March 5
District Courthouse
Courtroom No. 2
10:00 AM
The courtroom was still buzzing with nervous energy when I arrived, and I could barely force myself to sit still in the face of all that was happening. My foot was bouncing up and down anxiously, and I did my best to not focus on what was taking place around me. The gallery was filled with chatter the way it always was at the start of a new trial session, but for some reason, it only served to work me up today. I knew that I was in for something messy if I was already agitated before anything could even properly start.
The judge slammed his gavel down against the podium before him. That was enough to silence the gallery immediately much to my gratitude. "Court is now in session once again for the trial of Apollo Justice," he announced. His expression grew solemn as he looked to both myself and Prosecutor Lin. "I take it that both sides have thoroughly investigated the matters that intrigued us yesterday?"
Prosecutor Lin was quick to nod in response. "As a matter of fact, yes. There were many new facts that were brought to light as a result of the investigation, including the truth behind the security footage that was taken on the day of the murder," she declared. "There were three groups of people who entered the building the day the crime took place... Well, I say groups. One of them was a pair that came in together while the other two were individuals. Out of these four people, one of them is the defendant, and the two who entered together are able to corroborate one another's alibis easily. There is footage available for all of them to show what took place when they entered the building."
"I see..." the judge murmured with a small nod. "What about the subject of the evidence cabinet that opened and closed without any outside input? Have you found an explanation for what took place at that point?"
Prosecutor Lin hesitated before ultimately shaking her head. "I did what I could to search the area, and I'm confident that the defense did much the same. However... We ultimately came up short regarding information on that subject specifically. I imagine that it would take us finding a specific piece of evidence that has yet avoided us in order to reveal the truth behind that," she said.
"There was a little bit that we managed to find out as well," I was quick to chime in. "We learned that there was something else to be found on the jacket located at the crime scene. Chloroform was found on the sleeve, implying that it was used at some point in the span of the murder. However, we were unable to find any other signs of chloroform, so the culprit must have taken the items used to seemingly drug someone with them when they fled from the scene of the crime. It seems simple to assume that the culprit escaped through the window given that a rope was tied to the sill as well."
"It sounds as if you discovered quite a bit during your investigation," the judge commented, his eyes wide. "What do you think the source of the chloroform could possibly be? Why was it used during the crime at all?"
I smiled to myself as I responded to him. "The defense firmly believes that the defendant was the one who ultimately found himself as the victim to the drugging," I replied. "After all, he doesn't seem to remember any of what happened at the time of the crime. This gap in his memory would also explain why he lost consciousness despite there not being a physical reason for him to pass out at the crime scene. He was drugged, and the jacket played a part in his falling unconscious."
"That would certainly make sense... Though I believe that we will need more evidence on the matter in order to say conclusively what took place," the judge declared, and I couldn't help but wince at his words. I knew that he was right about us needing a bit more proof to back up the theory, but I couldn't help being sure that we were right about this. I couldn't think of any other explanation making sense, and that meant that we were going to have to pinpoint something that would show this was what took place. If only we knew what that piece of evidence was supposed to be...
"Even if we have no ideas as to what we can do on that front, I do know a way that we can help the trial to move forward," Prosecutor Lin announced from there, a light smile on her face. "I think that our time would be best spent focusing on witness testimony that could lead us to the truth. As such, I would like to request that I be granted permission to call my first witness of the day to the stand for testimony."
The judge nodded. "Permission granted. Call your witness, Prosecutor Lin," he instructed of her.
Prosecutor Lin smiled, her head tilting slightly to the side as she did so. "In that case, the prosecution now calls its first witness to the stand," she said simply.
A moment later, Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth made his way to the stand. Everything about him was somewhat tense, and I was left to wonder if perhaps testifying brought up unfortunate memories for him. He seemed to be rather at ease when he was prosecution cases in the courtroom, but this was a different story entirely. I decided that it was something that would be best investigated at a later point in time though; after all, I had to concentrate on the trial for the time being.
"Please state your name and occupation for the court record, witness," the judge announced firmly. I knew that he was already fully aware of who the chief prosecutor was, but he went through the regular motions again anyway. It didn't surprise me much, truth be told, and it did at least a little something to help me get a grasp on what was happening given the unfortunate circumstances surrounding our lacking details regarding this trial.
Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth started by pushing his glasses farther up his nose before his arms came to cross over his chest. He didn't like this situation in the slightest, but I was glad that he had decided to follow through with it regardless; this was going to be our first step to figuring out what really happened the day of the murder, I was sure. "My name is Miles Edgeworth, and I work as the chief prosecutor of the district," he said simply.
"And for today, his occupation doubles as witness for a murder trial," Prosecutor Lin joked with a charming smile that easily lit up the entire room without her even needing to try. "I believe that his testimony will offer us some much-needed context regarding what took place on the day of the crime. To be more specific, I think that he'll be able to shine a bit of light on the people who entered the Prosecutor's Office on the day of the murder. Given that this was such an issue of contention for us yesterday, I thought it would be for the best if we discussed it as soon as possible."
The judge nodded his understanding. "That certainly seems like a logical place to start... Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, whenever you are ready, you may begin your testimony," he stated firmly. Even with the change of roles, he was referring to the chief prosecutor with his normal full title. I supposed that some habits died hard, but as long as it didn't impact the trial at hand, it was going to be fine.
Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth offered a brief nod, though he said nothing else. I saw Mr. Wright grow tense from his place off to my left, and I wondered if he was just as nervous about this as I was. It wouldn't surprise me, but being anxious about it wasn't going to help us determine what we needed to about this case. We were just going to have to press on for better or worse.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ Day of the Murder ~
-"With the recent exposure of Huber Turner as an evidence forger, I wanted to see if there were others in the building involved with such activities."
-"The purpose of the meeting was for me to see if I saw anything out of the ordinary in a group setting discussing the subject in full."
-"Unfortunately, nothing struck me as being strange, so the meeting ultimately did not yield any new information."
-"It was during this meeting that the murder took place in the victim's office."
-"There were only a few people who entered the building on the day of the murder who were not in the meeting, and most of them have alibis."
-"I only told a select few about the meeting so that information about it would not get out. The point of it was to be a surprise that revealed necessary truths in the office."
As soon as the testimony was over, I felt something buzzing in my chest. I knew that it was the impending sensation of something being revealed. I could just tell that we were on the verge of something big.
"There weren't many people in the building who would have been able to kill the victim at the time of the murder then... I suppose we already knew that though," the judge commented, his eyes still wide as could be.
"I was doing what I could to be with as many of them as possible so that no information slipped through the cracks," Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth explained. "Unfortunately, my attempts to gather information ultimately fell short."
"I can say conclusively that out of the people who were in the building, almost all of them were in the meeting," Prosecutor Lin declared next. "I was not in the meeting, but I was with two of the four people who entered the building on the day of the murder. That means that there are two parties left who could have killed the victim, and one of them is the defendant. Given that he was found at the scene of the crime, I think it's safe to say which one was ultimately deemed to be most suspicious."
I nodded my understanding vaguely, but I knew that attacking from that angle at this point wouldn't do much of anything to help us. We had to do what we could to look at this from a completely different point of view, and luckily, I knew exactly where we should start. "The defense requests that it be able to begin the cross-examination," I declared as I looked up to the judge.
He nodded just as I expected he would. "Go ahead, defense," he said simply. He looked down to Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth once again, seeming shocked at seeing the man at the witness stand even after his first testimony. I shook my head to eliminate unnecessary thoughts before giving Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth the cue to begin his testimony again. This was going to be important; I could just feel it.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ Day of the Murder ~
-"With the recent exposure of Huber Turner as an evidence forger, I wanted to see if there were others in the building involved with such activities."
-"The purpose of the meeting was for me to see if I saw anything out of the ordinary in a group setting discussing the subject in full."
-"Unfortunately, nothing struck me as being strange, so the meeting ultimately did not yield any new information."
-"It was during this meeting that the murder took place in the victim's office."
-"There were only a few people who entered the building on the day of the murder who were not in the meeting, and most of them have alibis."
-"I only told a select few about the meeting so that information about it would not get out. The point of it was to be a surprise that revealed necessary truths in the office."
"Hold it!"
"Who all was aware of the meeting before it took place?" I questioned. After a moment, I corrected myself. "Here's a better question: who did you tell that the meeting was happening in advance? Who knew what was going on before the day of the murder?"
Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth frowned to himself before he pressed his shoulders back in a show of confidence and stubborn determination. "There were two people who were helping me in the search for any potential suspicious activity during the meeting. Both of them were aware of it in advance, but neither one of them work at the Prosecutor's Office. They were also told to not breathe a word of it to anyone outside of their field of work," he began to explain. My mind was immediately cast back to our encounter with Detectives Gumshoe and Faraday, and I knew that those two had to be the ones he was talking about. "No prosecutors were told about the meeting taking place either."
"Did you tell anyone else?" I pressed. I already knew what answer I was going to be receiving, but my heart started to beat a bit faster in my chest regardless. This was going to be the tipping point of the battle at hand. I could just feel it.
Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth nodded. "There was one other person who was aware of the meeting before it took place," he replied. "A coroner came to drop off files at the Prosecutor's Office the day before the crime. She brought up the victim in conversation after hearing about his exposure at the hands of Oracle. We spoke briefly, and she asked if I would be able to find anyone else who was in the same position of forging evidence. I told her that I would be resolving it through the meeting the following day. She left soon afterward, and from there, we didn't run into one another again until after the crime had taken place."
"Just who was this person who you told about the meeting then?" the judge questioned, his eyes going wide.
"Darcie Russell. She's a coroner who has been working with the Prosecutor's Office for the last few years," Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth replied. "As a matter of fact, she was one of the two people who entered the Prosecutor's Office on the day of the crime. She came into the building during the meeting, as a matter of fact."
"I would say that behavior is rather suspicous then!" the judge exclaimed. "If she knew about the meeting taking place, then why would she come by to do something when nobody was there?"
"She claims that she was dropping off files," Prosecutor Lin replied. "Though there is one strange thing she told me when I was questioning her... Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth, are you sure that you told her about the meeting?"
He simply nodded. "I would never feel the need to lie about something so serious," Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth responded, his voice even as could be. Something about him even seemed to be slightly upset that Prosecutor Lin was doubting him in the first place, though he did his best to restrain his glare. I was relieved for that much, I must admit. My stomach did flips as I realized that this was the turning point we had been waiting for all this time. Prosecutor Lin's response to his statement was going to change everything, and just like that, we would have our opening.
"When I spoke to Darcie Russell in the midst of the investigation, she claimed that she was unaware of the meeting taking place at all," Prosecutor Lin told him with a light frown on her lips. "She was quite firm about asserting that she didn't realize it was happening... I must say that I find it rather peculiar you claim she was aware of it while Darcie Russell herself said that she was unaware of it."
"I don't know why she would claim that she was unaware of it," Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth said, a heavy frown appearing on his face. "She most certainly did know about the meeting. I don't know why she would have come to the office in the middle of the meeting that she knew was happening. She wouldn't have been able to drop off files easily if there were no people to receive them."
"She still claims that she only dropped off the files and left," Prosecutor Lin responded. "She said that she dropped off the files even though there were no people in the area to check on the pages that she was leaving there... I'm sure that I'm not the only one who finds this to be rather strange... In fact, I think that there's only thing we can do to cover for this hole in the testimony."
"The statements of two different witnesses are clashing... I suppose that working out this contradiction would be our best course of action from here," the judge announced as he glanced down to Prosecutor Lin. "What do you suggest would be the best way of figuring out the truth behind the matter?"
"We'll hear a bit more testimony and see where it can lead us," Prosecutor Lin replied. "If we can figure out the truth through that, then we'll be able to see what happens next in the trial... Regardless though, I think it's safe to say that there's something peculiar about all of this. The contradiction in the testimonies of two witnesses who seemingly don't have a reason to lie... We're going to have to hear this straight from the horse's mouth if we want to get anywhere from here."
"The defense requests that Darcie Russell be brought to the witness stand as soon as possible to work out the contradiction at hand," I announced even though I already knew that this was exactly what Prosecutor Lin was thinking. How could she have anything else on her mind? This was the best place for us to go next, and I knew that talking to Ms. Russell herself was the only way we were going to work this out.
"I've already prepared her to take to the stand, so I see no reason to hold this off any longer than we have to," Prosecutor Lin declared as she snapped her fingers together. "Thank you for your testimony, Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth. You may step down at this time."
Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth nodded in her direction before walking away from the stand. Much like with Prosecutor Gavin the day before, everything about him seemed to relax as soon as he was able to get away from the witness stand. I didn't know what about the situation had been so stressful to him, but I was more than fine with him stepping down for the sake of what was going to be happening next. At long last, we were going to be able to draw Ms. Russell's secrets out of her. She wouldn't be able to hide from us any longer than she already had!
"I think that this is going to be the most important testimony of the trial up to this point," Mr. Wright told us with a small frown on his face. "A lot has happened up to this junction of the trial, but for the most part, all of the testimony has been relatively agreeable. Everything seems to point to a common picture... Except for this. That means that it's bound to be significant. We simply have to figure out how."
"I've already got a pretty good idea of how this is going to fit in with everything else," I murmured to myself with a shake of my head. "We're going to have to ask her about GC-9 from here if we want to make any progress... The fact that she lied about her knowledge of the meeting is just the starting point. We're nowhere near the end yet."
"Then we'll just have to keep pushing," Trucy smiled, her grin just the beacon I was looking for in the heat of the trial. I returned the smile a moment later. I knew that we were going to be able to figure out a way to solve this soon, and I was sure that we would find out the truth and free Apollo from suspicion then. It was just a matter of time.
For the moment though, Ms. Russell made her way to the witness stand, and she stood in front of us all with her expression as stoic as could be. She was a difficult person to read just because of how apathetic she seemed to be on the surface, but I knew that it would become easier to break down her emotions as the trial went on. She was going to reveal more information through her emotions the longer she was on the stand, I was sure.
Prosecutor Lin pressed one hand against the bench before her as the judge cleared his throat. "Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court," he instructed firmly.
Ms. Russell's eyes fell shut for a brief moment. "My name is Darcie Russell. I work as a coroner for murder trials, and I've been collaborating with the prosecutors at the office for quite some time."
"We believe that your testimony could be valuable to figuring out what happened on the day of the murder," Prosecutor Lin began to say. "You said during our discussion yesterday that you were unaware of the meeting taking place at the Prosecutor's Office, but we have been given reason to doubt such a thing since this trial has started. Would you mind being honest with us about what took place on the day of the murder?"
"There isn't much excitement regarding it, I'm afraid," Ms. Russell replied, her eyes just as piercing and dark as ever. "If you want my testimony though, I suppose I can hardly object. Alright. I'll talk if that's what you need."
"Then please tell the court about what you did while you were in the Prosecutor's Office on the day of the murder," the judge told her. Ms. Russell simply nodded before getting right into it.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ In the Prosecutor's Office ~
-"I was in the Prosecutor's Office on the day of the murder. This much is a fact that cannot be disputed."
-"However, I know nothing about the crime that took place. I was only there for business reasons."
-"I was asked to drop off a few case files for the prosecutors who were working on recent cases."
-"I didn't see anyone in the building though, so I simply set the files down where I thought they would be easily found in the break area and left."
-"There's nothing more to it. I simply went in, dropped off the files, and turned around. I never saw anyone, and that includes the victim."
I couldn't help but frown at her testimony. It truly hadn't revealed anything of use that we could think of as a springboard into the next part of the case. I glanced over to Mr. Wright and Trucy and saw that they were both watching her darkly as well. They knew that there was something off about this testimony the same way I did, and they were trying to figure it out too.
"That certainly was a to-the-point recollection of what you did in the Prosecutor's Office," the judge remarked as soon as the testimony was finished. "I must admit that I expected you to give us a bit more detail."
"I don't think it's necessary for me to go into more detail when the facts are already clear as can be. I was at the building because I was trying to drop off case files. I didn't see anyone there, so I left the files where they were most likely to be found. That's all there is to it," Ms. Russell responded.
"I still don't think that this answers our question as to if she knew about the meeting or not though," Trucy frowned. "I'm sure that she was aware of it, but she still isn't admitting to whether she knew about it or not. Her testimony seemed to dance around the facts of the matter."
"I think that it offered us all the information we're going to need to find the truth though," Mr. Wright said. "She claims that it was all very simple, but I feel as if it should be clear that there's more to it than that... If we press her in the right ways, she should reveal what we're searching for."
I nodded my understanding even though I wasn't entirely sure about what he was trying to tell me. I had no idea where we were supposed to be going from here, but if he said that the necessary information was there, then who was I to protest? After all, he was the professional when it came to this. I knew what I was doing well enough, sure, but he was three steps ahead in every case, it seemed.
"I believe it's time for the defense to begin its cross-examination of the testimony," Prosecutor Lin declared as she gestured over to my side of the courtroom.
The judge nodded his agreement. "Go ahead, defense. We're all listening."
I swallowed back my nerves and gestured for Ms. Russell to continue, pretending that she wasn't glaring at me in the process. Well, maybe she wasn't meaning to glare, but her piercing gaze certainly felt like a glare. It wasn't going to matter in the end either way; we were going to figure out the truth whether she wanted us to or not.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ In the Prosecutor's Office ~
-"I was in the Prosecutor's Office on the day of the murder. This much is a fact that cannot be disputed."
-"However, I know nothing about the crime that took place. I was only there for business reasons."
-"I was asked to drop off a few case files for the prosecutors who were working on recent cases."
-"I didn't see anyone in the building though, so I simply set the files down where I thought they would be easily found in the break area and left."
-"There's nothing more to it. I simply went in, dropped off the files, and turned around. I never saw anyone, and that includes the victim."
"Hold it!"
"Your testimony failed to answer the question that was posed in the first place," I announced, my eyes narrowing in her direction. "Did you know that the meeting was happening?"
Ms. Russell hesitated before shrugging. "In a way, yes. I knew that the meeting was taking place, but I was unaware of what time it was taking place. I didn't want to have to come back later, so I dropped off the files and left. Even if I did know about the meeting, not knowing the time would have made it somewhat difficult for me to do anything nefarious," she pointed out. My expression must have shifted somewhat, because she glared at me once again as she continued. "I know that's what you're thinking. You believe I was involved with the death of the victim. I can assure you that I had nothing to do with that."
"You still lied to me about not knowing about the meeting," Prosecutor Lin interjected. "I would say that is rather critical information that you willingly withheld. Why did you hide this fact from me? It certainly would have saved a lot of time if you were honest."
"Me knowing about the meeting doesn't change anything," Ms. Russell countered. "I wasn't aware of the time it was taking place. Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth never told me that much. You can ask him yourself if you're really so curious about it. I'm sure that he's only going to back up my testimony though."
I hesitated before glancing over to Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth and seeing that he was nodding his agreement to Ms. Russell's words. So it was true; she really didn't know the time of the meeting. I winced at the realization and looked down at the bench in front of me, something in my gut twisting along the way. I couldn't believe that this had turned out to be a dead end just like everything else seemed to be in this case.
"I still think it would be beneficial for us to hear other testimony from the witness as long as we have her on the stand though," Prosecutor Lin interjected before anyone could say anything to the contrary. "There's quite a bit that we have yet to understand about this case, and the sooner we can put the pieces together, the better off we'll be. Are there any objections to that?"
My response was immediate, and a flood of relief slammed into my chest. I was glad that she had given us another chance to continue the trial, and I smiled to her with a firm nod. "Yes, I agree completely," I told her. "As long as she's here, we can hear other details about what happened at the time of the crime. Is that alright with you, witness?"
Ms. Russell seemed to know that she wasn't going to be able to worm her way out of this one, so she simply frowned and nodded tensely. I let out a small sigh of relief as I processed the fact that we were going to be able to keep this up just a little bit longer. We still had a lot to figure out, but I could tell that we were on the right path. Soon enough, all the pieces would fall into place. This was just the first step, and I could tell that everything that came next was going to work out some way or another.
And there's the first trial segment! Yay!
It's looking like this case is going to be twelve chapters in total given the way that things are panning out right now, so we've only got two more chapters left of this case! The pieces are starting to come together even though there are still a bunch of questions that we haven't figured out yet. Then again, that's sort of to be expected given that this story is so focused on overarching plot. I think it's tons of fun to work with, and this case is just the tip of the iceberg given that there are still three others left after the next two chapters wrap things up.
There's not all that much to say about this chapter since it kind of speaks for itself, so I'm going to leave things here. Next time, we'll get into the next testimony from Darcie Russell! Until then, I hope you all enjoyed. Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital