Chapter 3

A Fated Meeting

[ August 23, 9:00 AM, Detention Center Visitor's Room ]

Phoenix, Maya, and Angie walk into the visitors room. It's not a very big room. Just a single chair with a table and big glass window to see into the other room which is basically a mirror image of the current room. Maya sniffs the air.

"You never quite get used to that musty smell here, do ya?" she said, swiping at the air in front of her nose.

"Reminds me of my ex-boyfriend's apartment." said Angie in disgust.

On the other side of the window, a door swings open and a guard steps through. Followed by a young man with light brown hair, glasses, and wearing a doctor's coat. He sits down in the chair across from Wright & Co.

"Derek!" exclaimed Angie.

"Angie…" said Derek, relieved to see her.

"Derek, this is Mr. Phoenix Wright. THE Phoenix Wright! If anyone can get you out of here, it's him!" Angie pats her hands on Phoenix's shoulders as she introduces him.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Stiles. And this is my assistant, Maya Fey." said Phoenix, gesturing to Maya.

"Don't worry, Doc! We'll bust ya outta here faster than Morgan Freeman did in that one movie!" said Maya enthusiastically

"Heh, a jailbreak sounds fun and all but I thought you were here to defend me." said Derek.

"We are. Don't pay her too much mind. Can I ask you a few questions, Dr. Stiles?" asked Phoenix.

"Fire away. I've done nothing but answer questions for hours now. And perform a little surgery." said Derek, trying his best to sound upbeat.

"Surgery? Here?" asked Phoenix, quite surprised.

"Yeah, one of the detectives in charge went into cardiac arrest during my interrogation so I had to perform open heart surgery on him. No big deal." said Derek, shrugging his shoulders.

"I hope you weren't too much of a wreck without me." joked Angie.

"Believe me, I wish you had been there. The guard assisting me was a complete numbskull. He didn't even know the difference between an ultrasound and a laser!" said Derek, throwing up his hands.

Phoenix studied Derek for a moment. He looked wiped out. The kind of wiped out like one would feel after running a 5k with a monkey stapled to your back who can speak English and is constantly reminding you of all your past failures and shortcomings throughout the entire run. That would leave you exhausted physically and mentally. Much like Derek looks now. Phoenix cleared his throat before speaking next.

"So, you're a doctor for Caduceus?"

"Yes. I've been practicing there for a couple years now." answered Derek. He's been practicing medicine for about as long as Phoenix has been practicing law.

"I've always wondered why they call it 'practicing,'' interjected Maya, "In Nick's case I can understand but you're a professional doctor who graduated med school, right? Shouldn't you be done practicing?"

Derek gave Maya a soft smile and said, "That's the beauty of what we do. Medical science is constantly changing and evolving as we learn new things. We never stop practicing. Not for as long as we keep making new breakthroughs and discoveries." Some of Derek's spirit seems to have come back. He had a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke. "I became a doctor so that no one would have to hear the words 'there was nothing we could do to save them' ever again."

"So that's why you went to work for Caduceus?" inquired Phoenix.

"Exterminating intractable diseases is what we do best." Derek said with an aura of confidence. He was looking a lot better than when they first came in. Then it all clicked in Phoenix's pea-sized brain.

"What a minute… I remember you! You were all over the news last year! You cured all those people of that virus and took down that terrorist organization." realized Phoenix.

"The virus was GUILT and the organization was known as Delphi, to be exact." said Angie.

"What!? That was you guys?" said Maya in awe. Suddenly she felt like she was in the presence of a couple super heroes.

Phoenix felt kinda foolish for not realizing sooner. It was kind of a big deal.

"Well, I can't take all the credit. I couldn't have done it without the support of all the members of Caduceus USA and Angie at my side." Derek said while gazing over at Angie.

"Oh please, Derek. All I did was hand you the scalpel. It was you and your Healing Touch that saved the day" said Angie nonchalantly.

"Healing Touch?" inquired Phoenix.

"It's this special ability I and a few select doctors have that allow us to hyper-focus during an operation. For me, it's almost as if time itself slows down a little. I can't speak to how it affects other doctors." said Derek. Phoenix notices Derek was moving his finger in the palm of his other hand. It looked like he was tracing something, but then again it could just be some kind of nervous twitch.

"Hey! Nick has a special ability too!" said Maya, elbowing Phoenix in his side, "Go on, Nick! Tell 'em!"

"Well, I don't know if I'd call it a 'special ability' but I can tell when someone is lying to me," said Phoenix.

"I see why you became a lawyer," said Derek.

"Oh no, that was because I needed to confess my feelings to a childhood friend. Also my lunch money got stolen. But I got distracted by a girl in college, as we all do, and almost became an English major instead. But I was accused of murder and this hot lady lawyer with big boobs bailed me out so I decided to become a lawyer again and work for her." explained Phoenix.

"Wow, way to spill your entire life story Nick." sighed Maya.

"Ahem, anyway, this glowing rock tells me when someone is lying."

Phoenix pulls out his Magatama from his pocket. The Magatama, in case you forgot, is a rock in the shape of a 6 or 9 depending on how you look at it that was given to Phoenix and infused with spiritual power by Pearl Fey (that's Maya's little cousin) during the events of the 2nd game. All caught up now? Good.

"That must be quite handy during trials." said Derek, observing the little green rock from the other side of the pane glass window.

"It would, except it doesn't work during trials." replied Phoenix.

"Oh? Hm, that's a shame." said Derek.

"Moving right along," said Phoenix changing the topic, "could you tell me a bit about the day of the murder?"

"Sure. I must've said it a hundred times by now." said Derek, wincing a little. "I was set to be operating on a patient at Caduceus that day. I was to remove a bullet from within them somewhere."

"A bullet!? Were they in some kind of gang war?" said Maya, making finger gun motions.

"I don't know. But I guess they were related to someone important because it was specifically requested that I handle the operation." said Derek, recalling the events.

"You have made quite a name for yourself. Pretty much anyone at Caduceus could've performed that operation. Even Tyler!" said Angie.

"Anyway, I never did end up performing the operation. I felt kinda tired so I took a nap in the break room and overslept." said Derek.

"Can anyone confirm you were sleeping in the break room?" asked Phoenix.

"I guess not…" admitted Derek.

Proving someone's innocence without an alibi is never easy. In fact, this isn't the first time Phoenix has had a client who's alibi was, 'I was asleep the whole time.' Derek didn't seem like a killer. And Angie seems to believe in his innocence with all her heart. There's always one sure fire way to check if a client is truly guilty before taking their case.

"Just to be sure," started Phoenix, "you didn't kill anyone that day?"

Derek gave Phoenix a serious look before answering. "I'm a doctor, Mr. Wright. It's my job to save lives, not take them away."

It didn't appear that he was lying. And even if he was, the Magatama would've reacted and revealed Psyche-locks all over Derek.

"Okay Dr. Stiles… I'll prove your innocence!" declared Phoenix.

"Thank you, Mr. Wright." said Derek, a wash of relief appearing on his face.

Maya jumped up, ready to start investigating. "Alright, Nick! Let's beat that pavement into submission!"

Phoenix turned to Angie and said, "Can you take us to Caduceus, Angie? I'd like to investigate the crime scene."

"Of course," she said and turned to face Derek, "Don't worry, Derek. We're going to get you out of here." She put her hand to the glass. Derek placed his over top where her hand on the glass is.

"Just be careful. Don't put yourself in any dangerous situations." Derek cared about Angie deeply and wished no harm to come to her.

"I'll be fine. I don't think anything will top that Z-Cell outbreak at Caduceus Europe." Angie took one last look into Derek's eyes before leaving with Phoenix and Maya.