Larry and Dahlia panted, calming down their breathing after a 14 minute shouting session.
"Better now guys?" Phoenix said, smiling nervously.
"Yeah, I got it out of my system," Dahlia said.
Larry looked down at the floor.
"Now then," Dahlia said, collected and business-like. "If you don't mind we'd like your inside information concerning DL-6."
Larry sighed exasperatedly. "Look, DL-6 is a mess. Nothing good came out of it and nothing good will come out of it. Just try to back out before it's too late."
"It already is too late to back out," Dahlia said. "We need you to talk with us."
"You already know about DL-6," Larry said. "Everyone involved got the short end of the straw. The victim died, the suspect got away but his life was ruined, the police were ridiculed, and there was even that woman. The police turned to a spirit medium, she messed up-"
"And became the laughing stock of the century," Dahlia said. "The shame was too much to bear, and she left her home and her family."
"Exactly," Larry said. "Even that Misty Fey lost to DL-6."
"Yeah," Dahlia said, disheartened. "Because of DL-6, Aunt Misty is gone."
"Aunt Misty?" Larry said, suddenly looking attentive. "Did you just call Misty Fey your aunt?"
"As I'm sure I've told you multiple times," the defense attorney said. "My name is Dahlia Fey."
"F-Fey?" Larry said.
"Is this the first time you've actually listened to me say that?" Dahlia said.
"Yes," Phoenix said.
"Shut up Wright," Larry said. "I never thought…"
"Precisely, you never thought," Dahlia said matter-of-factly. "Not once did you ever consider I might care about DL-6 too. Nick cares because of you, and I care because of my aunt. But that doesn't matter to you, does it? I don't even know why DL-6 affects you so much. Sure, a murder happened. But how much of it did you actually see? Why would that shock you into silence after all these years?"
Larry said nothing, he just played with his necklace.
"Ugh!" Dahlia was getting irritated. "I've had it with you. Nick, we're going."
"A girl died," Larry said, not making eye contact. "She was only 9 years old, she had her whole life ahead of her. Wanted to be a nurse when she grew up. But it didn't matter, Mimi was killed. Remember her, Wright?"
"Mimi?" Phoenix said. "Hmm… Wait, wasn't Mimi that one girl in our class? You guys really liked each other."
"What? No, we were 9 remember?" Larry said, beginning to color. "All the girls loved Edgeworth. He had his 4 o'clock mob."
"So?" Phoenix said. "You flirted with her all the time. Kept trying to impress her."
Dahlia smiled widely, her spirits suddenly lifted dramatically.
"Sh-shut up," Larry said meekly, noticing the grin. "Uh, what about you and Feenie?"
"What? Ew!" Dahlia punched her assistant.
"Ow!" Phoenix exclaimed.
"Sorry, habit," Dahlia said, not really caring.
Still rubbing his arm, Phoenix smirked evilly. "It's alright, that's what I love about you Dollie-babe."
A tear escaped from Phoenix's eye when Dahlia stamped on his foot.
"And now we know why it's become a habit," Dahlia said crossly.
Larry cracked a smile, which Dahlia noticed.
"Don't think you got out of this Butz," Dahlia said.
The smile faded. "Yeah, I didn't think so."
"I didn't know Mimi was killed," Phoenix said.
"You were in her class and that never came up?" Larry said.
"Well, it happened during winter break," Phoenix said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And you know how sheltering all those adults were."
"Yeah," Larry said, playing with his necklace. "You know, I bought this necklace for her. I was going to give it to her for Christmas."
"Seriously?" Phoenix said.
Larry nodded solemnly. "I kept it, because as much as I wanted to forget that case, I didn't want to forget her."
"Larry…" Phoenix said. "You became a prosecutor because of her, didn't you?"
"Pretty much," Larry said. "I could never be like Yanni Yogi's attorney, defending criminals. So I became a prosecutor, to make sure every criminal was punished for their crimes."
"But what about people who are innocent?" Phoenix said.
Larry didn't look away from his necklace. "I don't know. Do they really even exist?"
"Uh, hello? Innocent guy here," Phoenix said.
The corners of the prosecutor's mouth twitched upward. "Yeah, I guess so."
"So what happened anyway?" Phoenix said.
"My memory gets a little fuzzy after a while actually, but I remember it well enough," Larry said. "Mimi wanted to see a trial, because I talked about them all the time during class. So I took her to watch one. Then on our way home we got into an elevator with a court bailiff, Yanni Yogi."
"But why would he kill her?" Phoenix said.
"Out of nowhere an earthquake broke out and we all got trapped in the elevator," Larry said, looking pained. "It freaked the bailiff out more than it did us. Things got even worse when the air started to thin. I guess Mimi's inner nurse came out and she tried to calm Yogi down. It didn't work, and I could tell Mimi was starting to get scared. I remember wanting to help her, but I had no idea what to do."
Phoenix nodded understandingly.
"Everything gets fuzzy after that, and maybe a little jumbled up," Larry said. "I remember shouting, I think I said something too. I couldn't see anything, but I heard a gunshot, and Mimi screamed, and Yogi screamed, and then everything just… faded into nothing. I woke up a few hours later in the hospital."
Phoenix smiled in a way that was both sad and encouraging. "And you found out Mimi had died."
"Shot right through her heart," Larry said, beginning to choke up.
"Hey, hey," Phoenix said. "Don't get all teary on me now."
Larry sniffed. "You're right, you're right."
"Of course, I've always been Wright," Phoenix said.
Larry face palmed, though there was a smile underneath it. "Really?"
"Yeah," Phoenix said. "Thank you Larry. I finally know what happened."
"Don't thank me, I was just doing my job," Larry said.
"Your job?" Phoenix said.
"A client should help their defense as much as their defense helps them," Larry said.
Hey, aren't I the defense attorney here? Dahlia didn't say it though. She had never seen Phoenix look so happy.
"This is great," Phoenix said. "Now it's time for part 2!"
"Part 2?" Larry said.
"I know what happened," Phoenix said. "Now to fix it!"
"You're going to bring Mimi back from the dead?" Larry said.
"No, I'm going to find the truth to DL-6 and get Mimi's killer what he deserves!" Phoenix said, already getting out of his chair.
Larry blinked, looking touched. Before he could say anything, Phoenix grabbed Dahlia's arm and together they bolted out of the detention center.
"Let go of me!" Dahlia said!"
"Once we get to the crime scene!" Phoenix said.
"You're acting like the girl of your dreams just agreed to go to the prom with you!" Dahlia said.
"Don't kill my buzz!" Phoenix said, grinning.
Thankfully, Dahlia didn't have to kill her assistant's buzz. Eventually, he got tired from running and realized they had to take a cab to get from the detention center to Gourd Lake.
"D'oh!" Phoenix panted, looking for any taxis coming their way.
"It's okay Nick," Dahlia said.