Disclaimer: Phoenix Wright, Apollo Justice, and any other lawyer games do not belong to me. All rightfully belong to CAPCOM, and this person is simply using their characters for entertainment. Really.
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February 2
Baron Mansion
"Woooow! Take a look at this place, Polly! It's huge!"
In front of them, a tall, four-story mansion stood imposingly. There were off-white pillars, their paint changed from the weather, that were part of the porch. The sides of the building stretched out until the corners of the street, and they couldn't even fathom the amount of property they owned behind the building.
"Lifestyles of the rich and the famous," Apollo commented, still staring.
"Famous? I haven't even heard about them 'til now!"
They passed the police cars up at the front of the house and showed the officer guarding the front door the official document explaining that they were defending the client, and he, unwillingly, gave them access.
They went through the foyer as slowly as they could, inhaling everything they could see. Chandeliers were the common way of lighting a room, and the walls showed off their dark, mysterious, royal red. There were ornaments and decorations everywhere, glittering every time they hit even a spot of light. They didn't even look like they had dust on it.
"You think they have maids and butlers?" Trucy asked.
"In this place? Even I wouldn't want to clean all this up by myself."
"But Polly, you don't even clean in the Agency!"
"Hey. I clean more than you and your dad combined."
They had finally made their way into the first ballroom ("You mean there's more?"), which was filled with purple and white table tops, and their center pieces were simple tall vases with two white roses in each one. The plates and food were all still sitting in their respective spots—they hadn't cleaned up much since last night. There was a large, empty spot on the wooden floor in the center, probably for dancing, and the DJ was still set up in the corner.
What caught their eye was the dark-haired girl hanging around a table close by. Her long hair reached up to the middle of her back, and all the two could see were the lower parts of her sleek white dress.
"Hey! Polly! Maybe she lives here!" Trucy whispered. He nodded, getting the same idea as Trucy did.
"E-Excuse me!" He called to the woman, and she turned her head. He blushed instantly, taking a look at the woman's face. "U-Um, you live here, right?"
Her hair was parted to the side, causing it to cover one of her curious pink eyes. Her face looked smooth and mature, and her hands were folded neatly in front of her. She nodded once.
"I found him in the cellar…"
"I'm the defense attorney for Maya Fey. Could you please tell us where the cellar is?"
She looked at him and Trucy a bit more before lifting a hand to point behind them. "Go to your right. It's the second door to the left." She put her hand down and tilted her head. "You can't miss it."
Apollo nodded. "Thank you, miss." He gestured for Trucy to follow, and they left the room to their destination.
Sure enough, they found the cellar. Sure enough, they honestly couldn't miss it.
It was covered with a long white curtain that was wrapped in "DO NOT ENTER" tape, along with police officers inspecting almost every inch surrounding the door.
"Why couldn't they just wrap the whole entire doorway?" Apollo asked.
"Because then they couldn't go in and out of the cellar," Trucy explained. "Really now, Polly, it's kind of common sense."
Can you stop making fun of me? Really.
They went down the stairs, and they immediately felt the temperature in the air go down, and Trucy felt goose bumps all over her bare arms. She unconsciously wrapped her cloak around her and sighed happily.
"See? This cape isn't just for show!" she told Apollo happily.
I'm still wondering why you wear that outfit in the middle of winter.
He went back to the crime scene, looking at it from his point a view. "A wine cellar," Apollo observed, noticing the numerous wine racks that were lined like a grocery store. The police officers looking around at the wine just made it more comical-looking.
"Well, look who we have here!"
The defense team looked to find Ema Skye, lifting her glasses a bit as if she was tipping her hat to them in a greeting. "Fancy seeing you guys here."
"Hey, Ema!" Trucy greeted, smiling brightly. "You're the detective for this case, huh?"
"Yep. I'm assuming your client's Maya Fey?" she asked, and Apollo nodded in affirmation. "Well, I have to say, it doesn't look very good for her."
"What do you mean, Ema?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows like he usually did.
"Well, take a look around, will you?" she suggested, getting out of their way and extending her arm as to say, 'go ahead.' Apollo and Trucy decided to accept her invite. "I have an autopsy for you guys, by the way." She handed the manila envelope to Apollo, and he opened it immediately.
"The victim was Elliot Baron, son of Duke and Contessa Baron. His father is the fifth running CEO of Royalty Banking Company, one of the top ten successful business companies in the nation. He's 30-years-old, and cause of death was excessive bleeding in his abdomen. He died around 8 to 8:30 PM," he read. "And…this katana…was the murder weapon?" Apollo asked, pointing down to the curved, carefully-crafted item on the ground. It was nauseatingly coated with blood, and it was next to the white tape that outlined Elliot's body.
"It's been confirmed. The blood is the victim's," Ema replied, and her frown deepened. "The fingerprints on the handles are Maya's."
Trucy looked at her with wide eyes. "No way!"
The detective only nodded. "We don't know the story behind the sword; so hopefully, you court-people would do your thing and find out the truth for us, yeah?"
Apollo's eyes narrowed, and he smirked a little bit. "Have you been hanging around Prosecutor Gavin a bit too long, Ema?"
"W-WHAT? NO. ME? AROUND THAT GLIMMEROUS FOP? NEVER." She ate her Snackoos with fervor, and Apollo backed away, not ignoring Trucy's light giggle.
"Hey, what's this?"
Said girl was pointing a small ring lying close to a wine rack and the katana, and Ema stepped closer to it, still munching on her Snackoos with an indignant face.
"That ring, according to the accused herself, is her engagement ring," she confirmed. Trucy was awestruck at the glittering diamond on it.
"I left the party at around 7:45…I remember seeing the time on the wall. I think I misplaced my ring, and I kept looking for it."
"Did you look for fingerprints on the wine bottles or something?" Apollo asked. Ema rubbed her chin in thought.
"We found a few of the victim's and the victim's family on the wine bottles, actually," she said. "There was one that had the defendant's fingerprints on it." And she pointed confidently to the one that was lying comfortably in its place in the rack. It was two rows right above the diamond ring.
Interesting. Apollo thought.
"Oh, hey, Polly!" Trucy called. He turned around and found the magician crouching near a long, open container. "Look!" Walking over, he bent down next to her, Ema's shadow over them. It was a long wooden box with the cover hanging open by the hinges, and in the inside was an imprinted figure of a long sword, as if it fit there perfectly. "Look familiar?"
"It's…the katana!" he exclaimed. He made a note to question Maya if he knew about this certain item. He turned his head to face the detective above them.
"I was by myself…so I don't have a solid alibi."
"There was a witness, wasn't there?"
"Well, technically, yeah," Ema responded, taking another Snackoo from her bag. She crunched them loudly. She's not going to tell us who they are and what they're going to testify, huh? Apollo thought.
He stood up and dusted himself off a bit. "We'll be back, Ema," he said.
"You go do that." And she continued to put in her mouth Snackoo after Snackoo, looking like she was still bitter about that Prosecutor Gavin comment.
They went up the stairs, and Trucy looked at Apollo. "More clue hunting?" she asked eagerly. He nodded in reply.
February 2
Detention Center
"Maya Fey, you have a visitor," the guard called. She stood up gracefully and was escorted by the officer to the room where she was just talking to Apollo and Trucy.
She sat down and took a look at her visitor, and her eyes widened a bit.
"If it weren't for your eyes and your smile, I wouldn't have recognized you, Nick," she said, her small hand over her heart. It was beating faster than usual as soon as she saw him.
"Times have changed, huh, Maya?" he said leaning forward to the glass a bit. His hand reached out for the bottom of the glass subtly, like he wanted to hold her hand but found he couldn't. There was that unmistakable pang in his heart. "…I'm sorry I had to send you away…"
Maya shook her head somberly, her eyes looking glossier than before. "It's okay—your intentions were pure. It gave me time to grow up, too, see?" She smiled serenely and tilted her head.
"…You look just like your mother when you do that."
She lowered her head, still smiling. "Thank you for sending Apollo and Trucy," she mentioned. "Your daughter is very cute."
"Isn't she just?" he agreed, smiling fondly. "I've grown horribly attached to them. It's hard looking cool whenever I think of all those times you guys made fun of me." Maya giggled, but a moment of silence was suspended between the two. Their live reunion wasn't what she expected it to be. She expected to see him, smiling at her with his familiar blue suit and her in a wedding dress.
She didn't expect to see him again on the other side of the glass.
It was...depressing, to say the least.
"I'm sorry for not having contacted you for two years," she blurted out, turning a bit red at the confession. Her hand by her heart was clenched into a fist. "With Elliot coming around, there was just no time…I—"
"I can't say I'm not mad," Phoenix interrupted, "but at least I knew you were meeting with him beforehand." His smile held the words thank you for telling me.
"I was disappointed when I didn't see you at the party," Maya asserted, "but now I'm glad that you weren't there for the…events that took place."
"I'm just glad I was able to talk with you a month before this whole thing happened," he said. "And now, looking at you, I know you're going to be okay." He took a long look at her. "Everything will be fine."
Maya's smile saddened. "What has life done to you, Nick?" she asked softly.
He lowered his head, similar to Maya, his hat shading his eyes. All you could see was his mysterious smile, but she knew the hidden secrecy behind it. "I'll tell you later when you're out of here. I promise."
I'd like to shower my love and thanks to my wonderful, lovely, dear best friend, TadakoXIII for beta-ing this fanfic for me. She's a big help for pointing out my obvious mistakes that I make and telling me points that aren't clear so I can make them clearer.
I'd like to shower you guys with my love and thanks again for reviewing! You made my day all better.
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