Butterfly
by Cyberchao X
Summary: It's amazing how drastically the course of history can be altered with just the slightest difference in a single event. In the world of Ace Attorney, the first quarter of the 21st century was shaped by one single moment.
February 23, 2015
7:16 PM
Edgeworth Law Offices
"Detective Fey. I hope you bring good news?"
"Indeed. Seeing as how I had already been given an alibi under oath, I was allowed to investigate the scene. The supervisor was P.I.C. head Blaise Debeste, who…wasn't exactly a neutral party, seeing as how he was the Chief Prosecutor of Los Angeles until just a few months ago, but nevertheless allowed the evidence to be discovered."
"And?"
"The missing piece of the jar was discovered in Damon's safe, and with it, the missing piece of Neil's vest. Damon's already been suspended and charged with obstruction of justice."
"Why did he cut the piece out?"
"There was a handprint on the piece that had been cut out. We dusted for prints, and…it belonged to Ema Skye."
"To Ema?"
"Your theory that the man Ema pushed was actually Neil Marshall was correct."
"…And if they try to point the finger at Ema?"
"They shouldn't, given that she's not the accused. Furthermore, her story doesn't contradict the evidence."
"Yet. After all, the picture I showed clearly has the suit of armor as the murder weapon…and that puts everything that Lana said about the locations of the bodies as being wrong. Now, about that 'alibi'…"
"You think Damon Gant will try to throw both Lana and me under the bus by refuting that statement. Not to worry…I obtained a reliable corroboration."
"…a corroboration of an alibi that you don't have."
"If it gets called into question, this is your objection." She handed him a tape labeled "Security footage February 19 6:00 PM-6:30 PM". "I believe this will be conclusive. It's from the outside security camera at the restaurant. It shows me arriving at 6:10 PM, which is consistent with me leaving the precinct just past 6:00. As for the possibility of it being faked on another day, well, my sister wasn't in town on any other day, and this other footage shows us leaving the restaurant together just past 9:00 PM." She took out another tape, labeled "Security footage February 19 9:00 PM-9:30 PM".
"Are you asking me to present false evidence?"
"Not at all. The labels are entirely for convenience for differentiation as evidence, and if you're willing to sit through the entirety of these half-hour long tapes, you'll find that everything matches up perfectly."
"We won't find any doctored timestamps?"
"There are no timestamps. It's a very old model, I'm afraid. There's a big digital clock in the background which corroborates the time. I can assure you that the footage has not been doctored in any way."
"…I don't believe you, Mia Fey."
"I understand. You want the whole truth. Well, then, it's too bad that these are the only videos that have been deemed relevant."
"What are you hiding?"
"As I said, the labels were not applied at the restaurant. These labels do reflect what the videos appear to show. What it fails to show is a certain light in the clock going out shortly before 8:00 PM and then coming back on again at about quarter to 9."
"…You mean that your '6:00 to 6:30' tape actually shows what happened between 8:00 and 8:30, and that you messed with the clock itself to make it look like the wrong time?"
"Lana and Damon told me to disappear. I made sure I had an alibi. Of course, the light in the clock went out at 7:57 PM. I wonder what will happen if you try to question what I was doing at that time?"
Miles Edgeworth gulped. (That's the exact moment she called my office.) "Well played, Miss Fey. So I'm to be your alibi for the sabotage of the clock if it comes to it?"
"I'm glad you understand. Of course, Lana is willing to testify that Gant coerced her into participating in the cover-up."
"Did he?"
"In a manner of speaking. His frame-up of the crime scene was supposed to make Ema look like the killer, after all. But there's a big fat contradiction in that now."
"Do tell."
"Sorry, I can't do that at the moment. You'll notice it right away tomorrow; it's really glaring."
"…You know, I thought you were different from all of the others."
"I already suspected Gant at that time. He may seem eccentric, but he's sharp. Sometimes to catch a criminal, you have to think like a criminal."
February 24, 2015
10:00 AM
Courtroom #7
"Court is now in session for the trial of Joe Darke. Prosecutor Portsman, what has yesterday's investigation unveiled?"
"As Mr. Edgeworth theorized, Deputy Chief Damon Gant and Detective Lana Skye were actively trying to conceal the true circumstances of Neil Marshall's death. The missing piece of the jar was found in a safe belonging to Deputy Chief Gant, and with it, the missing piece of the victim's vest. An analysis of both concealed pieces of evidence showed that there was in fact writing on the jar, spelling out the name 'EMA', and that Ema Skye's handprint was on Prosecutor Marshall's vest."
"Well, then, I think that's enough to pass judgement. I find the defendant, Joe Darke…"
"HOLD IT!" Portsman. "It's true that this evidence points to Ema Skye killing Neil Marshall. But it's hardly conclusive evidence that she did it. Remember, if you will, that Ema herself testified to shoving the man she'd seen with the 'broken knife'. If that was indeed Neil Marshall, her handprint has already been explained, and yet, at that time Prosecutor Marshall was nowhere near his final resting place."
"Oh? You are quite certain of that?"
"Indeed. Once the jar was fully reassembled, we found that the angle at which it would have to be viewed in order to present that silhouette…why, you'd have to be looking almost straight up at it! Therefore, in spite of everything else that occurred yesterday, the testimony that Ema Skye was found on Damon Gant's side of the office, near the fragments of the jar, seems solid. Therefore…I believe the defense's theory that the murder occurred after Ema Skye was knocked out."
"And do you have a suspect?"
"I should think that would be obvious by the fact that I stopped you from giving your verdict. I believe that Joe Darke is, in fact, the real murderer. Since Mr. Edgeworth was so kind to regale you with theories, here's mine. At some point, Neil Marshall yelled to Ema to run away, calling her by name—thus explaining how Darke knew what name to write on the jar. At the moment depicted in Ema's picture, Darke was on the ground, but not unconscious. Ema hit the stand that the jar was on and it fell over, but it didn't break. Neil Marshall went to check on her to make sure she was okay, and Darke got up and impaled the prosecutor on the nearby suit of armor. He then wrote Ema's name on the jar and was prepared to leave when he heard other people approaching, so facing the prospect of being caught red-handed, he faked unconsciousness."
"That's…quite a story. Mr. Edgeworth, your thoughts?"
"And at what point during this story is a piece cut from Marshall's vest? Or the jar broken?"
"After Detectives Gant and Skye arrived, of course. They are the ones who were concealing evidence after all."
"OBJECTION! The blood tells a very different story."
"A…different story?"
Miles Edgeworth nodded. "Most of the blood was cleaned off of the jar fragments that were found at the scene…but the portion that was found in Gant's safe had not been cleaned. Whoever was cleaning the fragments never encountered that one! But more telling than the blood on the jar fragment is the blood on the vest fragment."
"OBJECTION! There isn't any blood on the vest fragment!"
"My point exactly. TAKE THAT!" Present: Lana's Photo. "Look at all that blood. The only way that the piece of Marshall's vest found in Damon Gant's safe could be so pristine is if it was removed before he was impaled!"
"…It seems you get the gold, Mr. Edgeworth. I…regret to say that I missed that. And since the decisive evidence was found in Damon Gant's safe…it seems I'll be prosecuting him next."
"Well, now, I wouldn't be too hasty to start prosecuting Gant. After all, I believe someone still has to try my client for the five people he allegedly killed this past September—and I'm not defending him for those charges."
"Erm, Prosecutor…are you saying that you're ready for a verdict?"
Jacques Portsman sighed. "Yeah, I'm ready."
"Er-hrm. The court finds the defendant, Joe Darke…"
Not Guilty
CCX: …Wait what happened to my chapter? There wasn't any testimony! I spent more time setting up Mia's fake alibi than I did actually covering Day 2 of the trial! …Ah, well, I guess that means you get three chapters in one day.
...oh, right, I've got to summarize what happened next. ...no, wait, that's bad storytelling, or so I've been told. This is Cyberchao X, signing off.