A/N: Italics within single quotes represents cross-examination testimony.
Chapter 5: Elementary Interrogation, Dear Wright
"C-Conan-kun… is the prime suspect?" Megure asked in disbelief. He looked appalled by the very thought. "This isn't some kind of a joke, right?" He stared determinedly at the meek officer, who began to back away from Megure.
"I swear it's true! We've been monitoring the footage for anyone who tried to leave the hotel with the briefcase just like you ordered, and we managed to catch him with the stolen briefcase at the lobby, Keibu!" he tried to justify, avoiding the judging looks that everyone was giving him. "He didn't deny it, in fact we confirmed that it's the same briefcase that was stolen. So, it's gotta be him… right?" he finished uncomfortably.
After he was done, everyone in the vicinity simply gaped at the officer, not exactly buying his shoddy explanation.
In contrast to the officer beside him, Conan looked as cool as a cucumber. Phoenix didn't understand. He was being charged by the police. Any other kid would have probably burst into tears at this point. But him? He looked bored, almost as though this whole thing was a joke.
A gasp from Pearl broke the stony silence. "So, that cute little child is really a thief?" she said sadly. "That's so horrible!"
"Well Pearls, looks can be deceiving," Phoenix replied bluntly, remembering the bad feeling he had instinctively felt about Conan earlier. "You can never know a person's true colours," he said while subconsciously glancing at Conan, hoping the boy got his message.
"Hmph!" Conan leaned forward, letting out an elongated sigh. "You're saying that as though I'm the thief." When he brought his face back up, Phoenix had to avoid a double-take at his expression.
Conan looked like he had aged a good five years in just a fraction of a second.
Due to his minute height, he had to crane his head upwards to make eye contact with the adults. But unlike normal children, who were respectful and polite to their elders, his entire body language screamed of reckless defiance. His eyes seemed to be narrower, glinting with boredom. His mouth was slightly open, lips curled downwards in an irritated frown. He had straightened his body, standing upright in a confident pose, the posture one of authority would usually adopt. There was no sign of mischief or childishness anywhere on his face. Only a serious and bored look remained. It was like the child in him had evaporated in an instant, and in its place was someone completely different — someone cold and calculative.
Phoenix began to sweat. Years of experience in court had taught him that when someone's personality abruptly changed, bad things—it was always bad by the way, never good—usually proceeded to go down.
"You should pay closer attention," Conan reprimanded. Phoenix couldn't help but laugh at the irony that a kid was lecturing fully grown adults. "The policeman only said that I turned myself in, not that I was actually the thief, right?" he asked as if it was the most obvious conclusion.
Even his voice appeared to seemingly change, which freaked Phoenix out to no end. The high-pitched chirp was gone, replaced with a slightly lower, more serious tone. He glanced around at the others, only to see that no one else had reacted.
Seriously? How could no one see that the boy's personality had completely switched? This wasn't normal!
Okay, maybe that wasn't a fair statement. He had seen rapid personality shifts before when he had forced criminals to break down in court after successfully catching them out.
But the key difference here was that those criminals weren't children. And they usually became more panicked and distraught after the shift, not more confident.
"But you have to be the thief! You have the briefcase!" Phoenix found himself yelling at Conan. The words had tumbled out of his mouth before he could even stop them. He blamed the change in Conan's behavior. He couldn't stand that confident smirk that the boy had now. There were too many memories of manipulative witnesses from previous cases with that exact same cocky attitude.
Conan raised both arms in surrender, mumbling softly, "I don't deny that claim in the slightest, not with so many witnesses. I concede that I was carrying the briefcase with me." Before anyone could interrupt him, he hurriedly added, "That said, I did not steal the briefcase."
"Mind telling us where you got it then?" Phoenix asked, trying his best not to glare at him.
Conan blinked, suddenly reverting back to his cutesy child-like persona. "Are you sure you want to know, mister?"
"What kind of a question is that? Of course I want to know!"
"Absolutely sure?"
Phoenix twitched his eyebrows. Was Conan actively trying to annoy him? "Sure I'm sure. But the question is, are you sure?"
"I'm certainly sure of what I have to say, but you're jittery, mister!" Conan cheekily smiled. "Maybe you're not sure after all but pretending to be sure."
"Of course not! I'm sure that I'm sure that I surely want to know!"
Before Conan could reply and carry on the Looney Tunes-style back-and-forth banter, Maya rapidly waved her arms like a windshield wiper and shouted at them both.
"Yeesh! Stop with all the 'sures'! Gosh, you two are arguing like a bunch of kids!"
"Ehh… but I am a kid," Conan pouted with a confused expression. His disappointment didn't last for long, as mere seconds later he playfully pointed at Phoenix. "So then, are you referring to your friend as a kid when you're saying that?"
"Why you little…" Phoenix hissed. He had to physically stop himself from chasing after Conan after that remark. He glared at the child, only to see him pull an innocent face in return. Gah, what I wouldn't give to clamp this kid's mouth shut! His guardian needs to teach him some manners! Whatever happened to 'respect for your elders'?!
"Hahaha! That's exactly right, Conan!" Maya burst in laughter, merrily clapping at the sight of Phoenix getting utterly steamrolled by a child. "Nick really is just a kid at heart! Aren't you?" she teased. "Just admit it!"
"Not you too, Maya." Phoenix didn't even bother trying to argue back. His deadpan expression said all that was needed to be conveyed. "I think you need to clamp your mouth shut as well."
Maya stuck her tongue out, making Phoenix rub his temples to get rid of an oncoming migraine. You might call me a kid, but I think you're the real kid here, Maya… "Now where was I?" He tried to recall where he was in the conversation before she barged in. "Oh yeah! Long story short, I'm calling your bluff. Say it, kid! Where did you get the briefcase?"
"Alright, but I warned ya." Conan smirked, a calculative scheming look in his eyes. "Your daughter. She was the one who handed the briefcase to me."
"What?! You take that back!" Phoenix screamed so loudly that the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling shook from his voice alone. "Trucy would never do such a thing!"
Seeing that this was turning back, Maya grabbed his arm to try to calm him down, "Nick, calm down! He's just a kid."
"You don't trust me just because I'm a kid? Now that's not very nice, is it?"
Phoenix noticed that Conan had a weird expression on his face when making his retort. Although he looked upset, there was a hint of a grin which almost made it seem as though he had expected his outburst. "Y-You're lying, dammit!" he sputtered out when he saw Conan's unnatural calmness.
He had to be lying, he had to be!
"Lying is a bad thing to do!" Pearl lectured, looking down at Conan with a stern expression. "Please don't lie, Mr. Conan."
There was an awkward silence from everyone after Pearl made her brutally honest, but adorable, statement. Even Conan couldn't help but let his emotions betray his thoughts, smiling slightly as though he was amused.
Finally, Conan replied. "But it's the truth," he said while making eye contact with Pearl. "I'm sorry to say, but your daughter is the one who did it." He gave a tired sigh, eyes gazing up as he recalled a memory. "As painful as it is, there is only one truth."
"Only one truth, huh?" Phoenix pointed his finger at Conan accusedly. "Then show me proof of your little 'truth'!" There were gasps from others around that tried to hush him and say that he was being too harsh on the kid, but he paid them no heed. "Don't mess with me! Do you have any proof that it was Trucy who handed you the stolen briefcase? Do you?!"
Two pairs of blue eyes met — his uncertain blue ones and Conan's own confident pair. What sort of game was that kid playing? Why was he accusing Trucy?!
"Well, to be honest…" Conan shrugged helplessly with a disappointed look. "I don't have any physical proof."
Just as Phoenix was about to gloat, Conan's upset look was suddenly replaced with one that he couldn't decipher. The small boy began tapping his foot, "However, just because I don't have any proof doesn't mean that the proof doesn't exist. Why don't you ask her yourself?" he gestured towards Trucy. "I'm sure your daughter can clear all of our doubts."
"Of course I will!" Phoenix retorted back, not noticing that Conan's eyes appeared brighter after he took the offer. Trucy winced a little as her father walked over to her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he smirked back at Conan. "Trucy, did you hand this briefcase filled with money to that boy?"
This was it. Phoenix knew that Conan's jig was up. The child might be a skilled liar, but surely he couldn't expect an innocent girl to take the fall for him. He might be cute, but not unbelievably cute to the point where Trucy would do such a thing.
"Ummm… well…" Trucy bit her lip, unwilling to answer.
"Go on," Phoenix pressured upon seeing his adoptive daughter hesitate. "Trucy, there's nothing to be scared of. You didn't do anything wrong." Seeing Phoenix by her side, she breathed out and relaxed. She looked left and right, giving everyone a firm look in her eyes before finishing.
"…I did give him the briefcase."
"Wwwwhhhhhaaaatttttt?!" Phoenix shouted at her answer. That wasn't the response he had anticipated!
He wasn't the only one. Most of the group was stunned speechless at her admission of guilt, quite literally. At the outburst of shock from multiple people, Trucy fidgeted with her top hat, tipping the brim downwards out of nervousness.
That sneaky brat! Phoenix's mouth fell agape as he realized the implications of what he had just done.
Conan had been waiting for this! The boy had been telling the truth after all, and he had walked right into his trap! He let his emotions get the better if him and did exactly what Conan had expected.
He whirled around at the mastermind with fury in his eyes, only to meet the boy acting innocent with an 'I-told-you-so' face.
That… that manipulative son-of-a-gun!
The atmosphere suddenly became quite tense as everyone redirected their gaze of suspicion from Conan to Trucy. "So the kid wasn't sprouting out hogwash after all?" the policeman said, exasperated by the turn of events. "He really was handed the stolen briefcase," he pointed at Trucy, "by that girl?"
"It certainly seems that way," Megure stated, studying Trucy carefully with his eye. "Conan-kun is a rather honest child. To be frank, I simply can't see the kid lying."
You can't see him lying? That means you don't know him as well as you think, Inspector. Phoenix almost wanted to say that thought out loud to wipe the confident look off of Conan's face, but stopped himself at the last second lest he attracted Megure's wrath. Insulting a foreign police officer was not a good idea. Furthermore, the inspector was oddly protective of that young boy.
Phoenix's eyes widened as he realized that Megure wasn't the only one who acted that way. Conan's parental guardian, Ran, had also been really protective when he had seen her earlier.
If anything, Phoenix was worried about Conan's influential charm. He had way too many people wrapped around his little finger. Everyone appeared to think that he was an ordinary boy, but Phoenix alone knew the truth. If his interactions from earlier was any indicator, hidden beneath that childlike boyish exterior was a very intelligent and manipulative boy.
What's more, the Magatama proved that Conan can most definitely lie, rather convincingly, at that. A young child intelligent enough to use his precocious charm to get whatever he wanted… now that was a scary thought.
Come to think of it, he still hadn't managed to find out anything about that, had he? Why did the Magatama react at that specific statement?
Maybe I should ask Pearls if the Magatama is faulty… gah, what am I doing? Trying to make excuses for that boy? Phoenix shook his head. The Magatama could give false negatives, but never false positives.
Conan'd definitely lied about his name. But why? Nothing about this made sense…
He was rudely yanked out of his thoughts when an unwelcome statement reached his ears. "So then, does this mean that the thief is her? Trucy-san?" The policeman, who had hesitated up to this point, finally found the strength to take charge.
Megure sighed. "I think that she will have to be questioned as well—"
"Oh no she's not!" Phoenix shouted into Megure's face, which threw the inspector for a loop as he stepped back, wiping some of the spit off his face. Phoenix glared down at Conan with anger, "I'm not letting this go! I have a feeling you aren't telling us the whole truth. I demand you tell us everything!"
"Hold it right there," Megure held up his hand. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you can't just question a member of the public without any rights."
"Hah!" Powers chuckled. "Not to worry, inspector. He most definitely has the necessary rights."
"Huh?" Megure tilted his head, "I don't quite get you. Please elaborate, Powers-san." Even Conan appeared to be uncertain of what Powers was driving at.
Maya beat him to it. "Nick over here—" she wrapped her arms around Phoenix's shoulder, ignoring his grunt of protest, "—has been through this interrogation thing countless times before in the past! He's an attorney!"
Out of the corner of Phoenix's eye, he saw Conan perk up slightly. "You're a defense lawyer?" Conan treaded carefully, uncertainty detectable in his tone.
Why does he seem so surprised? It's almost like he isn't sure if I really am a lawyer. But it should be obvious if anyone sees my-oh.
"Gah! I forgot to pin my attorney's badge up!" he moaned. Reaching into his breast pocket, he attached a bronze, round badge to his collar. "Sorry about that. Phoenix Wright, defence attorney, at your service." He couldn't resist giving a formal introduction after pinning his Attorney's Badge.
"Phoenix Wright?" Conan's eyes glistened. He put his hand to his chin in thought, "Wright… Wright…" he rolled the name off his tongue a few times before eventually shaking his head. "I thought your name was Nick," he finally admitted.
Phoenix cursed under his breath. He knew exactly who was to blame for that one. "That's just my nickname," he mumbled. The nickname had basically become a part of him now. Even Pearls had adopted a more polite version of it. "But enough talk. Attorneys have the right to question people, so I want to interrogate you right now!"
Conan snorted in response. "Me?" he asked, feigning surprise.
"Wait now!" Megure looked surprised by Phoenix's determination. "You can't just take authority like that!"
Phoenix was ready to object, but to his surprise Conan tugged on Megure's jacket. "You know what? Let him see the evidence, Megure-keibu!"
"C-Conan-kun?" Megure looked down at the child. "Are you sure about this?"
Conan nodded his head. "That guy looks like he isn't going to quit, so I'm just going to have to personally convince him that I'm innocent."
"You can never keep out of trouble, can you?" Megure grimaced, certain that this was going to be a long day. Accepting the chaos as being one of those days—which usually happened when Conan-kun was in the vicinity—he gave in. He took out a photo of the briefcase and a document, passing them to Phoenix. "Here, Wright-san. This is a copy of the theft report and a photo of the recovered briefcase."
New Case Evidence — Theft Report: Theft report filed by Will Powers on behalf of Global Studios. The stolen object in question is a black briefcase containing three million dollars. It was reported and filed at 11pm on the night of April 23th.
New Case Evidence — Black Briefcase: The stolen briefcase containing $3 million. None of the money seems to be removed. Preliminary forensics test performed reveals Conan's fingerprints on the handle.
After sifting through the evidence he had been given, he walked towards Conan, who had been pacing about while he had been studying the things Megure had given him. "So, Conan," he started in a calm voice. He knew better than to rush headfirst this time after his hastiness was abused by Conan to flip all suspicion onto Trucy ten minutes ago. "I want to know exactly how you found that briefcase."
He might not have lied about Trucy giving him the stolen briefcase… but I know he isn't an honest child! Right now he has the police wrapped around his thumb, thinking he's completely innocent. So all I need to do is to find some flaw in his testimony to deflect suspicion off Trucy!
As a lawyer, Phoenix knew firsthand how mistruths beget more lies. Eventually those multitudes of lies would reach a tipping point, where a contradiction would usually be obvious and shatter all the lies, revealing the truth for the world to see.
And now was that time. He felt adrenaline course through him as he stared down his opponent. He would unveil Edogawa Conan's true nature as a compulsive liar and tear down his childish charade in front of the police.
He couldn't fail here! His dear Trucy's fate depended on it. He might have screwed up earlier, but this time he would catch Conan out, or go down trying.
~ Witness Testimony ~
#- Trucy & the Briefcase -#
"The ninth floor of the hotel, that's where it happened." Conan put his hand to his chin, face deep in thought, almost like he was trying to recall something specific. "I remember the time was 9.23am," he finally continued after about a five second pause, "At that exact time, I had the misfortune of running into Trucy-san, the magician girl."
Conan then pointed straight at Trucy with an accusatory look in his eyes, "She was holding the briefcase in her hand. When she saw me, she handed it to me and left," he cried out. "And that's how I ended up with the briefcase. I had absolutely no clue that there was stolen money inside of it!" He looked down, as if he seemed ashamed of himself, although Phoenix couldn't begin to imagine what the boy was really feeling at the moment. "If I knew that it had been stolen, I would have called the police immediately! I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble I caused…" he trailed off sheepishly.
After concluding, he gave a small smile to the group of police and civilians. "That's all. Any questions?"
Phoenix kept his face neutral, trying not to show the sense of dread that he was currently feeling. That… did not go the way he had anticipated at all.
Man, for a seven-year-old, Conan's testimony was frankly pretty solid. It didn't appear to have any obvious flaws at all. The child was being deliberately vague, saying only what he thought and felt — all of which would only be classified as subjective or circumstantial evidence in the eyes of a lawyer.
He shook his head. So what if it was? He wasn't in court! This wasn't a cross-examination, so he didn't have to worry about a prosecutor countering him with that 'circumstantial evidence' argument agai-wait…
This wasn't a cross-examination!
"You know?" he whispered to Maya, "I think this is the first time this has ever happened."
"Huh?" Maya looked at him confused. "What do you mean? You've done this multiple times before—"
"No! Not that!" he interrupted, "I usually confront people in court. I think this is one of the few times I'm debating with them outside of court. That's usually Edgeworth's job."
Pearl raised an arm to clarify her doubts. "But Mr. Edgeworth's a prosecutor. Don't prosecutors also cross-examine in court?"
"Edgeworth might be a prosecutor, but he'd told me he had to investigate like a detective before. Guess he's two-timing his job, because an argument is much easier without me as an opponent." Phoenix chuckled. Maybe he just wanted to win some debates for once, since he doesn't win as often whenever I face him in court.
"Achoo!" A loud sneeze rang throughout the room.
"Mr. Edgeworth." A woman dressed in raven-like clothes cheekily grinned. "Are you feeling cold?"
"It's nothing, Kay." Thanking his lucky stars that none of the mucus had ruined his precious red suit, the prosecutor paused to wipe his nose with a fancy handkerchief before putting his finger to his lip. Musing, Edgeworth muttered, "I just had a feeling that someone, somewhere, has just insulted me."
"That's not really a nice thing to do, huh Mr. Edgeworth?" his assistant commented.
"Yes, and I have a feeling as to who that someone is," Edgeworth shook his head, banging his head against his desk to suppress a yell.
Wrightttttttt… he thought with a mental sigh.
"Huh. For some reason I felt a chill just now," Phoenix commented. "Must be the temperate climate here in Japan."
"Or the air conditioning! We've been standing under one that's been at full blast, Nick! Are you that unobservant?"
Phoenix looked up and realized that Maya was right. Walking three paces to the right to avoid the cool air, he curled his fists into a ball, "If anyone is giving me chills, it's Conan. That kid—"
"…Is as adorable as Pearly is when she was young!"
Brilliant, even Maya got suckered in by 'im. He shook his head, looking back at Conan. Regardless of whether this is a cross-examination in court or not, I'm going to get him!
~ Cross-Examination ~
Maya guffawed. "Nick… you just said that you weren't in court right now. This isn't really a cross-examination, right? I mean, there's no prosecutor here, right?"
"Must you really be that petty, Maya? It's the same thing, right?" When he saw Maya puffing her face out again, he groaned.
There really was no winning this, was there?
~ Rebuttal ~
"Okay, now that I managed to satisfy Maya's complaint, you may repeat your testimony now." Phoenix glanced down at Conan to see an irritated look flicker across his face from his words. Good to see that I'm not the only one that think Maya's requests are a tad annoying at times.
But for now, I can't afford to let up on him. Phoenix looked at the bespectacled boy carefully. I need to press everything he says until he slips up and makes a mistake.
'The ninth floor of the hotel, that's where it happened.'
"HOLD IT!"
"Geez!" Conan cupped his ears, wincing from Phoenix's yell. "Your voice is terribly loud! My ears hurt…" he grumbled.
"Sorry… I get that a lot," he ruffled his hair in embarrassment. Realizing he was drifting off-topic, he quickly returned to Conan with a determined look. "Just what were you doing on the ninth floor? When I saw you earlier, you were on the ground floor! Why did you feel the need to go to the ninth floor?"
It didn't take Conan long to respond. "Because it's fun to ride the elevator to the top floor! Wheeeee!" he beamed with an excited smile. "There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
Phoenix felt himself going slowly insane as Conan launched into a tirade about why playing with elevator buttons was a blast. Whup, looks like that went nowhere. I need to remember that he's just a kid…
'I remember the time was 9.23am. At that exact time, I had the misfortune of running into Trucy-san, the magician girl.'
"HOLD IT!"
I can't really question him on meeting up with Trucy, since I know it's true, so I'll just have to press him on the first part.
"Why are you so certain of the time?" This portion was definitely weird. "You said, and I quote, 'I remember the time was 9.23am'. Any reason as to why you know of the time that the two of you met down to the very minute?"
Conan lifted his left arm up, flashing a silver object on his wrist. "I wear a watch," he bluntly replied as the watch in question glinted under the ceiling light, "Isn't it normal to keep track of the time?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Not for a kid! Children never care about the time! That's why they're always so carefree.
Hey, why is Trucy suddenly gazing at me like that? Phoenix thought worriedly. She can't possibly know that I'm thinking about her… could she?
She does, doesn't she? A wink from Trucy confirmed his thoughts.
Hey, you're supposed to be on my side! I'm trying to save you here, y'know…
'She was holding the briefcase in her hand. When she saw me, she handed it to me and left.'
This statement, Phoenix clenched his fist. This was it — the boy's damning statement. If it couldn't be disproved, then Conan would be able to get off scot-free and Trucy would be indicted as the culprit in his place.
This was the part of his testimony that he needed to focus on. He breathed in deeply, making the arguments in his mind, before yelling…
"HOLD IT!"
"Are you sure that Trucy was holding the briefcase in her hand? Absolutely positive?" He looked closely at his body language to spot any tells.
"Yes." Conan involuntarily winced before he elaborated, "She threw that thing at me. Right in the face too." He rubbed his cheeks, mumbling something unfriendly under his breath. "Of course I would remember something like that."
"Are you sure you didn't make this up?"
"Don't badger Conan-kun, Wright-san," Megure eyed Phoenix cautiously. "The scenario sounds plausible enough to me."
Just brilliant. Now the police are getting in the way again. What should I do? Should I press further? If I go too far, the inspector might cause trouble or stop me from interrogating altogether.
He shook his head, knocking those negative thoughts out of his mind. There's no turning back. I can't let up on him, or else Trucy will…
"Were the two of you alone at the time?"
He nodded his head. "That's right. Only me and her."
"How do I know that you're telling the truth? There is the possibility that you could be lying if there were no other witnesses. You need an alibi to prove that you were both really on the ninth floor!"
"Isn't your daughter my alibi?" Before Phoenix could stop him, Conan signaled to Trucy with a cute pout, "Trucy-san!" Phoenix couldn't help but notice that his voice suddenly became even more childish than before, if that was even possible. "You were there with me on the ninth floor, right?"
He caught onto Conan's plan far too late. No, no, no, he's tricking you by acting cute! Don't say yes!
"Yep!" Trucy didn't even realize that she had compromised her position further. All she currently cared about was seeing little Conan smile, which he most definitely did after she basically verified his claim.
"You sneaky little brat," Phoenix mumbled under his breath. Conan gave a cute smile in response, pretending that Trucy shooting herself in the foot was just a coincidence and not a craftily planned ploy.
"Mr. Nick! That's not very nice," Pearl said in a reprimanding voice. "He didn't do anything wrong at all. All he did was smile at Trucy."
"No, Pearls. Conan did not just 'smile' at her. He used a tactic that every little child knows how to abuse."
"Huh?" Pearl scanned Conan, trying to decipher the meaning of Phoenix's cryptic words. "What tactic are you talking about, Mr. Nick?"
"An evil tactic that every child knows how to use on adults in order to get their way."
She frowned in frustration. "Well, I don't remember ever using any tactic to get my way when I was younger…"
Not true, Pearls. You mastered the puppy-eye look back in the day. Especially when it came to shipping me with your cousin. He decided to change the topic before any more cute images came to his mind and reduced him to a puddle of goo.
"Oh, come on!" he said to Conan, who finally dropped his smile in response, "You gotta admit, throwing a heavy briefcase at a child is a pretty far-fetched scenario."
"But she did do it, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise." Conan folded his arms, annoyance radiating from him clear as day. He was definitely unhappy about this topic in particular. "Alright, let me ask you. You're Trucy-san's father, correct? Surely you would know your own daughter better than anyone. Can you see her behaving like that?"
Phoenix froze. Gah! Unfortunately, he's right! Trucy always had a flair for theatrics! He had to admit, he could imagine Trucy throwing the briefcase if someone like Apollo was in Conan's place.
Seeing Phoenix stunned, Conan went in for a low blow. "Wright-san, take my advice. You really need to teach her some kind of self-restraint."
His advice caused Phoenix to grow flustered. "H-Hey! I'm supposed to be the parent here, not you! Don't meddle in my family affairs!"
'And that's how I ended up with the briefcase. I had absolutely no clue that there was stolen money inside of it!'
"HOLD IT!"
If he was in court, this would be the point where he would slam the desk. "You mean you didn't find the briefcase suspicious at all? I highly doubt that."
Conan shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. "You're running out of arguments, aren't you?" he remarked, skipping over Phoenix's question.
"No!" Phoenix hastily denied. "Whatever gave you that impression?!"
"Your question, of course." He gave a crooked smile, almost like he wanted to laugh out loud. "What sort of question is that?"
"Just answer it."
Conan gave a tired sigh. "This is a hotel. Tourists carry briefcases. Of course I wouldn't think it was weird," he said in a bored tone, like his thought process was as simple as 1+1.
Wow, when he puts it that way I really feel inferior.
'If I knew that it had been stolen, I would have called the police immediately! I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble I caused…'
"HOLD IT!"
By this fifth yell, Phoenix could see visible creases in Conan's brow. He was rapidly getting annoyed by the constant interruptions. "I'm sorry, but you can't seriously have a problem with this statement, do you? Isn't it human nature to call the authorities when there's trouble?" he grumbled.
Human nature? I would have thought that for children, you lot are taught to call the cops by your parents!
"That's not what I was trying to imply. I mean…" he trailed off, at a loss for words. Damn it! When it comes down to it, I don't have a single piece of evidence to support my claim!
As if guessing his thoughts, Maya teasingly messed with him. "Getting stumped by a kid has to be a new low for you, Nick."
"Oh, you try arguing with him. It's like talking to a brick wall, that boy's not easy to break in the slightest."
There has to be some contradiction! There has to be! He looked over all the lines of Conan's testimony a second time.
'The ninth floor of the hotel, that's where it happened.'
This statement was a fact. There was nowhere else it could have been. Phoenix hurriedly moved on to the next sentence.
'I remember the time was 9.23am. At that exact time, I had the misfortune of running into Trucy-san, the magician girl.'
Trucy'd already admitted that she met Conan, so this statement was also hopeless to refute.
'She was holding the briefcase in her hand. When she saw me, she handed it to me and left.'
The outrageous story that Conan had told earlier was also confirmed to be true… but something about it seemed off.
He prepared to sift through the evidence and see if anything contradicted Conan.
Wait! He looked through the Court Record—which was really easy with so little items this time—and found something very intriguing. This was it!
He smirked as he prepared to rip the boy to shreds. The payback he was about to deal was going to be so satisfying.
"OBJECTION!" Phoenix yelled in triumph, pointing directly at Conan with his right index finger. Finally, something going well on this accused trip. The next time Maya won any free tickets for a holiday, he was so going to pass.
"T-t-the pointer finger's my gimmick…" Conan protested, almost inaudibly. He narrowed his eyes, gazing at Phoenix with his hands still in his pockets, "So what exactly is your objection anyway?"
Phoenix smirked. "That's elementary. You claimed that at 9.23am, only you and Trucy were in the area, correct?"
"Yes?" he warily answered, not sure of Phoenix's point.
His smile grew wider. "And you continue to insist that she was holding the case before you?"
"That's right," he nodded.
"I'm afraid that's not possible," he shook his head with a smirk. "Because you see, only your fingerprints were found on the briefcase handle. Since Trucy's prints aren't on the case, that means only one thing… you're lying about your meetup!" he declared. Seeing Maya give him a thumbs-up from his side, he finished off his theory, "But why lie? Well, the only reason you'll lie to a police officer is to throw suspicion off yourself, which means you're more than likely to be the real thief!"
It felt so good to turn this around on that cocky brat! Phoenix was going to enjoy watching him squirm like the child he was supposed to be.
Wait… why wasn't he squirming?
He began to feel uneasy at seeing Conan not react even a little bit after his reasoning. Phoenix wiped away a trickle of sweat from his face, careful not to let his mounting apprehension show. "Why are you smiling like that?"
His glasses glinted from the overhead light, giving Conan a creepy appearance. "I knew you'd mention that. Tsk, tsk," he clucked his tongue.
"What are you talking about?" He stormed towards the child. "You couldn't possibly know what I was going to say!"
"So what? It was obvious that you'll bring it up. The fingerprints, I mean."
Damn, he's arrogant as hell!
"Besides," he continued, "I can very easily dispel that argument."
"You WHAT?!"
"I can't believe you didn't notice. Of course her fingerprints wouldn't show up… Trucy-san is wearing gloves, after all."
Phoenix's eyes widened, before they darted over to Trucy. Sure enough, she was still wearing her trademark white magician gloves. "B-b-but…" he tried to counter. "Just because she had gloves on now, doesn't mean that—"
"You're contradicting your own statement," Conan shrugged. "If she didn't have gloves at the time, then her prints would be on the handle."
"Unless you're lying!" Phoenix refused to back down. "If you're lying about the whole thing, then her prints wouldn't be on it whether she had gloves or not!"
"Your own daughter already admitted to being on the ninth floor with me, and to throwing that thing in my face," Conan glared at a sheepish Phoenix. "You truly are desperate. Your argument held no water to begin with."
Phoenix looked at Trucy helplessly, before holding his hands to his head in despair.
The worst part was that deep down in his heart he knew that Conan was absolutely right. He had presented the fingerprints despite how flimsy of an argument it was. He had let his emotions get the better of him, ignoring his subconscious telling him that Trucy always had gloves on, all for the chance to prove her not guilty of the charge.
He should have known better.
Was… this it? Conan's testimony would be enough to incarcerate her.
"Although, all that said… I wouldn't call Trucy-san the culprit of the theft."
What Conan said made Phoenix look up in surprise. He didn't dare to breathe.
"It was the gloves," he explained. "If Trucy-san truly was the thief and she had wanted to get rid of the stolen money by handing it to me, then she should have disposed of the gloves she was wearing. It would cast unwanted suspicion if she continued to wear them."
"Yeah! What he said!" Phoenix readily agreed. He didn't understand why Conan of all people would come to his rescue, but at this point he would take anything.
He ignored the weird disapproving glances he got that screamed "really?" Maya's look in particular was saying "You let a seven-year-old kid beat you? Wow, you've gotten rusty, Nick." Yeah, he could read Maya's mind by now.
"But Conan-kun," Megure frowned, "Assuming your theory is correct, then where did the stolen briefcase come from?"
"Ah, that I don't know." He looked irritated at that admission. "As of now I cannot prove how Trucy-san managed to get the briefcase. Perhaps she found it somewhere?"
"If that's the case, we're right back to where we started. Since neither you nor Trucy-san is responsible, we don't have a definitive culprit for the theft." Megure glanced over to Trucy, lingering his gaze on her. Eventually, he turned towards Will Powers. "Well, what do you think about all of this, Powers-san?"
Powers shrugged back. "Honestly, Inspector? I've known Mr. Wright for ages. I can attest that his daughter is definitely innocent." He then turned towards Conan with a hearty smile. "Also, I don't believe that the kid stole it either. He's a child, for crying out loud. We adults probably traumatized him enough." Megure guffawed at that remark, but Powers carried on, not understanding the inside joke. "The important thing here is that we managed to get the stolen money back."
"Oh, that's right. You actually got your money back, Powers-san," Megure said, clapping his fists together. "I suppose unless we investigate further, we won't know who the person who originally stole the briefcase was. But at the very least we managed to recover it."
"That's right! If we didn't manage to retrieve that three million dollars…" Powers trailed off with a sheepish look, not wishing to finish the thought. "Anyway, I guess you can close the theft case now, inspector? I have to get going soon. The concert's about to commence, and I can't miss the grand opening!"
Megure called out to the retreating actor. "As you wish, Powers-san. Now, I think—"
"Hey, wait a second!" The crowd of people turned around to source of the interruption, the person in question being Trucy. "Hey! You can't close the case yet! The show's not over, not when you guys haven't found the real thief yet!"
Phoenix had to resist wringing something in frustration. "Trucy, what are you doing! It's in your favor! Just take the verdict!"
Megure shook his head at the father-daughter chaos. He strode over and patted Trucy on the back. "You and Conan-kun are out of our custody. Now keep safe and enjoy the concert."
New Case Evidence — Conan's Testimony: Record of conversation with Edogawa Conan after being caught with the stolen briefcase. The last person before Conan to handle the stolen briefcase was Trucy Wright. The case itself was not suspicious looking, which was why Conan was holding onto it.
"Yay!" Pearl cheered, hugging her friend after Megure declared her to be off the hook, "I knew you were innocent, Trucy!"
"Don't lie, Pearly!" Maya grinned, "I bet you thought that your friend was guilty!"
"That's not true, Mystic Maya! I had faith in Trucy!"
Before the two cousins could continue to banter, a new voice barged in. "Conan-kun!"
"Ahhh—" Phoenix saw the barest flicker of fright on the boy's face, before Conan's expression turned innocently cheery in record time. "H-Hi there, Ran-neechan," he stuttered.
"Conan-kun…" Ran glowered, making Conan laugh nervously. "You better have a good explanation for this."
"Yeah, you little brat!" Sonoko scowled down at Conan. "You worried Ran sick when she realised that you snuck off on us when we were talking."
Just then, Ran caught sight of Inspector Megure. "Hm, why are you here, Keibu?"
"Ah, Ran-kun," Megure waved, "Are you here for the Neo Olde Tokyo concert?"
"Yes, I am. But what about you?" she asked, turning the question back around. "You don't look like you're here for the concert…" Her eyes briefly flashed dark as she realized the implication of Megure's appearance, "Wait a minute… don't tell me you've been caught up in yet another dangerous case, Conan-kun?" she muttered irritably, making Conan flinch momentarily.
Another dangerous case? More than… one? Phoenix frowned. What was all that about?
"Oh no," Conan waved his arms frantically to deny Ran's accusation. "I swear, I wasn't involved in anything dangerous, Ran-neechan. It wasn't even a murder case this time!"
Phoenix was gobsmacked upon hearing his last words. He stared at Conan with wide eyes, as though he was seeing the child for the first time. He'd always had his doubts about Conan, but even after everything he had found out about thus far, this was seriously eerie.
Wasn't even a what? A murder case? He was involved in multiple murder cases? What the hell! Was this why he needed a false name? No, that couldn't be…
Gah! It all came back to the million-dollar question. Why the heck would a freaking seven-year-old have the need to falsify his identity?
Why?
There was no way Conan was going to tell, so the only way Phoenix would ever find out was if he forced the truth out of him. He reached into his suit pocket, feeling the warm glow of the Magatama in the palm of his hand.
If there was any time to confront Conan about this, it was now.
All right, Edogawa Conan. Time to find out who you really are! I bet that him being involved with murder cases is a huge clue. Perhaps now I can break his Psyche-Locks and solve this mystery!
As he pulled out the lime green Magatama, he caught sight of Inspector Megure crouching down and leaning close to the young boy. "Oi, Conan-kun," he managed to catch Megure's whisper. His curiosity piqued, he placed the Magatama back and crept closer to try to hear what the two were talking about.
Megure carried on speaking with a low voice. "I think it would be best not to tell Ran-chan that you almost got arrested."
Yeah, that was probably a good idea. The boy would probably get grounded forever if she knew.
Unfortunately for the duo, Phoenix wasn't the only one who was eavesdropping. Being Teitan High School's resident gossip queen, Sonoko happened to be blessed with very sharp hearing. "Huh! The brat in glasses almost got arrested by the cops?!" she announced loudly, revealing what was supposed to be Megure and Conan's "secret" conversation to practically everyone in the vicinity.
He saw Conan visibly stiffen at Sonoko's outburst. It looked like he was contemplating cursing Sonoko under his breath or waiting for the ground to swallow him up so he didn't have to stay in the area. But why did he look like he was about to faint? Every one of them already knew about his near arrest, and Phoenix doubted it mattered if some random hotel guests found out.
"Cooonnnan-kun! Yo-You got in trouble with the police?!" Ran shouted in anger, making the child back away in terror. "Oh, you are in big trouble now, young man! This was supposed to be a fun family outing!"
Oh. That explained it. Almost everybody knew. Phoenix had to fight back a smile at seeing the troublesome boy finally getting his just desserts.
"Uhhh, Ran-neechan, I-I can explain…" Conan was sweating bullets, a terrified expression plastered onto his normally calm face.
Huh, this was interesting. Phoenix hadn't expected Conan to be this terrified of his guardian. Seriously, the kid had been able to calmly face down a theft charge and somehow manage to swing it in his favour like it was nothing, but surprisingly he was acting like a normal, scared kid when it came to interactions with Ran.
Maybe it was parental instinct. Despite everything, he was still seven years old. She had authority over Conan, so naturally he would still have some innate fear of her.
"Relax, Ran-kun!" Megure said, trying to diffuse the situation. "As I said, he was almost arrested, not actually arrested! It turned out to be an honest mistake, so please, do calm down."
"Hmph! This still shows that you're not infallible, Conan-kun." Sonoko gloated. Conan turned away with a huff when he realized that she had called him by his actual name for emphasis. "Maybe you should behave and listen to Ran next time!" she grinned down at Conan, winking with a smirk of victory on her face.
"Alright, Sonoko-neechan…" Conan conceded. It wasn't a full surrender, however. Phoenix could detect some irritation from his voice that showed he wasn't really being sincere with his promise.
Geez, what a defiant child! Thank goodness neither Trucy nor Pearls had ever been this rebellious! He was already having trouble just watching others deal with Conan, so there was no way he could imagine himself in a position where he would have to look after a problem child like him 24/7.
"Would you look at the time? We better get in before it becomes a stampede." Ran held Conan by the hand, "No more sneaking off, Conan-kun! Come, let's watch the concert together, okay? I bet the others are worried about you too."
"Ran-neechan, I…" Suddenly, Phoenix saw Conan's eyes widen. For just one second, the childish mask on his face fell and in its place was a horrified gasp. He could see the boy's entire body stiffen. Immediately after, he relaxed and continued walking with Ran, trying to pretend that nothing had happened.
It didn't fool Phoenix. Conan had shown obvious signs of worry. Something must have happened for the calm child to suddenly panic. He immediately pivoted on his heel, trying to see what caught Conan's eye.
Just what was Conan looking at? There was nothing obvious in the foreground that caught his attention.
Unless, it wasn't a stationary object he had seen. It must have been mobile… a person!
Unfortunately, there was a sea of people in the lobby. There was no way he could narrow the person in question down. Worse still, by the time he turned back, Conan and Ran were gone.
Shoot! There went his chance to interrogate Conan! It looked as though breaking the Psyche-Locks and the mystery of Conan's identity would have to wait for another time.
"Come on, Nick! Let's go! I can't wait for the Steel Samurai!"
"Yeah, Mr. Nick! The Neo Olde Tokyo concert is about to start!"
"They're both right, you know. It's over already, Daddy. That old inspector's gone, and he hadn't arrested me in the end, so don't be so down!"
Phoenix blinked as Trucy, Pearl and Maya all looked at him with concerned faces. "Do I really look that bad?"
"Yes." The response was unanimous.
"Fine… I won't let this ruin our day. Let's just see this stupid thing already."
"Nick! How dare you! The Steel Samurai isn't stupid! It's a way of life…"
He drowned out Maya's gushing as he started trudging towards the ballroom. He didn't have the heart to admit that he lied about dropping the topic. Conan's face, etched in terror, was still engraved into his mind. The gesture had struck Phoenix as strange.
Why had Conan reacted so strongly?
He couldn't shake off his unease. What on earth could have spooked Conan out? Who could have scared a boy that was unfazed by the prospect of being arrested by the police and managed to face down a professional lawyer in an argument?
"I swear, I wasn't involved in anything dangerous, Ran-neechan. It wasn't even a murder case this time!"
Phoenix wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
Author's Note:
Ah, I'm such a tease. So many of you expected a court case this chapter. Oops.
Um, sorry I couldn't deliver on that (yet), but you at least get the cross examination — though I had to make fun of Ace Attorney Investigations to do it, which I apologize for. Actually, disregard that, I'm not sorry for that jab. I really couldn't resist.
And to the reviewers debating which prosecutor will eventually step in? You'll have to keep on guessing!
