July 7
Edgeworth hummed absentmindedly, flipping through the channels of the small television set. It, as well as a few classic novels and law books, were brought to him as a gift from Franziska to make his time in prison a little more bearable.
She said she didn't tolerate the idea that his mind would rot in his small, dull cell, so she opted to "give it some sense of class", she said.
He was grateful for it. He really was. The books and television often served as a great form of escapism from his dreary, dull, repetitive prison life...but he also wondered why Franziska bothered to give him these.
He was a criminal. A murderer.
A man who had taken his own father's life years ago and has now gotten the punishment he deserved. His fellow inmates seem to get it as he winced at the wounds inflicted on him from one inmate's fists. He can still feel the soring pain from his blows.
If Miles remembered correctly, that inmate was involved in a case he prosecuted in...what was it? He had been a lawyer for so long, he was starting to forget.
Edgeworth sighed. It didn't matter. Any wounds he gained in this prison were well-deserved for what he did...
"This just in, folks, Childhood Heroine turns out to be a Villainous Criminal!" the news broadcaster declared, taking Edgeworth out of his funk.
"Hmm?" Edgeworth raised a brow and turned up the volume of the television.
"Viewers of the hit television series Crystal Crusader Rose were in for the shock of their lives when it was revealed that the anonymous actress who played the title character was really Viola Cadaverini, the daughter of the infamous crime lord Bruto Cadaverini, whose criminal family has been running amok in our dear city, as well as in various states in America.
"This news had come to light due to the actions of prosecutor Franziska von Karma, who is prosecuting against the Cadaverini in court for the murder of the show's director and veteran actor Will Powers."
The defendant of your current case is a Cadaverini, Franziska? Miles thought, remembering what Franziska told her about her current case.
The Cadaverini family was one of the most powerful and ruthless crime families in America. From California to New York, there isn't any state in the US that hasn't been touched by them. During his time as a prosecutor, about 20 percent of his cases involved the Cadaverinis to some extent, most of them regarding crimes that were much worse than murder could ever be.
"Due to the revelation of the Crusader Rose actress's vile identity, many parents, teachers, and other guardians are demanding the show to be canceled for harboring the Cadaverini and allowing her to spread vile messages to poison the minds of our children," the news anchor said."With how long the show has been running, who knows what corruption has been brought into the minds of our innocent youth."
Miles rolled his eyes at that statement. He knew that this was going to happen. Whether it be self-righteous fools, overreacting witnesses, or just plain old horrible people, there would be at least one person showing up in matters like the Cadaverini case to cause trouble, whether or not they were actually involved in it. He just hoped that those kinds of people wouldn't be getting in the way of the lawyers and authority figures who were actually trying to solve the case.
. . .
July 7
Global Studios
"Finally, we made it..." Iris said, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh of relief as she parked her car.
The journey back to Global Studios was not a pleasant one due to the traffic that blocked her path. Today's investigation had a rough start, she had to admit. While Furio Tigre did turn out alright as Viola hoped, he ended up scaring her away, adamant in not sharing any information with her out of suspicion and doubt. Not only that, but von Karma decided to be her usual...bitch self, for the lack of a better word.
Now not only she can't get Viola to convince Tigre that he can trust her, there's a likely chance she might not even get to talk to Viola at all given von Karma's obsession to win this case!
Iris grumbled, massaging the temples on her forehead as she stepped out of the car. Upon opening the backdoor for Pearl, the little sister stepped out and looked concerned as frustration was evident in Iris' face.
"Are you okay, Big Sis?" Pearl asked.
Iris flashed a small, comforting smile to her little sister, taking her hand and having the both of them walk from the parking lot to the Global Studios gate.
"I'm fine, Pearl," Iris assured her. "I'm just...a little frustrated by how this investigation is going so far. Three hours already passed, but we haven't gotten a single clue to prove our client's innocence..."
"Oh, um...is there anything I can do to help?"
Iris giggled and patted Pearl's head affectionately. "You already are, Pearl. I have to admit, these cases are already harrowing as it is; but without you around, I probably would've snapped from the stress of it all. You being with me, Pearl..." she paused, trying to look for the right words. "It gives me a sense that, no matter what happens, everything will turn out alright."
Pearl looked up at Iris, her eyes widening and her heart touched upon hearing that, giving her big sister an adorable smile. "I...I don't know what to say, Big Sis...thank you."
"No, thank YOU, my sweet little Pearly!" Iris said, suddenly hoisting her little sister up in the air. The two sisters laughed as they spun around, having the time of their lives as they embraced. Once the moment had passed, Iris put Pearl down and the two continued their way to the Global Studios gate.
"I hope we can find more evidence here," Pearl said.
"I'm sure we can, especially since von Karma isn't here to block our path to the Winter Cloud Building anymore," Iris said. "With her out of the way, I'm sure there won't be anymore...problems..."
Iris' small smile morphed into a bemused frown as she stared at the large crowd of adults blocking the path to the entrance. Many of them appeared in their mid-thirties, she could tell from appearance alone. Anger was evident on their faces as they glared down at Wendy Oldbag and another police guard blocking the way to the entrance, throwing rubbish and spewing hateful words that Pearl should not be hearing.
"And I was just starting to feel better now too..." Iris sighed out before turning to Pearl. "Pearl, please stay here while I sort this out."
Pearl hesitated for a brief moment before nodding obediently to her older sister. After nodding back, Iris let Pearl go and walked forward to see what the commotion was.
"Shut it down! Shut it down!" the adults chanted out in fury, some of them raising signs that had "Cancel the Show!", "You're Corrupting Our Children!", and other outrageous accusations written on them.
"Look here, you lousy protesting weirdos!" Oldbag shouted angrily, spit spewing out her wrinkly mouth. "You lot are disturbing everyone inside this building, ya hear!? We already called the cops, so you might as well skedaddle or-!"
"Quiet, you worthless hag!" a woman among the crowd, the possible leader of this protest, interrupted. "You and the rest of the people here are guilty of corrupting our children's minds! Our voices will be heard! You will cancel it or we-!"
"Excuse me," Iris said in the loudest her voice could muster. Iris yelped a little when everyone turned to her, the glares still on their faces. "I-um, pardon me, but may I ask what this commotion is all about? My sister and I need to pass so we can..."
"Can't you see we're in the middle of a protest!" the woman said, a few others behind her nodding in agreement. "Go away and come back to this foul company some other time!"
"Foul company!?" Oldbag shouted, aghast. "How dare you!? Sure, Global Studios isn't perfect, but it's certainly better than you self-righteous pr-!"
"Quiet!" the woman shouted back, gritting her teeth.
"Foul company?" Iris repeated, raising a brow. "What do you mean foul company?"
The woman scoffed. "Haven't you heard?" she said, looking at Iris as if the rookie lawyer was a naïve idiot. "This company is guilty of corrupting our children with their evil show and we won't stand for it!"
Several other people behind the woman voiced their agreement, raising their protest signs.
"I'm sorry, but...corrupting children?" Iris asked incredulously.
"Yes!" the woman shouted. "They messed with our children's minds by putting that evil Cadaverini in that Crystal show of theirs! Our poor darlings were subjected to that criminal's dark messages and we won't stand for it! We demand the show be canceled now! We demand this entire business to pay for their sins!"
The entire crowd shouted in solidarity. They all turned their hateful and bitter stares to Oldbag and the other security guard, who were nervous but ready to hold them back. Iris, however, thought of what the woman said...and frowned in mild annoyance.
"So let me get this straight," the rookie lawyer said, "you and the rest of these people are here protesting...because of the Cadaverini trial that's going on right now?"
"Isn't it obvious?" the woman rolled her eyes at Iris' questions. "You clearly don't understand how serious this is. That show is poisoning our children's minds!"
"By what?" Iris asked, her eye twitching and her arms crossed as she stared down at the woman with a disapproving look. "Simply existing on the screen of the show?"
"Yes," the woman answered matter-of-factly, bemusing Iris. "That vile Cadaverini...she and her family are nothing but disruptive villains!"
"And you're disrupting the business of this Studio," Iris said calmly, narrowing her eyes at the woman. "As well as hounding a girl who is most likely innocent of the crime she's accused of."
"How could you even say that!?" the woman snapped, some of her spit spewing on Iris's cheek, much to the latter's disgust. "That Cadaverini isn't innocent! She's guilty of hiding behind the screens our children watch!"
"Yes. She did fake her identity and became a children's star," Iris nodded, but that was the only positive thing she'd say to this woman and her sheep. "However, if you listened to the current news, the defense found out that she did it to hide from her own family. Can you imagine finding out your own family being a cabal of remorseless criminals? Can you picture having to deal with that and being forced to uphold a tradition that you are disgusted in?"
Some of the protestors in the crowd paused and stared at Iris in surprise before glancing away from her nervously. The woman remained unconvinced.
"You're foolish to think she's innocent," the woman said. "That woman's still a Cadaverini, it makes her a bad example to our children!"
"And you're setting a WONDERFUL example by disrupting daily activities, pelting rotten food at police guards, and demanding a show to get canceled," Iris said sarcastically, giving the woman a faux smirk. "Which, by the way, will likely result in hundreds of actors, production workers, and other people losing their jobs. Really, a fine example for your children, you are..."
The woman growled at Iris in annoyance, while a few of the protestors behind casted expressions of doubt and worry on their faces. Good, Iris thought. They needed to know just how much trouble they were causing.
"Look, I've been having a hard day," Iris said. "Can you just let me and my sister pass so we can carry on our work here, please? I won't trouble you any further."
The woman opened her mouth to retort but paused as her eyes widened in realization. "It all makes sense now..."
Iris raised a brow. "What?" she asked but was caught off guard when the woman jabbed her finger at her.
"You! You're that lawyer from the news!" the woman shouted angrily. "The one who's defending that evil witch!"
"Excuse me?" Iris said, nervous but managing to keep her composure. She took a step back but was ready to turn and run in case.
"You're working with that witch! That Cadaverini! You're colluding to bring that witch out of the punishment she deserves!" the woman ranted and raved, her anger contagious as some of the protestors behind her began to share her feelings.
"I'm only doing my job and there's a likely chance Viola Cadaverini is innocent-!" Iris yelped and a loud thud was heard when he
"Big Sis!" Pearl shouted in concern, rushing to her sister and putting herself between her and the angry mob. "Leave my sister alone!"
"She's already corrupted the girl with her lies!" the woman rationalized. "We have to-!"
The sound of police sirens echoed closer and closer to the parking lot, putting the woman and the rest of the mob at a halt. The protestors all turned and saw three police cars speeding in their direction.
Upon realizing just how much trouble they were going to be in, the mob scattered as the police stepped out of their vehicles and went to take control of the situation.
Among the police officers was Detective Gumshoe, who immediately went to pick up Iris.
"Are you alright there, pal?" the scruffy detective asked. Pearl stared at Iris with a concerned expression.
Iris looked at both of them and smiled gently. "I'm fine, no need to worry about me," she said. "Thank you for the save, Detective. Things might've taken a bad turn if you didn't show up in time."
"Ah, think nothing of it," Gumshoe chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "I take it you're back here to investigate Will Powers' murder?"
Iris nodded. "I wanted to talk to Ms. Cadaverini first to help settle a...particularly rough issue..." she muttered, remembering her first time with Furio Tigre. "But I can't talk to her due to an...unforeseen issue..."
"Prosecutor von Karma's really determined to make sure you don't win, huh, pal?" Gumshoe laughed, earning a surprised stare from Iris and Pearl. He then glanced away from them nervously and scratched his head. "Yeah, um...she's pretty upset at how that trial went. She's been ranting about how you keep getting lucky every time and that she won't let you embarrass her again."
"Sounds to me like she cares more about beating Big Sis than actually finding the c-cul-prit?" Pearl said, turning to Iris as if to ask if she said the last word correctly. Iris' nod made her smile.
"Heh, you got a point there," Gumshoe said. "Still, what can you do? There's no way to stop her and the best you can do is prove her wrong...which will probably result in a lot of whipping though."
Iris and Gumshoe collectively cringed at the thought of von Karma's whip.
"By the way, Detective, I need to tell you," Iris said, "regarding this mob I ran into before you arrived. They were saying nonsense about Viola corrupting their children and that the entire studio should shut down for it."
Gumshoe frowned. "Yeah, it's bad. I've been looking into it online. A lot of people are accusing Ms. Cadaverini of what's happening. Demanding her to get arrested immediately, blaming her for issues involving kids, and even tossing the blame of all her family's crimes on her because she's the only Cadaverini out in the public."
"But it's not proven if she's the killer yet," Pearl pointed out, but Gumshoe shook his head.
"Sometimes people don't care if you're innocent or not, pal," Gumshoe said. "If you look guilty to them, then there's no need to prove otherwise..."
"That's very insightful of you, Detective," Iris said, raising a brow. The scruffy detective chuckled. He frowned for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"There was a prosecutor I used to work with a year ago," he explained. "He was one of the best prosecutors I've met. Then he got accused of murder...I knew he didn't do it, but everything and everyone made it look like he did."
Iris frowned, pitying Gumshoe. "I'm sorry to hear that..."
"Nah, it's okay, pal," Gumshoe assured. "I still think he's innocent, you see. And after this case, I'm gonna go back to prove that to everyone else!"
"You can do it, Detective!" Pearl cheered him on, and Iris shared her feelings. However, there was a question bubbling inside of Iris' mind upon hearing the Detective's story and it demanded to be answered.
"Detective, if you pardon me, but this prosecutor doesn't happen to be Miles-?" she was cut off by a sudden ringing of someone's phone. Gumshoe snatched his phone from his scruffy green coat and paled to see it was von Karma calling him.
"Sorry, but I need to get back to work," he said quickly.
"But Detective-" Iris objected, but the scared look on his face said it all for her. "Oh, um...good luck to you then."
Later, Iris thought to herself. I'll ask him later...
"Same to you, pal," he replied. "I hope you win in this case, I really do."
Iris and Pearl bowed to Gumshoe, then turned around to enter Global Studios. As they wandered around the studio, they passed some employees who were minding their own business, but the ones who were talking with one another disturbed the two sisters.
"I didn't know what Powers saw in that Cadaverini..."
"I knew we shouldn't have hired that bitch..."
"First we lose Will and then we get a riot outside? Just another problem caused by that Cadaverini..."
Pearl frowned. "They're all saying such mean things to Miss Viola..."
"When people face hard problems, sometimes they want to go blame someone, thinking it'll make things better," Iris said. "Since the case is currently unsolved, many people are blaming Ms. Viola immediately because she's the suspect for Will Powers' murder. Not to mention her family is one of the most notorious crime families in the city. People would want her head just for being a member of it..."
"But if we show that she didn't do it, everything will be okay, right?" Pearl asked with a twinge of hope in her voice.
Iris paused. Will everything be alright for Viola if they prove her innocence? Will she be left alone once she's proven innocent in court...or will the public still hound her just for being a Cadaverini? Judging from the protestors she and Pearl ran into a while ago, as well as the spiteful remarks from Viola's own coworkers, Iris heavily doubted that things would go back to normal for the runaway Cadaverini, even if she was proven innocent...
"Y-yes, Pearl," Iris replied, feigning a smile. "She'll be okay once we prove her innocence. We just gotta find some evidence to prove it."
Pearl nodded, now more determined than ever to prove Viola's innocence. "Where do we start?"
"First, we should go to the Winer Cloud Building and find out what really happened there, now that von Karma isn't around to play gatekeeper," Iris said, shuddering as she thought of von Karma's whip. "I just hope she didn't do anything to tamper with the crime scene..."
Court Record:
Evidence:
1. Iris' Attorney Badge
2. Letter of Request
3. Security Cameras
4. Will Powers' Autopsy Report
5. Crystal Crusader Dress (Costume No. 1)
6. Key Card
7. Crystal Sword
8. Torn and Tattered Crystal Crusader Costume (Costume No. 2)
9. Mysterious Letter
Profiles:
1. Pearl Fey
2. Viola Cadaverini
3. Franziska von Karma
4. Detective Gumshoe
5. Will Powers
6. Wendy Oldbag
7. Celeste L. Starr/Emerald Empress
8. Penny Nichols
9. Furio Tigre
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. I've been busy studying for an upcoming exam on March 1 and I have to pass it, so I don't think I'll be able to upload more until that time comes. In regards to this chapter, I wanted to write some form of a consequence of Viola being part of a powerful crime family and it affecting her new identity as the star of a children's show in this story. I can imagine controversy being sparked up with people wanting her and/or Global Studios canceled, especially with what's going on today. Anyways, what do you think of this latest chapter? Feel free to leave your thoughts on it, and I hope you enjoyed it.