It's been such a long time. School has begun for me and I've been doing a lot of homework. It's really been stressful and when I have the free time, I have to use it to rest or I'll pass out in school. It's really that stressful. Thanks for reading and being patient with me!
I present to you the case called, Turnabout Destinies – Pre-trial investigation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed crafting it.
-drops of jelly
Standard Disclaimer Applies
Ninth Turnabout
Pre-trial events:
Franziska's House
June 7 8:30 am
"Good morning Herr Edgeworth, Fraulein von Karma." Klavier Gavin stepped into the dining room where Franziska and Miles were having their breakfast.
"It seems that you came here with the case files, Klavier." Franziska served him an empty plate, asking him to pick from the food on the table.
"Yes. We've just finished finalizing all evidence, and they have been approved. Also, thanks to the efforts of you and Herr Wright, we're about to haul in the real criminals." Klavier took a piece of scone and a slice of omelette.
"...You don't mind losing this case, Klavier?" Franziska poured some orange juice into his glass.
Klavier simply showed his rockstar smile.
"I see you're still that kind of man. You haven't changed." Miles Edgeworth smiled.
"This case is looking grim because of all the evidence against the Fraulein Doctor Steelbird, and also... the witness from the latest case of murder." Klavier added.
"We'll find out everything in due time." Edgeworth said.
"I'll just be at my office if you need anything else, thank you for breakfast, Fraulein von Karma." Klavier wiped his lips with a table napkin and waved them both adieu.
"I'll drop by the precinct later then." Edgeworth bit off his last small piece of French toast.
"Are you well now?" Franziska sipped her juice.
"Better than ever, thank you for last night." He smiled a little.
"It was nothing." She blushed. Seriously, he had a better way of putting it in words! She thought.
Criminal Affairs Department
June 7 2:00 pm
"Mr. Edgeworth! You're well enough already?" Detective Gumshoe walked over to him.
"Yes, yes I am." He crossed his arms, tapping his elbow with his other index finger.
"Well, let's head over to the crime scenes! We've even got someone to help us now. Our work will be much quicker!" Gumshoe smiled with confidence.
"Really? Ema's coming with us?" Edgeworth asked.
"Nah, she's currently supervising the crime scenes. Kay will meet up with us at Crime Scene A. She said she had to go ahead of us this morning since she had some things to settle." Gumshoe explained.
"Kay Faraday? How many years has it been... about ten? Yes." He remembered his comrade back in his early prosecuting years... Kay Faraday, the thief of the truth. He smiled.
(a/n: Yes, I have played Gyakuten Kenji and I'm understanding it little by little. My knowledge in the Japanese language isn't the best since I can't read kanji- and I know only a few words, but I studied Chinese too, so somehow I get by. But *sob* it's still too difficult to play when the whole game is almost like gibberish to you. Believe me, cross examination in Japanese is stressful. I can't wait for January when Gyakuken gets Americanized!)
"I heard you're not going to handle the prosecution for this case, sir. Which side are you helping with the investigations you're conducting?" Gumshoe scratched his head.
"I'm siding with the truth, Gumshoe. I want to find out things on my own too you know." He replied.
Gumshoe saluted him.
"What are we waiting for? Let's move." Miles Edgeworth began to walk to his car.
Crime Scene A – Jones Law Offices
June 7 2:15 pm
"The victim was the defense lawyer, Atty. Castor Jones a veteran but not too well-known. He had been stabbed twice, on the abdomen, then at the heart." Kay read aloud the autopsy report she got from Ema.
"The murder weapon?" Edgeworth asked.
"A fruit knife belonging to the defendant." She showed him a model of the weapon.
Miles Edgeworth took it and examined it carefully.
"So, the fingerprints are positioned this way on the actually murder weapon?" he noticed something wrong with the position of the prints.
"So, how exactly did the murder occur?" Miles Edgeworth turned to Kay whose specialty was uncovering these mysteries – recreating the crime scene with the help of her device, Nusumi-chan.
"You know I'll do anything to steal the truth." She giggled.
"You haven't changed much Kay." He smiled.
"Alright, since the body had been removed, all we've got are these chalk markings and other tape markings. Let's try to analyze what happened here." Kay began to press some buttons on her device, expanding rays of green light everywhere in that room. Soon, two figures appeared on the areas where the killer and the victim were supposedly standing or lying on.
Edgeworth approached the blue coloured figure, the victim's body. As indicated on the autopsy report, there were two wounds on his abdomen and heart. Then, he approached to where the red figure, the criminal, was standing. As the scene indicated, footprints were left more clearly on the scene, left by flat shoes no less. However, what made the prints strange was the way they were placed on the scene. The distances between each of the prints were too big, not likely of Dr. Steelbird, whom he had known was a short female and had small but quick steps. The prints weren't left on the floor too strongly either.
"What is that look on your face for, Mr. Edgeworth?" Kay smiled, noticing Edgeworth had the oh-I-see face.
"We're finished here. Let's move on to the next." He found too many obvious errors on this case, but he decided to leave that to Wright.
Crime Scene B – Gatewater Hotel Room 1234
Bathroom
June 7 3:00 pm
"The victim here was Mr. Fred Derby, an electric engineer. He was called into this room to fix some electrical circuit arrangements on the left wing of the 12th floor of the hotel, but as he was opening up the outlets of the bathroom dresser, that's when he died by electrocution." Kay explained the nature of this case.
"So, he died of electrocution from dealing with the circuits?" he entered further into the bathroom.
"That's what the police thought at least. They didn't touch the crime scene after all." She answered.
"Hmm. Something doesn't fit here. He is an electrical engineer, he'd know better than electrocute himself while dealing with circuits. He must have had safety gear on." He deducted.
"Let's have another recreation of the scene." Kay turned on her Nusumi-chan again.
"The body was located in this room, by the tub- A figure was seated at the edge. Maybe he was sitting on the edge of the tub while fixing the outlet of the dresser just beside the tub."
"But there's more to it." Edgeworth thought about the true position of the victim when he died. Did he really get electrocuted and died sitting? It was too impossible. He boldly opened the bathroom curtain covering the rest of the tub.
"Hey! Mr. Edgeworth! That's...!" Kay gasped, not being able to believe her eyes.
"I can't believe they missed something like this!" The tub was filled almost to the brim, with water.
"This totally changes the whole case!" Kay looked further around the tub for more evidence. She found the murder weapon, a wet coil of wire cut from another outlet sticking out from a surface above the tub in the other side.
"Hurry! Check for prints!" Edgeworth quickly prompted Kay.
She used a fingerprinting powder she borrowed from someone and found a set of unidentified prints.
"This will be important evidence." He said.
Coil of wire added to Court Record.
Unidentified prints added to Court Record.
"This might be all we can get here. We have to move on Mr. Edgeworth. We've got three more scenes and we haven't much time!" Faraday said.
Crime Scene C – Fulton and Co. Clinics
Jessica Fulton's Office
June 7 3:58 pm
"Dr. Jessica Fulton, a cardiologist was murdered in her office, death by severed head trauma by the use of a baseball bat belonging to the defendant. The blood on the bat is confirmed to have belonged to the victim." Kay reported, handing Edgeworth a photo of the bat in question.
"So, this is the murder weapon? And this must be where the victim was murdered..." Edgeworth approached the desk.
"The fingerprints on the bat and the blood of the victim on it are decisive evidence." Kay Faraday looked more serious. She didn't see any other way out to this case.
"It could have been another person. There is a possiblility." Edgeworth thought.
"However, the police just said that there is a witness." She stated.
"A witness? I'll have to talk to this person right away." He said.
"He's the security guard at the front of the only entrance and exit of this clinic." Faraday told him.
"There isn't much time left... Where is he?" Edgeworth asked.
"I think he's at the police station!" Faraday responded in a little shock.
We've got roughly three hours left before the trial!" Edgeworth faced a dilemma. They had two more crime scenes to investigate.
"Maybe Mr. Gavin and Ms. Franziska had already done the interviewing!" Kay remembered Mr. Gavin.
"You're right... I'll have to leave them on their own, for now we have to go to the rest of the crime scenes." He moved out of the door.
O-o-O
"All these crime scenes aren't making any much sense. The evidence points to Dr. Steelbird, but some things are still off... And I have a really bad gut feeling about this trial you're going to watch, Mr. Edgeworth." Kay crossed her arms as she spoke and walked along the train station.
"The whole truth will be out later, when trial starts and Wright cross-examines the witnesses." Edgeworth held out an index finger.
"Maybe you're right. I've heard a great deal of good stuff about this Mr. Phoenix Wright over the years. I'll watch the trial later for sure." She smiled as she stepped into the train.
"See you later then." He smiled slightly.
She waved goodbye to him as the doors closed and the train began to run along the tracks.
Criminal Affairs Department
June 7 6:30 pm
"Evidences and documents are now complete, except for the interviews with the witnesses. All's left to do is prosecute this trial and find the truth. It'll be up to Wright to point the finger of justice by then." Miles Edgeworth sealed the expanded envelope containing all the required ammunition for tonight's trial, which he will submit to court as a neutral party.
"Since it's a trial with a rare and unusual schedule, is the usual judge going to preside over for tonight as well?" Detective Ema Skye asked.
"No, Fraulein. It'll be the judge's brother this time. Herr Judge is apparently attending a special law jurisdiction seminar in Washington." Klavier said.
"Ahh, so to get this straight, tonight's prosecution will be composed of Prosecutor Franziska von Karma and Prosecutor Klavier Gavin; while the defense team will consist of Attorney Phoenix Wright and Attorney Apollo Justice. Investigations are carried out by Prosecutor Mile Edgeworth, Detective Dick Gumshoe, Miss Kay Faraday and yours truly, Detective Ema Skye." Ema re-read the first page of one case file.
"Ja." Klavier smiled.
*ring ring ring ring*
"Hello, Miles Edgeworth here." Edgeworth answered the phone.
"Mr. Edgeworth, it's me Trucy. Hurry over to the Law Offices! It's an emergency! It's Daddy! This can't be happening..." Trucy's voice was in panic.
"What?! What happened?!" he cried. Klavier and Ema turned to him, wondering about what's happening.
"Herr Edgeworth! Is everything alright?!" Klavier ran over to him
"I don't know... Trucy hung up on me." His face grew grim. "I'll go to the Law Offices. You have to get to the District Court. Court starts in an hour. Get there ahead of me." Edgeworth took his trenchcoat and put it on.
"So you'll take care of this mess by yourself, ja?"
"I'm afraid so." He replied then closed the door.
Wright and Co. Law Offices
June 7 6:45 pm
"Wright! Trucy!" Miles called as he let himself in.
"Mr. Edgeworth, Daddy's in the Hickfield Clinic..." Trucy ran to him as soon as she saw his figure at the door.
"What happened to him?!" The office was in a big mess.
"It was an accident see?" Trucy pointed over to the fallen bookshelf, and the fallen plant, Charley.
"Daddy's really sick with a bad headache and colds, but he insisted on going to court. He was going to get his bag of evidence he prepared in the bookshelf, but it accidentally tipped over him. Polly had to go help him up and got him in the ambulance too just a few minutes ago."
"Let's go visit him then." Edgeworth and Trucy walked to the elevator outside and to the basement parking. He drove over to the Hickfield Clinic.
Hickfield Clinic
June 7 7:00 pm
"... Oh please, this is the same sight I saw eight years ago Wright!" Edgeworth placed a hand over his forehead and shook his head.
There was Phoenix curled up, sitting on the hospital bed shivering, with a few bandages around his body and Iris' hood pulled over his head.
"Uggghhh... This will be the last time I'll ask you for this favour, Edgeworth." Phoenix sniffled as he turned to Miles.
"...No... No, no no!" Miles was anticipating the next few sentences Wright was going to say.
"Take this case." He handed him his defense attorney badge.
"NOOOOOOOO!" he knew this was going to happen. As all these coincidental flashbacks weren't haunting him enough- serial murder case, kidnapping, Hazakura Temple, Phoenix in the hospital and, him being a defense attorney!
"I'm counting on you to work with Apollo in my place." He smiled, then sneezed.
"Hear that Polly?! Mr. Edgeworth will be with you for the defense today!" Trucy cheered.
"........O_O.........:D.......... xD.............!" Apollo's expressions were changing from WTH, to 'cool!', to 'awesome' to 'OMG' to 'is-that-even-legal?'
"Excuse me, I'll just make a short call outside." Miles sighed and went out of Phoenix's room.
He searched on his contact list on his phone for a familiar name and number, then began to ring it.
"Are you at the Courthouse already? I just got in from the main door."
"Listen, you're not going to face Wright tonight." He began.
"Oh no don't tell me Phoenix Wright is..."
"Yes. Once again he's posed a huge problem for me." He chuckled sarcastically.
"That FOOLISHLY FOOLISH FOOL!"
"Prosecutor Gavin's already at the Prosecutor's lobby. The witnesses are being prepared by him as we speak. If you meet him there, let him know Wright can't do this case."
"Oh well... At least I'll have another chance to face you in court again. This time, I'll beat you."
"You'll never get tired of this will you, Franziska?"
"It'll be fun once in a while to duel with you, Miles Edgeworth."
"I'll see you later in court."
They both hung up.
Apollo had just exited the room as well and saw a chance to speak to Miles.
"Mr. Edgeworth, will it be really okay for you to defend with me as a partner?"
"If Wright commended you for your abilities and trusted you enough to be his partner, then I'm going to give you the same trust too. I am filling in for him."
"Then... I will do my best later as well Mr. Edgeworth. Oh boy, this case isn't looking any kinder." He smiled.
"You got that right Justice."
to be continued
Updates might be later too, but I'll definitely finish this. I just don't have the time anymore! _
Once again, thank you very much for reading, and I'd really love it if you'd drop a review.
-drops of jelly