Trojan Horse
Friday August 12th 2016 – 1:17 PM
"Okay, enough!" Phoenix shouted, "I have too much to do to deal with this. You have problems? Don't we all, Ruby."
"Oh, no! That ain't gonna fly, boy." She was as red in the face as her namesake's coloration. She still wanted a piece of Phoenix after that last discovery. Miles saw this coming at the start, when he realized that Phoenix and Ruby equally shared lies and secret lives and could only suspect when the situation would come to head.
"Miss Frost." Miles inserted himself, clocking it at ten minutes of wasted time and would allow no more than that. "Your trial is still very ongoing. If we do not figure out Purohit's play, they will pass the suspect to someone else. Prioritize."
"Fuck off, Red. You were in on this, too."
Miles sighed, "Do not address me with such foul language. I had nothing to do with Wright's decisions to not to tell you what his past was. Until last night, I did not know, either. So, perhaps instead of beating a dead horse, we can focus on what will actually move our lives forward?"
Ruby folded her arms and refused to address either of them. Fortunately, Phoenix accepted that and said, "Purohit accidently told me a lot. You recall when that parrot said the time, repeating the phrasing of the Thinker Clock, and how Purohit said to 'ignore it'? He knew about the murder weapon."
Miles nodded, "I noticed that, too. Purohit should have never come into contact with that statue. There is something else, though."
"Okay? What?" Phoenix invited.
"When did Purohit learn of your alias? Was it before the investigation began or during it? That changes another aspect we need to consider. In conjunction to who told White about your position."
"That's fair." Phoenix nodded. "That. There was some vague conversation, but it was mostly . . . Ruby. You listening?"
"What do you want, Wright?" She barely acknowledged him. Phoenix gave Miles a look that asked, Should we tell her about the phone?
"It is going to come up." Miles said. "Let us deal with this now."
". . .Right." Phoenix delayed for a moment, then found the courage to retrieve the phone from his pocket. "Ruby. Do you recognize this?"
"That's Fi's. Why do you have it?"
". . .There is a conversation that you probably should read." Phoenix unlocked the phone and handed it over to Ruby. She looked it over and the redness in her face paled.
"What is this?" She said.
"Fiona had a conversation with someone. Looks like her house was the target of an arson. Did you know?" Phoenix asked.
"No. She never said – so that's why she was scared." Ruby bit her lip. Miles decided against saying something to the affect of none of them knew what honesty was – and he instead focused on the next phase of their trial.
"Wright. You were going to say something about that phone number."
"Yeah." Phoenix went back to his laptop. Ruby was eerily silent as she took in that conversation. "I have access to a lot of databases. Cellphone records included . . . if I type in that number Fiona talked to . . . I get this back." Phoenix turned his laptop around. The name attached to it was not who Miles expected.
"Who is Noah Beatty?" Miles asked.
"A person who has no bearings on this case. Let me explain." Phoenix said. "This phone came under White's possession at some point. Probably as a theft. If I could look up the phone number and realize this, then so could Purohit."
Miles asked. "Why would White use that phone instead of his own? To cover his tracks?"
"Exactly. But, even more than that. Since Purohit handed us this phone, he expected up to use it at some point. And if we tried to use it as evidence that Fiona had an enemy that week . . . this phone would show Mr. Beatty. Not White."
Miles folded his arms. "That would cast doubt on our argument."
Phoenix nodded, "We would have handed the prosecution another person to arrest on probable suspicion and abruptly ended our pursuit for White in one move. This was his checkmate. A Trojan Horse in play."
Miles closed his eyes, "Of course. White writes the same way he talks; so much so, that we never needed to fact check this. It was an assumption on our part to think that number would tie directly to White. Him returning that phone was never an act in good faith."
"Exactly. Purohit wants to make sure White does not take that stand. That, however, is impossible now. I don't think he realized we had evidence of White committing other crimes."
"And that witness who described his presence so perfectly for us." Miles smiled confidently.
"Yes. I had no idea he existed, but good thing for it. Purohit's powerplay is no longer as effective, but we should be ready to prove that White is the one who wrote those messages." Phoenix said.
"And how do we go about doing that?" Miles asked.
"Well. You touched on it a moment ago. White's speech pattern is distinctive. Recognizable. But we should learn more about Beatty – if their paths only crossed due to a lost phone, then that should be telling enough."
Miles asked, "Do you suppose Purohit has a more concrete way to tie Beatty to the crime scene? Miss Frost, does Noah Beatty sound familiar to you?"
"I have never heard that name in my life." She shook her head and squeezed the phone tightly in her hand. "And this is definitely White."
"Are you okay?" Miles questioned, attempting to be considerate of her feelings.
"No. Looks like Wright wasn't the only one telling lies." She shook her head. "Damn it all. I should have known . . ."
"Way to single me out." Phoenix mumbled, "So. Purohit's hand is shown. He knows about the statue. He knows some confidential things about a different ongoing Interpol case. And, he is willing to convict someone else as the murderer."
Miles considered that new angle. He then pointed out, "You said it yourself, Wright. You believed Purohit is acting on his own, without threat of blackmail. Why?"
"That shorefront. I made an assumption that I think Purohit might prove false . . . interestingly, enough."
"Oh? You made a mistake, then?"
"Don't smirk when you say that! But, it's possible. Of the many warehouses along that shoreline, we only managed to make three arrests. The others had time and opportunity to dodge a proper investigation and erase evidence."
"Yes. I believe you said that before." Miles nodded. "So, what is the fatal false assumption, then?"
Phoenix asked. "Hah. You really are an asshole, sometimes. I think the assumption that I made is that only one organization utilizes that shorefront."
"The organization you are investigating being the one. . ."
"And the one Purohit has been pursuing. So, at least two." Phoenix shrugged, "It's possible. We have hit roadblock after roadblock with that front. If two organizations have command over it . . . well, that would certainly complicate things, wouldn't it?"
"And they both happen to cross over with Bluecorp? That is a stretch of the imagination." Miles found it hard to believe that three different, illegal organization would operate friendly with one another within the same territory.
"White's baseline is money. If he found a profit in it, he would look the other way." Phoenix countered. "Unlikely or not, that shorefront is a good way for illegal product to come into the country. Illegal product that's good for the underground businesses."
"So, I was right then." Miles felt like he won something over Wright, "Illegal imports."
"Oh. Oops. But, yes." Phoenix played with his cast and then said, "White has power in this state. Other organizations see that power and cut deals with him. White gets a 30% profit cut as well as a payment for legal aid. Everyone is happy in their shady businesses."
"They pay him that much?"
"Can't turn a profit if the pesky police and foreign affairs keeps trying to barge in, right? That's the problem. Interpol is queued to be the last to act because of the American rules. They send in their frontline, which is police task force, and they cover up anything useful Interpol can use . . . it's running in circles, hoping to catch them in a lie."
"Ah. That's why you became a prosecutor here. So you would have those same first access claims." Miles said.
"Yes. 'If this was going to take much longer, I might as well', I thought all those months ago. I cut ties with Interpol so I could cover more ground as a regular, old, prosecutor, PI, detective . . . art student."
Miles merely shook his head. This Phoenix Wright was more than he could ever have imagined. Wright was an entertaining act, at least, and proved useful in these situations. "Why would Purohit protect White?"
"That is a good question. I never found evidence of more than one organization. So perhaps Bluecorp isn't where that evidence exists." Phoenix answered.
"Then if it exists, it does so apart from Bluecorp?"
"And solely with White. If White is imprisoned, then Purohit loses his lead."
"You can't be serious. That's his reasoning?" Miles furrowed his brow. "A person like that behind bars should only open investigation access, correct?"
"It doesn't seem like Purohit agrees with you." Phoenix said. He then accessed some other files. "There is probably something insubstantial to what Purohit learned and needs more time to weed it out."
"And condemn someone else for murder to buy back that time?" Miles did not care for that explanation.
"Or, at least, find deniability for White. If Purohit can get close enough to White by proving him an effective prosecutor, then Purohit can continue to hunt for what he's after. It's not just. But Purohit does not care. I guarantee it."
"And how did you come to these conclusions?" Miles interrogated.
"Those trafficking rings were dismantled, and a suspect was arrested. The assumed second in command, however, could not be tied to it and went free. Purohit has been pursuing it since."
"Then those warehouses . . . You think that they are selling people?" Miles shook his head, "Surely not in this country."
"Yes, Miles. Even in this country . . ." Phoenix pulled up a profile. "This is the man that went free. He is American born and returned here when things went south overseas."
Miles looked at the profile. A 35-year-old by the name of Manuel Traf. The face of a human trafficker stared unnervingly blank in his profile.
Phoenix explained, "This case is Purohit's only focus. And he thinks that Interpol agents are getting in the way. Why do you think he tried to implicate me and Interpol for mishandling confidential information?"
"That is still no reason to let a murderer walk free." Miles argued, resolute on believing in his own sense of justice. "Also, he spoke a little too freely before, did he not?"
"Probably. I don't know what else Purohit will try, so we should be careful and cover what we do know. I am going to look into Noah Beatty and maybe give him a call."
"His phone is turned off, though." Miles stated.
"He's got a home phone. Let's see. . ." Phoenix dialed a number and walked away from them. While he pulled information from Beatty, Miles turned his attention to Ruby. He did not want to ask 'how are you' a thousand times, but Miles genuinely had no idea what else to say at times like this.
Ruby broke the silence for him. "What?" She stated aggressively. Ruby gave him nothing to work with, and Miles wished that the silence would continue. Instead, he would have to engage her and hope he found the correct thing to say.
"I am sorry that Fiona was involved in this. It came as a shock to us as well." Miles said. Ruby fixated on Wright, her eyes speaking for her. Miles urged her to forgive him, though. "Phoenix never meant to bring harm to either of you. Quite the opposite. He said he wanted the keep the two of you away from White's attention."
"Fiona lived with her boyfriend. The house they lived in was under his name. White still found her." Ruby lamented. ". . .I should have considered leaving when she begged me to. Maybe she'd still be alive."
"I do not know. It is hard to say, since White believes himself to be above the law, he may still have continued the same course of action."
"And it's the fucking truth." Ruby growled, "That Purohit was about to damn an innocent man on White's orders. Can you tell me how White isn't above the law!?"
Miles clenched his jaw. He could not. This White had too many people bowing to him – even Interpol could not get around his goons, he was that much of an influential pest. "White will not get away with it again. We have him on the stands and will not relent."
"I have no choice but to trust you."
Phoenix hung up the phone. Instead of returning to Ruby and Miles, though, Phoenix made a follow up call. So, Miles would have to buy him more time . . . "Miss Frost. I assure you on this: Phoenix and I want White to confess his crimes and pay the price for them."
"Hah! That Wright . . . I thought I had him figured out. Guess he had me all along." Ruby blinked a few times, "What happens to me if you fail?"
"If they are given the chance, Purohit and White will fabricate a murder weapon and bring Mr. Yogi's testimony into disrepute. The Judge has our first evidence of White and follows our logic, for now. Recanting this back to you would take more reprehensible acts on Purohit's part; however, it should not happen, because we do have proof of White's hand in this."
"And I almost believe you. Almost."
Miles gave an impudent shrug and said, "I do not need your belief to succeed. It is clear who the criminal is – we just need to carry on the pursuit." Yes. Whatever lies Purohit tried next, Phoenix and Miles already had evidence to back White's guilt.
"Cocky. That's how I roll, though." Ruby approved, "If you give him anything less than hell, I'm gonna be majorly disappointed."
"You will not be. Exposing the truth will be White's due damnation." Miles promised. Ruby seemed contented by this declaration and Wright finished another phone conversation. Phoenix returned to them and opened his email. Miles asked, "What are you doing?"
"Waiting on a response."
"Did you speak with Mr. Neatty?" Miles questioned.
"Beatty. And I did. He lost his phone around a week ago. Last time he saw it was before one of White's motivational speeches. It's not a coincidence."
"So, what did you tell him to receive that explanation?" Miles wondered.
"That I suspected his old number was used in a scam and that he should report it. I then requested Chief Skye to look for him so we can use it later."
"I thought you were not going to receive aid from her?" Miles recalled that contractual clause.
"That was when I was a suspect. Now that I'm out of that position, she's able to provide some help. I can't keep relying on her, though. She'll stop answering me at some point."
"This is your mentor providing her assistance?" Miles raised an eyebrow. "She seems callous to the role."
"She did that for convenience. Not much else. Look, I don't have a very close bond with her. But she wants what we do, so I can at least expect some support from her." Phoenix answered.
"Convenience? And what did she have to gain from this arrangement?"
"A trained outsider with no connections to the detectives or prosecution. After this, that convenience will no longer apply." Phoenix quickly reacted to an email and saved its contents to his folders.
"Why would she care about something like that?" Miles felt like they were scratching the surface of something, though he was still unsure what. All of these prosecutors seemed to have goals, though hardly any of them aligned with righteousness and justice.
"You would be surprised. Anyway. I got what I needed. Purohit requested my history the day after the crime. To answer your earlier question, I have no definitive proof that he knew my alias before White approached me."
Miles hated to say anything about Fiona in response, especially since Ruby stood next to them. He then decided to just express, "I still do not trust Purohit. His willingness to comply with White is more than enough reason."
Ruby shook her head. "Just end White. End this disaster."
"We will." Phoenix said in a positive tone. "We should eat, though. We still have a lot to get through."
"I will call Father. They should be done scoping out the microphone." Miles went to dial his father's phone. Phoenix was right, they were looking at working a full day at this point. He should have expected it, really.
Cross-Examining White and revealing that man for what he was brought an unusual excitement to Miles. It was long past due to convict White for all his crimes and they had all the evidence to corner him. It would all play out, soon, and he had Phoenix to thank for it. It wasn't so strange for Miles to feel that he could rely on Phoenix. For most of his memory as children, Phoenix was undeniably dependable.
