"What do you think Mrs. Chisholm is like?" Maya asked on the walk down to the Detention Center, "I mean, she's gotta be real nice if Adrian would come to us to defend this gal…"
"I guess we'll see, Maya." Phoenix replied easily, "I brushed up on the case surrounding her, and apparently she's been accused of killing her husband. There's two key witnesses that paint her as the killer…" He sighed, "This may be a tough one."
Maya frowned, "But… We'll be fine, right? We can't let Adrian down like this! Or Mrs. Chisholm for that matter!"
Phoenix tried and grinned for her sake, "Come on, Maya. When haven't I somehow pulled a case off?"
Crossing her arms and looking off to the side, Maya just huffed, "Like...a week ago, dummy."
"..." Phoenix slumped over and cringed, "...Oh yeah."
Luckily enough for Phoenix, the Detention Center was just right ahead and Adrian was standing there waiting, so the conversation reached its end.
"Adrian!" Maya waved, getting the other girl's attention, "You're here early!"
Adrian glanced at the time on her phone, "...Actually, you're here late." She smiled a bit, "It's fine, though."
"In that case…" Phoenix coughed awkwardly, "Let's not waste any more time then."
Stepping into the Detention Center, the three of them were soon led to the visitation room, and somehow all three of them managed to squeeze into the small alcove together. It was tight, but they made it work. Soon a woman walked out, someone with striking blonde hair and who looked to be in her early to mid-thirties. She had taken the orange suit the inmates were given and tied the shirt so that it left her midriff exposed. Phoenix simply raised an eyebrow at this. Adrian laughed to herself.
"Did I mention she's also a bit of a fashionista?" Adrian pointed out, amused, "She has an athletic wear line that Lordly Tailor stocks. She calls it Fabuletics."
"I was excited until you mentioned Lordly Tailor." Maya sighed, hanging her head, "My wallet cried a little hearing that."
"My wallet cried." Phoenix amended. Maya shrugged.
Erin Chisholm, who had since sat down during that conversation, just looked between the three of them and shook her head, "I get pulled out of a poker match for this?"
Adrian knitted her eyebrows together, offended, "Hey! I'm here!"
Erin blinked a few times, smiling upon recognizing Adrian, "Oh, hey. Didn't see you there, Andrews. Who are these two weirdos with you?" She pointed to Phoenix and Maya, yet spoke of them like they weren't even there to hear her insults.
"Well, if you'll let them, they'll be your defense." Adrian smiled a bit, "I can vouch for their efficacy."
Glancing the two of them over, Erin just pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, "...Really? They're lawyers?"
"Good lawyers, too!" Maya jumped in, fists clenched to her chest.
Erin let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead with a hand, "Well, I suppose weird lawyers are better than none… Alright, fine. You're hired."
Phoenix nodded, "Glad that's out of the way. What can you tell us about the day when your husband died?"
"I don't know much." Erin admitted, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms, "I walked in the house to see his body. I looked to check to see if he was still breathing or I could stop the bleeding, or just do something… And that's when Liza saw me over his body. She's painted me as his killer ever since."
"Liza?" Phoenix asked, not knowing the name.
"My step-daughter." Erin explained, "She was from Alan's first marriage. She's twenty-two, but she's home on spring break from college."
Taking his chin in his hand, Phoenix thought things over in his head for a moment, "And you hold to it that your husband was dead before you came home?"
"Yes." Erin nodded.
"Then is there any chance you have an alibi during the timeframe of the actual murder?" He then asked.
Erin visibly tensed, and her features morphed into a glare. "I'm not telling." She growled, "It would ruin me...for good."
"And getting convicted of murder won't?" Maya shot back, confused.
Erin let out a huff and closed her eyes, "You wouldn't understand. If I must tell someone so you'd believe me that I didn't do it, I'll tell Andrews. She's the only one I trust to not spread it around."
"If that's all you'll be asking, Phoenix… Could you give me a moment with Erin, please?" Adrian requested, putting on a semblance of a grin to try and be reassuring, "Don't worry. I'll tell you if she's trustworthy or not. Just leave it to me."
Phoenix shot an unsure look Adrian's way, but he knew he could trust her, so he didn't argue, "Alright. We'll head to the crime scene and see what we can pick up there. I'll catch up with you later."
Adrian nodded and watched as Phoenix and Maya headed out. Slowly she turned her attention back to Erin, "How are you holding up?"
Erin furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head, "What, don't want to hear about my devastating alibi?"
"No, I do." Adrian shook her head, "But your husband just got murdered. That can't be easy for you."
Erin blinked a few times, visibly caught off-guard yet touched all the same, "Oh, wow… It hasn't settled in yet, really… It feels like a nightmare I just can't wake up from. Being trapped in here isn't helping."
"I bet." Adrian said, "But these guys are really good at what they do. Miracles are always on their side. They can help you get out of here, and then this nightmare will be over."
"I really didn't do it, Andrews." Erin said suddenly, gaze focused on the ground, "I loved Alan. I wouldn't hurt him. I just… I can't prove it! I'd be ruined if I did!"
"Erin…" Adrian looked a lot more serious then, jaw clenched tightly, "Where were you when Alan was murdered?"
Erin's shoulders sagged considerably and she groaned, ashamed, "I was...getting a procedure done."
Adrian tilted her head, "A procedure…? Like, plastic surgery, or something?"
"Lipo. I got lipo!" Erin frantically slammed her hands on the ledge below the window and leaned closer, "Can you see now why I can't use this as an alibi?! My reputation would be ruined, and everyone would think my fitness program is a sham!"
Adrian was silent for a long moment's pause, and Erin just sighed and slumped back in her chair. Eventually Adrian stood up, gaze trained on the ground.
"...You don't have to help me, Andrews. I know how pathetic I must seem right now, and how I must look like a fraud to you." Erin muttered, "I'll try my chances in court. Whatever happens, happens."
Shaking her head, Adrian sent a sympathetic look Erin's way, "I'll get you out of here. No matter what, you don't deserve to be in here. We'll find some way to prove you innocent without an alibi. I promise."
Erin nodded and stood up, and the guard came over to soon escort her back to her cell, "Thanks, Andrews…"
Adrian forced a quick grin before she eventually exited the Detention Center and walked out onto the sidewalk outside. She exhaled a relieved sigh to be out of there, and she then pulled her phone and scrolled through her contact list. Adrian dialed Phoenix's number and then held the phone to her ear, waiting for him to pick up.
"So?" Phoenix's voice rang on the other line, "What did she say?"
"She wasn't lying when she said that word of the alibi leaking out would ruin her." Adrian said simply, "I know she isn't lying, Phoenix. I know she didn't do it. We'll just have to carry on as if she doesn't have an alibi. It can't be as hard as some of your other cases, can it?"
There was a pause on the other line. Adrian was dreading the answer, but she could already tell what it was going to shape up to be like.
"It's not going to be an easy one, I'll say that." Phoenix sighed, "There's two key witnesses stacked against her, implicating her as the killer. Without an alibi, it's going to be hard disproving them in court."
Adrian pressed her lips into a thin line and let out a heavy exhale, "Who are these witnesses? What could they possibly be saying?"
"The first one is the stepdaughter, Liza." Phoenix responded, "But you heard about her already. The second one is a character witness...who claims he's been having an affair with Mrs. Chisholm. He says that they were going to run away together with Mrs. Chisholm with her husband's money. The prosecution is going to use him to establish motive."
"But...but Erin's rich!" Adrian exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock and confusion, "Why would she need to steal her husband's money to make off with some random guy? She's got her own money!"
"Good point… I might be able to use that in my cross. I'm just afraid of the counter-argument where he may say that she killed her husband so they could be together instead…" There was a beat of pause, "Though, that could be speculation...which would put a dent in his credibility… Has anyone told you that you're pretty perceptive for someone who's not a lawyer, Adrian?"
Adrian smiled a bit at that and she let out a short laugh, "Yes, actually. Except she compared me to a detective instead."
"Thanks for helping us out, Adrian." Phoenix said, "I'll let you know if I need anything else from you."
"Got it." Adrian snuck a glance at the time on her phone screen, "My shift starts soon, but don't hesitate to call me about anything you need."
"Noted. See ya." And then there was a beep.
Adrian let out a sigh, sparing one last look at the Detention Center before sliding her phone into her pocket and walking off.
They honestly should have expected it, but the second that Phoenix and Maya stepped onto Mrs. Chisholm's property, they were greeted by a very excitable detective.
"Hey, pal!" Gumshoe shouted at Phoenix, huffing angrily, "Where the heck have you been?! I had to deal with Ms. von Karma the entire time you were gone! And she's not a happy customer to Gumshoe's Evidence Sharing Business!"
"Where have I been?!" Phoenix shot back, "Oh, just in trouble. Nothing new. What are you doing here?"
"I'm doing my job, pal! I don't up and leave and ditch my work when everyone needs me!" Gumshoe was definitely a bit offended, "And after that last case with Rice, I'm one of the only detectives left on homicide now!"
Phoenix turned to Maya slowly, eyebrow raised; he figured it was from something he missed while off in Maine. Maya just shrugged, "Long story. He was a jerk though, so consider yourself lucky you didn't have to deal with him. Gumshoe's better anyways!"
Gumshoe calmed a bit at that, "He wasn't the nicest guy to work with, yeah. He insulted me a lot too, actually…" His shoulders slumped, "Except he didn't target my age like he did with you and Ms. von Karma."
"Ooo, but she got him good, though!" Maya snickered, jabbing Gumshoe in the arm, "You weren't there, but she totally burned him on the stand. It was funny. I bet she'd tell you all about it if you asked."
Gumshoe sighed, "I'm not asking, pal…"
Maya shrugged her shoulders easily, "Fair enough. So how's the investigation going, pal?"
"Honestly?" Gumshoe began, placing a hand on his hip and using the other one to scratch his neck, "Not good. We barely got anything from the scene… We can't even find the murder weapon."
"Well, Detective…" A voice from elsewhere said wryly, "That could simply be because you're as perceptive as a brick wall. Who knows what all you could've missed."
Phoenix looked over towards the source of the voice, spotting Edgeworth stepping out of the house, "Edgeworth…"
"Wright." Miles nodded in his direction, "Are you here trying to suck information out of my subordinates?"
"Whaaat?" Phoenix laughed nervously, "Me? Not in the slightest!" He pointed at Maya, "She is."
Maya stomped her foot, "What?! Don't you pin this on me!"
Miles simply crossed his arms as he watched the two bicker before him, "Don't worry, Maya. I don't think it was you."
"Thank you, Edgy." Maya said as she glared at Phoenix the entire time, "At least someone believes me."
Phoenix mirrored Maya's glare tenfold, and soon Miles grew fed up with it all and instead moved on, "Wright, I believe I have a few things for you…" He pulled out the attorney's badge and the magatama from his pockets, "I suppose you might need these in the future."
Slipping the magatama into his pants pocket and pinning the badge to the lapel of his suit, Phoenix sent Miles an appreciative nod, "Thank you. I guess I can't really work without those, huh?"
"I personally do not see why you must rely on a mystical object to spot lies instead of your own intuition, but I figure that's the only way you could ever spot them in the first place." Miles sighed.
Comical sweatdrops slipped down Phoenix's head, "Low blow, Edgeworth. Low blow…"
Miles spared a glance at his phone and let out a slight hum, "Well, I'm afraid I'm being called away by Ms. von Karma. I'll see you around, Wright. Bring your best case to court tomorrow."
Watching as Edgeworth left, Maya just pursed her lips and crossed her arms, whispering over at Gumshoe, "Does he enjoy just ominously popping up, insulting everyone, and then leaving like he's some mysterious mystery guy?"
Gumshoe just nodded, "Really looks like it, pal."
Phoenix scratched the back of his head at that, and eventually he just turned to Maya at a loss for what else to do, "Let's just… Crime scene. Yeah. That."
As soon as they stepped foot into the house, they noticed the white tape right in front of their feet. Phoenix stepped around it and took a look at the door. It seemed as if Alan had been killed right after stepping through the door. Looking around the setup of the room, Phoenix also noticed that the staircase to the second floor was a couple feet away from the door as well. He made sure to make note of the entire crime scene in his notebook, but otherwise, he didn't really find anything new that the detectives haven't found. It was discouraging, really. If he couldn't find any groundbreaking evidence implicating someone else as the killer, that meant he had to rely on attacking witness testimony to acquit Mrs. Chisholm. Already this was a spectacular start to his case.
With no leads, Phoenix and Maya headed off to interview the man who Mrs. Chisholm was allegedly having an affair with. The defense wasn't the only side having problems; the prosecution wasn't having a smooth investigation, especially with the lead prosecutor having been pulled away in the middle of checking a crime scene.
When Miles knocked on the door, he barely got in two raps of his knuckles before the door was swung right open with a very agitated Franziska on the other side. Her hair was completely unkempt, she was still in her nightgown even though it was well past noon, and her eyes were shot wide in either a caffeine high or anger...and honestly, it really could've been both at once. It was times like these that made Miles remember just how Franziska really was; she looked a lot smaller without heels or her puffy business attire.
"I've been waiting half an hour, Miles." Franziska growled, "You should know better than to keep me- or any lady, for that matter -waiting! But especially me!"
Miles let out a sigh. This was going to be a difficult conversation… "I came as quickly as I could, Franziska. I was investigating a crime scene. It didn't help you wouldn't tell me why you wanted to see me, either. I didn't know how important it was."
Stepping aside to let Miles in, Franziska let out an annoyed groan, "Since when do I ever ask to see you?! The fact that I had should've tipped you off to that this was quite important!"
"I see your point, however…" Miles crossed his arms once he was inside, and he just looked down at Franziska with a curious expression, "I still fail to see what is so important. Why couldn't it have waited until I was finished with my investigation?"
There was a bit of pause, and Franziska pursed her lips and placed her hands on her waist, "...What case was the investigation for?"
Miles furrowed his brow, unable to see the relevance of such a question, "...The murder of a famous fitness instructor's husband."
"Ah…" Franziska hummed, "The one that Adrian Andrews was so interested in… She's never going to forgive you if you convict that woman, you know…"
"Franziska." Miles said, disappointed, "You're doing that thing you do whenever you have to talk about your feelings- when you always try to change the subject. You asked me here… Why are you still dancing around it all?"
Franziska snapped her fingers and stomped her foot in defeat, "I'm losing my edge! That's the second time I've been caught! I blame all these strange feelings… They're tripping me up lately."
Miles let out another sigh, guiding Franziska over to her couch and sitting down. "Franziska, please… Just tell me what it is. The quicker you say it, the quicker it's over with, and the sooner I can leave you alone. You mentioned something about having 'feelings…' Is that the problem you've been having?"
Crossing her arms, Franziska plopped down on the couch beside Edgeworth and pulled her legs in close to her chest, "Of course it's those feelings… He only told us about the Three A's: anger, arrogance, and avarice… Ever since that incident seven years ago, more and more have been piling on on top of those three, and I have no idea what to do with them…"
That incident seven years ago in the courthouse… Miles knew it came as a wakeup call for Franziska about the real world. It definitely wasn't easy for either of them after that case, especially since they were both nearly shot by that thief…
Franziska soon hung her head and let out a sigh, continuing on, "...The 'sister' thing hasn't helped one bit with that emotion nonsense. In fact, it's probably made it worse. I'm meeting with her tomorrow and I'm a huge mess…"
"Oh… You're...not a mess…!" Miles said, lying right through his teeth to try and be comforting.
Franziska saw right through it and narrowed her eyes, "I'll prove it. What time is it now?"
Miles looked at his watch, "1:30."
Letting out a wry laugh, Franziska shook her head, "I woke up an hour ago. Me. The morning person of the family."
"My word…" Miles grimaced, "You are a mess!"
"Watch your mouth!" Franziska growled, though quickly losing her bite, "But… You're right… I can't keep myself together." She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees, letting out a defeated groan, "I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. If I can't get my head sorted out by then, I'm going to blow it."
Miles was silent for a moment, trying to draft up some sort of response in his head. Eventually he placed a hand on her shoulder, and even though Franziska cringed at the contact, she loosened up and eventually leaned back in. "You can't rush these sorts of things. If you truly want to have your entire dilemma solved by tomorrow, let me just tell you now that you will fail at that. It takes time, Franziska. You don't have to have everything sorted out right now. Who knows… Maybe even meeting with Amelia can help you with everything. She had to unlearn everything Manfred taught her too, remember?"
Franziska sighed and lifted her chin, resting it on her knees. She huffed, blowing a portion of her bangs out of her face. She was silent for a while, prompting Miles to speak up again.
"Pull yourself together, Franziska." Miles said, grabbing a brush on the coffee table left there from when Franziska first tried to make herself look presentable and handing it back to her, "I know you aren't yourself when you're not dressed up. I'm sure you'll feel better when you look less like a hot mess and more like the Franziska we all know and-" Miles caught himself. Not many people could say they loved Franziska, so that put a dent in his plan, "-...know."
"I'm offended." Franziska grumbled as she snatched the brush from Miles, "There are at least two people in this world who like me. I'm not even counting all of my unwanted admirers."
"I know one of them is me…" Miles looked at his fingers, trying to count, "...Who's that one other person?"
"Adrian Andrews!" Franziska snapped, "She's my best friend!"
Miles raised his eyebrows, shrugging, "You call her something different every week. I never know what she is to you."
Franziska huffed, averting her gaze away hurriedly, "It's complicated!" Suddenly she glanced back over at Miles, eyes narrowed a glare, "I invited you over to help me… What is the meaning of you attacking me in my own home like this?!"
"Sometimes it's fun." Miles admitted, and he pushed himself off the couch to his feet, "Well, if that's all… I should get back to the case. Feel free to call me if you still need me."
Nodding slightly, Franziska started to brush out her frizzy, crazy hair, but soon enough her brush got stuck, and completely unable to deal with it, Franziska just let out a groan and slapped her hands to her face. Miles stopped himself nearly instantly and spun around back towards Franziska. He couldn't leave her like that. Franziska barely worried about her hair. It had to be bad if she was that hung up about it.
He looked over Franziska's hair for a moment, and he reached out for some of it just to see how tangled it was, "My word, Franziska… How did it get this bad?"
Franziska shook her head hopelessly, hands muffling her voice, "I don't know…! It just happened!"
Miles sat back down again, and gently he tried to remove the brush from Franziska's hair, "...The case can wait for a little while longer. Let me see if I can help with these dastardly knots in the meantime..."
Hearing a muffled, low voice come from Franziska, Miles stopped trying to work with her hair and he sent a confused look her way, "What was that?"
"...Thank you…" Franziska stammered, doing everything in her power to keep her face out of view, "Don't...Don't make me say it again!"
Miles smiled a bit at that, amused. "I don't know… Can I get that in writing? It's not every day the mighty Franziska says such a thing, especially towards her little brother…"
Franziska groaned, shaking her head, "I'm never talking to you again, Miles Edgeworth… Ever."
"Sure, Franziska… Sure…"
