Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth: End of an Era

by PierceTheVeils

Everything in life has an end. Nothing can last forever. The best we can do is brace ourselves and prepare for what comes next. As Miles Edgeworth takes on a string of cases, he realizes they may be his last chance to find justice as he and the people closest to him reach the end of an era. Now on the fifth and final episode, Turnabout Towards Darkness.

39. Part 6: End, Part 2 (1 of 2)

July 7th, 11:23am
Hakari Inc. Headquarters
Executive's Floor

In his years as a prosecutor, Edgeworth had made many suspects sweat under the pressure of an investigation. The stink of a criminal's fear was surpassed only by the fumes of Bower's dead body from the previous morning.

Yet even to a man accustomed to the odor of cornered criminals, Green Dyman reeked. His green suit jacket dripped at the sides.

Kay scowled. "I thought yesterday was the smelly investigation day."

"I… I…" Dyman gave himself a patdown looking for his pockets. "I must have forgotten my deodorant this morning. I was in a rush to attend an important meeting."

"You have quite the physical reaction to stress," Edgeworth noted. "I can see why your boss shows concern for you."

"Do you really think a man like Green can commit murders, Mr. Edgeworth? Look how much he sweats from a simple questioning!" Obergefell came to his assistant's defense. Not unlike how Dyman had (pretended to) defend him a moment ago, Edgeworth noted.

Obergefell has the situation backwards. Dyman's reaction isn't proof he lacks the temperament for crime. It's proof of his guilt. Unlike his boss, Dyman understood what was at stake in this investigation. He knew his time as a free man was coming to an end.

Or did he? "Well, Mr. High and Mighty? What questions might you have for me? You arrived here with a presumptively-issued warrant and tricked Mr. Obergefell into incriminating himself. You intended to accuse him of your murder despite him having nothing to do with any crime. Then when the obvious dawns on you, you turn around on me? Are you just going through every person you meet in the hopes one of them is a killer?" Dyman laughed, but his breath wasn't in it. "Ridiculous."

"You forged your boss's signature on the document authorizing Steven Viper's hire. A crime scene connected to Bower's murder was vandalized with the intent of hiding Viper's connection to Hakari. This makes anyone who knew of the connection between Viper and Hakari a suspect in Bower's murder." Edgeworth crossed his arms.

Dyman threw his hands in the air. "You have nothing on me, Mr. Prosecutor. Nothing! I can prove it to you."

"Can you now?" Edgeworth goaded. He wanted Dyman to argue with him.

"Yes, I can! You listen to me."

-Argument-
"Your Case in Shambles"

"I'm not afraid of you, Prosecutor. In fact, I'm outraged.

"I've heard the negative stories about the courts these days, but after that hacking case, I wanted to believe you were different.

"You're not. You have no evidence to make your false charges against me stick.

"So what if I knew how to write my boss's signature? I'm not the only one who did!

"I'm not the only one who knows that safe combo either. I bet everyone in our last meeting has access to that safe.

"Any bigwig in this company could have hired Mr. Viper. You have no way of identifying me specifically as his employer."

Edgeworth listened patiently to Dyman's argument. For a man in such a poor physical state, his argument was crisp and precise. Edgeworth could only see one possible contradiction worth pointing out.

"Do you think Dyman is telling the truth?" Kay asked. "Do you think other people besides him had access to the safe?"

"I believe every higher up in this company is a suspect in an assortment of corporate crimes. Whether or not they're a suspect in our murder is a different question entirely." To prove either, Edgeworth would need forensics to examine two pieces of evidence in more detail. He may not need the examinations done to win this particular argument, but their time was coming.

Dyman doesn't know where our investigation has taken us. I can use his lack of knowledge against him. Edgeworth took a step away from Kay and towards Dyman. "If that is your argument, Mr. Dyman, I am ready to respond."

"You better not waste my time, Mr. Prosecutor. If you try to harass me with questions or present irrelevant evidence, I'll make sure your investigation suffers the consequences." Dyman's threat worked its way into Edgeworth's internal estimates for what the investigation could afford. He estimated he would lose half of his investigation's momentum from a single mistake by this juncture.

Edgeworth shrugged, palms up. "I understand your impatience, Mr. Dyman. If you would repeat your argument for me?"

-Rebuttal-
"Your Case in Shambles"

"I'm not afraid of you, Prosecutor. In fact, I'm outraged.

"I've heard the negative stories about the courts these days, but I wanted to believe you were different.

"You're not. You have no evidence to make your false charges against me stick.

"So what if I knew how to write my boss's signature? I'm not the only one who did!

"I'm not the only one who knows that safe combo either. I bet everyone in our last meeting has access to that safe.

"Any bigwig in this company could have hired Mr. Viper. You have no way of identifying me specifically as his coworker."

"OBJECTION!" Edgeworth flipped to the page in which he'd recorded Viper's confession in his Organizer. He'd labeled the top of the page "Truth of River's Death." "You say there's no way the police could identify you as being connected to Viper's Hakari work. That simply isn't true.

"This investigation spoke to Steven Viper yesterday. Because double jeopardy has granted Viper immunity for the murder of David River, he had no problems confessing his crime to me. He told me you hired him over the phone to shoot David River. By the sound of your voice, Viper can positively identify you as his client."

Dyman drew back, bullets of sweat flowing down his face. "Urgh… him… that- gah!"

Obergefell frowned at the display in front of him. "You say this Viper man confessed to the murder of a Hakari employee? And Green told him to do it?"

"That's right, pal. All three of us were there when Viper told us," Gumshoe said.

"Through the fault of a novice prosecutor, Steven Viper was found 'Not Guilty' in court yesterday." Edgeworth's stomach twisted from throwing Blackquill under the bus, but there was no kinder way to say it. "The man has no need to lie to protect himself. Not anymore.

"So what say you, Green Dyman? Are you ready to own up to your part in this scheme?"

Dyman didn't answer right away. When he did speak… "It's hot in here."

"Huh?" Kay blinked, surprised. "No, it isn't."

Dyman ignored her. He tore off his suit jacket, loosened his tie, and rolled his dress shirt's sleeves up to the elbow. The grease and grime of his sweat was even more prominent now. All traces of the uptight businessman disappeared from his demeanor, replaced by the true sleazeball of a corporate flunky.

"There. That's better." Dyman smirked, bearing his teeth. "Now, where were we?"

Obergefell took several steps away from Dyman, wrinkling his nose. "Green? What's gotten into you?"

"I'm tired of catering to you, old man. I should be the CEO of this company. Not you. I do all the work. I make all the hard decisions for our company. The only reason you're still here is because you were friends with the founder and his wife is on the board. That could change very soon."

Obergefell inhaled sharply. "Is that a threat?"

Dyman shrugged. "It could be. We'll talk about it after I'm done with Mr. Prosecutor here. You!" Dyman jabbed his index finger up at Edgeworth. The gesture was brutish, a far cry from the graceful pointing Edgeworth used in the courtroom. "By your own admission, your team failed to land a conviction once already. If you keep messing with me, your first quarter's losses are gonna bleed into the second."

Edgeworth kept his arms crossed. His voice remained cool and even. "You have a problem with the case I have assembled against you?"

"Tck! You haven't assembled anything amounting to a case against me. All you've done is grasp at defective straws. Pull them from the market while you still have a chance!"

"I welcome you to argue your points before me once again. Before you do, I would like to hand off some of my evidence for examination and processing." Edgeworth turned to one of the officers he'd brought with him to the scene. "Test this piece of paper for all forms of DNA evidence."

-"Fixer Agreement" given away for forensic analysis-

"Are you sure you should be sending evidence away now, sir?" Gumshoe asked. "It could be important."

"That won't be a problem, Detective." During rebuttals, Edgeworth could still present evidence he didn't carry on his person. So long as he kept a record of the evidence's existence in his Organizer, there was no need for an investigation to pause during periods of forensic analysis.

"One more thing." Edgeworth handed a bottle of aluminum powder to Kay. "Do you remember how to use this, Kay?"

Kay straightened her gloves, an eager grin on her face. "Sure do! Ema showed me last spring." She skipped over to the side of the room where the bookshelf and the safe resided.

Dyman slicked back his hair. "If you're done stalling, I'd like to tell you and your sorry investigation why it needs to get out of my building."

Edgeworth shrugged, a nonchalant smile on his face. "The floor is yours, Mr. Dyman."

-Argument-
"Laugh You Out the Boardroom"

"So a man declared innocent for murdering David River told you I ordered the hit? How is that testimony going to hold up in court?

"If the courts don't think this Viper man killed Mr. River, they're not going to think anyone ordered Viper to kill.

"You might think Viper has no reason to lie to you, but he's lied to you before. Why not lie again to throw you off the scent of the real killer?

"This isn't the worst part of your case, but it's the easiest one to call you out for. You have no evidence against me.

"If this were a proposal for the company, you'd be laughed out of the boardroom. I hope your boss laughs you off the case too."

Gumshoe's arms hung at his sides. He turned away from Edgeworth. "You know, sir… Dyman has a point. I don't think we can use Viper as a witness in court."

"It's not impossible to do so. Even if the court is of the opinion that Viper did not commit the murder of David River, Dyman ordering the murder of River is a separate crime to consider."

"That's right!" Gumshoe agreed, then frowned. "It wouldn't be easy, though."

Edgeworth held a finger up to his temple. "This whole line of questioning is a distraction from the matter at hand. We are not here to charge Dyman with instigation. Rather, we invoked the phone call between the two men to prove a connection between them. A connection Dyman is attempting to deny."

I know Dyman opposed me pressing his statements before, but his argument just now was frustratingly vague. I will need him to clarify a certain matter before I can successfully refute his argument.

Edgeworth thought up a plan in his mind. It may not be evidence of murder, but there was one other item that could connect Viper to Dyman. One more physical piece of evidence that had spawned the whole Hakari angle to this murder.

"Very well, Mr. Dyman. Are you ready to hear my response?"

Dyman scoffed. "Only if you have one. And it better not be a lawyer's regular blustering."

Edgeworth smiled, zeroing in on his contradiction. "I assure you that I have no need for bluffs in this case. If you would…"

-Rebuttal-
"Laugh You Out of the Boardroom"

"So a man legally declared innocent for murdering David River told you I ordered the hit? How is that testimony going to hold up in court?

"If the courts don't think this Viper man killed Mr. River, they're not going to think anyone ordered Viper to kill.

"You might think Viper has no reason to lie to you, but he's lied to you before. Why not lie again to throw you off the scent of the real killer?"

Edgeworth wished he could have pressed back against that statement. It was a fundamental misunderstanding of what he was arguing in this case. Edgeworth didn't believe Viper knew the true killer at all. Instead, if Hakari was willing to hire one killer on July 1st, then they could easily have hired another the day before.

Unfortunately, pressing a statement would have derailed the entire line of questioning. So Edgeworth held his trap shut and let Dyman prattle on.

"This isn't the worst part of your case, but it's the easiest one to call you out for. You have no evidence against me."

"OBJECTION!" Edgeworth presented "Viper's Receipt" to Dyman. "Mr. Dyman. Do you recognize this piece of evidence?"

Dyman bent forward to examine the slip of paper. "Hm. Looks like an invoice. Hakari sends out several on a regular day."

"It's a receipt, actually," Edgeworth corrected. "A receipt originally sent to Steven Viper for services rendered to the company."

Dyman froze, then blinked. "And how do you have that? Did this Viper man give it to you?"

"No, but he confessed to disposing of it. This was found among Bower's possessions. It is one more thing that connects not only you to Viper, but also the company's coverup of Bower's murder."

"Give me that." Dyman snatched the receipt out of Edgeworth's hand, then scowled. "My name isn't on this. I don't care who was paying Viper, but it wasn't me."

"You don't care who was paying him? I find that odd." Edgeworth crossed his arms. "Earlier, we learned that Mr. Obergefell sees the company's financial reports only after they pass through you, Mr. Dyman. If Mr. Obergefell was unaware of Viper's presence on your payroll, it stands to reason you were the one who hid it from him."

"Or whoever prepared the report hid it from me," Dyman suggested. "Cassandra Washington was our finance whiz in the company. Apparently she had some truths she wanted to get off her chest before one of your cops murdered her."

"Hey! That's uncalled for, pal!" Gumshoe growled. "What are you trying to say?"

Dyman shrugged, and any trace of anguish he felt for Washington's death disappeared. "Maybe one of those truths was that she'd hired an assassin to protect the company. Then hid it from me.

"Face it, Mr. Prosecutor. There are a lot of heads on this hydra. You lop one of us off, and HR will replace us in a week. What makes you think you'll find the one criminal in our bunch?"

Edgeworth declined to mention that he'd already identified two criminals on Hakari's payroll in the past week. "Does no one in your organization take any accountability?"

Dyman laughed. It was a cold, jeering sound. "That's what a corporation is, buddy! Individual profit without individual responsibility."

Obergefell shook his head. "What has our company come to? Where have our values gone?"

"Values?" Dyman's laughter grew. "Old man, the company has never had values. Maybe you had some high-and-mighty ideals you wanted to stick to, but there were always others who were far more pragmatic working here. The company as a whole has always been less than virtuous. It had to be to survive."

"Whether Hakari has always been corrupt or not is irrelevant. You, Mr. Dyman, are deflecting. The fact is that this receipt ties someone at the company to the hired assassin." Edgeworth frowned slightly. Had Dyman so quickly forgotten what brought them to this argument? "And while it alone may not tie you specifically, I have something else that does."

Dyman's eyes narrowed, but his haughty expression remained unmoved. "You're lying Mr. Prosecutor. If you had anything else, you would have presented it to me already."

"Indeed I have." Edgeworth shook his head, allowing himself to smirk ever so slightly. Apparently Dyman had just forgotten. "To refresh your memory, I have a confession from Steven Viper that you were the one who hired him to kill David River. Couple that with the physical evidence of the receipt, and that's more than enough reason to arrest you."

Edgeworth wasn't sure what he expected Dyman's response to be, but he was certain it wasn't to let out an arrogant laugh. "Really, Mr. Prosecutor? That's your case?! That's what you're going to try and bring to the table? Forget getting laughed out of the boardroom, you'd be outright laughed out of the company with flimsy plans like that."

"And what's so flimsy about it, pal?!" Gumshoe asked. "I can tell you right now that what Mr. Edgeworth just presented is more than enough reason to place you under arrest. We've arrested people for less, y'know."

"And I can tell you right now, Detective, that that sort of talk would be horrible for your bottom line. Public image is very important, and you're sinking your reputation when you admit something like that."

"The detective's poor choice of words aside, you still have yet to address this fact, Mr. Dyman." Edgeworth's patience was wearing thin and he had to hold himself back from having the police just outright arrest the man in front of him. Why was he so confident?

"Oh, but I did, Mr. Prosecutor. I figured a man as intelligent as yourself would be able to understand what I was getting at in my argument just now." Dyman shrugged, giving Edgeworth an incredibly condescending sneer as he did so. "But seeing as you're struggling, I suppose I can give you a hint. You can ask me to explain one of my statements. If you can figure out where I was hinting that your case would fail, then I'll explain my reasoning to you."

"Is this just a game to you, pal?!" Gumshow nearly roared.

"Well considering you're holding up my entire day's worth of work, I may as well get some enjoyment out of it." Dyman replied. "Now then Mr. Prosecutor, what statement will it be?"

As infuriating as Dyman is being, I at least now have my opening to clarify that matter I noticed when he first made his argument. I should press-

-"So a man declared innocent for murdering David River told you I ordered the hit? How is that testimony going to hold up in court?
-"If the courts don't think this Viper man killed Mr. River, they're not going to think anyone ordered Viper to kill.
-"You might think Viper has no reason to lie to you, but he's lied to you before. Why not lie again to throw you off the scent of the real killer?
-"This isn't the worst part of your case, but it's the easiest one to call you out for. You have no evidence against me.
-"If this were a proposal for the company, you'd be laughed out of the boardroom. I hope your boss laughs you off the case too."

"HOLD IT! Dyman, in your fourth statement you claimed I had no evidence against you. However, I had just explained that Steven Viper had confessed to being hired by you. How can you possibly have argued that I have no evidence?"

Dyman let out a small snorting laugh. "Finally realized where I was hinting at it, did you? Better late than never I suppose. Now, as to why that confession means Jack, let me ask you something, Mr. Prosecutor. What type of phone call did Viper supposedly make with me?"

A feeling of dread began to creep over Edgeworth. "I imagine a normal phone call. Why does it matter?"

"Well, put simply, your entire argument hinged on this Viper fellow ID-ing me based on a week-old conversation he supposedly had with me. A conversation where, if it happened at all, he never actually saw the fellow he was talking to." Dyman's smirk grew into a full predatory smile. "Do you know how easy it is to do vocal impressions, Mr. Prosecutor? Plenty of the other bigwigs at this company do one of me at dinner parties. I'm known for yelling myself hoarse, after all.

"Or perhaps you're aware of how far vocal technology has come? Voice changers are becoming all the rage nowadays. Unless this Viper fellow can actually identify that it was me who spoke to on sight, his confession means nothing."

"You can't be serious!" Edgeworth shouted, recoiling from Dyman's words.

It was no use. Dyman raised an important point. Viper was already an incredibly suspect witness, even with the receipt establishing that he worked for Hakari. Coupled with vocal identification being a poor substitute for sight, any defense attorney would be able to get Dyman off.

His expression of outrage must have shifted because Dyman began to chuckle. "I think you're beginning to realize that I'm right. Face it, Mr. Prosecutor, receipt or not, confession or not, you have nothing that can pin me as Viper's employer!"

"OBJECTION!" All heads turned to the bookshelves where Kay was standing triumphantly, finger pointing at the group. Her triumphant stance quickly turned to an excited hop as Kay skipped over to the cluster of arguing men.

"Okay, wow! Now I get why you do that all the time, Mr. Edgeworth. It's so invigorating!"

Dyman scowled. "What is this? The teenage girl is going to step in after all the adults fail?"

"What did you find, Kay?" Edgeworth asked, ignoring the suspect for the time being.

"Mr. Dyman's fingerprints are the only set on an important piece of evidence. His fingers are on the inside of the safe." Kay declared, a giant beam on her face. "And aside from Mr. Obergefell just now, Dyman is the only person who's touched the outside of the safe as well."

-"Secret Safe" updated in Organizer-

"Is that so?" Edgeworth asked, the hope returning to his eyes.

"That's not all!" The forensics officer announced from his corner of the room. "We're still looking for DNA on the contract you gave us, but Mr. Dyman is the only one who handled this piece of paper. His fingerprints are all over it!"

"That's wonderful news. Great work, both of you." Edgeworth praised his subordinates, then penciled in another update to his Organizer.

-"Fixer Agreement" updated in Organizer-

"What? But…" Dyman was flabbergasted. "Where did you get my fingerprints?"

"From the hacking case last week." Kay explained. "The police took the fingerprints of everyone inside the building at the time of the lockdown, remember?"

"Because I was the prosecutor on that case until yesterday morning, my team and I still have access to all the forensic data collected in that case." Edgeworth picked up where his assistant left off. "And with this, I have proof that no one but you handled the safe and its contents. How is that for decisive evidence, Mr. Dyman?"

"I… Grr. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrragh!" Dyman ripped his tie away, leaving broken fabric and red marks around his neck. The top two buttons on his shirt popped off. One nearly flew into Edgeworth's eye, bouncing off his cheek instead. "This is not supposed to be happening! This was not the plan. How did we miss our targets? How are we not even on the dartboard?! Who is… aughhhhhhhhh!

Edgeworth winced, rubbing his cheek with a finger. The spot where the button hit stung, but it didn't break any skin.

"That's it! I'm done with this plan. It's time for the final contingency." Dyman attempted to storm out of the room. Gumshoe blocked his way.

"I don't know what this final contingency is, pal, but it better be a confession!"

Dyman jeered. "I got something better than that." Dyman tried again to duck around Gumshoe. Failing that, he whipped out his cell phone and dialed like mad. "It worked once. I can do it again."

Edgeworth felt a chill go up his spine. "What worked once already?" Was it the assassin who killed Bower? Was Dyman planning another kill? "Who are you calling?"

Dyman waited for the hold music to emanate from his phone before he answered. "Oh, don't get your panties in a twist. I got something better for you.

"Tell me: across from every uppity prosecutor, what is there?"

July 7th, 12:34pm
Hakari Inc. Headquarters
Executive's Floor

The answer to Dyman's riddle, as it turned out, was a defense attorney. But not just any defense attorney. No, it was the one defense attorney Miles Edgeworth could go the longest without ever seeing again. One Edgeworth had encountered entirely too often in the past week. Kristoph Gavin.

Gumshoe said what everyone in the room had to be thinking. "What are you doing here?"

It was all Edgeworth could do to retain his manners as the blonde man in a light blue suit stepped through the door. "Mr. Gavin. I did not expect I would be seeing you again so soon."

"You and I are busy men, Mr. Edgeworth." Gavin offered a wan smile in exchange for Edgeworth's curt one. "I hear you have concerns about my client on retainer, one Green Dyman."

"Oh, not you again." Kay was far less polite than Edgeworth. "How many investigations are you out to ruin this summer?"

"I don't seek to ruin any investigations. My only desire is to protect clients from false accusations. Whether I do that in the courtroom or the boardroom is of no difference to me." Gavin's tone was cool, almost smooth. It sounded rehearsed to Edgeworth's ears.

"I had 'concerns' about your client when I arrived this morning, Mr. Gavin. In the hours since, my case against Mr. Dyman has grown far more substantial." Edgeworth provided a recap of the morning to Gavin. He expected the lawyer to begin arguing against him at any moment, but the objections never came. Gavin listened patiently and silently for Edgeworth's entire summary.

Edgeworth was perturbed when he reached his conclusion without interruption. He finished with, "we have forensic evidence, physical evidence, and a witness's testimony implicating your client. Your client has gone to great lengths to hide his connection to Steven Viper, as has Mr. Bower's killer. I have everything I need to arrest your client for one crime and interrogate him for another."

Gavin pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "...I see."

Dyman scoffed. "'I see?' What kind of a response is that, Mr. Hotshot? Why am I paying your retainer if all you're gonna do is 'see' things?"

"Mr. Edgeworth, if I may have a moment with my client in private. Mr. Dyman and I need to discuss his options before his participation in your investigation may continue."

Edgeworth was still put off by Gavin's lack of argument from before. Perhaps that would explain his lack of pushback. "I don't know what you expect to accomplish in a conversation with him, Mr. Gavin. Your client is a difficult man."

"Your opinion of my client notwithstanding, I claim attorney-client privilege all the same."

There they were. The magic words. As Dyman's lawyer, Gavin could request a private audience with his client, and there was nothing Edgeworth could do to deny him access. Edgeworth briefly considered asking for proof that Gavin was indeed Dyman's lawyer, but that would buy him a minute at most.

Edgeworth shrugged. "Very well, Mr. Gavin. I don't know what you can say to your client to change his circumstances, but I recognize your right to discuss matters with him at your own discretion."

Edgeworth led his investigation party (and Obergefell) out of the boardroom. As he closed the door behind him, he got one last look at Dyman's tomato face.

Gavin could attempt any trick he desired. Nothing he said would overturn the facts Edgeworth had proven just now. Edgeworth had too much experience in the profession to let a slippery defense attorney weasel in between him and the truth.

"I don't understand, Mr. Edgeworth. Why did you-"

"Hush." Edgeworth silenced Obergefell with a hand gesture. As important as it was for Edgeworth to give Gavin and his client their space in private meetings, Gavin had declined to request a secure room. That meant that any snippet of conversation Edgeworth "accidentally" overheard from the hallway was information he could use in investigations. All without violating the spirit of attorney-client privilege.

Gavin had to know that. It was the only explanation Edgeworth had for why the lawyer spoke so softly behind the closed door. Edgeworth could only make out two words from the man: "case" and "strong."

Dyman, on the other hand, was perfectly audible through the closed door. "What do you mean I'm screwed? Why the-" sound of books falling over "am I paying you then?!"

"You're not the one this…" Edgeworth strained to hear Gavin's attempt to console an angry client. "If you…"

"Yeah? And why would I do that? This prosecutor is a crackpot!"

"Hardly. If it were the prosecutor I faced yesterday, I would tell you to hold firm." The first fully audible sentence from Gavin was an insult to Blackquill. Why was that not a surprise? "For Miles Edgeworth, it is preferable you…"

Edgeworth waited for Dyman's reaction so he could guess what Gavin said. He didn't have to wait long. "Oh yeah? Is that what you told the other guy to do as well? Is that why he's running his mouth about me?"

"...nothing of the sort. Please lower your voice."

The two men continued their argument in strained whispers. Now that both men were quiet, Edgeworth couldn't even catch snippets of what they were saying. The longer their conversation lasted, the more concerned Edgeworth became. What scheme could Gavin possibly be hiding up his sleeve?

Whatever it was, Dyman was not thrilled with the idea. Even though the man had stopped shouting, Edgeworth could distinguish speakers by the anger in Dyman's voice. It wasn't until the patience started fading from Gavin's voice that the group finally overheard a, "fine! But if this ruins my life, I will spend my last dime paying another lawyer to disbar you."

Gavin did not dignify his client's threat with a response. Instead, the sound of his footsteps crescendoed into the reopening of the boardroom door. Edgeworth stepped back to disguise any signs of eavesdropping.

"Mr. Edgeworth. My client and I have a proposal we'd like to share with you." His ice blue eyes raked over Gumshoe and Kay, squinting ever so slightly. "We wish to discuss the matter with you alone."

Edgeworth could refuse this request. He could arrest Dyman on the spot, then hear whatever Gavin had to say down at the Detention Center. But that seemed like such a waste of time. Edgeworth had already wasted one morning debating the finer details of a matter that was perhaps, somehow related to identifying who hired Bower's true killer. Edgeworth was frustrated with the lack of progress his investigation had made so far, and he didn't want this lead to take any longer to uncover than it already had.

So he agreed to Gavin's request. "Very well. Gumshoe, Kay, officers. Wait for me here."

"I don't like this, Mr. Edgeworth," Kay's words were the last things Edgeworth heard as he stepped back into the boardroom.

If it were possible, Dyman looked worse than he had when Gavin first arrived. His eyes flitted from the door to the window as if either were a viable escape option. The man avoided Edgeworth's piercing stare.

Gavin smiled. "Thank you for being reasonable, Mr. Edgeworth. You are unique amongst your profession in that regard."

"Every profession has its exceptional individuals. Yours tragically lost one of its own this year." Edgeworth danced around returning Gavin's compliment. "What is your proposal?"

Gavin cleared his throat. "It is true that you have enough evidence to bring my client to trial for instigation. Yet for you to prove my client instigated a murder through a man declared innocent, you would have to fight quite the uphill battle."

"I have fought tough battles in the courtroom before. I am certain you would do your utmost to increase my hill's incline before the judge… being that you are the defense attorney for both men."

Gavin being both Viper and Dyman's defense attorney made an unfortunate amount of sense in hindsight. If Gavin was already working for Dyman last week, Dyman could have referred his hitman to the same lawyer. Dyman would want Viper to get off to stall any investigation into his own misdeeds, after all. Sharing a lawyer wasn't itself proof of a criminal connection between the two men, but it was yet another shred of circumstantial evidence.

Gavin ignored Edgeworth's point to continue his own. "Furthermore, it is my understanding that you did not come to this boardroom to investigate the instigation of River's alleged murder. You came here to uncover the circumstances that landed the body you found yesterday in the city dumpster. You have identified this body as one Mr. Bower, is that right?"

Edgeworth narrowed his eyes. "That is correct."

"Good. I am prepared to prove that arresting my client will do nothing to advance your search for Mr. Bower's killer."

Edgeworth blinked, not wanting Gavin to see signs of shock on his face. "And how do you intend to do that?"

"My client tells me that you believe Bower's killer knew that Bower was investigating Hakari. Bower was killed and evidence was stolen from his crime scene to keep Hakari's name away from the scene. Is that a fair summary of your argument, Mr. Edgeworth?"

Mostly. Bower hadn't been murdered in his hotel room, but Gavin had no way of knowing that. "What does this have to do with your client, Mr. Gavin?"

"I also recall from our encounter yesterday morning that when you found Mr. Bower's body, it was determined to be seven days post-mortem."

Edgeworth could have sworn Gavin had already left the scene by that point, but "that is correct."

"Therefore, whoever killed Bower to secure his silence would have known an online conspiracy theorist with a vast network of contacts was targeting the Hakari gaming corporation. This killer would have known this information on or before the 30th of June."

"Where are you going with this, Mr. Gavin?"

"When we met on July 1st, you were investigating a murder that occurred in the aftermath of a Toukai infiltration of Hakari. Tell me, Mr. Edgeworth. If my client had known Hakari was the target of online vagabonds by late June, why was his company so ill-prepared for the hacking attempt against it?" Gavin tilted his head. "My client was working long hours that week to shore up his company's position in time for a convention two days later. If he had been behind the elimination of your victim, he would have done everything in his power to secure his company preemptively from Toukai's hacking attempt."

"That's right!" Dyman added. "I had no idea hackers were after us until the 1st. Why would I kill a guy on the 30th to stop something just to let my worst nightmares come true on the very next day?"

"...An interesting point," Edgeworth acknowledged. "Your line of logic has no evidence attached, I am afraid."

"Ah, yes. And we both know evidence is everything in court," Gavin agreed. "My client and I are willing to concede that Green Dyman has served as an accomplice in recent efforts taken to protect the company's image. It is our belief that the person who directed my client to commit illegal acts eliminated your victim without Dyman's involvement.

"And before you ask, yes. We are prepared to prove that my client himself is not the director of this production."

First Dyman was the true mastermind behind David River's murder. Now Gavin wanted to claim there was a greater power behind both Dyman and Bower's murder? Edgeworth would need to see decisive evidence before he would be convinced of such a thing. He remained silent, arms crossed.

Gavin gave Edgeworth another moment to respond. When it was clear Edgeworth had nothing to say, he continued. "I believe the prosecutor's case against Steven Viper took financial records from Hakari as evidence. The files were in the victim's back seat. Yet on them, you will find no evidence of Viper on the company's payroll."

"I have a receipt originally sent to Viper that proves otherwise," Edgeworth countered.

"And I have no reason to doubt the legitimacy of your evidence, Mr. Edgeworth. However, after defending Mr. Viper in court, I happen to know how much he was paid on the day of the murder." Gavin paused for dramatic effect. "Viper received a greater sum of money that day than Mr. Dyman takes home in a month. My client is willing to allow investigation into his bank records to prove that the transfer did not originate from him."

Dyman grit his teeth at the mention of his bank records. The tension did not escape Edgeworth's notice.

"Tell me, Mr. Edgeworth. If the money used to compensate Mr. Viper for his services did not come out of company funds, nor did they come from my client himself, where did the money originate from?"

"...Your mysterious third party, I presume." What was it with defense attorneys and their love of the third person? "So you admit you knew your client had accepted money to end another's life?"

"I discovered this information after the verdict in our trial. I assure you." Gavin's tone was flat. Unconvincing. "Regardless, the magically appearing money proves that while my client may have called Steven Viper on the afternoon of July 1st, he did not pay Steven Viper a single cent. Someone else did. That other person is who your investigation should be closing in on. Not my client."

"To summarize, your evidence that there was a force above Dyman directing murders is… conjecture and the absence of a financial record." Edgeworth shook his head. "In a company already under scrutiny for falsifying financial records, I don't find your case particularly compelling."

"That's another thing," Dyman added. "It was one thing to send a guy after River. River was a new guy. I barely knew 'em. But Cassandra? The woman I relied on for over ten years to keep Hakari in the black? I… I know she died to protect the company, but I had nothing to do with how she went out.

"River got off easy compared to her. He got one bullet to the head. Instant death. Painless. Cassandra, on the other hand…" Dyman gulped. "I read about what happened to her. She suffered the whole time she was dying. It took minutes for the peanuts to end her. I remember someone not thinking at a company party once. They brought a peanut butter and chocolate dessert. If she hadn't had her pen on her…" Dyman turned away. "I didn't do that, but I know who did.

"The one who killed Cassandra must have gotten your Bower too. Here, I thought I was heartless. But someone willing to throw a dead body in the trash is the only person I can think of who would send a crooked cop to torture a woman dead."

Edgeworth compared Bower's murder to what he knew about the death of Cassandra Washington. He didn't see any similarities in method, but that could be explained by different hitmen completing the two jobs. He saw Dyman's point about the cruelty inherent in both murders.

Furthermore, if Dyman had really ordered the hit on David River to protect Hakari, it stood to reason that he would have been behind Washington's demise as well. Yet the act of securing a hitman for both crimes could not have been more dissimilar. Dyman hired a stranger to shoot River. Washington's killer was a cop operating under the (alleged, according to Franziska) threat of blackmail. Dyman called Viper. Ergic received letters from his blackmailer. The more Edgeworth considered the three crimes in comparison to one another, the less certain he was that a single person was behind all of them. The pattern was too disparate. Too random.

But who else could have done it? Not Obergefell, Dyman's boss. Who else cared enough about Hakari's bottom line to orchestrate three deaths in one week?

Gavin could see the question on Edgeworth's face. "Some time ago, my client entered a criminal partnership to advance his professional ambitions. He agreed to help Hakari avoid scrutiny for its practices in exchange for the CEO position upon Mr. Obergefell's retirement. However, my client regrets the lengths he has gone to to protect his workplace. He wishes to extricate himself from those who would kill his coworkers without facing retaliation from his partner in crime.

"Yet before he will offer his full cooperation to your investigation, he wishes to know any information he supplies will not be used to place him in a jail cell. And since you yourself said that you more concerned with finding the man who killed Bower than any instigator of River's acquitted killer, you should be inclined to accept my client's terms."

Edgeworth blinked. The realization landed on his shoulders like a heavy weight. "This is your proposal. I let Dyman walk in exchange for the name of his boss."

"Not just the name. All the evidence you need to prove Dyman was taking orders from this person. Phone calls. Wire transfers. Every smoking gun you can imagine having in your arsenal. You will need this evidence if you want to take down a powerful individual with the means to hire killers and blackmail members of the police." Gavin's voice took on a threatening edge. "This person is far more guilty than my client. Surely you'd rather bring the greater criminal to justice?"

Edgeworth would rather bring all criminals to justice, no matter how "small" their crime may be. Yet thanks to Viper's acquittal, he had already failed in that mission once this week.

Could Edgeworth track down this mysterious third person on his own? Not on the information Gavin and Dyman had given him. Part of Edgeworth still wasn't sure he believed this person existed. After all, Gavin knew how to tell a compelling story without ever employing the truth.

If Edgeworth arrested Dyman now on instigation, he could investigate the man to his heart's content. Yet Bower's killer had already had a week to cover their tracks. Arresting this person's (potential) accomplice could make additional evidence even harder to find. And that was assuming Dyman ever did give up information on the third party. The man was clearly spiteful and a survivalist; he could easily withhold the information to spite law enforcement or to make sure his 'superior' didn't decide to silence another loose end.

In my career as a prosecutor, I have come to value truth and justice and above all. I have never had to choose which justice I pursued before today.

What do I choose?

-Take Gavin's offer
-Arrest Green Dyman

---

Organizer:

Profiles:

Miles Edgeworth
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Description: Me. What can I say? Currently High Prosecutor for my local district.

Dick Gumshoe
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Description: A homicide detective, one of the many assigned to this district. How I nearly always end up working with him, I cannot say.

Kay Faraday
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Description: My self-styled assistant, best known for her claim of being the second Yatagarasu. Soon, her aspirations will be focused on higher education more than stealing from others.

Simon Blackquill
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Description: A new prosecutor on the scene, one who just finished trying his first case in court. Appears slightly uncertain of himself, but a respectful man besides.

Petunia Gardner
Age: 68
Gender: Female
Description: A retired landscaper who was tending to her home garden when her attention was drawn to the victim's body. Did not call the police until the next morning.

Apollo Justice
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Description: A teen orphan. Was wandering the street with the intent to vandalize when he noticed a corpse in the night. Identified by Gardner the morning after, though his current companion was not.

Kristoph Gavin
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Description: A defense attorney known for staying calm during his trials. Appeared on the scene of the crime to defend young Justice. Before that, he was Blackquill's opposing counsel in court. Also serves on retainer for Green Dyman.

Wess T. Bower
Age: 52
Gender: Male
Description: The victim of this case. Was once an Interpol agent until one case ruined his investigation abilities forever and he became an online reporter of conspiracy theories. Was already missing for several days at the time of his death.

Franziska Von Karma
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Description: ...Franziska. How else can I describe her? She's came to the city to investigate a tip Interpol received, but her contact (Wess T. Bower) never showed. He may well have been dead at the time of their scheduled meeting.

Joseph Caché
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Description: A former prosecutor who now works as a PI. He was investigating Bower's disappearance as a missing person's case before learning of his death.

Hotel Manager
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Description: Once a bellboy of Gatewater Hotel, this man now manages this Gatewater property. Was the last person confirmed to have seen Bower alive on the morning of the 30th.

Steven Viper
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Description: The defendant in Blackquill's first case as a prosecutor. He received a Not Guilty verdict after 3 days in trial. Has an alibi for Bower's murder.

Colton E. Obergefell
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Description: CEO of Hakari. Claims not to know anything about the current case. Has a secret safe full of illegal documents bearing his signature.

Green Dyman
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Description: Assistant to the CEO of Hakari. Was attempting to sue the company's digital security company last week. High strung and difficult.

Evidence:

Prosecutor's Badge
Type: Other
Description: My badge. It allows me to do my job, and is to be kept in my pocket at all times.

Caché's Flyer
Type: Other
Description: A missing person's poster for one Wess T. Bower. He is now known to be dead, and is the victim of my current case.

Justice's Testimony
Type: Testimony
Description: Justice and his friends happened upon the body while out last night by complete chance.

Victim's Body Bag
Type: Evidence
Description: A large black trash bag in which the body of the victim was stored. The outside of the bag is littered with fingerprints, Justice's among them.

Toukai's Calling Card
Type: Evidence
Description: A mysterious business card of some kind. The design is most irregular. Has someone's email address on the back. Check

Bower's Room Key
Type: Evidence
Obtained from Joseph Cachè
Description: Key to Bower's hotel room at the Gatewater. Bower was living there before his murder.

Bower's Email Chain
Type: Evidence
Partially obtained from Joseph Cachè
Description: Three emails from a larger conversation between Bower and someone at Interpol. Bower proposes a case that Interpol initially refuses, then later agrees to investigate. Portions of the email are redacted using black marker. Check

Cachè's Timeline
Type: Other
Obtained from Joseph Cachè
Description: A list describing the progress of Cachè's investigation into Bower's disappearance. Includes a few of my own additions. Check

Evidence Board
Type: ...Evidence
Description: A web of nonsense covering one wall of Bower's hotel room. Includes details of the victim's case against Hakari. Appears to have pieces missing.

Desk Lamp
Type: Weapon
Description: A broken piece of hotel property. Has a large dried bloodstain on its lampshade. May have been used to hit Bower on the head.

Autopsy Report
Type: Evidence
Description: While Bower was concussed with a blunt instrument pre-mortem, his cause of death was a slit throat. Time of death: sometime on June 30th.

Gatewater Bath Towel
Type: Evidence
Description: A missing white towel. Potentially taken from Bower's hotel room by a kidnapper to cover the victim's head injury. Bits of the towel were caught on the hotel room's window, indicating the kidnapper's escape route.

Viper's Receipt
Type: Evidence
Description: A receipt detailing a payment from Hakari higher ups to one Steven Viper. Was found outside the victim's hotel room as a potentially stolen piece of Bower's evidence board.

Truth of River's Death
Type: Testimony
Description: Viper confesses to killing River on the orders of a Hakari higher up to prevent him from giving evidence to the Prosecutor's Office. Objective ultimately failed.

Viper's Visitor Sticker
Type: Evidence
Description: A week-old sticker that was on Viper's coat. Proves he visited an injured friend in the hospital on June 30th.

Secret Safe
Type: Evidence
Description: A safe hidden behind several books in the Hakari executives' meeting room. Belongs to Obergefell, though he claims it is out of use. Safe contains documents detailing information Hakari has stolen from other companies and suspicious financial documents.
Update: Outside of the safe has both Dyman and Obergefell's fingerprints. Inside of safe has only Dyman's.

Fixer Agreement
Type: Evidence
Description: Short slip of paper detailing the agreement to hire Viper in a "confidential capacity." Bears Obergefell's signature.
Update: Dyman's fingerprints were the only prints lifted from the paper. It is likely he forged Obergefell's signature.

---

A/N's: PTV and Ajani wrote this chapter together. Both would like to leave notes.

PTV: And so, as we approach the one year anniversary of our last update, we bring you… another update! This one is a bit different than what you might be used to. Instead of ending where the game chapter would, we are ending on a choice Edgeworth (or rather, the hypothetical player) has to make. If we have any readers left, we would like to ask you to help Edgeworth make his decision. What you all say will determine how many chapters this story has left. I can tell you right now that one choice leads to a traditional bad ending. The other initiates the game chapter entitled End, Part 3.

We've had the ending of this fic planned for years, but I had no idea how hard it would be to execute. I thought about changing it, making it fit better with what AA canon usually does. But at the same time, I don't think such an ending would be narratively honest. This case is LITERALLY CALLED "Turnabout Towards Darkness." The ENTIRE SERIES is "End of an Era." The trilogy/investigations era is ending and the Dark Age of the Law is beginning.

I was in high school when I started writing this fic. Now I'm a college graduate. I've grown up a lot in the past seven years, yet the ending we planned for this fic has only become more of a Reality Ensues trope with time. I hope you all can appreciate it, even if it does let you down with how long we've taken and how short we've fallen of my own (overwhelming, somewhat grandiose) expectations.

Sorry again for taking so long, and sorry my author notes are such a downer. Do you have anything to add, Ajani?

AA: Mainly more of the same. I was in my last year of high school when this story began and now I'm about to graduate undergrad and potentially begin Law School (ha ha, life imitating art or something). It's crazy looking at how much we've grown, how much our writing has improved, and how much the world around us feels like a mirror image of the story we're writing. Though I suppose much of that is realizing that the world operates in shades of gray as opposed to wonderful black and white.

And thus we leave Edgeworth with that wonderful dilemma many may find themselves in in real life. What exactly is the right thing to do when presented with two choices where the only answer seems to be 'the lesser of two evils'. I'm curious to hear the audience's thoughts not merely to know where you think the story should head but also because I'm curious what your views on this moral dilemma may be.

I would also like to thank everyone who has stuck around so far. We're near the end everyone and we've only got a bit more before we hit the finish line. It's been a labor of love and I hope to see you all there at the goal.