The limousine that swept up alongside Apollo as he walked back to his bicycle was black and even the windows were blacked out. One window slid down silently and a woman's face appeared. Apollo blinked in recognition.
"Ms Bose," he said formally, wondering what a defense attorney was doing riding around like a superstar.
"Mr Justice," she said with a smile that showed a lot of teeth. Apollo shivered, unnerved. "Get in."
"I'm fine, thank you," he deflected.
"It was not a request," Martha Bose said severely. "You and I have something to discuss."
"I can't imagine what," Apollo said politely.
"Please, Mr Justice. Just hear me out." The driver got out and Apollo gulped at the size of the man. He walked around the car and opened the door. Martha beckoned with one finger. "Please don't make Dolph angry, Mr Justice."
Fuck. Apollo gave the giant man one last glance and then climbed into the car. He saw the driver loading his bicycle into the trunk.
As soon as his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized that Ms Bose was not alone. Sat on the other side of the car, her face cold, was the star of stage and screen, Cassandra Silverstein. She was lovely, her blond hair curled artfully to frame her face. She reminded Apollo of those old time stars of the Golden Years of Hollywood, right down to the beauty spot painted on her left cheek.
"Uh," Apollo said intelligently.
"Ms Silverstein is a client of mine," Martha Bose said smoothly. "We have a proposition for you."
Apollo stared at her. "What kind of proposition?"
"We know that you've been spending time with Mr Klavier Gavin," Bose said. She waved a gossip magazine at him, the screaming headline making him squirm.
"What business is that of yours?" Apollo challenged.
"Mr Justice, please," Bose admonished and a worm of dislike curled inside him. "Ms Silverstein has been conducting a long-standing and quite public relationship with Mr Gavin for nearly two years. I'm sure you can't have been unaware."
"Yeah," Apollo admitted. "At least, that was the rumor." But Klavier had told him it wasn't true and he believed him. "Wasn't Ms Silverstein also supposed to be dating that guy who was accused of murdering his maid?"
Silverstein's mouth tightened. "Julian and I are… friends, yes."
"Cassandra," Bose said warningly. The starlet shut up. "Mr Justice, I'm sure you don't want to be caught up in some tawdry Hollywood gossip. Your friendship with Mr Gavin, your shared past, I understand. And your loyalty is impressive. But this kind of thing will only get worse. And who wants to hire a lawyer who's sleeping around with rockstars and the like?" Apollo saw Silverstein bristle at Bose's words but she stayed silent.
"Ms Bose," Apollo said icily. "My personal life is exactly that, personal. Who my friends are, who I choose to spend time with is irrelevant to my skill as an attorney."
"Are you denying that you're in a sexual relationship with Mr Gavin?" Bose said, her eyebrows raised.
"I'm saying it's none of your damn business! Or anyone else's. The press can print whatever crap they want, I can't stop them. I'm not going to be told what to do by those vultures. Or by you."
Bose made a quelling gesture. "Mr Justice, I'm afraid we've gotten off on the wrong foot. Ms Silverstein and I are not trying to interfere in your personal life." Apollo snorted in derision but stayed silent. "We're just trying to warn you. I've been given some information that could severely impact your career. You haven't had the most stellar start, apprenticed to the murderous Kristoph Gavin, palling around with his brother, the rockstar prosecutor." Silverstein opened her mouth to object, her face outraged and Bose glared at her. Apollo supposed he should be impressed that anyone could get the notoriously difficult actress to back down. But right now he didn't know what was going on and if he was honest, he was scared.
"Are you threatening me?" he asked in a low voice.
"No," Bose said, her composure unruffled. "Don't be ridiculous. But don't come crying to me when Klavier Gavin is indicted and your career is destroyed as a result."
"Why would Klavier be indicted?" Apollo demanded. "He's the most honest, upstanding prosecutor in LA!"
"Is he really?" Bose said slyly. "Is that why his brother was able to escape justice for so many years? And then there's the curious shenanigans around Kristoph's execution."
Apollo paled. "What do you know about that?"
"Ah, so you're aware of that at least. I'm told that Klavier asked for the execution date to be moved up by a couple of days."
"What? No!" Apollo cried. Hadn't Bose been Kristoph's lawyer? What the Hell was she talking about?
"I'm sorry, Apollo. It can't be easy, finding out that one Gavin is as corrupt as the other," Bose said sympathetically. It felt plastic, well-practiced but not real.
"You're wrong," Apollo said firmly, his mind made up. "Kristoph requested the date change himself. The papers are a matter of public record. You're wrong."
"Afraid not," Bose said, handing him a manila folder. Inside were photocopies of the official execution order and the amendment signed by Governor Kaling. And the form requesting the date change, signed by Miles Edgeworth and Klavier Gavin. Apollo's head began to swim. The form listed the reason for changing the date as 'extreme public interest in the case and the Prosecutor's Office's desire to have it proceed without the protests that marred the execution of Daryan Crescend'. He couldn't deny that it looked like Klavier's distinctive looping signature, but Apollo didn't believe it for one moment.
"This has to be some kind of forgery," he said defiantly. "No way would Klavier sign something like this. You should have seen how shocked and upset he was when we were informed that Kristoph was dead."
"Klavier Gavin is an incredible actor," Silverstein said suddenly. "He really should have gone into the movies after the Gavinners disbanded, not the law."
Apollo shook his head. "No. No way. You weren't there. You didn't see him."
"Mr Justice, the LA Times story hits the newsstands tomorrow morning. I've seen the article and let me tell you, the journalist is no hack. He's done his homework and it's brutal." Bose had plastered on her fake sympathetic smile again.
"What are you saying?" Apollo stammered.
"That Klavier Gavin was a party to all of his brother's crimes, that he aided and abetted his brother in the murder of Shadi Smith and then threw him to the wolves when the evidence stacked up against him. And when I threatened to take the State of California to court over the unconstitutional treatment of Kristoph Gavin, your precious Klavier and the Chief Prosecutor colluded with the Governor to have the execution rescheduled without informing me, his attorney, so that I was unable to file a motion to stay."
"That's crap!" Apollo snapped. "You were a witness to the execution! You were there!"
"Since you were not there, Mr Justice, how can you possibly know who was?"
Apollo started. She was right. Franziska had told Klavier and Klavier had passed it on to him. But Franziska must have been told by someone else, since she was still in Germany when the execution had been carried out. He gulped. What the Hell was going on? It felt like a steel trap was closing on him and his friends. He wasn't just scared now, he was terrified.
"What do you want?" he managed.
"It's simple," Bose said. "Help us bring Klavier down. We don't have enough evidence to have him brought up on charges yet. Help us get the evidence we need, and we'll make sure you're immune from prosecution."
Apollo just stared at her. He didn't believe any of this. It was all lies and innuendo. They had no case. But they wanted him to help them make one. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to agree to their demands but if he said no, would he make it out of this car alive?
"Do I have a choice?" he said bitterly.
"Of course," Bose said calmly. "We're not monsters. Say the word and the conversation is over. Of course, we can't let you go back to Klavier and tell him what's going on. He could leave the country and our chance to prosecute him would slip through our fingers. So we'd have to arrange some kind of… protective custody for you. Just for a while."
Apollo didn't know if she was telling the truth or not. Maybe they would just imprison him for a while and then set him free once they'd managed to trump up some charges against Klavier. Or maybe they'd give him a pair of concrete shoes and toss him off the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
"All right," Apollo said heavily. "Tell me what you want me to do." Apollo Justice, Ace Attorney and now, double agent. Oh shit. He was screwed.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Simon said, unbidden. Athena looked up from the file she was studying to see him staring at the whiteboard in consternation.
"What do you mean?" Athena asked. Simon turned to look at her and she gulped. His eyes were fierce and his lips curled back in a snarl.
"All of these cases, all of this evidence. And yet, what do we really have? One confirmed killer, a ditzy waitress seeking revenge for the execution of her murderous brother. No suspects in the Hawthorne case. No leads on Redd White in the May case. Few leads on Salvatore in the Powers killing. And the threads that tie all the cases together? Gossamer."
"Are you saying you don't think the cases are linked after all?" Athena asked. Widget pulsed unhappily against her throat but unusually, stayed silent. "Franziska is skeptical, after all."
"I think we're being manipulated," Simon said softly. "This isn't someone who thinks these people escaped justice. It's too… personal. This is revenge against someone who feels wronged. But not just that. Whoever's doing this, wants us distracted and confused. It's a smokescreen."
"All right," Athena said, considering the idea. "Let's say it is. What are they trying to conceal?"
"What?"
"Well, a smokescreen is meant to stop you seeing something. You're saying these murders are to prevent us noticing something else, a different crime perhaps. What crime could anyone possibly want to cover up, that they'd resort to murder as a distraction? That's huge!"
"I don't know," Simon admitted in frustration. "But it keeps nagging at me. The mastermind behind all of these murders doesn't care about any of these people. But running from one thing to another has stopped us considering what this person actually wants."
"Well, we're the psychology experts," Athena said brightly. "I'm sure we can figure it out. Let's start simple. All the killings, the shooting and the bombing, were distractions. But the victims were chosen carefully. Every single one is related to one of Mr Wright and Mr Edgeworth's early cases. So we've been focusing on one of them as the real target. But what if that too is a distraction?"
Simon's eyes widened, his face horrified. "That's it, Athena! I always said you were smarter than I am!"
"Well, I don't know about that," she said, blushing. "And what am I so smart about?"
"You're right, we've been going about this all wrong. We assumed that the distractions were in the stupid details, the ridiculous lengths the killer went to get costumes and props, the tying together of old loose ends. But we assumed that the killer's target was either Wright-san or Edgeworth-dono. What if it's someone else?"
"Who?" Athena asked. "You?"
"No," Simon denied. "I doubt any of my enemies have this kind of subtlety. No, I think this is about Gavin-san."
"Klavier? Why?"
"You won't remember it, but when the case against his brother went down there were… whispers. After all what kind of person puts his best friend and then his brother on death row?"
"He was doing his job!" Athena said loyally.
Simon gave her a twisted smile. "Indeed. And I am not saying I believe any of it. Gavin-san is the most upright, honest prosecutor I've ever met. And it's not like he could have recused himself, since he had no idea the route the cases would take when they started. Judges look very dimly on requests to change prosecutor mid-hearing, unless the person is actually incapacitated. In fact, I've only ever heard of it being granted once in the last twenty years."
"What case was that?"
"Damon Gant's appeal hearing," Simon said. He looked thoughtful. "Edgeworth-dono should have prosecuted but of course he'd disappeared off to Europe making everyone think he had committed suicide. Foolishness."
"You sound like von Karma," Athena said with a chuckle.
"Hmm. Well, when Edgeworth-dono wasn't available, Payne was drafted in. It should have been straightforward. Gant's appeal was not complex, he simply claimed that the evidence presented in court was illegal and therefore should not have been used in a trial. It was strange. Payne had spent the morning laying out the prosecution's case as to why the evidence was legitimate. Wright-san gave evidence, as did Skye-san." Athena noticed that Simon avoided using honorifics for Winston Payne. She frowned, was it just dislike?
"So Payne dropped out?"
"Yes. After the lunchtime recess, he approached the bench and requested that another prosecutor be assigned. I have no idea what he told the judge, but the request was granted."
"Who stepped in?" Athena asked.
"Who do you think?" Simon said wryly. "I did."
"Oh! Wait, what?"
"It was my first appeal hearing. I was subbing for Payne and… he'd been unusually highly strung, even for him, all day. So I figured he'd just lost his nerve." Simon shrugged. "We're getting off course."
"OK, so let's say Klavier is the real target. Who is it? And why are they targeting him?"
"Perhaps if we can figure out the why, the who will be obvious." Taka squawked and Simon looked at her. "I think Taka thinks it's the other way around."
"We should talk to him," Athena said. "Find out who his enemies are."
It was bright. Too bright and there were odd beeping sounds. Phoenix tried to move and a shrieking alarm split through the air, making him wince. It was silenced after a moment.
"Try not to wriggle so much Wright," a tired voice said. Phoenix tried to open his eyes but they were so heavy. He could feel a hand on his and he squeezed at it, trying to communicate. There was a gasp and the hand disappeared. Phoenix frowned to himself. That wasn't the effect he'd intended.
"Mr Wright?" A new voice said. Female. Phoenix didn't recognize it. He ignored it and flexed his fingers, hoping the hand would return. After a moment, he felt the tentative touch of fingers again and he smiled.
"He's smiling," the first voice said. Male. Familiar. But the name escaped him.
"I think he's trying to wake up," the female voice said. "Talk to him."
"Uh," the male voice said. "Wright? It's Edgeworth. Miles. Uh."
"My God," the female voice said sarcastically. "I thought you were a hotshot prosecutor." There was a cough.
"Wright," the voice said again. "It's Miles. Can you hear me?"
"Yes," Phoenix slurred. "Hi, Miles." He squeezed the hand again and got a returning squeeze as a reward.
"Do you know where you are?" the female voice prompted.
"Bed," Phoenix said softly. "In bed. With Miles." There was a feminine snort of amusement, quickly suppressed.
"You're in the hospital," the male voice, Miles, said. "Can you remember what happened?"
"Hospital?" Phoenix said and opened his eyes. "Did I fall off another bridge?"
There were tests. So many tests. But finally the doctor declared that Phoenix needed to rest and they left him alone after that. Miles was still there. There still seemed to be some significant holes in his memory.
"Have you been here the whole time?" Phoenix asked. Miles gave a self-deprecating shrug.
"Not all the time. Trucy comes by everyday. Athena and Apollo stop by as often as they can. Others, from the prosecutor's office and other defence attorneys you know. Maya and Pearl came down from Kurain."
"Miles?" Phoenix stared at his friend. "How long have I been here?" There was a glimmer of tears in Miles' eyes and Phoenix began to feel dizzy.
"Two weeks. You've been in a coma for two weeks."
Phoenix stared at him. "Two weeks… I've lost two whole weeks?" His head began to swim. "Oh God, Miles."
"It's OK, Wright," Miles assured him. "Try not to panic."
"Try not to panic?" Phoenix squeaked. "What happened to me, Miles?" Miles reached out and grabbed his hand and as soon as he felt that contact, Phoenix felt himself begin to calm.
"There was a bomb, under my rental car."
"I remember," Phoenix breathed. "Apollo was yelling about the car. You opened the door and then… nothing. How come you're not injured?"
"I was injured," Miles explained. "I had a concussion, and a broken bone in my foot. And my arm was so badly bruised I thought I'd broken that too." He began moving his hand away and Phoenix felt the panic begin to return, he flexed his fingers weakly. Miles grasped his hand tighter again.
"Miles," Phoenix said with relief. He felt oddly emotionally dependent, like a child.
"I'm not going to lie to you, Wright. You've got a difficult road ahead of you. You're going to have to be patient."
"What, for the first time in my life?" Phoenix joked and Miles gave him a broad smile. It made him feel warm inside.
"I'll be there, every step of the way," the prosecutor promised. "Now, I'm going to go call Trucy and let her know you're allowed to have visitors."
Apollo stumbled into the temporary offices of the Wright Anything Agency and collapsed into a chair, breathing heavily.
"Forehead, are you all right?" Klavier's voice floated through the darkness and Apollo yelped in surprise.
"Klavier? What are you doing sitting in here in the dark?"
"The view," Klavier said, waving a hand towards the window. He switched on the lamp on Mr Wright's desk. "I needed somewhere to sit and think, where nobody would think to come looking for me."
"OK," Apollo said uncertainly. "Do you want to talk?"
"Nein, not really. Prosecutor von Karma is right. I'm behaving like a child. That's all very well in a rock sensation, but not very attractive in a prosecutor."
"I think you've a perfect right to be upset," Apollo said loyally. He eyed Klaver for a moment, unsure if revealing his unsettling experience with Bose and Silverstein was a good idea.
"What is it, Apollo?" Klavier asked, sounding amused. "You seem on edge."
"Uh, something strange happened to me," Apollo told him. "I met Martha Bose on the street."
"Oh?" Klavier said warily. "What did she want?"
"She was in this big limo with Cassandra Silverstein," Apollo explained and frowned when Klavier's face became stormy. "I guess Ms Bose is her lawyer." Klavier's mouth tightened but he said nothing. Apollo told him the rest of the tale, pausing only briefly to look at his expression from time to time.
"So, long story short, they're accusing you of being the one who rearranged Kristoph's execution date. They're claiming you did it to prevent Bose from filing for clemency." Apollo summarized. Klavier's face was bone-white. "And they're saying there's all these other corrupt things you've done, including helping your brother cover up his crimes. Bose is coming after you, Klavier. She wants to take you down. And she wants me to help them. Threatened to destroy my career and maybe even my life."
"What did you say?" Klavier asked tightly.
"I said yes, of course," Apollo told him. "What else could I do? They had a driver who could probably punch through brick walls. I figured I could string them along for a while."
"Apollo," Klavier said, his voice distraught. "You don't believe them, do you?"
"No!" Apollo snapped. "Don't be ridiculous. But I'm not an idiot. I wasn't going to give them a reason to do something to me when I was riding around in their car. What's the story here? Why is Ms Silverstein coming after you like this?"
"You think this is about her?" Klavier asked. "I'm not so sure. I've known Cassandra for a few years. We were friends, or so I thought. When she was going through a difficult time with the press, she asked me to pretend we were dating to get the paparazzi off her back. She didn't want them to find out about the abortion she had after she broke up with Derrick de Viance so she thought a semi-scandalous liaison with me would put them off her scent. It worked." Klavier shrugged, a ripple of movement that made Apollo's eyes cross. "But since that horrid tabloid journalist published those dreadful articles about us, Cassandra got upset. Seems to think it casts her in a bad light that I threw her over for a man. The fact we weren't actually dating seems to have escaped her notice. So she's petty and vindictive and lashing out. It will pass."
"Maybe," Apollo said dubiously. "I don't know, Klavier. Maybe you're right about her. But Martha Bose is a fucking shark." Klavier lifted one perfect eyebrow at the vehemence in his tone. "You don't understand, she did everything she could to make me feel threatened. She's not playing around here."
Klavier leaned back on the chair and it tilted alarmingly. "You're really worried," he observed.
"Yes, dammit! All this crap about your brother's execution and your supposed corrupt dealings, it all hits the newstands tomorrow! Bose actually showed me documents that have your signature on them, requesting the date change!"
"Forgeries," Klavier said dismissively.
"Of course," Apollo agreed. "But they were damn good ones. I've known you a long time and I couldn't tell it wasn't your signature. They were very convincing." He sighed heavily and Klavier tugged him close, spreading his legs and bringing Apollo's body flush against him. "Klavier, is there some reason Bose might have a vendetta against you?"
"I don't think so," Klavier said, his mouth turned down in thought. "I've never faced off against her in court. I think I might have prosecuted a couple of her mother's clients, a long time ago. But I doubt she holds a grudge. Martha Bose Sr is a sharp operator, but she isn't crazy. She understands how the system works."
Apollo leaned forward and placed a light kiss on Klavier's lips. "I'm frightened," he admitted. "She scares the Hell out of me."
"Hmm," Klavier said. "How about I comfort you for a while, ja?"
