Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the game. They belong to Capcom. And I've written this without permission… so sorry.
A/N: Ah, plot twisting, cliffhanging, penultimate, evil little chapter. Warning! Massive spoilers for the JFA case 4 :)
To my brilliant and gorgeous reviewers: The usual thanks and love… and cookies. :3
Edit: Revised for grammar, phrasing, layout and POV.
--
Turnabout the Morning After
Chapter 7
April 2nd
2:30 PM
Miles Edgeworth's Hotel Room
Silence filled the whole room.
Miles was still holding the door wide open, staring straight at Phoenix. Maya was looking a bit nervous standing in the middle of the room, her eyes permanently fixed onto the floor. Larry had sat up straight and was blinking rapidly.
God, I must look a right idiot with my mouth down to my knees. Just say something… Anything!
"Hi, there, Maya, what are you doing here?"
Oh yes. Brilliant, witty, intellectual and not at all awkward .
Thanks, brain.
"Nick, dude, I think Maya here has solved your little case for you," Larry commented.
Miles remained silent.
"I…uh… I'm sorry I didn't tell you before Nick," Maya mumbled, her eyes plastered to the floor. "I just... suddenly remembered what had happened, you see…"
"Oh, is that right?" Phoenix smiled gently.
Don't worry, Maya; I won't be mad at you for this.
But, they need to know the truth.
"Look, you don't have to lie to me, Maya. I know who it was, and I'm perfectly fine with it."
Maya's eyes snapped up to blink at Phoenix. "B-but it was… I… We…"
"There's no use denying it, Nick. She obviously remembers something." Larry propped his feet back onto the coffee table and put his hands behind his head.
Miles shut the door and went to lean against the wall with his arms crossed looking as calm and collected as ever.
"Sorry, Maya. It looks like I'm going to have to rip off your lies to reveal the naked truth beneath…"
Because that doesn't sound full of innuendo at all...
He felt the heat rise to his face and quickly added, "I mean, I can prove you're lying."
Maya blinked again. "...You can?"
Phoenix nodded, his hands on his hips. "For a start, I know as a fact that you left way before anything ever really happ--"
"Objection!"
Huh...?
Phoenix blinked and turned to face Miles.
He smirked at Phoenix and took a step towards him, unfolding his arms. "Wright, how are we to know the time of your interaction? You can 't prove she wasn't there as you have no idea of when it actually happened."
So you're going to play along?
That suits me fine.
"Overruled, Edgeworth." Phoenix smirked. "The very fact that I can't remember clearly shows it was after our little drinking competition." He paused and turned to Larry. "Who won, by the way?"
"I think Edgey beat you and me hands down," Larry said, rubbing his chin. "I can't believe he could down that much after I'd given him all that beer. Who knew the stick-in-the-mud could handle so much?"
"I am still in the room you know." Miles said dryly.
Larry grinned cheekily at Miles. "Yeah, I know."
Miles rolled his eyes and turned back to Phoenix. "If Mr. Butz and I have sorted out the times correctly, I think you'll find Maya did not leave until an hour after the competition."
Damn it, he's right. I've got to look at it from a different angle…
Phoenix stroked his chin. "That's true, she has opportunity, but what would be her motive and where's the hard evidence?" Phoenix shook his head and took a step towards Miles pointing his finger "Provide us with some proof, Mr. Edgeworth."
Maya looked at the two of them, her gaze flickering between Phoenix and Miles.
"Gladly." The smug smile on Miles' face made Phoenix flinch a bit.
What the hell is he going to drag up now?
Miles reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
"Edgeworth, now is not the time to be fixing evidence. I'm not cheap."
... I've got to stop it with the innuendo.
Miles shook his head and withdrew a card.
"Hold it, what's that?" Phoenix narrowed his eyes. "If this is some kind of joke…"
"I think you'll find it is a legitimate piece of evidence, Wright." Miles turned the card around and tapped it as if it really were evidence.
Phoenix blinked. It was a drawing of him on a Shelly de Killer card, and it was labelled 'Nick'.
"The defence questions the prosecution's mental health, if he thinks this proves anything," Phoenix said stubbornly.
"Maya drew this while she was kidnapped down in Mr. Engarde's cellar," Miles replied. "As you can see, it has your nickname that only a select amount of people call you, those three being; Pearl Fey, the defendant and Larry. This obviously shows strong feelings on the defendant's behalf."
Maya looked flustered. "Err... Mr. Edgeworth, where did you get that?"
"I acquired it last week from my sister, but that doesn't matter at the moment." Miles' eyes challenged Phoenix to respond.
"Fair enough." Phoenix crossed his arms. "You may have provided a sort of motive and a questionable opportunity, but where your hard evidence is, I don't know." Phoenix shook his head. "It doesn't add up. Maya was with Detective Gumshoe, playing snap. Surely he would have noticed if we had left? And why choose that night to get with me if she was sober and I was ridiculously drunk?" He grinned. "Explain all that… Miles."
Miles flinched and took another step towards Phoenix, pointing his finger. "Thereis concrete evidence; the testimony from the witness claiming she remembers what happened! And, of course, that bloody mark on your neck."
Larry had taken his chance to stop staring at the two grown men with their little game and looked down at the book that was in Maya's hand. "Holy shit!" He interrupted loudly. "Nick, I think you should read that little book, dude, it says I left with two women!"
"Hey, Maya, you found it!" Phoenix reached out his hand and Maya passed it to him regretfully.
Let's see what she's been hiding from me, then, shall we?
--
Notes to self:
The girl in the purple outfit left with the good Detective. He obviously likes a younger woman.
Mr. Edgeworth thinks sandy-guy is a 'Bloody idiot'. He gets easily worked up when sandy-guy talks. It's best to keep them apart.
Sandy-guy likes to wink at people and slap Mr. Edgeworth and Mr. Wright on the back whenever they make a joke. Name still under question.
Mr. Wright has failed to get the attention of another woman. I don't think he's good at making friends when he's drunk.
Sandy-guy's name is Larry. He likes to suggest weird things - like handcuffs - to people, and he's a bit mentally unstable. Makes me laugh.
Mr. Wright gave up chatting to other people and got rather sulky. There's no point talking to him after he's not managed to make friends.
Mr. Edgeworth is better at making friends, as suspected. People like to play with his cravat. Perhaps this is a new social activity I should try out?
Larry falls over easily. Don't bother standing next to him in future. He's heavy.
Mr Wright perks up a bit when he's with Mr. Edgeworth or Larry. Good way of getting him in a cheerful mood. Still, he won't try making friends with any of the women again. He prefers to sit and talk with Mr. Edgeworth.
Barmaid's uniforms are too revealing, even if it does mean making a good social network. Another career choice I'm not going into along with zoo keeper or traffic warden. Scientific investigation seems to be the only logical and interesting choice.
Larry's flaky. Women don't appreciate him slapping them on the backside.
Mr. Wright gets jealous of Larry easily.
Mr. Wright seems to think Mr. Edgeworth is hot. It actually seems rather nippy in here; bad judgement of temperature. I wouldn't trust him to tell you the weather.
Mr. Edgeworth doesn't mind this character flaw and seems rather happy with Mr. Wright's statement. He likes to compliment Mr. Wright. He sure is a nice guy as I can't see what's so nice about Mr. Wright's lips. They're quite ordinary.
Mr. Wright said something very uncharacteristic to Mr. Edgeworth. He sa-- at this point, there was a big pen mark across the page.
Mr. Wright prefers not to let his personal life written down. I will keep note taking in front of him a bit more discreet in future.
Larry left with two women. Mr. Wright, Mr. Edgeworth and I are pretty cold waiting for the bus. I should remember to get driver's licence as soon as possible.
I left Mr. Wright and Mr. Edgeworth to get some new ultra-violet equipment I saw in a shop. They are obviously very good friends, even when they are drunk, and they are definitely comfortable of their sexuality.
--
Phoenix blinked and reread it. He blinked again.
The reason Maya lied to me was to cover this truth.
She must have thought I'd find it hard to cope with...
By pining all the blame on her, then we could easily sweep it away as another of my drunken mistakes.
But, oddly, I don't find it too hard to believe...
"Um, Nick, we're kinda all waiting here. Could you make that brain of yours work a bit faster and just tell us what on earth you're thinking, dude," Larry commented.
Okay, here goes nothing.
Phoenix took a big breath in and another step towards Miles taking his turn to point the finger. They were so close that he almost touched the man.
"The defendant is not guilty. I have reason to believe that, Edegworth, you gave me the mark last night!"