Dahlia paced the courtroom, waiting for her client. I can't believe I'm missing an episode of Pokémon right now for Nick and he hasn't even showed up yet! Dahlia stopped brooding when she heard the door open. Her shoulders sagged when she saw it was only Mia.
"Oh," Dahlia said, and went back to pacing.
"Nice to see you too," Mia said. "Where's your client?"
"Not here," Dahlia said impatiently.
"You seem tense," Mia commented.
Dahlia just rolled her eyes.
"You are going up against a top-notch never defeated prosecutor," Mia said. "It's okay if you're nervous."
"It doesn't matter who the prosecution is, Nick is still innocent," Dahlia said. "All I have to do is prove it."
"That's the spirit," Mia said.
"Hey, Larry Butz prosecuting doesn't make Nick guilty," Dahlia said.
"Larry Butz?" Phoenix said from behind Mia. Mia jumped back.
"When did you get here?" Mia said.
"Did you say Larry Butz is prosecuting?" Nick said, looking at Dahlia with an intense, heated focus.
"Yeah, I guess you've heard of him?" Dahlia said.
"Heard of him? I know him!" Phoenix said, practically shouting.
"You know Prosecutor Butz?" Dahlia said, stunned.
"I know Larry!" Phoenix said. "I can't believe it! He thinks I killed that woman too?"
"Well…" Dahlia said, not sure what to say.
Phoenix sighed and hung his head. "First Miles, now Larry."
"Miles?" Mia said.
"Detective Miles Edgeworth," Dahlia said, signaling that she'd explain it later.
"What did I do?" Phoenix said, mostly to himself. "Why don't they trust me anymore?"
"Don't beat yourself up," Dahlia said. "If they truly think you murdered someone, I'll just have to prove them wrong."
"Thanks," Phoenix said, but he didn't smile.
A bailiff came in just then. "The trial's starting soon. You better get to the courtroom."
They did just that, and soon after arriving the judge banged his gavel. "Court is now in session."
"The defense is ready, Your Honor," Dahlia said from the defense bench.
"The prosecution is also ready," Larry Butz said from the opposite side of the courtroom. He looked confident with the smirk on his face. His hands were casually in the pockets of his black jacket, which he wore over a green dress shirt. Around his neck was a silver necklace with a round onyx in the middle.
So this is the undefeated prosecutor. Dahlia appraised her courtroom opponent. We'll have to fix that. She glanced over at Phoenix, who was staring at Larry with a sad look on his face. We should fix that too.
"Mr. Butz, your opening statement?" the judge said.
"Yes, Your Honor," Larry said. "Allow me to tell the court what happened. One night, the police received a call alerting them that a murder had just taken place at Exposé Park. They rushed to the scene, and saw a woman by the name of Maggey Byrde dead on the ground. Next to her was the man we now call the defendant, Phoenix Wright, with blood on his hands."
Blood? No one told me about blood! Dahlia looked over at Mia, who was equally surprised.
"Upon finding the scene one would naturally think the murderer was the defendant, wouldn't they? To support this theory, the prosecution has evidence and a witness who saw the whole thing."
"Interesting," the judge said. "You may call your first witness."
"The prosecution calls Detective Edgeworth to the stand," Larry said.
Moments later, Edgeworth stood behind the witness stand.
"Name and occupation?" Larry said.
"Miles Edgeworth, homicide detective in criminal affairs, sir," Edgeworth said.
"Detective Edgeworth," the judge said. "Please testify about your investigation."
"Yes Your Honor," Edgeworth said.
Testimony
The victim was shot at point blank range with a 9 mm pistol.
We found the defendant at the scene of the murder with blood on his hands.
Also found at the scene was a knife covered in the victim's blood and the defendant's fingerprints.
There was a lot of blood splatter, it was everywhere.
In addition, there was a witness that saw the murder. She even took photos.
Dahlia felt uneasy. The contradiction is so obvious. If this Butz guy is as good as I've been told, it shouldn't be so easy. Could this be a trap?
"Photos, you say?" the judge inquired.
"Yes, she's a freelance photographer," Edgeworth said. "This photo is a bit blurry, but it was taken the moment the murder happened."
"I see," the judge said.
"The second photo, however, is of much better quality," Edgeworth said.
"Second photo?" Dahlia said. Lotta! Why didn't you tell me?
"This one was taken a little after the murder," Edgeworth said, showing the photo to the court. "It clearly shows the defendant holding the knife."
"The court accepts this into evidence," the judge said. "Ms. Hawthorne, you may begin your cross-examination."
"Umm, who's Ms. Hawthorne?" Phoenix said, looking at his shoes.
"Your lawyer," the judge said, confused.
"You mean Ms. Fey?" Phoenix said.
"Fey?" the judge said. "Ms. Hawthorne, why would you tell your client that your name is Ms. Fey?"
"Because that is my name," Dahlia said.
"Then why does it say on these records that your name is Dahlia Hawthorne?" the judge said.
"Did you lie to me about your name?" Phoenix said to Dahlia.
"No, I insist that my name is Dahlia Fey," Dahlia said. "Although my birth certificate probably says Dahlia Hawthorne."
"So your name is Dahlia Hawthorne, then?" the judge said.
"No Your Honor. Didn't I mention it during my last trial? I prefer Dahlia Fey," Dahlia said.
"But your name is Dahlia Hawthorne?" the judge said.
"Your Honor, she says her name is Dahlia Fey," Phoenix said. "I don't see why she would lie about that."
"Yes, but these documents all say "Dahlia Hawthorne," so I just assumed that was her name," the judge said.
"With all due respect, Your Honor," Phoenix said. "A friend of mine once said you shouldn't judge things based on narrow-minded cultural assumptions."
"Narrow-minded what?" the judge said.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Dahlia said. "You know what? Whatever; just call me Champion Red!"
"Really Dahlia?" Mia said. "A Pokémon reference? Now everyone's confused."
"Sorry," Dahlia said, shrugging her shoulders.
Mia face palms. "I'm not with this nerd!"
"Nerd?" Dahlia said, incredulously.
"Objection!" Larry said. "Is this relevant?"
"Yes!" everyone said.
"Can we just get to that cross-examination now?" Larry said.
"Oh, right. Well then Ms..." the judge coughed. "The defense may begin her cross-examination."
"Yes Your Honor," Dahlia said, acting as if the debate had never happened.
Cross-Examination
The victim was shot at point blank range with a 9 mm pistol.
We found the defendant at the scene of the murder with blood on his hands.
Also found at the scene was a knife covered in the victim's blood and the defendant's fingerprints.
"Objection!" Dahlia said. "The victim was shot with a pistol! A knife doesn't prove anything!"
"Objection!" Larry said. "Then what was is doing there? I think it's relevant, Ms. Hawthorne."
"Not now," Mia said when she saw Dahlia open her mouth to protest. "He's just trying to get under your skin."
"Jerk," Dahlia said under her breath. "So what makes you think the knife is relevant?"
"Isn't it possible that the defendant had both a knife and a pistol with him?" Larry said. "The victim was shot from point blank range, meaning the murderer was close to the victim. What if he tried to stab the victim first, but when it proved to be more trouble that it was worth he opted to shoot her."
"Objection!" Dahlia said. "That is… not what happened."
"A bit of a lame finish there," Mia commented dryly.
"I know," Dahlia muttered.
"Do you have any evidence to support that claim?" Larry said.
"I'm not done with this cross-examination yet," Dahlia said. "I'd like to start from the beginning actually, if that's alright."
"I have no objections, Detective?" Larry said.
"Alright," Edgeworth said.
The victim was shot at point blank range with a 9 mm pistol.
"Hold it!" Dahlia said. "She was just shot once?"
"Yes, the shooter was rather close. So it only took one shot," Edgeworth said.
We found the defendant at the scene of the murder with blood on his hands.
"Hold it!" Dahlia said. "There was blood on his hands?"
"Yes, forensics confirmed the substance on his hands to be the victim's blood," Edgeworth said.
"The blood was just on his hands?" Dahlia said.
"I believe so," Edgeworth said. Then he grimaced. "They were covered with blood, though."
Also found at the scene was a knife covered in the victim's blood and the defendant's fingerprints.
"Hold it!" Dahlia said. "That doesn't prove that the defendant shot the victim!"
"Objection!" Larry said. "We've been through this already. The knife is evidence that the defendant had murderous intent."
"Were there any cuts on the victim?" Dahlia asked Edgeworth.
"No, nothing like that was reported," Edgeworth said.
"Then why was the defendant's blood on it?" Dahlia said.
There was a lot of blood splatter, it was everywhere.
"Objection!" Dahlia said. "If that's the case, why was there only blood on the defendant's hands?"
"Perhaps he wasn't close enough to get any blood on his clothes," Edgeworth said.
"Objection!" Dahlia said. "It has been repeatedly said the shooter was very close when the victim was shot!"
Dark rings appeared around Edgeworth's eyes. "Nngh."
Dahlia slammed her desk. "If you were very close to the victim, it's impossible to have not gotten blood on your clothes!"
"Objection!" Larry said. "The defendant managed to do as much."
"But he didn't kill the victim!" Dahlia said.
"Actually, whether he killed the victim or not the defendant was very close to the victim when she died," Larry said. "The defendant, an art student, was standing next to his easel when the victim died. We know this to be fact thanks to forensics. So you tell me Ms. Hawthorne, how did he manage to keep his clothes so spotless?"
Dahlia recoiled. How did he turn that around so… easily?
"Dahlia," Mia said. "Do you know what to do?"
"What?" Dahlia said.
"You already have the evidence you need," Mia said. "Think outside of the box and turn the tables in your favor."
Dahlia searched through the court record, looking for the evidence that would explain the lack of blood. When her eyes reached a certain piece of evidence, there was a spark in them.
"Take that!" Dahlia said, presenting an empty red paint jar. "There might not have been as much blood splatter as we thought."
"An empty jar?" Larry said.
"There was red paint in it," Dahlia said. "Yet now it's empty, see where I'm going with this?"
"Yes, I see what you're getting at," Larry said, a sinister smirk on his face. "However, your logic is flawed."
"How so?" Dahlia said.
"I think the answer to that question is best expressed through art," Larry said. He presented a canvas completely covered in red paint. "A Phoenix Wright original."