Chapter Thirty-Eight :: Turnabout Secrets :: Trial :: Day 2 :: Part 3

"Please state your name and occupation for the court." Nathan tried to keep his tone civil, but it was proving to be impossible. First he'd poisoned Kiria, and now he was getting to testify when he shouldn't have been able to. He hadn't been asked to, certainly, but of course, he'd capitalized on the situation with Hermia Laytonne. Whatever Elias Whitman had to do with Hermia Laytonne, he had a good idea that it had originated with Lysander Triton.

Whitman's smile seemed to grow bigger and bigger as the moments passed. "Elias Whitman. I'm a speech therapist." Everything seemed overly enunciated, as if he were speaking to children rather than attorneys. If Edgeworth had been in the courtroom, Nathan might have acted on the urge to punch this guy in the nose. As it was, with Edgeworth in the lobby with Kiria, he couldn't do that for risk of a mistrial. Which, he reminded himself, had been part of the need for the poisoning.

Oh, the irony.

He stared at Holcomb. "What would you like me to ask him?"

"I'd suggest starting with why he didn't poison Miss Nomura." The smirk on her face was just as infuriating. Damn, if this didn't stop soon, he was going to need to blow off some steam by smacking the desk every time he asked a question.

He barely restrained from rolling his eyes. "Mr. Whitman, what reason can you give that you did not poison Miss Nomura?"

Whitman seemed unconcerned by the sarcasm coating the Prosecution's tone. "Well, first of all, I don't have anything against Miss Nomura. Why anyone would ever believe I had a motive to poison her, I just can't imagine."

Nathan had the sudden urge to thrust Whitman's file in front of his face, but without knowing what Kiria had written, it was a tossup. He sat back, waiting for more testimony.

"Secondly, it's a very fishy coincidence that the drug Miss Nomura was addicted to just so happened to be derived from the poison that she was addicted to. But I wouldn't have known what drug; after all, I didn't know Miss Nomura before the trial, and I would guess that it wasn't something she candidly talked about."

Nathan kept reminding himself that he had no solid proof.

"And finally, it's not like the trial was overly important. It wasn't being televised or anything, and it seemed pretty open-and-shut to me."

Nathan opened his mouth to object before catching Holcomb's eye. He was a Prosecutor; it was her job to cross-examine the witness, not his. He shut his mouth, grinding his teeth together and waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

The Judge nodded towards her. "Your cross-examination, Miss Holcomb?"

"Thank you, your Honor." She gave a nod of reference towards him before turning to her client. "Are you sure there's nothing that could be construed as hatred towards Miss Nomura? Absolutely anything?" she asked.

He shook his head in a practiced manner. "Nothing. I really don't know what I could have done that would justify that."

She nodded, satisfied with his answer. "And you knew nothing about Miss Nomura's drug addiction before the trial, correct?"

"Objection!" Nathan threw out, finally past his self-restraint. "Miss Holcomb, you are asking questions that cannot be verified in the court. Can we stick to the evidence, please?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"Would the Prosecution please refrain from catty comments?" she requested, glaring at him.

'When you do, I will,' he wanted to say, but remembered that someone had to be the adult in this situation. "The Prosecution asks for the cross-examination to continue."

She made a very feminine noise of indignation before turning back to Whitman. "Now, you said that the trial wasn't overly important. What do you believe the point of poisoning Miss Nomura was?"

"Objection!" he shouted. "This is pure conjecture!"

She looked at him coolly. "And what would you like to ask him, Mr. Price?"

"Don't tell him."

Edgeworth looked down next to him, his eyes zeroing on hands that shook even as they held onto the water bottle he'd bought. Shivers still racked her body, not lessening any with the addition of water. He could feel one occasionally, even though they weren't sitting close enough to touch, when a spasm really hit her hard. Sitting on the bench next to her was like sitting on a sailboat in a storm. He could feel each and every movement, only fueling his concern. She'd told him to go back in and help Nathan earlier, but he had refused, not willing to leave her alone.

"Price?"

"Yeah. Don't tell him I'm going through withdrawals."

"He'd want to know."

She shook her head, eyes downcast. "He'll just worry, and he's got enough to worry about already. He can't do anything to help, so I don't want him getting all worked up about this."

Edgeworth stayed silent, thinking it over.

She took his silence as disapproval. "Please." She looked up at him with round dark eyes, desperation making them larger. "I'll tell him eventually, I promise. After the trial. But not before it's over."

He nodded. "I'll stay silent. But the minute the trial is over, you have to tell him. Do we have a deal?"

She smiled, and although it was out of relief and hardly stemming from the most moral decision, he felt better. She was going to be alright. "Deal," she said quietly, taking another swig of water from the mostly-empty bottle. She leaned back, closing her eyes and relaxing against the back of the couch with a sigh.

"You need rest," he said after a long moment.

She nodded, not opening her eyes. Despite the fact that her body was jittering like she had drank twelve shots of espresso, her eyelids felt heavy and her mind exhausted. "I'll sleep in a little bit."

"What did Whitman say to you?" he asked again, this time hoping for a real answer.

She took a deep breath and expelled it. "He knew. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was something like, 'if you were up there for a moment longer, you'd be shaking right out of that chair.' Something like that, anyways."

Edgeworth said something under his breath, although she wasn't listening hard enough to catch it. She let it pass, placing the water bottle to the side and folding her hands together in her lap. "I think I'll try to sleep now," she announced, as casually as if they'd been talking about the weather.

He nodded, propping his elbow on the arm of the couch and resting his head against his hand. Nathaniel Price might be fighting a battle inside of the courtroom, but he had plenty of people to watch for his success. Out here, Kiria Nomura had no one, and he wasn't about to walk out and leave her alone.

Especially not if this had been the work of Kronos. No, he was going to sit out here and watch her until someone else took over. This wasn't a matter of kindness anymore; this was a life or death situation.

Nathan pulled on the lapels of his suit as he straightened, resolved to do this right. It was time to get his hands dirty, and if the Defense wasn't going to help him, he was going to have to drag out some ugly testimony on his own. "Mr. Whitman, what was your relationship to the Laytonne case?"

"I believe we've already heard this!" Holcomb started to protest.

Nathan shook his head. "This is merely an introductory question, Miss Holcomb. Something to get us all on the same page."

"I don't see what relevance the Laytonne case has to my client, Mr. Price!"

He slammed his hands on the desk, fed up with her protests. "Miss Nomura was poisoned during the Laytonne case and your client just so happened to be a witness! If you can't see the relevance, then I'm afraid I can't help you there!"

She shut up.

A moment of silence elapsed before Whitman cleared his throat. "Ah, I guess I should answer the question. I was a witness."

"And what exactly did you witness?" Nathan pressed.

"I saw Hermia Laytonne in the act of killing her sister."

Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. "So you were a key witness then?"

"I suppose you could call me that."

"A yes or no answer, Mr. Whitman, if you would."

Whitman's eyes shifted around, once to the Prosecutor, and then once to his attorney before returning to the Judge. "Yes."

"Would you mind retelling your testimony to the court?"

"I can hardly see the point," Arielle Holcomb interrupted. She leaned against the desk, her eyes two blue pinpoints showing dissatisfaction. "Whatever my client said in the courtroom is irrelevant, and if you'd like more information on the Laytonne case, he will be available for questioning later." She smiled, a joyless movement on her thin lips.

"I will have to side with the Defense on this one, Mr. Price."

Nathan nodded, not out of tricks yet. "And what about your allegations about Mr. Lysander Triton? Earlier, you said that Miss Laytonne was responsible for his death. Would you mind giving testimony on this?"

"If it will help the court, I certainly will." He tilted his head, as if he were trying to remember. "A few weeks ago, Lysander had contacted me about something Miss Laytonne had told him. He said he couldn't tell me what, but that it was bad news, and that things were going to be changing quickly. He wanted to know if I could keep an eye on her, and that he was worried about her." He shrugged. "The conversation is recorded on my cell phone. I told him that I would and that I wanted him to be careful." He shook his head regretfully. "I knew he was fond of her, but I didn't anticipate that he would give his life for her."

Holcomb's face had been carefully composed, and she looked like she was actually thinking for the first time during this testimony. Her client or not, she had to cross-examine him carefully, and if she didn't, Nathan would happily take over and ask the difficult questions.

"Miss Holcomb," the Judge nodded, implying it was time for her to begin.

"Thank you, your Honor." She turned towards Whitman, her expression neutral. "So Mr. Triton never told you what he was worried about?"

Whitman shook his head. "No, unfortunately not. I wish he had; maybe I could have helped him out."

"Why couldn't Mr. Triton keep an eye on Miss Laytonne himself? I mean, you said he was quite fond of her."

"They'd broken up. No, Mr. Price, I don't know why," he said coolly before Nathan could ask.

Nathan cursed under his breath. He was out of questions, and Whitman was lobbing fastballs as quickly as he could. "Your Honor, the Prosecution requests that the trial be extended another day. There are still obviously quite a few questions everyone has, and the answers can be found with a bit more investigation."

Holcomb didn't object.

The Judge looked between them. "I'll agree, there do seem to be a lot of loose ends. I am not yet convinced of Mr. Whitman's innocence, and yet, his guilt is just as unclear. I'll extend the trial one more day. Tomorrow will be the final day; no evidence will be presented after my verdict is given tomorrow." He hit the gavel against the block before rising. "Mr. Price, please extend my apologies to Miss Nomura. She doesn't seem to be feeling well yet, so I do regret dragging her all the way out to the courthouse to give testimony."

He nodded, concerned for her health himself. "I'll make sure to pass that along. Thank you, your Honor."

The Judge smiled kindly before disappearing into his chambers.

Kiria had shifted closer as she'd slept, but he hadn't had the heart to wake her up, especially since while she was asleep, the shaking had stopped. Her head lolled against his shoulder as he attempted to right a piece of her hair that had folded strangely and was now poking him in the face. With only one arm available, it was proving to be quite the task.

The courtroom doors opened abruptly, and like normal, the defendant was the first to be led out. Edgeworth had to work to make his face as smooth and emotionless as possible. Normally apathy wasn't hard for him, but like everyone else, this trial had scrambled his emotions and expressions until they were gone, and now he was stuck trying to make new ones from the old templates—similar, but not authentic. Whitman's eyes alighted on the duo on the couch, and for a long moment, he had an indulgent smile on his face, as if he were two steps away from making more mischief, but it vanished in the next second and it was irrelevant anyways. Facial expressions were not admissible as evidence in court.

The attorneys were next, and Holcomb and Nathan were debating about something in quiet voices before she nodded and walked the other direction. He came to stand by his co-council and victim, putting a smile on his face. "We got another day. How's she doing?" he asked, inclining his head towards her.

"Exhausted. It's to be expected." As he'd promised, he made no hint towards her drug withdrawal.

Nathan nodded, a smile replacing his features. "Good. I was starting to get worried; even the Judge made a comment by the end of the trial."

"She held up well, all things considered." Again, no hints, but there was still the deeper understanding of what she'd actually went through, and how she was really feeling by the end of the trial.

"Yeah." Nathan couldn't help but feel impressed.

Franziska, predictably, came barging through first from the gallery, brandishing her whip. "Nathaniel Price!" she said, cracking it. "Why didn't you throw suspicion on the defendant with Kronos?"

"Oh! Right!" To tell the truth, he'd forgotten all about it after the first comment, but he shook his head anyways. "It wasn't the right time. We don't have any proof; Kiria can't translate for us as she is."

Mariko had already seated herself next to her younger sister and proceeded to fuss over her before Tessa cut her off. "It's not right to wake her up; I'm sure we can carry her into the car." The young nurse smiled at Nathan. "You did an admirable job. I don't know much about court, but I was impressed."

Lang snorted, and Franziska rolled her eyes in agreement. "It was a pathetic excuse for a Prosecution, and will not be tolerated." She shook her head, cracking her whip again. "I hope that tomorrow's Prosecution is three times what this one was!"

Nathan grimaced. Phoenix nodded at him. "It's one of those days," he said, although whether he was merely stating it or saying it to make Nathan feel better, he wasn't sure. "Some days you go into court and realize you're not ready. It's all about surviving."

"Yeah!" Maya said cheerfully. "At least you survived another day!"

"Take what comes," Edgeworth advised. "Now, what do we need to investigate?"

"Kronos's involvement in the Laytonne case, most of the Laytonne case itself, and whether or not Whitman was actually in Kronos. We need something decisive."

"What about Kiria's notes?" Maya asked, having been informed of the evidence during the trial.

"I can't read them. Unless you know Japanese—"

Mariko cleared her throat. "I may not be either of my siblings, but I speak and read it just as well as they do." She quirked a smile. "If you need something, I'm willing to help."

"Really?" Nathan started shuffling through his bag excitedly. "Here." He handed her the file, and she accepted it gracefully.

"I'll check my translation with Yoshiya before I give it to you; it'll be a few hours at the most."

Lang frowned. "Speaking of Yoshiya, where is he?"

"He said something about checking something, but he didn't tell me a lot more than that. He sounded like he'd just figured something out. Kind of out-of-breath, ne?"

Nathan frowned. "Wonder what he's doing?"

Phoenix cleared his throat. "Your agenda is good and all, but it's missing something."

"What?" Nathan couldn't help that he snapped back, almost in irritation, at the man who had unseated his confidence just the day before.

Lang nodded, having caught on to the train of thought Phoenix was taking. "Where'd the poison come from?"

Nathan blinked, obviously taken off-guard. "But if we find out who did it, does it matter?"

"Fool!" Franziska said, this time losing her patience enough to strike him with her weapon. "Do not discount any unknown until you're sure that you can't use it in your case!"

He put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, we'll check that too!"

"Good." Edgeworth nodded, shifting slightly. The girl sleeping at his side shifted with him, but still slumbered.

"Ah! I'll take her!" Nathan volunteered, leaning over to lift her.

Edgeworth shook his head, remembering the promise he'd made and realizing that if she woke, she was liable to start trembling like she had earlier. "I can do it. You need to start your investigation." Carefully, hoping she wouldn't wake, he pivoted so he could hook his arm under her knees and cradle her against his chest. She shifted and mumbled something, but didn't open her eyes. He felt her relax back against him after a short moment, and he let out the breath he'd been holding. "Shall we take her to the car?"

Tessa nodded enthusiastically. "Of course!"

He turned to Nathan. "I'll call you once we've got her settled." With that, he followed Tessa and Mariko out to the parking lot.

Nathan turned to the remaining group of Lang, Franziska, Phoenix, and Maya. "Okay, we need to split up."

"I'll talk to Miss Laytonne again," Phoenix volunteered.

Nathan nodded curtly. "Agent Lang, you've been in charge of evidence so far, correct?"

"With Von Karma here, yep." He nodded in her direction, and she scowled back at him.

"Do you think you can find where the Rydientrol came from?"

Franziska clutched at her sleeves. "I've already been looking at it."

"Then both of you can look at it." Nathan looked at Maya, trying to decide what the most important piece was to look into. There weren't enough people, but if Lang and Franziska could find the source of the Rydientrol quickly, then they could be put to another task. "Maya, you and I will find the Laytonne evidence and go from there. Sound good, everyone?"

There was a general agreement from each of them, although Franziska looked less than pleased about the arrangement. He threw his bag over his shoulder and nodded to Maya. "Let's get going."

A/N: Great chapter? Not really. Writer's block hit me like a freight train, and then it was like my brain was stuck in Antarctica for a week and froze to death. Seriously, not the best chapter writing I've ever done. And I'd wait to publish it, except that I have this childish need to publish something on Leap Day. So, this is what came out.

On the other hand, I have the best reviewers ever. Within 24 hours of the last chapter being up, I had 5 reviews waiting in my inbox. Stuff like that motivates me to write. So, thank you guys! You're the best reviewers EVER.

Comments!

Zorua: Welcome back! Oh, I'd love the link; I had a link, but I lost it when I switched computers. So if you could send it to me, that would be wonderful. I'd like to do a full-scale project, but the fanfiction comes first. But, hopefully, someday, there will be a playable version of this fanfic.

Blaze: Thank you, my dear! Midterms went wonderfully. This chapter is a bit heavier than the last one, I think, and without the jokes at Maya's expense. But, I hope you still like it.

Psykit: Noooo, you don't get Volume 7 early! Haha, you might love a good spoiler, but that's like reading the last page of a book before you read the rest of the novel! There's a lot that you wouldn't understand from this volume (believe it or not, this is like the prequel to everything that's going to happen), so it's better that you just wait and see. Oh, I'm glad you like the Trance State! I was a bit on the fence on what to make it like, so I'm glad it went over well. Oh, you'd like romance, would you? We'll see what we can do eventually. xD Eh, I was never a Franziska/Edgeworth shipper. For some reason, I love Larry/Franziska (heads up now, that's not what's going to happen in this fic; I just don't know how I'd fit it in). Their banter back and forth was just so fun! But hey, I'm converting!

Knightofdestiny: It wasn't that I didn't like GK1, I just found it was the weakest of the games. They made everything so obvious before it was presented; Shih-Na and Lang were really the two reasons why I continued the game. Well, that, and young Franziska. So cute! Ah, I turned 19 on the 19th (only year it'll be ironic). I keep hearing that everyone's surprised by my age though; I suppose I should take it as a compliment!

Kaitlintheowl: Haha, you're the second one who's pointed out the PL references. D I'm a huge fan of the games. Especially Unwound Future. It made me cry! I have not played Ghost Trick yet; when I move back into my house for the summer, I'm getting it for my iPad. xD I live in a pretty small town, so it's hard to find games sometimes; there just seems to be the same recycled ones over and over. I had to buy PW:AA over the internet because I couldn't find it in my town. I haven't read Homestuck either, but I've heard it's awesome. I'm a Hetalia fan; I cosplay America for fun. I only mention that because people often equate the two for some reason.

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