A/N: It's time, everyone. After many months of a wait, it is time for me to start sharing this final case of the project. Juniper Woods will take on her toughest case yet. I hope the audience will stick behind her no matter what. Enjoy, my readers!

My third case… the one that would show me a side of the legal system I never thought I'd see, and that I never wanted to see. Yet, I don't regret seeing it through until the very end.

I needed to experience it all, to learn everything I needed to learn about being a lawyer. About being a judge.

And it all started by reaching a hand out to a person in need. Someone that's been crying for help for so long now. I was just unable to hear it before that fateful case…

Episode 5: The Dutiful Turnabout

I'm headed to the courtroom, for the first time in a long time. And I feel tired. So very tired.

But this is one case that I cannot afford to miss. I must personally close this story with my own hands.

It's the only way you'll rest in peace… Constance.

Three days ago

June 4th, 2029

O'Conner and Co. Law Offices

10:00 a.m.

It's been almost a month since Hugh defended Carnila Winters in court, and she was found guilty.

I cannot deny that the proper verdict was passed down. Carnila did murder the victim, and she must answer for her crime. Yet, that verdict had an unexpected effect.

That "unexpected effect" took the shape of a live, human person also known as Sheila Winters. After the arrest of her sister, she truly had no other home- not even a relative to take her in.

At first, Hugh considered taking her in, but that didn't work out: Hugh's apartment had no room for a second person, and he didn't want Sheila to meet his parents.

So it fell to Juniper to figure out where Sheila would live. In the end, Juniper's grandmother was happy to take the young child in. For the past month, Juniper's morning routine was to eat breakfast with her grandmother and Sheila, then heading to the law office to meet with Hugh.

Some days, Sheila came along, other days she stayed back home to play in the forest. On this particular day, it was the latter. Which was fortunate, because Hugh was currently in the middle of preparing for Carnila's sentencing case.

"The trial is in a few days. Do you think you're ready?" Juniper asked.

"I am confident I can argue for involuntary manslaughter," Hugh said, adjusting his glasses. "Which hopefully means that Carnila should only spend a few months in jail."

"I hope it works out like that too." Juniper did not mind living with Sheila. But the young girl dearly missed her sister.

At that moment, the door opened, and Myriam entered the office. She had an unusually serious look on her face, and carried a file with her.

"Myriam, where have you been? We haven't seen you since I defended my last case," Juniper said, concerned.

"I promised I would learn more about our mysterious bailiff, and I finally hit pay dirt!" Myriam opened the file, and showed it to Hugh and Juniper. It appeared to be a profile on Bailey as a court bailiff. But as soon as they read the name, they had to stop.

"The first name here is masculine...huh?" Juniper thought for a moment she was seeing things. "I thought her name was Bailey? And why is her last name Courte?"

"One step at a time, sss sss sss. For one, it seems like Bailey wasn't born female in the first place," Myriam said, pointing to the file. "This is Bailey's birth name. As for the last name, it should be fairly obvious. Bailey is Professor Courte's child."

Juniper found she wasn't as surprised as she expected to be. She hadn't known that Professor Courte had a child. But she also remembered when she'd briefly seen Bailey's face. The ash-brown hair, the deep brown eyes… in hindsight, Bailey was definitely the spitting image of Constance Courte.

"Do you think that the reason that Bailey resents me has to do with Professor Courte?" Juniper asked.

"Hard to say. We'd have to ask her personally, and she isn't the most forthcoming at the best of times," Hugh pointed out. "We still have to learn where Bailey lives."

"That's not a problem! The police file also has that information!" Myriam declared proudly. She turned to another page. "According to this, Bailey has a second job, as a live-in maid for a detective named Tony Smokes."

"Bailey works as a maid?" That was the last thing that Juniper expected to hear. The bailiff only grew more mysterious with every new fact learned about her. But now, Juniper wanted to start to tear away this veil of mystery. Though, she did have a final question…

"Myriam, where did you even get that police file in the first place? This seems like an invasion of Bailey's privacy."

"Don't judge me! It took me a ton of work to get it the clean way!" Myriam yelled. "I had to make up this elaborate story about doing a survey on court bailiffs!"

"But why was it necessary to go into this much detail about her personal life?" Juniper continued, now feeling guilty about this.

"Look, Bailey has been hanging around you and giving you the stink eye for months now," Myriam pointed out. "We don't know what she's planning, so the more we learn about her, the better!"

"Are you sure you aren't mistaking Bailey for yourself? Because the way you describe her sounds familiar," Hugh said, rubbing his left hand.

"I apologized for that already! Do we really want to stand here arguing about it, or do we want to find out what Bailey's deal is already?" Myriam asked.

"I feel like it would be best to talk with Bailey ourselves, so we should head over to her house." Juniper suggested.

If only to apologize for just how much we've dug into her personal life.

June 4th, 2029

The Smokes Residence

11:00 a.m.

The process of tracking down Bailey's exact address took a while, and getting there took longer. As Hugh stopped his car in the driveway, Juniper couldn't help but gape at the residence before her.

The house before her seemed to be a single story tall, but was very grand to make up for it. The various windows were closed with fancy curtains, and the double doors into the house were made of dark, lustrous wood.

Juniper felt nervous as she knocked on the double doors, with Hugh and Myriam standing behind her. After what felt like an eternity, a woman in a maid dress opened it.

"Welcome to the Smokes residence! If you have business with the detective, then-" The woman stopped when she saw the three of them at the door.

The woman, upon closer inspection, turned out to be Bailey. Her ash-brown hair was tied back by a maid headband, and she looked much gentler in a maid dress.

"Hello, Bailey. We came here to find you," Juniper said quietly. "I hope you'll let us talk with you."

"So you've tracked me even here. You have determination, Juniper," Bailey said, shifting into her usual persona. "In recognition of that, I will spare you my time. There is something I've been meaning to tell you as well."

Bailey opened the doors all the way, letting in the trio. The foyer of the house did not let up on the opulence- the floor was lined with plush carpet, and the group took a door to the left.

This in turn led to a sitting room, where the furniture looked like it was made of silk, and the cabinets around the place had liquor or candy.

"This place seems to be advertising it's wealth perhaps too much," Hugh said dryly. "Is the owner trying to show off?"

"Master Smokes created this area for the comfort of guests," Bailey said, gesturing to the various amenities. "Feel free to partake of them."

"Maybe later. First, we want to talk about you," Juniper said. Hearing this, Bailey shifted into defensive body language, but the edge was taken off by the maid uniform.

Myriam approached Bailey first. "Through my keen reporting, I finally found the information you've been hiding." Myriam showed Bailey the police report. "Why have you been hiding this from us?"

The reaction was immediate and violent- Baliey reared back from Myriam, her face filled with fury. "That is not my name, and you will never show it to me again!"

"Woah! You seem seriously offended, Kahk Kahk!" Myriam exclaimed.

"When you say that it's not your name, do you mean both parts?" Juniper asked. "Your last name… are you really Professor Courte's child?"

Bailey's temper cooled slightly, and she turned to Juniper. "Forgive me. I lost myself for a moment there. My true name is Bailey Courte. The name on that file is the one that I discarded long ago."

Hugh rubbed his chin as he considered these words. "If this is something that is too personal to talk about, we can stop this line of questioning."

"Your concern is appreciated. However, my story is one that must be told in full," Bailey said. "Especially in how it relates to Juniper."

Standing up as straight as she could, Bailey began her story: "My mother is indeed Constance Courte. She raised me by myself- I've never known my father. But she did her best, even when she became busy with her career as a prosecutor."

"Excuse me? Professor Courte was a prosecutor?" Juniper didn't know much about her teacher's life prior to the academy. But that was the last thing she expected to hear.

"Did you not know that? My mother never made an effort to hide her pride in her career," Bailey said, raising an eyebrow at Juniper.

But it was Hugh that spoke next. "Come to think of it, Professor Means told me that he used to face Professor Courte as an opponent in court."

Now Juniper was remembering something herself. "Once, I remember that she made a statue of a prosecutor's badge. When I asked her about it, she told me that she was inspired by an old memory."

"My Mom's career is storied enough to be passed down for generations. From a prosecutor, she became a judge," Bailey said, the admiration in her tone clear. "Yet, there came a time when she couldn't work in court and take care of me at the same time. So she became a teacher."

"That's when I met her." Juniper clearly recalled her time under Professor Courte's tutelage. The older woman had a lesson that she repeatedly told Juniper.

"In our legal system, the defense, the prosecution, and the judge all have equally important roles to play. If this balance is upset, then you won't be able to reach the truth. Juniper, as a judge, you must maintain this balance, even as you listen to all the arguments."

"Perhaps my time as a defense attorney has biased me. I always expect for everything to resolve itself with a neat little bow, with the client getting their happy ending," Juniper said, clenching her dress. "But recently, I saw that isn't always the case."

"No, it is not. The legal system is human, because it is us humans that run it," Bailey said. "And that means that cases that we see showcase every emotion there is under the sun."

"Okay, enough of the flowery talk! What we want to know is why you've been stalking Juniper for every case she's had!" Myriam demanded.

Bailey tugged her maid headband over her eyes. "...Because I cannot carry on her legacy. I choose to support the legal system from the shadows. The one that must bring my Mom's teachings to the courts is you, Juniper."

Is that what this has been about this whole time?

"Then that's why you look down on me so much. I can't really blame you," Juniper said, despondent. "I'm nowhere near as amazing as your mother."

"...No, truth be told, I'm the one that should be sorry. In her time as a teacher, Mom always talked about what an amazing student you were," Bailey said, still averting her eyes. "And how you would be the light that the legal system has needed for so long."

"Professor Courte really said all that about me?" It was true that Juniper often leaned on her mentor, and the older woman always made time for her. But she believed that Professor Coute was like that with all her students.

"I never doubted my mother's love for me. And yet, I did feel a shred of envy deep inside of me." Bailey finally met Juniper's gaze, and her eyes were burning. "I believed that surely, this girl had parents to run back to, and yet she commanded my mother's attention."

"I don't know what I could say to you. But believe me, it was never my intention-"

Before Juniper could continue, the sound of a bell rang off in the distance. "Pardon me, but it seems I am required. Please wait here, but feel free to partake in some refreshments."

As soon as Bailey left, Myriam said, "I didn't even get a chance to apologize! Geez, she doesn't stop for a second, does she?"

"Did you actually feel bad for being so invasive about her identity earlier?" Juniper asked, surprised.

"You're the ones that asked me to investigate her in the first place!" Myriam yelled. "Look, I'm trying to be more sensitive, Kahk khak!"

"I'm glad you are, Myriam! I'm sure you'll get a chance to apologize later." That left the question of what to do now. "Hugh, do you have any ideas?"

"I doubt Bailey would want to see us again soon. How about we look into another room, just to investigate what this place is like?" Hugh suggested. "I'm sure we could get back before we return."

"If you think that's for the best…" Bailey had exited through the eastern door. So following behind Hugh and Myriam, Juniper exited through the western door.

On the other side of the door was a hallway, which seemed to lead into other parts of the house. But the people in the hallway caught Juniper's attention- Robin's mother, Mrs. Diana Newman, and the Chief Prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth.

Juniper found herself short of breath from being in the same area as the Chief Prosecutor. The older man gave off waves of sternness, even though he wasn't even looking in her direction.

This stood in stark contrast with Diana, who did notice Juniper was there and smiled. "Hello there, Junie! What brings you here?"

"We came here because I wanted to learn more about Bailey," Juniper answered. "Hugh and Myriam came along to help me."

"You came here for little Bailey? I hope she hasn't given you too much trouble," Diana said, sighing. "She's so serious all the time."

"It looks like we won't be able to continue this conversation at present," Prosecutor Edgeworth said, adjusting his glasses. "However, I did want to question Detective Smokes as well as you."

"You're questioning Mrs. Newman about something?" Juniper asked, unsure of why.

"...That is classified." Mr. Edgeworth said shortly. He left in the direction that Juniper's group had come in from. Diana followed behind him, but stopped briefly.

"If you want to talk with me, I'll see if I can make time after the Chief Prosecutor leaves," Mrs. Newman said. "It's been a while since we've caught up, Junie."

"I don't know about you, but I'd like to poke around more," Myriam said. "Let's see what's behind these doors!"

Behind the first door turned out to be a bathroom. While the ceramic was pristine and shining, there didn't seem to be anything else of note. The next door was much the same, being a closet with cleaning supplies inside.

They hit pay dirt, so to speak, with the last door of the hallway- inside turned out to be a bedroom. At the back of the room was a king-size bed, covered in linen sheets. To the right of the bed, there was a cabinet against the wall. To the left of the bed seemed to be a desk, with a trash can under it.

"I wonder if this is the room of the owner of this house?" Juniper asked out loud.

"The profile on Bailey mentions that this house belongs to a detective. And I wonder if we can question him next," Myriam said, pulling her trench coat collar closer to her face. "After all, you have to wonder why Bailey decided to serve him in particular."

Something about Myriam's words sparked a memory in Juniper. "During Mr. Artisan's case two months ago, we learned that a detective sabotaged the case. Do you think…?"

"The only way to know for sure would be to speak with the owner directly. If this is not his room, he is not here," Hugh said. "Do you want to try to go find him, or look around this room?"

"I think if we got caught snooping, we'd get kicked out," Juniper pointed out. "It might be better to meet up with everyone back at the guest room."

"Fine, if you want to do it the normal way…" Myriam said, slumping her shoulders in disappointment.

Juniper couldn't entirely dismiss how Myriam felt. It certainly seemed like this place was a hotbed of secrets. Somewhere in this house could lay the answers to the mysteries that still cling to Bailey, and Robin as well…

To be continued

A/N: This begins the long journey through this final case. The final mysteries show themselves to Juniper. Do you have confidence in her ability to solve them? Do you suspect anything about the true nature of these mysteries? There will be much more to learn. See you next time! Please review.