The Detention Center wasn't a place Franziska visited often, if at all. Her only concern was putting people in it, not meeting with those inside. She could only think of a few times she had been inside, and those were for some very, very special exceptions. Already the weight of her decision to take up the defense was showing itself to her, and just in the first few hours of her new position has she had to undergo some radical changes.

She sat with Maya in front of the glass, crossing her arms and legs as they waited for the guard to let the defendant into the visitor's area. Franziska was immediately alarmed at who walked out; the defendant was maybe only 18 years old. That wasn't who she expected when she skimmed the file when she first thought she would be taking over as the case's prosecutor.

Daniel Tanner sat down in the chair on the other side of the glass, admittedly looking a bit confused, "Uh… who are you guys?"

"I'm Maya! And this lady who looks to be straight out of the Renaissance is Franziska." Maya said cheerfully, "We're your defense team!"

"Defense team?" Daniel shook his head, "Thanks, but I already got a lawyer. His name is-"

"Phoenix Wright." Franziska cut in, "We know. We're...colleagues of his. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, he can no longer take this case."

"Oh… You're here to break the news, aren't you?" Daniel let out a saddened sigh, hanging his head, "I understand. Things aren't looking too good for me anyways… Losses don't look good for any lawyer."

Maya pouted, "Hey! Don't act so glum! We just said Nick couldn't take this case. That doesn't mean we won't!" She leaned in closer to the glass and cupped her mouth with a hand like she was telling a secret, "Besides, the only reason Nick wins anyway is because I'm always there. Trust me, you're in good hands."

Daniel looked confused again, but he wasn't complaining, "Alright. Thanks."

Franziska let out a sharp breath, "We don't have much time. We need to figure out everything there is to know about this case. Leave nothing out."

Daniel nodded, "Just ask me what you need to know. I'll answer as best as I can."

"What was your relationship with the deceased?" Franziska asked.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, ma'am, but Ireland Boyd was a horrible person. He was a routine alcoholic and he always beat his wife and kids. I'm neighbors with him. I live right across the street from him and his wife in the outskirts of the city." Daniel said flatly.

"Ew. This guy sounds gross." Maya commented, "Lemme try asking something Nick always does. What were you doing the night of the murder?"

"I can't lie there either. I saw him that night. He was hellbent on taking his wife and kids to a bar. I saw and heard them arguing about it outside so I went and jumped in. I offered to drive Mary Kay and the kids down there so that they wouldn't be in the car with him while Boyd was drunk. The kids got turned away at the door, so Mary Kay took them home in Boyd's car. That left me and Boyd at the bar. We stayed there for a long time, and he was pounding drinks back like nobody's business. It got to be 1am, and he was getting really rowdy, so I took him home in my truck. When I pulled into his driveway, he started swearing at me. I wasn't having it, so I dumped him on his lawn and I went back home. I went to bed. I didn't do anything since, I swear." Daniel explained.

Franziska tapped her chin. There weren't any 'Psychic Locks' appearing, so she assumed everything he said was the truth. However, she couldn't leave any holes, "Can anyone corroborate that?"

"Mary Kay Boyd can for the first part of that." Daniel said, "My girlfriend also dropped in for a surprise visit that night so she can vouch that I never left after I first came home."

"A girlfriend?" Maya hummed, "Ooo, who is she?"

"Dawn Jennings, but…" Daniel looked off to the side, "She skipped town after my arrest. I don't know where she is."

Franziska closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Perfect. The only person on their side is missing. When she reopened her eyes and looked at Daniel, something strange happened to her vision. Her vision doubled, and then the colors inverted. Grey chains encircled Daniel and then an extravagant red lock appeared where the chains intersected. Franziska felt her lips part in shock and her eyes shoot wide, but she couldn't bring herself to school her expression. She had never seen anything like this.

Confused at the uncharacteristic silence from Franziska, Maya glanced over at her, seeing how Franziska was just staring at Daniel, baffled. Maya had a feeling she knew what was going on, so before Daniel could get suspicious, she moved on, "Where did the murder happen?"

"The detectives said Gourd Lake." Daniel said, "I promise I didn't go there, though. I hate that place."

"We believe you." Maya said firmly, "We'll do our best to help you out. Isn't that right, Franziska?" Maya looked over towards the other woman, nudging her in the side to snap Franziska out of it.

Franziska blinked a few times, causing the chains to vanish. She let out a sigh and nodded, "Yes. We shall. We'll come back later today once we finish our investigation, but for now we'll be off." Franziska stood, pushing out her chair and looking at Maya to join her.

"W-Wait!" Daniel shouted, leaping out of his chair, "One last thing!"

"What is it?" Franziska crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto one leg as she waited.

"I… I didn't kill Ireland Boyd, but I am a killer." Daniel said, defeated, "I told Mr. Wright this before, but I have to tell you too. I know the prosecution will use it against me."

"Who was it?!" Maya placed her hands on the little ledge coming out of the wall in front of her, leaning towards Daniel, "Who did you kill before?"

Daniel hung his head, ashamed, "...My brother. It was an accident, but I did kill him. I only meant to warn him when I picked up that gun 6 years ago, but… I accidentally shot him. I never wanted to hurt him. I just wanted him to stop picking on me…"

Maya frowned, "I'm so sorry… That sounds horrible…"

"There's not a day that goes by where I don't regret it. I was a dumb kid. I was only twelve when I shot him. I learned my lesson. They even paroled me after serving three years because of good behavior! I was supposed to be in that horrible place for ten years!" Daniel looked like he was fighting off tears, "I'm grown now! I know better than to try and use violence to solve problems! I never would do anything to risk going back to prison! I promise, ma'ams!"

Maya clenched her fists, looking as determined as ever, "Then it's settled! There's only one thing we can do, and it's that we have to prove you innocent! Don't worry, mister. We won't let you go back to jail on our watch!"

Daniel was fully crying at that point, covering his eyes with his hand and letting out choked sobs, "Thank you.."

"Come on, Franzy. We gotta help this guy." Maya said, turning to leave.

Franziska spared one last look back at Daniel before following Maya out of the visiting area. Once out of earshot, Maya looked over at Franziska, a little downtrodden.

"You saw Psyche-Locks, didn't you?" Maya sighed, staring at the ground.

"I'm assuming so. There definitely was a lock involved." Franziska clenched her jaw, "He knows where Dawn Jennings is. He's hiding her from us...but I cannot fathom why. She's the only one who can confirm he's innocent. Why keep her away?"

Maya shrugged, "Who knows. I just can't believe he'd lie to us."

"It seems as if our only option is to prove that he's lying. Maybe then he will be completely honest." Franziska pinched the bridge of her nose, "He certainly was honest in confessing to murdering his brother. That is going to prove to be a major inconvenience in this trial."

"I feel so bad for him… Don't you, Franzy?"

"It's Franziska. And not particularly." She said flatly, "I already stated that this is going to be a problem for us."

"Wow, icy much?" Maya glared at Franziska, "Do you have to be so difficult with this case? We could really go without the constant negativity."

Franziska rolled her eyes, "This situation isn't ideal in any way at all. I'm not going to pretend like I'm enjoying myself."

"Well...you should!" Maya pouted, crossing her arms, "It'll make you more likable.."

"I care not whether or not I'm likable. I'm here to win. That's all." Franziska said flatly, "Stop dallying. We have work to do. I don't suppose you'd like it if I lost the case due to you distracting me by trying to argue with me the entire time, would you?"

Maya puffed out her cheeks and let out a prissy "hmph!" before making her way to Gourd Lake alongside Franziska. She didn't say a word the entire way there.


Luckily the crime scene was still well put together when Franziska and Maya arrived at Gourd Lake later that day. It was only a day after the crime after all, so it wasn't taken down yet. Maya particularly seemed on edge when they had arrived at the lake entrance.

"Eesh…" She muttered beneath her breath, "I haven't been here since that incident on Christmas two years ago. This place doesn't feel the same anymore."

Franziska turned towards Maya with an eyebrow raised. Maya realized she was being pretty vague so she explained more, "That murder Miles was accused of happened here. You know… the one that ended up uncovering the secret behind the DL-6 Incident?"

"Ah, yes…" Franziska clenched her hands into fists, causing the leather of her gloves to make a loud noise, "The one that sentenced Papa to death. I can see how this place is unnerving now.."

"Er…sorry to bring it up." Maya fumbled with a strand of her hair. She felt compelled to apologize for bringing up Manfred, "It's a sore topic for everyone."

Franziska didn't reply to that, she just let out a noncommitted 'hmph' and kept walking. She spotted a rather figure standing off in the distance, and she didn't need to see their face to know who it was. Franziska flashed a wry smile and lifted her chin slightly, "I should've expected Scruffy to be here. It's not like there are any other detectives in this blasted city."

"Gumshoe's here?!" Maya perked up, and instantly she sped up her pace, practically running over to the crime scene, "Gumshooooooooe!"

Gumshoe heard his name and turned around towards the source, and he grinned widely upon seeing it was Maya running towards him, "Hey pal! Jumping right into another case, huh?"

Maya came to a halt before she could topple right into Gumshoe, and she enthusiastically nodded her head, "You got it! We got jobs to do, after all!"

"That we do, pal!" Gumshoe glanced around after a second, "So, where's Nick?"

Letting out a nervous laugh, Maya scratched her cheek, "About that…"

"I do hope you're not slacking off, Scruffy." Franziska placed a hand on her hip once she finally caught up to Maya, "We need information for this case."

Gumshoe visibly swallowed, a new wave of uneasiness coming over him, "B-But sir…" He stammered, "I coulda sworn that Edgeworth was prosecuting this one…"

"And he is." Franziska said, "I wasn't asking for information on behalf of the prosecution's office, however." She lowered her chin, staring up at Gumshoe with narrowed eyes.

"..." Gumshoe's shoulders sank as he glanced over towards Maya, "...I'm lost, pal."

Maya still had a bit of a nervous grin on her face, "Aren't we all, buddy?" She joked initially, but she was quick to actually explain, "Remember the last case at the Temple where Miles took over for Nick? Yeah… Something like that's happened again…"

"WHAAAT?!" Gumshoe's jaw nearly dropped, "Did Nick fall off another fiery bridge or somethin'?!"

"No." Franziska answered simply, "But I cannot say for certain which reason for his absence is more foolish…"

"It's a long story. It's best to not ask questions and to just roll with it." Maya's voice dropped into a whisper and she pointed at Franziska subtly, "Especially around this one."

Gumshoe nodded his head, "Yeah, I gotcha, pal."

Franziska tilted her head, eyebrows creased out of impatience, "Well? I thought I asked you for information about this case!"

"Y-Yes sir! Sorry, sir!" Gumshoe was sweating bullets at that point, "I hate to break it to ya', but… I wasn't the responding detective on this one, sir.. I can tell you some things, but not a whole lot. You'd have to ask Detective Rice, but I'm not sure that he'd help the defense out like I would…"

Gritting her teeth, Franziska's hand went to her side and then she slashed through the air. Gumshoe instinctively flinched out of experience, but he was pleasantly surprised when he didn't feel anything. Maya stifled a laugh.

"You don't have your whip, remember, Franzy?" Maya giggled.

Franziska looked at her hand, and she was distraught to find it empty. She instantly grimaced and crossed her arms, glancing off to the side with a huff.

"S-She doesn't have her whip?!" Gumshoe shouted with a mix of surprise and relief. He then let out a sigh and flashed a happy grin, "Whew…"

"S-Shut up!" Franziska spat with an uncharacteristic stumble, "Just… Just tell me the basics behind the case, Scruffy! Don't make me ask again!"

"Yes sir!" Gumshoe said, this time a lot less afraid, "The victim is Ireland Boyd, and he's the drunkard around these parts. Everyone hates him. When Detective Rice got to the scene, he found Boyd lying on the embankment, bludgeoned to death."

"And the autopsy report?" Maya jumped in.

"Yeah, we got one." Gumshoe said, "I'll see what I can do to get you guys a copy."

"That'd be great!" Maya grinned happily, "Anything else?"

"I, uh…" Gumshoe rubbed his chin, "That's all I got. You'd have to ask Detective Rice for more."

"Hmm…" Franziska growled, her hand clenching at her sleeve, "And where can I find this Detective Rice?"

"Probably at the precinct, sir." Gumshoe said, "I'm just here to wrap some things up. There's nothing more left to do here, really."

"I'll see about that for myself. Let us hurry, Maya Fey. We don't have too much time." Franziska started off for the crime scene, not even giving a goodbye or waiting for Maya to join her.

Maya scratched her cheek again, "Sorry about her, buddy. I don't think she's really liking this whole thing. Thanks a bunch for everything though!" Maya plastered on a wide grin as a goodbye before jogging to reach Franziska's side.

Working alongside someone so different was a strange experience for the both of them. Normally Maya had somewhat of a clue what was going on in Nick's head, but with Franziska, she had no clue, except for maybe whips as a wild guess. So, she pursed her lips and threw all caution to the wind in a search for answers, "So, Franzy… What do you think about this case so far?"

"It's Franziska." She retorted instantly, "And for starters, I don't trust this new detective already. I don't recall anyone with the name Rice from my time working alongside police. I'll have to look into him before we go much further."

Maya nodded slowly, "Don't trust this Rice guy.. Got it. Anything else?"

"I cannot say much else yet." Franziska said with a hint of bite to her voice, "I hate feeling this left in the dark. Is this what you defense attorneys feel all the time?"

"Well…" Maya thought it over for a moment before shrugging, "Yeah, pretty much."

"I don't know how Phoenix Wright can do this." Franziska shook her head with a sigh, "The stress is crippling. This cannot be good for one's health."

"It's really not…" Maya agreed, and she spotted the yellow tape of the crime scene, "Well… here we are."

Behind the tape was a cliff and then a slight decline until the dirt met with the waters of the lake. Everything was muddy, which made walking a bit difficult for Franziska with her heels. She also despised the idea of dirt on her heels, so she was being apprehensive with her every step.

"So it seems…" Franziska said lowly under her breath.

Maya looked Franziska over once and pursed her lips, "...I'll do the investigating. You can just stay here."

Franziska just nodded. That was as close as a 'thank you' Maya was going to get from her. Maya inched down the decline until she was close to water, and she looked at the other side of the muddy cliff. There was a huge hole in the dirt, probably where the body was dug out of.

"Yeah, this is definitely the crime scene!" Maya shouted from below.

"What do you see?!" Franziska shouted back.

"Well, a huge hole, for starters. It's probably where the body was." Maya leaned closer, inspecting the ground, "Yup, the body was here. I can see some blood."

"Is there anything irregular about the crime scene at all?"

Maya stuck her tongue out in concentration. She had to think, "Let's see… Water has started to fill in the hole where the body once was. I think the body had to have been submerged a bit. Does that seem important to you?"

"Actually, yes!" Franziska sounded shocked. Maya didn't know whether to be flattered or insulted, "Anything else?"

"...No, sorry." Maya's shoulders sank and she sighed, "I'm coming back up!" Looking around to try and find the easiest path back up, something strange caught her eye. Furrowing her brow, she looked down at the ground to spot some footprints- ones she was certain didn't belong to her, "Wait, hold on!"

Maya followed the trail near the water for a few feet, and she saw a heap of dirt that looked like it didn't belong, "Franzy! I think I got something!"

"What is it?" Franziska shouted back, forgetting to mention the nickname thing again, "Wait- where are you?"

"I'm a bit off to your left, I think! Just follow the sound of my voice!" Maya waved her arms.

Franziska moved closer to the edge of the small cliff, looking down to spot Maya about four feet below, "What did you find?"

"This suspicious heap of dirt in the middle of grass! I think something's buried under here!" Maya kneeled down in front of it and reached out for it before remembering something, "Hey! Can I borrow your gloves?"

Franziska recoiled slightly, placing a hand over her chest, "...You're not considering using them to dig through the dirt, are you?"

Maya just nodded, "Yeah, I am! Now, do you want me possibly contaminating evidence with my fingerprints or not?"

There was silence for a moment before Franziska grumbled something presumably unpleasant in German as she took off her gloves and threw them down at Maya. Maya wasn't expecting Franziska to throw them so hard or so soon, so she ended up getting hit directly in her face with the gloves.

"Ow… Jeez!" Maya muttered, peeling the gloves off her face and putting them on. She pushed some of the dirt aside, touching it as little as possible out of respect for Franziska, and she kept brushing it away to try and unearth something. Finally she felt her hand hit something, and carefully she pulled out two halves of a broken tree branch, both roughly an inch in diameter. She stood up, looking down at the branches in her hands, and carefully she brushed away some of the dirt still clinging to the branch when she unmistakably spotted it, "...Blood."

Franziska grit her teeth and tangled her hands in her hair, throwing her head back, "Can't anyone on the police force in this foolish country do their blasted jobs right?!"

A bead of sweat trickled down Maya's forehead, "...Yeah. You'd have to be real stupid to miss this."

Composing herself, Franziska shook her head and let out a sharp breath, "The cause of death was blunt force trauma. I say we found our murder weapon." There was a hint of a grin on her lips, "And as a price to pay for the detectives' foolishness, let's hold onto this for ourselves, hmm?"

Maya shot Franziska a smirk back, "I like the way you think, Franzy. Give me a second to get back up there!" Maya circled around and climbed up onto the same level as Franziska.

"I say our work here is done." Franziska said, "Let's go."

"Say…" Maya looked down at the branches in her hands and back at Franziska, "Could I use your vest to wrap these up in? I don't wanna hold bloody sticks all the way to the precinct…"

Franziska's eyebrows furrowed, "Why does it always have to be my clothes that get ruined for the evidence?"

"Because you have the most expendable layers out of the two of us!"

"They are not expendable! The ensemble isn't the same even with one piece missing! Besides, I can guarantee you these clothes cost more than you make in a year!"

"I don't even make any money, so ha!" Maya stuck out her tongue, "Now give me your vest!"

Franziska growled, but she did as she was told and took off her vest and shoved it towards Maya. Maya put the two branches inside as well as the dirtied gloves and rolled it up tightly. She held on to her work proudly and shot Franziska a grin. Franziska just crossed her arms and frowned.

"Now I just look foolish…" Franziska muttered under her breath.

Maya slapped Franziska on the back, "You look fine, Franzy! Don't sweat it!"

"It's Franziska!" She shot back, voice going up a few octaves, "And what did I tell you about touching me?!"

"...Not to do it." Maya frowned, "Sorry. Heat of the moment."

"Hmph… I'm going before I end up having to sacrifice any more clothing for this investigation.." Franziska huffed as she stormed off.

Maya just hung her head before chasing after Franziska, "Oh, come on, Franziska! I promise I'll use my stuff next time! Please don't leave me here! ...Oh man. There's no way I'm gonna convince her to pick up the tab for dinner now…"