April 13
Defendant Lobby No. 2
9:30 AM
Felicity Amaya
The next morning, I got to the courthouse nice and early alongside Sky. I had a small smile on my face as we entered the defendant lobby, and I crossed the room over to where the couch was sitting. The trial was going to be starting soon, and I was going to be ready for it as soon as it started. I had been inside a courtroom before, but this was going to be a new experience. It was my first trial as part of the new agency, and I wasn't going to let down my employers now. I had come too far to let something like that happen, so it was going to have to be alright. People were counting on me.
"How do you think we're going to win this case?" Sky questioned once we were both sitting down on the couch. "We heard a lot from the twins yesterday, but I'm still not sure how we're going to weasel that information out of them. Even the pressure of the courtroom might not be able to get the truth out out them, as much as I hate to say it."
I frowned to myself. As much as I hated to admit it, he had a point. Both of them, whether they were prosecutor or detective, had experience in the courtroom, and they could very easily know how to handle our advances. This wasn't going to be easy, in other words. "I'm not sure... I hope that Lily knows what she's doing. She's been working at the agency much longer than us, so she knows more about the strategies of the agency," I finally told Sky.
"What's that about me?"
Lily walked to us shortly afterwards, a small smile on her face. "I heard my name," she began.
"We were just talking about our plans for solving this case. We were hoping that you might be able to help us figure out what to do next. After all, we might know what the secret of the Umber family is now, but that doesn't change the fact that we still need to force them to talk about it," Sky explained. "They're experienced with being in a courtroom, so they could know how to avoid spilling information when the pressure gets high. It's part of the job, so it wouldn't be too surprising."
Lily paused for a moment, trying to think of an answer. "Hm... I'm not sure what we're going to do right now, but we're going to figure something out. That much is a promise. No matter what happens, we will find an answer. After all, Deirdre is counting on us. We know for sure that she didn't commit the crime, and there are certainly traces left behind by the killer. All we have to do is find weak points as we go along. I'm sure that everything will be fine. No need to worry," she replied, giving both me and Sky a reassuring grin.
"We're going to be hearing from the detective on this case first... I think that we'll be able to poke a hole in that somehow, and once we figure that out, it should be easier to get the courtroom on our side," Sky said. "The first step is always the hardest in my opinion, and once we take it, hopefully things will get easier from there... That's what I'm praying for anyways. I would love it if this trial could pass as painlessly as possible, but who can say for sure if that will wind up being the case?"
"Good morning, you three."
I gasped upon hearing the new voice. I glanced around for a moment before my gaze settled on Deirdre, who was approaching us slowly. I could tell by how heavy her eyes looked that she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. I couldn't blame her in the slightest. I had found myself in the detention center before, and it was absolutely miserable to stay there even if it was just for one night. I was sure that Sky agreed with me on that since he had been there once as well. The detention center was not a fun place, but I suppose that was kind of the point of the matter... Still, was treating people that horribly without even a trial really necessary? I wasn't sure that it was, though I doubted that anybody would listen to my rantings on the matter.
"Are you alright?" Lily questioned, looking to Deirdre with a light frown. "You look absolutely exhausted..."
"I didn't sleep all that well last night," Deirdre replied with a small shrug. "You don't need to worry about me though. It's not a big deal. The trial is what matters right now."
"I suppose that you have a point..." Lily murmured, though I could tell that she was uneasy about how tired our coworker looked. "Speaking of, we come with some good news. I don't know if we'll be able to go into too much detail, but..."
"I would love to hear everything," Deirdre told her, painting a grin on her weary face. "If you can't tell me about it quite yet though, you don't need to worry. I'm sure that I'll hear about it soon enough when the trial starts."
I gasped suddenly. "Hey, I just realized... The rest of the agency isn't here. Are they in the gallery or something? Should we worry that they aren't here yet?" I questioned.
"I saw Yuri, Chrysalis, Victoria, and Mr. Morix on the way in here. Don't worry about them. They're heading up to the gallery already. None of them wanted to be late," Deirdre explained.
"I see..." Sky murmured. "As for what we learned... Let's just say that it probably won't constitute as solid evidence for the court. We're going to need to get a confession out of the people involved, so that could complicate things... Let's just say that we might have figured out a motive."
"That's an important place to start," Deirdre remarked with a nod. "I wonder if it will wind up being true... I haven't heard any mentions thus far of a motive for me to kill her. The police involved with the case are at a loss for ideas, and while it is convenient for us and means you will have less to prove in court... It truly is a display of how incompetent members of the force can be when it comes to their jobs."
Lily let out a small laugh. "You're not wrong there. I'm glad that we can agree on that though," she commented. She looked around the room before realizing that most of its occupants were starting to clear out. "Alright, it looks like it's about time for us to go into the courtroom. We have a lot of work ahead of us."
"Good luck. I'm counting on you," Deirdre told us. She bowed her head lightly before turning on her heel and going to walk inside.
I turned to Sky and Lily. "We can do this," I said firmly. I was trying to convince myself as well as them, as much as I hate to admit it, but I wasn't about to let myself feel down over this yet. After all, we still didn't know how the trial was going to go, and for all we knew, things could wind up being easier than we thought. I sure hoped for that.
April 13
Courtroom No. 2
10:00 AM
Lily Shield
When we got into the courtroom, I looked around to see if there was anything of note. The other side of the courtroom had the prosecution standing behind the bench. Chief Prosecutor Bespoke was at the center of the trio with Prosecutor Cruz off to the right. Prosecutor Umber was on the left side out of the three. All of them had a solemn expression on their faces, and I could tell that they meant business. It made sense given how important the victim was among the Prosecutor's Office. It had been a while since I last saw the first two members of the group look so serious, and it was somewhat unsettling, I must admit.
Both Sky and Felicity seemed a bit nervous as well. I could tell that they were trying to stay focused, and despite my speech of optimism, they were still nervous. It wasn't normal for somebody to be dragged into an important case like this as their first one after joining a new agency, so it wasn't too surprising to me that the stress was starting to get to them. There wasn't much I could do to help them out through words, so actions would have to work instead.
A gavel slammed down, and I found myself jumping slightly in surprise. I turned my attention towards the judge's podium, and I saw Judge Frost sitting there. This time, the woman of the twins was in charge of the case.
"Court is now in session for the trial of Deirdre Brigit," Judge Frost announced. "Are the defense and prosecution ready?"
I looked to Felicity and Sky for a moment before turning my focus back to Judge Frost. "The defense is ready," I answered confidently, hoping that my bold assertion would get the twins to feel a bit more confident in the trial.
Chief Prosecutor Bespoke didn't bother to check with how his coworkers were feeling. He continued to stare up at Judge Frost as he replied. "The prosecution is also ready," he answered simply.
"Please begin your opening statement, Chef Prosecutor Bespoke," Judge Frost instructed. She seemed to notice how serious they were, and she wasn't going to mince words.
Chief Prosecutor Bespoke nodded. "The crime took place two days ago. On the night of April eleventh, the victim invited somebody over to talk. She was supposedly looking into something, but we aren't entirely sure what it was. The victim in question was one Callie Umber, an important prosecutor in the district. She had been working in the area for many years and was known for her kindness and overall strong work ethic," he began.
"She wound up speaking with someone while looking into something for the sake of her investigation. She generally kept the details of her research quiet, so we aren't entirely sure of what she was trying to learn about," Prosecutor Cruz continued. "But the night for not end as well as she would have hoped."
"She was stabbed in the chest during the encounter. The single stab wound proved to be fatal since it pierced her heart, and she was killed instantly," Chef Prosecutor Bespoke went on. "The weapon was a simple knife taken in by forensics. It's still being tested on, so we don't have it with us, but we do have a picture."
He held up a photo of the knife in question, and I couldn't help but notice that it was slanted slightly at the edge. In other words, it wasn't equally distributed as far as sharpness, instead leaning towards the top of the blade where balance was concerned. I decided to tuck the image of the knife into the back of my mind in case I wound up needing it in the future. You could never say for sure what would or wouldn't become important, after all.
"The victim's daughter encountered someone leaving the scene. This person just so happened to be Ray Scott," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke went on. "We believe that he was the one who the victim summoned the night of the crime to speak about whatever her investigation was about. That's what the witness claims as well."
"We will call the leading detective to the witness stand shortly. Is that alright with you?" Prosecutor Umber asked, speaking up for the first time since the trial began.
"Go right ahead," Judge Frost nodded. "I doubt there will be any objections to such."
"In that case, the prosecution now calls the lead detective on the case to the witness stand," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke declared. He still seemed oddly serious, and it was strange to see him so solemn given how sleepy and relaxed he regularly was. It was a peculiar case of mood whiplash, to say the least.
Detective Hayes walked up to the stand in the seconds that followed. He seemed somewhat nervous, and he swallowed dryly. I assumed that the pressure of the courtroom was starting to bother him, and I understood that completely. It could be rather overwhelming to deal with at first.
"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Frost instructed. Once again, she was getting right down to business without a moment of hesitation.
"My name is Aidan Hayes... I'm a new detective working at the local precinct. I look into homicides, to be more specific," Detective Hayes announced.
"Please tell the court about the case's basic details," Judge Frost told him.
Detective Hayes nodded. "Alright... I'll get right down to it."
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ Case Details ~
-"The victim was killed while she was speaking to another party about an ongoing investigation she was carrying out behind the scenes."
-"She was stabbed a single time in the chest, and the knife was removed after she was killed."
-"The blood splatter was kept rather minimal, oddly enough... There's much less than you would expect."
-"The defendant should not have been at the scene of the crime if she wasn't the visitor the victim invited, and that's why the police think she did it."
-"We don't exactly have a motive for her either... It's all rather perplexing, to say the least."
-"I-I don't know what all of this could mean though... The point is that people believe she did it."
"I wonder what this could all point to... It all seems odd to me, and I don't think that she did it," Sky murmured. "I'm just not sure of how to show it yet. I don't think we can use our theoretical motive card yet either, so what do we do?"
"There's something bothering me about all of this, and I'm hoping to use that for now to get us onto the next testimony," I told him. "Trust me here. I have a plan."
"Please begin your cross-examination now, defense," Judge Frost said, unknowingly interrupting my brief chat with Sky.
"I'm on it," I nodded firmly, hoping this idea of mine led somewhere good.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ Case Details ~
-"The victim was killed while she was speaking to another party about an ongoing investigation she was carrying out behind the scenes."
-"She was stabbed a single time in the chest, and the knife was removed after she was killed."
-"The blood splatter was kept rather minimal, oddly enough... There's much less than you would expect."
-"The defendant should not have been at the scene of the crime if she wasn't the visitor the victim invited, and that's why the police think she did it."
-"We don't exactly have a motive for her either... It's all rather perplexing, to say the least."
-"I-I don't know what all of this could mean though... The point is that people believe she did it."
"Objection!"
"We would like to assert the possibility that the defendant is innocent," I announced, a small smile on my face. "We found evidence yesterday that would point to her not being the culprit, and I believe that now would be the perfect time for us to show it to the court."
"What is it then?" Prosecutor Umber asked, a frown on his face. "Why haven't we heard about this already?"
"You'll find that much out shortly," I replied. "First and foremost, we would like to point out the matter of the motive. If there is no motive for the defendant to have killed the victim, why would she sneak into the mansion in the first place to commit murder? It simply doesn't make sense. Under the idea that Mr. Scott was the visitor the victim invited over, there isn't any evidence that the defendant committed this crime."
"Do you have evidence to show that she is innocent? Physical proof is everything in court," Prosecutor Umber said sternly, his eyes narrowing in my direction.
I nodded. "As a matter of fact, we do. Near the end of our investigation yesterday, we found a closet with a broken chair in front of it. Coincidentally enough, our client also said that she was stuck inside the closet at the time of the crime. We asked the detectives on the case to examine the area for fingerprints when the chance came around. When the defendant was arrested, she was not wearing gloves, so when she pushed on the closet door to get out, fingerprints would have been found on the inside of the door," I answered.
"Do you have this evidence, Detective Hayes?" Prosecutor Cruz questioned, raising one eyebrow towards the witness stand.
Detective Hayes hesitated. "We don't have the results back quite yet... There was an issue with the forensics side of things, so the team isn't finished testing as of now..." he murmured, embarrassed to have so many eyes on him. "I'm sorry about the inconvenience..."
"Excuse me!"
I smiled to myself upon hearing the familiar voice of Mukuro. I turned to face the front of the courtroom and saw her walking inside with an envelope in hand.
"I apologize for the interruption, but I have some fingerprint results from the forensics team," she announced, taking a place next to Detective Hayes at the witness stand. "This report shows that fingerprints were found on the inside of the closet door discovered by the defense. The prints belong to the defendant. There were some glove marks found on the chair used to prop the door shut, though we are unsure as to whose hands could have made them."
"It seems that the defense's claim holds some water then," remarked Judge Frost. "How do you respond, prosecution?"
Chief Prosecutor Bespoke shrugged. "How else can we respond? It seems crystal clear to me that the truth is in the evidence. It seems the defendant has an alibi for the time of the crime after all," he commented. "But that does mean a few other issues must be discussed... If she broke into the mansion as our original case outline claims, then that wouldn't make much sense."
"If you want my opinion, I believe that she was the visitor the victim invited over. Why else would she enter the building? She doesn't have a murder motive, and she was locked in the closet at the time," I suggested. "That's what I think happened at the very least."
"I believe now would be a good time to hear testimony from our next witness," Prosecutor Umber suggested. "The defense has proposed many possibilities, but we don't know where they're going to be leading as of now. I believe that we should hear from someone who was present at the time before making any other major assumptions about what happened at the time of the crime."
Judge Frost nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. Defense, do you object at all to this?" she questioned, looking over to me.
I shook my head. "The defense has no objections," I answered. There were already a few threads that needed to be resolved at some point during this trial, and I was sure that they were going to play to my advantage. We would need to figure out who locked Deirdre in the closet, prove that she was the one who the victim invited over to investigate, show what happened to the blood splatter, and draw the motive out of the Umber twins. In doing all of that, we would hopefully be able to find out the truth behind this case that would lead us to the true culprit.
"The prosecution would like to call the first witness to the stand," Prosecutor Cruz announced. He snapped his fingers and pointed towards the podium at the center of the courtroom. "You're up."
I didn't have to look to know exactly who I was going to be seeing. Sure enough, Detective Umber appeared at the witness stand a few seconds later, a small frown on her face. I saw her fiddling with the edge of her jacket sleeve, and I got the feeling that a lot more was on her mind than she was willing to admit. Then again, I could understand why she would be so unsettled. After all, her mother was the victim of murder. That would shake anybody up.
"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Frost instructed with a small nod of acknowledgement towards Detective Umber.
Detective Umber took in a breath before letting it out and speaking. "My name is Abilene Umber. I'm a homicide detective at the local precinct, but you probably know me as something else... I'm the daughter of the victim for this case," she replied. Her expression remained solemn throughout her entire introduction.
"You saw something at the time of the crime, did you not?" Chief Prosecutor Bespoke questioned, a frown on his face as he spoke. "Please tell the court about what you witnessed around the time of the murder."
Detective Umber nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll tell you everything I know," she told him.
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ What I Saw ~
-"I was walking around my house when I ran into someone walking away from my mother's office. I knew that she was having someone over to speak, but..."
-"...I wasn't sure who it was. She was keeping it pretty secret, even from me and my brother. I don't know for sure what the topic of discussion was either."
-"The person I ran into was a police officer named Ray Scott, as I would later learn, but I didn't know that at the time."
-"I went to my mom's office, figuring that her meeting was finished, but that was when I saw the body..."
-"The defendant was standing over her, looking down at my mother's dead body. There was blood everywhere..."
-"I immediately called for backup, and police arrived not long afterwards. She was arrested and taken in as the suspect."
-"I think that the person visiting my mother was Ray Scott, though he wasn't in uniform at the time, and I don't know where the defendant came from if that's the case."
"Do you know what we're going to be doing now?" Sky questioned of me, a nervous expression on his face. "I don't have any ideas at the moment..."
"Right now, I'm most concerned with the matter of the blood splatter," Felicity remarked. "I don't know where it could have possibly disappeared to. Surely we would have heard something if anything was found at the crime scene that had the blood splatter on it, but we haven't seen any evidence to show that."
"But we do know one place that it couldn't have been," I pointed out. "Deirdre's clothing was clear of blood when we met her at the detention center. If she was covered in blood at the time of her arrest, it would have been mentioned by now as something lined up against her. I bet that it has something to do with Mr. Scott. That's my idea right now, at the very least."
"You'll just have to prove it then," Sky said with a small frown. "I hope that you know what you're doing here... I'm starting to get a bit worried. We have so many loose threads to wrap up, but I don't have any ideas on where we're supposed to start."
"You don't need to worry about it. I have everything under control," I told him before looking up to Judge Frost once again. "The defense is ready to begin the cross-examination."
"Go right ahead then," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke answered with a nod.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ What I Saw ~
-"I was walking around my house when I ran into someone walking away from my mother's office. I knew that she was having someone over to speak, but..."
-"...I wasn't sure who it was. She was keeping it pretty secret, even from me and my brother. I don't know for sure what the topic of discussion was either."
-"The person I ran into was a police officer named Ray Scott, as I would later learn, but I didn't know that at the time."
-"I went to my mom's office, figuring that her meeting was finished, but that was when I saw the body..."
-"The defendant was standing over her, looking down at my mother's dead body. There was blood everywhere..."
-"I immediately called for backup, and police arrived not long afterwards. She was arrested and taken in as the suspect."
-"I think that the person visiting my mother was Ray Scott, though he wasn't in uniform at the time, and I don't know where the defendant came from if that's the case."
"Hold it!"
"Just what was he wearing when you ran into him?" I asked. "Please give as many details as possible."
Prosecutor Umber placed her pointer finger on her chin. "Hm... He was wearing all black, I believe. Long sleeves, long trousers... I think he had gloves on as well," she replied. "Why do you ask? Do you think it'll turn out to be important?"
I nodded. "I think that we've just found the answer to our question regarding the blood splatter. Think about it this way: the blood splatter wouldn't have been easy to see if he was wearing black clothes. On top of that, he was seen moving away from the crime scene. The witness could have made a mistake as far as smelling the blood. Since it was coming from the office as well as Mr. Scott, then she could have believed at the time that there was nothing suspicious about him," I explained.
"You think that he's the culprit, in other words," Prosecutor Cruz remarked with a frown. "Do you have anything else that could back this idea up?"
"I believe so... This case would only make sense if the victim was stabbed from the front in the chest. The blood splatter would have had to get on something if she was stabbed from the front rather than staying at the crime scene," I began to say.
"You mean to say that it's impossible for her to have been stabbed from being by someone using an underhanded grip," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke picked up. "The way the blade lines up with the wound on the victim's chest backs that up as well. She must have been attacked from the front, and the blood splatter would have had to blend in with something on the culprit. No traces of any other covers have been found at the scene of the crime."
"The detectives have been searching the building thoroughly since yesterday," Prosecutor Umber murmured. "I suppose that they cracked down after the issue with the closet slipped past them. If they haven't found anything despite broadening their horizons on the search of the building, then I guess that this theory is our main explanation for what happened to the blood splatter."
"It would make sense if the defendant was the one who was invited over by the victim as well," Prosecutor Cruz pointed out. "She would have already been in the building, but then the culprit could have pushed her in the closet with intentions of framing her by depriving her of an alibi. I doubt that they had any ideas that she would break out on her own, and their plan began to fall apart."
"The one thing I don't understand is what the motive would have been as far as the culprit goes. We don't have any notable connections between the victim and Mr. Scott just as we didn't have anything between the defendant and the victim," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke said next. "We need to find a basis for why the culprit committed the crime, but there doesn't seem to be any solid evidence."
I looked back to the witness stand, seeing that Detective Umber had grown rather jittery. She was playing with the edge of her hair now as she stared intently at the wood of the podium. I could tell that she wasn't a fan of this conversation and that she was waiting for it to be over.
"Detective Umber, I must ask you... Do you know of any potential motive that anyone would have had against your mother?" I questioned. "You knew her rather well since you lived together. Even if you were not aware of why she invited over the defendant, you must know something about a reason that she might be placed in danger."
Detective Umber looked up slowly, a glare forming in her eyes. She banished it quickly with a shake of her head. "I don't know anything... Even if I did, I don't know if I would be allowed to talk about it," she remarked.
"Not allowed to talk about it?" Chief Prosecutor Bespoke questioned. His eyes narrowed, and his oddly serious demeanor took over once again. "This is a matter of life and death. We could let a killer go free or stop them in their tracks now. If you have a reason that someone would want to go after your mother, then you have to tell us about it. This could very well be the difference between finding the culprit or not."
Detective Umber hesitated. "I don't..." She swallowed nervously, glancing around the courtroom. "I really can't talk about it. Listen, maybe this is a matter of life and death as well! You can't just assume that I can tell you when I really can't afford to risk that! Nobody in this courtroom can chance being involved with this. It's dangerous, and I'm not going to drag you into this."
I was silent for a moment before speaking up. "Please... For the sake of your mother... Tell us. She would have wanted the culprit behind her death to be found. To let her spirit be laid to rest, tell us everything that you know," I insisted.
Detective Umber was silent again, but she let out a small sigh. "Fine. I'll tell you what I can," she grumbled unhappily.
With the release of this chapter, I have a minor reminder for you readers: this story is categorized as Ace Attorney for the sake of structure even if there are no canon characters. This has been the case for the series since its establishment more than five years ago, and it will not be changing anytime soon. With that said, I must request that the asking for canon characters to be added into the story stop. It is highly disrespectful to what I have planned and done with this series during its runtime and implies that I should bring my other plans to a halt to accommodate readers. In short, it is very rude, and I would request that you write for yourself if you wish to add canon characters into this universe. I am fine with fan fiction so long as I am credited properly, so if that is something you would like to see, go for it, but please stop asking me personally about it. Thank you for understanding.
-Digital