The footage was the first piece of business the court had to contend with.

The video player was turned on, and Apollo waited with bated breath for the display to finish. On paper, he knew, the restored footage would give him a chance. It clearly showed the clown going into the room next to his client's. Then it showed the dark-clad stranger jumping out from Coachen's room to attack his victim, and then drag the victim back into the room.

Apollo forced himself to think. Surely, he could argue that the stranger had invaded Coachen's room via the air duct, and had carried out the assault from there. But he just knew Edgeworth would have a way to rebut that. And if his hunch was right...

"Mr. Justice?"

Then Edgeworth's next move was...

"Mr. Justice!"

The gavel rang down, and Apollo almost screamed aloud. The Judge had broken through his spell.

Apollo straightened himself. "I apologize, Your Honor."

The Judge scratched his bald head. "Mr. Edgeworth would like to present something to the court, so you have said?" He turned his gaze, and Edgeworth nodded.

"There is something to note, Your Honor." Edgeworth produced a strip of paper from his coat pocket. "Courtesy of the courtroom reporter." He began to read aloud.

"'I was in my room all that day. During the afternoon, someone kicked the door open when my back was turned. They put something over my mouth, and it knocked me out. When I woke up, I was inside the closet. The police found me there.'"

Edgeworth replaced the paper, turned on his heel, and stared directly at Manny Coachen, who seemed to suddenly turn a shade of lime.

"That was your testimony, Mr. Coachen." Edgeworth took a step forward. "Your. Testimony." He threw his arms up. "Ladies and gentlemen of the court, do you not see? This man was clearly lying about the events before the attack!"

In another second the gallery was up in arms.

"Yeah!"

"Got him!"

"Let's go!"

"The prosecutor's on it!"

Apollo stood up, powerless to do anything but sweat.

The Judge rang down his gavel.

"Order! Order! I will have order!"

He cleared his throat. "Mr. Edgeworth, well done. You have exposed a decisive hole in the defense's case!"

"OBJECTION!"

Apollo slammed both of his fists on the stand. "Your Honor, the defense requests another testimony from my client!"

"OBJECTION!"

Edgeworth wagged his finger. "Grasping at straws already, Mr. Justice?"

The Judge scratched his head again and sighed. "Proceed, Mr. Justice. Anything to help reduce this man's credibility further."

Klaire, serving as bailiff for the day, escorted Manny Coachen to the witness stand. He placed both hands upon it, and did his best to straighten his back. He tried to keep his face still, but it was clear to everyone that he would crumple under his own weight if it were not for the stand. He tried several times to cough.

"I would first like to apologize to the court for my previous testimony. I did spend the day in my motel room. But the clown came through the air vent and surprised me. I hit the clown on the leg with the frying pan, but they took it away from me. They found the gun I had and took that, too. They said they had to take care of a certain somebody, and that I would have to be quiet. I complied. I did not know who the clown was. They wore a mask." He stopped suddenly.

Edgeworth folded his arms and huffed. "So you say that you did not commit the attack, but you aided and abetted the one who did."

The Judge toyed with his gavel. "That is a crime in and of itself, Mr. Coachen."

Edgeworth's voice grew stern. "That is not the charge I am pursuing for this defendant, Your Honor. I am convinced that even this testimony is a farce."

"OBJECTION!"

Apollo looked up at the Judge. "Your Honor, the defense requests another cross-examination!"

The Judge pondered, then shrugged warily. "Proceed, Mr. Justice."


Klavier had already been in more court cases than he could count, and one case spent witnessing his brother's exposure as undiluted evil was terrible enough.

But he could not bring himself to sign for a vacation. He stayed in the city, and he found himself in the gallery. He did his best to sit calmly in his seat as the crowd around him chattered and gossiped and made bets on the outcome.

All the major players were there. Apollo Justice, the defense attorney who had bested him. Miles Edgeworth, the former Demon Prosecutor. Manny Coachen, the snivelling defendant.

And there was his sister Klaire, standing near the courtroom door and radiating much more resolve than usual. Their eyes did not meet, but they knew where the other was.

-A multi-chapter story; Chapter 33; story idea by CRed1988 and writing by Jerviss.