Date: Thursday, April 10th, 2014
Time: 3:57pm
Location: Document Room, Grossberg Law Offices, Los Tokyo
The past six months seemed to just drag on and on and on. At work, the days blended together without any discernible characteristics. I was back to my usual routine before me and Diego got together, working on boring paperwork and client meetings all day. I still hadn't returned to criminal cases, and, without Diego, I wasn't providing criminal case support either. No more crime scene investigations and no reviewing of criminal trial paperwork or court transcripts.
When I first started, I found this type of work to be dry and uninteresting, but my drive and determination to move up at the firm had made it all seem bearable. Now, I didn't care too much about climbing the corporate ladder, so it was also hard to care about the work I was doing. I still gave my clients 100%, I couldn't bring myself to do anything less, but my heart wasn't in it.
Even the visits with Diego and Maria grew indistinguishable over time. Maria and I would have the same meals, play the same card games, and talk about the same things. Diego was frozen in time. He didn't get any worse, but he never got any better either. We hoped that if we just kept talking to him, he would eventually answer back or show some sign of life, but he never did.
The only moments that made me feel alive were a handful of distinct events or outings that punctuated the months. Maya was once again confined to the Village, and not allowed to come visit me very much. I saw her once in the city for lunch and a movie around the holidays and on my birthday, but that was all that Aunt Morgan had allowed. We talked on the phone every Sunday though, and it was the highlight of my week. Maya was always so silly and bubbly, talking a mile a minute, that seeing her or talking to her on the phone never failed to cheer me up.
Maria was off on Christmas this year and invited me over for dinner that day; that was also notable. Me and Maya had always enjoyed the holiday, but only in a very commercial sense, loving the lights, decorations, and Santa.
The Village schoolhouse always tried to match the public-school schedule and gave students the holiday season off, but we never celebrated it in any way. This was my first Christmas dinner ever and there was something very nice about having the traditional family-oriented Christmas experience that everyone talked about.
Maria and I made a chicken dinner with all the accompaniments, and we exchanged gifts. She got me a couple travel board games, figuring we could play something different for a change during our hospital visits. I got her a Christmas ornament, one custom made with a picture of her and Diego when they were both much younger. I had asked to borrow her photo albums one time, saying I just wanted to flip through them again. While I had looked at the pictures, I mainly wanted to find the perfect photo to copy onto this ornament.
She cried when she opened her present and I apologized for making her upset. I didn't assume she'd have no reaction, but I didn't intend to make her cry. Even after all the time we spent together, I still didn't feel like I had a good understanding of who she was as a person, and her gift to me indicated that the same was true with me. What she loved most was Diego, her faith, her nursing job, cooking, and gardening, in that order. This gift combined two of those things, so I thought it was appropriate.
Even though she said she'd be taking the tree down in a few days she decided to hang it up right away. As I watched her, looking for the perfect place on the tree, I noticed how much thinner she had gotten since I first met her, and she was never very big to begin with. She had been a lot more tired these past few months too and her normally dyed hair was grey at the roots. Christmas wasn't the first time I had noticed these things, but it was the day they became too evident to ignore.
I politely asked her about it, and she took the question well, smiling and telling me that she appreciated my concern. She said that all the stress from Diego's poisoning had just made it hard for her to sleep and had reduced her appetite. I told her I understood. While I wasn't as visibly tired or undernourished as she was, I was experiencing the grief in much the same way.
She said that she wasn't dyeing her hair in solidarity with Diego. His doctor wasn't sure of the exact cause, but his hair had started to turn completely grey after the poisoning. By that Christmas, he was only one haircut away from losing all the dark brown, nearly black hair he used to have. The old man nickname was especially fitting now, but I don't think I will call him that anymore when he wakes up. It was fine when he was a healthy 28-year-old, but with his eyes and his hair, now it would just be cruel.
My 25th birthday was in January, my champagne birthday, and I did a lot that day and the day before. It was on a Saturday, one of our visiting days, but I asked Maria if we could reschedule our visit for Friday. I had decided to finally face my fears and go get my full license and Mr. Grossberg had allowed me the day off. It was going to be my birthday gift to myself.
Maria agreed and picked me up so I could borrow Diego's car for the test. I told her I would come back to get her and drive us both to the hospital as a fully licensed driver. I had passed the driving test by the skin of my teeth, but it was a pass, nonetheless.
When I returned to Maria's house and rang her doorbell, beaming and prepared to show off my ID card, I could see when she opened the door that she still had all her Christmas decorations up, including her tree. I asked if she had needed help taking them down. I would have offered before if I had known. She said that they made the house seem less lonely, so she didn't want to put them away.
That Saturday afternoon, Maya and I went bowling and she gave me a birthday card that Pearl had made. Pearl and I had only seen each other a few times, but she remembered what I looked like, drawing a decent rendition of both of us, Aunt Morgan, and Maya on the card.
Maya had gotten me a souvenir mug from the hotel she stayed in while I was standing vigil at the hospital in August. She had filled it with chocolate candy until it was overflowing. I thanked her and said it would be my new favorite at work.
That Saturday evening, Reina and Lana both wanted to take me out to celebrate so we arranged for the three of us to go together, even though they hadn't met before. They planned to take me to some club so we could pop a bottle of champagne, but I talked them down to a low-key evening at a restaurant instead. They still got us sparkling wine and we toasted my day, but with much cheaper wine than the champagne you'd pay too much for at a private room in a club.
At the restaurant, I wore the engagement ring. It wasn't the first time I had, although I would never wear it at work; I knew how people would pity me if I did. However, I had worn it around the apartment and on a few outings or errands.
When Lana saw it, she was surprised. She had seen me without it a few times since Diego's poisoning so she knew he couldn't have asked. I told her that he hadn't, but I assumed he would have by now if he was awake. She simply nodded before saying that she was glad I liked it. She had helped Diego pick it out and she joked that she talked him out of some hideous ones. I wasn't sure if she was exaggerating for humor, but I thanked her for her good taste.
During dinner, Reina had gushed about her boyfriend Austin, whom she met at her gym in October and had been dating ever since. She didn't want to talk about it with me because of my situation but, when she let it slip one day in November, I told her to talk all she wanted. I was happy for her and didn't want her to act differently around me.
Reina asked Lana if she had been seeing anyone and she was evasive before sighing and saying "maybe". I teased her about it since she hadn't dated anyone since I knew her, or not that she told me about anyway.
She said there was this guy at work who seemed interested in her, but she wasn't entirely convinced. He was a little eccentric, and she didn't like the idea of dating a coworker. Reina offered me and Diego up as an example where dating a coworker had worked, despite the obvious tragedy that occurred. Lana just nodded again before saying that she'd consider giving him a chance.
The last momentous event of the past six months was our anniversary on February 16th. It was a Sunday, and I made a special trip to the hospital that day, so I could bring him flowers and talk to him alone. I wore the ring and brought up some of our best memories from before he had been poisoned. Come March, we would have more days together with him comatose than awake, but I promised that I would wait for him.
There wasn't much room, and I wasn't sure if the staff would like this, but I had sidled up next to him on his hospital bed, ensuring that I didn't disturb any of the tubing or apparatuses he was hooked up to.
I had accidentally fallen asleep for about an hour until I was awoken by one of the nurses. She was sweet and understanding when she woke me, especially after I explained the significance of the day. She said that I had accidentally moved the vital monitor off his finger in my sleep, but the alarm sounded to notify her and there was no harm done.
This morning started off like any other at the firm. I went up to my office, dropped off my things, and chatted with Reina before getting set up in the document room. In the late afternoon though, Mr. Hammond came by; he never did that.
Mr. Hammond had been less of a jerk since Diego was poisoned, but I still didn't like talking to him because I knew why he had mellowed out. He now stood uncontested for the top win rate at the firm with Diego not here.
"Wow, this place is a lot smaller and darker than I remembered," he joked.
I didn't look up from my papers. "What do you want?" I said shortly. I didn't like swaggering when Diego did it, before we got together and I made him stop, and I liked it even less when Mr. Hammond did it.
"Hey, easy now. You'll be singing my praises after we're done talking."
I sighed and stopped what I was doing to look up at him. "Okay, what is it?"
"Grossberg took on a case last night. Murder of an Ivy University student."
My eyes widened. "Is Dahlia Hawthorne his client?" I asked incredulously.
"No, it's some other college kid. Phoenix something. The victim's name is Doug Swallow. I believe that name is familiar to you?"
I gasped before covering my mouth in shock. Poor Doug. I never met him, but Diego said he was a nice enough guy. Most importantly, he was essential in helping the doctors figure out Diego's condition. We had tried to warn Doug, but I guess it wasn't enough. Dahlia had killed him, and this Phoenix person was her fall guy. "How did you know about all this?"
"Well, Grossberg and I talk in his office a lot and he mentioned the case during one of our fireside chats this morning. The name Doug Swallow sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't remember when I had heard it."
"And... Mr. Grossberg? Did he remember?"
"Grossberg?" He laughed. "Mind of a goldfish, that guy. In one ear and out the other. Nah, I looked it up a half hour ago. Saw he worked at the Pharmacology Lab. Grossberg had mentioned something about that back in August."
I paused. "Do you think he'll let me take the case?"
"For you? Probably. You're like his work daughter."
"Oh," I replied in surprise.
"Did you not notice that before?"
"I don't know." I thought for a moment. I always saw Mr. Grossberg as fatherly, but I just assumed that he was that way with everyone. "I guess I hadn't thought about it."
"Well, you better go talk to him soon. He's leaving at 4:30 today for an appointment."
I leapt out of my chair and ran to the door but stopped short of the hallway to turn and face him. "Why are you helping me?" I asked skeptically.
"Do I not have a heart or something?" he asked sarcastically.
"No, sorry. I didn't mean it that way," I said remorsefully. "You and Diego... you were always so competitive."
He chuckled. "It hasn't been the same without that guy here. Being number one means nothing when there's no one to compete with."
I smiled and nodded. Someone else did care, in his own way. "Thank you. Really."
He shooed me away. "Go."
I bolted up the stairs and down the hall to Mr. Grossberg's office. He was on the phone. Normally I would have walked away and come back, but I had to stay there in case he left early. I anxiously paced around outside his door until he hung up.
"Mia, do you need to use the washroom or something?" Mr. Grossberg asked with perplexity. "They're just down the hall."
"No sir!" I blurted out. "I just needed to talk to you before you left."
"What is it?" He gestured to one of the empty chairs at his desk and I sat down.
"You have a case tomorrow, right?" I asked.
"Yes, tomorrow at 10am. Why?"
"Sir, can I please take this case?" I asked politely.
"Well Mia, I don't know if you should do a murder trial for your first case."
I was irritated. How could he have possibly forgotten about my first case? The woman at the center of it was the reason Diego was poisoned. I needed him to work with me, so I didn't correct him. "I think I'm ready. I've been putting off trials for too long. It's time."
"I don't know. It's getting late. I don't think you'll have time to prepare."
"I'll stay up all night to prepare. I can do it," I said determinedly.
"Why don't we wait until next week?" he asked brightly. "If a larceny or DUI case comes up, you can do that instead." He began to pack his briefcase to leave.
I went into panic mode. I must take this case and win it. I slammed both my hands on the desk. "Let me handle this case!" I exclaimed forcefully.
Mr. Grossberg stopped what he was doing and stared at me, aghast. "Mia," he said sternly.
"I'm sorry, sir," I said apologetically. "This case is really important to me."
"I should say. I've never seen you this peppery." He latched his briefcase shut and then opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out three thick accordion folders filled with papers. He set them down in front of me. "I have to go to my appointment, but these are the relevant papers. I don't think you're ready to go alone so I will serve as your co-counsel tomorrow."
"Thank you, sir," I said appreciatively, picking up the folders. "I won't let you down."
He started walking out the door and led me out with him. "You have to be on your best behavior tomorrow though, young lady," he lectured. "If you talk to the judge like you did me, he'll hold you in contempt."
Young lady? Okay that was particularly "dad" of him. Was he really not like that with everyone else? "Of course. I didn't mean to, sir. I'll be on my best, I promise."
He nodded. "See you tomorrow in court, Mia."
Date: Friday, April 11th, 2014
Time: 9:43am
Location: Defendant Lobby No. 3, Los Tokyo District Courthouse
That evening, I was prepared to stay up all night if I had to in order to review the files for the case. I cleared up my other work in the doc room to make way for the three large folders of case files I had to understand by the next morning. I had brewed a fresh pot of coffee and had used the mug Maya gave me for my birthday, ready to refill it as many times as needed to stay awake.
When I started to review the files though, I was disappointed to say the least. Phoenix was my client, so it was no surprise that the files weren't all about Dahlia, but she barely factored in the files at all. She was listed as the connection between the two men: Phoenix's current girlfriend, and Doug's ex-girlfriend, but that piece of information was the only thing about her that the police and prosecutors found relevant. All the other files focused on Doug and Phoenix entirely.
It made me angry. It was her. I didn't have any evidence in these files, but I knew it was her. I didn't know this Phoenix guy yet, but what were the chances that he was a psycho too? All these other papers were irrelevant. Just meaningless fluff. I tried to review them all and retain the information, but I kept getting distracted and not absorbing it. It was all so wrong, and the wrongness was all I could focus on. If it wasn't so late, I would go to the crime scene myself to investigate, but the police were probably already gone, and it was quite dark out.
Then I did something worse than fail to retain the information: I fell asleep. I meant to print off files about Diego's poisoning and have them ready with me; I thought they may become relevant during the trial. I woke up at 7:30am instead, face-planted on the case files. I had only meant to rest my eyes for a second.
I ran home to shower and change, returned back to the office to grab the files, and then sped-walked to the courthouse. While home, I took the newspaper clipping that reported Diego's case and took it with me. I had saved it from the day after his poisoning. It wasn't as in-depth as the case files, but I at least had something that could demonstrate a connection between the two cases.
I made it to the courthouse with 23 minutes to spare and luckily Mr. Grossberg wasn't there yet when I arrived. I had about three minutes to try and calm myself down before he showed up, clearing his throat to announce his arrival.
Mr. Grossberg's strict presence was not what I needed right now, pointing out how flustered I was when what I needed was a confidence boost. I remembered being annoyed with Diego during my first trial, and how he seemed more focused on teasing me than helping. He had helped though. He was always so calm, and it made me feel calmer too. He also complimented me on my skill and determination before the trial. At the time, I thought maybe he was buttering me up, but I knew him well enough now to know when he was being genuine.
After lecturing me, Mr. Grossberg directed me to my client. He was a spiky-haired guy in his early 20s and wore a pink sweater, a red scarf, and a white surgical face mask. The sweater looked homemade and had a red heart with a "P" on it.
"Good morning there everybody!" Phoenix said enthusiastically before loudly sneezing and coughing.
"Good morning," I said hesitantly. He was the one on trial for murder and yet I was more nervous than he was.
"I, er, I just want to say... I'll give it all I've got! Yup, it'll be fine! No prob!" He hacked and sneezed again. I realized that he was nervous too, he was just hiding it with enthusiasm.
"Oh, what's wrong? Do you have a cold or something, Mr. Wry?" I asked.
"Actually, it's Wright, like the flying brothers. People screw it up all the time. And yes, I have a cold. That's what this mask is for. My doc says this way, I won't give it to anyone else. Be kind to others, he says." Despite my stupid mistake, obviously focusing too much on Dahlia and not my own client last night, Phoenix was rather cheery and positive as he corrected me.
"Right, Mr. Wright! You have nothing to fear in court today! If you are truly innocent, I promise I will save you!" I said, matching his enthusiasm. I was going to ask him about Dahlia and how they met, but we were ushered into the courtroom, and I didn't have a chance to ask him.
The case started off a little rough, with the judge questioning whether I was fit to lead the defense on this trial. Winston Payne, another arrogant prosecutor who called himself the "Rookie Killer", also taunted me. I had made a few slip-ups at the beginning but soon settled into the groove of court proceedings, remembering some of the beats from my last trial.
Then my client lied to me. Phoenix first pretended that he didn't know Doug and had never spoken to him before. I was conducting a cross-examination of him and pointed out his contradictions. It was bad for my case to have a lying client, but I know Diego told me in my first case that it was our job as defense attorneys to always point out contradictions anyway.
Phoenix felt so horrible for lying that he started crying. "P-P-P-Please forgive me!" he wailed.
"Mia! You've made our client cry!" Mr. Grossberg admonished.
I was not sympathetic. "Let him! That 'P' on his chest doesn't stand for Phoenix anyway! I can't believe I trusted him! Mr. Wright was all wrong!" I said loudly. I'm not sure if Phoenix heard me from the defense stand, but I wasn't exactly being discreet.
The judge and Payne both stated that they didn't think Phoenix's testimony was reliable, even after he corrected himself, finally stating that he and Doug had talked outside the Pharmacology Lab for 15 minutes that day. I didn't blame them. When he finally started talking about "Dollie" in his testimony, calling her sweetheart and raving about her excellent cooking, I hated him. I reflexively slapped Mr. Grossberg on the hand when Phoenix first mentioned her and, while Mr. Grossberg complained about being hurt, he didn't discipline me like I deserved.
I couldn't find any contradictions in Phoenix's new testimony though, so we moved on, with the judge asking how Doug had been killed. I had determined the cause: a live high-voltage electrical cable that was previously hooked up to the Pharmacology Lab to run their specialized equipment. It was the correct assessment, but it looked like Payne was prepared for that, getting smug when I pointed out the wire in the photo.
"Don't toy with me, old man!" I exclaimed irritably as I waited for him to make his point. I had little patience for prosecutor bravado today. I didn't have any patience for it during my first case either, but I at least kept the snark in my head.
Payne stated that Phoenix's fingerprints were on Doug's leather jacket, indicating that it was likely that Doug had been pushed into the wire by Phoenix. Phoenix hadn't lied per se in his last testimony, but it was a lie by omission.
The judge was ready to declare a verdict right then and there and Mr. Grossberg had given up. "My hemorrhoids never lie. The show is over, Mia. I knew that boy was guilty the first time I saw him," Mr. Grossberg said firmly.
"N-No! You're wrong! Mr. Wright is innocent," I protested. The fingerprints on Doug's jacket were damning but I knew it had to be her.
I pleaded with Phoenix to testify more. "You still haven't told us the truth, the whole truth. If you don't say something now, the judge is going to hand down his verdict!"
Phoenix looked worried. He must have done something really bad. "B-But I... I can't! I-I just can't say it! If I told you what really happened, then I'd b-be..." He didn't finish his thought.
I was nervous about what he might say, but I had to be brave for both of us. "It's okay, Mr. Wright. I'm your attorney. You can trust me," I said confidently. He started to object but I cut him off, "No matter what it is you have to say, I believe in you, and I'll represent you to the very end."
Phoenix didn't say anything, so Payne resumed his badgering of the judge in order to render a verdict. Finally, Phoenix blurted out that he had pushed Doug, and it was all his fault that Doug had died. Uh-oh. I knew what he was going to say was bad, but I didn't think it would be this bad.
The judge was shocked at such an admission from a defendant, but he let Phoenix continue his testimony.
"P-Please! Please give me one more chance to explain! This time I swear, I swear I'll tell the whole truth!" Phoenix declared. "It'll be okay, won't it, Miss Fey? I-I believe in you!"
"Oh! Um, th-thank you," I responded uncertainly. Maybe I was too confident earlier, but I had to keep pretending like he'd be okay.
Phoenix's testimony was concerning, explaining how angry he was at Doug for talking badly about Dahlia. It was the perfect motive. Finally, he gave me something to work with, explaining how Doug fell on his "cheap umbrella" and broke it after Phoenix had pushed him. Phoenix was still being petty even though his romantic rival was dead.
That petty line was the testimony I needed though. The umbrella was several feet away from Doug in the crime scene photo and not underneath him. He had to have gotten up after Phoenix shoved him. I pointed out the discrepancy.
Payne was on his back foot for only a moment, before revealing that he had an ace up his sleeve. One more secret witness to testify: Dahlia Hawthorne. He was smug again, but he became concerned when I was smug back. I had been waiting for him to do this. I wanted to put her on the stand, but I didn't have a valid reason before. The judge called a recess and said we'd resume the trial with Dahlia's testimony after the break.
The bombshell reveal I was looking for, but didn't see in the case files last night, happened while Mr. Grossberg and I chatted in the defendant lobby with Phoenix. He told us where he and Dahlia met: the courthouse, eight months ago. She gave him a bottle necklace as a token of their love, and he refused to return it to her when she asked. She needed him to hide it for her that day, but then she wanted it back to destroy it.
I guessed their anniversary date and Phoenix was shocked. I produced the newspaper clipping of Diego's poisoning and showed it to Phoenix and Mr. Grossberg. The papers had misreported it as a murder, but I didn't tell Phoenix that. I needed him to hate Dahlia as much as I do.
Finally, after seeing the clipping, Mr. Grossberg understood why I took the case. I had corrected him this morning when he called today my first case again, but he still hadn't clued in. After reading the article, he jumped to my aid. He hadn't been very helpful today so far, but he offered to go down to the courthouse library to see if he could find Diego's case files for me.
Seeing the article gave Phoenix pause, but I didn't have enough time during the recess to talk to him about it and determine if he had second thoughts about his "Dollie". Two guys whose feelings on Dahlia were crystal clear though were the judge and Payne, eating out of the palm of her hand from the moment she stepped on to the stand. Meanwhile, the sweet Dahlia called me "madame" and "hag" and they didn't even bat an eye.
They didn't press her on anything, no matter how preposterous. Dahlia didn't hear the electrical cable snapping, a loud noise everyone in the area had heard, because she had headphones on. She was scared of thunder and lightning and needed to block out the sound. Fair enough, but when I pointed out that maybe a lightning bolt killed Doug instead of the cable, Payne revealed that there was no thunder and lightning reported in the area that day. We somehow moved on from her lie without a second thought.
I had Payne in knots though when I pointed out that Phoenix's shove may have severed the electrical cable, but it couldn't have killed Doug as the live wire and the location where Phoenix shoved him were several feet away. Another person would have to have shoved Doug into the wire, or at the very least, Phoenix would have needed to return to the scene to shove him again.
Dahlia, seeing the prosecution struggling, stepped in with the latter theory, throwing her dear "Feenie" under the bus by claiming that he had pushed Doug, broke the wire, and then pushed Doug again to kill him. She claimed to have seen both pushes but had previously testified that she had seen neither. Once again, I pointed out her lies and the judge allowed the perjury to go unpunished.
Finally, I accused her outright. We had proven with the affidavit from the Pharmacology Lab students and Doug's wristwatch, which had stopped when he was electrocuted, that there was a ten-minute period between Phoenix's first shove and the final killing blow. Dahlia was allegedly just sitting there, with her headphones on, watching her boyfriend kill her ex-boyfriend. Her alibi was so absurd that I felt confident enough to conclude that her entire narrative was a fabrication and that she committed her crime during that ten-minute window.
After my accusation, I found out how Phoenix felt about everything. He had remained silent even while his girlfriend sold him down the river. "Please, please strike everything the defense said just now from the record!" he yelled out.
"What the...? Are you daft?" I replied with amazement. If we allow her sequence of events to rest, he'll go to jail and potentially death row.
"You're totally wrong, Miss Fey! Dollie, she...she couldn't do something like that!"
The bailiff escorted Phoenix out of the courtroom for his outburst just as Mr. Grossberg was returning from the courthouse library. He had the police record for Diego's case with him. "Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was hoping for!" I exclaimed graciously.
"You'd better take a good look at it. It, er, details how you came to lose your boyfriend," Mr. Grossberg said solemnly. The word boyfriend sounded so unnatural coming out of his mouth. He never liked the idea of people dating at the firm and his tone supported that. However, he had to know now that this wasn't just a stupid or meaningless fling.
I looked through the files briefly. Dahlia bristled at the idea of killing Doug and pinning it on Phoenix, claiming she had no motive. I had a feeling that Diego's case would illuminate her motive clearly. "Your Honor. The defense requests further testimony from Ms. Dahlia Hawthorne!" I stated.
"F-Further testimony? What about?" the judge replied quizzically.
"About the events of the day when she first met the defendant, Mr. Phoenix Wright."
Payne objected, of course, saying that this had no relevance to the case, but I pushed back hard. The judge agreed with me and allowed this line of questioning. The bailiff had permitted Phoenix to return to the courtroom, but he was liable to get kicked out again as he kept making stupid comments from the peanut gallery during Dahlia's testimony.
While the judge had allowed me the grace to talk about August 27th, I still had an uphill battle. I was successful in getting Dahlia to admit that she wasn't at the courthouse that day due to "fate" or to write a research paper. Whenever I tried to press her for more details though, Payne objected, and the judge sustained all of his objections.
When I asked her about the poison, and she claimed to have no way of accessing it, she gave me an opening to counter. I brought up Doug's lab and how she had more access to poison than most people. She volleyed back that they found nothing on her, but that argument meant nothing now. After talking to Phoenix and seeing his bottle necklace, it was clear what had happened.
"The day that the witness met and fell for Mr. Phoenix Wright was eight months ago, August 27th. The very same day as the poisoning incident. Under the pretense of love, the witness gave my client a present. All for the purpose of hiding the one piece of evidence that would give her away!" I explained.
"What? Are you saying there's a deadly poison in here?" the judge responded disbelievingly.
"No, there's no longer any poison in that bottle. However, I'm certain if the crime lab were to analyze it, they would find a trace amount!"
Dahlia blubbered and her knight in shining armor, Phoenix, came in to protect her, objecting and claiming that it was all a lie. I tried to get him to see reason, but he wouldn't listen. He started wailing too and ran out of the courtroom, bumping into me on his way out. I got a little dizzy but, when I came to, I noticed that the necklace, which he had lent me earlier during recess, was gone. He took it back on his way out, as the bailiff was chasing him.
"Foolish boy! That's the only thing that could have saved him. What in blazes are we supposed to do now?" Mr. Grossberg remarked futilely.
Once the bailiff wrangled Phoenix back in here, I demanded that he give the necklace back.
Phoenix was sheepish. "I ate it," he finally said.
"You what?" I asked. What an effing idiot. This was his ticket to freedom. Not only that, but there could be traces of poison on there. I shook my head angrily. I don't know why he was with Dahlia anyway. After swallowing that glass bottle, it was clear that his talents were being wasted on women.
Payne had the same thought. He concluded that Dahlia was innocent after all, at least of Diego's poisoning, because Phoenix had swallowed the bottle and had suffered no ill effects. I argued that it was possible that there wasn't enough residue, or that the poison had lost its potency.
The judge was about to move on when Phoenix had a change of heart, asking the judge to "hold it".
"Mr. Wright, what are you trying to say?" I asked.
"Um, there's something I forgot to tell you," Phoenix said tentatively. He explained that Doug had told him about another poison theft at the lab, the day before Doug had been killed. He shoved Doug out of anger, but feeling worried, he went back to check on him ten minutes later, only to find Dahlia crouched over Doug's body.
This reveal just made the whole crime even more sinister. Not only had Dahlia killed Valerie, coaxed Terry into suicide, poisoned Diego, and electrocuted Doug, but her original plan was to kill Phoenix rather than frame him for murder. I told the court that Dahlia had stolen the poison to kill Phoenix because he refused to give her the bottle necklace back.
Phoenix, although he just helped me, couldn't accept this reality. Luckily, Dahlia's mask finally slipped, and she gave him a rude awakening. "Feenie, what a joke you are," she said venomously. "Honestly, how can any woman ever count on you for anything? I even told you time and time again to keep your trap shut about me and that necklace. You disgust me!"
"Ms. Hawthorne," the judge said, appalled.
"It appears that this trial will be coming to an end soon," I said victoriously.
"Fine. I can tell you plan on making me into a criminal no matter what I say!" Dahlia pouted.
"You are a criminal, Ms. Hawthorne!" I corrected.
"We'll see about that. But first, where's your evidence? It seems your sniveling little crybaby of a client has eaten the bottle as a snack."
She had a point. Once again, it was apparent that she was guilty, but we didn't have the proof. I couldn't go through this again. I couldn't have another Terry Fawles. Another Diego. I had nothing though. While Dahlia was sassing the judge, him completely alarmed by her 180° turn, I tried to think of something I could use to convict her, but I couldn't. I objected anyway.
When the judge asked me what I was objecting to, I had nothing. The judge wasn't on Dahlia's side anymore, but I wasn't allowed to badger her either. I needed evidence.
"Stop, Mia! If you keep on pushing without any evidence, you could pay the ultimate price as a lawyer!" Mr. Grossberg warned.
"Ultimate price?" I asked.
"You'd be forced to take off your attorney's badge forever, I'm afraid," the judge explained.
Lose my badge? I had wanted this since I was a kid and had worked tirelessly to earn it. I couldn't throw it all away. Then again, I couldn't allow her to get away with murder. I was here today to avenge Diego, and to make her pay. I would have to try. If I gave up now, I might as well just throw away my badge. Hopefully I can come up with something. I pressed on. "Your Honor! The defense would like to present proof!" I stated confidently.
The judge didn't want me to waste the court's time by presenting piece of evidence after piece of evidence until I landed on something. He would only allow one. I paused and thought hard as I made my selection. I thought about what Diego used to say: "once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth." I tried to view the evidence through that lens and only one piece seemed plausible.
"Here it is, your Honor! The evidence that will prove her guilt once and for all." I presented Phoenix's bottle of Coldkiller X, the cold medicine he lost at lunch time that day and was found in Doug's hand after he died.
Payne thought I was crazy when I claimed that Dahlia had poisoned Phoenix's pills, but once I presented it and thought over everything, I knew I was right. I explained it to him. "She heard and saw everything that happened at the scene of the crime. Including what the defendant and victim were arguing about, and the cut electrical cable. That's when she realized, I can't allow Doug Swallow to live. She used the severed electrical cable to silence him forever."
I continued. "Unfortunately for her, this is when the problem occurred. Mr. Wright, who she thought had left the scene, came back to check on the victim. And on top of that, because of the power outage, some students showed up as well. It's hardly any wonder that she was, as she put it, in a state of panic. Recall that she was carrying that bottle of poisoned cold medicine. She must have thought: what if they search me like they did eight months ago?"
Dahlia was angry that her plans had been laid bare. "Oh come on now, everyone. Surely you aren't fooled, are you? This stupid woman! She's nothing but a filthy, stinking liar! Right, Mr. Prosecutor?"
Payne, trying to retain his Rookie Killer reputation agreed. "Huh? Y-Yes, th-that's exactly right. It's just pure desperation!"
I offered Dahlia some Cold Killer X pills, stating that, if I was wrong, there would be no harm in taking them. She finally admitted defeat, sort of. "Mia Fey! Mia. Fey! Do. You. Think. You've. Won? Well? Do you, Mia Fey?" she screamed. I was too shocked to answer. She laughed maniacally. "That's. Just. Fine! For the time being...for the time being, victory is yours."
"For the time being?" I asked fearfully.
"Well, I have a very long memory, you know. You and I will meet again. I'm certain of it."
Dahlia was escorted out of the courtroom by the bailiff with plans for her to stand trial on another day for poisoning Diego, the murder of Doug, the attempted murder of Phoenix, and Phoenix's framing. While the verdict wasn't decided yet, I finally felt confident that she would face justice. Her case was going to be a death row case too, making her claims of meeting me again dubious. I was normally very opposed to capital punishment, especially in this unjust legal system of ours, but I made an exception for her.
After the case, Mr. Grossberg commended me for my performance and for my faith in my client. He said that, as a veteran attorney, he felt he had lost sight of what it meant to be a lawyer and that he didn't trust in his clients like he should.
Phoenix was miserable though. Even after Dahlia showed her true colors, tried to frame him, and mocked him, he couldn't believe that she would do something like that. He insisted that she was just a fake and that the Dollie he loved would never treat him this way.
"You need to forget about her, Mr. Wright. For your own sake," I advised. He begrudgingly agreed. "Also, you need to relax a bit more. Try to grow up a little," I added.
"B-But, out of all my friends, everyone says I'm the most grown up!" he countered. Note to self: remind me to never meet any of his friends.
Phoenix told me that he was training to be a lawyer himself and I was confused. He told me he was a fine arts student. He mentioned before the trial that he joined the arts program because of a friend. Now he was saying that he was going to try to get into law school because of another friend. He seemed very easily swayed.
He wished me well and said he would see me again, hopefully as lawyers. I wished him the same although I was skeptical if that would happen. I don't know if he had the temperament for law school. Besides, I'm sure he felt passionate about law school today but, once the dust had settled, he'd likely forget about it and move on.
After the trial, Mr. Grossberg told me I could go home for the day rather than go back to the office for a couple hours. I was invigorated the whole walk home. I finally felt the passion for law that I used to have eight months ago, before I shrank away from it. This result wouldn't un-poison Diego or bring back Valerie, Terry, or Doug, but at least no one else would suffer at the hands of Dahlia Hawthorne.
When I got home, I was still brimming with energy. I wanted to tell someone, but I wasn't sure who would be as excited as I was. I was going to see Maria tomorrow, but I just had to tell her now. I knew she was always dismissive when I talked about it, but it was probably because she thought justice was unlikely. I gave her a call.
The phone rang three times before she answered. "Hi Mia," she said cautiously. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes!" I said excitedly. "I'm calling with good news."
"Thank goodness. We don't normally talk like this. About Diego? The hospital never called me."
"Yes, about Diego. But not the hospital," I clarified. "I had my first court case since the one he and I worked on together. Diego's poisoner, she's in custody. She's going to be on trial next week for his poisoning, and for the murder and attempted murder of two others."
"Oh wow," she said happily.
I continued. "She hasn't been convicted yet, but I think there's too much evidence for her to walk. It's a death row case too," I added.
"Good," Maria said bluntly. "I hope she rots in hell."
I laughed. "Now there's the reaction I was looking for."
She laughed back. "Yes, I tried not to get angry about it because there was nothing we could do. I always hoped she would get caught some day." She paused. "Thank you for bringing him justice. You're a bright girl."
"That means a lot to me, thank you," I said genuinely. "I trained with the best," I added.
I could hear her smile through the phone. "Of course."
"Well, I won't keep you, but I'll see you tomorrow morning, as usual," I said. Maria didn't respond. "Maria, are you still there?"
"Yes," she answered. She paused again. "Mia, there is something I've been meaning to tell you, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe it's best we do it now, over the phone."
My heart was racing. This time I paused. "What is it?" I asked nervously.
I heard her swallow. "I have cancer. Pancreatic."