September 20th, 2029, 9:42 AM
District Court

Defendant Lobby No. 3

The next morning was the day of Charity's trial. Athena and Trucy made sure to get up early so that they could arrive in court early. Once in the defendant lobby, they sat down on the couch and waited for Charity to arrive. Athena opened Widget and started examining the evidence one last time before the trial. Trucy opened her black notebook and began to study it once more.

It wasn't long before Trucy looked up and saw Phoenix walking towards them. She smiled brightly and popped off the couch. "Daddy!"

Athena heard her and closed Widget. "Mr. Wright!" she acknowledged while standing up.

"Morning Truce, Athena," he said. "Are you all set for the trial?"

Athena grinned and flashed a peace sign at him. "Yes sir! I believe we have all of the evidence we need; all that's left is to counter the prosecution's claims and get Ms. Boswick an acquittal!"

"I'll help out Athena whenever I can, Daddy!"

"Great, seems like you two are all set." He turned to Trucy. "By the way Trucy, when was the last time you appeared as co-counsel in court?"

Trucy tapped her chin. "I think… It was Vera's trial. How long ago was that?"

"Almost three years ago." Phoenix answered immediately. He turned to Athena, who was looking confused. "You weren't with us yet, Athena."

"Ah."

Athena had heard a few stories about prior cases Phoenix and her former senior partner had been involved with, but she had never taken the time to look them up herself.

"Well, I need to head off to meet with my client before her trial starts. Good luck in there!"

"¡Tú también! Give Payne another dose of the Turnabout Terror!"

Trucy briefly hugged her father. "See you after the trial, Daddy!"

Phoenix hugged back and left to his assigned defendant lobby as the girls waved.

Once Phoenix had left, Trucy looked around the room until her eyes stopped on someone. She pointed in the direction she was looking. "Oh, Athena! There's Charity!"

Athena shifted her gaze to where Trucy was pointing and saw Charity in the corner of the defendant lobby. She was conversing with someone.

Athena squinted at the woman Charity was talking to. Where had she seen her before

Trucy placed her hand next to her mouth so that it was blocking it from Charity's viewpoint and leaned into Athena's ear. "Hey… Didn't we see that girl at the detention center?"

Athena's mind flashed back to the mysterious individual they had seen exiting Charity's room. One by one, the woman's features clicked with the person talking to Charity, from her silky black hair, her dark clothing, her glasses, and the massive scar on her neck. They were no doubt the same person.

"Must be a friend of hers." Athena said out loud to Trucy. The two stared at them for a brief moment before Athena shook her head. "Let's leave them be for now, but if they aren't done talking soon, I'll let Charity know that we need to talk to her."

"Mornin' Athena and Trucy!" a cheery southern voice called out behind them.

The two turned to see Lotta standing behind them, with her arm around Blake.

A surprised smile spread across Athena's face. "Lotta! Blake! What are you two doing here?"

"I thought you weren't appearing as witnesses!" Trucy added.

Lotta smiled back. "Nuttin' of the sort! We aren't here to be witnesses." She looked down at Blake and softly said to him: "You wanna tell them why we're here?"

Blake whipped his head towards Lotta in surprise, then he looked down and spoke in a very small voice: "Um… Well… I wa– I wanted to–" He kept starting and stopping the beginning of his response over and over.

Lotta's eyes softened. She patted him on the back. "That's okay. I can tell them if you want."

"Um… please."

Lotta looked up to face Trucy and Athena with a serious expression. "He told me last night that he wanted to watch the trial to find out what happened to his dad."

Trucy's eyes widened at the answer. "He really said that?"

"Yeah, I'm shocked too, but Blake's brave like that."

"I never considered that Blake would be brave enough to watch the trial determining the culprit of his father's murder. He's more than just a nervous middle-schooler."

Athena bent her knees so that her eyes were level with his. "Blake, you being here shows how brave you are." A few images flashed in Athena's mind, none of which were pleasant, but she pushed them away. "I'm honestly inspired by your courage. I will do my best to make sure that the killer is found."

"Well, the client of the killer, technically speaking. We already know who killed him, but something tells me that he won't be brought to justice any time soon."

A small smile cracked through Blake's somber expression. "Thank you Ms. Cykes. Um… good luck!"

"Yep! Good luck out there Athena! You have our complete support!" Lotta said while turning to leave for the gallery.

"Merci!"

"See you two later!" Trucy called out.

Blake waved wordlessly and followed Lotta out of the room. His eyes noticeably lingered on Trucy a bit before then.

"Talk about pressure, now you're expected to point out the true client during this trial." Trucy commented.

Athena facepalmed. "Believe me, that would be great, but this person hired an assassin, so it could literally be anyone. We'll just have to see if our logic can actually point us in the right direction this time. First priority is defending Charity, though."

"Making plans without me?" A monotonous voice rang out behind them.

Trucy and Athena turned around to see Charity, her arms behind her back and staring at them with a blank expression.

Athena flashed a grin at her client. "¡Buenos días Señora Boswick! Ready for the trial?"

Charity shrugged. "I suppose."

"Who were you talking to?" Trucy asked immediately.

Charity blinked through a moment of silence before answering. "A friend of mine. She's going to watch the trial from the gallery."

"Could the pressure be any higher? Please don't tell me your parents are here too!"

"Are your parents here? Or guardians?" Trucy asked.

"No, just my friend. Mom and dad are away on a trip, and they were going to come back, but I told them over the phone that I have a really good lawyer, and that there was nothing to worry about."

Athena's eyes widened in surprise. "You have that much faith in me?"

Charity refused to meet her eyes. "Yeah, sure. You did very well defending Blake at the trial yesterday. That was why I wanted you as my lawyer."

Athena was silent for a moment before Trucy waved her hand in front of her face. Athena flinched and snapped back to reality. "Ah, right! Thank you! That means a lot!" Widget's screen turned bright green.

"Of course." Charity said. She looked off to the side, her mind clearly not present.

"Something on your mind?" Athena asked.

Charity looked back, her usual stoic face now adorned with a hint of nervousness. "Well–"

"Defendant! Attorney! Please make your way to the courtroom!" A bailiff called out, interrupting Charity.

Athena ignored him. "What's up, Charity?"

Charity shook her head. "Nevermind, let's go in." She walked over to the courtroom doors, opened them, and stepped inside.

Trucy and Athena followed, with the latter deep in thought. "What was she trying to say? I normally don't hear very much emotion in her voice, even with my hearing, but I could definitely hear… embarrassment, maybe? I wonder what's up? I hope it isn't relevant to the trial."


September 20th, 2029, 10:00 AM
District Court

Courtroom No. 3

Athena walked over to the defense bench, with Trucy trailing behind. Once they arrived, Trucy scanned the courtroom with observant eyes. "It's been a few months. The last time I was here, I was in the defendant's seat!" She bounced to her toes a few times.

Athena didn't comment. Trucy's tone contradicted that of the voice of her heart. Athena heard that kind of thing all of the time from her.

Sebastian was already there, examining a few pieces of evidence and occasionally shooting Charity the evil eye. Charity always ignored him, in fact, she was sitting in her seat in a proper manner with her eyes closed and arms crossed. Athena thought she looked quite peaceful.

Sebastian looked up at the defense bench. "Is Mr. Wright not here today?"

Trucy shook her head. "No, Daddy's on another case."

Sebastian sighed. "I see."

Trucy leaned in to whisper to Athena. "I didn't need your special ears to hear his relief."

Athena laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, he made it super obvious."

Eventually the Judge walked up to his seat at the head of the courtroom and banged his gavel once. "Court is now in session for the trial of Charity Boswick."

Athena slammed her fist into her palm. "The defense is psyched and ready to go, Your Honor!"

Sebastian shot one last look at Charity before he let a smile crack through his lips. "The prosecution is very ready, Your Honor."

The Judge glanced between the two and shrugged. "It seems like the prosecution and defense are in excitable moods today. Hold on… weren't you two in the trial yesterday as well?"

"Uhh, yeah we were." Athena answered.

"This is largely the same case as that one, just with a different defendant… and with an assassin involved." Sebastian said. "Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth felt that it would be better if I headed up this trial as well, given that I already knew everything. Though, I am not sure why the defense attorney I was facing is also here."

Athena crossed her arms and grinned. "I just believe you guys have the wrong suspect again, so I'm here to make sure that Ms. Boswick gets a fair trial."

"Hmph, we'll see about that. The prosecution would like to call its first witness: the lead detective on the case who will offer an overview on the police's findings."

The Judge nodded. "I see, please send them in."

The courtroom doors opened and Kay jogged in. She waved to all of the main people in the courtroom: Athena, Trucy, the Judge, and Sebastian. "Ohhh I think I recognize everyone here today! Hi Athena and Trucy!" She said enthusiastically while looking at the defense bench

"Bonjour Kay!"

"Good day to you Ms. Yatagarasu!"

Kay pumped her fist. "Haha, yes! Someone acknowledged my title!" She turned to the judge. "Good morning, Your Honor!"

The Judge chuckled. "Ho ho! Chipper as always, Ms. Great Thief!"

Kay grinned back and finally turned to Sebastian. "Heya, Seb!"

Sebastian was hunched over, hiding his face behind his hands. "Detective Faraday, please remain professional."

Kay frowned and held her hand up to her ear. "C'mon Seb! Even His Honor is willing to drop the 'Detective Faraday' garbage!"

Sebastian groaned and looked her in the eyes. "Kay, please remain professional."

Kay straightened up and folded her arms; she couldn't hide her grin, however. "Of course. I'll do the introductions now: Kay Faraday, lead detective on this case!"

"Hmm, so you're the lead detective." The Judge mused out loud. He turned to Sebastian. "Might I ask why we didn't hear her testimony yesterday?"

Sebastian nodded. "I felt the case was simple enough to not require the detective's input. We're only hearing from Detective Far– err… Kay now because she has some important things to share with us."

Kay nodded. "Yes, while we were questioning Ms. Boswick yesterday, she accidentally let it slip that she knew the victim was a retail worker."

"HOLD IT!"

Athena slammed her palm on the desk. "So? You meet a lot of people as a retail worker, she could have met him then, and even if she didn't, she's surely heard of his profession by now throughout the case!"

"OBJECTION!"

Sebastian shook his head and smiled. "Normally, you would be correct, but there's more to it than that! Continue, Kay!"

"Right on! And I keep telling you this, Seb. Just because you want to take after Mr. Edgeworth doesn't mean you need to be all stoic while you're in court. You're fun when you're being yourself!"

"...Let's talk about this later, Kay."

Kay giggled, rolled her eyes and mouthed "he's not going to talk about this later," to everyone.

"Anyway," she continued. "Naturally, we pressed her on that, and she vehemently denied knowing him, and just attributed knowing his profession to a 'lucky guess'. She could have easily lied and told us one of the two things you suggested, Athena, but her actual reaction tells us something important: She wanted to keep the fact that she knew the victim hidden."

Athena recoiled. "GAH!"

Sebastian grinned at Kay and bowed to her. "Thank you, Kay, you really are the Great Truth Burglar!"

"It's what I do best!"

"Ugh! This is the first time a police questioning my client has actually yielded something! I just wish it was something helpful." Athena thought.

She glanced at Charity, who winced and mouthed 'I'm sorry' to her. Athena sighed and mouthed back: 'don't worry about it.'

Trucy placed her pointer finger on her chin and gazed up. "I guess that's what she wanted to talk to us about before the trial started."

"Yeah, and why she ended up not telling us in the end. I would be scared if I messed up like that as well."

"So… Charity knows the victim and wanted to keep it a secret. Any thoughts?"

"It's possible she was paranoid and didn't want to give anything away that would implicate her; but we can't prove that, and Kay's interpretation is very solid."

"I guess we just have to hope that there isn't more."

"There's more!" Kay said.

"No!" Trucy and Athena exclaimed.

WITNESS TESTIMONY

-Suspicious Activity-

"We did some research into the phone call Ms. Boswick made last night."

"We discovered that the call did NOT actually come from the payphone, but rather, her cell phone!"

"What does this mean? It means that Charity went to the payphone with full knowledge that she had her phone, so she couldn't have forgotten it!"

Sebastian smiled. "Thank you Kay, that was some valuable information. Wouldn't the defense agree?" he said while gesturing to Trucy and Athena, both of whom were sweating.

"That looks bad," Trucy said.

"You're telling me!" Athena exclaimed. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind. "We're not out yet though, so let's press and see what we can find."

"Roger!"

"We did some research into the phone call Ms. Boswick made last night."

"HOLD IT!"

"Why did you feel that was necessary?" Athena asked.

Kay grinned and struck a pose. "No matter how much work it takes, I vow to leave no safe uncracked! If we don't have certain information, we might as well look into it instead of leaving it lost forever. You never know when you might need even the most minor of details!"

"...That was inspiring actually, but… 'Leave no safe uncracked'?"

Sebastian facepalmed. "It's her way of saying 'leave no stone unturned'."

Trucy's eyes sparkled, "Ohhh, mine can be 'leave no audience unimpressed'!"

"'Let no charges be false'!" The Judge added.

"Leave no emotion unrevealed!" Athena declared.

Her remark was followed by dead silence, and many weird looks, even from Trucy.

"...That sounded better in my head."

"We discovered that the call did NOT actually come from the payphone, but rather, her cell phone!"

"HOLD IT!"

Athena slammed her palm on the desk. "S–so? She could have realized as she was walking to the payphone that she still had her phone! Then she could have called!"

"OBJECTION!"

Sebastian tsked and wagged his finger. "So she ran all the way to the payphone and just suddenly remembered that she had her own phone right as she got there? I believe there to be an ulterior motive!"

"OBJECTION!"

Athena grinned and pointed at Sebastian. "Who said she needed to go all the way to the payphone? She could have stopped as soon as she realized she didn't need to!"

"OBJECTION!"

Sebastian shook his head. "You think I would make the claim that she went all the way to the payphone without evidence? Rest assured, I can prove she went all the way over there!"

Athena gasped as she recalled her conversation with the cop by the payphone the day before. "Oh no! The payphone!"

"Umm, you would actually be wrong there." Sebastian corrected. "The forensics team tried for hours, but we couldn't get any conclusive data from the payphone."

Trucy smirked. "I bet Ema would have found something!"

Athena nodded. "She probably would have."

Kay's eyes brightened. You guys know Ema? She's one of my besties!"

"Really? That's awesome! Too bad she's stuck advancing the forensic sciences in Khura'in." Trucy exclaimed.

"Yeah, it sucks that she isn't here, but I'm also so proud of her! I hope she–"

Kay was interrupted by a banging coming from the prosecution desk. Everyone turned to see Sebastian banging his head. "Snackoos… Snackoos... So many Snackoos…" he said over and over again.

Kay winced and quickly raced over to the defense bench. "Seb was once assigned to work with her and by the time they were done, he was buried in a mountain of Snackoos," she explained. Then she ran back over to the witness stand and clapped her hands together once. "Ay Seb! Pull yourself together! Show Athena your evidence!"

Sebastian jolted out of his trance and frantically looked around the room. "Right! Uhhhh… here!"

He pulled out a plastic baggie with a curled piece of paper inside of it. "This evidence proves that Ms. Boswick went all the way to the payphone that night!"

"A blank sheet of paper?" Athena questioned with an unamused expression on her face.

Trucy fixed her with a serious look. "Athena, I will tell you as a magician that you should never underestimate a blank piece of paper."

Sebastian ignored them and continued. "Forensic analysis detected traces of alstroemeria DNA on this piece of paper. An alstroemeria was placed on the scene of the crime after the victim died, as evidenced by it being placed next to the victim rather than being placed on top of the gravesite, and therefore becoming crushed. Due to the fact that this piece of paper was discovered in a trash can by the payphone, that means only Charity could have brought the flower and therefore she went all the way to the payphone, where she disposed of this sheet of paper!"

Athena visualized the scene in her head as he explained, and when he finished, she fell forward on the defense bench. "Ugh… that's really good."

"What does this mean? It means that Charity went to the payphone with full knowledge that she had her phone, so she couldn't have forgotten it!"

"HOLD IT!"

Athena slowly put her hands on the desk before uttering her question: "Mr. Debeste, why is it so important that my client went to the payphone that night? That hardly proves that she's Shelly De Killer's client."

Sebastian nodded and smirked. "I agree, which is why I believe we should move on to the next part of the testimony: why going to the payphone puts you in hot water."

Kay cracked her knuckles. "Aw yeah, here comes the good stuff!"

Sebastian grinned and bobbed his head. "Take it away, Kay!"

WITNESS TESTIMONY

-The Lurking Assassin-

"Yesterday, the police combed over the payphone area and discovered a pair of footprints in the forest near the payphone."

"Shelly de Killer has a custom set of boots that he uses when he's out on jobs, so we know that they belong to him."

"Once we discovered this set, we did a more extensive search and traced less defined footprints that led all the way back to the graveyard."

"Unfortunately, we could not track where he went, but we do know that he was there that night."

"I would say this makes anyone going to the payphone area pretty suspicious."

All of Athena's confidence disappeared in an instant. Her upright stance was replaced with her being slumped over the desk.

Sebastian grinned at Athena's loss of composure. "Based on the fact that one set of those footprints was more defined than the others, we know that he was standing in that specific spot for a decent chunk of time, and since that spot was facing the payphone, we can infer that he was specifically waiting for someone to come by that area. Someone like…" Before ending his statement, he pointed his finger at Charity. "...our defendant!"

"Gah!" cried Athena, as she lurched back.

"Not to mention, her excuse for going to the payphone in the first place is extremely flimsy! She claimed to go there to call the police, but considering she already had a phone, there was no reason to go to begin with. Then somehow, she 'miraculously' remembered she had a phone right when she finished walking over there, so she called the police from there. These actions make a lot more sense if she only went over there to be out of sight in order to pay the assassin!:"

"Ugh!"

The Judge nodded. "Yes, I agree. Initially I thought the prosecution would have their work cut out for them trying to prove that one of the first people on the scene actually hired the person that killed the victim, but now I see that she makes the most sense to be the client!"

Sebastian chuckled in a dignified way. "Exactly, Your Honor."

The Judge turned his attention toward Athena. "I must say, Ms. Cykes. The prosecution has supplied enough evidence to declare Ms. Boswick guilty. Do you wish to proceed with the cross-examination anyway?"

Trucy turned to Athena. "Things aren't looking good Athena! Do you have something in mind to counter the prosecution's claims?"

"Mr. Debeste's version of events is extremely convincing, and he's used Charity's mistake with her phone in order to paint her as De Killer's client. However, he also made a lot of assumptions, and that's where I'll strike!"

Athena straightened her posture and nodded to the Judge. "Yes, I would like to cross-examine Kay."

The Judge nodded. "Very well. You may begin your cross-examination."

"A lot of this information isn't very important, but there are other details that I need to bring up." Athena mused.

"I would say this makes anyone going to the payphone area pretty suspicious."

"HOLD IT!"

"I have a few questions about this."

Kay shrugged. "Shoot."

"I don't believe the prosecution has identified a motive yet."

Kay crossed her arms. "Well, I mentioned this at the beginning of the trial, but the defendant DID try to hide the fact that she knew the victim."

Athena slammed her palms on the desk. "She probably didn't want to be suspected as De Killer's client, or maybe she had some other secret between her and the victim! You can't just assume based on that alone that she had a motive to have him killed!"

"OBJECTION!"

"You do raise some good points Ms. Cykes, however, let's think about this for a moment."

"Umm… Okay?"

"Let's say you were Ms. Boswick in this situation and you were being interrogated by the police. Whether you are guilty or not, would you claim to know the victim?"

Athena thought for a moment. "Well… I would probably say that I didn't, unless the police presented evidence proving that I did."

Sebastian nodded. "Right, and if you accidentally let it slip that you knew the victim's occupation, what would you do then?"

"I would probably try to give a solid reason why I knew him, such as: 'I heard it during the trial' or 'he works at a store that I shop at regularly'"

"Now, if you recall, what did Ms. Boswick do?"

Athena stood in silence for a moment before she started awkwardly stroking her side ponytail. "Err… I forgot."

Trucy giggled and whispered to her. "She kept denying it even with the obvious excuses open to her."

"Oh, right."

Sebastian nodded. "Even though it wasn't smart, she seriously didn't want us knowing that she knew the victim. Even if she was hiding some other secret, it wouldn't be worth it to keep her knowledge of him private if it means she gets charged for murder."

Athena pointed at him. "You…" Then she slumped over. "...have a good point."

"That was a really smart interpretation. I guess he's more confident now that he doesn't have to be in the same courtroom as Daddy." Trucy thought out loud.

Sebastian smirked and shook his head. "While I am flattered, it was both Kay and I putting our heads together and thinking it up."

Kay grinned. "Yep! We make a pretty awesome team, don't we?"

"Yeah, with some pretty awful BIAS in there." Athena angrily thought to herself.

Kay turned to Athena. "What was your other question?"

Athena straightened up. "How much does it cost to hire Shelly de Killer?"

The Judge's eyes widened. "Ms. Cykes! This is a grave admission!"

Trucy and Kay cackled as Athena nearly fell over from shock "N– No! I'm not asking because I want to hire him! I want to know because… assassins are expensive, right? Unless Charity comes from a wealthy family or won the lottery sometime, I don't see how she could afford it."

Kay was silent for a moment. "...Huh," she said a few moments later, as she began to pace around the witness stand. "...Huh," she said again. Finally, she turned to Sebastian and gave him a sheepish look. "Can you answer that, Seb? I didn't look into it."

"You're playing the 'phone a friend' card?!"

Sebastian shrugged. "You're fine, Kay. I didn't really look into that myself, but it shouldn't be a hard question to answer" He then turned to the defendant's chair. "Defendant, would you be willing to answer some questions?"

Charity stood up. "Sure, but I can and will refuse if you try to make me testify against myself. I have a right against self-incrimination."

Sebastian's eye twitched almost imperceptibly, but he nodded. "Yes, of course. I don't plan on making you do that anyway."

Charity shrugged and walked over to the witness stand next to Kay. "Well, then go ahead."

"Do you have a wallet to store your money or other belongings in?"

Charity nodded once. "Yes, but I don't have it on me. I left it at home.

"Did you have it on you that night?"

Charity raised an eyebrow. "Treading the line a bit but I'll allow it. No."

"You didn't have it with you?"

"No."

Sebastian sweated a bit at her deadpan responses. "Isn't that a bit strange? Didn't you go to the convention that night?"

"Oh I did. I just went with a friend and since I won in the most recent of our game competitions, she treated me. I didn't need to bring my wallet."

"Okaaaaayyy. Do you have any pockets?"

Charity shook her head. "No, and before you ask, I haven't changed since that day."

Sebastian's nose scrunched up. "Really? You should take better care of yourself, Ms. Boswick. There's a reason why it's important to shower and–"

The Judge banged his gavel. "Excuse me Mr. Debeste, but can you please get back on topic? You can lecture the defendant on her hygiene later.

Charity glanced up at the Judge. "Thank you, Your Honor." She then turned to Sebastian. "If it makes the prosecution feel any better. I plan on… dealing with that at home once I'm declared Not Guilty."

Athena sweated as all eyes in the courtroom turned to her. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, Charity, but now everyone else is going to think you're just cocky."

Sebastian glared at Charity. "Kay, can you confirm if the witness's statement about her clothing is true?"

Kay nodded. "I don't remember too clearly, but I believe her outfit was exactly the same."

A clump of hair poked out from Sebastian's head and formed a question mark. He quickly patted it down and continued his inquiry. "Hmm… what locations does that leave for storing cash?"

Kay folded her arms and closed her eyes. "Well, there wouldn't be a lot of conventional places left, and she wasn't carrying an external storage article like a purse. Maybe in her phone case?"

Charity shook her head and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I didn't have one on my phone that night. There was nowhere to store anything."

Kay studied the phone that Charity held up for a moment. "Based on my memory, that's what your phone looked like that night, so we can trust that."

Sebastian looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel in frustration. It didn't help that Charity would smugly raise her eyebrows at him whenever she proved one of his theories wrong. Through his seething expression, he dismissed Charity: "Thank you Ms. Boswick, that's all we need from you."

Charity shrugged and went back to the defendant's chair.

Trucy nudged Athena. "Now's your chance to make a counterattack!"

"Right!"

Athena slammed her left palm on the desk. "As you've just heard, my client had no place to hide money, add this to the fact that the prosecution has STILL not answered my question as to where she could even gain access to the money in the first place, and we have a pretty big flaw in the case against her!"

The Judge's eyes widened. "Why, you're right Ms. Cykes! This is a considerable hole in the prosecution's case! Just a moment ago I was certain it only could have been the defendant, but now I see that she lacks the means to pay the assassin if she did hire him!"

"OBJECTION!"

Sebastian slammed his palm on his desk. "So what if she didn't have the money on her? She could have paid him the next day after she was out of questioning!"

"OBJECTION!"

"That opens the door to literally anybody! And besides, you supplied proof that Shelly de Killer was by the payphone area that night! According to YOU, that means that the client HAD to have paid him there!"

"OBJECTION!"

"We still can't be sure as to what Ms. Boswick's belongings looked like that night! She could have disposed of her wallet or phone case elsewhere!"

"OBJECTION!"

"I'm sure Kay can testify to how thorough the investigation was yesterday. Charity would not have had enough time to dispose of one of those things in a location that the police wouldn't have looked in! Face it Mr. Debeste: You can't clear up this contradiction!"

"N– NGHOOOOOOOHHHH!" Sebastian hollered as he recoiled.

Trucy raised her fists in the air. "Success! You're awesome, you know that Athena?"

Athena slammed her fist into her palm. "Heh, thanks Trucy."

Meanwhile, Kay was having a hard time keeping a straight face. "S-Seb…" she giggled. "Did you really just 'nghoooohhhh!'?"

Sebastian coughed. "I um… I don't know what you're talking about."

Kay walked up to him, still holding onto her chest to contain her laughter. "I still need to tell Mr. Edgeworth that you called him 'dad' in your sleep once."

Sebastian's face reddened. "If you do, I'll tell him you accidentally called him 'dad' while you were awake!"

"...It'll be worth it."

"Kay, please don't!"

"Ahem." The Judge said. "As much as I enjoy seeing siblings bickering, I just received a note from the bailiff."

"What does it say?" Athena asked, ignoring his first comment.

"It says: 'Please tell Detective Faraday and Mr. Debeste to come to my office after the trial is over. Signed, Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth."

The gallery descended into madness. Trucy cackled loudly and banged her fist on the defense bench. Athena was trying and failing to contain her amused smile. Charity just sat in the defendant's chair with her usual blank expression.

Kay and Sebastian's faces turned fire-engine red as they turned to face each other.

"Dude, we're in so much trouble." Kay lamented.

"We're getting grounded again." Sebastian groaned.

"He even played the 'Detective Faraday' card. He must be really mad." Kay added.

The Judge banged his gavel multiple times. "Order! Order! I will have order! Ms. Faraday!"

Kay looked at the Judge in surprise. "Umm… yes, Your Honor?"

"Apologies, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the witness stand. You have made us go off-topic several times during the course of this trial, and we have a duty to determine the defendant's guilt with our full attention."

Kay's head drooped. "I'm sorry, Your Honor. It won't happen again."

"When you appear in this courtroom again, please contain yourself next time."

Kay nodded, then she turned to leave. Just as she was about to exit the courtroom, she whipped around and dramatically reached her hand out in Sebastian's direction. "Avenge me Seb! Avenge meeeeee!"

And then she was gone.

Sebastian buried his face into his hands.

"I think that's the first time I've seen His Honor kick someone out of the courtroom for being distracting." Trucy said to Athena.

"I guess even he has his limits." Athena replied.

"Though, self-awareness still isn't his strong suit."

"Ahem, Mr. Debeste, does the prosecution have any more evidence to present?"

Sebastian removed his face from his hands. "Erm… no. The prosecution doesn't have any evidence left to present."

The Judge closed his eyes. "Hmm… then I may have to require more days of investigation before I declare a verdict.

Athena slammed her palm on the desk. "That won't be necessary, Your Honor. This may be the only significant hole in the prosecution's case, but remember that there are also a lot of assumptions in it as well; educated assumptions, but assumptions nonetheless! The case against my client is hardly definitive, and even with more days to investigate, I don't think a better case can be made!"

"OBJECTION!"

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Athena, then at Trucy, and finally at Charity, albeit with more vehemence. He turned his attention to the Judge. "There is no need for further investigation. The prosecution may not have any further evidence to present, but we do have a witness who could potentially clear up the hole in our theory."

"'Potentially', Prosecutor Debeste?" The Judge asked with a glare.

"Even if it is uncertain, I believe it is at least worth hearing his opinion on the matter."

"Hmm… alright. I will allow you to call this witness to the stand."

Sebastian bowed. "Many thanks, Your Honor."

"Are you ready to deal with another witness, Athena?" Trucy asked.

"Given that Blake is not testifying, there is only one person left that Mr. Debeste could be calling to the stand, and they are the one person involved with the case that I want to see most."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Something tells me we're far from unraveling the truth behind the case, and I have a hunch that you know way more than you are letting on. So, show me what you got, Ricky M. Belle!"


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

De Killer's Calling Card: Found beneath the victim according to Ricky M. Belle.

Trevor Ether's Tombstone: The place where Trevor Ether was buried at the young age of sixteen. It's where Princeton was lying when his body was discovered. Charity used to be friends with Trevor.

Red Carnation: Was lying beneath the victim, and is covered in mud. I know it loosely has something to do with romantic love, but I don't know much more than that.

Yellow Flower: Was lying near the victim. Charity placed it there when she visited the graveyard that night

Payphone: The payphone that Charity used to call the police since she forgot she had a phone. Fingerprint analysis is inconclusive as of now.

Keys: Found in the caretaker's shack. They likely lock and unlock the shack.

Gun with Holster: Found in a cabinet in the Caretaker's Shack. I wonder why Mr. Belle keeps it?

Lotta's Picture: A photo of the victim and Blake on the night of the murder.

Oddly-Shaped Piece of Paper: Has alstroemeria DNA on it, which Mr. Debeste used to prove that Charity went all the way to the payphone area.

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): She requested our services for the defense of her nephew, Blake. She's a decently well-known reporter in the area.

Blake Hart (13): Previously 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 and is currently the defendant. 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.

Trucy Wright (18): Mr. Wright's daughter and the owner of the Wright Anything Agency. She's a stage magician with an incredible work ethic. She enjoys torturing– I mean having me along for her magic shows.

Iris (35): A student at Jargon University that is studying psychology and criminology. She's an old friend of Mr. Wright.

Kay Faraday (27): A detective and self-proclaimed Great Thief Yatagarasu. She's very fun-loving and free-spirited. She and Mr. Debeste seem to be very close.