In this chapter, there is more talk about the past. It's still not a popular subject.

Date unknown - Time unknown

Desert World

Only after two hours did they decide that it was safe to risk stopping. Klavier was very aware that it was a decision borne out of necessity: they were all exhausted and couldn't go on any longer without sleep. Still, they set up a watch system and Klavier took first watch. Neither Apollo nor Athena put up more than a token protest, but Apollo did instruct his bird to keep watch along with him. Not that it would be of much use if something attacked them, or worse, Judai Yuki found them, but at least they wouldn't be killed in their sleep.

The bird circled them, every inch a predator. Klavier could barely see her, but he frowned anyway. Athena had fallen asleep almost right away, and Apollo's breathing had evened out a few minutes ago. His watch told him he had another three hours to go.

He laid down, but that only netted him a faceful of sand. Frustrated, he stood up again and tried in vain to get the sand out of his hair and clothes. God, he needed a shower.

The bird shrieked and landed heavily next to Apollo. Apollo groaned.

"Whassamatter?" He opened his eyes. "Chrysta?"

The bird crooned. Apollo lifted a hand and scratched her between her wings, turning to look at Klavier.

"Prosecutor Gavin? Is everything alright?"

"I think so." Klavier peered into the dark. No sign of movement anywhere.

They lapsed into silence. Apollo dropped his arm and the bird snuggled up against him. Klavier stared at her.

"Prosecutor Gavin?" Apollo asked again.

"Why did you name her that?" he asked in a rush, before he could change his mind. Apollo closed his eyes briefly.

"Chrysta? Her mask is golden, so it seemed to fit."

"I know." He turned away. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Apollo get up again. The bird protested.

"Does it bother you?" Apollo asked. He sounded awake now, understanding. "There are other names."

"It's your bird."

Apollo sighed. "I–– I needed..." He made a frustrated noise. "I'm not explaining this right. I know her name has the same root as Mr. Gavin's."

There it was, the elephant in the room. The golden boy. Kristoph had been really proud of that name.

"So why?" If Apollo knew...

"Honestly? It was the first name that came to mind." Apollo laughed bitterly. "But also... I needed a different memory. Redeem the name, so to speak. It's been over a year and I want some closure."

Klavier let out a breath. He could understand that, at least.

"But you've known Mr. Gavin a lot longer than I have, so I completely understand if you don't want me to––"

"No, it's fine," Klavier cut him off. He turned around and studied the eagle. "Hey, can't get more different from Kristoph than a spirit bird."

Apollo snorted. The bird ––Chrysta–– spread her wings in an impressive display of her wingspan.

"So it's okay?"

"Yeah." Klavier held out a hand and Chrysta, after a nod from Apollo, neared. "I think you're right. Might as well move on with our lives. Give the name a different purpose."

Apollo woke up with the distinct taste of sand in his mouth. He flailed for a minute, before realizing where he was and what had happened the previous day. The blur of gold above his head alerted him of Chrysta's presence—she'd been keeping watch over them throughout the night. Athena, who'd had the last shift, was fast asleep now.

"Thirsty," he mumbled. Chrysta flew down and landed next to him. Apollo smiled tiredly. She was a sweet bird when she wasn't trying to attack him. He'd be sorry to have to leave her behind when they got out of here.

If, a nefarious voice in the back of his mind said. When, he returned firmly. They were not going to die here, not by Judai Yuki's hands and not by anything this world could throw at them. They were attorneys. They were known for turning things around.

"Oh, Apollo, did I fall asleep?" Athena asked. She stretched her arms above her head. "I'm sorry, did anything happen?"

"No, don't worry, it's fine. We're fine." He grinned. "Prosecutor Gavin's still asleep?"

They both looked at their sleeping travel companion. Figured that he'd be sleeping late. Apollo recalled last night's conversation. It had been taxing on both of them.

"You could just call him Klavier, you know. We're not in court."

"Force of habit, I guess." Apollo got up. Maybe it was a way of distinguishing Prosecutor Gavin from his brother. Maybe he needed the 'Prosecutor' prefix to convince himself it wasn't Kristoph in front of him.

Maybe that wasn't fair to either of them, not with Chrysta.

"I'll call him Klavier if he calls me Apollo," he decided. Athena grimaced.

"Fair enough, I suppose. Hey Klavier, rise and shine!"

Prosecutor Gavin groaned and rolled over. "Not quite the reception I'm used to," he mumbled. His hair had come loose from its characteristic spiral. Not that Apollo was doing much better; without hair gel, he had to keep brushing his hair out of his eyes every other minute. Athena had been smarter and used her hair tie to braid her hair and pin it up.

"What's the situation?" Prosecutor Gavin asked as he got up. "Everyone okay?"

"We're fine," Athena said. "Just-" Her stomach growled. She snorted. "Yeah, that."

Apollo grabbed his satchel. "I think I have a pack of cookies here somewhere, hold on…" He fished out his half-finished bottle of water and eyed it critically. It was better than nothing, but how far was it going to get them? Fishing deeper netted him a half-squashed granola bar and a pack of pop tarts. Opposite him, Athena and Klavier were going through their own stuff. The end result was two more bottles of water, a can of coke, Apollo's cookies and an assorted range of candy, courtesy of Athena. Also, for some reason, a bottle of wine.

Apollo raised his eyebrows. "Dare I ask?"

"It was supposed to be a gift, Herr Forehead. It's a very good year."

"I'll take your word for it," Apollo said. Athena leaned forward.

"Can I try?"

"Most certainly not," Apollo said before Prosecutor Gavin could do anything as stupid as agree. "Last I checked, you didn't magically turn twenty-one overnight."

"I'm legal in most of Europe!" Athena protested. Prosecutor Gavin nodded thoughtfully.

"This isn't Europe, is it?"

"It most certainly isn't the United States either!"

Apollo paused. It wasn't, was it? They had no idea where they were, except that they were in a desert, and aside from Chrysta, the only living creatures likely to exist here probably wanted to kill them. Athena bit her upper lip.

"But… But anyway, alcohol probably isn't very good. It'd just make us thirstier," she said. Prosecutor Gavin grabbed the bottle and put it away before it could cause any more arguments.

However sparse they tried to be while eating, for breakfast they still finished an entire bottle of water and half of the pack of pop tarts between the three of them. Worse, the air was warming up again. No one was saying it, but if they didn't find a way out, they'd be dead in two days. How were they ever going to find a way back? But they had to keep moving. Chrysta was still circling them, so at least she'd be able to tell them if anything dangerous was near. She shrieked once, briefly, and Apollo thought he saw something black jet away, but when he turned around, there was nothing.

"Did you see that?" he muttered.

"See what?" Athena asked, shielding her eyes against the sun.

"No, never mind…" Apollo grabbed his satchel. "Let's get moving."

Two hours later, the heat of the suns had turned practically unbearable. They'd all taken off their jackets and Athena had rolled up the sleeves of her blouse. Apollo was very sure his neck was already sunburnt.

"It's no use," Athena said. "We don't even know what we're looking for. How are we going to find a way back home?"

Apollo wished he could say anything encouraging, but he'd been thinking the very same thing. He exchanged a look with Prosecutor Gavin. The latter opened his mouth to say something, but fell silent.

"How far was Ms. Sammons' apartment from Paseo Del Mar?" Apollo asked.

"It was east of downtown Los Angeles, so maybe twenty miles or more," Prosecutor Gavin replied. Apollo sighed.

"I don't think we've even crossed ten miles yet."

"And we don't know if we're even walking in the right direction. Or if the portal there still exists," Athena added. They all let out a collective sigh.

"Maybe we should go back to where we came from. Judai Yuki could've been lying about that portal being closed," Apollo offered.

"Yes, just take a right at that one sand dune and then a left at the one that looks exactly like it," Prosecutor Gavin shot back. Apollo rolled his eyes.

"Do you have any better ideas? No need to get sarcastic about it."

To his surprise, Prosecutor Gavin looked down. "You're right, I apologize. This world is getting to me."

"It's getting to all of us," said Athena. She stopped walking with another sigh. "Let's stop for a bit. It's too hot to keep going."

Apollo wearily sat down on his jacket. The sand had already gotten everywhere - he wouldn't be wearing this suit for court anymore. He played with the top buttons of his shirt contemplatively.

"Much though I'm sure we'd all appreciate the view, Herr Forehead, I suggest you keep your clothes on," Prosecutor Gavin said. He looked up at the sky. "You'll just give yourself a heatstroke."

Athena giggled half-heartedly. Apollo buried his face in his hands. Prosecutor Gavin was probably right, but did he really have to put it that way?

"Maybe we should wait until it's night," said Athena, "before we go on. It's so warm now."

She made a good point, but nights were also dangerous. They had been fortunate enough not to see any monsters after Chrysta, but that could all change very quickly. Was it worth the risk to avoid the heat? They might not have much choice.

Chrysta circled them once and landed next to Apollo. "Hey girl," he muttered. "See anything?"

She cried out and shook her head. At least that meant no danger. It meant no help either, though.

"She lives here, doesn't she?" Athena said. "Where does she get food and water?"

That… Was a very good question. Prosecutor Gavin sat up. Apollo held out a hand to the bird and she hopped onto his arm easily.

"Chrysta, where do you find water?"

Chrysta tilted her head. Apollo grabbed his bag and fished out their remaining bottle of water. "Like this, see? Water."

She sniffed the bottle. Then she shrieked and took off from Apollo's arm. She circled them a few times, then made a sharp turn south.

"How far is it?" Apollo shouted at her. She hovered in the air, waiting for them to catch up. Apollo shrugged and looked at his traveling companions.

"Do we risk it?"

"What other choice do we have?" Athena said. She got up. "I don't plan on waiting until we drop dead. We need to at least try to find some help, right?"

"Genau." Prosecutor Gavin followed her example. Apollo smiled.

"Okay, Chrysta, take us there!"

Chrysta led them on through the desert. The suns hadn't even reached their zenith yet, but despite the burning heat, they still cast the entire place in an unnaturally pale light. Were they on the verge of dying? This whole world looked like it wouldn't last much longer. With their luck, the suns'd go supernova while they were here.

Now that's too pessimistic even for this situation.

After a mile, Athena started licking her lips. After three miles, they were all eyeing their final bottle of water. At five miles, they collectively decided they might just as well finish it.

"It wouldn't do to die of dehydration before we find who killed Ms. Sammons, would it?" Prosecutor Gavin said. He drank deeply before passing the bottle on to Athena. She passed it to Apollo, who finished it and pocketed the empty bottle again. They might need it to fill up. Right now, all they had left was a bottle of wine and a can of coke that was probably under enough pressure to use as a hand grenade.

"So who did it, d'you think?" Athena asked. "It wasn't Mrs. Huang, I'm sure of it."

"No, I don't think it was her," Prosecutor Gavin agreed. "Actually, I never did tell you two. We checked out her family. Turns out they have a bit of a legend around them. Dragon tamers."

"Oh?"

"Of course, the family itself treats it very tongue-in-cheek today. They're convinced there's no truth to it, but it gets them a nice reputation."

Apollo bit his lip. It wasn't his job to play Prosecutor, especially since the actual Prosecutor didn't believe a word of it, but he had to be sure. "What if there is truth to it?"

"Apollo!" Athena cut in. "Mrs. Huang didn't do it!"

Prosecutor Gavin let out a short laugh. "You do need certainty, don't you? What happened to believing in your client?"

Athena looked away. Apollo could kick himself.

"Don't worry, your client's innocent." Prosecutor Gavin looked up at the sky. "Truth be told, Mrs. Huang's family has as much psychic ability as a rock. Apparently Industrial Illusions actually has ways to test that. There's supposed to be some long-lost branch of her family that can see spirits, but not Mrs. Huang herself."

"What kind of card game company is this? Interdimensional technology and now this?" Apollo asked.

Prosecutor Gavin laughed. "Industrial Illusions is one of the biggest companies in the world. They do far more than just create cards."

"Okay, so it wasn't Mrs. Huang." Apollo didn't have to fake the relief he felt. "So who then?"

"Judai Yuki?" Prosecutor Gavin said. "Knowing that he can teleport, he'd just need to teleport over, kill her, and disappear. He's definitely done it before."

"Yeah…" Apollo bit the inside of his cheek. "Only I don't think he was lying when he said he didn't kill her. My bracelet only reacted when he said he didn't kill anyone."

"Well, then we're stuck." Athena said. "Anyway, he still killed people. There's no way we can trust him."

Chrysta shrieked. Apollo looked up just as she came swooping down and landed on his shoulder.

"What's the matter?"

But Athena grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him back. Prosecutor Gavin nodded towards a dune a good fifty yards away from them. A person had appeared. Not Judai Yuki, that much was clear. This person was a woman, red-haired and far taller than Judai Yuki, with heavy leather armor covering her body. She spotted them and unsheathed her sword.

"Who are you and what brings you here, humans!" she shouted. Athena tensed up.

"We are sorry to bother you," Prosecutor Gavin shouted back. "We are lost."

"Chrysta, move," Apollo hissed. He didn't want to endanger the bird if this woman turned out to be dangerous. The woman jumped off the dune and stopped about ten yards away from them. Up close, her face was tanned and weathered. Her eyes were a deep black.

"We don't often see humans here," she said. "Why are you here?"

"We… ended up here by accident," Prosecutor Gavin said. Apollo was all too happy to let him do the talking. "We would be very grateful if you could point us towards some food or water."

"Your bird almost got you there, boy," the woman said. She nodded at Apollo. Her armor had to be suffocating in the heat, but she didn't show any signs of discomfort. "You're lucky I found you, though. The residents of this oasis don't take kindly to newcomers."

"Ah, then we are very grateful, my good lady," Prosecutor Gavin said with a smile. The woman shook her head.

"Spare me the sweet talk. What're your names?"

"Apollo Justice, madam," Apollo said.

"Athena Cykes."

"Klavier Gavin." Prosecutor Gavin finished. He even followed it up with a half-bow. The woman looked contemplative.

"That so?" She turned around and started walking. "I do believe I'm known as Dragon Lady in your world, but you can call me Ator."

March 9 2028 11:30 am

District Court - Courtroom n°2

"Court is back in session for the trial of Mrs. Longxin Huang."

Phoenix glanced at Mrs. Huang on the defendant's stand. She looked tired more than anything. Maya had disappeared with Edgeworth, and while Edgeworth was back at the Prosecutor's bench, she hadn't yet returned. Undoubtedly preparing to channel Ms. Sammons. He spotted Miss Drake in the gallery behind Edgeworth, staring at Mrs. Huang.

"Does the prosecution have a witness prepared?" the judge asked. Edgeworth nodded.

"Indeed I do, your honor. Two, in fact."

Two? Phoenix had expected Edgeworth to call Ms. Sammons right away, but now it seemed like he had something else in mind.

"The prosecution would like to call to the stand Pegasus J. Crawford, Chairman of Industrial Illusions."

The man on the stand could be anywhere between twenty and sixty. His face had a kind of ageless quality to it and his hair, long and silvery-grey, covered one of his eyes fully. A weird fashion statement. He wore a fitted white suit that probably cost more than Phoenix's annual income. It looked even fancier than Edgeworth's.

"Witness, please state your name and profession."

"It has been thrilling to see the proceedings of this trial," Chairman Pegasus said. He spoke with a kind of lilting voice, stretching the vowels of every other word. Phoenix could feel his headache increase already. "But of course, I believe completely in the innocence of my cherished employee. Why, I don't know where my dear company would be without her!"

"Your name and profession, please," Edgeworth gritted out.

"Pegasus J. Crawford, my boy. I am the creator of Duel Monsters and Chairman of Industrial Illusions."

Edgeworth held up the transcript of Miss Drake's testimony. "Just this morning, Miss Coral Drake testified to us that Industrial Illusions had a problem with industrial espionage. Could you give us some more information on the matter?"

"Ah, my poor company…" Chairman Pegasus let out a deep sigh. "It is not a first, unfortunately. At Industrial Illusions, we perform groundbreaking research. Is it any wonder that certain parties would take an interest?" Here he looked up, suddenly angry. "But Industrial Illusions does not associate with the military. The person responsible for leaking our research will be punished severely. Even more so now that poor Cyan's work has disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Phoenix leaned over his desk. "What do you mean, disappeared?"

"Yes, her portal technology disappeared from the lab the day of the murder. We immediately checked our security cameras, of course, but our thief managed to elude us and there were no signs of a break-in."

This was bad. This was very bad. Without that technology, they wouldn't be able to get Athena and Apollo back. "Do you suspect anyone?" Phoenix asked. He had to ask something.

"We have narrowed it down to a person in the R&D department," Chairman Pegasus said, "And we suspect that the same person was also responsible for the espionage and Cyan's tragic demise."

"How well do you know Mrs. Longxin Huang?"

"Oh, Longxin didn't do it, I can assure you. Why, you might as well declare her innocent right now, Your Honor."

"I can?" the judge said. "Oh well, that would greatly simplify this case. Why, my grandchild's birthday is next week and I haven't been able to buy presents yet!"

"Your honor," Edgeworth interrupted.

"Right, yes!" the judge cleared his throat. "Yes, I am sorry, Chairman Pegasus. We will need proof that she wasn't the culprit."

Ah, damn.

"Do you know Judai Yuki?" Edgeworth asked. Chairman Pegasus smiled.

"Why, yes! Judai-boy has done me a great favor in the past. I just know he's out there, helping as much as possible."

"He was a murder suspect as well," Phoenix said.

"Judai-boy? Oh no, he did not kill Cyan any more than I did! Of course he made his mistakes, but we all make mistakes, do we not?" He shook his head. "Ah, such a pity he didn't wish to join the Pro Leagues. But his friends the Marufuji brothers and Miss Tenjoin have made a great name for themselves."

"How long have you known Mr. Yuki, Chairman Pegasus?"

"Oh, over twenty years now? Yes, it must have been when I recruited my lead card designer. A very talented classmate of Judai-boy at the time."

This was getting them nowhere. "Chairman Pegasus, where were you at the time of the murder?" Phoenix asked.

"I was holding a conference call with Mokuba-boy. It is so hard to match up timezones between the United States and Japan."

"And that would be Mokuba Kaiba from Kaiba Corporation, am I right?" Edgeworth said. Phoenix had never even heard of the company. He'd gone into homicide law, not corporate law.

"Indeed, indeed. But I assure you, Longxin would never spy on my company or kill dear Cyan. Oh, I do hope you will find the true culprit. It would be such a relief. Why, I haven't slept in days!"

Join the club.

Edgeworth nodded. "We will have your alibi confirmed."

"Good, good." Chairman Pegasus made to leave the witness stand, then changed his mind and turned to Mrs. Huang.

"Longxin, dear, how is your daughter doing? Is her treatment taking effect?"

"It is, Chairman Pegasus." Mrs. Huang nodded. "We are very grateful for your support and the money you offered us."

"That is all I needed to hear." Chairman Pegasus walked back to the gallery, leaving most of the court staring after him. Chairman Pegasus had helped Mrs. Huang's daughter? Maybe that would be enough to absolve Mrs. Huang from the need for money.

"I do believe this testimony enables us to say with certainty that the person who killed Ms. Sammons was also the person who tried to sell classified information to the military," Edgeworth stated. "Our defendant, Mrs. Huang, does not seem to be short on money anymore, but we are still left with several questions. Among others, where did Ms. Sammons' portal technology go?"

"Quite true, Prosecutor Edgeworth. What do you suggest?" the judge asked.

"The prosecution has one more witness who will, hopefully, be able to bring some more clarity to this case."

And somehow find Apollo, Athena and Prosecutor Gavin, he didn't say, but Phoenix could hear it loud and clear. He braced himself.

"The prosecution would like to call to the stand Ms. Cyan Sammons."

Furious whispering broke out in the gallery. The judge blinked. "Mr. Edgeworth, isn't that —"

"The victim? Indeed, your honor. It is an unusual situation, one that I feel asks for unusual measures."

It was Maya who took the stand, but like before, her eyes had changed color to brown and her skin had darkened. The way she moved wasn't Maya either. It was more resolute, more determined than the Maya he was used to.

"Master Maya Fey agreed to channel the victim for us," Edgeworth said. "Witness, your name and profession, please."

"I already told you that, didn't I?" said Cyan Sammons. "Haven't you heard my name enough by now?"

"Please oblige this court, Ms. Sammons."

"Fine, Cyan Sammons. I'm –– was –– a scientist with Industrial Illusions."

Mrs. Huang looked down, eyes dark. In the gallery, Miss Drake was staring at Ms. Sammons with something akin to scared wonder.

"Ms. Sammons, you have testified for the court that you were attacked and killed by a duel monster. Have you, by any chance, followed the proceedings of this court?"

"I have, yes."

Oh great, so the spirits can keep watching us even when they're dead? Good thing I kept Charley alive all that time.

"Does it bring anything to mind? Anything you didn't remember when Master Fey first channeled you?"

Ms. Sammons bit her lip. "I knew about the espionage thing, of course. A few of my papers had started disappearing. When I reported it to the chairman, he started a widespread investigation to find the culprit, but no luck. Apparently they were offering a lot of money to whomever got them the information on the project. Heck, just the other day Coral asked me how much I'd want if it were up to me." She grinned. "But why would I want to sell out my own work? Industrial Illusions pays pretty well, and at least I can be sure they won't try to use it for anything else."

"How long have you been working with Mrs. Huang and Miss Drake?" Phoenix asked.

"I've worked with Longxin since she arrived here, so that's what, two years? Coral joined us last year in August. She was always great with the monsters. We really needed her on board, because neither I nor Longxin can see monster spirits."

Phoenix frowned. "And Miss Drake can?"

"Yep. Truth be told, I was always a bit jealous. But it runs in her family, apparently."

Edgeworth turned around to the gallery. "Miss Drake, is this true?"

Coral Drake got up. "Yes," she said quietly. "It's… it's very common in my family. My mother and all my cousins can do it too."

"Thank you, Miss Drake. Ms. Sammons," Edgeworth turned back, "I take it you did bring over monster spirits to your lab?"

"Oh yes, sometimes, but only a few low-level ones. Coral talked to them for us. Never any dragons, though," she added when she saw them look. "Actually, we tried to stick to the humanoid ones. They're more likely to be intelligent enough to hold a conversation. We made some great progress with a Dragon Lady last week."

That was… interesting. Phoenix could feel the nugget of an idea starting to form, but he didn't quite know which form it was going to take yet. Something was staring him right in the face, and somehow he needed to figure it out. For all of their sakes.

"Do you remember anything more about the day you were murdered?" he asked. Ms. Sammons bit her lip again and toyed with Maya's hair.

"Well, I was driving into work, that much I'm sure of… That dragon attacked me… It attacked me… Wait, no, that wasn't here!" She nodded. "I think you were right earlier. It didn't attack me here on earth. I only remember a whole lot of sand. It was night there."

"This confirms the defense's earlier theory that Ms. Sammons was not killed here on earth, your honor," Phoenix said with a grin. The judge nodded.

"That does seem to be the case. As Judai Yuki had no way of creating any portals, I do believe this does alleviate his guilt quite a bit." He frowned. "You do realize, Mr. Wright, that this means your client is still our number one suspect?"

"I do, your honor. I maintain that Mrs. Huang did not kill Ms. Sammons, and I do believe that Ms. Sammons will be able to help us find the real culprit."

"Ms. Sammons," Edgeworth said. "Your car was found parked in a parking lot a few blocks away from your apartment. Do you know why you stopped there?"

"You know, I feel like I should remember…" Ms. Sammons looked up at the ceiling. "There's something I had to do there… Oh, right!" She smiled. "Yes, right, Coral called me and asked me if I could pick her up. She'd missed her bus. She wasn't there when I got there, though."

"She what?" Phoenix slammed his hands down on his desk. "Your honor, this changes everything!"

"Mr. Wright?"

"Our client, Mrs. Huang, was nowhere near the place of the crime when Ms. Sammons was murdered. But now, according to Ms. Sammons testimony, it turns out that Miss Drake was!"

"Mr. Wright, are you suggesting…?" the judge asked. Phoenix nodded.

"I am, your honor. The defense would like to indict Miss Coral Drake for the murder of Ms. Cyan Sammons."

"Wait, Coral?" Ms. Sammons interrupted. "No way it was Coral!"

Phoenix cast a glance at Mrs. Huang. She was staying suspiciously silent throughout the proceedings, as, he noticed, was Chairman Pegasus. In the gallery, Miss Drake had jumped up.

"But I didn't do it!" she shouted. "I mean, yeah, I called Cyan, but turned out I could catch another bus at the bus stop around the block, and I texted her back to say so!"

The judge frowned. "Mr. Edgeworth?"

Come on, Edgeworth, work with me here. You know it wasn't Mrs. Huang. It has to be her.

"I do believe the evidence against Miss Drake is now marginally less flimsy than that against Mrs. Huang. While we cannot discount the possibility of Mrs. Huang as the culprit, I am inclined to at least humor the defense's theory."

The judge nodded. "Very well. This trial is turning out to be far more complicated than we initially assumed. I would like an answer to all of the questions posed in today's trial by tomorrow. As we are in need of more investigation, I will conclude today's court session. Any objections?"

Miss Drake looked terrified. Ms. Sammons was shaking her head in disbelief. Mrs. Huang sat straight-backed in her chair.

"No objections, your honor," Edgeworth said.

"No objections."

The judge nodded. "Then court is dismissed."

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