Dahlia and Phoenix strolled through the entrance to Gourd Lake and entered the public beach. The thing they noticed was a certain young girl with a key in her hair.
"Hi Kay," Dahlia said.
"Hey guys!" Kay said, bouncing over to them.
"Where's Miles at?" Phoenix said.
"Uncle Edgey is investigating in the woods," Kay said. "He sent me to get some information from one of the witnesses."
"Who?" Dahlia said.
"The loopy old caretaker for the boat shop," Kay said, rolling her eyes. "He loves talking to his daughter, Meg."
"Meg?" Dahlia said.
Kay pointed at herself. "Like I said, his lake doesn't reach the shoreline. See ya."
The young Great Thief/ detective's assistant strode away to the boat rental shop.
"So one of the witnesses is the boat shop caretaker then," Phoenix said.
"And he's senile apparently," Dahlia said dryly. "Can't wait to meet him."
The defense duo walked in the direction Kay had come from and soon reached the clearing in front of Gourd Lake Woods. There were police members scattered around the area, searching through bushes and piles of sticks.
"Looks like the police are going to town with the clearance to investigate the woods," Phoenix said.
"Yeah, you're right," Dahlia said. "So where's that old Great Uncle Edgey?"
"You know pal, I believe we're the same age," Edgeworth said.
"Whoa, where'd you get the ninja skills?" Dahlia said, caught off guard.
Edgeworth stood beside the defense team, near the shore. "You sound like Kay."
"Funny you should say that, we saw her not two minutes ago," Phoenix said.
Edgeworth arched his eyebrow. "Did she say anything to you?"
Dahlia discreetly nudged her assistant with her elbow. We might not want the fuddy duddy to know we found out who one of the witnesses is.
"Oh, she just went on about how awesome you are," Phoenix said.
"Phoenix Wright, you are an awful liar," Edgeworth said.
"Who said anything about lying?" Phoenix said defensively.
Edgeworth stared at him.
"Alright, she told us about the nutty boat guy," Phoenix said in defeat.
Dahlia face palmed.
Edgeworth rolled his eyes. "I think you've had enough assistance from the police department in that case."
"Oh come on, don't kick us out," Phoenix said. "Please, old buddy?"
Alright, time to change tactics. Dahlia spoke up. "Yeah, Nick told me some stories about all you guys as kids."
"Uh-huh," Edgeworth said.
"Is it true that you had a 4 o'clock fangirl mob?" Dahlia said.
Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck. "Dahlia, where'd you get that idea? It's not as if I told you that because I promised not to so I didn't."
Edgeworth glared at Phoenix. "Excuse me, Ms. Fey, but I'm afraid I have to kill my 'old buddy.' If you'll excuse us."
Phoenix bolted, with Edgeworth hot on his heels. Dahlia snickered. Sorry Nick, but someone had to distract him. The defense attorney looked around. Better make the best of this.
"Um, like, hi. Who, like, are you?"
A woman with bright red hair under a cream hat wearing a golden shirt with a Japanese character on it appeared before Dahlia.
"Ah! Valley Girl!" Dahlia said.
"Um, where?" the woman said, with an aura of obliviousness around her.
Dahlia sighed. Great. Kay has the boat shop nut, Nick has the raging detective, and now I'm stuck with this ditz. "Never mind. Who are you?"
"I'm, like Ini Miney. Who are you?" Ini said.
"Dahlia Fey," the defense attorney said.
"Nice to, like, meet you!" Ini said.
"Yeah," Dahlia said. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm, like, here with my uncle," Ini said. "He's at the, like, boat shop."
"Why are you here in the woods then?" Dahlia said.
Ini rubbed her temples, apparently thinking hard. "Oh that. Like, the police people were talking to me and stuff about this thing a couple nights ago."
"The night of the murder?" Dahlia said.
"That thing with a guy killing another guy?" Ini said. "Yeah that."
"You're a witness?" Dahlia said incredulously. So the witnesses are monster hunter, a senile old man, and an airhead who probably can't spell 'testimony.' Or her name, for that matter. This is either going to be the most difficult trial in the world, or the easiest.
"Like, yeah," Ini said.
"What did you see?" Dahlia said.
"Well, this guy, like, shot another guy with, like, a gun," Ini said. "Oh, and they were in a boat."
"Oh, that explains it," Dahlia said.
"Glad I could help," Ini said.
You know, I would actually like to watch Edgeworth interrogate this person. Or Lana, that would be entertaining too. Dahlia put her hands in her pockets. "So what have to police been up to around here?"
"Um, I heard this one guy say something really weird," Ini said. "Something about a boat, except it was, like, on land. I didn't get it."
She probably says that a lot. Dahlia brushed a lock of hair out her hair face. "Where is this boat?"
"In some bushes," Ini said.
"Thanks," Dahlia said, fighting back the urge to roll her eyes.
Dahlia walked away from Ini and neared the shore line. She couldn't resist a smile when she peered around the trees and saw part of a motorboat crashed into the forest 18 feet away. We got it right.
"If you push me again I swear I will make you drown in your own blood," Dahlia said.
Phoenix jumped. "How did you-"
"You're not a ninja like your friend," Dahlia said, turning to face her assistant. "Speaking of which, what'd he do to you?"
"Oh, Miles is all talk," Phoenix said. "The only that hurt was my pride when I realized I had been running from him."
Dahlia chuckled. "Come on, let's gets a closer look at the boat."
Phoenix took off his shoes. "It'll be quicker to go around the woods."
"Good idea," Dahlia said, taking her shoes off as well.
They trekked through the shallow water and were soon standing before a motorboat resting on top of some bushes and scattered branches. The craft was clearly damaged.
"It looks like someone crashed it into the trees," Dahlia said.
"Yeah, it does," Phoenix said. "So what do you think it means?"
"Well, first of all I think it's safe to say there was someone else on the lake that night," Dahlia said. "While it certainly helps, it's not quite enough to prove someone else shot the victim. It was either Larry or said other person."
"So now all we need to do is find evidence that is was the other person," Phoenix said.
"It sounds simple when you say it like that," Dahlia said while making a note of the motorboat.
"Well, what do we do first?" Phoenix said.
"Let's see if Meg is done talking with her father," Dahlia said.
"Meg?" Phoenix said. "Oh yeah, Kay. The witness is the boat rental shop guy right?"
"Yeah. Oh by the way, I met the third witness," Dahlia said.
"Really? Did they say anything useful?" Phoenix said.
"She informed me that the murder happened in the lake," Dahlia said dryly.
Phoenix cocked his head like a confused dog. "But didn't we already-"
"Yes, we did," Dahlia said, nodding her head. "She also clarified that the murder was a guy killing another guy."
Phoenix made a low whistle.
"Yeah," Dahlia said. "Come on, let's go."