?" Apollo said, grinning from ear to ear.
"It was the pen I had on me, what about it?" Klavier said.
"Nothing. It's just very you," Apollo said.
"I feel as though you're mocking me, Herr Forehead," Klavier said.
"Really? My bad," Apollo said.
The judge rapped his gavel against the podium. "I believe this matter can be resolved later. Mr. Edgeworth, please continue your testimony."
"What?" you say. "This isn't Friday, what's going on? This is madness! Nothing makes sense anymore!" Well to that I say, "Calm down."
But yeah, I am breaking my usual pattern this week. ^-^ Because this cross-examination is so important, it's turning out really long. Like, probably going to be twice as long as usual. So instead of writing it all out and posting it as one chapter on Friday, I decided to break it up here and post early. Encourages me to get things moving, plus Eruva requested that I update more often. Since they were the one to give me my 100th review (something I've really been wanting to thank you for, by the way. You can review as a guest, but I can't respond unfortunately! So thank you, very much) I couldn't say no! I'm not going to keep up this pace, next chapter's not until Friday, but I wanted to try update a little more often just once.
By the way, that was a little Italian Maria used. Google translate, for the record, I don't claim to know the language. So if it's wrong don't be afraid to rub it in my face! :D
Thank you for reviewing! (That was me using the power of suggestion, it's meant to urge you to review. ;D) Seriously though, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!