May 30

Courtroom No. 2

11:15 AM

Lily Shield

Cassidy approached the witness stand, playing with the jet-black tips to her hair. She was glancing around the courtroom nervously, as if she was afraid of something. I realized soon after thinking this that she was likely concerned about what she had told us yesterday. If one of the investigators of the murder was seen fleeing from the scene, Cassidy could be in some serious danger. If they caught wind of it, they'd undoubtedly target her. For all we knew, they could be in the courtroom watching, waiting for her to say something that they could use against her. I felt myself shudder just thinking about something so dark.

"Please state your name and occupation," Robbie instructed of her, tapping his fingers against the prosecution bench before him aimlessly. I couldn't tell if she had spoken with him about her suspicions or not. If she had, Robbie wasn't doing anything to show me that they'd talked about it. I wasn't entirely sure if he was going to buy it or not when he heard, assuming he hadn't already. On one hand, he could claim that she was only trying to protect her friend and keep her from going to jail since she did kill the victim. On the other, he could trust her since she's worked at the Prosecutor's Office for quite some time now as the assistant to Chief Prosecutor Bespoke. I couldn't say for sure how he was going to respond, but I couldn't just speculate about it for now. I'd have to wait and see if I wanted the answer to that riddle.

"My name is Cassidy Rinko," Cassidy said softly, staring down at her toes in silence. "I'm a high school student at Blackgate High School near here. I also work as the assistant to the district's chief prosecutor, Ghastly Bespoke. I've been working alongside him for about two years now both in and out of court."

"Thank you, witness," Judge Frost nodded. "Please tell the court about what you saw the day of the murder. Do not leave any details out."

"I understand," Cassidy assured her. She seemed to be getting paler as the seconds passed by. This moment right here was going to be one of the most important in the entire case. If she told the truth, we would be able to free Ms. Mercure sooner, but we'd have to adjourn court to find another suspect, which would inevitably hurt Cassidy since the real killer would have more chances to go after her. If she hid the information about the figure she saw, it would be harder to find evidence to help out Ms. Mercure, but we wouldn't have to worry as much about a second victim appearing out of nowhere. Either way, things were not going to be ending pretty for this case, that was for sure.

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ What I Saw ~

- "I-I was there that day with Neptune. She wanted to talk with the victim about the Oracle of the Law."

- "Both of them have been looking into it recently, though neither one of them has found anything conclusive."

- "Neptune was going to talk to him, but after a big argument, they split up."

- "Later on, while we were fixing her car, her bag went missing. She thought he had taken it, so we parted ways to find it."

- "I went over by the docks. I was searching in some bushes thinking that he might have hidden it there, but..."

- "Instead of finding the bag, I saw the body floating nearby...!"

- "I also saw... No, never mind. It isn't important."

"That sounds about like what the prosecution mentioned before," Judge Frost noted. She seemed to be intentionally ignoring the last statement like she didn't think it mattered. I couldn't quite say the reasoning behind it nor was I sure that it mattered. We could ask about it later on in the trial anyways.

"It does match up rather well," Robbie agreed with a nod. "Alright, defense. It's time for you to look over her testimony."

"Do you think Cassidy told them about the person she saw?" I asked, turning to Chrysalis.

"I think there's a chance she did. Prosecutor Cruz has been oddly silent since she turned up. I can't say for sure if it's a good or bad thing, but I guess we'll see," Chrysalis frowned. "For now, I'm afraid that we'll have to draw the truth out of her. As much as I hesitate to do so for her safety, I feel that this is the only way we'll find the truth. Besides, maybe we can get a few trusted friends to look out for her should somebody turn up to attack her. I could probably find somebody around to help us out in that regard. However, until we can ask for any assistance, we need to wrap this up. We'll have to reveal the truth behind what she witnessed. Don't hold anything back."

"Alright," I nodded. "I'll begin my cross-examination now."

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ What I Saw ~

- "I-I was there that day with Neptune. She wanted to talk with the victim about the Oracle of the Law."

- "Both of them have been looking into it recently, though neither one of them has found anything conclusive."

- "Neptune was going to talk to him, but after a big argument, they split up."

- "Later on, while we were fixing her car, her bag went missing. She thought he had taken it, so we parted ways to find it."

- "I went over by the docks. I was searching in some bushes thinking that he might have hidden it there, but..."

- "Instead of finding the bag, I saw the body floating nearby...!"

- "I also saw... No, never mind. It isn't important."

"Hold it!"

As I spoke, I internally hoped and prayed that Cassidy would be able to forgive me for what I was about to do. "I think that what you were going to say is very important, witness," I told her with a small frown. I pleaded internally with the great sheep god that Ms. Mercure had mentioned that the person Cassidy had seen was not in the courtroom at the moment since that would undoubtedly spell trouble for Cassidy in at least twelve different ways. "If you don't mind my asking, would you please tell us what you saw that day? We'll be able to use it to find the truth behind this case. We could free your friend if you can tell us all you know about the case. I know how much you care about her." I knew factually that she already knew all of this stuff, but I wanted to repeat it for her mental sake. She could definitely use some reassurance, which I was glad to provide to her in her moment of need.

Cassidy's shoulders grew somewhat tense. She let out a small sigh. "Alright..." she whispered. "I saw somebody fleeing from the scene of the murder. I know it wasn't Neptune. It was somebody else entirely. I think that they're the one who killed the victim. I didn't see much, but I can tell you what I do know."

"Please do," Prosecutor Cruz piped in, crossing his arms and frowning. I could tell that he wasn't exactly buying it. Judging by the doubt on his face, it seemed to me that Cassidy had told them about what she'd seen that day. Robbie was a bit more trusting than Prosecutor Cruz, it seemed, so while he was able to follow what Cassidy was saying and trust her on it, Prosecutor Cruz wasn't quite so quick to believe her on her word, likely since she hadn't mentioned it sooner.

"I saw a woman running away from the body. She had long hair, but it wasn't the same texture or anything as Neptune's. It looked to be a lot thinner. Plus, it was perfectly straight, and as you can see when you look at Neptune..." At Cassidy's words, we all turned to look at Ms. Mercure, specifically noting her puffy and curly hair. "That doesn't exactly match the description of the woman I saw. Plus, Neptune wasn't quite as busty as the figure I saw."

"Can you give us any specifics on their hair color or what they were wearing?" Judge Frost asked, her face tightly knit into a frown.

"I'm afraid not... Because of the way the sun was positioned at the time, I could only see a silhouette. I can still promise you with complete certainty that it wasn't Neptune though. There is no way that the person I saw was Neptune. If it was, I certainly would have recognized her," Cassidy told Judge Frost.

"How can we trust what you are saying at face value?" Prosecutor Cruz asked. "For all we know, you could just be lying to protect the defendant. If I recall correctly, the two of you are close friends. I wouldn't be surprised if you were saying these things, pinning the blame on someone else, just to keep her from going to jail. As crazy as it sounds, there are people that try to protect murderers. Are you one of those strange and wild people, witness? Are you?"

"N-No, I swear that I'm telling the truth!" Cassidy cried. "If somebody I knew had committed a crime, especially murder, I would definitely tell somebody about it! Letting them roam around is just asking for somebody else to get hurt or killed! Trust me, if she did it, I wouldn't be here trying to protect her reputation!"

"Calm yourself, Prosecutor Cruz," Judge Frost cut in harshly. "As of now, we have no reason to doubt or trust her words. Without evidence, testimony is simply empty words, talk of random people on the street. We cannot prove or disprove what she is saying, so we don't have a reason to dwell on it with argumentation. However, we are lacking in evidence, which means that we may have to follow along for the time being. Even if we learn later she was telling lies, we can simply start from a different place and try to find the truth from there. However, as of right now, all we can do is listen. We will lose nothing by doing so. I think that we should have her tell us more about the mysterious figure that she saw, this time in a formal testimony. This way, through cross-examination, we can press her and hear more on the matter. If there are no objections, I will have her begin a second testimony. What do you think, defense? Prosecution?"

"I'd be happy to have her testify again," I said with a nod. I was surprised but happy that Judge Frost was letting us listen more to Cassidy. It would definitely help out our case if we could get just a bit more information out of her regarding the mysterious figure. Ms. Mercure was closer and closer to being freed each and every minute! I could definitely get used to having a judge on my side like this!

"Fine," grumbled Prosecutor Cruz. "Even if I think this could lead to nothing but disappointment, fine."

"The prosecution has no objections," Robbie cut in, shooting a small glare to Prosecutor Cruz. I would have to ask him later about how working with Prosecutor Cruz was. From what I could tell, he was absolutely miserable, even if he was hiding it rather well. A sister's instinct can always reveal that stuff.

"In that case, begin your testimony now," Judge Frost instructed. Cassidy responded with a small nod and spoke once more.

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ The Shadowy Figure ~

- "The person I saw was definitely taller than Neptune, but I doubt the difference was more than a few inches."

- "They were really busty like I mentioned earlier, so maybe they owned the garment found in the lake."

- "Their hair was straight and thin, which doesn't at all match up with Neptune's hair."

- "They were running away from the crime scene quickly, like they were trying to escape."

- "I have a feeling that I've seen this person around the crime scene, actually, though I can't say for sure..."

- "I don't know their name either. I saw the person who I think I glimpsed before from a distance, so that might be wrong."

- "To put it simply, I saw somebody that day. Sorry for not mentioning it before."

"Why didn't you mention it before, witness?" Prosecutor Cruz asked, his expression an intense glare. "You should have told someone during the official questioning session yesterday. Just bringing it up now makes it seem like you may have fabricated it just to keep your friend from going to jail. It's suspicious."

"I'm sorry... I was too scared to even think about it. I couldn't say for sure if the person I saw was on the investigation team or not, so I was worried that if they heard, they'd try to silence me," Cassidy explained to him. "I'm really sorry about it. I just didn't want to get hurt... I don't even know their name or any other details aside from what I mentioned. When I saw somebody who looked similar around the crime scene, it was from really far away. I couldn't see any details then either, so I don't think I can tell you much else. I wish I could say more, but..." Her voice trailed off as she stared at her feet, clearly looking for an excuse to not have to meet Prosecutor Cruz's eyes for much longer. His glare certainly was intense, to put it simply. I certainly wouldn't want to be on the other side of it.

"Regardless, I think that we should have the defense begin the cross-examination. We can discuss this more in a moment," Judge Frost cut in, making Prosecutor Cruz back off. "If you wouldn't mind, defense..."

"I'll get right to it," I nodded. Cassidy closed her eyes and repeated her testimony after I gestured for her to do so.

~ Cross-Examination ~

~ The Shadowy Figure ~

- "The person I saw was definitely taller than Neptune, but I doubt the difference was more than a few inches."

- "They were really busty like I mentioned earlier, so maybe they owned the garment found in the lake."

- "Their hair was straight and thin, which doesn't at all match up with Neptune's hair."

- "They were running away from the crime scene quickly, like they were trying to escape."

- "I have a feeling that I've seen this person around the crime scene, actually, though I can't say for sure..."

- "I don't know their name either. I saw the person who I think I glimpsed before from a distance, so that might be wrong."

- "To put it simply, I saw somebody that day. Sorry for not mentioning it before."

"Hold it!"

"So you said that this person was from the investigative team, correct?" I asked. "Or, at the very least, you suspect that they're involved in the case somehow?"

Cassidy nodded. "Yeah... I'm not entirely positive though. After thinking I saw them, I stayed as far away as I could. I didn't want to get too close in case they heard about what I saw and tried to hurt me. In my time working with Ghastly, I've seen a lot of cases where killers will do anything to silence witnesses. I didn't want to be the next one attacked or drugged so they'd forget about everything that happened, you know?" she asked. She was still toying with the tips of her hair quietly, clearly nervous that she was going to end up hurt despite being in a public place such as this one.

"If you think that you saw somebody like that, I think that it's reason enough for us to halt this trial for the time being and do a little bit of questioning," I suggested. "If the witness really did see somebody from the investigative team running from the body that day, we have a lead. We need her to help us figure out who it was so we can lock them up or hear what they have to say on the matter. This case is lacking in evidence. Anything that we can get can help us in the long run. With barely anything to go off, I don't see any other choice than to see if she can help us figure out who the person she saw was."

"Objection!"

"We can't just trust her words like that! For all we know, she could still be lying to protect her friend! Without any evidence to back it up, we can't just go along with this sudden nonsense! If she really saw this stuff, she should have brought it up during the official session of questioning yesterday!" Prosecutor Cruz exclaimed. "If we just go along with this, we could come to all sorts of false conclusions! For all we know, she could be an accomplice trying to pin this on an innocent investigator!"

"Objection!"

"You don't have any evidence to prove that, Prosecutor Cruz." I was shocked to hear that this voice belonged to Robbie. I hadn't expected him to step up in this way. He normally didn't lose his cool to openly object with his partner in court. As a matter of fact, I had never seen it happen before. "While that is a possibility, there's also the chance that she's telling the truth. If you're spouting baseless assumptions like this, then you could be the one to lead us to a false conclusion. What do you think of that?"

"Objection!"

"You can go around acting all high and mighty, saying that I have no proof on that, but you don't have any proof that she's telling the truth! For all we know, she could be an accomplice to the killer! Anybody could easily get hurt if we take her words at face value! Do you want people to get killed over this stuff?!" Prosecutor Cruz roared in response. He slammed his hands against the bench before him, making me flinch. I wanted to break up their fighting, knowing full well that something bad could happen if I didn't, but at the same time, something deep inside me was too scared to even think about it.

"Objection!"

"The witness could easily get killed if we aren't careful and delicate with this situation! While I understand what you're saying about there not being any evidence, we have to be sensible about this! We barely have any evidence pointing to the defendant's guilt or innocence! If we need to follow along with what the witness is saying for a little while so that we'll be a little bit closer to the truth, then so be it! I think that we should listen to what she has to say until it's been proven without a shadow of a doubt that she's lying!" Robbie cried out in response. He didn't get mad enough to the point of yelling very often. It had been years since I'd seen him do something like that. I could tell that he was getting angrier than he'd been in a long time. I looked to Chrysalis, wondering what she was thinking. She just had her thumb pressed against her bottom lip in fear, clearly unsure of what she was supposed to do to break this up.

Fortunately for us, we didn't have to do anything to quiet the bickering men. Judge Frost picked up her gavel and slammed it loudly against the podium before her. "Enough of this!" she shouted. "You both will stop yelling this instant! We have much more important things to discuss, such as where the trial is going to head from here on out. It's clear that we can't exactly continue things as they are. Without somebody being conclusively named by the witness, we can't call anyone else in to give testimony. To me, it seems that we have no choice but to adjourn court for the time being. I would like both sides to investigate thoroughly and bring up as much evidence as they can find. Prosecution, I need you to conduct a session in which the witness sees if she can figure out who she saw the day of the murder. We'll need that detail if we are to proceed with this case tomorrow. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," came the response of Robbie, who had taken to crossing his arms instead of arguing with Prosecutor Cruz. In a way, they were rather similar. Sure, Prosecutor Cruz was a bit more stubborn and headstrong than Robbie was (which is actually a bit of an accomplishment given how my brother could be at times), but they had a similar structure. They both believed greatly in the things they had faith in and wouldn't let it waver. While Robbie was on my side in believing that Cassidy was telling the truth (likely since he trusted in the me that believed in her), Prosecutor Cruz wasn't quite so sure. That was just his take on the matter, it seemed. Even if they were so much alike though, I couldn't help but question whoever thought it was a good idea to pair them up. In my eyes, it seems like a recipe for nothing short of complete disaster, if their giant argument mere moments before wasn't enough of an indication of that already.

"Defense, I take it that you'll look into what you must as well, yes?" Judge Frost questioned, turning to Chrysalis and I next. She was turning her gavel over between her fingers, clearly itching to slam it down and bring the trial to an end for the day. I couldn't at all say that I blamed her. After that big blowup from the prosecution, anybody would be desperate to get away from an awkward situation like that, myself included. Chrysalis seemed just as eager to escape it as I was, judging by her constant shifts in position.

"Of course, Judge Frost," I confirmed with a nod. Admittedly, I had no idea what we'd be looking into. Until we got word from Cassidy about who the figure she saw was, we couldn't really talk to anybody without risking it being a waste of time. We'd be doing quite a bit of sitting around and thinking for the start of the afternoon. I wasn't entirely excited for it, given the fact that I'd just end up nervous and jittery about it, but at the same time, I longed for a moment to just take a deep breath and relax at the agency. The case had been chaotic thus far, and I highly doubted it was going to be getting much better anytime soon.

"In that case, court is adjourned," Judge Frost declared. She didn't bother repeating our instructions to us like other judges may have, instead getting directly to the point. She slammed her gavel down quickly and got to her feet. At this motion, everyone in the courtroom did the same. I began to gather my papers together so I'd be able to take them with me more easily. Chrysalis began to help out. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was distracted about something, but since it was so loud in the courtroom thanks to the gallery, I wasn't able to ask. Instead, I just made a mental note to myself to question her about it later.

May 30

Defendant Lobby No. 4

12:30 AM

Lily Shield

When we were finally cleared of the crowd and back out in the lobby, I let out a small sigh. "I don't know about you, Chrysalis, but I definitely think that could have gone better," I told her. While I also knew that things could have easily gotten much, much worse, the trial hadn't exactly gone perfectly either. In a way, I suppose that was to be expected when this was my first trial without Mr. Morix at my side. It was bound to seem difficult. The lack of evidence and bickering between Robbie and Prosecutor Cruz certainly didn't help the situation one bit, just stressing me out even more than I thought possible.

"I guess we can just be happy Judge Frost didn't rule Neptune guilty right off the bat. I bet there are some people out there who would jump the gun and declare that she did it without looking into the facts first," Chrysalis said. She was playing with the gray sleeves on her jacket, not meeting my eyes for some reason. "If you don't mind, Lily, I think I'm going to meet you down at the crime scene a bit later on. There are a few things I want to take care of before we keep looking into the murder. You don't need to wait for me. You can just head on down there and start looking around. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Alright," I nodded. "What is it that you want to do? I can always help if you think that you might need it. I may be new to this lawyer business, but I like to think that I'm not entirely useless at it, you know?"

"I just want to talk to my brother a little bit," Chrysalis explained simply, still tugging gently on the edge of her sleeve absentmindedly. "I'd prefer to do it in person is all. I'm going to chat with him a little bit about what's happened, get some advice from him to see if he has any tips for us, and then I'll meet you back at the lake. If you think that you'll need me sooner, just shoot me a text and I'll try to come over a bit sooner. Does that sound okay to you?"

"That sounds fine to me," I shrugged. "I'm going to talk to Ms. Mercure a little bit about the murder and head over there myself. I hope to see you soon. When you're about to arrive, text me so I can tell you where I am. We're going to need all the investigative time that we can get, so I don't want you wandering around wondering where I disappeared to. That would only waste the precious minutes that Judge Frost was generous enough to give us today."

Chrysalis nodded and turned on her heel, walking away with a wave. I watched her go before glancing around, looking for Ms. Mercure. She appeared next to me not long after, arms crossed as she met my eyes. "I'm glad that I'm still on trial, oddly enough," she sighed. "It's better than being written off as a murderer right out of the gate, you know? Regardless, I'll be counting on you two to help me get out of the detention center tomorrow. I take it you're still up to the task?"

"Of course I am!" I chirped. "I'm going to have you out of the detention center as soon as I can! I'm going to be heading down to the lake to keep investigating. Chrysalis won't be joining me until later, but I'm going to find all that I can while I'm there. Is there anything in particular about the murder you want me to hear about ahead of time? I've already heard a majority of what we know so far, but I might as well check in case something has popped up, you know?"

Ms. Mercure nodded. "I understand. I don't think I have anything for you though," she said with a small shrug. "Sorry about that. But... I would like you to help me out with Cassidy. I don't want her to get hurt. Do you think you could maybe see if anybody you know would be willing to look after her? If the killer really is part of the investigation team, she could end up in some serious trouble. Maybe Chrysalis could ask the chief prosecutor. They seem to be friends, at least from what Cassidy has told me since we first met."

"I'll text her and see what she can arrange," I told her. "Is that all that you need from me?"

"As of now, yes. I want you to come by and tell me about the results of your investigation after you've finished everything up for today. I'm curious about the details. I sort of have to be, since I'm on trial and could be facing life in prison," Ms. Mercure joked with a small but tired sigh. "I should be getting back to the detention center now. I'll see you a little bit later, Ms. Shield."

I bid Ms. Mercure farewell and headed for the door myself. It was time to head to the crime scene and pray that I didn't accidentally run into Prosecutor Cruz once I got there. I did not want to put up with him if he was going to be in a grumpy mood. After all, I already had other things to take care of as it was.

I'm here with an update. Woo.

Like I said last week, I'm only updating once this week. Why? I'm going to be out of town and won't have access to a computer, so typing will be too much of a hassle for me to easily deal with. I'm going to try and type up next week's chapter in advance so you will still get one though. Because of my busy schedule, I can't say for sure if it will be out. If I don't get it out, you'll get two QATH updates in two weeks when I return.

Also, I feel the need to say that this entire case has got to be the most awkward one I've ever written. The primary piece of evidence being a bra is a key part of the case (if you can at all believe it), but at the same time, it feels weird talking about that stuff in a professionalish story like this. I feel like I'm committing some sort of writing crime. Then again, who cares about rules and laws? This is Ace Attorney! It can be as wild and boobish as it wants to be! You've met April May, right?

Regardless of anything of that nature, I hope that you enjoyed!

- Digital