AN: Hello! It has been a long time, hasn't it? I'm very sorry I haven't been able to get back to this story, however due to the pressing demands of my senior year of college, I've barely been alive and thus not capable to write at all. I make no promises about when the next update will come, but luckily I had started writing the next part to this a while ago, so I just have to complete it. Though, as to when, is up in the air, though I'm hopeful I can have it up in December with the much needed vacation coming.

But welcome to part two! One part investigation, one part trial. I did the best I could with this one, but to be honest I'm really just more building up to the next final part. And that is going to be...something else, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading, faving, following, and reviewing as always!

JordanPhoenix: Thank you! Well, you just need to know where to look for the 'Wright' self inserts, because I have read a great deal of interesting ones ;). But thanks for reading!

urs-v: Eh, I do what I can with that, but I just don't feel a drive to be that descriptive in court. I honestly don't think it's going to get anymore descriptive than what I have now. I think it just comes down to using your imagination to fill in the blanks. And don't worry about that. Have something up my sleeve, I've been planning for months now. Thank you!

Cranky Kong: Yep! I've been thinking on it and I probably will have my own take on Kristoph, since like you said AJ doesn't give us much to go on. I thought his plans were too well thought out to have such little motivation...but it makes it more fun to experiment with in a way.

Ten-Faced Paladin: Thank you! I will keep doing my best!

And to all of you who asked for an update, here! Hope you enjoy lol.

May 24th, 1:42 PM

Criminal Affairs Department

I had been waiting a little while for the police to finish their questioning of the man who would be our star witness tomorrow. I killed time going through the facts of the case in my head. Surveying the room, I could tell that what I was doing was at least more of a mental workout than what the detectives allegedly working were up to. Poker, playing games, watching cat videos... it was amazing how any work managed to be completed. Was work completed here? Even the chief up front, was completely engaged in some Korean drama, not doing anything important. Just as I was going to continue questioning the work ethic of everyone sitting on their computers, I heard a door click open.

I turned my attention behind me, where a couple of detectives were exiting the room where they question witnesses. That's when I was greeted by a familiar face.

"Mr. Edgeworth! I wasn't expecting to see you down here so soon, sir," Detective Gumshoe said walking over to me.

"I don't have many other leads to follow up on besides this, detective."

"Yeah," he scratched his head. "Guess that's true..."

"Is the witness in there?" I asked pointing to the room with it's door slightly ajar.

The detective nodded. "We just finished up. You're free to talk to him, sir. Though, you might be there for a while...he kinda has a lot to say."

(He did seem like a character. But, rarely have I encountered a witness that wasn't.)

The detective raised his eyebrows up and down. "Well, good luck, sir! I have to go to a meeting now, but if you want me to do anything later let me know!"

"Thanks, detective. I'll be sure to contact you if I need anything," I said.

With that Detective Gumshoe trotted off down a hall, I supposed where other meeting rooms were. I decided to go meet our witness, entering the room.

(Let's see what he has to say.)

I couldn't count how many times I had been in rooms like this for questioning. The set up in each room was virtually the same, being painted totally gray with a couple of folding chairs and a long rectangular table. The detective shut the door, while I took a seat across from the old man. He appeared to be in a good mood, playing with some tin can he was holding in his hand.

"Hello."

"Hey, there buckaroo!" he grinned showing his gapped tooth smile. "You're the prosecutor, right?"

"Yes, that's me. Miles Edgeworth," I said extending my hand to the man.

He shook it very tightly with a grip that could probably crush a body builder's hand. "They call me Cartman!"

"If that's the case, where's your cart?" I asked rubbing my hand after he released it.

"Don't have one, actually," he said scratching his arm. "Eh, to be honest, I'm more of a bagman. I carry lots of bags. Carts are effort to wheel around and I jus' don't got time for that."

"...So why aren't you called bagman?"

"Because bagman sounds terrible," he paused. "I mean you don't want to be called bagman or baglady. Just sounds awful trashy. Come to think of it, I should really be called canman..."

(I shouldn't have asked.)

"Okay, Mr...Cartman?"

"Yep, jus' call me Cartman," he said leaning forward covering some of his mouth as though he were gossiping. "Real name's too embarrassing...my parents were jus' tryin' too hard. I mean, who wants to be called Edward Billings Franklin the III? Do you know how hard it was in school t' get by? With a name like that? I was beat up every day by big Willie, and do you know I did give Willie a willy he'd never forget-"

HOLD IT!

"Woah, buckaroo!" the old man said eyes wide, arms in the air, knocking over the tin can he had. "I ain't no deaf elderly person, I can hear jus' fine!"

"My apologies," I muttered regaining some composure. The way he went on just reminded me of that old menace and her ramblings. I was certain that if they met, it'd be a match made in heaven. Or rather hell.

"Moving on, Mr. Cartman, I wanted to ask you about the murder. You said you were there in the park when it happened, correct?"

"Oh, yeah. You see, I sleep in the park a lot, eh. It's my favorite place to put my cans out. I had been sleepin' on a bench, when I woke up to a gunshot."

I folded my arms, finger tapping. "And you're certain it was a gunshot?"

"Definitely was! This old man even pulled out one his special cans to listen!" he said picking up the can that had been on the floor holding it up to his ear. "Bein' in war, you recognize a gunshot, plain and simple."

"What happened next?"

"Well, bein' curious," he scratched his arm. "I followed the sound, to where that fountain was. I hid behind a tree and watched. Saw three people from where I was."

"What were they doing?"

"Uh...one person was in front of the fountain. Another had their gun pointed at the guy directly in front a few feet away. And there was another with a gun standing to the right side of them."

He pulled up his coat collar a little. "Next thing, the guy pointin' their gun at the one in front of the fountain was bout to shoot, but the other guy ran over and wrestled him. They kept fightin' and one knocked the other out. They hit the ground pretty hard. Then what I saw, was weird."

"What was weird?"

"Well, the guy with the gun was moving funny. He tried to shoot the guy in front of him, but he kept stumblin' and missed. Tried again and missed...like he couldn't aim or somethin'. Real bad shot."

(That's interesting. I wonder why that was?)

"He tries to fire another round, but then he drops the gun. The guy at the fountain sees it as his chance and attacks him, and they fight a bit. No good cause the guy just picks up the other gun." He shrugged scratching his arm. "And when he sees the guy with the gun starting to get the upper hand, he breaks away, he starts pleading with him backing away. But that don't stop an angry man with a gun. He follows, they fight again and...BAM! Shoots em dead."

"He was angry?"

Cartman slammed his tin can down on the table. "Oh, yes! Very! Looked like the devil had possessed him! No matter how many times he was struck he just kept goin'. Just like one of them...what's the word? Bulldozer! That's it."

(I imagine this was some kind of grudge due to TL-5...)

"So after he was shot what happened next?" I asked.

"The guy falls backward into the fountain and doesn't move. The person with the gun stood there for a while. Then he tossed the gun in the fountain. Then he hobbled over back to where he dropped the other gun. Picked it up and hobbled off."

"And what about the other person? The one that was unconscious?"

"Iunno, buckaroo, I didn't stick around long enough to find out. After I saw that madman leave, I hightailed it out to a quieter park!" he said pulling up his coat collar. "Kids nowadays, can't keep their murders in private locations. In my day when murders were done, they were done in discreet places! I can't even go to a park in peace anymore to-"

"I think you've given plenty of information, and I thank you for coming forward with it." I said rubbing my temple.

"Oh, anytime, buckaroo, anytime!" he grinned happily scratching himself.

"For tomorrow, please be at the courthouse by 9:30 so you can be prepared to go on the stand," I said standing up, so I could get away from this man as quickly as I could.

"Of course! I'll be there or else my name isn't Cartman!"

I nodded, shutting the door behind me. I sighed. If that man wasn't delusional and wasn't making it all up, court would get more complicated tomorrow. Yet, this testimony was the only thing keeping this case alive, so I could hope that it would bring us closer to what truly happened. Because if a third party is involved, they held the key to everything. Of that much I was certain.

With little else I could currently do, I decided to return to the Hickfield Clinic to check on Lyn.

May 24th, 3:03 PM

Hickfield Clinic, Patient's room

"Maybe while you're here, you can pretend to be a nurse!"

"Maya...Ms. Doom can't do that."

"Why not? There's already a person pretending to be a doctor here, so why not keep the tradition alive?"

"You've got a strange idea of tradition..."

I entered the room hearing familiar voices. Wright and Ms. Fey were sitting in the chairs by the window. Lyn was sitting upright with a tray of unfinished jello in front of her.

"Hi, Mr. Edgeworth," Lyn smiled. She seemed a bit more energized today, perhaps happy to have visitors.

"It seems you have more company today."

"Yep! Maya came and even dragged Mr. Wright along too! I heard that court was exciting today," she said tilting her head.

"It was probably a bit too exciting," I remarked.

"It was. My heart stopped too many times to count," said Wright.

"At least we managed to get another day thanks to that old man," said Ms. Fey.

"Have you met with him yet, Edgeworth?"

"I did," I folded my arms. "He's...interesting."

"In other words, you mean he's off his rocker," Wright said sweating bullets.

"Something like that," I looked off to the side. "If what I've been told is correct...things will be more interesting for this case."

Wright stroked his chin. "Are the police done questioning him?"

I nodded. "He was just released."

"Hey, Nick! Maybe we should go look for him at the park!" Ms. Fey said excitedly, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Maya, don't say it in front of Edgeworth."

"Ah...Oops."

Lyn laughed. "You have such a big mouth."

"That's not true!" Ms. Fey huffed. "That's more of your deal!"

I merely shrugged.

"It doesn't matter to me if you go looking for him. We've got what we needed to know already. You can try searching the park, but you might not find him. Apparently, it's a hobby of his to explore different parks in the city."

Wright groaned. "That makes it so much easier for us..."

"Come on, Nick! It could be an adventure! We too could be park explorers!" she said clapping her hands together.

"Well, if we want to try to find him, maybe we should start looking now."

"Alright, let's do this !" she said fists pumped. "We'll be back later, Lyn!"

Wright sighed to himself. "See you later, Ms. Doom."

Lyn grinned. "See ya. Don't have too much fun."

Ms. Fey bolted out of the room and Wright followed, albeit at a much slower pace. I wondered if their search for the can man would turn anything up. But I couldn't muse for too long as a voice drew me out of my thoughts.

"Sooooooo?" Lyn asked.

"So what?"

"How are things for the prosecution? Meaning you," she pointed at me cheekily.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm pretty certain I know my position in court, Lyn."

"Psha. How do I know that? You're pretty old. Maybe you forgot."

"...I'm only two years older than you. Wouldn't that by default make you old as well?"

"Nope," she grinned. "You're pretty ancient."

I failed to grasp her logic sometimes. I shook my head.

"Ignoring that, I'm sure you've heard most of it. The only difference is that after talking to the new witness, is that I've learned that there were three parties involved and the killer was someone with a grudge against Slim."

"Aw, really that it?" she frowned slightly disappointed. "That really is nothing new..."

"Well, the only other thing I could gather is that one of the parties involved seemed like they tried to stop the murder from happening," I said arms folded.

"See, that's more interesting," she said perking up. "If that's true...who would try to stop it? As far as I know, Slim wasn't very liked."

"I'm unsure. If we're lucky tomorrow, maybe we can figure it out."

Lyn nodded without saying anything for a while. She poked at her jello with the spoon sticking out of it, before sighing up at the ceiling.

"Ahhhhhhhhh! I'm sooooo jealous," Lyn remarked. "I want to investigate too."

I began to tap my arm impatiently.

"Stupid injuries," she grumbled. "What? Don't look at me like that. You know it should have been my case."

"Are you quite done?" I asked. "While I sympathize, you're going to just have to make the best of this."

"Oh, yeah, and how do you suppose I do that in a hospital bed?" Lyn huffed.

She then proceeded to fold her arms and glare at me. I was unfazed, used to these moments. After a few moments, she sighed again.

"Fine. I guess, I'll watch TV," she pouted picking up the remote for the TV at her bedside.

"Good," I started to move toward the doorframe. "I think I'll be taking my leave now."

"Huh?" she asked distracted from channel surfing. "But you just got here."

"I didn't plan on staying long, it was just to see how you were. And I also need to think about what to do for tomorrow."

"Oh," she said flatly. "See you later, I guess."

"...I could stay a bit longer if you want."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I know you're busy. Thanks for dropping by."

I nodded. There was little I could do besides look into the case. I knew she felt bad for not being able to have active participation in it, but her main focus should be on recovering. She began watching the local news ignoring my presence, so I made my exit and decided to return to the Prosecutor's Office to prepare for trial.

May 25th, 10:00 AM

District Courtroom No. 3

Everyone had arrived, judge, spectators, and the defense. It was equally as annoying as it was yesterday to get by the media as well. Today, the energy in the courtroom was little less excited and a bit more subdued. Once everyone was in position, the judge brought the gavel down.

"Court is now in session for the trial of Alina Bunke," started the judge. "Is the defense ready?"

Wright nodded. "The defense is ready."

"Is the prosecution ready?"

"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor," I said nodding.

"The prosecution's opening statement?"

"The prosecution still stands by it's initial claims of the defendant's guilt. But with the new testimony the court shall hear today, we shall receive a clearer picture of what transpired that fateful night."

The judge nodded.

"While I still believe in the defendant's guilt, I cannot pass a verdict when we have yet to hear from a new witness. That said, is the witness prepared to testify, Mr. Edgeworth?"

"Yes, Your Honor. He's... eagerly waiting," I remarked dully. To be honest, I wasn't exactly thrilled to have him speak to me or around me for a third time.

"Good, then let's bring him in."

On his word, the bailiffs exited the room and didn't return until they had brought Mr. Cartman to the stand. Before entering, I had spoken to the old man again to review his testimony in a bit more detail. What he said made sense, but still somewhat vague to me. It was my hope that Wright could pull the rest of the information out of him. Because just looking at him, I had a feeling the cross examination would take quite some time.

"Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court."

"Cartman. Collector of cans!" he said happily putting a tin can to his ear.

"Um, that's your job?" asked Wright sweating.

"The witness is currently unemployed. His income is...canned based," I remarked.

"Hm, that's quite fascinating!" blinked the judge. "I didn't know you could make money with cans..."

"Oh jeez, it looks the judge is getting ideas..." Ms. Fey said looking exasperated.

"Well, it's an idea I may have to look into it soon considering my income, or lack there of," said Wright thoughtfully. I truly wondered if the life of a defense attorney was one of thatmuch poverty.

"The life of cans, isn't a life for everyone kiddo! It's an adventure. A sometimes hard journey to take your cans where they truly belong! Not in the streets! Not in the trash! But to the can heaven where they are most valued!" Cartman said looking at this one tin can in awe.

"Oh jeez," remarked Ms. Fey shoulders slumped. "You got him going..."

"And before you can call yourself worthy of the can life-"

"Mr. Cartman, remember you came to testify about the murder," I said cutting him short.

"Oh!" he scratched his arm. "Yeah, that's right! I almost forgot!"

I sighed looking down at my notes."Please, testify about what you saw in the park."

"You got it, buckaroo!"

Witness Testimony

At the Park

-I was sleeping on a bench in the park and that's when I heard it...

-A loud BANG!

-It woke me up...so I went to source.

-I saw three people nearby that fountain. Two of them had guns, while one didn't.

-In any case, the two people with guns fought. One of them knocked the other out.

-The one with the gun tried to shoot 3 times and missed.

-Then the guy in front of the fountain ran down and attacked the person with the gun.

-They fought for a bit...eventually ended back up at the fountain.

-The person with the gun managed to get away from the other person and shoot.

-He fell into the fountain and the other person staggered off.

The gallery was chatting up a storm. Wright looked tired already.

"Mr. Wright, you may begin your cross examination."

"Thank you, Your Honor."

Cross Examination

At the Park

-I was sleeping on a bench in the park and that's when I heard it...

-A loud BANG!

HOLD IT!

"So, the loud bang was a gunshot?"

"Sure was!" said Cartman raising a can to his ear.

"Are you positive?" asked Wright.

"I may be old, but I'm a hundred percent that that was gunshot! It was too loud not to be!"

-It woke me up...so I went to source.

HOLD IT!

"You followed the sound?"

"You betcha!"

"Um, why? If you were so certain it was a gunshot..." Wright was sweating bullets.

"I had to check it out. Wouldn't ya look if you was curious?" Cartman asked slamming his tin can down on the stand.

"To be honest, I think I'd be running in the opposite direction," Wright said rubbing the back of his head smiling sheepishly.

-I saw three people nearby that fountain. Two of them had guns, while one didn't.

HOLD IT!

"So, where were you?" he asked stroking his chin.

"I stayed behind a tree, a bit off to the side. Didn't want to be seen," Cartman said, hand raised to his mouth as though he were telling a secret.

"And the other people?"

"Well, one person was in front of the fountain. Another was standing a few feet down away from him. And the last one was standing on that person's right."

On screen, a diagram appeared. Up top, the section was marked for the fountain. Beneath was a circular blue marker with a 'v' for victim, a white circular marker a little further down, and a red marker a few feet to the right of the white one. Off to the distance to the far right was marked 'w' for the witness, standing behind a tree.

"Actually, can you identify anyone specifically?" asked Wright.

"Sorry kiddo, can't really say. I was a bit o' distance away, and it was pretty dark. I can only guess that that dead fella is the one who was standing in front of the fountain," Cartman said pulling up his coat collar.

"What makes you say that?"

"Cause the same fella started at the fountain and fell in it at the end," he scratched his arm. "Come to think of it, it was easy to pick him out since he didn't have no gun."

It appeared as though a light bulb flashed on in Wright's head because he slammed his desk with both hands, staring at the judge.

"Your Honor, the defense requests that this statement be added to the testimony since it's very important!"

The judge was a little surprised at the sudden outburst, but obliged.

"Please add your statement to the testimony."

"Aye aye, cap'n!"

-It was easy to pick the guy in the fountain out since he didn't have a gun.

OBJECTION!

"Mr. Cartman," said Wright looking down at a document in hand. "What you just said contradicts what my client testified yesterday, that the victim carried a gun."

Cartman didn't the slightest bit unnerved. He scratched his arm in a bored fashion. "Hm, well I guess that's true, but that's nothin' special, kiddo."

"Huh?" asked Wright.

"Well, didn't I tell ya yesterday? She was lyin'! Everything she said was a lie."

"But you couldn't even see anyone properly-"

OBJECTION!

"Mr. Wright," I said tapping my fingers on my arm. "This line of questioning will go nowhere. With only one gun collected as evidence, we don't know who held the other one. Meaning the victim could of possibly held it, or maybe not. Ultimately, the only thing that matters is that your client's prints were found on the gun that took the victim's life."

The judge nodded in agreement. "Mr. Edgeworth is right, Mr. Wright. Without evidence this point is irrelevant."

Wright said nothing for a moment. It looked like he was thinking, perhaps about his next move.

-In any case, the two people with guns fought. One of them knocked the other out.

HOLD IT!

"So, you mean the two people away from the one at the fountain?"

"Yep!"

"Do you know why they were fighting?" asked Wright.

Cartman shrugged. "One was about to shoot the fella at the fountain. The person to the right tried to stop them."

"Could you make out any detail that could distinguish them from each other?"

He pulled up his coat collar. "Like I said kiddo, it was hard to see in that dark! But... the one aiming the gun at the fella at the fountain was tall, kinda skinny. The one to the right of em was taller and a bit heavier, though. It was all sorta weird."

"How was it weird? I would think witnessing something like that would be more terrifying than weird."

"What's terrifying is seeing cans crushed in the street!" Cartman shook his head furiously. "No! What was weird was how they were all...what's the word...familiar? Yeah, that's it!"

"Familiar, in what sense?"

"Iunno, I got the impression that they all knew each other, eh? Heard them chit chattin' though I'd think it'd hardly be the time to chat with all these guns pointed at one another..."

I slammed my hand on the bench. "You didn't mention that they spoke!"

"Oh, I didn't? Guess it slipped my mind," he said scratching his arm nonchalantly.

The judge shook his head. "Witness, that's an important part to forget! What words were exchanged between the people at the park that night?"

"Apologies, Your Highness," he said pulling up his coat collar. "What they talked about was..."

-How the one aiming the gun at the fella in front of the fountain didn't understand.

HOLD IT!

"Didn't understand what?"

"Hell if I know, kiddo!" The old man laughed.

Wright and Ms. Fey looked exasperated, both hunching over sweating.

"The gist of it was, somethin' like, 'Don't do it! Please...you don't understand what you're doing! Just let me explain!' from the fella at the fountain and the other gun holder on the right side. That skinny one was gonna shoot, so the one next to him tried to wrestle the gun away from em. Lost the fight and got knocked out though. "

-The one with the gun tried to shoot 3 times and missed.

HOLD IT!

"They shot three times and missed? Weren't they only a few feet away?" questioned Wright.

"You're tellin' me! It was strange, I tell ya! It was like they couldn't aim or somethin'. They were sorta staggerin' with an unsteady focus I thought. But that man was lucky, being shot at three times and not bein' hit once," he said scratching his arm.

-Then the guy in front of the fountain ran down and attacked the person with the gun.

HOLD IT!

"Isn't that risky when a person is trying shooting at you?"

"Oh, well, the one shooting, think he ran out of bullets because he just stopped shooting and dropped the gun. That's when that fella took his chance to fight back."

-They fought for a bit...eventually ended back up at the fountain.

-The person with the gun managed to get away from the other person and shoot.

HOLD IT!

"How'd that happen? Didn't you say the gun they dropped ran out of bullets?"

"Ah," he scratched. "Well, after they tussled around some, the skinny one managed to grab the other gun from the person they knocked out. That's when the tables turned on that poor guy. He pointed the gun on him again, backed him up into the fountain and BAM!"

-He fell into the fountain and the other person staggered off.

HOLD IT!

"So after they shot the victim, they left the park."

"Yep, but not before they threw the gun in the fountain and took the other gun," Cartman said pulling up his coat collar.

"That's strange. Why would they take the other gun, but not the murder weapon?"

"You're guess is as good as mine, kiddo," he shrugged.

"And what about the unconscious person?"

"Dunno. I left as soon as that killer left because would ya really want to stay some place after seein' a murder?"

The gallery was murmuring excitedly. The judge banged the gavel a few times, shaking his head before speaking.

"Well, if what this witness said was true, then we have more reason to suspect the defendant of murder."

OBJECTION!

"Mr. Wright?"

"That's not the right conclusion to draw based on this testimony, Your Honor." Wright slammed his hands on his bench. "Even if these events did transpire, there's reason to doubt that my client is the killer!"

"I'm failing to see how, Mr. Wright. Please provide evidence to back up your claim," stated the judge.

TAKE THAT!

The diagram of the park the night of the crime appeared on screen.

"The park diagram?" I asked. "What should we be looking for, Mr. Wright?"

"What's important is this area right here," he said pointing to the area with the red and white markers beneath the victim. "Based on the testimony, we can assume that the killer was standing there." He pointed to the white dot, marking it 'k' for killer.

"Whoever stood to the right of the killer was a bystander," Wright said stroking his chin.

"And you're saying that your client was standing over there," I said marking the red dot as 'b' for bystander.

He nodded. "How can we be sure it wasn't the third party this man claimed to see?"

I tapped my arm, thinking. I could see the validity of the claim, yet there something that bothered me.

"While the killer could have been the third party at the park that night, there's still an issue."

"What is it?" asked Wright.

"According to our witness, the person aiming the gun at the man at the fountain, fired three shots and missed. And if we follow your theory that this person is indeed the killer, and picked up the other gun delivering the fatal shot to end the victim's life...why is it that your client has gunpowder residue on her clothing still, if she indeed is innocent?"

"Well, I'll be!" blinked the judge. "That's a curious matter, indeed! Do you have answer as to why that might be, Mr. Wright?"

Ms. Fey looked as though she were on the edge of her seat, while Wright said nothing for a while as he stood hands pressed firmly into the bench. If he couldn't produce an answer, this case was over.

After a minute or so, Wright came back to reality. "Mr. Cartman."

"Eh? What is it, kiddo?"

Wright, looked his documents tapping them with a finger. "You said that you heard a loud bang noise that woke you up in the park, correct?"

He clanked his can on the witness stand loudly. "You betcha I did! It was obnoxious!"

"And you also said, the person aiming their gun at the man in front of the fountain was moving funny, correct?"

"Right on the money!"

"If that's the case, then I think I have an idea of how my client ended up covered in gunpowder residue," Wright said putting his hands on his hips smirking.

I slammed my hand on the bench growing impatient. "Don't keep us waiting. What's your answer?"

"Heh. It's simple really," Wright said rubbing his chin. "On the night of the crime, my client did fire a gun. But it wasn't at the victim- it was at the killer."

The courtroom began to murmur in light of the new facts. The judge banged his gavel.

"But, how can you be sure?" asked the judge.

"If the defendant did fire the gun, it would be a plausible theory as to why only two shots were fired, but only one bullet was recovered," I remarked.

"And this could only mean one thing: the other bullet is in the killer's body," Wright said slamming both hands on the bench. "That's why he couldn't walk right!"

"But wait," began the judge. "Couldn't the defendant have fired regardless, if she was in the position of the killer?"

Wright shook his head. "It wouldn't add up. Let's say she did get shot in the killer's position. I don't believe she would be as easily deterred by the bullet."

"Why is that?"

"Well, the person described standing in the killer's spot, is described as tall and skinny. Ms. Bunke is tall, yes, but she's fit- a personal trainer at that. If she were shot, she'd be hurt certainly, but most likely not as off balance as the person in the killer's spot," Wright said stroking his chin.

"It's starting to look like this third party needs to be investigated, but if we don't have any clue to who they are, then we can't question them," the judge looked at Wright. "Mr. Wright, do you have any idea as to who this third person at the park was that night?"

I looked at Wright, hunched over on the bench. He looked hesitant, as if he knew, but wasn't sure if he should say.

"Nick, do you think...?" I heard Ms. Fey begin, hand covering her mouth in surprise.

"I don't know what to think, but it's the only thing that makes sense," he replied.

"Well, Mr. Wright?" started the judge. "If you don't have an answer, then this trial can't proceed any longer."

"I know who the other person at the park was that night," Wright said. "It was..."

TAKE THAT!

Suddenly the profile of a teenaged boy with long brown hair appeared on screen in front of the whole court.

The judge blinked. "Just who is this boy?"

"Derek Bunke, Ms. Bunke's son," Wright said tentatively.

"But Mr. Wright! He looks awfully young to be involved in murder," the judge said in disbelief shaking his head. "I think I'll need some evidence that connects him to the crime."

"I don't have the right evidence yet...but I could soon," Wright said somewhat more confidently.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"The defense would like to request a handwriting analysis of the letter found in the park, in addition to this," he said presenting a piece of notebook paper with writing on it. "The essay was written by Derek Bunke. If my suspicions are correct, then his handwriting should match that letter."

The judge complied and asked for a bailiff to take the pieces of evidence down to the station for forensic testing. A recess wasn't held as handwriting analysis didn't take very long and also because of how this trial would be nearing its end one way or another soon after we received those results. The gallery was gossiping up a storm the entire time until the bailiff returned with the information. The judge banged his gavel a few times to quiet everyone and read over the test results. He blinked a few times.

"I can barely believe it, but the results of the handwriting analysis is a complete match with the letter found at the park!"

The murmurs from the gallery started again, but this time in a more hushed fashion.

"With this new evidence in mind... I would like to have this young man brought to court to testify about his actions the night of the crime. I cannot pass a verdict without his testimony. Until then, court is adjourned."

The judge brought down the gavel. The chatter amongst the crowds grew louder as everyone began to file out of the courtroom. The judge returned to his chambers and the defense returned to the defendant lobby. I made my departure as well, knowing that I should start preparing for tomorrow's trial immediately by heading to the police station. While it seemed insane to suggest that a boy of that age was capable of killing in cold blood and letting his mother be sent to jail in his stead- I was aware there were crazier things in the world. And though, I wasn't entirely sure of how, I knew TL-5 was going to come up tomorrow. And it was my hope that we could uncover the truth of it once and for all.

Evidence:

Prosecutor's badge: One of my possessions. Proof of my profession. However, I prefer to keep it in my pocket.

Crime scene photos: Victim found shot dead in park fountain. Most likely the cause of death.

Autopsy Report: Estimated time of between 2AM to 3AM from bullet wound to the heart. Died within ten minutes of the shot.

Gun: The murder weapon. Two shots fired. One bullet is lodged in the victim's heart. The other is nowhere to be found.

Fingerprints: Prints on gun match Alina Bunke's.

Bullets: Found a few feet away from the fountain. Fired from a different gun.

Earring: Found in the grass in front of the fountain, belongs to Alina Bunke.

Torn fabric: Victim was clutching this in his hand.

Letter: Note telling the victim when and where to arrive for a meeting.

Park diagram: Shows map of the park with the positions of everyone the night of the crime.

Essay: School paper written by Derek Bunke.

Handwriting analysis: Essay and letter from the park compared for handwriting as total match. Both documents written by Derek Bunke.

Profiles:

Detective Gumshoe: Age 33. Detective I've grown accustomed to working with.

Lyn Doom: Age 24. My protege of sorts.

Phoenix Wright: Age 26. Defense attorney I've faced in court on a few occasions.

Maya Fey: Age 19. Normally seen with Wright. A very energetic girl.

Slim Chance: Deceased. A race car driver who once held some renown.

Alina Bunke: Age 37. Suspect. Confessed to the murder.

Cartman: Age ? A witness. Strange man who moves from park to park. Likes cans.