The third chapter: where things get really intense (well, that is more better than the previous 2 and more in depth to the game) and better.

Classroom Turnabout Part 3

Gumshoe closed the large door behind him. Up in the crowd stands a door opened and Gumshoe took his seat there.

The large court doors opened a gain and a tall woman stepped up to the witness stand. She was wearing a flowery dress and had short, combed hair. Her hands were held gently behind her back giving her a very peaceful look.

Payne cleared his throat, "Witness, your name and occupation please."

The woman scowled at Payne and said with a harsh voice, "Excuse me, but your grammar statement is slightly wrong. You said 'Witness, your name and occupation please'. But you forgot to mention to whom. You mean to say 'Witness, please state your name and occupation to the court'. But there are also some details in your…"

Sheesh I thought, if Oldbag were here, we'd have a major catfight on the longest talker!

The woman kept lecturing on statement detail until Payne interrupted her, "S-sorry! I'll revise that. Witness, please state you name and occupation to the court."

The woman sighed, but said, "Much better structure. My name is Mrs. Terra Haff and I am an English teacher at City Block High School."

"Very good." Payne said.

The judge asked the teacher, "I believe that you discovered the body of Mr. Timer, is that correct?"

Haff looked thoughtful, "Good phrase, Your Honor, but you forgot to mention how I found him with expression."

"Er," the judge slurred, "yes, ma'am. But the court would like to ask you for your testimony about your after school appointment with him."

"Gladly," Haff cooed.

I took a deep breath and got ready to object to anything she had to say if she was a liar.

Haff cleared her throat and began, "I scheduled a lesson for my student, Al. But I was in a hurry for another matter. I had to leave the school and come back for our appointment. When I came back to the school, I rushed into the room and found Al lying on the floor, dead. Then, I remembered earlier that day when he and Erin had an argument and broke up. So I assumed she did it and called the police."

The judge looked like he absorbed the entire thing when his eyes were closed. "I see," he said. Then he looked at me, "Mr. Wright, you may now cross-examine the witness."

"Yes, Your Honor." I said. Gee, her testimony is so specific; it may be easier than I thought to expose her lies.

I looked at Haff and asked, "You say that you left the school for "matters". May you please describe this?"

"Of course," she said.

"Mr. Wright," the judge said, "this is not relevant to the case. Are you sure you want her to revise her testimony?"

I thought it over for a second and answered, "Yes, Your Honor."

"Very well then." The judge sighed. "Would Mrs. Haff please revise her testimony?"

"As you wish," she answered. "I left the school at 3:30 for an errand and came back at 4:00."

Aha! I thought, there it is!

I pulled a the traffic delay report and shouted, "OBJECTION!"

All the eyes of the court were on me. Then I asked, "You say you weren't at the school during that time period, Mrs. Haff?"

She answered quite bluntly, "Of course. I am true to my word."

I shook my head and looked at her triumphantly. "That is not possible," I said.

"What?" she asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"OBJECTION!" Payne shouted in his high- pitched voice. "Mr. Wright there is no problem with her leaving the school!"

"Actually," I said, "There is. You see, Mrs. Haff said she was gone from the school between the timeline of when the traffic delay occurred."

"Wha-WHAT?!" Haff exclaimed, and then slapped herself on the face.

"Mr. Wright," the judge asked, "are you saying that Mrs. Haff had no errand to go to?"

I nodded. "That is exactly what I am saying! You see, if she couldn't leave somewhere on the highway, then the only place that she could go is to her meeting with Al!"

"WHAAAAA?!" Payne exclaimed with his hands flying back.

The courtroom was filled with murmurs. The judge banged his gavel three times on his desk. "Order in the court!" then he turned to me when the noise calmed down. "Are you saying that Mrs. Haff did not have an errand at all but had only Al to see that day?"

"Yes, Your Honor." I replied. "The defense would like to ask what she discovered at the crime scene."

"This… this is irrelevant!" Haff said, but still looked shocked. But the judge ignored her and asked Payne, "Does the Prosecution have any thoughts on the defense's inquiry?"

Payne sweated and answered. "No, Your Honor. Let her testify."

"Very well then. "Will Mrs. Haff please report what she found at the crime scene?"

Haff looked angry for a second, and then said, "Fine then. All right, I admit that I did not have an errand. So I went to my classroom and found Al's dead body there. He had his classroom note in his hands. Erin must have beat me to the class since she had the time."

"I see," the judge said. "Mr. Wright, if you please."

"Of course," I said. I looked at Haff and asked, "You say that Erin had time on her hands to kill Al and leave the vicinity before you arrived?"

"Just as I said, Mr. Wright," Haff answered. "I know she was near the murder area because of her locker change."

"OBJECTION!" I shouted while pulling out Erin's locker change. "That was a nice lie you had us on, Mrs. Haff. But I believe what you said about her having time to kill was wrong."

"OBJECTION!" Payne squealed. "Mr. Wright, there is no way to prove that she DIDN'T."

"OBJECTION!" I shouted back. "Apparently, someone did not read Erin's locker change."

"Her-her locker change?" Haff asked, now sweating.

"Mr. Wright, what do you mean by this?"

I told the judge, "Look here, on the bottom of her paper."

(Editor's Note: I forgot to change something in the locker change before I published it. It's in the second chapter. The bottom of her paper says "Time Change Must Be Done: before 3:30. I regret the error.)

"It says 'Time Change Must Be Done: before 3:30," the judge read then paused. "What does this mean, Mr. Wright?"

"I'll show you!" I said simply and pulled out the autopsy report. "The time of death says that it was somewhere between 4:00 and 4:30. This contradicts what Mrs. Haff said about Erin having time to kill since the locker change said Erin must change her locker before 3:30." I slammed my palms on the desk. "Which concludes that Erin had no time at all to go and kill Al when she was in a hurry."

"GAAA!" Haff screamed while slapping her face some more.

The judges' eyes were wide, "Ah! Aha! I see now."

"This can't be happening!" Payne whined.

"This is not true!" Haff bellowed. "I don't believe it!"

"Well then, Mrs. Haff," I said, "Then why don't you tell us why you believe Erin WAS the murderer."

"I-I…grr." She muttered. "Alright then, I will. Your permission, Your Honor?"

The judge thought for a second. "Yes. Permission granted."

Haff cleared her throat once more and began her testimony. "Well, it happened after my class that morning. Erin and Al had an argument in the hall and Erin was pretty angry. She was saying how he could be so stupid during my class. Plus, when I walked into the murder scene and found Al dead, I found something else. It was on the knife, where I believe Erin used the knife which bears her fingerprints."

Before the judge gave me permission to cross-examine, I shouted, "OBJECTION!"

I was watched once more and looked at Haff, "You're lying, dammit! And I can prove it!"

(Reference: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Justice For All Case #4: Farewell My Turnabout)

The judge asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's very simple, Your Honor." I explained. "You see, only someone like her would like to blame someone else with statement like that."

"E-excuse me!" Haff said.

"Let me say it like this." I told her. "You said that her fingerprints were on the knife, but the only fingerprints on there are Al's."

Yet again, Haff yelped and slapped her face several more times giving her red bruises.

"OBJECTION!" uttered Payne. "Your Honor, this is badgering of my witness! Stop Mr. Wright!"

The judge shook his head. "Overruled," he said, "I would like to hear what Mr. Wright would like to imply."

I answered this very easily, "What I'm implying is, I believe that the murderer is none other by the witness, Mrs. Haff herself!"

OOOOHHHH! Nice one Phoenix! You have them on the ropes! See? I told you people that it was going to get better! But I'm sorry to tell you that it is continued in the next chapter.

End of Part 3.