September 19th, 2029, 10:56 AM
District Court
Courtroom No. 3
"Mr. Debeste, will the prosecution be requiring some time to prepare the next witness?" the Judge asked.
The brown-haired man shook his head. "No, he's been ready to give testimony since the beginning of this trial. All we need to do is bring him in."
The Judge nodded. "Understood. Bailiff! Bring in the witness!"
A few seconds passed before the bailiff came back with a large man. He had pale skin and ghostly white eyes, as well as curly light blue hair that was hidden beneath his brown fedora. He wore a gray suit jacket and a pair of jeans. Lastly, he was carrying a large shovel over his shoulder.
He sauntered up the witness stand and removed the shovel from his shoulder and instead used it like a cane with the spade side facing downward.
"Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court."
The witness scanned the courtroom for a quick moment before speaking jovially. "Aye, so delightful to see such young faces running the trial! Ah, the power of youth. I remember when I had that! Ha ha!"
He chuckled to himself for a brief moment before finally answering Sebastian's question. "Ricky M. Belle. I'm the caretaker and gravedigger for Dark Meadow Cemetery!"
The Judge pondered over Ricky's previous statement. "We do have quite a few young faces in the court today, don't we? Besides Mr. Wright and myself, clearly."
Ricky shrugged and shook his head. "Sometimes age doesn't play into youthfulness. I can tell Your Honor is quite a jolly man, despite how old you appear to be!"
The Judge failed to hide his flattered expression. "Oh ho! Well, I do consider myself quite a fun-loving old man. I need to keep up with my grandchildren after all!"
Sebastian slammed his desk. "Your Honor, let's focus back on the trial."
"Come on Mr. Debeste! I know you're not a buzzkill! Let the old men have a conversation!"
"You're only 43."
"That supposed to prove your point?"
"Ahem," said the Judge, refocusing his priorities. "Mr. Belle, a number of questions have arisen from the testimony of our last witness. We were hoping you'd be able to answer them with your own testimony."
A flash of… something appeared in Ricky's eyes upon hearing the black-haired woman mentioned. "That girl gave ya a hard time? Now there's another example as to why age doesn't translate into youthfulness perfectly. That girl acts like she doesn't find anything fun!"
"Witness, we'd like to hear about how you discovered the scene." Sebastian said.
"Of course. Anything to help."
WITNESS TESTIMONY
-Mysterious Figures-
"I was finishing up my shift that night, and was packing up to go home."
"I saw the defendant and that girl standing over a body as I was leaving. Though, I thought I only saw one person"
"Anyway, seeing as they were standing over a body, I ran over to subdue them."
"The girl explained to me that they weren't murderers, and she went to call the police."
"So, you saw the scene as you were leaving for the day?" The Judge asked.
"That's right, Your Honor."
"Hmm… Alright, Ms. Cykes, you may begin your cross-examination."
Athena slammed her left fist into her right palm. "You got it, Your Honor!"
"I was finishing up my shift that night, and was packing up to go home."
"HOLD IT!"
"When does your shift end?" Athena asked.
"Around 10 o'clock PM. Why do you ask Ms. Lawyer?"
"Just thought I'd get it on the record– hey wait a minute!" Athena slammed her palm on the desk. "The first witness said they discovered the crime scene at 10:15! Why were you still at the cemetery?"
Ricky just shrugged in response. "I had some extra work to do, so I stayed after."
"Oh…" Athena was a little disappointed that she barely got a reaction out of the caretaker. This trial sure had its fair share of stoic witnesses. "Anyway, I would like that last bit added to your testimony."
"Do you think it could be important?" asked the Judge.
"It may."
The Judge nodded. "Well, witness, please amend your testimony."
"Of course, Your Honor."
"My shift usually ends at 10, but I stayed later that day due to having extra work."
Athena played with her earring. "By the way, before I forget… Where did you see the crime scene from?"
"I was working in my shack, and I saw the scene when I exited it through the door," Ricky replied
Sebastian pulled out a large, laminated piece of paper. "I have a map of the scene here, with an indicator for where the body was at the time. Would the defense like to see it?"
She nodded. "Yes, anything to help understand how things played out that night."
Sebastian submitted the map to the court record. Athena took a thorough look at it and immediately noticed that something was wrong. "Hey! Wait a minute!"
"I saw the defendant and that girl standing over a body as I was leaving. Though, because of the darkness, I thought I only saw one person"
"OBJECTION!"
Athena slammed her palm on the desk twice. "Witness, you say that you saw Ms. Boswick and the defendant standing over the body?"
"That's right, Ms. Lawyer."
Athena grinned, ready to see the witness freak out from what she had up her sleeve. "Really huh? Now I say 'that's impossible'!"
Ricky gripped the top of his hat and gritted his teeth. "Huh? What are you on about?"
"Take a look at the map, witness. Look where you say you saw the crime scene from, and now look where the victim was."
The other members of the court took a quick moment to look over the map. Sebastian was the first to notice the contradiction, and cringed. The Judge was next, exclaiming his discovery loudly as usual; "Why, yes! I see the problem here!"
"Huh? What problem? What's wrong with what I said?" Ricky said, still clueless.
Athena offered him the not-so-courteous courtesy of pointing his own mistake out for him. "If you took a good look at the map, you'd see that there's no way you could have seen the victim's body! The victim was positioned just in front of a large gravestone, while your shack is even further past that.
Athena's smile grew bigger as Ricky began to sweat. "While I do believe you must have seen my client and Ms. Boswick, there's no way you could have seen the body of Princeton Hart! There's a huge gravestone in the way!"
"Gah!" Ricky swung his shovel like a sword, only for him to lose control of it and have the spade end smack into his face. He grimaced as he gripped his head with his right hand and gripped the shovel in his left.
The Judge banged his gavel. "Witness! I must agree with the defense! How could you have seen the body?"
"OBJECTION!"
Sebastian's voice rang out to answer on behalf of his witness. "Mr. Belle didn't necessarily need to see the body! He could have noticed it once he went over to the defendant and Ms. Boswick! After all, seeing people out in the graveyard late at night would have been suspicious anyway!"
Athena recoiled and racked her brain for a solution. "But– but– the witness said–!"
"Athena, don't worry about what the witness said."
Athena whipped her head to look at Phoenix. "Huh?"
"You already have the right information to tear down Mr. Debeste's claim."
"I… what? There's nothing in the court record!"
"Don't just rely on the court record, Athena. Use your memory. Is there any information that's been stated during this trial that would contradict Mr. Debeste's version of events?"
Athena thought hard, really hard. She thought about everything the prosecution had stated, and everything she had gone over with Blake the previous day. Then, when thinking back to Charity's testimony, the answer was immediate.
Athena raised her finger and pointed at Sebastian.
"OBJECTION!"
"I don't think so, Mr. Debeste! Remember what our last witness said? She stated that the moment the caretaker noticed them, he screamed: 'Murderer!' Your version contradicts your own witness's testimony!"
"Grrrrrraaaaaahhhhhh!" Sebastian fought back a howl of pure anger. "Boswiiiiick!"
Athena had to bite back a giggle upon seeing Sebastian's expression. "Wow, he REALLY doesn't like her. Charity's probably getting a kick out of this wherever she's watching the trial from."
Athena tore herself away from the amusing scene, which was pretty hard to do, and grinned at the still nervous witness. "Now, as for you, Mr. Belle. What do you have to say about this discrepancy?"
Ricky was silent for a moment, but to Athena's surprise, he slowly began to calm down. He returned his shovel to its cane-like position, and wiped away the sweat on his forehead. "Woo-wee, what a scene! People really need to start paying more attention to the courts! You can't replicate the adrenaline you get in here!"
Athena deadpanned at him. "Umm… Mr. Belle?"
"Anyway, as for my testimony, I just did a little bit of simplification. I actually heard the two of 'em talking. Something about a dead body. I jumped to the conclusion that they had killed someone."
The Judge frowned and narrowed his eyes at the witness. "Is that so, Mr. Belle? I would personally think that dead bodies would be a common discussion topic in a cemetery."
Sweat started to appear on Ricky's gray face once again. "That didn't really cross my mind at the time, haha. My mind was already racing when I saw a silhouette in the cemetery so late at night."
Athena smirked. "In that case, can you please add that statement to your testimony?"
"Sure, whatever."
"I overheard them talking about a dead body, and just assumed the worst."
"OBJECTION!"
Athena didn't even need to review anything this time (something she was quite proud of). "You 'overheard' them? I doubt that!" She once again pulled out the flyer for the fireworks show. "Just like with Ms. Boswick, there were fireworks going off at the time! Any noises from a distance would have been muffled!"
"Ack!" said Ricky, once again slamming his face into his shovel.
"OBJECTION!"
Sebastian was quick to cut in by slamming his hand on his desk. "There's no proof that he couldn't have heard it over the fireworks! This evidence is hardly definitive!"
"Ugh!" Athena collapsed onto her desk as Sebastian quickly tore down the certainty of her argument. "Why didn't he say anything about me presenting that on Charity though? He's a lot more defensive of this witness!"
Sebastian held his hands up in a shrugging motion, and shook his head condescendingly. "Ms.. Cykes, aren't you forgetting something?"
The young attorney narrowed her eyes on him. "'Forgetting something'?"
He chuckled at her and turned to Ricky. "Mr. Belle, can you please testify about your actions after you discovered the scene?"
Ricky had since recovered from Athena's initial assault and was now wearing his flattering smile once again. "I can and I will! I'll tell you all about my encounter with the defendant and that girl!"
WITNESS TESTIMONY
-My first response-
"When I noticed the figure, I rushed over to subdue whoever they were. I grabbed the girl's arm just in case she tried to run."
"She explained that they were only witnesses to the crime, and that's when I noticed the crying kid."
"I checked the body to make sure he was actually dead, and then the girl rushed off to the payphone at the end of the block."
"I didn't see her actually make the call, though, because the area beyond the graveyard was forested, so the trees blocked my sight."
"I did my best to comfort the boy in her absence."
"Spot anything boss?" Athena asked. She didn't see any immediate contradictions, so she wanted to make sure that she wasn't missing anything.
"Based on what we have? No. Just try and press around for this cross-examination. Something might come up. But…" Phoenix paused, and contemplated for a moment.
"What's up, Mr. Wright?"
"Not much… Just… Mr. Debeste has hardly done anything that seriously hurts our case. None of the witnesses have said anything that would make Blake being the killer pretty definitive. What's his game here?"
Athena took a moment to ponder Phoenix's point. "You're right. Should I call him out?"
"Only if it's necessary. Let's just cross-examine Mr. Belle right now."
"When I noticed the figure, I rushed over to subdue whoever they were. I grabbed the girl's arm just in case she tried to run."
"HOLD IT!"
"So you didn't see Blake right away?" Athena asked.
"Nope. It was dark, and the girl was holding her phone with the flashlight turned on, which kinda messed up my vision."
"Did Ms. Boswick do anything when you grabbed her?"
"No. She was surprisingly calm about it, which leads to my next point…"
"She explained that they were only witnesses to the crime, and that's when I noticed the crying kid."
"HOLD IT!"
"When did you notice the victim?"
Ricky played with the curly locks on his left temple. "I think I noticed him right away. The girl's light was right on him."
"I see… What did you do then?"
"I checked the body to make sure he was actually dead, and then the girl rushed off to the payphone at the end of the block."
"HOLD IT!"
"Hmm… can you point out where the payphone is on this map?"
Ricky took a moment to look over the map, until he shook his head. "It's not on here. But take a look at the sidewalk running along the bottom. If you take the sidewalk west, you'll find it."
"Good to know, and I see that there's trees bordering the graveyard on all sides except for the south, where the sidewalk is." Athena thought.
"I didn't see her actually make the call, though, because the area beyond the graveyard was forested, so the trees blocked my sight."
"HOLD IT!"
"How long was she gone for?"
"Like… two-to-three minutes? The payphone may not be on the map, but it's not too far away… Hmm…" He went quiet.
"What was that? He looked like he wanted to say something."
"I did my best to comfort the boy in her absence."
"HOLD IT!"
"Was there anything of note about the defendant's behavior that night?" She knew she shouldn't be asking this question, but she wanted to see if Sebastian had any vital information that would help his case from this witness. Her boss's thoughts about Sebastian's lack of a case were causing her to grow paranoid.
"He was acting like his dad was just murdered and he had seen the body. Quite frankly, I think it's odd that out of the three of us who first discovered the scene, HE'S the one on trial."
Athena was shocked by his last comment. "First Charity, now him? Both of the prosecution's witnesses think Blake is innocent?" She shot a look at Sebastian, who had once again entered a state of peace with his eyes closed and a thin smile on his lips. "Does Mr. Debeste even have a case at all?"
Athena couldn't find anything off about Ricky's behavior, so she finished her cross examination. "Your honor, the defense has no further questions for the witness."
Sebastian smirked at her. "Are you sure about that?"
"Huh?" Athena asked.
Sebastian's smirk faded, and genuine concern filled its absence. A strand of his hair sprang up again, but this time took the shape of a question mark. "Did you… Did you seriously forget?"
"Uhhh, maybe?"
Phoenix raised an eyebrow at her from the side. "Why did we even call Mr. Belle to the stand in the first place, Athena?"
"Huh? OH!" Athena felt like kicking herself for being so stupid. "Why didn't you say anything? We could have saved a lot of time!"
"I was hoping you would bring up during one of your cross-examinations."
"Ugh… Sorry about that." Athena quickly put on a serious expression and looked at Ricky dead in the eyes. "Mr. Belle, the last witness made a statement that the court is puzzled on. She claims that she saw a shiny object, which is the reason why she came to the graveyard in the first place."
Ricky's eye twitched upon hearing Charity mentioned again.
"She also claims that the object went missing after she went to call the police. Do you have a response to these statements, Mr. Belle?"
The man with light blue hair tilted his head at Athena and raised an eyebrow, then he did the same to Phoenix, Sebastian, and the Judge. "You… You all bought that?"
The Judge responded on behalf of everyone. "Well, she was pretty adamant. And we didn't necessarily 'buy' it. There was no evidence to suggest the existence of such a thing. We were hoping you would prove whether her claims were the truth or a fabrication."
"Well, I certainly didn't see anything shiny. I think that makes it pretty clear that she's lying, and trying to make it seem like I have something to hide as well."
Sebastian's hair strand perked straight up again. The man patted it down before asking his question. "What do you think it means, witness?"
Ricky looked confused. "I'd… rather not say. It's just a theory, anyway."
"Hmm…" Athena played with her earring as she pondered over the witness' behavior. "He's not willing to talk about his opinions on Charity's statements too deeply. As he said, 'it's just a theory', and witnesses are supposed to stick to the facts."
Sebastian shook his head at the man. "Go ahead and testify. Anything that can shed new light on this case is welcome."
Ricky scratched the back of his head. "Well… If you say so…"
WITNESS TESTIMONY
-Ricky's suspicions-
"To be completely honest, I think it's odd that the girl would state that her reasons for entering the graveyard came from seeing something shiny. Why that over literally anything else?"
"I think she had an actual reason for coming to the graveyard, and it is something that she doesn't want the court to know about. She just didn't think of a better lie."
"That was a short testimony." Athena thought to herself.
"Hmm… I think I'm starting to see what the witness is claiming." said the Judge as he turned to the prosecutor's bench. "Are you certain this is a testimony that is worth hearing?"
Sebastian grinned. "Definitely, Your Honor."
"Very well then. Ms. Cykes, you may cross-examine the witness.
Athena nodded. "Understood, Your Honor."
"There's only one thing I'm interested in here: The true meaning behind Charity's actions. She's been the biggest question mark in this case."
"I think she had an actual reason for coming to the graveyard, and it is something that she doesn't want the court to know about. She just didn't think of a better lie."
"HOLD IT!"
"Witness, I have a question, and please be honest. Do you believe that Ms. Boswick is tied to the murder?"
Ricky's eyes went wide, but he slowly nodded. "I do believe that, and I have reasons aside from her faulty explanations for why she entered the cemetery."
Sebastian was having a hard time hiding his almost feral grin; and Athena was having a hard time not being freaked out by it. "A– Anyway… according to her account, she entered the graveyard after the defendant. If she's tied to the murder, as you allege, was she also there at an earlier time."
"She didn't need to be." Ricky answered immediately.
"... Huh? How come?"
"That girl didn't go to the graveyard to kill the victim. She went there to pay the real killer."
Athena was silent for a moment, until she fully processed the information. "... WHAT? You think she hired an ASSASSIN?"
Everybody in the court reacted strongly to Athena's outburst. The Judge and Phoenix recoiled in shock whilst the gallery's chattering made the young attorney's ears ring in pain. Even Sebastian was surprised, and his smile was now gone.
"I don't know if it was her, but I have plenty of reasons to suspect so. And I do know that the victim was assassinated."
Sebastian slammed his palm on his desk. "B– but there was no evidence of a fifth party! How could you know that he was assassinated?"
"That's really simple, but first, let me explain why I think it was the girl who hired him to begin with." He took a deep breath and collected his thoughts, ready to divulge his suspicions for the court's eager ears to hear. "You know how she went to a payphone? Specifically one that I couldn't see from my vantage point? Well, as I stated earlier, the girl HAD a mobile phone on her AND was using the flashlight app, meaning that it wasn't dead. Why would she run over to a payphone when she has a perfectly functional phone right in her hands?!"
The roars of the gallery were so loud that they threatened to blow the roof off of the courthouse. Ricky wasn't done yet, though. "That's not all. You asked how I could know there was an assassin there? That's simple." He reached into his pocket.
The gallery hushed as they watched him slowly pull something out. The Judge, defense, and prosecution all held their breaths.
He brought the item up to his face, revealing it to be a white card with a pink seashell image on it. "I found this on the victim's body. I'm sure the court knows this card well."
Athena didn't. "What does a cheap card like that have to do with the murder. How does it prove that there was an assassin there?"
"RICKY M. BELLE!"
Athena was forced out of her thoughts by her boss. She heard a substantial amount of anger, surprise, but most of all fear in his voice. She had heard her boss display all of these emotions in the past, but almost never on this level.
"YOU– YOU CONCEALED THIS? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" Phoenix roared.
"WITNESS!" Sebastian hollered. "YOU WILL HAND THAT OVER RIGHT NOW! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HID THIS FROM THE POLICE!"
Ricky seemed unbothered. "Take it. I have no reason to hold onto it any longer."
Sebastian rushed over to the witness stand and snatched the card out of his hand.
Athena had had enough of being left in the dark. "Can someone PLEASE explain what's going on?!"
The Judge recovered from his own shock and cleared his throat. "Ms. Cykes, that is the calling card of an assassin by the name of Shelly De Killer. He's notorious in this part of the country, and has been working for multiple decades. Despite that, he has never been caught."
Athena's eyes widened. "Multiple decades?! And he's never been caught?! No wonder Mr. Wright and Mr. Debeste freaked out!"
She turned her attention to her boss. "Hey, have you ever had cases involving Shelly–"
"Not now Athena."
Her voice failed her. In her two years of having known Phoenix, she had only heard him this angry in a few situations, but those were all things that he was stressed about in those moments of time. Here? This was something from his past, something that still haunted him.
The gallery's cries and conversations rose to such intensity that the Judge's banging of his gavel did nothing to quell them. In the chaos, he called a brief recess.
September 19th, 2029, 11:41 AM
District Court
Courtroom No. 3
The Judge called everyone back in after five minutes. The members of the court seemed to have calmed down during that time. He banged his gavel. "Court is back in session." He cleared his throat and looked at Sebastian. "Mr. Debeste, what is your position on the witness's claims?"
"The prosecution rests," he answered immediately. "The presence of an assassin makes the possibility of the defendant having committed the crime go from very unlikely to impossible."
Athena's eyes widened. He was resting already? She guessed that there was nothing that could further prolong the trial since it was to determine Blake's guilt.
"However, we believe the witness's theory to be quite sound, and we don't see anything that immediately contradicts their claims. Therefore…" Sebastian slammed his desk with his right palm. "...the prosecution calls for the arrest of Ms. Charity Boswick!"
The gallery exploded into chatters once again, requiring the Judge to bang his gavel once again to silence them.
Athena sighed in relief. "Blake's off the hook. We may have not discovered the full truth today, but that's not my job to figure out. I just hope that the police have caught the right person this time…"
"OBJECTION!"
Athena's relief turned to surprise as she whipped her head to the witness stand. She recognized the voice, but it was the first time she had heard them utter that word. At the stand she saw Charity, who had pushed Ricky aside.
"That was a really well-enunciated 'OBJECTION'." thought Athena.
The black-haired woman stared at the Judge, then at Sebastian, who was grinning at her like a maniac, then at Phoenix, who stared back, and finally at Athena. Her neutral expression was replaced by a small smile upon reaching her. "Congrats on your win, Ms. Cykes."
"Huh? Oh… Thanks?"
Charity looked downward, still smiling. "However, I think you and I both know that the real truth has yet to be discovered. If you're interested in uncovering it, meet me in the detention center after this trial concludes."
"...Is she requesting my services?!"
With that, the police took her away. As she was being dragged, Charity never took her eyes off of Athena until the courtroom doors shut.
"Ahem… Well, considering that the prosecution has changed their position, and that there is no significant doubt to be placed on the defendant's actions that night, I believe it's time to announce my verdict."
Sebastian was still smiling. "The prosecution has no objections, Your Honor."
At that moment, Athena finally made sense of his behavior.
Arresting Charity had been his plan from the start.
"Seriously, what is his beef with her?"
"I hereby find the defendant, Blake Hart…"
"NOT GUILTY!"
The gallery cheered as confetti suddenly materialized to fill the courtroom with color.
"Where does that stuff come from anyway?" Athena asked her boss.
He deadpanned. "In all of my years of being in this profession, I have never managed to figure it out. I don't think even the Judge knows… or cares."
"Court is adjourned!"
September 19th, 2029, 12:03 PM
District Court
Defendant Lobby No. 3
Phoenix and Athena met up with Lotta and Blake in the defendant lobby upon leaving the courtroom.
"Congratulations Blake!" Athena exclaimed in celebration.
Blake twiddled his thumbs. "Umm… does that mean we won? Sorry, I could barely understand anything that was happening…"
"You bet we won! You're free now! Sorry it took so long, though."
"Thank you two for defending the young'un here! I'm glad that it was such a smooth trial… up until the very end, at least."
Phoenix placed his hand to his chin. "Mr. Debeste didn't really have any evidence that implicated Blake, which makes me wonder why he was even on trial to begin with."
Athena sighed and thought about the conclusion she came to about Sebastian's behavior. "I don't think he was looking to get Blake declared guilty at all, boss. I think Ms. Boswick was his true target.
Lotta crossed her arms and stared off to the side, deep in thought. "That girl is quite the anomaly huh? Right as she's arrested she decides to ask you to defend her!"
"I agree that her behavior is a little… strange." Phoenix mused. "But I have a question for you, Athena."
"What's up, boss?"
"Are you going to take Ms. Boswick up on her offer?"
Athena thought for a long moment as Phoenix and Lotta stared at her. She was happy to have Blake be found not guilty, but a part of her wanted to discover the whole truth behind the incident. She was so used to having to do that by default due to the stubbornness of the prosecution, so it was weird to come out of a trial having not done so.
Athena sighed and came down on her answer. "I think I'm going to at least talk to her. I'll decide if I want to stick my foot more into this case once I do that."
Phoenix nodded in understanding and smiled. "Alright, I suppose this is where we part ways, then."
"Huh? Oh!" Athena remembered that Phoenix had his own trial lined up tomorrow, so he would need to use the rest of the day to investigate. "That's right! Good luck, boss!"
"Good luck to you as well." He said as he headed to the door. Before he left the courthouse, he turned back around to take one last look at Athena. "And hey, if you want a partner to help you out with the investigation and the trial tomorrow, I'm sure Trucy would be happy to oblige. She's not very busy this week, so feel free to ask her for help."
Trucy Wright was Phoenix's daughter, but despite that, she was technically the true owner of the Wright Anything Agency. Phoenix may be in charge of the law portion, but Trucy was in charge of the whole thing.
Athena nodded and slammed her fist into her palm. "Alrighty boss! I think I'll do just that!"
"Great. See you, Athena."
"Wait!"
Just as Phoenix was about to leave, Athena remembered something that she wanted to ask. She remembered the look on her boss's face when he saw that small card, and how he continued to wear it even when the trial was called into recess. She was too intimidated to ask about it then, but now she was ready to pry for some answers.
She tried to sound as gentle as possible when asking. "Boss, is there something wrong? You kinda freaked out when you saw that card."
Phoenix's face stiffened, and he looked away from her. "Let's not talk about that now. We both have things to do today. I'll tell you about it another time."
She gulped. "Okay… Just… I'm here for you boss. I just want you to know that."
A grateful smile appeared on the spiky-haired attorney's face. "Thanks Athena, I'm glad to have you as a part of the agency."
With that, he left.
Athena sighed and turned to the Harts. "I guess this is where we part ways as well. I'll be stopping by to check on you two later, though."
Lotta beamed. "Thanks for all that you've done for us, Athena."
Athena walked out of the courthouse. Normally, she'd be in the mood to celebrate after winning a defense, but today, the mysteries were only just beginning, and she was ready to solve them once and for all.
Evidence
Princeton Hart's Autopsy Report: Victim died from a stab to the heart between 9:45 PM and 10:15 PM
Rusty Knife: The murder weapon. Has lost all of its luster and therefore doesn't reflect light.
Princeton's Corpse Photo: A photo taken by the police when they found the body
Convention Flyer: Details a bunch of relevant information for a convention that took place on the night of the murder, including how there is a fireworks show that goes from 10:10 - 10:25 PM
Graveyard map: A map of where the body was found and the general layout of the cemetery
Profiles
Athena Cykes (20): Me, myself, and I. I'm an employee of the Wright Agency and a psychology Expert
Phoenix Wright (36) : My boss. He's an infamous defense attorney known as the "Turnabout Terror".
Lotta Hart (34): Technically the client. She requested our services for the defense of her nephew, Blake.
Blake Hart (13): The defendant. He was out with his father on the night of crime. They got separated, and the next time they reunited his father was dead.
Princeton Hart (41): The victim. A single parent that took care of his only child, Blake.
Sebastian Debeste (27): The prosecutor for this case that kinda reminds me of the Chief Prosecutor in his mannerisms. He doesn't seem to like Charity Boswick.
Charity Boswick (19): A straight-faced college student. She was the first person on the scene aside from Blake and was the one who called the police. I find her a little unnerving.
The Judge (?): The Judge.
Ricky M. Belle (43): The second witness to the crime. Discovered Shelly de Killer's card at the scene and provided a decent theory for why Charity could be the assassin's client.
Shelly de Killer (?): An infamous assassin who has operated for several decades and has never got caught. Mr. Wright seems to have a history with him.
