Chapter 13
March 20, 2019
Defendant's Lobby
9:50 AM
Phoenix and Maya stood in the lobby with Lolita.
"Nicky, are you sure you have enough to clear things up? I need to start running the club again."
"I'm sure. We should have this over by today."
Maya jumped in front of him. "You'll do great Nick!"
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Courtroom #2
10:00 AM
The judge banged his gavel on his desk. "Court is not in session for the trial of Mrs. Lolita Carlton."
Phoenix stood up. "The defense is ready, Your Honor.
Edgeworth opened his arms and shook his head confidently. "The prosecution has been ready for a while, Your Honor."
That's Edgeworth, all right.
"The prosecution may call their first witness."
"The prosecution calls Detective Dick Gumshoe to the stand."
Gumshoe got onto the stand, and began his testimony.
**Witness Testimony**
**Detective Gumshoe**
**What Happened**
"The victim is Graham Carlton, who runs a club with his wife, the suspect, Lolita Carlton. The victim was first stabbed with a pool cue broken in half. He was then pushed out of a window. He fell 12 stories, and hit Mr. Edgeworth's car."
"Hold It!"
Phoenix was pointing at Gumshoe. "What were the events that transpired on the ground?"
**The Impact**
"At 10:22, pieces of glass fell onto Mr. Edgeworth's car."
"Hold It! Where did this glass come from?"
"It came from a window that was broken by a thrown cue ball, during the struggle upstairs."
"The body fell 12 stories, and crashed into Mr. Edgeworth's windshield. The victim was dead before he hit the car. Edgeworth got out, and while he tried to get away, he slipped on blood and went unconscious."
"Objection!"
Phoenix pointed at Gumshoe. "Luminol tests done on the street below show that there was no blood. There wasn't any rainwater, either."
Edgeworth slammed his desk. "Then what did I slip on?"
"Whiskey. The victim was pushed out of the window with a whiskey glass. The shattered glass was recovered at the crime scene. But by then," Phoenix slammed his desk. "It was already washed away by the rain a day later!"
The people in the gallery started to mumble. The judge slammed his gavel. "Order! Order! This is an interesting discovery Mr. Wright. Now let's move on."
Phoenix looked at Gumshoe. "Detective Gumshoe, please testify about the murder weapon."
**The Murder Weapon**
"The murder weapon was half of a pool cue, pal. The murderer and the victim were playing pool. Someone threw the cue ball out of the window, and the murderer broke the cue in half. He stabbed Graham, and left. The other cue was broken as well. The murderer took a piece from each cue. He probably got them mixed up."
The Judge banged his gavel. "That's enough, Detective."
Edgeworth crossed his arms. "The prosecution would like to call its next witness."
The judge nodded. "Very well."
"The prosecution calls Oliver Grape to the stand."
Oliver came up onto the witness stand.
"Please state your name and occupation."
"My name is Oliver Grape. I'm a prosecutor."
"Very well. Please begin your testimony."
**Witness Testimony**
**Oliver Grape**
**The Victim**
"I'm here to help establish Mrs. Carlton's motive. I've been investigating Graham for a while. I believe that he may be controlling a racket, with his nightclub as a front. Graham was deeply in love with his wife. I believe she killed him to reap the rewards from the money he left her."
"Hold It! Couldn't she have just asked for money?"
"Despite his love for her, Graham was very careful about his money."
"Objection!" Phoenix pointed at Oliver.
"Mr. Graham was a frequent party-goer. If you take a look at his apartment, you'd see that he rewards himself often."
Oliver held up his gloved hand. "Despite this, I still believe that Graham was somewhat cautious with his wife."
"Hold It! If he was so cautious, he wouldn't have let her go to the club last night."
Oliver crossed his arms. "You have no proof that she left the building that night. In fact, the manager and the security footage support that she never left."
"Objection!" Phoenix slammed his desk. "I have a sworn testimony that she bribed movers that were in the building to take her out in secrecy!"
Oliver confidently held up his hand. "Ha! You have no proof that the two movers were telling the truth."
"What? There were three movers."
Oliver's eyes were shocked, but he kept his cool composure.
It was then that Phoenix made the connection.
He held up the left-hand glove. "Is this yours?"