Chapter Four: Turnabout Regret; Trial - Part 1
" N-No... I...It wasn't me... It wasn't me!"
A man stood by a corpse, repeating the same words over and over again.
February 20, 2019
"Finally, I have read all of the documents..."
Phoenix said to himself. This is a one tough trial, because there is almost zero evidence proving his client's innocence.
"Ugh... I'm really stressing myself out..."
Then, he thought about visiting Iris.
Detention Center
Iris appeared, and sat down.
"Feenie? It's so good to see you again!"
Phoenix smiled.
"Well, I wanted to see that beautiful smile of yours again."
Iris blushed.
Phoenix
"And, I just wanted to relax for a bit..."
Iris
"W-Why? Is something wrong?"
Phoenix
"Well, there's this case which seems almost impossible for me to win. My investigation was hopeless. I just hope I can prove him innocent."
Iris
"Thank you for telling me, Feenie. I think you should rest a bit, get yourself together, then I'm sure there's nothing you can't win." she said with a smile.
Phoenix laughed.
"Haha, thank you, Iris. But even if I wanted to rest, the trial's for tomorrow. I must get ready for it soon."
Iris
"You believe in your client, right?"
Phoenix
"Of course I do."
Iris
"Then there shouldn't be anything to worry about. I know you can do this, Feenie. I believe in you."
Phoenix scratched the back of his head.
"You always know how to cheer me up, Iris."
Then he proceeded to explain the case to Iris.
Iris
"...I see. You should talk to your client first, Feenie. Get more information from him, you know?"
Phoenix
"I will, but before that, I wanna spend some time with you!"
Iris seems surprised.
"A-Are you sure? I mean, you shouldn't waste any time here, Feenie..."
Phoenix
"Are you kidding? I'm not wasting any time, Iris, believe me."
Iris
"Whatever you say, Feenie."
They talked a bit about their life and complimented each other, of course.
Phoenix
"Alright, I think it's time for me to talk to my client. But I promise I'll spend more time with you after the trial!"
Iris
"Take care, Feenie. And remember, I'm counting on you."
Soon, Iris left the room and a mysterious man entered after her.
Phoenix
"Hello, you must be my client, Mr... What was it again?" He said as he scratched the back of his head.
The mysterious man answered
"Luke. You can call me whatever you like, I guess."
This guy may seem soft on the outside, but his personality definitely contradicts his looks. He wears glasses, and his hair is middle-sized.
Phoenix
"Alright, Mr. Luke, I'd like to hear what happened. You may be my only chance."
Luke
"Would you believe me?"
Phoenix
"Why wouldn't I?"
Luke
"Alright, here's the story. As you may know, I'm a part time delivery guy. I was delivering this one pizza to a woman, it was an ordinary day like the others. But, as I ringed the bell, no one answered the door. And I noticed that the door was slightly open. I never encountered something like this, so I knocked the door and proceeded to go inside."
Phoenix
"T-Then..?"
Luke
"That's all I remember. I only remember waking up with a knife in my hand and that woman, dead, lying on the ground. I was pretty shocked, and I got up. After a few seconds, I saw someone standing at the entrance, looking at me with a shocked face."
Phoenix thought
"So there is a witness... Convincing the court will be pretty hard, but I have to do this, I can't see any Psyche-Locks on him, so he must be innocent."
Phoenix asked
"One more question, Mr. Luke..."
Luke
"Yeah, go ahead."
Phoenix
"You didn't kill her, did you?"
Luke stared at Phoenix for a few seconds...
"As I said, I can't remember anything after going through that door. Maybe I really did it? Maybe I'm innocent? Who knows..."
Phoenix thought
"...No Psyche-Locks, I guess he's not lying about not remembering anything after going in."
Phoenix
"You don't have any relation to the victim, right?"
Luke
"Actually, she's my ex."
Phoenix was surprised
"R-Really?!"
Luke nodded
Phoenix
"This will be one hell of a trial, then."
Luke smirked
"Well, see ya in court, Mr. Lawyer dude. I don't care what verdict I'll get after this point."
Phoenix
"I'll get you a not guilty, trust me."
Luke left the room.
Phoenix had to think about the case a little more, so he went back to his office.
February 21, 2019
District Court
Courtroom No. 3
"This is it, the big day. I only got 2 hours of sleep, though..." Phoenix thought. "I wonder who's the prosecutor in this case?"
Then, a young woman appeared at the prosecution's bench.
"Who's this girl..?" Phoenix thought.
She looks like a warrior, with her weird ancient Greek-style outfit and all.
And finally, the judge appeared at his own bench and sat down.
Judge
"This court is hereby in session for the trial of Luke Willgood! Is the defense and prosecution ready?"
Phoenix
"Yes, Your Honor."
The Judge was slightly confused, as he never saw the young prosecutor before.
"Ms. Prosecutor, who are you exactly?" He asked with a surprised face
The mysterious prosecutor faced the defense.
"You must be Mr. Phoenix Wright, right?"
Phoenix
"..Yes, do you know me?"
She answered with a smirk on her face.
"I am your fear, the terror of courts, Astraea Red!"
Phoenix paused for a bit.
"...I never heard about you before."
Astraea
"You'd better learn it, it will be a name you'll never forget!"
Phoenix appeared confident
"Oh? Bring it on then!"
Astraea turned to the Judge
"Let us commence forth, Your Honor! I am ready."
Judge
"Very well, then. Your opening statement, Ms. Red."
Astraea pulled a scroll
"This man named Luke Willgood, a mere delivery man, killed his ex after she ordered a 'pizza'. It was definitely caused by jealousness. And we have proof! Let the detective on this case take the stand!"
Then, a familiar face appeared on the witness stand.
"Detective Gumshoe..? Again?" Phoenix thought.
Gumshoe
"Hey pal! This time you won't be so lucky! I'm gonna take that smile off your face!"
Phoenix
"Gee.. Thanks, detective."
Astraea
"Enough with this chit chat! Witness, name and occupation."
Gumshoe
"Name's Dick Gumshoe, I'm a homicide detective."
Astraea
"Give us your testimony."
Gumshoe
"Yeah, sure pal! This will be a case breaking testimony, just watch!"
WITNESS TESTIMONY - My Case Breaking Testimony, Pal!
•"So, let's see... The crime happened at 4:16 PM, and the pizza order came at around 4:02 PM. Let me say this too, the pizza arrived at 4:12 PM."
•"And as you may know, the delivery guy and that woman were lovers once."
•"When the report came in, we got there in 7 minutes! Pretty fast, huh?"
•"The murder weapon is a kitchen knife, as seen here. And it has the defendant's fingerprints on it!"
•"And there's a witness to the murder! Pretty case breaking, huh?"
•"You should better give up, there's no hope for you!"
Phoenix
"...Is that all?"
Gumshoe laughed
"Yeah, whaddya think? Is it better than the last one?"
Phoenix
"It might be better than the last one, but there are still some questions I need to ask. Your Honor, I want to cross examine the witness!"
Judge
"Very well, your cross examination, if you please Mr. Wright."
Astraea
"Hah, cross examination? What nonsense! It won't save you now."
Phoenix thought
"Just watch, missy."
CROSS EXAMINATION - My Case Breaking Testimony, Pal!
Phoenix
"First, let me state that my client does not remember anything after he entered the room!"
OBJECTION!
Astraea objected.
"We can not take that criminal's words as evidence!"
Phoenix
"B-But-"
Astraea
"You should know better, Mr. Phoenix Wright!"
Phoenix thought
"I guess I have to take another route of approach..."
Phoenix
"I don't think that the victim being an ex girlfriend of my client really changes anything."
Gumshoe
"You're serious, pal?! It gives him a huge motive!"
Phoenix
"But, exes don't go around killing each other, right?"
Gumshoe appeared confident
"It was most definitely out of jealousy, believe me."
Phoenix
"But you can't know that!"
Astraea crossed her arms
"Do you still intend to believe that your client is innocent?"
Phoenix
"I mean, that's MY job, right?"
Astraea
"Pathetic. I expected more from you, honestly."
Phoenix
"..Anyways! Back to the cross examination... You said that the police arrived in 7 minutes, right?"
Gumshoe
"Yep, that's right! What about it, pal?"
Phoenix
"So that means you arrived at exactly 4:23 PM, right?"
Gumshoe
"Uh huh! Pretty fast, right?"
Phoenix
"But what if the real killer ran away in that 7-minute-gap?"
Gumshoe seemed angry
"Are you telling me that we were slow, pal?!"
Phoenix
"N-No, that's not what I meant..."
Gumshoe
"There's a witness, like I told you, and they were at the scene of the crime the whole time to make sure your client didn't run away."
Phoenix thought
"Ah, yes... A witness... Maybe I should ask something different..?"
Phoenix
"How do you know that the pizza arrived at exactly 4:12 PM?"
Gumshoe
"That's easy. The owner of the restaurant said that they started putting microchips on the suits, so that they can track their employees. Well, there was an incident, one thief employee stole a bike and got away. But, let me state this, too... Those microchips are a secret, only the boss and employees he trusts so much knows about those microchips."
Phoenix
"I see... Is there any way to see this microchip map or something..?"
Gumshoe
"Sure, pal! Here's the interactive map, we only got the timezones between 4 PM and 4:35 PM."
Phoenix thought
"I should definitely take a look at this, but I have some more questions for Gumshoe."
Phoenix
"You said that the murder weapon was a kitchen knife..? How did my client get that?"
Gumshoe
"Well, since they were going out some time, I bet he visited her often. So he must know where the kitchen is."
Phoenix
"And you're still assuming that my client took the knife first?!"
Astraea
"Enough with your baseless claims! Do not forget that the fingerprints on the knife belongs to your client!"
Phoenix
"W-What if he was set up?"
Astraea
"Evidence is everything in this court! If you don't have any evidence, you don't have anything. Surely you know this, right?"
Phoenix thought
"I should ask some more questions to Detective Gumshoe."
Phoenix
"You said that there's a witness? Where are they?"
Gumshoe
"Oh, yeah, he's ready in the lobby."
Phoenix
"Hmmm... How do you know the crime happened at EXACTLY 4:16 PM?"
Gumshoe appeared confident
"It's because of her last message sent to one of her friends!"
Phoenix
"W-What...?! Can I see that message?"
Gumshoe
"Here, pal. Her last message was sent at 16:06:02. It's a voice message, to be precise."
Phoenix
"Please play it for the court, Detective!"
Gumshoe played the message.
The woman
"PLEASE, HELP ME! I'VE BEEN ASSAULTED! *?* STABBED ME, PLEA-"
The message ends here.
Gumshoe
"Now you see? There's no denying this evidence, pal!"
OBJECTION!
Phoenix objected.
"But there's no way for us to know what she said! There's a garbled voice at the end!"
OBJECTION!
Astraea objected.
"All the other evidences point towards him! There's no doubt she said "Luke" at the end!"
Phoenix was cornered.
"Augh! I can't seem to find anything... Wait, I still have something...! Yes, the map! Better examine it now!"
Phoenix opened the interactive map, and watched his client's movements.
Then, something strange happened between 4:12 and 4:16...
His client didn't move an inch between 4:12 and 4:16!
Phoenix
"Your Honor! There's a contradiction here! Look carefully, between 4:12 and 4:16... My client does not move an inch!"
Judge
"W...What?!"
Astraea
"Don't get your boots up! He didn't move an inch, so what? What does that prove?"
Phoenix
"I think you surely remember it, Ms. Red."
Astraea
"...T-That preposterous theory of yours? Don't make me laugh!"
Phoenix thought
"I got you now, missy."
Phoenix
"Do you have any other theory besides that?"
Astraea
"Surely I do. And I'll make my other witness do the talking for me!"
Judge
"Before the witness takes the stand, this court shall take a 15 minute recess! Does anyone have any objections?"
The courtroom was silent.
Judge
"Very well, this court is in recess!"
(A/N: Aaaaand this is the end of the first part of this trial! Sorry for not updating the fanfic often, I have more things to do and I'm trying to update it as soon as I can. But writing is so much fun! Anyways, see you later, take care!)