thecourtscorkboard

[thecourtscorkboard]

Turnabout Beginnings (3-4)

It's time for us to go back to where it all began in 3-4, Turnabout Beginnings: the earliest case in the trilogy.

Sorry for another wait: my hard drive shit itself and died.

Welcome to 3-4, the penultimate case of Trials and Tribulations. Yeah, we're almost to the end: I can't believe it, either! 3-4 is a watershed case for quite a few reasons, providing a lot of context for quite a few core cast members. Is 3-4 a strong start to the Trilogy? Let's take a look!

THE CORE CAST:

Mia Fey: Mia returns in her second and final playable case as the lead attorney. This is her first case ever, and it's not an easy one: and maybe we'll learn why she took a break before 3-1...

Diego Armando: Diego is Mia's co-counsel for this case. He looks rather familiar, all things considered, and is quick to both flirt with Mia and enjoy a cup of Joe.

Miles Edgeworth: Just like Mia, this is also Miles's first case. We get to see a little baby Edgeworth, with his fancy ruffles and all! ...Hey, isn't that the jacket from 1-5?!

THE MAIN CAST:

Terry Fawles: Terry Fawles is the defendant for this case and an inmate serving his time on death row before escaping from prison. He's been charged with the murder of Valerie Hawthorne, his second victim.

"Melissa Foster": Melissa Foster is, apparently, a girl who saw the crime happen on Dusky Bridge. She's our only eye witness, and a rather familiar one at that...

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Valerie Hawthorne: Valerie Hawthorne, the elder sister of one Dahlia Hawthorne, is the victim in this case as well as a police officer, fallen in the line of duty.

Phoenix Wright: Phoenix makes a very very brief cameo in the opening cutscene for this case.

A BRIEF RECAP

Despite our case being our last with Mia, it opens on Phoenix: he seems to be in a hospital bed of all things! He's reading up on the first case Mia ever took, a whole year before they even met. The defendant? Terry Fawles. The charge? Kidnapping and murder. The sentence?

Death.

Small ass laptop for his big ass hands.

Trial, Day One

This is Mia's first trial, so she's understandably very nervous. The first person we meet is Terry Fawles himself, who's swearing up and down that he didn't kill the victim and that he didn't kill somebody from 5 years ago, and the witness who testified against him was lying. He's swearing up and down that whoever the victim is was still alive when he left. Somebody interrupts the conversation, however...

Hey, I've seen this one before! It's a classic!

He enlightens us: this is Mia's first-ever case! This is the one that Grossberg alluded to in 3-1! This fellow, who also works at Grossberg Law Offices, is one Diego Armando: and he tells us that the prosecutor for this case is also brand new. This is a debut match! Whoever this debut prosecutor is, though, he's already known as "genius". I think we have a pretty solid idea of who it is...

...and sure enough, our prosecutor for this case is none other than Miles Edgeworth! He's in a spiffy little jacket and definitely looks a couple years younger. The Judge is different, too. Who's this blond-bearded motherfucker?

Colin Mochrie lookin' ass...

The case is explained in brief. The defendant, Terry Fawles, is on trial for a murder committed two days after he escaped from a police transport. Cool setup. Edgeworth explains that five years ago Terry was arrested, convicted, and charged for the kidnapping and murder of a 14 year old girl. Christ. The lead detective on the case, Valerie Hawthorne, had crucial testimony leading to his conviction. Valerie testified that Fawles threw the child off of Dusky Bridge, a bridge over the turbulent Eagle River that very few bodies are recovered from.

As it turns out, Valerie Hawthorne is the victim in this case. Edgeworth's case is as follows: the defendant broke free from prison and tracked down Valerie to murder her for locking him away. Our first witness is called to the stand; a young Dick Gumshoe!

Well now the expy's obvious!

Gumshoe takes a brief moment to swoon over Mia before getting to the meat of the case. Valerie was stabbed with a knife and carried back to a car Terry presumably stole and stuffed in the trunk: Terry was re-captured at a police checkpoint trying to get away. When asked about blood, Gumshoe says that none was found on the bridge, and His Honor admonishes Edgeworth about basing cases on conjecture. Edgeworth says that they've got testimony that'll confirm his case isn't conjecture, and Gumshoe gets to testifying!

Gumshoe testifies that Terry called Valerie and told her to meet him at Dusky Bridge. This is where Valerie was killed, and Terry was recaptured later at a police checkpoint. Time for our first cross-examination of this case! We press Gumshoe about the caller, and he tells us that it was for sure Terry. After all, she left a note about the phone call: Terry called her and told her to identify herself with a white scarf. There's another part of the note, though. "Talk to Dahlia"... maybe it's not a coincidence. In any case, we get to pressing Gumshoe's testimony more. When we get to Fawles's capture, he tells us that they got him in just an hour: Diego quickly wonders how they got him so soon in such a remote area. Valerie couldn't have mentioned the phone call, so how did they catch him? We press Gumshoe for information about the car. Terry carjacked it from a couple and Valerie's body was stuffed inside. There's something weird about this, though! Gumshoe adds a new statement to his testimony and we get our first objection.

Rather uncomfortable. Eh, I'm sure she doesn't mind.

Remember that Terry wanted her to identify herself with a white scarf. Well, where is it? Gumshoe says that they couldn't find it in the trunk: and indirectly confirms that they didn't look for it at all! Edgeworth quickly shuts this down by presenting the scarf. He got to Dusky Bridge first, conducted his own investigation, and found the scarf. Edgeworth moves for Gumshoe to give a new testimony: about hard evidence that proves Terry killed Valerie. Gumshoe drops the bomb. There's an eyewitness to the murder! He gives us a photo that shows Valerie wearing the white scarf, testifying that Fawles pushed Valerie and stabbed her in the back, which is when her scarf fell off. There's a glaring contradiction in this testimony, though. Edgeworth mentioned that it was raining on the day Valerie was killed. If she was pushed into the dirt, then why is the front of her coat not muddy?

This actually surprises Edgeworth! He makes a quick objection. There's no evidence that there was mud on the bridge: if Valerie fell on something wet but not dirty, then of course there'd be no mud on her jacket. We argue that we can prove the bridge was muddy that day. After all, there's mud on the scarf! Edgeworth decides to throw a quick slur in Mia's direction (yikes) before regaining composure. He agrees that there's a contradiction here; but now the question of "why is there a contradiction at all?" needs to be answered!

Misogynistic much, Mr. Miles?

Diego tells it to us plain in simple. Out of the three pieces of evidence we have—the picture of Valerie's body, the witness's testimony, and the picture of Valerie and Terry on the bridge—there is a lie. The question, though, is which piece of evidence is lying to us? It's rather simple. What Gumshoe told us is the witness's testimony: about Valerie being pushed and stabbed in the back. This is where the link is weakest! Diego points out that we're onto something. If this witness was actually decisive, then why didn't Edgeworth lead with them? His Honor allows Edgeworth to call his witness-

MOTHERFUCKER.

DAAAHHHHLIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dahlia introduces herself as "Melissa Foster". We question her once and she breaks down into tears: looks like Little Miss Umbrella is still a master manipulator. "Melissa" begins testifying about the incident: she says that she was taking pictures of wild flowers when she saw Terry and Valerie begin fighting. That's when she took the picture and then called the police. She brought the camera, and Edgeworth explains that she was in a small clearing near the bridge in a field of flowers. The first contradiction we see is about the photo itself: there's no fighting in it, just two people facing each other. Melissa explains that she ran out of film and simply misspoke. Edgeworth confirms that she really did run out of film. "Melissa" adds a statement to her testimony about Valerie turning around and trying to run away, and this time we've caught her in a lie!

"Melissa" testifies that Valerie managed to run about ten yards before getting stabbed. The thing is, if this was true, then she would've hit a dead end: after all, the bridge was out behind her! Edgeworth counters. The diagram, he explains, was made after the incident. Because there were no blueprints of the bridge, there's no proof that the bridge was out before they made the diagram. This is silly on its face, but His Honor buys it: our contradiction is gone! This smarmy little bastard. "Melissa" gives her second testimony, detailing how Terry disposed of Valerie's body.

She testifies that Terry stabbed Valerie in the back and carried her to the car, assuming that was the only way he could hide the body. When we point out that he could've just thrown Valerie off the bridge, Edgeworth counters by saying this is what "Melissa" saw and no matter what we do we can't change her testimony. "Melissa" testifies a bit more, saying that Terry broke into the trunk of the car and stuffed the body inside. Bingo. How could she witness this?

Rather convenient, all things considered.

There was a large rock outcropping hiding the car from the field our witness was supposedly standing in. When Edgeworth says the outcropping could've just been shorter, the photo proves that it was more than just an outcropping: it was a cliff! There was no way "Melissa" would be able to view Terry breaking into the trunk from the field. Why would he even need to break into the trunk, anyways? After all, he had the key! "Melissa" testifies that she did see Terry break into the trunk and knows he did it because of scratches around the lock. Now how did she know about these scratches?! After all, she couldn't see the car! There's only one answer. Our witness stuffed the body in there herself! The photo of Terry and Valerie wasn't taken by "Melissa". The camera has a timer function, and "Melissa" set it up to take a picture on a timer. It's not a picture of Terry and Valerie at all. It's a picture of Terry and another Hawthorne entirely! Terry had forgotten what Valerie looked like. That's why she had to wear a white scarf, remember? Melissa breaks down and court adjourns for a brief recess so she can collect herself.

In the Defendant's Lobby, we talk with Terry and get to learn this "truth" that Valerie wanted Dahlia to admit. Five years ago, Terry kidnapped his girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne. Ew. Terry tells us something even more interesting, though: the kidnapping five years ago was planned by Valerie, Dahlia, and Terry, and Valerie betrayed Terry by shooting him! Terry and Dahlia staged the kidnapping so they could ransom a 2 million dollar diamond away from Dahlia's father, a high-end jeweler. When Valerie shot Terry, Dahlia took the diamond and jumped in the river! So she's been a criminal her entire life, it seems...

In either case, court reconvenes. Just like Diego predicted, Edgeworth is questioning us for a motive. Why would "Melissa Foster" want to kill Valerie Hawthorne? "Melissa" wants to testify again about her lack of a motive, saying that she was out of the country and doesn't have a reason for hurting any police officer, let alone Valerie in particular.

Familiarity.

We begin to press our witness, asking about the country she lived in before coming back Stateside. While we don't learn what country she's from, we do learn that she never met Terry or Valerie. When we press her harder on a few other statements, she eventually slips up and says that it's lucky she wasn't wearing a white scarf that day. The issue? Valerie's scarf was baby blue, not white. Maybe if it was foggy then Terry would be able to mistake it as white, but how did "Melissa" know that it was supposed to be white? After all, we never mentioned its color while she was in the room! The only time in the trial we mentioned its color was during Gumshoe's testimony! She must've read the note. Edgeworth confirms that the note wasn't leaked to the public and he never told our witness about it. The only conclusion is that she had to have read the note! And who's the only other person who knew about the note? Dahlia Hawthorne.

Edgeworth immediately objects. Dahlia Hawthorne is dead! She was kidnapped and killed by Terry Fawles. Mia asks Edgeworth if he's sure Dahlia is dead. If she was alive, she would be 19 years old, the same age as "Melissa Foster". We finally get to the meat of this case: we accuse our witness of being Dahlia Hawthorne, much to the court's shock!

I'm shocked. Shocked! Well, not that shocked.

Edgeworth finally admits the truth. The Prosecutor's Office conducts full background checks on their witnesses: and this girl is, indeed, Dahlia Hawthorne. Edgeworth immediately takes the angle of a poor girl losing the big sister she relied on: how could she have murdered her rock? Diego comes out of nowhere to have a little back-and-forth with Edgeworth, giving us time to think of a motive. Why would Dahlia kill Valerie? Well, it's not too hard to piece together. Remember the note? It said that the "truth" must come out. The truth, of course, being the fake kidnapping. Dahlia murdered her sister to prevent the truth from being revealed!

Dahlia testifies about the kidnapping. She says that she was kidnapped by Terry, Valerie shot him, and Terry tried to kill her by pushing her off of the bridge. Dahlia then assumed a fake identity to prevent anybody else from kidnapping her for her family's money. A lovely story, but it's just that: a story. If Dahlia was pushed off the river from behind, she'd hit the bedrock below! Edgeworth quickly counters by saying Terry could've pushed Dahlia off the side of the bridge. There are large guard nets on the bridge, however, as proven by Dahlia's own photo. Dahlia jumped into Eagle River: she wasn't pushed! Why did she jump, though? The diamond. She wanted to sell it and keep the $2 million for herself! Why did Valerie meet with Terry, then? Well, she was part of the plot. She wanted to make peace with her past and bring the truth to light.

And Dahlia's façade finally cracks.

"oh ew there's a bug on my hand"

Dahlia drops her do-nothing-wrong attitude and says that we don't have any proof. She's not wrong: but we do have testimony. We call none other than Terry Fawles to the stand! Before Terry testifies, Dahlia tells him that her life in his hands: and that he doesn't seem to trust her anymore. After being given coffee by Diego to calm his nerves, Terry gives his first testimony, saying that he was on the bridge. Nobody was there originally, so he waited. After a while he met with a woman, who he identifies as Valerie, and left. Nobody was killed. This is a blatant lie: we have a photo of Valerie at the end of the bridge after she had arrived first. Terry admits that he got there at 4 and nobody was there, so he went to a nearby temple and dug up a memento that had been left there by him and Dahlia 5 years ago: a trip that took a total of 30 minutes. He was gone from the bridge for 30 entire minutes, giving Dahlia ample time to kill Valerie, dump her body in the trunk, disguise herself, and meet Terry!

And then it all comes tumbling down.

Terry says that if their trust was ever broken, they were supposed to drink the contents of the bottle.

Inside of the bottle was poison.

Terry bleeds, thanks Diego for coffee, and dies.

It all returns to nothing.

Diego shatters his coffee cup, telling Mia that it's not over yet, and 3-4 comes to a close.

What Really Happened?

Five years ago, Dahlia Hawthorne and Terry Fawles made a promise to love each other forever. Burying a small vial under a tree, they both agreed to drink the poison inside if they ever stopped loving each other.

One day, Dahlia came up with a plan to steal a $2 million diamond from her father, a jeweler. Terry went through with the plan out of loyalty to Dahlia, agreeing to split the money three ways between themselves and Dahlia's sister, Valerie Hawthorne. Unbeknownst to Terry, however, Valerie and Dahlia came up with a plan to betray Terry and steal the diamond themselves. Choosing Dusky Bridge as the drop location, the three met. Valerie shot Terry in the arm but Dahlia made off with the diamond, jumping off Dusky Bridge into Eagle River below and making off with the diamond. Valerie somehow knew her sister survived, although lied in court and helped convict Terry for her "murder" by claiming she saw him throw Dahlia over the bridge.

Five years later, Terry escaped from prison after a transfer vehicle he was in crashed. Since he couldn't remember Valerie's face, he requested that she wear an identifying white scarf. To get to the bridge, he stole a car from a young couple waiting at a red light. Dahlia couldn't risk the truth of the fake kidnapping getting out, so she killed her own sister at Dusky Bridge and donned the scarf, which was white instead of blue, to disguise herself as Valerie. She stuffed Valerie's body in the trunk of a stolen car and met with Terry, who had dug up the vial of poison. After they met, Terry drove away with the car, which still had Valerie's body in the trunk. He was then stopped by the police, identified, and arrested for Valerie's murder.

During the trial, as it became more apparent that Dahlia (who was using an alias) was behind her own "death" and her sister's murder, Terry's love for Dahlia wavered. Recalling their promise, he took the bottle of poison and drank it, killing himself on the witness stand and letting Dahlia get away with her first murder.

THOUGHTS

3-4 tries too hard. It tries too hard to make Terry sympathetic, it tries too hard to make Diego likable, and it tries too hard to make everything make sense.

But let's start off with the good. I really like Mia here. In both 3-1 and 3-4 she's been the standout character, and I think she's actually much better in 3-4 than in 3-1 (and she's already really good in 3-1!). I love being able to see her as a novice, and I like all the subtle hints towards Diego being Godot that the player can pick up like how he loves coffee or just his overall design being the inverse of Godot's. I like the bratty side Edgeworth has a young lad: he's the student of Manfred von Karma, after all, and he really feels like he's learned to have his mentor's dismissal and disrespectful side even if it's overblown at times. I like Terry's design, and I think the overall logic of the case itself is rather sound. I really, really like the initial contradiction between Valerie's clean jacket and the muddy bridge: it's a clever one! Edgeworth is given a lot of room to genuinely act like a novice: one of my favorite little details is as you get closer to the contradiction around the scratch marks on the lock he becomes visibly more upset and emotional.

But this case has more bad than good. The obvious is quite literally staring us in the face throughout most of the case: Terry is not a good defendant. He doesn't make a lot of sense. Apparently he's a high school or even college-level tutor despite clearly being mentally challenged, and his sympathetic streak comes to an end once you realize he's in his thirties and Dahlia's a teenager. 2-3 had a problem and 3-4 seems to be continuing the tradition. Even if you want to make the argument that Terry was manipulated for falling for Dahlia, he still fell for a teenager! The spectacle of watching a character die in real-time is cool, and it's executed well, but everything around Terry's death is weird and gross and just makes his character entirely unsympathetic. 3-4 is also just paced weird: it drags itself out needlessly a few times, such as with Dahlia's first testimony having two contradictions. Thankfully, Terry only gets one testimony, so the ending comes quick.

One of my least favorite parts of the case overall, however, is Diego. He's incredibly unlikable: he's constantly belittling Mia, and although he gives her (and the player) some genuine advice that turns out to help quite a bit it's surrounded by sexist undertones and weirdly-phrased dialogue. He's not a fun person to have as your co-counsel, even if he does actually help more than others.

Overall, though, would I call 3-4 "bad"? No. It's just not good. It's decidedly average, all things considered: maybe a bit below average. Its mystery is rather stock-standard, with its contradictions rather blatant and obvious, and this works in its favor just as much as it works against it. For every good character like Edgeworth and Mia you've got a Terry and Diego, with Dahlia and His Honor in particular just being rather forgettable in this case.

Nevertheless, we're done with 3-4. Next time, we're going to be finishing the trilogy! 3-5 is coming up, and I'm excited. See you then!

Overall Rating: 4/10

FAVORITE LINES

"Urrrnngh…! No… I can't be outwitted by this novice bimbo…!" (Hey! Same to you, buddy!) - Miles Edgeworth and Mia Fey, after she points out that Valerie's scarf should be muddy

"You look as scrumptous [sic] as a double-double and a dozen doughnut holes… I feel like I want to hurry up and hand down a verdict just to have a bite…" - His Honor, meeting Dahlia

"F-F-Fourteen!?" (I guess you were robbing cradles before diamonds…) - Mia Fey, after learning how old Dahlia was when Terry "kidnapped" her

"I think we've heard enough empty threats from you, old man." "Ha...! What makes you think they're empty, boy?" - Miles Edgeworth and Diego Armando, after Dahlia's identity is revealed

CASE RANKINGS

The Stolen Turnabout (9/10)

Recipe for Turnabout (6/10)

Turnabout Beginnings (4/10)

Turnabout Memories (3/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

Recipe for Turnabout (3-3)

Prepare yourselves for a night out on the town: it's time to dig in to 3-3, Recipe for Turnabout!

Welcome to 3-3, the third case of Trials and Tribulations. An all-too familiar defendant has been charged... and convicted of murder! It's our job to get her off the hook for a murder she's already been convicted of. Will we savor 3-3 or will it leave a sour taste in our mouths? Let's find out!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Impersonated and slandered, Phoenix returns not just to get his client off the hook but also clear his name!

Maya Fey: Maya returns as our assistant: it's been a while since we've had an old-fashioned filler case with her!

Godot: Godot returns as our prosecutor, this time coming fresh off of two losses against us. Wonder how pissed he is...

Dick Gumshoe: Gumshoe has a personal interest in this case: and he's going to do his best to help us out!

THE MAIN CAST:

Maggey Byrde: Maggey returns as our defendant: and a convict, of all things. Luckily, we're here to clear her name!

Victor Kudo: A rather perverted old man and a witness to the crime. Rather obsessed with pigeons.

Furio Tigre: A loan shark associated with the mafia who breaks a striking resemblance to you-know-who. Has the best theme song in the game.

Jean Armstrong: Part restauranteur, part drag queen (yeah, this is canon!), Jean Armstrong is the owner of Trés Bien.

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Glen Elg: The victim in our case. A programmer from Blue Screens, Inc., who has a aside job of reporting Saiyan's power levels.

Lisa Basil: An employee at Blue Screens, Inc. who knew Glen. Looks like a dollar store Hatsune Miku.

Viola Cadaverini: The beloved granddaughter of Bruno Cadaverini, the mafia boss of the Cadaverini clan. I'd make a joke here but I don't want my name on a hit list.

Winston Payne: Payne makes a very brief cameo as the prosecutor in Maggey's first trial.

A BRIEF RECAP

The case begins with His Honor calling for a verdict of a trial he's overseeing. The defendant swears it wasn't them, but His Honor sees no room for doubt: the victim was alone when he drank the poisoned coffee. The defendant swears that she saw somebody else there, and the scene widens to show a man sprinkling something into a cup of coffee: nonetheless, the defendant is declared guilty... and Phoenix Wright is left defeated?!

One of the game's strongest introductions!

Investigation, Day One

Gumshoe bursts into our office: he weasels his way out of a practical joke by Maya to demand an explanation for our shoddy defense of a person he seems to know, specifically a poisoning case last month! Things keep getting weirder: after all, we weren't involved in a poisoning case last December! Gumshoe hears us out and we come to one conclusion: there's a phony Nick going around town!

...Keep trying to come up with a name, Maya.

Heading down to the detention center, we meet with our client: Maggey Byrde from 2-1! And she's got a cute waitress outfit on. She's furious at us, demanding an explanation, but once we calm her down and explain the identity theft she's willing to hire us to help her out again. Maggey explains that she got fired after the incident last year and that even though she saw the killer nobody believed her, and even other witnesses testified that they saw nobody. They also found poison in her waitress outfit! Great. Before we leave, Maggey tells us about the killer and the victim—they were probably in the music industry, given that one had an earpiece and there was a CD on the table labeled "MC" something. Maya hilariously suggests "MC Screwdriver", with Byrde backing her up with "MC Hacksaw". We explain that there's grounds for a mistrial and subsequent retrial, given that there was no real defense attorney present, and agree to take her case. The game is afoot!

We head down to Trés Bien to take a look for ourselves. It's a quaint little place, and as we look around we discover quite a few interesting things. The first? A magazine from December 3rd: the day of the poisoning! The second? Something written on the magazine itself: "MC Bomber, $100,000"! We head back to Maggey and ask if this was the "MC" disc. She tells us that it was! The $100,000 must be a down payment for a record deal, with the magazine itself... belonging to our victim!

We head back to the crime scene and run into Trés Bien's owner: meet Jean Armstrong, restaraunteur by day and aromatherapist by also day. Apparently he's familiar with us: he was a witness in the trial yesterday, and our mysterious Xin Eohp flirted with him... in court, no less!

Petite is one way of putting it, sure.

We get to talking with Jean. He tells us that last month a man who came in for his coffee suddenly became violently ill because of the poison inside of it, with Maggey passing out after the victim died. Jean didn't see the exact moment of the murder, as he was in the kitchen: he serves as Trés Bien's chef and manager. Jean is sure there was nobody else at the table, and he tells us that an old man who presumably also served as a witness will say the same thing. When we ask him about any possible motive that Maggey could have, though, he clams up: hiding behind Psyche-Locks, no less! Great. We'll have to come back in the future, then. When we check our pockets, though... the Magatama's gone! We can't find it in the restaurant, so we'll just have to look around elsewhere. Before we do that, though, we're gonna go talk to the old man Jean told us about—and he's in Vitamin Park, just behind the restaurant.

The old man with a rather Rudolph-esque nose is Victor Kudo, and he wants nothing to do with us. He absolutely hates us and Trés Bien: but it sounds like he's a regular! ...And it's not hard to see why if you listen a bit closer to his dialogue. Pervert. On one of the fruit-themed benches in Vitamin Park there's a magazine for job listings: it seems to be Victor's, but we take it despite his protests. When we get back to Trés Bien and pull out the job listings, Jean notices them and hires Maya on the spot. Phoenix leaves her to her fate, too amused to do anything else.

Well, we've got no new leads and there's somebody we need to talk to. Heading down to the precinct, we meet with Gumshoe, who's putting off all his other cases to do his job on this one for some reason. Oh, and more good news! The retrial's been approved. Godot's showing up again, too. Talking with Gumshoe about Maggey, it's not hard to put two and two together: the reason he's working so hard on this case is because he's a bonafide love bird!

As a brief aside, Phoenix's relationship with Maya is on fire in this case. Er, in a good way! I love it.

Gumshoe fills us in with details on the case itself. The victim, Glen Elg, was a computer programmer. Maggey never even saw the guy before, and apparently it was his first time at Trés Bien. Despite that, Gumshoe says that a motive was established in the trial! What on Earth could Payne have thought up? Gumshoe reassures us that Maggey isn't a liar, but there were two big problems with her testimony: the fact that nobody else saw the second person at the table and the fact that nobody found the CD. Glen Elg didn't even have a CD player: he had a portable radio. We get to talking about Jean, and after a funny joke where Gumshoe says he can't stop thinking about Jean and then defends himself by saying he's not his type (so... Gumshoe likes twinks?), he explains that he feels like Jean has something to do with the case. What it is, though? He doesn't know and can't take the time to investigate. It's up to us! Before we leave, though, we hand Gumshoe the sports magazine. He might be able to do something with it!

We head back to Trés Bien, locking eyes with a customer—a rather mysterious one, at that—and are greeted by... Maya, in a rather spiffy waitress outfit! Phoenix sheepishly tells her that maybe she should stop being a spirit medium (awwwwwwwww), and it seems Maya's actually taken quite a liking to the job. We try to bring up the lunch itself and Maya goes out of her way to take our order and bring it to us: the food itself is nearly inedible, however, and when Maya tries it she surprisingly can't eat it either.

Not gonna lie: it suits her.

Maya lets us sneak into the kitchen to investigate. There's our Magatama! Now what was Jean doing with it? Taking a few more looks around, we find a collection of poems that Jean's written. Phoenix does his best French accent to read one out, but besides that there's nothing here. The poem itself though sounds suspiciously similar to our poisoning... weird, right? There's a collection of bottles on the floor and we take a look: they're all aromatherapy oils, save one. It's a green bottle, the shape almost reminiscent of some sort of nail polish. Maybe Jean got mixed up. When Maya opens it and takes a whiff, though, it doesn't smell like anything. Not nail polish, then. So what is it?

We head back to the precinct to tell Gumshoe what we learned. He tells us that the doodle on the magazine was definitely Glen's handwriting: as to what MC Bomber is, though? No clue yet, even if it's a little familiar. We tell Gumshoe what we found. He takes the bottle and tells us that he'll send it to the lab for analysis. Furthermore, he tells us that he knows what Jean's secret is: he's in debt. The restaurant is failing, and Gumshoe gives us a copy of his contract. He's $500,000 in debt! Armstrong was desperate for cash!

Now that we've got our Magatama, we can head back to Vitamin Park to talk to Victor again. When we do, a bright pink scooter catches our eye: and out comes a gangster, roaring at us and accusing us of messing with his "bike"! He threatens to sue us and when we tell him our name he's left laughing: after all, he's Phoenix Wright! We've found our Xin Eohp! He speeds away and Victor puts us down for folding so easily. What a basketcase. Anyways, now that we've got the Magatama, we can start cracking Victor's Psyche-Locks!

He looks more like a Rocky villain...

We get to pressing Victor. After breaking through his lie of eating at Trés Bien, Victor lies again by saying he's just rich enough to burn money there. This is another lie: he's looking for jobs! The real reason he goes to Trés Bien is simple. He's an old pervert, creeping on the waitresses! He didn't want to talk about going to Trés Bien before, but now that we know his secret we can finally get to asking him about the murder that he supposedly witnessed. Even though we've broken his Psyche-Locks though, the creep won't talk! Great. We're gonna have to talk to him later, then. Phoenix has an idea though: we go to fish Maya from the restaurant and bring her to Victor. He's not impressed... until Maya channels Mia. That gets him to open up. Phoenix is a little surprised at the lengths she's willing to go, but there's no denying that it works. He folds like a wet paper towel!

...Let me rephrase that. He folds like origami paper! There we go.

Anyways, when Mia gets to interrogating him, Victor admits that he witnessed the murder: and that he saw nobody else at the table. Victor also tells us some juicy info: that Jean Armstrong is an ex-con! More specifically, he's a kleptomaniac and a petty thief. Victor even writes us a little haiku on the time Jean got arrested! Mia is rather pissed at Maya for calling on her for this, but we can't deny its effectiveness. She departs on a sour note.

...What? What do you want me to say? You want a quip?

We head back to Trés Bien to talk with Jean. When we present the Magatama, Jean says something interesting (at least in my eyes): that some "horrible feeling" has come over him. That's fanfic potential, right there. Anyways, Jean confesses that Glen had a lottery ticket for half a million dollars! That's enough to cover Jean's debt. We accuse Jean of stealing the ticket and his first lock is broken. Jean says he's no thief, but we've got Victor's note to prove otherwise. He wants proof that he's stolen from his customers and our proof is right here: the Magatama itself! He stole it from us and put it in the kitchen. His last line of defense is asking why he would steal the ticket: and when we present his loan contract, it's over. Jean folds, although he continues to swear that he didn't steal the lottery ticket. Jean confesses that he did steal one of his tickets, but not the winning one. Before we can say anything else, though, Godot shows up. Apparently he's been sitting there the whole time, and he takes time out of his day to complain about Jean's coffee before explaining that Jean did indeed take the wrong ticket. Godot tells us he's got no idea what happened to the ticket, and with that our first day of investigation comes to a close!

Trial, Day Two

Before trial begins, Gumshoe encourages Maggey and us to do our bests. Nevertheless, he's Godot's first witness: while he wasn't the lead investigator for Maggey's first trial, he is for this one! That's good for us. He explains that Jean and Victor are our two witnesses and gives us the floor plans of the restaurant as evidence. His testimony is rather straightforward, telling us that Glen was listening to his radio, died almost immediately after drinking his coffee, and had traces of poison in his cup. When we ask Gumshoe about Maggey's motive, it's rather simple: she wanted to steal his winning lottery ticket. We press harder—the fact that the ticket was missing doesn't implicate Maggey—but Godot tells us that the ticket was found during a search of the defendant, presenting it as evidence. We keep grilling Gumshoe harder, and Godot presents both a photo of the crime and the cup itself as evidence.

There's definitely not another person there...

His Honor is ready to re-issue a guilty verdict until Godot presents more evidence: Maggey's apron, stained with coffee, and a small bottle of potassium cyanide that was found in her waist pocket. There's a large red stain on the apron that is initially assumed to be blood: weirdly enough, Godot doesn't seem to know about it. Furthermore, he doesn't even seem to see it, as he asks Gumshoe if there is one! It's only ketchup, though. Weird. His Honor asks Gumshoe to continue with his testimony.

Gumshoe tells us that the crime was reported around 2:25 PM by Victor Kudo. Glen Elg's identity was quickly established, and Maggey was both searched and arrested soon after: she woke up from her fainting spell around 10 minutes after the police arrived. As for the identity of the victim, even though he didn't have an ID he did have a bag of prescription medication on his person. The bag was empty, though. This is a lead that we have to follow up on, even though Godot makes fun of us for it! Gumshoe says that nothing else was missing from the crime scene but we pounce on the missing medicine. Phoenix argues that the victim's own medicine could've been the poison used to kill him! Godot asks us to read the bag and it's made rather clear what the medicine actually was. Ear drops. Glen Elg busted his eardrum in a fight the day before his death. He even applied some of it before his death!

There's a stark issue with this, though. If Glen applied his medicine right before he died, then where did it go? The possibility that the medicine could've contained potassium cyanide is there, even if it's improbable, and Godot is forced to call another witness: rather, Gumshoe is. Victor Kudo will come to the stand after recess!

Talk about a lovers-to-enemies arc...

During recess, Maggey lambasts Gumshoe while we prepare for Victor to come to the stand. We try to reassure her, but she's still furious at him: when court reconvenes, Victor testifies that he saw Maggey put something in Glen's coffee. We press Victor harder, asking if Maggey wasn't just putting sugar in Glen's coffee, but Godot presents the cyanide bottle that Victor identifies. Victor is sure that Maggey gave Glen his coffee, identifying her by the ribbon in her hair and the straps on her apron, although tellingly not by her face. They're all features that he would see from the back: he might've never seen Maggey from the front at all. After all, if he did, then wouldn't he notice the stains on her apron?! Godot counters with the fact that she was still the only waitress working the day of the murder.

Victor gives a second testimony, this time about the victim himself. What matters here is the fact that he said Glen was holding a newspaper in his right hand. This would mean he was drinking his coffee with his left hand, but that's impossible. His lip marks are on the part of the cup that would be facing you if you were drinking it with your right hand, with the handle on the right side of the cup. His memory is now being called into question, and he asks for one more chance to give testimony. Godot is on his 16th and final cup of coffee, and Victor testifies that Glen was wearing his lens on the same side as his radio. This would be his left ear: the one that got ruptured in his fight!

His Honor is ready to suspend proceedings until Victor demands time for one final testimony. Victor testifies that when Glen died he broke a vase on the table he was sitting at: the crime scene photo shows an intact vase, however. Victor tells us that his own vase must've been the one that broke.

With that final piece of useless testimony, he gives us an apology note—saying that he broke the vase at his seat—and court is suspended for the day.

Investigation, Day Two

After a brief discussion with Maya at the office, we head back out to do some snoopin'. Our first stop is the police station to talk to Gumshoe: but he's not there. Something else is going on! They're apparently shutting down the entire server. What's happening? It's too early to tell, and none of our business anyways, so we head out. Heading down to Trés Bien, we run into Gumshoe. He's obviously listening to the lottery show on the radio, but when we ask him about it? A single Psyche-Lock. Funny. We tell him about Maggey and the poor guy's heartbroken: and when we break his Psyche-Lock, he admits that he was listening to the same radio show as Glen Elg. They announce the drawings live every day at 1:30. We get to talking about Glen, and he tells us where he worked: a computing firm called Blue Screens, Inc..

Before we head over there, though, we go to snoop out the kitchen. Inside is Jean with a familiar-looking lady, although we can't quite place her yet. She's indirectly threatening to burn down Trés Bien... and speaking in language that implies she's talking to him about his loan. Trés Bien has unsurprisingly been having money problems given its lack of customers, and when it comes to the conversation he's not talking. We show him the loan contract, though, and he spills his beans: the woman was indeed from the loan office that gave him $500,000. They had him do something, his hands being figuratively tied and all, but as for what? He's not telling. He tells us that the loan office is called Tender Lender and wisely tells us not to borrow any money from them. When it comes to who runs it, Jean refers to him as "the Tiger": and he seems to be our phony Phoenix.

Honestly, I rather like Armstrong's character design.

Before we leave Trés Bien, Gumshoe stops us. He's heading back to the precinct. Before he leaves, though, he gives us a lunchbox of hot dogs and rice: it's an apology present for Maggey. How thoughtful! We run to Blue Screens and meet one of the company directors, Lisa Basil. She explains that Blue Screens is a data analysis and software development company, developing and producing their software on CDs. This could be where MC Bomber came from! She says that we're welcome to take a look at Glen's desk to look for any clues, but she can't tell us much because the crime itself had little to do with Blue Screens. Talking about Glen himself, Lisa lets it slip that he was in trouble: when we ask her for a bit more information, though, she hides behind three whole Psyche-Locks. Great.

Oh, well. We need to take a look at Glen's desk anyways. It's littered with tickets for horse races, and to top it off there's a horse-themed calendar on his desk. December 3rd is marked on the calendar: that's the day he died! It's also labeled with a reminder. "Meet with the Tiger". I think we know who our prime suspect is: the Tiger himself! We need to go down to Tender Lender to meet with him. He's not in, but the girl from earlier is. She offers us coffee and we explain that we're not there for a loan, but she disappears before we can talk to her. Oh, well. We can take a look around, at least. There's a CD player on the table. The girl comes back to subtly threaten us, but we steal (er, that is, take into evidence) the CD that the Tiger was listening to: and it's labeled "MC Bomber"! Taking a look at the Tiger's shelf, we find a repair bill for $15,000... for a car owned by one "Cadaverini", whoever that is. There are also a set of clothes hung up on the wall, including a copy of our suit: and a paper attorney's badge, of all things. Did they really fall for this?! Finally, there's an ashtray on the table. It's spilled everywhere, and next to it is a book of matches... belonging to Trés Bien!

Before we can look around even more, the Tiger himself walks in. He accuses us of knocking over his ashtray, but the girl from before explains that she knocked it over. He goes from a threatening presence to a whimpering kitten in just a few seconds! He admits that he's our phony, but before we can gather up the courage to talk to him he walks out.

I mean... there's the possibility of it being "both"...

The girl, whom the Tiger called "Violetta" remains, though, and we finally get a chance to talk to her. She works here at Tender Lender, and we get to talking about the incident. Both her and the Tiger were here at Tender Lender, and she finally gives us a name for the Tiger himself: Furio Tigre. She insists that we call him Don Tigre, however, and she tells us that he saved her life after nearly dying. When we ask her about the incident that nearly killed her, however, we're met with four entire Psyche-Locks. We can't get any more information right now, so we're forced to go check out somewhere else. When we leave Tender Lender and go to Vitamin Park, we come face-to-face with Victor Kudo.

After listening to him rant and rave for a bit, he lets it slip that he was asked to go on an "errand" while at Trés Bien soon after Glen's death. He was the one that called the police! It took him about five minutes, as instead of a cell phone he had to go and find an actual payphone. That means there's five minutes of time that are completely unaccounted for! We need to go back to Trés Bien. When we do, though, Jean's nowhere to be found: so we go back to see Maggey instead. She tells us that she remembers things completely differently from Victor: she's sure that it was the other person at Glen's seat, presumably Furio, who slipped something into his coffee. We tell her about Victor looking for a telephone and come to the same conclusion—that for whatever reason she was set up by Jean Armstrong. We get to talking about Victor himself and Maggey says something very interesting. While there was another customer in the restaurant, it wasn't an old man. It was a creepy young woman.

Right! Before we leave, we better give her the lunchbox Gumshoe made. She rejects it outright after she learns it was made by him, however, and lets us eat it with Maya. We have other evidence to talk to her about anyways: she confirms three big things. One is that Furio Tigre is indeed our phony, two is that she hasn't even seen potassium cyanide in her life, and three is that she'd never seen Glen Elg in her life except for when she served him coffee earlier.

This is seeming more and more like the unfortunate truth...

While we're waiting for Jean to show up, we head back to the precinct to check on Gumshoe. It's quite literally on fire: the main server's gone up in smoke! He tells us that a computer virus is sweeping through the station. We get to talking about the case, and he tells us an interesting bit of information about Tender Lender: Furio Tigre's been calling in every loan he's given out. In a funny bit of dialogue the usually Luddite Phoenix has to explain what a computer virus is to Maya and Gumshoe—remember, this game came out in 2008—and Gumshoe tells us the name of the computer virus. It's called MC Bomber. He tells us that a group of criminals threatened to release it on the police station unless the demands they made weren't met, and it seems they've gone through with their promise. Right now the police think it was put up for sale: and that the possible price tag is in the millions. When it comes to Tender Lender itself, we get a name for the mysterious "Violetta": Viola Cadaverini, the granddaughter of Bruno Cadaverini, head of the ruthless Cadaverini mafia family. They control all of the money on the black market, and Bruno apparently cares about Viola more than anything in the world.

Before we leave, Gumshoe gives us another lunchbox to give to Maggey as he kind of expected she wouldn't take his first one. Before we go back to Trés Bien to find Jean, we head back to Blue Screens to break Lisa's Psyche-Locks. It's a relatively simple affair, and by using the lottery ticket he died for we come to the conclusion that Glen had a serious gambling problem. He borrowed the money from Furio Tigre, racking up $100,000 in debt. Basil tells us that Glen would use his "talents" to repay the money: this means that he was the creator of MC Bomber!

Was it, now, Ms. Basil?

Lisa admits that Glen did indeed create MC Bomber, although she likely didn't want to divulge this information for legal reasons. Going back to Tender Lender, we break Viola's own Psyche-Locks: Viola Cadaverini was involved in a car accident with Furio Tigre, resulting in a serious head injury that required a $1,000,000 surgery. He paid the surgery after being pressured to by Bruno Cadaverini, of course, and Viola folds. She admits that what Furio did to get his money was "evil" and gives us her medical file from the accident. We can finally go back to Trés Bien to talk with Jean, but before we can, Furio busts in and beats us senseless to get the medical papers back! He and a pressured Jean go to burn the papers, but they can't before Gumshoe comes in to save the day! He takes down Tigre and gets the papers back.

With that, our second day of investigation comes to a close: tomorrow, we catch a Tigre by his toe!

Trial, Day Three

Before the trial, Gumshoe gives us the bottle we found in Trés Bien back. Trial begins and our first witness is Jean himself: after flirting with Godot—who at least swings both ways, nice—he testifies that Victor's testimony was conflicted because he was experimenting with new décor, namely a mirror between seats. There's still an issue with that: if this is the case, then Glen's HMD would suddenly be on the wrong side of his head! This contradiction isn't much, however, as Godot shuts it down by reminding the court that Victor's memory is shot. Jean gives his second testimony, this time about the way the restaurant is setup: the mirror divided the two halves of Trés Bien horizontally on the day of the crime, meaning that the only seat where Victor could've seen Glen is the seat directly opposite his. Here's a diagram to make that a bit simpler. The crime photo that was presented last trial, however, makes this impossible: Victor clearly testified that he broke the vase on his table, but the vase is intact in the crime photo! This makes one thing very clear. There was no mirror in the restaurant that day. Ergo, the victim was wearing the HMD on the wrong side of his head: ergo, the radio was also on the wrong side of his head: ergo, the victim wasn't the victim at all, as he would've been wearing the radio on his right ear instead of his left!

It's Turnabout time!

Somebody acted out the murder after it had already happened! There was only one reason to show Victor the murder at all: to frame Maggey! Jean tries to weasel his way out of testifying about this, but he is under oath. We make him testify about the phony theory, and he admits to committing perjury; but besides that, we do get testimony that there was no 'phony'. The only people in the restaurant were Glen Elg and Victor Kudo. We get to pressing, and he slips up! Jean says that Victor must've come in around 2:00 PM and Glen started celebrating his lottery win a bit after that, but this is impossible. After all, the lottery show airs its results at 1:30! Godot asks us where Glen's body was. It had to have been in the kitchen: this means that Jean Armstrong, our witness, hid his body! We have proof, too. Remember where we found the bottle of ear medicine: in Jean's aromatic oils, which he stored in the kitchen! In his final piece of testimony, Jean swears up and down that he was pressured into hiding the body by somebody. We know who this is: Furio Tigre. His Honor is prepared to suspend proceedings to summon Furio to the stand but Godot swears he can get him here in 30 minutes, and His Honor calls for a recess.

During the recess, Gumshoe approaches us and we ask him to analyze the fingerprints on the ear medicine bottle: after all, he gets all antsy when he doesn't have a job to do. Court reconvenes and both Maya and His Honor hide under their respective benches, but Godot manages to reign in the Tiger and force him to give testimony. Furio testifies that he knows nothing about the murder, and His Honor tells us that we will penalize any pressing that doesn't lead anywhere. Gulp. Okay. No pressure, then.

We get to pressing anyways, and Furio slips up by saying he was in the office on December 3rd. We know this is a lie, as he was meeting with Glen! Furio lies again by saying he never met with Glen, even going as far to say he's never even been to Trés Bien. We found the matches from Trés Bien in his office, though, proving that he has! (Funnily enough, if you press the first statement of his testimony, His Honor almost brings up when Phoenix ate the poison bottle Dahlia gave him in 3-1.)

Furio changes his testimony again, this time saying that when he walked into Trés Bien he stumbled onto the crime scene. This is another lie, as proven by the floor plans: between the entrance and the victim's seat was a tall partition, blocking his view! He saw Glen, alright. He must've met with him! So who was the phony victim? Simple. It was our phony Phoenix: the Tiger himself! Phoenix dodges under the desk out of fear of the Tiger's roar but comes out to accuse Viola Cadaverini of being the fake waitress. Furio testifies one last time, saying that he was only after $100,000 and had no reason to kill Glen given that he had just won the lottery. He wasn't after just $100,000, though: he was after MC Bomber. After all, selling it on the black market would cover the $1 million he owed to the Cadaverinis nicely! To finish his scheme, he posed as us to get Maggey arrested and convicted for the murder.

Godot asks for evidence, and although we don't have any, Gumshoe bursts in with the bottle we asked him to analyze earlier! Court takes a brief recess and we meet with Gumshoe.

Proving your damn worth, Gumshoe!

We tell both Gumshoe and Maya that the fingerprints don't really matter: we have everything we need to finally nail Furio Tigre. Gumshoe sheepishly apologizes to Maggey and before Maggey can run after him to apologize for her own outburst court reconvenes. Phoenix has cooked up a scheme. Furio Tigre's fingerprints are on this bottle. We pull a nasty trick and lie to Furio: we claim that the bottle is full of potassium cyanide. Furio laughs in our face! That's not the bottle. The bottle of cyanide was brown and made of glass!

...The court goes silent.

Furio has just admitted that he knows which bottle was used to kill Glen Elg, something he could only know if he saw it with his own two eyes: and he would only know what it look like if he poisoned Glen and put it in Maggey's pocket! After all... he didn't attend court at all before today, so he couldn't have possibly known what the cyanide bottle looked like! The Tiger goes down in defeat, roars so loud that he causes a blackout, and brings this case to a close.

...and with it, my favorite breakdown of the game.

Afterwards, we give Maggey Gumshoe's lunchbox. It turns out she actually loves weenies, and all's well that ends well! Recipe for Turnabout comes to a glorious close. Savor it well!

What Really Happened?

Everything began 4 months ago. Furio Tigre, a loan shark and owner of Tender Lender, collided with Viola Cadaverini's car while riding his moped. Viola was severely injured, and to repay his debt—and probably avoid getting killed—Tigre agreed to pay for Viola's $1 million brain surgery by the end of January. When Viola recovered, Furio looked after her both out of obligation and out of fear of Bruno Cadaverini, the vicious head of the Cadaverini crime family.

Furio lent $500,000 to Jean Armstrong, owner of the failing Trés Bien French restaurant, and $50,000 to Glen Elg, a programmer. Glen developed a computer virus called MC Bomber that Furio became interested in: if he could sell it on the black market, then he could pay off his debt to the Cadaverinis. He met with Glen at Trés Bien, where they were served coffee by Maggey Byrde: during their meeting, however, Glen won $500,000 in the lottery. Glen refused to give MC Bomber to Furio, as he now had more than enough to pay off his debt: in response, Furio slipped potassium cyanide into his coffee, killing Glen and stealing MC Bomber. Maggey witnessed the murder and fainted due to shock.

Due to the money that he owed Furio, Jean was forced into helping him cover up the murder. They hid Glen's body and Viola was used as a substitute waitress. Victor Kudo walked in to ogle Maggey, as usual, and while he was there Furio recreated Glen's death: taking Glen's appearance to make it seem like he was Glen. He made two critical mistakes, however, by wearing the earpiece on his right ear and drinking his coffee on the wrong side, which was seen by Victor Kudo: Jean interrupted the scene and yelled at Victor to call the police to create a few minutes to frame Maggey for the crime—he was forced into doing this by Furio because of the loan over his head. The Tiger hid the bottle of cyanide he used in Maggey's pocket and left the scene of the crime. The police came soon after and arrested Maggey, with Furio posing as Phoenix Wright to ensure she'd get a guilty verdict. After Maggey was declared guilty, Furio sold MC Bomber on the black market, keeping the original copy for himself. MC Bomber would later be used to attack the LAPD's offices while Phoenix and Maya investigated the crime and ultimately broke through Furio's deception and cleared Maggey's name.

THOUGHTS

3-3 is a rather average case all things considered. It definitely has the telltale feel of 'mediocre', which makes sense—it was made for JfA, after all. Jokes aside, I really like the premise of this case. I'm always a bit of a sucker for poisonings in particular, and I think the introduction to this case is one of the strongest in the entire game (which is saying something given that T&T has the best introductions in the trilogy).

Maya is hilarious in this case. This is one of her best showings, and Maya and Phoenix's banter is actually on point throughout this whole case: this is a very strong showing all around for them, comparable with 1-4 or 2-2. This case just has a pretty decent cast all around. Furio is incredibly fun and one of my favorite obvious killers, and I just really really really love Gumshoe's crush on Maggey: I ship them pretty hard, and this case is a big reason why. Maggey feeling so betrayed about Gumshoe leading the investigation against her for her first trial and Gumshoe doing his best to clear her name? That's a love story right there. Speaking of love stories, even though I don't ship them I absolutely love all the little nudges towards the Narumayo crowd in this case. One of my favorites is how Maya offers to give the iron fillings she picked out of sandboxes as a kid to Phoenix like a bird, and another one is when Phoenix sees Maya in the waitress outfit and very sheepishly goes "...maybe you should quit being a spirit medium...". They're very cute in this case! I love how he actually leans into her wackiness and plays along with some of her jokes. It's a really nice change of pace from their dynamic in 2-3, which is still fresh in mind, and probably one of my favorite cases for their relationship.

Another thing I can't fault 3-3 for is its art direction. It has some absolutely great setpieces and some wonderful character designs: Don Tigre himself stands out, but I also really like Jean Armstrong and Victor Kudo's designs. The Trés Bien apron is also a really neat getup and I think it fits Maggey and Maya well, although some of the set pieces like Vitamin Park and Blue Screens, Inc. are a little underwhelming.

Unfortunately, this case also has its fair share of missteps. Jean is this case's biggest problem. He's a rather stereotypically offensive caricature of a gay man, and while I appreciate Janet and Shu's work in retconning him to be less offensive and actually more inclusive—including adding that he moonlights as a drag queen, which is why he sometimes uses feminine pronouns and words to describe himself, which is actually an addition I really like—it's still rather crude. Victor is another mediocre addition, although he's not offensively sexual like everybody in 2-3: the only real standout character from this case aside from the core cast is Furio Tigre, but even he's a bit inconsistent in his execution even if he has one of the best character themes in the series. Speaking of the sexual tones of this case, I actually find it weirdly refreshing that they're not danced around: Godot outright says that Victor has a straps fetish, which is just a really funny line. They're a little overbearing, sure, but that's just because sex is a little out-of-tune with Ace Attorney as a whole. They're not case-destroying like 2-3, however, which is nice.

There are many questions I have about the case overall as well. Why can't Furio afford to pay for Viola's surgery if he's a loan shark who can lend out $550,000? Why fake the scene at all: wouldn't Furio just kill both Glen and Maggey or just rely on Jean as a witness instead of creating another one, ergo another point of failure? There are a lot of logical holes that just sink an otherwise pretty good case, unfortunately, despite a unique twist and cool set pieces. It's still a little above average, but it's definitely nothing special.

Next time we'll be taking a look at 3-4 and come close to finishing the original Trilogy! See you then!

Overall Rating: 6/10

FAVORITE LINES

"Well... I stand under the rushing waters of the shower head every day." "...That's called 'taking a shower'." - Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey, discussing her spiritual training

"Look, it's one of those magical boxes that spits out money." - Maya Fey, describing a cash register

"I dunno Jacques about French." - Phoenix Wright, trying to read Trés Bien's open sign

"So the particular feature you recognize about the waitress is... her outfit!? But anyone could wear just such an [sic] uniform! Even me!" "Mr. Wright! You will spare the court any further mental anguish from that image." - Phoenix Wright and His Honor, during Victor Kudo's first testimony

"People have all kinds of fetishes, Trite. We don't need to embarrass the witness." - Godot, after Phoenix asks Victor why he was focused on Maggey's straps

CASE RANKINGS

The Stolen Turnabout (9/10)

Recipe for Turnabout (6/10)

Turnabout Memories (3/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

Outlaw(yer)s from the west

[thecourtscorkboard]

Hey all! Back at it again with another poll.

We're about halfway through T&T now, and I have both the AJ trilogy and the new AAI duology on Steam: which means I'm going to start taking my own screenshots and playing through them myself, yay!

Once we finish the original trilogy, we're going to be delving into one of these two.

[thecourtscorkboard]

The Stolen Turnabout (3-2)

Grand larceny, a grand detective, and a grand exhibition: oh, my! Welcome to The Stolen Turnabout!

Apologies for the wait! Welcome to 3-2, one of my- hey, wait, hold on. We'll get to that at the end! 3-2 is one of T&T's fan-favorites, and we'll see if it holds up to those expectations. Will this case run away with our heart or steal our good will away? Let's take a look!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Phoenix is given his first-ever non murder case, only to realize it's not what it seems...

Maya Fey: Maya makes her 3-2 debut and returns as our main partner after two (2!) entire cases of absence!

Pearl Fey: Pearl returns as our secondary assistant for this case. It seems that Maya has become her more-or-less guardian after 2-2 and 2-4, and we're happy to have her!

Godot: Our new prosecutor for this game and an enigma in many respects. Nobody knows his face, his real name, or what he wants...

Dick Gumshoe: Gumshoe is now under Godot's wing, and all we can do is hope that he's more lenient of a boss than Edgeworth and Franziska.

THE MAIN CAST:

Ron DeLite: The defendant. A bottom boy with a bottomed-out voice accused of being a legendary thief.

Mask☆DeMasque: A legendary thief with everything from a secret hideout to a fan club. Rather lauded for his no-nonsense and no-violence acts of larceny!

Luke Atmey: He looks like the Penguin from Gotham. An all-nonsense and all-glamor self-described "Ace Detective" and the arch-rival of Mask☆DeMasque.

Larry Butz: When something smells, it's usually the Butz! Larry's got a new job as a security guard. This means that he's now officially appeared in every Trilogy game not named Justice For All!

Desirée DeLite: Ron's wife (I'm as surprised as you) and a bonafide maneater. Although she and Ron love each other very much, her shopping habits have been taking a toll on their finances…

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Kane Bullard: Our victim. A scrupulous businessman and the CEO of KB Security.

Adrian Andrews: While she's not a witness for our case, she's here and working at The Lordly Tailor. And she looks great!

A BRIEF RECAP

The case begins on a safe! A crew is getting to it, relieved that a jewel is still safe inside. They're not just security guards: they're policemen, with Dick Gumshoe himself leading the charge! He opens the safe, but there's no jewel. They were too late! The legendary Mask☆DeMasque strikes again!

Nananananananana...

Investigation, Day One

Maya shows up to the office, Pearl in tow! She starts bragging about how they've hit the "big time" and pulls out an article about some special museum exhibit: about Kurain Village, no less! Apparently she and Pearl have been given special VIP passes to go and see the exhibition early. We go over to the home of the exhibition—a department known as "Lordly Tailor" of all places—and meet with the person running the exhibition in the basement warehouse. It turns out it's none other than Adrian Andrews!

I personally preferred her with longer hair, but I'm digging the black top.

We get to talking with her and learn that the job Phoenix and Edgeworth did back during 2-4 really helped her out. That's good to hear! She's looking a lot more confident. She says that it's all very tightly protected as well—and that the stuff on exhibition could go in high-end museums—but the face she's making tells a different story. She invites us to dinner and we part ways on friendly terms.

Tomorrow, though? We learn of something awful: an heirloom has been stolen! Not just any heirloom—the urn supposedly containing Ami Fey's spirit, the one Pearl broke back in 2-2! We get to the exhibition hall and meet with Detective Gumshoe. Talking to him, we learn that the urn was stolen at about 1:30 in the morning and a security guard discovered its disappearance. He puts the blame on some "ace detective", who Gumshoe says just let the thief get away. Hm. We finish up our conversation with Gumshoe by learning about a calling card that the thief left: identifying him as the legendary master of disguise Mask☆DeMasque!

We go down to the warehouse to investigate and meet the one, the only Luke Atmey: Ace Detective! He quickly identifies Maya and Phoenix as a rookie spirit medium and a rookie lawyer, respectively, and begins to elucidate the crime for us. Atmey reveals that he is Mask☆DeMasque's arch-nemesis, even stealing a gem back from him and returning it to the museum that he stole it from. Atmey even says that he was in the store last night: he saw nobody, but the urn still disappeared!

Doesn't he look like the Penguin from Gotham?

After we finish our conversation, Atmey invites us to help with his investigation. Despite his eccentricities, he does seem to be a pretty swell guy. Aside from, you know, making us do his work for him. When we leave, we get a call from Gumshoe: apparently he's caught Mask☆DeMasque! Not only that, but Mask☆DeMasque wants to talk! To us! Going down to the detention center, we talk over Mask☆DeMasque until he shouts to announce his presence.

It turns out that Mask☆DeMasque is a man named Ron DeLite, a rather timid and frail person that doesn't seem to be thief material. He asks us to talk to "Dessie" at his apartment. He also says that he just "lost" the Sacred Urn: weird, right? Heading over to his apartment, we meet Desirée "Dessie" DeLite. Dessie wanted to meet us and explains that her husband can sometimes be a bit delusional. Wait. She wants us to defend him?! It's time for our first non-murder case: we're defending a thief this time!

A new turnabout begins!

We agree to defend Ron, and Pearl runs away crying that we've "sided with" somebody who hurt Maya. Maya is initially rather taken aback herself but quickly jumps to our side: Ace Attorney and Ace Spirit Medium In Training, on the case! First things first, though, we run back to the office to meet with Pearl. She's working fervently as an apology, and we take the opportunity to talk with Maya about her. Apparently Pearl's fascination with Maya and Phoenix's relationship has to do with Kurain Village itself. Only women can inherit the spiritual power that runs in the village, so the village is primarily populated by ladies: there are few, if any, men left in Kurain. Pearl's own father left the village when she was young. That's why she's so attached to the idea of Phoenix and Maya being a couple. Maya's own mother is still missing, but her sprit medium powers let her know that she definitely is still alive. Of course, we know what happened: remember DL-6?

Pearl apologizes for acting out. She runs out to find some evidence to help us and we head down to the exhibition hall to meet with Adrian: she's distraught and spiraling, even as we try to calm her down. Poor woman. After calming down, she explains that she hired Atmey about 10 days before she got the calling card: so Atmey started working 20 days ago. Adrian explains that she just had a hunch. The weird thing? The appraisal value of the urn is practically nothing. It's not valuable at all! So why did Mask☆DeMasque steal it? Examining the crime scene a bit more, we notice a few oddities: there's a weird missing space from a puddle of knocked-over paint and a statue of Ami Fey has moved. The urn's box is also open on the floor and a fancy-looking sword called Shichishito is bent. Questions to answer...

We head over to the Atmey Detective Agency to talk with Luke. Maya asks a good question: if Atmey was watching the hall all night then how did DeMasque steal the urn? In Phoenix's words: what is DeMasque's modus operandi? We ask Atmey about this, more specifically about how he didn't encounter DeMasque, and we get a Psyche-Lock!

What are you hiding, Mr. Look At Me?

Atmey says that he was standing guard and that nobody walked through the door. We have proof that somebody did, though: when checking out the crime scene, we looked at the computer and saw that an automatic camera went off. The camera was rigged to go off if somebody walked through the door: so somebody definitely did! Atmey tries to brush it off as a computer malfunction but he's anxious. There was a malfunction all right: on Atmey's part. Remember the bent Shichishito? He was hit by it and knocked unconscious! Atmey relents. He got in a fight with DeMasque and lost badly!

We think that this might be able to prove that it wasn't DeMasque at all, but Atmey tells us that he installed another camera: and gives us a photo of DeMasque himself, box in tow! Before we leave, Atmey tells us that DeMasque has a very good reason for committing crimes. He tells us that there should be a green envelope in his secret hideout.

Going back to Ron's apartment, we find this envelope. Inside is a blackmail letter! "If you don't want your true identity revealed to the world… come to KB Security at 1:00 AM on October 12th and bring $50,000": this is his motive! Somebody rings the doorbell and Dessie lets him in. It's our security guard... and something smells!

The Butz returns!

So, where was Larry for these last two years? In Tibet, of all places! He had another escapade with not one but two girlfriends. Larry's here to return a wallet he found at work last night: it's Ron's! He's quick to explain—and poorly hide the fact that he just came to check out Dessie. Ron works at the same security company as Larry... KB Security! There's a keycard in Ron's wallet that we take as evidence. Larry tells us that KB Security is about an hour away from Lordly Tailor. If that's true, then he couldn't have been DeMasque! After all, he was on the clock!

Pearl calls us and says that she's in Atmey's office. We rush over there to pick her up and find something odd: a big bag on Atmey's table. Maya eggs us to open it up and we do so, touching it with our bare hands. Whatever it is, it's smooth and hard. Atmey returns just in the Nick (heh) of time to see what we're doing. After a brief conversation where he accuses us of being DeMasque's co-conspirators and tells us the name of the prosecutor—"Godot"—he kicks us out.

With that, Day One of investigation comes to a close. It's time for trial!

Trial, Day Two

Before trial begins, Maya shows us a poster of Mask☆DeMasque she bought. Cool, I guess. Ron is trying to tell us that he's guilty, but Desirée tells us that we need to get him off the hook. We decide to trust her and enter the courtroom to defend our man.

Some spend their entire lives waiting for him...

Meet Godot, this game's prosecutor. At the beginning of this case we know little about him aside from his arrogance and penchant for Brazilian brew—maybe I shouldn't phrased it like that, that sounds like a drug... well, it's got caffeine, so—but we'll slowly learn more about him over the course of the game.

Anyways, it's time for this case to really begin. Godot's first witness is Gumshoe, who tells us all about DeMasque. DeMasque began his crime spree six months ago, sending his calling card before he commits heists: this happened at Lordly Tailor, and Gumshoe further says that the rest of the crime fit his MO. After the testimony, Godot begins his coffee binge and we move to cross-examine Gumshoe. Our job for this testimony is to prove that DeMasque didn't steal the urn. We have a pretty good idea who it might've been, too...

Gumshoe said in his testimony that DeMasque goes after precious art pieces: we present the urn to this statement. It's not exactly high art, and Godot confirms that the appraisers he brought it to could not put a price on it in the worst sense possible. Alright, we're getting somewhere. We're already knee-deep in saying DeMasque didn't steal the urn! Godot wants proof that the person who stole the urn really was this "Fake☆DeMasque". We present the security camera photo: the DeMasque in the image isn't wearing his brooch! Godot laughs and presents the brooch. It's been in his possession! It was hidden in the shadow of the statue of Ami Fey.

Jesus Christ, parasocial! You need to log off!

Furthermore, Ron DeLite's fingerprints are on the brooch. Great. Godot calls in his next witness, dismissing Gumshoe. Zvarri! It's our Lord and Savior Luke Atmey. He makes his judgements and Godot is rather impressed at his deductive skills. Atmey gives his first testimony, saying that he didn't notice DeMasque slip in, was attacked from behind, and knocked out. This is an obvious lie. After all, he had to have ripped DeMasque's brooch off if he was in a fight with him. Atmey is called out and makes a poor defense: that he got mixed up from all the work he's been doing. Atmey gives another testimony, saying that he wasn't ambushed but instead got in a fight with DeMasque. Pressing Atmey, we learn two things: he was attacked with Shichishito, the branching sword, and how he fought DeMasque—by putting his back to the wall. He was knocked out after being hit on the forehead. Now how did he forget where he was hit on the head?

Furthermore, Atmey hid the calling card from the police! Phoenix makes the connection: it was like Atmey was trying to do security by himself. Godot challenges where we're going with this and we put it together. Atmey is Mask☆DeMasque! He was 'hiding' at the crime scene? He managed to outperform the entire police force? He was actually gaining access to Lordly Tailor! Godot objects. We have no real evidence, he says. That's true: we don't. We're forced to abandon this line of questioning...

Deus ex Desirée!

Dessie interrupts the trial! Not only that: she's found the Sacred Urn! It was in Luke Atmey's office! We put it all together. That thing we touched in the bag? It was the Urn! All we have to do is look for fingerprints. Not Luke's, however. We're looking for our own! After all, we touched the Urn in his office. Atmey breaks down and reveals to the world that he is Mask☆DeMasque, bringing this trial to a close...

Until Ron of all people intervenes! He's adamant that he's the thief, even though we've just proven that he isn't. Godot tells him to formally testify about his crimes, and Ron does so. He says that we can't prove he's not DeMasque until we present his wallet. After all, he wasn't even at Lordly Tailor the night of the theft: he was at KB Security, blackmailed into going there! By who? By Kane Bullard, the CEO of KB Security. We've even got somebody that can testify he was there: Larry himself! Godot admits defeat, giving the court the keycard data. Ron DeLite is found Not Guilty!

After the trial, we're congratulated by Dessie. Before we can celebrate, though, Godot shows up... to arrest Ron DeLite for the murder of Kane Bullard!

Talk about 'one of those days'...

Investigation, Day... One?

Let's go with Day One. It's a new trial, after all. This is also one of the shortest investigation days in the game, so we're gonna be going through it quick!

Anyways, the investigation starts off heavily weighted against us: after all, in his larceny trial we proved that Ron was in the office with Kane Bullard at the time of the murder. Before we talk to Dessie, we head over to the Lordly Tailor to give Adrian the run-down. She's stressed out of her mind, but she's happy to hear that the urn is back in safe hands. We learn a few things from her: the most important being that Atmey sent his calling card to the Lordly Tailor after he had been hired. Maya notices something a little off about the Sacred Urn, and when we confront Adrian about it...

Locks on the heart! And you're to blame...

We have no evidence to break these locks, so we go over to Dessie and Ron's apartment to talk. We're roped into defending Ron for Kane Bullard's murder: Dessie tells us that there's no way Ron would be able to kill anyone, let alone his own boss. Dessie also tells us that she hates the idea of Ron being a thief—she despises cowardly men, Luke Atmey most of all. She also thinks that Ron still works at KB Security! She tells us where it is and we go to snoop it out.

Gumshoe is in Bullard's office and is happy to give us the lowdown. He's surprisingly sympathetic to our plight, and tells us about the murder: the victim was Kane Bullard, the CEO of KB Security. He died at around 1:00 AM on October 12, bludgeoned to death and discovered at 9:00 in the morning. So this was Godot's plan from the very beginning! Maya asks why it took so long to find his body and Gumshoe explains that it was stuffed in his own safe. The white string coming from the safe must be in the shape of his body, then. We ask him how Atmey is doing, and Gumshoe is quick to admit (or lie) that he's also been suspicious about Atmey for a while. The weird thing, though? In his first ever case, there was a witness.

Plus that guard looks awfully familiar...

We get to talking about Prosecutor Godot. Apparently he just showed up at the Prosecutor's Office one day! Nobody knows anything about him, and when Gumshoe asks around everybody either ignores him or has nothing of their own to add. Maybe the entire police force is put off by this guy. We finally get to talking about the victim: Kane Bullard was the CEO of KB Security, lending out security teams for companies. He was also a bit of a penny pincher, a millionaire with a shady past. So he was just like every millionaire! KB Security used to be in charge of handing DeMasque's cases, but ever since he kept getting away their reputation has gone down the terlet. This must be why KB was blackmailing Ron.

While checking out Kane's office, we stumble upon a pretty big binder. It's filled with info about DeMasque! His methods, his crime scenes, and a list of all the treasures he stole. The Tear of Emanon stands out as being worth... only $100,000? Huh. There's also a button in his office that Maya presses. It's an emergency alarm! There's somebody who might know a thing or two about that.

We meet up with Larry and ask him about the buzzer. He gives us (read: Maya) more info than we really wanted, though: Ron was fired, as we know, but he was fired last year! Furthermore, he was fired for no real reason at all! We ask Larry if he was here at his post last night and get some psyche-locks. Greeeeeeat. Oh, well. We can break them! Larry says that he was at his post, but since he found Ron's wallet at 1:00 AM—on the day of the murder, no less—he couldn't have been. Larry tries to defend himself by claiming the murderer might've snuck in before his shift started at 10:00 PM, but the keycard data proves that they snuck in by 1:00 AM. Larry folds and tells us the truth: he wasn't at his station. He was busy being assaulted by his new ex-girlfriend's boyfriend!

Yes, we get it, Larry.

Before we leave, Larry tells us about the buzzer. It's connected to the security guard's station, and furthermore that it went off around 1:00 AM on the night of the murder. This is weird, though. Gumshoe said earlier that no fingerprints were on the button! So did the murderer press the button? Why would they do that? We're left with these questions when we go to talk to Ron.

Ron is still adamant that he really is DeMasque. Weird, right? Ron tells us that he did go to Bullard's office, opened the door, and was attacked by somebody who was already inside: this must be our real murderer! It was Ron that stuffed Bullard's body in the safe. He did it in a panic and avoided the security cameras to get out without being spotted. He also admits to us why he became a thief—to pay for Dessie's spending habits. We get to talking a bit more about DeMasque and eventually talk about the newspaper article: the security guard in the photo? That's Ron! Woah. Furthermore, he started getting the blackmail letters after his first heist; after Luke Atmey found his costume! This was the first time he ever got told to go somewhere, but he'd been getting them ever since the Tear of Emanon heist. Inside of the letters were plans: and when he stole the jewels, he was paid for it! Weird. We get a written version of his testimony: Ron tells us that he wanted to be arrested for stealing the urn so he'd have an alibi for Bullard's murder. Tricky.

Right as we're about to leave, Pearl comes back! She's got the urn with her and tells us that she went to Kurain to get it examined. It's the real urn, alright, and those weird pink splotches? It's paint. Recent paint. Furthermore, the urn was broken again! Everything is starting to make sense! We go back to Adrian to break her psyche-locks, eventually uncovering that she dropped the urn and put it back together. The paint is from when she dropped it, as proven by a wooden box the urn was held in also being covered in paint. She tripped on a paint can and the urn ended up in the paint, which she covered up with the statue of Ami Fey. That's weird, though. When we first got here, we couldn't see the paint stains! The statue had been moved! We close out this day of investigation with a suspect on our minds; after all, the theft of the urn and the murder have to be related...

Trial, Day One

Before court begins, Maya tells us about a huge crowd that's gathered outside for the trial. We note that it's a race against the clock: Maya doesn't know what we're talking about, though.

The fifth amendment! The fifth amendment!!!

Godot calls Ron to the stand. His testimony is very short, just about his background at KB Security and the fact he was called to the stand. Pressing Ron for information, we learn that he was fired for selling company secrets: corporate espionage! He adds that Dessie doesn't know he was fired, and before we can point a contradiction between what he said yesterday and what he just said Godot puts the pieces in place for us. Bullard found out about the espionage and blackmailed Ron! This establishes both motive and opportunity. Ron's next testimony goes over the fact that he was attacked. Godot calls it a lie, and we press Ron for more information: eventually uncovering that he stuffed Bullard's body in the safe, taking around 10 minutes to do so. Both Phoenix and Maya think this is weird, and we present the buzzer logs.

If Ron really was the murderer, he would've run as soon as he heard the buzzer! Godot objects, saying that he might've thought there were no security people in the building: but Ron used to be the Chief of Security! There was no guard on duty, either. The only answer is that he didn't hear the buzzer because he was unconscious! Godot counters that Kane Bullard must've pressed the buzzer. This isn't possible: there were no fingerprints on it!

His Honor asks why the killer pressed the button in the first place. We have to think for a few moments, and we piece it together: they pressed the button to call the guard so they would discover both Ron and the dead body, making it seem like Ron killed Bullard! Who framed Ron for the murder?

There's only one person who would want to do this.

We're starting to catch on to his scheme!

"Theft and murder," Phoenix asks. "Which is the more serious crime?" If Luke is convicted of stealing the Urn, then he has an alibi for Bullard's murder! We ask to call in Luke as a witness at risk of Ron's case and His Honor agrees. We intrude on the trial, with Winston Payne making a cameo prosecuting, accusing Luke of being Bullard's murder.

During the recess, we confide in Maya that we heard Mia's voice: Maya wonders if Mia still lives on in our spirit. Dessie and Maya point out two big questions: wasn't Luke at Lordly Tailor? Furthermore, what would be his motive? We go back into court with these questions in our mind and Luke on the stand. He's still insisting that he's DeMasque and gives his first testimony, detailing his alibi: the photo that captured him leaving Lordly Tailor was taken at the same time as the murder. We get to pressing, eventually learning two things: Luke is adamant that he is in the photo, and that he couldn't have altered the timestamp on the photo. We know this photo has to be a fake, though! After all, the statue of Ami Fey should be covering up the paint stain in the photo...

...but it isn't!

Who moved the statue on the night of the crime? After all, it was way too heavy to be accidentally pushed into the corner. Luke moved it for one reason: to make it look like it was taken earlier! The timestamp cannot be altered. But what about the date? Atmey noticed the statue was moved the day of the "theft". Godot points out that we've only presented a possibility, however. Atmey testifies that he never saw the urn before he stole it. This is impossible. After all, his calling card says that he wants Lordly Tailor to take good care of the "speckled" urn. Now he could he know the urn was speckled? With the paint it was dropped in, no less! Simple: he saw it before he sent the calling card!

Godot is still standing strong. We have no motive! The only person with a motive here is Ron: after all, he was being blackmailed. Atmey testifies that he had no contact with Bullard at all: it was Bullard who blackmailed Ron, incorrectly identifying DeMasque. Godot points out that handwriting analysis indeed confirmed that it was Bullard's handwriting. This is getting sticky...

There's one major flaw with his reasoning. Remember the newspaper clipping? The Tear of Emanon is blue: but Bullard said he wanted the "red jewel that you stole the other day". Bullard wasn't blackmailing Ron at all! He was blackmailing Luke! Remember? He "recovered" something DeMasque stole and got the red jewel as a reward, which he fashioned into his ring! What was Bullard blackmailing Luke about? Well, the fact that Luke himself is a blackmailer: he's Ron's!

The cracks show!

Luke came up with all of Ron's plans and was demanding the money from his ransoms. Luke discovered the costume that Ron hid in the bucket, blackmailed him, and then was blackmailed by Bullard himself. Luke goes off the chain, screaming obscenities at both us and the gallery! Godot is quick to intervene. There is no proof that Luke was at KB Security. Furthermore, if he's found guilty of being DeMasque, then he'll be considered innocent of Bullard's murder: after all, it's his alibi! We're finished...

...until Mia intervenes, channeled by Maya! She demands that Luke gives one final testimony. If we can't find anything with one single press, Godot warns, then this trial will be over: and Luke will walk free, convicted for grand larceny. This is our last shot!

Luke's final testimony details where he was on the day of the murder. He was dealing with another job as an Ace Detective, and he deduced on his own time that Ron was behind Bullard's murder. He slips up, though. He reveals that he knew Ron was wearing his DeMasque outfit: a fact that he simply could not have known if he wasn't in the CEO's office on the night of the murder with him! Ergo, he was the one that hit Ron; he was the one that pressed the button; he was Kane Bullard's murderer!

With nowhere else to go... Luke confesses to his crimes.

It's finally over...

After the trial, we talk to Ron. He thinks his marriage is over now that Dessie knows he was DeMasque, but Dessie is actually very happy to hear it: she likes a brave man, after all, and what's braver than a man who goes against his own convictions to help the people around him? After a pretty funny interlude where Pearl slaps us for blushing at Dessie's complements, The Stolen Turnabout comes to a close!

What Really Happened?

A year ago, Ron DeLite was fired from his job as a security guard for KB Security by its CEO, Kane Bullard, for selling company secrets to fund his wife Dessie's spending habits. Out of desperation he became the legendary thief Mask☆DeMasque and began stealing high-end treasures—ransoming them back at exorbitant prices to cover Dessie. This caught the eye of Luke Atmey, a private investigator, who began to blackmail Ron into stealing treasures and giving him cuts of the money: essentially serving as the Bain to his Dallas, planning out his heists and telling him where to deliver the stolen goods. For his help in stopping DeMasque, Atmey was awarded a large ruby ring. Bullard learned about the ring's value and of the deal between Atmey and Ron, blackmailing Atmey into giving him the ring or paying $50,000.

At the same time, the Lordly Tailor was opening an exhibition with Kurain Village and showing off treasures from Fey Manor. One of these treasures was the urn Ami Fey's spirit was reportedly held in, as well as the urn Pearl broke in 2-2. Adrian Andrews dropped the urn, however, and put it back together but couldn't wipe off the paint she dropped it in. To cover up her mistake, she moved a large statue of Ami Fey to cover up the paint stains near the door.

Fearing something would happen to the Urn, Adrian hired Atmey. He came up with a plan to murder Kane and get away with it. Ten days before he was due to meet with Bullard, Atmey posed as DeMasque, sent a fake calling card, and pretended to steal the urn from Lordly Tailor after they began an exhibit on Kurain Village: making sure to catch himself on tape at 1 AM to give himself an alibi, as he could change the date of the photo but not the timestamp. Ten days later, on the deadline of Bullard's blackmail letter, he was forced to move the statue of Ami Fey to make his photo appear genuine, and actually stole the Urn. He then met with Bullard and murdered shortly before 1 AM: when Ron appeared in the office to meet with Bullard, Atmey knocked him out and sounded the alarm. The guard on duty, Larry Butz, was meeting with his girlfriend and didn't respond to the alarm.

When Ron woke up, he panicked and stuffed Bullard's body in the safe: at the same time, Atmey returned to the Lordly Tailor and bent the Shichishito sword to pretend he was attacked by DeMasque. Ron was arrested for the theft, but threw a wrench into Atmey's plans by confessing to being DeMasque: forcing Atmey to improvise, ultimately leading to the lies that unraveled and revealed his intricate plot. Godot foolishly charged Ron DeLite for all of DeMasque's crimes, letting him walk off scot-free for his thefts, and before Atmey could be convicted for the theft of the Sacred Urn Phoenix uncovered his murder of Bullard.

THOUGHTS

3-2 is very handily my favorite case from T&T. It has my favorite turnabout and my favorite cast: I really like Godot's first appearance, which is also by far his strongest, and I think his taking command falling apart once he's seriously challenged is a really cool way of demonstrating than expositing how much of a rookie he really is. He's kind of an inverse of Phoenix in this way!

Luke Atmey is an incredibly fun villain and Ron is one of my favorite defendants in the franchise. I also love the dual trial gimmick, and finally having another case where Maya is our main partner is a breath of fresh air. I love Pearl, of course, but Maya is the classic for the reason. She's on top of her game here, and having both Mia and Winston Payne making brief cameos is really cool! There's a lot of really cool little details in this case too, like the folding screen from 2-2 being there. Furthermore, Ace Attorney is very heavily inspired by Columbo, a rather famous detective show, and 3-2 wears this influence on its sleeve. When Phoenix says that his own fingerprints will be on the urn in the first day of trial, this is a thinly-veiled reference to the episode Suitable for Framing: Columbo proves who the killer is by touching paintings that he stole and searching for his own fingerprints on them!

Also, fun fact. Ron DeLite is explicitly based off of yaoi characters. Tatsuro Iwamoto, the lead artist for the Trilogy, learned that many AA fans are also fans of yaoi (gee, I wonder why) and took inspiration from the BL manga he read. Speaking of character designs, I really like Adrian's. Not only is the sleeveless top still kinda hot er, really cool, but she's got a different color. She's now trying to become independent: she's no longer covered in sky blue, or "Celeste", anymore. This isn't my own observation—credit to hellisthis on Pixel Partner's playthrough—but it's still really really cool. I love little character details like this, such as Damon Gant literally having rose-tinted glasses.

Anyways! This is an incredibly solid case with very few flaws. The misuse of "double jeopardy" is its biggest problem, and Larry isn't really great here��although he is funny, and I like the detail that he really tried to be gay for Phoenix but couldn't make it work, but he has some very creepy lines with both Maya and Pearl that remind me a bit too much of 2-3: he's certainly no 1-4 Larry—but overall? It's a fantastic case and the best T&T has to offer. Next time, we'll be covering Recipe for Turnabout. See you then!

Overall Rating: 9/10

FAVORITE LINES

"And if it's too long for you, you can just call him 'Dick'." - Maya Fey to Pearl, talking about Gumshoe's name

"Zvarri!" - Luke Atmey, multiple times

"He doesn't seem like your typical attention whore to me. Unlike, say... you, Nick." - Maya Fey, during Ron's testimony

"Phoenix Wright... Ace Attorney." - Phoenix Wright, introducing himself to Luke Atmey

"You did it, didn't you?" "Yes." "What?" - Godot, Ron DeLite, and Phoenix Wright, right before Ron's first testimony during the second trial

CASE RANKINGS

The Stolen Turnabout (9/10)

Turnabout Memories (3/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

Would y'all be down for some more general posts between reviews about AA details/brief asides about characters we've covered? I want this blog to be more than just reviewing cases and material, and I feel like giving my thoughts and opinions on stuff would both encourage conversation and add to the overall "feel" of this blog.

[thecourtscorkboard]

Turnabout Memories (3-1)

For the first time, we're not playing as Phoenix: we're defending him on charges of murder in Turnabout Memories!

After a well-rested holiday break, we're back! 3-1 marked a cornerstone for the series going forward: multiple protagonists! This is the first case of the final game in the trilogy: are our memories of this case rose-tinted or is it better than we remember? Let's take a look!

THE CORE CAST:

Mia Fey: For the first time in the entire series, the main defense attorney for this case isn't Phoenix—it's the late Mia Fey, in her prime!

Phoenix Wright: Phoenix is an art student in college and the defendant for this case, charged with murder for the first—and as we know not the last—time in his life!

Winston Payne: We get a look at a young Winston Payne here, pompadour and all.

THE MAIN CAST:

Dahlia Hawthorne: Phoenix's girlfriend, a literature student at Ivy U, and a witness in this case, trying to get her own partner convicted for murder!

Doug Swallow: Yeah, he looks like he does. Jokes aside, he's our victim in this case and a fellow Ivy U student: specifically in pharmacology.

A BRIEF RECAP

Two men are arguing. One of them is telling the other to stay away from a girl, and the argument escalates with the one of them pushing the other to the ground: the camera pans up and we're met with the culprit... Phoenix?!

He looks like a Sim, doesn't he?

Trial, Day One

When we load into the case, we find that we're not playing as Phoenix: we're playing as Mia, of all people! That's right: this case takes place five short years ago, at the beginning of Mia's career.

Says the guy who sold out her mother...

Our co-counsel for this case is Marvin Grossberg: dressed in his Sunday best, I might add! When we finally get to meet Phoenix he's a stark contrast from his usual self—instead of sarcastic and a bit cynical, he's over-the-top and a little balls-to-the-wall like a certain Butz we know. He's got the mother of all head colds, it seems, but before we can really get into the conversation it's time for us to head into the courtroom.

Our prosecuting attorney for the day is Mr. Winston Payne himself: not looking too shabby, either, what with the pompadour and all. He's definitely a bit of a jerk in this trial, but he's more than willing to lay out the facts for us. Phoenix Wright allegedly killed another student named Doug Swallow, and students discovered Doug's body alongside Phoenix who allegedly bungled his getaway. Great.

The cause of death is rather strange, as well: Doug was electrocuted! Furthermore, there was quite a bit of bad blood between Doug and Phoenix due to Phoenix's girlfriend, Dahlia Hawthorne. Wait. Phoenix has a girlfriend?! ...Huh. Okay. Anyways, apparently Doug had warned Phoenix to stay away from her: and, according to the prosecution, died for it.

The first witness today is Phoenix himself.

He looks like one of those soggy cat pictures.

Phoenix testifies about his relationship with Doug. After saying that Doug was a quote-unquote "stuck-up British wannabe" (sounds familiar...) we get to press him for more information: Phoenix says that he knows Doug was a Teaboo because of the Union Jack on the back of his shirt. When we ask him how he knew this information, given that Doug was wearing a leather jacket... he starts crying! Mia rather hilariously tells Grossberg to let him cry as the "'P' on his chest doesn't stand for 'Phoenix' anyway!" Yeowch! Payne decides to dig Phoenix's grave a little deeper by asking him if he's taking medicine for the cold: Phoenix says that he's taking Coldkiller X, and a bottle of the stuff was found in Doug's hand: with Phoenix's fingerprints all over it! It's looking more and more open and shut by the minute.

Phoenix testifies once more: Doug called him to meet at the Pharmacology building at 2:45. Phoenix left at 3:00, with Doug still alive—and when he went back to see if Doug was still there, he found his body. As for the Coldkiller X, he lost his bottle around noon. We press Phoenix more and more and eventually learn that the Pharmacology department uses high-voltage wires for its machines. This must be our murder weapon: Payne praises our deductive skills but points out that there's more evidence in regards to Phoenix's guilt. After all, his palm print was found pushed rather roughly into Doug's leather jacket!

Phoenix admits that he pushed Doug, but that Doug didn't die when he pushed him. There was some sort of loud crack, but there's no way that this was the electrical wires: after all, when they had their fight there weren't any cables around.

ey b0ss can i habe acquittal plz

We press Phoenix for more information and learn that Doug fell on top of his umbrella. Now this is weird: there's no umbrella at the crime scene. But if he really did fall on an umbrella, then that leaves one conclusion. He had to have been pushed by Phoenix somewhere else! After he was pushed by Phoenix, he walked away! This blows a massive hole in Payne's case. He's not quick to give up, however, and says that the prosecution has another witness: Dahlia Hawthorne. Mia makes a mysterious remark that she's been waiting for this and His Honor calls a recess for Payne to prepare.

Phoenix tells us a bit more about Dahlia—they met eight months ago and she gave him a small heart-shaped bottle to hold onto. Every time she's seen him since then, though, all she's wanted is the bottle back. Weird, right? Mia suddenly asks if Phoenix met his Dollie on August 27. He says yes, and we drop a bombshell: that's the same day that a murder was committed in the courthouse! Grossberg goes down to the reading room to see if he can get some more info on this murder. Could Dahlia be the murderer in both of these cases...?

Regardless, court is re-convened and Dahlia is called to the stand.

This is the face of a person who will throw away every single limited edition copy of Berserk I own if I forget one thing about them.

Meet Dahlia Hawthorne, Phoenix's girlfriend. Yes, I was as surprised as you. After a few very awkward seconds of His Honor and Winston hitting on a 19 year old girl—and after that a very obviously rehearsed performance, including saying that Phoenix couldn't have killed Doug despite her coming out here as a witness against him—Dahlia begins to give her testimony about what she saw.

According to her own testimony, Dahlia says that Phoenix and Doug (or "Dougie" as she calls him, 'cuz all the bitches love me) were having an argument when Doug just sort of... collapsed. We press to proceed with cross-examination and Dahlia looks at us and gives us a very sinister "You haven't changed a bit... Mia Fey." It looks like we do have history together.

After pressing her for more information, Dahlia slips up: she says that she didn't hear or see anything unusual, which we know can't be true because of the umbrella that broke when Phoenix pushed Doug. Dahlia counters by saying she had headphones on and was listening to music. It was storming, you see, and she's afraid of thunder: and things start to fall into place. Remember that Doug died by a strong electric shock? Well, what if he was struck by lightning?! This is an incredibly spurious claim. But there's something backing it up: it was storming and we've already established that Phoenix could not have pushed Doug into the electrical wires at the chemistry department!

Payne quickly retorts, however. The prosecution investigated this possibility and determined that no lightning strikes were recorded at Ivy U on the day of the murder! Furthermore, the pharmacology building lost power at about 2:55 that day—the cables are definitely connected, then. But how did Doug get electrocuted if Phoenix didn't push him?

All in, baby.

We give an explanation for the power outage: it was caused by Phoenix shoving Doug. This did not kill him, though. The umbrella was found by an electrical pole, and Phoenix shoved Doug into the pole: causing the pole to shake and the cable to snap! This couldn't have electrocuted Doug, either, as the cable snapped too far away from the fight. We've now established that it was impossible for Phoenix to have electrocuted Doug!

Dahlia objects, stating that some of what we said is different from how she remembers it. Dahlia says that Phoenix pushed Doug twice: and the court's buying this nonsense! She says that it all occurred in less than a minute but we know that's not true. Doug was wearing a wristwatch that froze at 3:05 PM, when he was electrocuted. When did the pharmacology lab report its power outage? 2:55 PM—that's a difference of ten entire minutes! We grab the bull by the horns and posit that this is when the real murderer killed Doug Swallow. And who's the real murderer? There's only one person it could be: Dahlia Hawthorne.

Phoenix fights for his girlfriend's innocence but is grabbed by the bailiff. Mia rather hilariously asks him if he's "daft". Grossberg is back with the police report from the poisoning: Dahlia asks us why she would kill Doug and blame it on Phoenix. We ask for more testimony from Dahlia about the day she met Phoenix—the day of the murder in the courthouse!

I'm just sickened by you both in general...

Dahlia tells us that she met Phoenix in the courthouse and fell in love at first sight. Phoenix hilariously interjects himself into her testimony and His Honor has to threaten contempt of court. We press Dahlia about her new testimony, namely about why she came to the courthouse. She says that she was doing a research paper, but we know the true reason. She came here to poison somebody. After all, the formal suspect in the murder in the courthouse—which was indeed a poisoning, one as lethal as 2 teaspoons—was Dahlia Hawthorne! Even though Dahlia says that she had nothing to do with the poisoning, we've successfully linked the two cases together. Dahlia testifies about the poisoning case and says she wouldn't even know where to get a lethal poison.

This, of course, is a lie. After all, Doug was a pharmacology student! Dahlia had access to this special poison through him. The only person that could've poisoned the lawyer was the person sitting with him: Dahlia Hawthorne! There's one issue that Dahlia is eager to point out. 2 teaspoons is a small amount, sure, but you'd still need a container. Fortunately, we have such a container. The necklace that she gave Phoenix! This is why she wanted him to give it back! Dahlia's last line of defense is broken. Phoenix tries to stand up for her but it's no use. After learning the truth of the necklace, he runs out of the courtroom.

Huh. I just noticed her umbrella turns upside-down. Neat.

We later realize that Phoenix slammed into Mia and grabbed the necklace! The bailiff managed to catch him, however, and Phoenix is brought back to the courtroom where he tells us he...

...ate...

the necklace. The necklace with the poison in it. The poison for the lawyer, the poison specifically made for the lawyer, the lawyer's poison. That poison. Mia calls for the trial to immediately be stopped so Phoenix can be treated for poisoning: but Payne says that the poison would've already killed him by now, therefore the necklace couldn't have had any! Our case is donezo, isn't it?

Phoenix, however, stands up for us for once. He says that the argument he had with Doug was about Dahlia: about how she stole poison not once, but twice! Once eight months ago, and once last night. Dahlia was crouched down right next to Doug's body after Phoenix went to check on him, too! Dahlia stole the poison to kill somebody: Phoenix himself.

Dahlia drops her façade and belittles Phoenix. Tearing apart our case as baseless speculation (which, to be fair, it is), we're asked by Grossberg himself to stop to save our reputation as a lawyer. We manage to grasp at the thinnest of straws, though! If Dahlia really wanted to kill Phoenix, then where would she put the poison? He has a very nasty cold, so she'd of course put it in his cold medicine. Remember! Phoenix lost his bottle of Coldkiller X around noon. After poisoning the bottle she found Phoenix and Doug arguing, and killed Doug to silence him. Dahlia tries to call out our explanation as being conjecture and Mia coolly tells her to take a pill if she's that confident. Dahlia doesn't. What about Winston? Nope.

Dahlia is finally defeated, hoist by her own petard on the cold medicine.

Probably one of my favorite sprites in the game.

After Dahlia's arrest, Payne is still unable to accept our claims. We dare him to try some cold medicine and he's so shocked about his defeat that his hair flies off, glorious pompadour gone with the wind.

Bald! Bald! Bald! Bald! Bald! (MY EYES!)

After the trial, Phoenix thanks us for our help. He says that he's made up his mind: he's going to really shoot for being a lawyer. Mia's performance in court has made him double-down on this path, given that there's an anonymous friend he's determined to save. We wish him luck and part ways... for now.

In a brief epilogue, we get a monologue by Phoenix talking about this trial. Apparently something's happened that has caused these memories to resurface. In any case, this ends Turnabout Memories!

What Really Happened?

Everything started right before Dahlia met Phoenix. She had been behind the murder of another person in the courthouse, and met Phoenix there. Pretending to be smitten with him, she hoisted the bottle she used to poison this other person on him as a "gift". The two began dating, with Dahlia constantly requesting the bottle be given back. Phoenix kept it, however.

Determined to get the bottle back from him, Dahlia concocted a plan to kill Phoenix by poisoning his cold medicine. Doug Swallow caught wind of the plot, however, and warned Phoenix: Phoenix, in disbelief and anger, pushed Doug into an electrical pole. This snapped both the cable and Doug's own umbrella. Doug and Phoenix walked away, but Doug loitered around the area. This gave Dahlia a new opportunity. Doug knew what she had done and she knew that he was the type to tell, so she grabbed the electrical wires and murdered Doug with them.

Playing the part of a mourning friend, she planted the poisoned cold medicine in his hand to frame Phoenix who later stumbled upon Doug's body and was arrested for his murder.

THOUGHTS

I do not like Turnabout Memories very much. It's a case with a weak mystery, weak structure, and a weak ending surrounded by weak characters.

Speaking of: Phoenix. Or "Feenie", as the fandom lovingly refers to him as in this case. God, I can't stand him. He's so fucking annoying. In many ways this just straight up does not feel like Phoenix: and I get that's the point, to show how different he was before and after meeting Mia, but he's so fucking obnoxious that after only a few lines of dialogue into the case it's hard not to want to punch him. He's my least favorite defendant in the entire trilogy by an incredibly wide margin: every moment with him on screen is, and I hate to use this adjective, cringey. He feels very very very out of character, and while I'd understand this to an extent he just feels so far removed from who Phoenix is as a person that it's really hard to suspend my disbelief.

The actual case is remarkably... okay. I think the conclusion is very anti-climactic, even though it's a pretty cool gambit on Mia's part. A time gap of ten minutes is a little hard for me to believe, alongside electrical cables snapping that easily (seriously, how poorly-maintained is the pharmacology lab if somebody can break in twice to steal poison and electrical cables will snap if you shake a pole slightly?), but I like the setting. Doug is a cool victim and while Dahlia isn't really my cup of tea she's a perfectly fine first villain, especially for what this game does later. It's very cut-and-dry, and while I get it's a first case it just feels very lame. It has a cool introduction and a neat defendant twist, but in practice it falls flat in a lot of areas especially near the end.

Being able to play as Mia is really cool, and I like how done with everybody's shit she is. Winston is at his best here, and His Honor has a decent showing as well. Grossberg is probably the best character from this case, honestly. He's a very strong co-counsel and it's really interesting to see Mia actually working for him when we know that he's the reason her life was ruined: it's a really nice bit of dramatic irony that I wish we got a bit more of throughout the series.

What did y'all think about 3-1? I've seen a lot of conflicting opinions on it, myself. It's not nearly as polarizing as 1-5 or 4-4 (more on 4-4 later), but it's still got a fair share of both detractors and fans.

We'll be moving on to 3-2, The Stolen Turnabout, next time: a new case, a new prosecutor, and an old attorney! See you then!

Final Rating: 3/10

FAVORITE LINES

"Let him! That 'P' on his chest doesn't stand for 'Phoenix' anyways!" - Mia Fey, after pointing out the first contradiction

"Yeowch!! Wh-Why did you punch me in the jaw!?" "Oh! I-I'm so sorry...! I just felt like hurting someone all of a sudden!" - Marvin Grossberg and Mia Fey, after Phoenix starts talking about Dahlia

"It feels like my hemorrhoids are doing the Harlem Shake!" - Marvin Grossberg, showing off his impressive knowledge of Filthy Frank lore

(Well, we know whose milkshake brings all the boys to the yard...) - Mia Fey, about Dahlia

"What the...!? Are you daft!?" - Mia Fey, after Phoenix tries to defend Dahlia

CASE RANKINGS

Turnabout Memories (3/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

LOOK THERE I AM GARY THERE I AM (i'm u/doinkrr!!!!!!!!)

[thecourtscorkboard]

Ace Attorney: Justice for All Review - An Exercise in Meaningful Mediocrity

We've finished Ace Attorney: Justice for All, and now it's time to take a look back on the middle child of the classic trilogy.

I think that JfA is undeniably the weakest of the trilogy games. This is by no means a diss towards what it tries to do: I think that in every series there's going to be a weak link. God of War has Ascension, Final Fantasy has FF2, Alien has Resurrection, and so on. JfA is the weak link of the trilogy games; and I think it's kind of aware of this.

JfA definitely feels like it was designed as the most mediocre game in the trilogy. Phoenix is seasoned as a lawyer, but he's not a veteran; Franziska is a good prosecutor, but she's not as intimidating as Edgeworth; it's got the shortest number of cases; and so on. It's the sophomore year of Phoenix's time as a lawyer, even with all the eventful stuff going on. Who remembers their sophomore year?

I do. My sophomore year was the year COVID hit. And the year I found out I wasn't straight.

Anyways: we're gonna do this the exact same way we reviewed PW:AA—with a lost of pros, cons, favorite characters, and an overall review. Without further ado!

PROS

Pro One: Art Direction.

JfA is easily my favorite-looking game in the trilogy. It has faults, of course, but these do not show up in its art direction: from characters to set-pieces, every single piece of art has been drastically improved. Some standouts are Franziska's design and spritework, Phoenix's breakdown pose, Maximillion Galactica's hand pose, and the set-pieces for the Berry Big Circus and the Gatewater Hotel.

This game has some beautiful hand-drawn art as well! Franziska barging into the courtroom and the above art of Phoenix before the trial in 2-1 always make me squee and giggle, respectively. The improved graphics in the HD remakes really make it all shine even more. It's an absolutely beautiful game and among my favorite-looking in the entire series alongside AJ:AA and the AAI games.

Pro Two: Case Length.

Although its cases are by no means perfect, one thing I can't really criticize them for is their pacing (at least compared to the other Trilogy games). I think that each case, while not paced perfectly, are generally better-paced than the PW:AA cases. It's a definite show of how Takumi, as the series's main writer, generally got better over time—even 2-3, for all its faults, is better paced than 1-3. There's no unnecessary third days in JfA, which I think is a trap that the series easily fell (and continues to fall) into.

The trial days in particular are excellently paced. I think 2-4's second trial in particular lasts for way too long, which is a great bit of pacing. That might sound like an oxymoron, but I think that the case lasting way too long does a great way of portraying how mentally and physically exhausting it is for everybody involved. I think 2-3 finds a perfect balance of length, for all of its flaws.

Pro Three: Characterization.

I think there's one element that JfA holds over the other trilogy games, and that's pure characterization. Say what you will about the characters, they're all memorable in one way or another: and I think, for the main cast at least, that this game's writing and understanding of its characters is consistently the best. Phoenix, Edgeworth, Franziska, Gumshoe, and Maya are all standouts, with some case-specific characters like Morgan, Adrian, and Matt also being noteworthy.

I think Franziska and Gumshoe are at their best in this game. In Franziska's case it's actually a tad unfortunate, since this is her debut game and all, but this being Gumshoe's strongest showing isn't really a detriment considering he'll only show up in three (technically four) more games.

Franziska is one of the first AA characters, I think, that is genuinely given a lot of focus and care onto feelings that aren't spelled out for the audience. Even Edgeworth's unnecessary feelings of unease and uncertainty aren't left ambiguous, but with Franziska's case there are cases to be made for so many interpretations of her character that I think she's the golden example of walking so later characters can run. I think 2-3 is generally the exception that proves the rule—in 2-1, 2-2, and 2-4, we're treated to excellent pieces of character writing and a visible understanding of the main cast.

Pro Four: Franziska von Karma.

I know I was just talking about characterization as a whole, but I'd like to focus on just one character in particular for a second (and yes, we'll be discussing her later down the line, but I wanted to take a brief aside to talk about her positive contributions to this game). I think Franziska von Karma is a downright brilliant character: in this game particularly.

For a series that places its focus on contradictions, Franziska is riddled with them: and this is given a focus, surprisingly! Although she's far more like her father than Edgeworth, it's made clear that Manfred held Edgeworth in higher regard than her; she is desperate to be perfect in every way, but has a mole on her face that makes it asymmetrical and "blemished"; she clearly cares about the people around her but cannot bring herself to accept that care; and so on.

She's a mess of mental contradictions and logical fallacies, and I think she had a lot of potential to be one of the most interesting characters in the entire franchise. I think she's a perfect rival for most of JfA and a great expansion on the honestly rather lackluster performance of her father in 1-4. I don't think this game would be the same without her: it'd be far worse off.

CONS

Con One: Mystery Quality.

I think JfA has the weakest mysteries in the original trilogy and it's not particularly close. 2-1 and 2-3 in particular don't feel like mysteries, per se, just stories: 2-3 is especially egregious for reasons I outlined in my review of it. 2-4, like 2-3 and characterization, is the exception that proves the rule—compared to PW:AA's mysteries, 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 just simply are not nearly as good. 2-4 is a fantastic howcatchem and perhaps the best subversion of usual mystery tropes that we've reviewed thus far, but the rest of the game is simply not up to par with previous.

I'd even wager to say that JfA has the weakest mysteries in the entire mainline series, although we haven't gone back to re-cover some other contenders for this title yet. They're just simply not as captivating or, honestly, hard compared to others: when they are hard then that difficulty tends to feel artificial, at least to me.

Con Two: Inconsistency.

Although JfA has some masterful character writing, it's not particularly consistent about it. Characters that are written very well in one case can fall flat in the next—Phoenix from 2-2 to 2-3 is the prime example of this, as in 2-3 he's just straight-up a bully to Maya instead of a teasing friend. I feel like even in cases themselves this can switch, and while sometimes this is for the better—I far prefer Mimi Miney's dropped façade to her mockery of Ini—most of the time it isn't. One that comes to mind is, unfortunately, Pearl in 2-4. She's both presented as a cute child who is still wise beyond her years but... honestly, kind of portrayed as a bit of a dunce, as well.

This isn't particularly egregious, but it is an unfortunate inconsistency, and these things do add up. The quality of its cases also makes the game a little awkward to play, going from below-average to above-average cases almost like clockwork.

Con Three: Music.

JfA has the weakest musical ensemble of the trilogy. While I think there are some standouts, like both Edgeworth and Franziska's Great Revivals (which have some awesome musical parallels: Edgeworth's is deeper and slower, whereas Franziska's is at a higher key and a slightly quicker tempo), unfortunately the musical quality is generally not up to par. I find this game's Trick theme rather grating, and while I like the percussion beats in the Pursuit theme I think the overall melody leaves quite a bit to be desired: I do like the key changes, however.

Unfortunately, I just don't think JfA's music plays into its pivotal moments as well as PW:AA's does. The Detention Center theme has the god damn Lick! Why does it have the Lick?! This might just be my entirely irrational hatred for the Lick talking, honestly, but that moment just takes me out of the Detention Center. I do not like this theme.

Now, as promised, we'll get into my top five characters before finishing off with my overall thoughts!

Number Five: Matt Engarde

Matt Engarde. Where to begin with this guy? I guess we can go for the obvious: he's the darkest killer in the series thus far, even including the lows that Gant falls to in 1-5. He's a pathological abuser and a malignant narcissist who nearly drove two women to suicide: 2-4 is actually the first case in the entire series that earnestly discusses the topic of suicide and Matt makes it even more uncomfortable than it already was. He's a slimy bastard and taking him down is so satisfying.

I think he really takes the cake for breakdowns thus far, as well. He's not the best culprit in the series by any means but he's definitely a top-tier contender for breakdowns: he rips his own face open while screaming about his own guilt. It doesn't get much better than that. He's an awful person and the way we take him down is suitably awful. Phoenix can choose to still plead Not Guilty, and if the possibility of De Killer killing him is a perfectly acceptable one to Phoenix's mind, then what does that say about Matt?

Let's talk about colors. Matt has two main colors: red and brown. Brown is the color of his hair, gloves, the scar over his eye, and the drink in his hand after he's unmasked, while red is the color of his jacket and the scars he leaves on his face. Brown is generally a color of strength—for most of the case Matt's position is completely unassailable as he uses Maya as leverage. It's also seen as a color of sophistication, fitting his place as an A-list actor and the patron of an incredibly fancy hotel. Red, meanwhile, is best understood in Matt's case as a color of blood and anger. Blood is positively coating Engarde's hands, as he is the (indirect) murderer of both Celeste and Juan, but he also rips apart his own face when he's declared guilty, showing the blood underneath. While he rarely shows any sort of anger himself, people only address him with contempt as either a murderer and blackmailer or as an overrated hack.

Number Four: Dick Gumshoe

I think this is Gumshoe's best showing bar none. I think his best character traits really shine through here: his hard (but clumsy) work, his genius with electronics, his selective focus—he's really in full gear here, and I think this is the best example of who he really is at heart before his untimely flanderization and death.

I, unfortunately, forgot to screenshot any of Gumshoe's other appearances in JfA.

He's a good guy and takes his job seriously, even if he's not always the best at it. His empathy is in full display—I particularly love how clearly worried he is about Franziska's obviously declining mental state and how he drops everything once he learns Maya's been kidnapped—but he still has to, like, do his job, y'know? And he does his job well! He's not the best, but he does it well, and he's thankfully not the butt of many jokes. Although he'll never be quite to the level of the detective he's an homage of (I like to headcanon his family is Irish, in contrast to Columbo's family being Italian) he's clearly part of the same school of keeping his head down and doing his job as well as he can. His saving the case in 2-4 is my favorite Gumshoe moment in the entire series: a perfect culmination of his perfect appearance!

His main color is obviously a dark, mossy green. Green is associated with life and health, which is a bit ironic considering his dependency on instant noodles, but in psychology it's also a color of wellness and regeneration. Regeneration fits the best, I think: when he's fired by Franziska, he gets back into the fray to save Maya's life as a civilian member of the investigation team! This might be a bit of a stretch but green is also a color of infidelity in some Asian cultures. Does he perhaps "cheat" on his bosses by cooperating with us? Like I said, a stretch. But it's a reasonable stretch, I think!

Number Three: Shelly de Killer

There's something about professional assassins that always piques my interest. The Sniper, the Spy, Osamu Dazai, Agent 47, and, of course, Shelly de Killer. Whom I kept misspelling the name of throughout my 2-4 review. Anyways, Shelly is a force of nature throughout 2-4: he's unstoppable, unflappable, and unknowable, and he's undeniably the biggest presence. He's a standout in a case full of standouts, and while not my favorite accomplice still an easy top-ranker.

When he's finally pushed into a corner in his attempts to protect Matt, he continues being a massive threat and his cutting off communication to kill Maya is a stomach-dropping part of the final day of trial. The truth is revealed to him and it's suddenly incredibly comforting that he's a ruthless murderer—after all, his target is somebody who deserves it. We only see his face a few times, but his design is incredibly memorable and I think the moment where Phoenix comes face-to-face with him in Matt's mansion and has no clue is one of the best parts of the case.

His main color, obviously, is black. Black is a color of death and despair. It's also a color of power: when I think of the color black I think of characters and organizations like Darth Vader, Sephiroth, the Schutzstaffel, and the Secret Service. It's finally a color of grief and seriousness—his main alternate color is white, which is a color of fairness and sterility. In some Asian cultures it's also considered the main color of death: his two-faced nature, symbolized by his stitched face and propensity to disguises and radios, is literally mirrored by his two main colors. He's got a killer design.

Number Two: Phoenix Wright

For future reference, I'd generally like to make it a habit not to include the same character in two reviews in a row. There are, of course, exceptions, and this is one of them. I like to think that the original trilogy covers the main arcs of our three main protagonists. If PW:AA is Edgeworth's game, then JfA is Phoenix's. This is a game where he undergoes a massive amount of character growth and I'd wager that 2-4 is the most important case to his character development until 4-4. Yeah, that's how impactful I think JfA is.

With the exception of 2-3, he is consistently written at top quality. Even in 2-1, where he can barely remember his job, he's still given an air of professionalism and unwavering trust in Maggey. Even though he comes to the same conclusion that Edgeworth did—that the truth is more important than anything else—they come to it through decidedly different ways that fit their respective characters. In Phoenix's case, he can only come to this conclusion with the support of the people around him but also something that will unquestioningly destroy his bone-headed stubbornness. One of Phoenix's defining character traits—which also rears his head as one of his many flaws—is how God damn stubborn he is. 2-4 simply wouldn't work if he didn't hold to his previous worldview with an almost religious devotion. If he didn't have this flaw, then he both wouldn't be Phoenix Wright and 2-4 would've lost so much of its impact.

This is his best showing in the trilogy. God fuckin' bless you, Phoenix Wright.

Number One: Franziska von Karma

Franziska is my favorite prosecutor in the entire series and JfA is a massive reason why. While she doesn't consistently reach the peaks of her JfA characterization, in JfA she's the only character besides Phoenix I can easily call a 10/10. She is brilliantly written, and if her quality remained the same then I'd honestly call her the best-written character in the entire series. Hell, my Strange Professional Killstreak Disciplinary Action is named after her.

can you tell i like this picture

I mentioned it in the "pros" section, but I'd like to say it again: Franziska is a mess of contradictions, which I think is where the brilliance (dare I say "perfection") of her writing comes from. While she's obviously stuck in her father's shadow—and the clear preference he gave to Miles over his own biological child—she's trying to forge her own mold and prove her own worth... as a von Karma. No matter what she does she'll always be stuck in her father's shadow, and it's not until 2-4 that her worldview is utterly destroyed by Edgeworth not only doing her job for her but getting a guilty verdict against Phoenix that she genuinely begins to change. Even her design is deliberately imperfect! She has a mole on her face and her overall outfit is asymmetrical, with the golden lines going down the center of her jacket not quite matching each other and her hair leaning towards the left instead of being perfectly lined up like her father's or Edgeworth's. She's a mess of family issues, self-limiting obsessions, and some absolutely delicious room for mental health headcanons (which I happen to love thinking about) that just make her so fascinating as a character to me.

Let's talk about her main colors. Unlike Phoenix and Edgeworth, she can't really be boiled down to a single color: she's highlighted by whites, platinum blues, and blacks. Platinum is the biggest standout given her hair color and choice of outfit—it's a color of nobility and prestige, but also one of modernity and even futurism. "Everything is chrome in the future!" This ties back into her overall arc: while she's not completely able to separate herself from her father, she's slowly starting to internalize how wicked he truly was and how she should redefine the von Karma name. The colors that define her design are colors that are also associated with the cold: she's icy, and to really hammer that in, in supplementary material she wears puffy overcoats and scarves while in-game she wears sleek black gloves and a padded suit. Like ice, she's incredibly sharp and dangerous, but she's also fragile and will shatter if too much pressure is forced on her. Also like ice, she's very pretty. I want to be her.

Overall Thoughts

JfA is the awkward middle child of Ace Attorney. Like any awkward middle child, it has some pretty significant growing pains, but it also has some defining moments and great memories for both what came before and after it. It's not perfect—far from it—but it's definitely an understandable fan favorite.

As with PW:AA, I'd also like to point out some standout ships. While I don't ship it, Phoenix/Edgeworth comes to full maturity come this game. Maya/Franziska also comes from this game, and it's probably the most popular Franziska ship for good reason: while the two of them don't interact with each other very often in this game, there's some very clear similarities and parallels. Some ships I do ship that also find their roots in this game are Franziska/Adrian and angsty one-sided Adrian/Celeste. Franziska/Adrian is especially interesting to me because of how blatantly paralleled they are: they're both mentally fragile and dependent, living in the shadows of people who came before them but constantly overlooked and put down by others. They even share a primary color scheme with bright blue! I love them. Some non-romantic standouts are Gumshoe and Franziska, Edgeworth and Franziska, and of course Maya and Pearl.

Unlike PW:AA, however, I don't think it gets a lot of charm from its imperfections. Its imperfections are a lot more noticeable and instead of charming are grating: looking at you, 2-3. The title of this post labels JfA as "meaningfully mediocre" and that's honestly the best I can say about it—it knows that it's not going to be the best or the most eloquent so goes full-force on the wacky factor, and I think that's generally where its inconsistency and growing pains come from. Sometimes this works to its benefit, but the times where it doesn't stick out far more to me than the times they do.

To wrap it all up, we'll give this one an overall rating and place its cases on our case tier list. See you for 3-1 and the finale of the original trilogy: Trials & Tribulations!

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

[thecourtscorkboard]

Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4: PART TWO)

Part One can be found here.

We raise a good point, and Edgeworth plays the part of an incredulous prosecutor: gotta hand it to him, he's got acting chops. His Honor, however, is going to suspend court for another day. We can't have this, and just as he's about to bring down his gavel...

He's come to save the day!

Gumshoe calls us! He tells us the bad news: they were too late! His Honor is rather pissed at us for taking a phone call during court, and in a rather funny scene we literally throw our phone at Edgeworth, who hangs up on Gumshoe. His Honor nearly adjourns court, but Edgeworth objects: they can definitely perform handwriting analysis in only 30 minutes! His Honor agrees after both Edgeworth and us plead with him, and court takes its final recess of the day.

A visibly worried Edgeworth storms into the defendant's lobby, uncharacteristically begging for an update on Maya's situation. Gumshoe calls us again and Edgeworth answers: De Killer clumsily left a few things behind and he's on his way to deliver them! Gumshoe actually stole them: he's not a police officer anymore, remember? He's running every single red light to get here as fast as he can!

Just as he's saying that, he gets into a car accident.

Edgeworth is dismayed: there's no way to find his location now. His phone seems to have broken in the car accident, and because he was using his personal car and not a patrol car he doesn't have a radio. We can think of one way to find him, though: Franziska von Karma! She put that tracking device on him, after all. Even though we can find Gumshoe, we're still out-of-sorts: we're using evidence to defend a murderer and pin the crime on an innocent person. "It might be my turn to say," Phoenix muses, "'Defense Attorney Phoenix Wright chooses death'..."

It's all coming to a head...

When court reconvenes, Edgeworth looks rather demoralized. The handwriting on the suicide note was not Celeste Impax's. It was Juan Corrida's. Edgeworth argues that this still means Matt is guilty: he couldn't have known that Juan would write the suicide note! We know better. The spy camera! Edgeworth is taken off-guard by our counter: is he starting to become exhausted as well?

Unfortunately for us, he has one last ace up his sleeve: a witness. A witness who can say, for a fact, if Juan made the forgery in a secret place. Edgeworth stutters when bringing up the witness's name, but he composes himself: and calls Shelly de Killer to the stand via two-way radio.

Shelly introduces himself, and Edgeworth says that he agreed to testify so long as we do not use this radio to trace his location. When His Honor asks for proof that this, indeed, Shelly de Killer, we hear Maya's voice: and we muster up enough energy to convince His Honor that this is really De Killer. Shelly de Killer confirms that he killed Juan Corrida and we ask him to testify about the identity of his client.

Shelly testifies about the nature of his work: he is sworn to utmost secrecy about his client's identity. No clients have stabbed him in the back because of the trust he places in them. However, he's breaking his client's trust because his client has broken his: they have attempted to implicate him for another crime. We finally try to ask him the name of his client, but we lock up. Edgeworth asks for us.

The King's Gambit.

The courtroom goes ballistic. This is a development absolutely nobody expected: Edgeworth is pissed, saying that this isn't the name De Killer gave him earlier, but De Killer brushes him off. "I'm sure in order to get an audience with this court," Mia presumes, "Mr. de Killer told him a different name..."

Matt Engarde.

In any case, this has convinced His Honor that Matt Engarde must be innocent. Edgeworth is absolutely livid and demands further testimony from Shelly de Killer, while Phoenix is split between accepting a verdict of "Not Guilty" and blaming Adrian or focusing on the truth like Maya wants us to. We eventually come to a conclusion: we need to keep pressing forward. If we don't, then we'll become as bad as Matt; and we'll break Edgeworth's trust. Our job, we say, is come to the truth.

Edgeworth asks Shelly to testify more about his client under the ruse of procedure. The "rule" that Adrian has broken is a simple one: she attempted to frame Matt for the crime and therefore did not trust Shelly to do the job. We ask to cross-examine the witness to His Honor's utter confusion: this is testimony that has won us the case, after all!

Shelly says that Adrian already knew Juan was dead. This is impossible: remember the wine glass. If she was his client, then why in the world would she handle something at the crime scene without gloves? Edgeworth takes over pointing out the contradiction for us, saying that Adrian Andrews must not have been his client at all if she didn't know about Juan's death!

He's catching on...!

De Killer finds it strange that we did not object, so we do: Edgeworth demands more testimony about when the request was taken. De Killer testifies it was about a week ago at a bar—and that he physically met Adrian Andrews. Shelly de Killer says that from the moment he saw him, he knew he could trust Adrian.

Isn't that strange? After all, Adrian is a woman. Shelly tries to weasel his way out of this by saying he received a letter from Adrian and thought she was a man because of her androgynous name: one of the requests in the letter was to give the bear to Adrian. If that was the case, however, then why did we find "Celeste's" suicide note? De Killer finally pieces it together: we're a traitor! He's going to kill Maya unless there's a speedy end to this trial. His Honor accepts that the prosecution's case has failed to hold water. Matt gloats about his newfound freedom and Edgeworth unexpectedly rests: before we can ask for a verdict, however...

Does her face look off to you, too?

Franziska appears to save the day! She's obtained the evidence Gumshoe left behind in his car: and he's going to be okay! She presents three pieces of evidence to us: a pistol, a video tape, and a bellboy uniform, all belonging to De Killer. The pistol was used to shoot Franziska, De Killer shot three officers in an attempt to reclaim the tape, and black gloves were found in the uniform, which was missing a button.

We have one chance here. His Honor is not accepting any new evidence, but we ask to present evidence to a person.

The "Miracle" Never Happen

If we get either the person we're presenting evidence to or the evidence we're presenting to the correct person incorrect, then the trial immediately ends with a Not Guilty verdict. Adrian Andrews is found guilty, Phoenix disconnects himself from Maya permanently, and he gives up on law.

...Because a "miracle" is something that doesn't exist.

The "Miracle" Happen

If we ask to present the video tape to Shelly de Killer, however, we tell him the truth that he didn't know: that on this tape is a recording of the murder of Juan Corrida. Why? Because Matt wanted to blackmail him. Matt himself said that he doesn't trust assassins, and with blackmail against him? He can live safe for the rest of his life.

De Killer is silently furious. He says that if a client were to betray his trust in this manner, he would hunt them down to the ends of the earth to kill them. In a show of mercy and as his response to Matt's betrayal, he breaks off the contract and lets Maya live and come back home.

When Matt sees this happen, he's panicking. There are two ways you can plead here: not guilty, which I personally like a bit more—doing so makes Phoenix gloat in Engarde's face, coolly telling him to enjoy "what little time he has left"—or guilty. Either way, Matt Engarde is found...

The turn.

Before the trial is formally concluded, Adrian tells Phoenix and Edgeworth that they managed to inspire in her the confidence she never truly had: for the first time in her life, she is comfortable with herself.

Court is finally adjourned. It's all over: in the defendant's lobby, Edgeworth tells us that Maya is safe and in police custody. Pearl is overjoyed to the point of tears, and while Franziska shows up as a minor recompense she doesn't understand why we're so happy after losing. Edgeworth tells us and Franziska what he'd learned: he had begun to trust in Phoenix, and that trust made him realize that his job as a prosecutor is to uncover the truth in tandem with defense attorneys. Franziska flippantly and angrily rejects his worldview, however, and storms off in tears, declaring neither herself nor Edgeworth to be worthy of being a von Karma.

Maya bursts into the courtroom and tearfully reunites with Phoenix and Mia: even getting Edgeworth to admit that he's happy to see her. She strongarms everybody into dinner—she's so hungry it feels like she hasn't eaten in days!

Maya asks us to a feast in the Gatewater Hotel, and we have no choice but to accept. Gumshoe shows up pretty beaten up: even Lotta's here and takes a picture with us! Edgeworth unexpectedly leaves, but not before we give him back Franziska's whip—she had thrown it down in anger in the Defendant's Lobby. Everybody's footed us the bill, and with one last objection, 2-4—and Justice for All—comes to a close!

Epilogue

Franziska von Karma is leaving the country. Edgeworth manages to catch up to her, and they have a conversation: it's an ugly one, with Franziska ranting and venting about how she could never live up to her father's standards. She was never a genius; she could never live up to anybody's expectations!

Edgeworth tells her that even if she's not a genius she is still a prosecutor. Prosecutors do not fight for honor or pride, he tells her, and gives her whip back to her. Franziska angrily snaps at Edgeworth about how this would finally be her chance to get revenge on him. She's always hated him—he was always better than her. More liked by his colleagues, more feared by the defense... perhaps more respected by her own father.

Shakily, Franziska says that she can't do it. She cannot change. Edgeworth says that if Adrian can, then she can—just like Adrian was dependent on Celeste, he points out, Franziska was dependent on her father. She still is. Franziska breaks out into tears.

My favorite part of this game.

What Really Happened?

Everything begins and ends with Matt Engarde, the star of The Nickel Samurai. Matt's rise to the top of the acting game was stopped by his only real competition: Juan Corrida, the actor of the award-winning Jammin' Ninja series. Juan was suave and a bit flamboyant, and Matt played into the exact opposite stereotype of a Hollywood actor: instead of intelligent, handsome, and showy, he played the part of an airheaded horny twit who only cared about his ratings and motorcycle with little control over his own life.

This was both closer to and farther from the truth than many expected.

In reality, Matt was a narcissistic sociopath. His rivalry with Juan exponentially began to increase in hatred and jealousy as Matt found himself unable to truly surpass him. This came to a head after Celeste Inpax, Matt's manager and brief lover, left working for him and began working for Corrida. Corrida and Celeste eventually fell in love and announced their engagement. Incensed that he had lost a very talented manager—and very pretty woman—to a man he saw as beneath him, Matt told the "truth" to Corrida: while it was true that the two had a brief relationship, Matt lied and told Corrida that he and Celeste were still dating. An enraged Corrida called off the engagement. A distraught Celeste hanged herself in her apartment: seeing death as the only way to get out of Matt's endless mental torment.

Although Corrida was distraught by his fiancée's suicide, he noticed that she didn't leave a will or suicide note. A grieving—and opportunistic—Corrida falsified a last will and testament consisting solely of Matt's abusive misdeeds towards Celeste but refused to release the will to the public, catching the eye of many tabloids.

Enter Adrian Andrews. Adrian was Celeste's protégé and Matt's manager, and after learning of her mentor's—and likely love interest's—suicide, Adrian decided to follow in her footsteps: Adrian is riddled with a dependent personality, mentally weak on her own and latching onto those who she views as being able to guide her life for her. Her suicide attempt failed, however, and she began to move past Celeste's suicide through counseling sessions. Matt and Adrian had a peculiar relationship: Adrian was fundamentally disinterested in Matt, with Matt himself noting in confusion that she was the only woman to never show any interest in him.

Regardless, two years passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Matt slowly began to outshine Juan, with The Nickel Samurai gaining higher ratings and more fans than the Jammin' Ninja. Matt even began to win awards: and the highest honor was the Hero of Heroes Grand Prix, an award show for action stars. Juan hatched a plan: in the event that he lost the award, which he likely would, he would disguise himself as Matt using a spare Nickel Samurai costume and "confess" to his abuse towards Celeste. Matt knew exactly what his plan was, however: he had planted spy cameras throughout Juan's hotel room but critically failed to spot where he hid the forged will. This was because Juan hid the will in a wooden bear puzzle that Adrian bought for him as a present as she was trying to get closer to him to obtain Celeste's suicide note.

The only way to get rid of Juan, and this threat to his career, was to kill him. Matt hired a professional hitman, Shelly de Killer, to murder Juan: de Killer accepted on the condition that Matt fully trusted him. Matt pretended to agree, but in actuality took a video of the murder on a security camera to use as leverage against De Killer and proof that he did kill Juan. In any case, Juan Corrida was strangled to death after Matt paid De Killer: a payment which Will Powers saw take place. After all, Matt was his own protégé, and he wanted to check in on him. WP did not recognize the payment for what it was, however. In any case, Juan put up a struggle as he died, but De Killer ultimately overpowered him.

Adrian saw that Matt had fallen asleep during Juan's murder, giving him an alibi. When she went to check on Juan himself, though, she discovered his body, and immediately suspected that Matt had to have been behind it. Wanting to break free from Matt and see justice be done, she ran back to their room, grabbed a knife used by Matt at dinner, returned to Juan's hotel room, and stabbed him in the chest. Juan's blood soaked a button on his costume, which Adrian took and hid in Matt's costume, but not before pocketing a calling card left behind by Shelly de Killer and thinking nothing of it. Stealing the spare Nickel Samurai costume to sneak out of the room undetected, she was nonetheless spotted by Wendy Oldbag and the camera Lotta Hart set up: and, because she was shorter than both Juan and Matt, had to hold her hakama up to walk properly.

When the police discovered the scene of the crime, they fell for Adrian's trap and arrested Matt: and didn't even comprehend the idea that Shelly could be involved due to Adrian swiping the card. After learning that Phoenix was in attendance, De Killer conspired to gain Matt's freedom by kidnapping Maya and forcing Phoenix to get an acquittal no matter what.

THOUGHTS

I began writing this by saying "2-4 is pretty damn good" but "near the bottom of the finales".

I no longer hold this view.

I think 2-4 is excellent. It's actually even better than 1-4 to me, which is saying something huge. It's without a doubt the best way to complete Phoenix's arc—that is, becoming his own lawyer instead of remaining in Mia's shadow, but we're getting ahead of ourselves here.

Let's talk about this case's writing, actually. I think it's some of the best in the entire franchise. There is not a single poorly written character—everybody feels perfectly in-character. My three big standouts are Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Franziska: Phoenix's arc throughout the entire first and second games comes to a close here, with him acknowledging his role as a lawyer; Edgeworth comes back from his journey, his arc completed and his mission clear; and Franziska's arc comes to a close with a defiant and emotionally poignant ending.

The tensions? Mwah. Excellent. 2-4 has a way of conveying emotion through its storytelling damn near perfectly, particularly character emotion. Phoenix is a mess of emotions in this case and each one is portrayed perfectly, from exhaustion to depression to anger to desperation. I think this is the best he's written in the entire series, aside from maybe a case down the line. You'll know it when we get to it.

Franziska is probably my favorite character in the entire game and this case is why. I think her arc and character is handled perfectly, and that is not praise I give out lightly. She is, in this game at least, perhaps the best-written character in the entire series so far. When it all comes crumbling down and she's forced to show Miles how she truly feels... that's my favorite part of this entire case. I could go on and on about it: it's a masterpiece.

But let's get to the meat of this case. The star of the show. Matt fucking Engarde. I think he's the second-best villain in the entire trilogy. He is fucking wonderful. He is the perfect example of a character you love to hate (in Ace Attorney, at least): he's unbearably cocky, unbearably malicious, and unbearingly punchable. When he's finally caught? When it's over? That is some peak writing.

I'm going to wrap this up by comparing it to 1-4: I think it's better. This was a shock to me, too, but I think 2-4 is a new contender for my third favorite case of all time. I definitely did not expect that coming in, and I'm happy to have been wrong—while it still has some issues, like the movement in Day 2's Investigation and some minor hiccups with pacing here and there, it's overall a bloody fantastic case and a damn near perfect ending to this game.

Next time, we will be covering 3-1: the first case of T&T after I share my thoughts on JfA as a whole! See you then!

Overall Rating: 9/10

FAVORITE LINES

"How do you do... Mister Lawyer? I'm Matt Engarde." - Matt Engarde, dropping his airheaded persona

"You really should come with a supply of cheese to match your vintage whine." - Miles Edgeworth, utterly disinterested in what Wendy Oldbag has to say

"Hmm... I keep trying, but I can find no flaws with what Ms. Andrews has said. I can't say the same for some people in this courtroom, however..." (The judge is glaring straight at Mia...) "He's glaring at you, smart guy!" - His Honor, Phoenix Wright, and Mia Fey, during Adrian Andrews's testimony

"I mean, she may act all grown-up, but she's really still just an 18 year old. ...Quite frankly, I worry about her, pal." - Dick Gumshoe, talking about Franziska von Karma

"H-How many horse-powers is it? How many horsies!?" - Pearl Fey, upon discovering the robotic bear in Juan's room

"You are no longer worthy! You are no longer worthy of being a Von Karma! And neither am I!" - Franziska von Karma, to Miles Edgeworth after the trial

"My father was a genius. There's no doubt about that! But... But me... I'm no genius. I've always known that. But I... I had to be one. I had to." - Franziska von Karma, at the airport

CASE RANKINGS

Farewell, My Turnabout (9/10)

Reunion, and Turnabout (7/10)

The Lost Turnabout (4/10)

Turnabout Big Top (1/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4: PART ONE)

Justice for All comes to its end in one of the series's most beloved cases: the truth behind an award show murder, the fate of a famous actor, and Maya's life are all on the line in Farewell, My Turnabout.

Welcome to 2-4, the final case of Justice for All. At an awards ceremony that we were graciously invited to by a previous client, an actor is murdered and another actor is arrested for the crime: and an acquittal is the price for Maya's life.

I don't want to waste too much time setting up for 2-4: it's a case I have a lot of thoughts about, so let's just jump into it!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Phoenix, still recovering from the trials and tribulations that were 2-3, is invited to an awards ceremony by a former client. Unfortunately, he's wrapped up in a murder nearly beyond comprehension.

Maya Fey: Maya is invited alongside Phoenix to the awards ceremony: and she's ecstatic, given that this is an awards ceremony all about the Samurais!

Pearl Fey: Although she may not know what an 'award' is, Pearl is happy to tag along to a once-in-a-lifetime event: and she takes the role as our main assistant!

Miles Edgeworth: The glorious return of Miles Edgeworth is what defines the climax of this case, and he wastes no time stealing the spotlight and returning as the ultimate arbiter of the law.

Franziska von Karma: Although she's not the lead prosecutor, this case is still Franziska's: and she serves a vital role in its conclusion and introduction!

THE MAIN CAST:

Dick Gumshoe: Gumshoe is really putting in the hours here, starring as the lead detective and a close partner for this mystery!

Matt Engarde: A world-famous actor known for his role as the Nickel Samurai. He's been arrested for the murder of a rival actor, and there may be more than meets the eye...

Adrian Andrews: Matt's assistant and a tragic character in her own right, Adrian takes her role very seriously. Perhaps a bit too seriously. ADRIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

Will Powers: WP returns as our inviter and as a star witness, pun intended! He looks pretty good in that suit of his, doesn't he?

Wendy Oldbag: Stop the presses! The windbag wants to speak! Oldbag returns in full security guard fashion, starring a brand new outfit to boot!

Lotta Hart: As Lotta's final appearance in the main series, she marches into the scene with southern bravado and a knack for photographic journalism!

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Shelly de Killer: A mysterious assassin. He trusts those who trust him, but when those rules are broken...

Juan Corrida: A famous actor known for starring as the Jammin' Ninja and the victim in this case.

Celeste Inpax: Juan Corrida's former manager. Although she's been gone for two years, her impact is still felt on her protégé, Adrian...

Director Hotti: Eugh.

A BRIEF RECAP

An awards show is nearing its conclusion. The finalists are being announced and everything is coming to a head: the winner of this year's Hero of Heroes Grand Prix is... the Nickel Samurai out of nowhere with a steel chair, stealing the Jammin' Ninja's thunder!

I fuck with this design.

Investigation, Day One

Maya is enthralled by the awards ceremony: which makes sense, given that she's a massive fan of the samurai shows. Phoenix is decidedly uninterested, and Will Powers is happy that the actor behind the mask is doing the series justice: we learn that he invited us here as thanks for our defense in 1-3! Pearl is very confused but happy to be here as usual.

Maya immediately notices that something was off about the Jammin' Ninja: he wasn't carrying his guitar. WP agrees with her, but Phoenix brushes it off. It's clear that he very much wants to go home, but WP interests us by talking about a press conference involving the Nickel Samurai confessing to something. Talking with him a bit more, apparently the Nickel Samurai is so successful that they're making a movie out of him: Maya tells us that the new actor's name is Matt Engarde, and apparently the Nickel Samurai is in a heated competition with the Jammin' Ninja. They even air at the exact same time! Even Matt and the person who plays the Jammin' Ninja don't like each other. If you present WP's profile to him before we leave Pearl tells him that he looks very nice, which makes him happy.

Anyways, before we're dragged off by Maya to the lobby, we visit the hallway. Matt and another actor's, Juan Corrida's, doors are right across from each other, and it's clear that whoever this "Juan Corrida" fellow is... he's much more well liked. Apparently, Maya's been infodumping 24/7 about Matt Engarde to Phoenix: she's that big of a fan, huh?

Anyways, we head back to Viola Hall and are dragged off by Maya to see the post-ceremony show! Before we leave, however, WP gives us a ticket to the press conference. When we get to the lobby, however, the PA system blares that the conference is cancelled. Why? It's a police matter!

The low blind.

A security guard tells us to stop while we're going to check it out and gets into a very long today about the youth and- oh you've gotta be kidding me. It's Wendy Oldbag! Apparently, after she got fired from Global Studios, she tried to be Edgeworth's bodyguard: but he flatly turned her down. We get a little more information out of her—apparently there's been a murder! Here, at the Gatewater Hotel!

Maya manages to convince us (read: blackmail us) into sneaking away under the guise of going to the restroom. When we get to the Viola Hall, where the ceremony took place, it looks like nothing happened here, but before we leave a bellboy stops Maya. Apparently, she's got a phone call: it could be somebody from Kurain Village!

The high blind.

Maya decides to go with the bellboy to answer her phone call: we head into the hallway. This must be where it happened! After all, Dick Gumshoe and Lotta Hart are battling it out. Wait. Lotta's here? She's happy to see us, and Gumshoe confirms that a murder has happened inside of the room he's guarding: Juan Corrida's! Apparently, Matt Engarde—the Nickel Samurai—is being accused of "bumping off" Juan.

We ask Gumshoe why Matt got arrested, but his lips are sealed. We can't risk any leaks, and Pearl tells us that if Maya knew then she'd force us to take this case: which is... rather true. We head back to the lobby and tell WP what happened: and he understandably nearly buckles over. Before he leaves, WP gives us a small transceiver. Apparently, somebody told him to give this to us. Sure enough, it starts beeping...

...And on the other end is a mysterious voice alongside an all-too familiar one screaming for help: Maya has been kidnapped!

The cards are dealt.

The kidnapper has a simple demand. We will achieve a total acquittal for Matt Engarde in the first day of trial. If we do not, Maya will be killed. If we do, then she will be returned to us. Before he hangs up, he tells us his name: "De Killer". Pearl becomes completely inconsolable and we rush to Detective Gumshoe while WP looks over her: he's quick to tell us, though, that Matt Engarde is likely guilty. And if he wasn't, then why would there be a kidnapping?!

Gumshoe does tell us one thing, though: there's so much evidence that it was Matt Engarde that it's almost weird. De Killer did say something about Matt being set-up, and Gumshoe tells us that we can begin our own investigation after cooperating with the police.

Meanwhile, we slip into Maya's shoes and come face-to-face with De Killer.

Red! The blood of angry... er, assassins?

He reassures her that she is not his target: and she will not be if Phoenix manages to get an acquittal. He then contacts Phoenix: this takes just place just before their first conversation.

The next day, Phoenix and Pearl wake up without getting much sleep. Gumshoe was kind enough to go home with Pearl and Phoenix, and we stiffen our upper lip to be strong. For Pearl's sake! Before we leave, Pearl asks us a question: if we represent Matt, then what do we do if he is our murderer? It's a heavy question and one we're not prepared to answer, so we rush down to the Detention Center. We just can't wait to talk to Matt.

When we talk to him, we learn one thing about him: he's a moron. He thinks we're insurance salespeople, then fire extinguisher sellers, and only after we tell him we're a lawyer (and he talks to his manager) do we get a chance to interview him. It's not much of an interview, though: he doesn't answer our questions at all, and he's ready to show us out until we bring up De Killer's name.

Why does this rattle him?

Matt unexpectedly agrees to take us on as his attorney. Before we leave, we use the magatama to see if he did kill Juan: and when he says he did not, there's no chains or locks in sight. I guess he really didn't kill him! This is good—we've got an innocent client!

We head back to the Gatewater Hotel with one goal in mind: find the real killer. When we get to the lobby, we run into Oldbag, but it turns out that she's only heard everything from Lotta. It turns out she did see something very important, though: but when we try to pry, she's hiding it behind four psyche-locks! I guess we'll have to come back to her later. We run into Lotta in the hallway, and she's accusing us of stealing her camera: we're fervently denying it, but that brings us to another mystery. Where is her camera?

In any case, 'tis time for us to get investigating. One thing's for sure: if Matt was the killer, then he'd have to cross the hallway. Nobody saw him do this that we know of, so that's another layer of... if not proof that he's innocent, then at least a growing certainty. We take note of Lotta's missing camera and talk to her about what happened when Juan was murdered: she was here until Matt was arrested, but says she might've left here for a little bit to look for other stars to take pictures of. There was some big scoop that she was on the lookout for, but when we try to press her on that...

There's a joke to make here, but I don't know what it is.

Oookay, well. Time to make like Liz Truss and leaf. I guess it's time to put the pedal to the metal: let's go inside Juan's room. It's absolutely stuffed with, well, stuffed bears. Gumshoe is quick to inquire about Maya's safety, but we unfortunately have nothing to report: he asks if we're doing okay, but we don't respond. He tells us that we're totally allowed to investigate the crime scene and he'll give us all the information he can and gives Pearl a map: d'awww, he's a good guy.

When it comes to the cause of death, it's pretty obvious. Gumshoe gives us a picture and there's a knife sticking out of his chest. There are fingerprints on the knife, as well: and the current theory is that they're Matt's. Greeeeeeeeeeat. When it comes to Matt's actual arrest, Gumshoe tells us that he's got even more evidence. There was a button that got ripped off and landed in his Hakama, and furthermore he's got a witness: the Wicked Witch of the Witness Stand herself!

We run out of things to talk to him about so we get to presenting. He tells us that the transciever uses radio waves and he'll let us borrow a radio wave scanner: hopefully that'll work. There's also a suspicious guitar case on the scene. It's wet, but only on the top of the lid, with no water inside the case itself. Furthermore, there's no guitar! There's also a wine glass on the table filled with tomato juice: Pearl asks us a good question. Why is it that this is the only thing still intact? We get to talking with Gumshoe, and he tells us that Franziska also noticed that: which means Franziska is at the hote-

Gumshoe's beeper goes off, and on cue:

I was starting to miss her!

Franziska catches Gumshoe before he can run away and she tells us that victory will be hers this time: she's offended when we ask if that's all she's after, though, and storms away after throwing something at us. It looks like... an autograph? Signed "Juan", to... "My Dearest Wendy". Hm.

Maybe she does have a soft spot for us.

Before we leave to deliver the autograph, we stop in Matt's room. There's somebody in here before us: this is Ms. Adrian Andrews, Matt's manager. She's clearly very down-to-business, so down to business we get: interviewing her is a bit of a hassle, but she's quick to give us some information. She was eating dinner with Matt the night of the murder, did some errands to prepare for the post-ceremony show, and went to check on Juan when she found his body.

Apparently, Juan didn't have a manager. When it comes to the press conference, she didn't really know what it was about either: she was just told to put one on. When it comes to Juan, she's clearly not a very big fan of his. Or Matt's, for that matter. She equates them to children, always bickering about every little thing, and we get a hunch that she knows a little bit more than what she's telling us. We try to pry, but she gives us psyche-locks!

Oh, well. In any case, we know what to do with the autograph Franziska gave– er, threw at us. We move to rush back to the lobby and confront Ms. Oldbag, but before we do we're stopped by WP in the Viola Hall! He tells us a bit about the Nickel Samurai, which is focused on three brothers—the Aluminum, Tin, and Nickel Samurai—all being in love with the same woman. Pearl asks WP for more information, but he tells her to tune in: and she considers it. He tells us about the Jammin' Ninja as well, which is about a ninja who can't ninja becoming a big pop star, which Pearl also considers watching. They run at the same time, it appears.

When we run into Wendy, it is pitifully easy to break her four psyche-locks. All we have to do is give her the autograph Juan made for her and she spills the beans!

She looks like an alien. Or an insect.

We get to talking with her. She tells us that she straight-up saw Matt leaving Juan's room the night of the murder: ten minutes before his body was discovered, no less! She's going to be a witness in court tomorrow, and she's going to work overtime to get Matt declared guilty. Greeeeeeeeat. Apparently, Matt created some sort of scandal that Juan got wrapped up in: something to do with Adrian, no less. When it comes to what it actually was, though, she isn't sure. It'll come up in next week's tabloid.

Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat.

Fantastic. This was a huge waste of my time. (you did not read mine!) We go back to talk to WP about this "scandal", and he gives us more information. Apparently, Adrian and Juan were meeting in secret: and even more than that, the tabloid is hinting that they could even be lovers! He gives us the clipping and we have enough evidence to break apart Lotta's psyche-locks, so let's go do that!

Running into her in the hallway, we get to crackin'. She was here to get the drop on this "scandal"! We're right on the money, and her psyche-locks are broken after we substantiate our claim with the newspaper clipping. There's apparently a note on the story in her camera case. Another reason to keep an eye out for it, I guess.

Welp, there's one place to go now. Gumshoe told us to meet him at the Criminal Affairs Department, so that's exactly what we do. He is not happy to see us. Or, I guess more accurately, not happy for us. All of the evidence is pointing towards Matt's guilt: it's an airtight case, as far as the LAPD is concerned. The fingerprints did turn out to be Matt's. Furthermore, Oldbag's testimony is also damning. We try to pry for more information, and eventually we get to talking about the scandal.

Two years ago, a woman committed suicide: this woman, Celeste Impax, was Juan's own manager. Furthermore, she was Adrian's mentor. No wonder she hated him. Before he can tell us any more, Franziska barges in and fires Gumshoe! She begins to berate us for interfering, as if we didn't interfere then she would've won...

...says somebody finishing her sentence for her.

The great revival.

Franziska snaps at Edgeworth, but he keeps uncharacteristically cool: and, when she storms out in a huff, we get to snapping at him. Phoenix starts shouting at him, saying that he thought Edgeworth was dead and that he never wanted to see him again. Edgeworth coolly responds that he won't be showing up at tomorrow's trial, and thankfully given that he's not in charge of this investigation he's able to give us a little more information. Before we ask him, though, he reminisces about the von Karma creed: and we berate him for leaving because he lost his perfect win record. Edgeworth tries to correct us and asks why we stand in court. When we say it's to save our clients' lives, he has the audacity to tell us that we still have a lot to learn.

Sigh. In any case, it's time to get talking about the case. Edgeworth is happy to give us information on Celeste. Apparently, after she killed herself, her suicide note vanished. It was highly likely she did write one, given the ink on her fingers, as well. When it comes to who hid it? Well, it had to have been Juan. He was the one who discovered her body, after all. Edgeworth gives us Celeste's suicide report and we get to flipping: this is only part one, and Edgeworth gives us part two...

...it's an attempted suicide report and the victim is Adrian Andrews. This is shocking information! Adrian has an incredibly dependent nature, Edgeworth tells us—she latches on to authority figures in attempts to emulate them as she has very little self-confidence of her own. Celeste was the person she had latched on to, and when Celeste died she felt like she had nowhere else to go. Without somebody to anchor herself to, anxiety and desperation take control of her life: even with counseling, she's very clearly putting up a façade.

We head back to Matt's hotel room to talk with her. Franziska is there before us, and we learn that little beeping sound is a tracking device she planted on Gumshoe to know his every move. Okay, sure. Assault and battery, clear familial issues, and now stalking?

...I can fix her.

Anyways! It's time to break Adrian's psyche-locks. She knows the reason he was killed: she had to get close to Juan? Why? For Celeste's sake. She had to find the suicide note! She's uncharacteristically enraged to hear us talking about her, and when we finally tell her that we know about her dependent nature she folds: this is, indeed, why she got close with Juan. We're even going further than just this, however—Phoenix accuses her, to her face, of murdering Juan.

And yet she still denies it...

There's little else we can do today. We head back to the office and De Killer is on the line! We ask to hear Maya's voice and he relents: she tells us to talk to Mia, and Pearl channels her for us! Mia tells us that Maya is safe. She also left her a note: a smart use of spirit channeling! She didn't see the face of her kidnapper, however.

For the last bit of this investigation, we actually play as Maya. Scurrying around in the dark, we find a small card: it's similar to the one Adrian has, complete with a pink shell decal. Maya skillfully uses it to jimmy open the lock on her door... and investigation comes to a close!

Trial, Day Two

Before trial begins, we're called by Shelly de Killer. Apparently, he's given us a present: he's vague about it, though. Weird, as per usual. Maya is okay, but hasn't been fed at all. Thankfully, Mia's by our side this time, and when we go into trial we learn what this "present" of his really is.

In my favorite moment of this entire game, Franziska von Karma has been shot.

The flop.

This must be De Killer's gift to us. Franziska is one of the top prosecutors in the country: who could take her place?

Well, one person could. Edgeworth gives us the good news—she is alive and in stable condition. Just like her father, she was shot in the right shoulder: unlike her father, she is currently undergoing surgery. Edgeworth tells us that over this past year he has been undergoing a journey—and hopes that by the end of this trial we will understand the truth he has reached.

Gumshoe is called to the stand and lays out the facts of the case before us. After this trial, he's to turn in his badge: after a brief pep talk by Edgeworth, however, he gets out of his funk and is ready to testify. He tells us what we already knew: the murder took place during the awards show, Juan was murdered, and there was nothing suspicious about the guitar case.

After pressing Gumshoe for more information, we learn that only the victim's fingerprints were on his guitar case. We also learn that the cause of death wasn't stabbing: it was strangulation. Juan must've been stabbed after he died. Gumshoe's testimony comes to an end and we're given a new one on why Matt was arrested.

We get more information on both the knife—which, again, bears Matt's fingerprints—and the button found in his hakama. He slips up, though! He says that the murder was premeditated. We know this isn't true: after all, the knife he used was from the Gatewater Hotel! This was an issue in 1-5, if you recall.

When you commit a murder, you don't forget the murder weapon!

Edgeworth shuts this contradiction down, however. Juan's knife was present at his table. Whose knife wasn't present at his table? Matt's. Edgeworth says that a verdict could be reached if we have no new evidence to present—is he throwing us a bone? There's one thing that's piquing our attention. Remember the glass filled with tomato juice?

It's completely undisturbed in the crime scene photo, just like Pearl picked up on. Edgeworth brushes this off. Adrian Andrews, who discovered the body, must've simply put it down without thinking. We ask for proof, and Edgeworth gives it. Only Adrian's fingerprints were found on the glass! His Honor is ready to pass judgement but Edgeworth mysteriously stops him. He has another witness!

Oldbag takes the stand and Edgeworth is, understandably, shocked that it's her under that helmet. She gives her testimony about seeing Matt leaving Juan's room right after the murder supposedly took place: when we get to pressing her, she says that she definitely saw that bright red racing jacket of his. That can't be true, though. Juan's button landed in the hakama of his costume: if he was the murderer, then he'd have been wearing the Nickel Samurai outfit, not his racing jacket!

We ask for more testimony. Oldbag says that she did see the Nickel Samurai and got mixed up. There's a plain contradiction there, however. The Nickel Samurai costume has gloves. So, then, how did Matt's fingerprints end up on the knife?

Edgeworth says that the initial intent behind Matt's visit to Juan's room may not have been murder. He visited Juan, took off his gloves to relax, and then killed him. This can't be possible, though!

When you don't commit a murder, you don't bring a murder weapon!

We're going to fish for a turnabout now! There's a compelling theory brewing in Phoenix's mind. The real killer brought the knife in an attempt to frame our client! Who's the real killer? There's only one answer, and Oldbag even tells us that she was waiting for her. It's Adrian Andrews!

Oldbag is ready to testify to why she was waiting for Adrian. She was waiting to see if the scandal was true! How did she know about that, though? After all, the tabloid's gonna be published next week! Unless...

...remember Lotta's missing camera? Oldbag folds. She did steal Lotta's note! It was in the camera case We know she stole more than that, though.

I love how clearly desperate, tired, and pissed off he is here.

Oldbag finally confesses and shows us the camera. She says that she stole it to check for photos: His Honor orders the bailiff to do so as well. Edgeworth tells us that there's only one photo worth showing—the Nickel Samurai leaving Juan Corrida's room. His Honor is ready to pass judgement once more. After all, Matt himself said that during the time of the murder he was in the Nickel Samurai costume!

There's one thing off about this photo, however. The Nickel Samurai in this photo is holding up their hakama pants. The hakama is too long! This wouldn't be the case if it was actually Matt. It's his costume! Furthermore, in the poster, you can clearly see the Nickel Samurai's socks. The costume is too large for whoever is wearing it! There's only one person who could have access to the suit and be too short to fit in it comfortably.

Adrian Andrews.

Mia picks up on something, though. Edgeworth is unusually calm. When we formally indict Adrian, His Honor says that he'll call a subpoena: and Mia points out that this will take one more day! We desperately beg His Honor to keep this trial going. Edgeworth agrees with us and tells us one thing.

Everything is going according to plan.

Court is adjourned for a brief recess. In the Defendant's Lobby, Matt is shocked to hear that she was behind Juan's murder: but we have motive with the suicide note. But who told us about that note, Mia asks? Edgeworth did.

When court reconvenes, we're left with a sinking feeling in our stomachs. Adrian tells us that she had been seeing Juan and knew about the rivalry between him and Matt. Adrian testifies about when she discovered the body—she was in a state of shock, and when she felt she was about to faint poured a glass of tomato juice. Mia tells us that the key to breaking through her testimony is disrupting her pacing. To be blunt, unlike other witnesses she's smart.

Our main strategy, then, is to press. As we press, we notice that she's getting more nervous: she's starting to stumble over her words as we press her about her state of shock and the glass of juice. When we get back to talking about her state of shock, she lets it slip that she made a mistake! She shakily answers that she knocked the flower vase over—this is an obvious lie if I've ever seen one! Adrian says that she knocked it over and that it fell onto the guitar case: but we know this isn't possible, as the guitar case is wet and has glass on the outside, not the inside!

Why would she lie about this?

Other than the vase, Adrian testified, she didn't touch anything at all. Why, then, was the guitar case closed if it was open in the picture? We ask Adrian to testify about the guitar case: this might be the key that blows the whole case wide open! At least, that's the façade we're putting up. Edgeworth knows we're grasping at straws. Frankly, we can't believe we're grasping this far, either.

Adrian's pacing is definitely disrupted now: her testimony, that she opened the guitar case for some reason after she found Juan's body, is riddled with holes. Her fingerprints weren't found on the guitar case, after all! This isn't strange, she argues back: she was wearing gloves. This can't be true, though! After all, her fingerprints were on the glass of tomato juice!

Mia tells us that we're definitely on to something: there must've been something else inside the guitar case. It all clicks into place! It makes perfect sense for one thing to be inside of the guitar case. The Nickel Samurai costume! Edgeworth and His Honor are both incredulous, but we have an idea. There was something Matt was going to confess at a press conference when he won the award: but what if it wasn't Matt in the Nickel Samurai costume?

He's exhausted, isn't he?

We make an outrageous claim: that Juan Corrida was going to wear the Nickel Samurai costume and hold a fake press conference! This! This is our turnabout! It wasn't going to be a confession. As Edgeworth notes, this would be public disclosure! Andrews tells us the truth: we're right on the money. The press conference was set up by Juan! "If he lost the Grand Prix, then Matt was going down with him," she says. Adrian says that Juan must've had a pretty big secret if it was going to ruin his career.

His Honor asks if Adrian knows what the "secret" is. She claims she doesn't. She's asked to testify one last time about why she's been behaving like she did—she says it was all to protect Matt, given that she's his manager and the button and knife are proof of his guilt. We press her and she tells us that Matt's motive was about the press conference: but she can't prove it. When it comes to the button, she says that it was torn off during his fight with Matt.

This, alas, is not possible. There's blood on the button, after all. This wouldn't be an issue if he was stabbed before he died, but he wasn't! He was strangled first and then stabbed. This can only mean one thing. The button was torn off deliberately! Why was the button ripped off? There's one answer. To frame Matt!

Everything is falling into place now. All of the evidence did seem too perfect, remember? We finally openly accuse Adrian of murdering Juan. If asked if we have any evidence, we say we have all the evidence! Adrian's perfect framing is coming back to bite her in the ass. The knife used to stab Juan's body? It was taken from Matt's room. Of course it'd be covered in his fingerprints! The only one that could take the knife from his room, and know which knife to take, would be her.

Furthermore! The only people that could've removed the button from Juan's costume were his killer and the person who found the body. We know Matt didn't: after all, why would he incriminate himself?! The guitar case is also proof. Who could've known there was a spare costume inside of the case? Two people: Juan Corrida and Adrian Andrews!

Edgeworth objects. Adrian's fingerprints weren't found on the guitar case! This is elementary. She used a towel or a cloth to hide her fingerprints: but the tomato juice? That was deliberate! After all, she needed to create the appearance of being a "dazed witness"! Finally, look at the picture of the Nickel Samurai leaving Juan's room. If somebody was too short to fit in the costume, like Adrian, then they'd have to ride the pants up to walk properly!

We can't: for Maya's sake!

Adrian refuses to testify any more: she's pleading the fifth! It must've been Franziska. Remember that they were talking in Matt's room yesterday. Edgeworth says that everything we've proven so far is simply circumstantial. With Adrian refusing to testify and Edgeworth shooting down our argument, we've ended up in the worst possible situation! His Honor says that the court must be adjourned today for further investigation. No! This can't be how it ends!

We beg His Honor to keep proceedings going. When Edgeworth interjects, we get to begging him. Edgeworth says that there is one more thing we can do: have Adrian testify to something unrelated to the evidence pointing towards Matt. What about the juice she poured?

Adrian testifies that she thought Juan was just sleeping. This is why she poured the glass of juice: she poured it for him. This can't be right. After all, there was a knife sticking out of his body! Her entire testimony was a lie. A lie that has proven one thing: she had to have been Juan's murderer!

Court's proceedings are coming to a close, and we've done it. We've done it! We've found who the real killer was and saved Maya's life. When it comes to the matter of the evidence, Adrian still refuses to testify: in that case, court today is over. Which is... weird. Why isn't Adrian confessing? That's what murderers have always done in the past.

...Is she...?

Edgeworth objects, stating that a verdict now would be immature. If Adrian isn't going to testify about why she tried to frame Matt... then he'll do it himself. She's still steadfastly refusing to testify: she's in complete denial that she'll be found guilty! It must be Franziska's influence—her dependent nature has caused Adrian to latch on to her!

Edgeworth tells us that we have a choice to make. Think about what the witness did and did not do: what kind of man are we? We have to win an acquittal for Maya, but we just... we just can't let the truth die. Adrian refuses to testify when we try to force her, however, and Edgeworth does the unthinkable.

He tells the truth about Adrian for her. Her attempted suicide in the past. Her dependency issues. Adrian begs him to stop: when it comes to this all being revealed, she'd rather...

Edgeworth's gambit.

Adrian tells us the truth. She did try to pin the crime on Matt... but she also discovered Juan's body. Adrian is livid: she's swearing at Matt, calling him a scumbag who's trying to flee from the truth "just like last time". This testimony is airtight. It must be the truth. It is impossible to indict Adrian on anything outside of fabricating evidence to get Matt convicted.

An extra day is called for further investigation.

Court is adjourned.

Before we leave, Edgeworth asks Adrian about the card in her hand. When she says she found it next to Juan's body, he demands she give it to him: apparently, this is a major piece of evidence.

In any case, however... court is adjourned.

And we didn't win an acquittal.

This is my favorite sprite in the entire trilogy.

Investigation, Day Two

Pearl is understandably inconsolable. Gumshoe swings by the offices to talk to us: apparently, now that he's out of a job, he's offering to work for us and help in our investigation. Hey, I won't turn him down. He's just as shocked as us to have heard Edgeworth say he didn't care if Adrian killed herself. We get to asking about Franziska, and she's in good condition: apparently, she was shot in the shoulder. Just like her father.

We play with the idea of visiting her at the... Hotti Clinic, eugh: apparently Phoenix does care about her. If you present her profile to Gumshoe, he tells us that he worries about her. Aw. If only Franziska knew that she had people who cared about her...

In any case, we go down to Hotti Clinic to check up on her. Edgeworth is worried sick about his sister to the point of not knowing that this man isn't Director Hotti: Franziska whips him out of the way. Huh. Well, at least she's still her old self. There's a funny bit here where Phoenix gets embarrassed after Franziska notices he brought her some flowers. See? He does care!

An unlikely friendship, perhaps?

Franziska says that she was going to run the trial today anyways (she's obviously lying, mind you) and Edgeworth dragged her here. Edgeworth says that getting her to the hospital was the logical course of action and that he had to clean up the deal she made with Adrian—she denies that she made such a deal. She calls Adrian weak and storms off, flippantly ignoring the fact that she had manipulated her into nearly being declared guilty for a crime she didn't commit.

When Franziska leaves, we're left alone with Edgeworth. Edgeworth says that the reason he did what he did was because he puts himself on the line and expects everybody else to do the same. When it comes to the card, though... Edgeworth swears us to secrecy. This is tippity-top secret information.

The card is a literal calling card: property of an assassin named Shelly de Killer. The name "De Killer" is an old one, dating back over a hundred years—the latest in the line, Shelly, leaves the card as proof that he committed the murder for his clients.

Before we leave, Edgeworth speaks up. He noticed how we were acting in trial today: desperate. We tell him the truth—Maya's been kidnapped. He's shocked and promises to put together a team to rescue her: we snap at him, telling him that we don't need his pity and that we don't believe that Matt hired De Killer to kill Juan Corrida. Edgeworth goes to prepare his rescue team and gives us a letter of introduction to be allowed to investigate the hotel.

She's still alive, thankfully!

Once we're done talking to Edgeworth, the scene cuts to Maya's perspective. Breaking out of her room with the card, we find ourselves in a room with a bunch of electrical equipment. A satellite dish, a computer, a picture of Celeste Impax, a weird little stuffed bear, and a bunch of video tapes. When we're done investigating, De Killer suddenly appears. He's rather impressed with our escape, but asks us to cooperate. Dead men tell no tales, after all...

We go to the detention center, but visiting hours are over. There's a message left for us by Matt, though: to feed his cat Shoe. Well. Pearl pushes us to feed Shoe, but before we do that we head over to the hotel to investigate. Apparently, Edgeworth buttered Wendy up in his letter of recommendation. Nice. Before we go any further, Wendy tells us that we're not allowed to go into Matt's room. Bummer.

Anyways, before we do anything else, we should probably feed Shoe. When we turn the light on, Matt's butler, John Doe, greets us. He looks oddly familiar, doesn't he?

Where have we seen this face before...?

John is reluctant to give us information about Matt: he doesn't pry into his master's affairs, as it were. He's rather reluctant to talk about anything, as a matter of fact. When we leave, John tells us that people aren't as they appear to be: a strange thing to say, wouldn't you say so?

Heading back to the hotel, we get into the hallway and meet with Lotta. Apparently, the info she made up about Matt foisting Adrian onto Juan? Hogwash. Balderdash, as it were. Great. When we go into Juan's room, Oldbag is waiting for us! Weirdly enough, all the bears around the room are presents. Apparently he fought and befriended a bear at one point. Weird, but okay.

De Killer calls us on the transceiver: we ask to speak to Maya, but the transciever fades away into static! We do manage to get one more day, though. Heading back to the office, Gumshoe is waiting for us. He offers to make dinner, but we're not hungry, and we ask him if he could look at the transceiver. Oddly enough, it's perfectly fine—he suggest electromagnetic interference. He explains it to us: it's like using a cellphone next to a computer making the screen blurry, and when Pearl doesn't understand that, we tell her it's like using the dryer next to the TV and the TV starts acting up.

Gumshoe suggests that some other device messed up the transceiver: like a listening device. And where did the transceiver get messed up? Juan's room! We've got a lead: FINALLY! Gumshoe races to break into the precinct and steal a bug sweeper and we rush to Juan's hotel room. Gumshoe couldn't get a police bug sweeper, but he did manage to find his own: one he whipped up in elementary school. Huh! Guy's handy with electronics. It'll go off on anything that emits electromagnetic waves, but it'll work to find any listening devices!

I'm more impressed that he made it in elementary school. Given he's in his 30s and JfA takes place in 2017, he made this stuff using equipment from the late 80s or early 90s! That's impressive!

We take a good look around the room and find something: a small video camera in the eye of the giant stuffed bear along with a transmitter and a timer. It transmits radio waves: there's no actual video on it. The timer on the device says it was set to start recording at 8:00 PM—around the time Juan was killed! This camera could've caught the murder on tape!

Gumshoe takes the camera and has a great idea: he's going to go to different electronic shops and see if he can't find who bought the camera! Edgeworth shows up and chuckles at Gumshoe's inefficiency: he overheard our entire conversation, it seems. The bear is custom-made, he tells us, and only a few are exported overseas. He takes the stuffed bear and tells us that he can find who bought it: he should still have enough time.

Going back to the office, we start bouncing theories off of Pearl. All the signs are pointing towards Matt being the person who hired De Killer: we head back to the hotel to see if we can find any more clues and find Oldbag investigating with the bug sweeper. She's ready to tell us more scandalous details about Matt. Apparently, Juan was engaged to Celeste. We knew that already, but Celeste killed herself three days after the marriage announcement! What in the world?!

Juan called off his engagement with Celeste for some reason. We head back to the police station one last time, and the Chief tells us that they've got a new witness. Great. Great! Fuckin' great. Edgeworth does us one more kindness and lets us visit the detention center even though visiting hours are over.

Heading back to the detention center, we're giving the option of talking to either Matt or Adrian. We talk to Matt first, and when we ask him about what the "secret" Juan wanted to reveal is...

This must be the key to everything.

We decide to talk to Adrian instead, and she gives us more information. She tells us that the reason she wanted to get her hands on Celeste's suicide note was to burn it: she didn't want anybody to ruin her memory by spreading lies about her. Adrian tells us that she didn't frame Matt—she just planted evidence to make it more obvious that he's the killer. We have no information right now, so heading back to the Police Department, we run into Will Powers: he's tomorrow's decisive witness.

When it comes to his testimony, WP can't say anything, but when it comes to Matt? He's a playboy. Every women swoons over him... except for Adrian. Besides her totally being gay, there's another obvious reason there: he had something to do with Celeste's suicide, didn't he? He's practically begging us to ask him about Celeste's suicide, so we do. He tells us some of Celeste's last words: "It looks like I got caught up with a truly insidious man." Perhaps something on that note incriminated Juan?

After we're done talking to WP, we get a phone call from Gumshoe. He's in a hurry: Edgeworth's gone and done something! He's found the person who bought the spy camera and the bear. It was... Matt Engarde. He even has the receipt to prove it.

It's undeniable now. Matt Engarde hired Shelly de Killer. It's time for us to go back to the detention center and confront him. His psyche-locks are hard to crack: he recorded Juan, he gave the bear to him, we have the receipt, and we know why he recorded everything. He wanted a video of Juan's death.

Finally, we've uncovered the truth... and Matt Engarde introduces himself.

The river.

He knows all about Maya's kidnapping. He knows that we can't possibly say that he's guilty. Engarde leaves, triumphant, and Edgeworth shows up. We have a conversation with him back at the precinct—we can't get Engarde acquitted. That's no proper defense. But Maya's situation... he asks us why we fight, but before we can get into a proper conversation, we're interrupted by De Killer.

De Killer explains why he kidnapped Maya. He had to take care of Matt: he's his client, after all. When he hangs up, we hear a meow: was that... Shoe?

We've met De Killer?! We rush back to Matt's house and find it empty. Dammit! He was here! We were face-to-face with him! Police units rush to Engarde mansion with us. We're too late, but we do get to investigate: we find the bear figurine and the tapes, but we're too late. The video's been taken.

We also find a message from Maya. She wants us to get Matt declared guilty. But we can't do that! We need to save her life. Dammit! There's only one thing we can do. We head back to the detention center and confront Adrian: she has a psyche-lock, and we break it. Adrian tells us the truth—Celeste killed herself because of Matt, who lied about still having a relationship with her. In her suicide note, she wrote down all of Matt's misdeeds: but Juan hid it, waiting to disclose everything in it at the perfect time. This must've been the "secret" he was going to reveal at the press conference.

With all of the information gathered before us...

Investigation comes to a close.

Trial, Day Two

Before trial, Matt taunts us and Mia talks to us. Matt calls us again and we scream into the receiver, causing Gumshoe to be rather hurt by what we have to say. Gumshoe? Oh. He's calling us. He's back on the investigation team and chasing after De Killer: he tells us that the plan in motion is to make the trial last for as long as possible.

With Gumshoe, Edgeworth, Maya, Pearl, and Mia at our backs, it's time for court!

Edgeworth brings up De Killer's calling card. Once it's established that Juan was assassinated, he calls WP to the stand. On the night of the murder, he visited Matt's room! WP testifies that Matt was talking to somebody. There's a trap here: and we need to fall for it, Mia implies. WP says that Matt gave the bellboy a tip, and when asked about something he found strange during said tip-giving he remembers what it was: a fat roll of cash. This was payment.

Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeat.

WP testifies that he saw the bellboy leaving Juan's room. Pressing him, we learn that the bellboy came out of Juan's room empty-handed: we have to pull some cheap tricks here. We point out the tomato juice, but Edgeworth counters: the bellboy was wearing gloves. Black leather gloves!

We're really grasping here...

A large wad of cash and black gloves is enough to convince His Honor that this bellboy is suspicious, however. WP testifies further, saying that the bellboy gave something to somebody in Matt's room after leaving Juan's room: when pressing him, we learn that WP can't remember who took it or what was given. Something was removed from the crime scene—this is added to WP's testimony, and we present the figurine we found in Matt's house.

This is damning proof that Matt was his client, wasn't it? We ask His Honor to stop his judgement—there are questions that need to be answered still! Who took the bear? Well, WP says it was the Nickel Samurai. Shit. Well, there's an issue with that. Matt was arrested at the hotel: so how could he take the bear home?! Edgeworth counters. We admitted to him that the butler was Shelly de Killer, after all.

We grasp at the tiniest of straws by claiming Adrian Andrews is the real client. The courtroom is turning against us, but we weather the abuse: we're doing this to save Maya. Edgeworth notices our logic has flaws... but he can't deny the possibility! He's letting this trial go on, thank God. He's prepared to challenge our theory and calls the only person who could dispel it to the stand: Adrian herself. Court is adjourned for a brief recess.

During our recess, we notice Pearl isn't channeling Mia anymore: a more powerful force has taken over her spirit. Gumshoe is calling us—he doesn't have any more leads and we snap at him for it, but Mia suddenly comes back. Maya was channeling her, and she was able to see something Maya couldn't: a circus tent! Gumshoe tells his team to search in a 300 foot radius around the Berry Big Circus: that's about how far away Mia thinks it was. Earlier on, it's actually mentioned in an optional examine conversation that the Berry Big Circus has just opened back up. There was also a small mailbox and Mia thinks it might've been an office building. Mia tells us how Maya's doing: she's being deliberately starved by De Killer. Is this how he intends to kill her?! That bastard!

Nevertheless, court reconvenes. Edgeworth asks her if she's seen the bear before: Adrian answers she has, and a desperate Phoenix is shocked. Adrian testifies that the figurine is actually a puzzle, and to unlock it you have to take certain pieces out in a certain order to reach its hollow center. Without knowing the order, you can't solve the puzzle, and therefore cannot open the container. Smart.

Not the first place I would've started.

How does she know about this puzzle? Simple. She bought it. It was meant to be a present for Juan during her scheme to get closer to him. Only she and Juan knew that it was actually a puzzle, which meant Matt didn't. This is interesting. After we press every statement, all eyes are on Adrian: she unlocks the puzzle box...

...and inside is Celeste's suicide note.

Adrian says that she looked all over for the bear after discovering Juan's body, but couldn't find it. There's only one thing we can do: read the contents of the note. Adrian knows she can't stop us and Edgeworth tells her that he can't be persuaded to stop anyways. His Honor reads the note aloud: inside the note is a detailed account of the abuse she went through under Matt, how she was engaged to Corrida, and how Matt destroying everything led her to end her own life. This is Edgeworth's motive: Matt killed Juan because he needed to get rid of that note by any means necessary.

We know we can't stop. We have to keep going: Gumshoe hasn't called anybody yet. Right as His Honor is about to declare his verdict we counter—there's no proof that Matt knew this was a puzzle box! Edgeworth shows us the spy camera, however. Wait. Isn't that in our possession? He explains that this is another spy camera of the same make and model that he found in Matt's mansion.

Mia tells us that there's one piece of evidence Edgeworth hasn't had the time to look further into: or ignored to. The suicide note itself. We point out one thing—there is no proof that this is Celeste's. The handwriting hasn't been analyzed, after all!

And with that, we've reached the end of Part One! Part Two can be found here.

[thecourtscorkboard]

Turnabout Big Top (2-3)

Even when looking for a break from all the drama, it comes out of nowhere to find us: a magic circus is interrupted by the murder of its own ringmaster, and Phoenix Wright is called to defend its star magician!

Hope y'all didn't miss me too much! Welcome to 2-3, perhaps the poster-child for hated AA cases. Many people call it the worst case in the entire franchise, and this isn't without reason, although we'll get to that once we go through this case's material and arrive at our own conclusion.

At the very least, 2-3 has a very interesting premise: the star magician of a traveling circus has been arrested for the murder of its ringmaster, and we're called to defend him! Let's see if 2-3 is actually as bad as everyone remembers or if it really does get zero stars out of five!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Coming hot off the heels of losing his memory, Phoenix travels with Maya and Pearl to the Berry Big Circus: only to get wrapped up in another murder!

Maya Fey: Maya returns as our main assistant, taking Pearl's role from the last case. Turns out she's quite a fan of the circus!

Franziska von Karma: Franziska returns as the prosecution, still reeling from her defeat at our hands a few months back and unambiguously pissed about it.

THE MAIN CAST:

Dick Gumshoe: Gumshoe finally gets a chance to show up for actual detective work in 2-3, returning as a major player in this case!

Max Galactica: The star of the Berry Big Circus: a magician that is renowned worldwide for his cordless flying act.

Regina Berry: The daughter of the ringmaster and the "darling child" of the circus, if you will: naïve to a fault and sheltered beyond belief.

Benjamin Woodman: A master ventriloquist and a member of the Berry Big Circus. Notoriously shy, relying on his puppet "Trilo Quist" to do the talking for him.

Moe: A clown at the Berry Big Circus and a mentor figure for many other performers. Loves bad jokes, a good guffaw, and the people around him.

Ken "Acro" Dingling: An acrobat and a long-time member of the Berry Big Circus who was sent into retirement after an unfortunate accident caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down.

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Sean "Bat" Dingling: A former acrobat and the brother of Acro who was unfortunately sent into a coma six months ago.

Russell Berry: The ringleader of the Berry Big Circus. A larger-than-life figure who has lead the circus through thick and thin.

Pearl Fey: Pearl, unfortunately, only has a passing role in this case: but she's here regardless!

A BRIEF RECAP

We cut to a circus: a Berry Big one, as a matter of fact. The announcer says that we are about to witness a man who has mastered the power of flight. Sure enough, he does just that, flying through the sky! This is the one, the only: Maximillion Galactica, magician extraordinare!

Whatever your opinion on 2-3, you have to admit that this intro is fire. It's my second-favorite in the entire game after 2-2.

Investigation, Day One

After the circus closes, Pearl is overjoyed. She's never seen so many people performing so many miraculous things! Maya agrees: she thought it was awesome. Maya and Pearl have to go back home, and Pearl teases Maya about spending New Years' with Phoenix before Maya pulls her away, embarrassed.

The next day (which is December 28: sound familiar?), we're cleaning up a horrible mess at our office (that Maya promised she'd help clean up) when we get a call. It's Maya, and she's inconsolable: Max Galactica has been arrested for murder! Maya says that she'll see us at the detention center in two hours, and we've really got nothing else to do, so... off to the detention center we go!

Ziggy Stardust? That you?

Meet Maximillion Galactica, who Maya is absolutely enamored with. He seems to be a fan of her as well, but when it comes to us he couldn't give a rat's ass. We get to talking with him, and he tells us that he's been on the recipient's end of a rather prestigious award: he's the victor of the Magician's Grand Prix, earning a sizable bust and a nice little trophy. Anyways, he tells us what happened: Russell Berry, ringleader of the Berry Big Circus, was murdered. Apparently, Max was the last one to see Russell alive, meeting with him in his room: worse than that, he was hit over the head! His meeting was apparently about his salary: try pressing him any more, though, and we get psyche-locks!

Max is in denial that he's been arrested. We eventually get him to realize the truth, though, and he breaks character: it turns out that his real name is Billy Bob Johns, and like yours truly he's from the Heartland of the Heartland, a true southnor! There's something funny with how quickly Maya's being enamored with him vanishes after he breaks down into tears. We agree to help him out and, after a brief discussion in the Wright & Co. Law Offices, head back to the Berry Big Circus.

How fast the act crumbles...

Going into the circus itself, the first place we decide to go is a nearby lodging house. This must be where the performers stay while they're on tour! Gumshoe interrupts us: he's surprised to see us here and apparently every single time he's been to the circus he's been there on work. Apparently, Franziska's working the case again: and she is pissed. Maya asks where Edgeworth's been—Gumshoe is reluctant to answer, asking if Maya "hadn't heard" what happened to him. Apparently, Phoenix hasn't told her! Gumshoe ominously says that he's "not around" anymore. A shocked Maya asks us what he's talking about, but Phoenix shuts her questioning down: telling her to never even say his name again.

Getting back to the case itself, it looks like the ringleader of the circus itself was murdered. Right outside the lodging house, no less! We ask Gumshoe what happened to the ringleader and apparently he was smacked on the head. His body was discovered quickly, but apparently Detective Gumshoe says that there's one thing that doesn't quite fit.

This "one thing" that doesn't quite fit? Footprints. What about them? That's the thing: there are none! The only footprints at the scene of the crime were the victim's! That's a conundrum, alright. Where'd the killer come from, where did he go? Gumshoe says that the only way a killer could've done this is if they could fly and—oh my fucking god. This is what they're basing their case off of? Well, there's also the fact that Max's hat was found at the scene, so...

Says the dude named after a bird.

We get the crime scene photo from Gumshoe and go out into the circus stage itself. There's a growling noise and there's a t-t-t-t-t-t-t-tiger! He's growling and roaring at us but somebody manages to step in while Maya is panicking about our well-being: the ringleader's daughter, Regina Berry!

This Sailor Moon-ass girl is apparently oblivious to how dangerous tigers really are. We reluctantly agree with her assessment that we're lucky to 'play' with a tiger, and she quickly moves on to asking if she can try on Maya's clothes. She gives us a few details about what happened last night: she was the only one that stayed around the circus tent, playing with Regent, the tiger. Maya is impressed at her animal taming skills, but Regina brushes it off. Ever since Léon—the circus's former lion—died, Regent's been her best friend: there's nothing scary, or even particularly impressive, about it to her. Apparently, her own father killed Léon, but she isn't sure why.

We talk about Max a bit and Regina tells Maya something: apparently Max professed his love to her the other day along with somebody else! ...Ah. How old is he, again...? Putting that thought out of our minds (MUSTARD ON THE BEAT HO), we learn that the other person who had confessed their love to her was somebody named "Trilo", a tenor in the opera. After their practice session last night, her father went into his room in a hurry: that's our cue to check out the Ringmaster's office!

One of my favorite set-pieces in the entire game!

While we're checking out the room, Maya sneakily steals a poster of Max Galactica. Sneaky, sneaky! There's a set of papers on the table and we can't help but take a look at them: apparently this is Max's salary and oh my goodness, does he make a lot of money! Maybe Phoenix should become a magician. Apparently, he got an absolutely massive raise just a week ago: so why would he want to kill the person who gave him said raise? That's our first piece of ammunition going into trial!

We head back to the circus entrance and come face-to-face with Benjamin Woodman, a ventriloquist for the circus! He's incredibly nervous, looking over his shoulder and with a near-constant stutter. Left shoulder, right shoulder, left shoulder, look, huh?

...Did Maya just make a dick joke?

We try to get him to tell us a bit more. He says that Max isn't very nice and that his head hurts, but anything more than that gives us a big, fat nothing out of him. Welp, guess there's nowhere else to go than Moe's tent!

And boy, what a character he is. Constantly laughing at his own jokes, which Maya does not hesitate to also laugh at, wearing an outfit defined by smile after smile... this guy is a circus act, alright. Moe tells us that the circus has come on hard times: it can't compete with movies, TV, video games, and bowling. Apparently, Russell was a very kind man: when the circus didn't make enough money, he'd pay from his own pocket. When we get to talking about the murder, Moe tells us that he was an eyewitness!

After we're forced to make an awful joke, Moe tells us what he saw. He was about to go to bed when he heard a loud "thump": and when he jumped out of bed to take a look, he saw Max. That's all? It doesn't feel very decisive...

Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har! Har!

Before we leave, Moe gives us the bright idea of checking out the cafeteria. Apparently, Max had hit Ben over the head! We go to check it out and sure enough it looks like there's been a full-on food fight: when we pick up a broken bottle, Phoenix puts two and two together. Moe told us there's "Gotti be something interesting here", and sure enough the mobster loved his wine.

I think we've got enough to put everything together, though. Going back to the Detention Center and meeting with Max, it's time for us to break his psyche-locks! Max says that he and Russell were discussing his salary, but that isn't possible. After all, he got a raise a week ago! Max tells us that Russell did call him to his room, but won't tell us why. Well, we've got an idea: he was being reprimanded for hitting Ben with the bottle! Max's psyche-locks are broken and we finally get a more detailed account of what happened last night from him.

Yesterday morning, Max and Ben were having a fight: apparently, they were both competing for the heart of Regina and Ben had confessed to her. In a fit of rage, Max assaulted Ben with a bottle and was called to Russell's office: Max demanded that he be allowed to marry Regina and, surprisingly, Russell accepted. To solidify this deal, however, Max decided to shut up Ben by hiding Trilo. Apparently, Ben can barely talk without his puppet!

I have to hand it to Ziggy here: that's actually pretty smart.

After heading to Russell's office and finding Trilo, we rush over to give it back to Ben, who is in the circus cafeteria. Through Trilo, Ben decides to insult and degrade us Jeff Dunham-style before giving us some information. "Trilo" apparently hates Russell: Ben isn't being paid very much, doesn't like Moe, and has his hand in Trilo's pants. Apparently, Ben's trying to marry Regina.

...Hooh boy.

Alright, let's just ignore that. Apparently, Ben's also an eyewitness to Russell's murder and is adamant that it was Max! Greeeeeeeat. Before we can get any more information out of him, Ben runs off. He's going to be a witness in court tomorrow... much to our dismay. When we leave the cafeteria, a monkey comes out of nowhere and swipes our badge! Regina pops up and tells us to go over to Moe's: apparently he's friends with Money the monkey. Regina has nothing of interest to say, so we head over to Moe's tent.

Heading back over there, Moe gives us a bit more information about her: apparently, Regina has been born and raised in the circus and doesn't know much about life outside of it. Moe's friendly and kooky demeanor quickly shifts to a more serious one when talking about her—it seems that he takes his role as "Uncle Moe" quite seriously. When it comes to Money, Moe is ready to lead us to his owner: an acrobat named, rather fittingly, Acro. He's not in, but Moe lets us take a look around his room.

In a pile of junk, probably collected by Money, we find our badge: and also a ring! "From T to R"... hm. Teddy to Roosevelt, perhaps? In any case, with a ring in our pocket and a badge on our lapel, our first day of investigation comes to an end!

Trial, Day Two

Before going into trial, Max's nerves are frayed. Although we can't give him a glass of milk to calm down, we do manage to get him to stop panicking before heading in.

In the words of her not-so-illustrious father, "get on with it, man!"

After the court agrees to call Max by his stage name, Franziska starts going off on Phoenix. Still absolutely incensed by the 2-2 trial, she declares it was a sham and that her perfect record will, despite that, stand. Sore loser much?

Regardless, she calls Gumshoe to the stand. She's surprisingly polite with him, and Gumshoe's testimony sheds a lot of much-needed light on the case. The victim was beaten to death at 10:15 PM and under his body was a wooden trunk! We press for a bit more information and it turns out inside the trunk was a bottle of pepper and... that's it. Huh. Okay, well, it's accepted as evidence anyways!

We ask Gumshoe about the night of the murder a bit more. It was snowing pretty hard, but there's not much else that we can gleam from him. He's dismissed and Ben is called up to the stage. Here we go: time for our first real testimony!

Ben testifies, through Trilo, that he saw Max heading towards the scene of the murder while standing outside of the lodging house. While His Honor brings up the idea that Moe could be the murderer, as Ben left him before seeing Max, there's the issue of Max's silk hat left at the crime scene: a piece of very incriminating evidence. Nevertheless, it's time for us to start cross-examining Ben! The first contradiction is pretty clear: isn't it weird that Ben only saw Max? After all, Russell's body was there! We try to press this claim but there's no definitive proof that Russell wasn't waiting there already. Well, what about him waiting outside of the lodging house? He was waiting for Regina: and we're able to put two-and-two together! Even if Ben saw somebody walk by him, he wouldn't care if they weren't Regina!

Please. Don't look at me like that.

Ben testifies again: he was waiting to propose to Regina and even had a gift ready! Drilling Ben a bit more, we get him to admit that this gift of his was an engagement ring. He said that he had it in Trilo's pocket, but this can't be true: after all, this had to have been the ring we found in Acro's room! "From T to R": "From Trilo to Regina"!

Ben tells us that the ring was stolen around the time Max walked by and that he chased after Money: and this proves a massive discrepancy! He was chasing after Money, which means there's no way he can truthfully say that he was watching the plaza all night! His Honor sustains our argument and asks Ben to testify one more time.

This is his final slip-up! Ben says that he cordially said "good evening" to Max, but this is incredibly unlikely. After all, Max assaulted him, remember? What does this mean? There's one conclusion that is seeming increasingly likely: Ben is trying to frame Max by placing him at the scene of the crime! He probably did see somebody, though. Who was it? The defendant! Even though he saw the defendant's "three symbols"—the silk hat, cape, and white roses—anybody could pull that off!

I would pay a large amount of money to see this.

Although we've made the point that Ben is an unreliable witness, apparently Franziska's next witness is not! She's getting ready to call Moe to the stand, and trial is adjourned for a brief recess.

In the Defendant's Lobby, Max tells us that he took off his stage costume while meeting Russell. It's now looking likelier and likelier that Russell did, indeed, dress up as Max! But why? Furthermore, where did Max's cloak go?

The recess is quickly over and court is back in session: Franziska calls Lawrence "Moe" Curls to the stand!

...Okay, brief break. Can I talk about how much I genuinely love Moe's name? This should probably be for the greater review but I just wanted to make a quick aside here. Larry, Moe, and Curly were the Three Stooges, and Moe's name finishes the name of the sisters from 2-2: Ini and Mimi Miney, and Moe—eeny, meeny, miney, mo! This is a really cute detail and I think it's one of the best names in the series.

Anyways! Moe tries to sing us the theme song to Fresh Prince with a corny twist and tries to lament about his life's story before giving us an actual testimony. Moe says that he was about to go to bed due to being exhausted from practice, but before he was fully asleep he glanced out his window and saw Max and Russell arguing: and Max hit Russell over the head!

Drilling Moe for information, we get to asking why he looked out of his window. Apparently, he heard a "thump" sound: the sound of somebody being hit very hard. There's our contradiction! If Moe heard the ringmaster getting hit, which made him look out of his window, then how did he see it? After all, Russell was only hit once!

Moe says that Russell was already face down in the snow: and indirectly tells us that Franziska tampered with his testimony!

Tricky, tricky...

Even if he didn't see the actual crime, Moe is still adamant that he saw Max! He's sure that he saw his symbols—say it with me now, silk hat, cloak! Wait. There's something missing! Even though Moe got a good enough look to see the silhouette of his face, he didn't see the roses?! Trilo saw all of Max's symbols, though. His Honor is 99% sure that Moe saw the defendant: but that 1% of doubt is enough for him to suspend his verdict... unless we don't find any contradictions in his next testimony!

Hooh, boy! Alright. Put your game face on! Moe testifies that Max had his hat on the entire time that he was at the crime scene and we finally, finally, get a break. After all, the silk hat was left behind! Moe is adamant that he saw Max leave the scene of the crime with the hat still on, and tells us that he walked away. This is impossible: the footprints prove it! Moe admits more plainly now that Franziska told him not to tell the truth: an understandably outraged Judge snaps at Franziska, flatly telling her "enough out of you!" after learning without a doubt that she tampered with Moe's testimony.

Moe, defeated, is finally ready to tell us how Max left the...

...scene...

of the crime.

Oh, you've gotta be shitting me.

I... I don't even... what?

There's a really funny line of dialogue here—Phoenix can (rightfully) ask if this is all a Kafkaesque dream only for Franziska to whip him and ask if this feels like a dream. His Honor demands more investigation and calls an end to today's proceedings, leaving us dumbfounded and with far more questions than answers. In the Defendant's Lobby, Max inadvertently tells us how his trick works: he uses invisible wires to hoist him through the air, which gives us a bit of leeway given that no such wires were found at the crime scene.

In any case... trial is now at an end!

Investigation, Day Two

This day of investigation is rather short, all things considered. After freaking out Maya by pulling the ol' detachable thumb trick (fun fact: if you present the bottle of pepper to Maya, she admits that she likes to put pepper on both her hamburgers and her PB&Js), we head down to the Detention Center to talk to Max. Apparently, a TV crew is already planning on a special where he escapes from prison! After he's acquitted, of course.

Apparently, the flying trick is much harder than just a few invisible wires. Maya tries to get him to be more friendly with the other circus members but he dismisses her outright: as much as everybody at the circus hates Max, it seems he hates them right back. He labels them as void of ambition, compared to the illustrious prizes he's won! He gives us a picture of the International Grand Prix: the first time he's ever flown on stage. We present the photo to Max and he tells us that the bust is in the cafeteria: but we checked it out and there definitely wasn't a bust there. Are the pieces already starting to fall into place?

all of the lights all of the lights bah bah bahbahbahbah BAH BAH BAHBAHBAHBAH bah bah

Once we get back to the Berry Big Circus, Ben and Trilo are performing a round singing act. Gotta admit: that's pretty impressive! We give the ring back to Ben, who's happy to take it. Talking to him, Ben says that he thought it was the Ringmaster until he saw those symbols. Are they really that identifiable?

In any case, we head back to the murder scene and stumble upon Detective Gumshoe! Apparently he's there interrogating Moe so Franziska doesn't have to. I can't say that I blame her. Franziska's actually inside the lodging house itself: if the killer really did fly away, then he'd have to passed by Acro's room. We make a mental note to check it out after Franziska's left.

We decide to do some sleuthing and find Moe ourselves. He's not in his room, but we do find him in the cafeteria! After giving us a riddle, he's ready to answer more of our questions. He's in a more dour mood than usual. Maybe he should go see Pagliacci.

And there's still debate over whether he's bisexual?

Moe is still absolutely adamant about what he saw. With no psyche-locks, no less! He must be telling the truth: but how does that make any sense? We get to talking about Max a bit more, and Moe is apparently starting to see where he's coming from. In any case, about five days ago, Max's bust up and disappeared! There's something else that's different, too. There was a note plastered on the bulletin board, addressed "To The Murderer"! Furthermore, it was up there the day before the murder!

We go back to the Lodging House but Gumshoe runs away. Apparently he's got a pager or something that warns when Franziska's showing up, and it's beeping like crazy.

Wait.

Franziska's showing up?

She whips Maya out of the way and inserts herself into our conversation! She's quick to tell us that she's absolutely sure she'll win tomorrow. Great. We actually get to talk to Franziska for once: apparently, she's got her hands on something big. This is bad! She even pulls another page out of her father's book and tells us that she's got conclusive evidence and a conclusive witness.

When it comes to revenge, though, she's a little more private. Apparently, she's not getting revenge for her father—who has apparently died in prison—but instead for "him". Her "little brother"... Miles Edgeworth.

And so Franziska's loathing comes to light.

Phoenix is outraged at Franziska for even bringing him up. She's quick to blame him for his disappearance, though, and there's a good reason for this. After 1-4 and 1-5, with Manfred's arrest and the reveal that he used forged evidence to convict Darke, Edgeworth apparently was never the same.

One day, he just vanished. There was only a single piece of evidence left behind: a small note in his office, emblazoned with the words...

Javert remained for some moments motionless, gazing at this opening of the darkness, and considered the invisible with an intentness which resembled attention.

Franziska is quick to deny that Edgeworth is dead, even though Phoenix has accepted it. Perhaps she could be right: she defiantly says that Phoenix killed the prosecutor in him, not the man, although this could easily just be the first stage of grief talking. Phoenix snaps at both Maya and Franziska, shouting "I've had enough of you!" at Franziska, before storming off to Acro's room with Maya tagging along.

We get to meet Acro, who introduces himself by his real name of Ken Dingling. Although he used to be an acrobat, he's unfortunately confined to a wheelchair and can't perform anymore. We get to talking with him: and he's evidently lived a very sad life. His parents ran away from a failing business situation and abandoned him, with the Ringmaster taking him in out of the kindness of his heart. When it comes to Regina, though, there seems to be an underlying hatred there: wonder why?

Maya can't help but inquire about his wheelchair. Acro's happy to explain it to her: the nerves in his legs have been very badly damaged. He can't even stand, let alone walk. When it comes to what caused his nerve damage, however...

What could he possibly be hiding?

Acro says that he injured his legs during practice about six months ago. He's undergoing physical therapy, and one day he might be able to walk again, but as for right now he can't even stand up. We get to talking about the murder itself and apparently he can't believe what he saw: he's Franziska's decisive witness, alright. When we show him the note, he tells us to go talk to Regina about it: so we do just that!

When we find Regina, we're nearly attacked by Regent again. She's quick to calm him down, though, and Regina explains why she's not terribly broken up about her father's death: when people die, she explains, they just become stars in the sky. Right. Okay, sure. Regina says that she was trying to scare off Money, which is why Regent almost killed us. Apparently, he stole a costume of hers! She asks us to get it back for her, and before we can say anything, Maya takes the reigns of the conversation and promises to get it back for her.

We start talking to her about the note. She tells us that it was in her pocket: and she found it after she brought breakfast to Acro's room. Curiouser and curiouser. Regina was the person who put it on the bulletin board, thinking it was addressed to somebody else—on the morning of the murder, no less.

Depends on how much you take.

Heading back to Moe's room, we find Regina's vest in Money's hands! After imitating a monkey to get it back from him, Maya tries it on: only to find that it's way too big. When we give it back to Regina, she explains that it's a vest... for a lion. This was Léon's. Regina's finally ready to talk about him, it seems.

Regina and Léon had a trick where she would stick her head in his mouth. One day, during practice, Léon was performing this trick with somebody else and bit down on their head. After the accident, that's when Russell decided to kill him: the lion had become a liability.

Everything is finally falling into place. Before we head back to Acro's room, though, we decide to stop by the cafeteria. Moe's in there cooking up a storm, and we get to talking to him while he's making some sliders! He tells us a few things: that Acro was incensed when he learned Russell died; that he's actually thinking about becoming the new ringmaster; and that Max is... well, right on a lot. He'd only try becoming ringmaster if everybody got over "the tragedy", though. We try to pry, and...

Livin' in a wicked world...

Psyche-locks! Luckily, we've got the tools to crack them. Moe tries to get us to eat but, like me, Phoenix says that he prefers grilled chicken sandwiches. We already know what the tragedy was: the accident involving Léon. Moe says that he promised somebody he wouldn't say anything: and who holds a grudge against Regina, Léon's owner and tamer? Acro.

Moe's ready to spill the beans. It wasn't Acro that was hurt by Léon: it was his brother, Sean "Bat" Dingling. Bat stuck his head in Léon's mouth and Léon bit down... smiling all the while. Bat suffered massive brain trauma and is in a coma he'll likely never wake up from; nobody died, but in Moe's own words, it probably would've been better if somebody did. After the accident, Russell cut his losses and shot Léon.

Knowing the mood is far too dour for burgers, Moe decides to try and lighten things up by spraying some pepper on Maya, who quickly starts to sneeze. Regina also used to sneeze whenever she was introduced to pepper and Bat used to tease her by sprinkling pepper around her all the time.

Anyways: we have all the pieces now. We just have to put them together! We go back to Acro's room and confront him about the accident. Six months ago, Acro was also attacked by Léon: or perhaps "battled" is a better term. He must've fought off Léon after the lion bit down on Bat's head. Acro keeps telling us that it was an accident, but his last psyche-lock isn't broken.

...What if he thinks it wasn't? Acro's calm demeanor breaks down whenever he talks about Regina, after all. Does he think she was responsible for what happened to Bat? We overplay our hand a bit, but we know for a fact that he does hate Regina. Why? Well, think about it. She found the note in her pocket after she delivered breakfast to him. He must've slipped it into her pocket! "To The Murderer": the murderer of Bat, not Russell!

The tragedy of Acro...

Knowing his secret's out, Acro concedes defeat. He gives us the scarf Bat was wearing when Léon bit him: it's covered in blood... but before we can do anything with it, Franziska barges in and takes the scarf! Phoenix isn't dissuaded, though. He's starting to put it together!

Trial, Day Three

Before trial begins, Regina comes to give Max a glass of milk. Apparently, Moe told her that she should be here for trial. I guess he knows what we're about to uncover and figured she should know the truth. Maybe he's not such a bad guy after all. He comes in and we have a discussion: when Phoenix says he's going to face down the real culprit, Moe agrees with us in thinking that it's Acro. Today is a trial of evidence instead of argument: he warns us that Acro is used to putting his life on the line and that this won't be easy.

When trial begins, Franziska is going full-force on the idea that Max flew away from the scene of the crime and calls Acro to the stand. The crime scene was right below his window, and in his first testimony he says that he only saw Max's back but that he was sure it was him flying away. We quote Franziska herself, saying there's no way that actually happened, and proceed with cross-examination.

We decide to drill Acro a bit. The lights in his room were turned off, but he still says he saw Max: he recognized the cloak and hat. This, unfortunately, isn't possible. Why? Simple. It's the hat! It was at the crime scene, after all. So how did Acro see it? It presumably fell off of Max's head, after all!

We're going full steam ahead!

We're only a single testimony into today's proceedings and we're already accusing Acro! Franziska tries to play to the crowd and Acro himself says that he couldn't even leave his room. We're able to see right through Franziska's trick, though. She's trying to get us to name an accomplice and we say "no dice". There are many questions we need to answer: the first one being where Acro was.

This is an easy one. He can't leave his room on his own, so he had to have been in there. Everything is starting to fall into place! Acro asks us how he committed this murder: and we present Max's bust! If it was dropped from a third story window and dropped on somebody's head, then there's no way you could survive that. Franziska manages to convince His Honor to allow Acro to testify again.

Acro's counter-argument is rather simple. He might've had the upper body strength, being an acrobat and all, but the lower body strength? He's functionally paralyzed from the waist down. It would be impossible for him to pick up the bust and look outside of the window: thus, he could not see the ringmaster, and thus, he could not have dropped the bust on his head.

We do have an idea, though. Remember the wooden box under Russell's body? We accuse Acro of not having to look outside his window: all he needed to do was aim for where he knew Russell would be. This would easily be achievable by placing the wooden box under his window beforehand! Who placed it? Acro, of course: he could've simply attached a rope to the box and put it down in front of his window.

Maya, you smart cookie!

Franziska counters by saying Russell's head could've been anywhere when picking up the box. This is not true, though! The box has handles on the sides. To pick it up properly, you'd need to squat down and lift with your legs! Your head would be in the same place. After all, you're not moving your upper body!

Acro has a simple counter-argument. The bust was in the cafeteria. How, then, did he obtain it? He can't leave his room. We've got an answer, though. Remember that hoard in Acro's room? They're all things that Money brings back. A tuba, the ring... certainly a shiny bust wouldn't be out of the question. Money lives in Acro's room, after all! Bronze may not be shiny, but the platinum cards in its hands certainly are. We've proven that Acro's culpability is entirely possible!

Franziska shoots back: Max was seen at the crime! Who, then, did Moe see? Well... what if it was the bust? Franziska interrupts us but we get this awesome part where Phoenix interrupts her.

I wish we got more scenes like this!

Just because Moe saw Max, that doesn't mean he saw Max the person! The biggest question right now is how the cloak got attached to the bust. Although Franziska is trying to lead us into saying somebody put it on, we don't fall for it: the cloak got snagged on the bust! Why? Because Russell was wearing Max's costume!

Phoenix paints us a full picture of what happened that night. Russell went out to the plaza, found the box, and was killed by the bust dropping on his head. Acro then pulled the bust upwards: Max's cape, however, got caught on the bust's platinum cards and flew upwards with the bust, creating the illusion that Max was flying away from Russell's body! Ben had seen Russell walk by earlier wearing Max's costume and Moe saw the bust being lifted towards the air, completing the trick!

Although we've figured it out, Franziska and His Honor demand evidence. Remember what Moe said about the symbols? The silk hat flew away with the bust: it has a hat on its head, after all, and the real silk hat was found at the crime scene! Ergo, the silk hat that Moe saw was the hat that was part of the bust! Why didn't Moe see the white roses? Because the cape got snagged on the back of the bust: if it was on the front, then Moe would've seen the roses!

We have means and we have opportunity. Franziska points out that we still need one more thing: motive. Why would Acro kill his foster father? With that question still in the air, court is briefly adjourned for a ten minute recess so His Honor can process the facts before him.

Hm...

In the defendant's lobby, Max is shocked to hear that Acro was the real murderer. Maya thinks that Acro pinned it on him on purpose, and Gumshoe pops in with some new evidence: Bat's scarf that Acro was about to give us! Additionally, it looks like the circus is standing behind Max—there's an entire dairy's worth of milk waiting for him!

Gumshoe also has a few cryptic messages for us. Yesterday, some "final plans" were set into motion—apparently, everything that's happening right now is according to von Karma's plan! She can't be that smart, can she?! He leaves us with one last message from her: "Nothing is ever truly decided until the very end."

We don't have time to figure this out, however, as court reconvenes! Franziska asks Acro to testify about his relationship with the victim and asks us for proof for a motive. Acro testifies and we refuse the right to cross-examine him: after all, I think we've got enough pieces to finally put everything together. What was Acro's motive? It's rather simple.

He didn't have one.

The truth comes to light.

Acro was not aiming for Russell Berry. He was aiming for Regina: the girl he holds responsible for Bat's coma. When asked for proof, we present the note: remember that Acro slipped this into Regina's pocket? He had no idea who had arrived at the plaza. He simply thought it was Regina and dropped the bust: he couldn't look outside of his window due to his disability. Russell found the note, which stated it had decisive evidence of her culpability, and went in her place.

What is this decisive evidence? The pepper shaker. Russell was taking the box with him because it had this inside of it! Regina sprinkled pepper on Bat's scarf. This made Léon sneeze... and bite down on Bat's head while he was in his mouth.

Acro tells the truth: this is what happened six months ago. There is still no proof, however, that he committed this murder! After all, where's the murder weapon? Von Karma tells us that she turned his room upside-down and didn't find it. Without the murder weapon, there's no proof that it was the murder weapon! His Honor ultimately agrees with Franziska here—without conclusive evidence, our arguments no longer hold water.

That is, until Maya speaks up!

Tongue aside, she's on fire today!

With Maya buying us a bit more time, we manage to figure this out. We know it isn't in the Big Top, and thanks to Franziska's surprise search of his room, it can't be in there either. So... where's the most obvious place for him to hide something out of sight?

Wheelchair users will occasionally wear blankets to keep their legs warm and comfortable as well as provide a bit of privacy. Acro is wearing one right now: and we've only got one shot at this. We ask Acro to take off his blanket. After all... what if the bust was under there?

Acro knows he has nowhere left to go. He's been figured out: and, with tears in his eyes, admits that we are correct. The bust, which he used to murder the ringmaster, is under his blanket.

Exit stage left.

He finally admits everything that happened. Bat had a crush on Regina and teased her with pepper: with how hard she sneezed, it was impossible not to laugh. One day, Regina decided to get back at him by putting pepper on his scarf. Unfortunately, this was the same day that he decided to impress her by putting his head in Léon's mouth: the lion sneezed, bit down on his head, and the rest was history.

Although Regina tried to console Acro by telling him Bat would become a star, but laughing at this only enraged him even further. How could she be so callous to the fact that his brother was effectively dead? Although he briefly considered suicide, he had another plan in mind: murder.

Max Galactica is declared not guilty. Regina is inconsolable, but we manage to calm her down by telling her Bat is still alive. When he wakes up, she says, she'll be right by his side. Moe tells Max that he's free to leave: he'll be taking the position as the circus's new ringmaster. Max is happy to help him in his future endeavors: after all, if Moe wants to make the Berry Big Circus the best the world has ever seen, then it needs the world's greatest magician!

Epilogue

Gumshoe is on the telephone with somebody. They're discussing today's trial: it all went to plan. Not Franziska's, of course, but the person he's talking to. After he praises Phoenix's defensive skills, he tells Gumshoe his plane is about to leave.

Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth lives again.

What Really Happened?

Two brothers, Ken ("Acro") and Sean ("Bat"), were abandoned by their parents and adopted by a circus ringleader named Russell Berry. The two decided to repay him by becoming acrobats, and Sean developed a crush on Russell's daughter, Regina, teasing her by spraying pepper near her and causing her to sneeze all day. Wanting to impress her with a dangerous stunt, he decided to put his head in Léon the lion's mouth: Regina, however, tried to reverse-prank him by putting pepper on his scarf to make him sneeze. This had a tragic consequence: Léon sneezed and bit down on Bat's head, and when Acro tried to save his brother the lion attacked him, causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down.

Russell covered up the incident, killing the lion and saying that Acro and Bat had simply retired. Regina was none the wiser; she said that Bat had simply become a star, in line with what her father told her after her mother died. Acro was incensed by her aloof nature and eventually couldn't handle it anymore. He decided to get revenge by killing her: he told her to come by the plaza at 10:00 PM, ominously labeling her a "murderer", and placed a large wooden box with the pepper that Regina used right under his window. Russel Berry found the letter (it was snuck into Regina's pocket, and she put it up on the billboard thinking it belonged to somebody else). An enraged Russel decided to go to the plaza, and when Acro thought that Regina was passing by his window, he dropped a heavy bust of fellow circus performer Max Galactica out of it.

At the same time, Max and Ben are having an argument over Regina Berry, who they both wish to win the heart of. In a fit of rage, Max attacked Ben with a glass bottle and stole his puppet Trilo.. Russell called Max to his office and chastised him, but then the clock hit 10 and Russell had to meet the person who left the note: telling Max to stay in his office, but not before stealing a spare costume of his to travel to the plaza in disguise. Max decided to hide Trilo in Russell's trophy case to permanently shut Ben up, as the poor man can't talk without him. Ben saw Russell passing by and assumed he was Max, still despondent over losing his puppet.

Russell immediately died and the bust got caught on his cape, dragging it upwards to the shock of Moe, who had been woken up by the impact! As Acro pulled the bust up, the cloak created the illusion of Max flying away from the scene, and Moe was shocked to see "Max" flying away from a murder!

Thinking he had gotten away with murder, Acro decided to burn the cape and hide the bust under his wheelchair blanket: which would eventually prove to be his downfall.

THOUGHTS

I think it's genuinely fascinating how quickly JfA such a massive nosedip in quality from 2-2 to 2-3. 2-2 is by no means one of the best cases in the franchise, but it's still a very solid mystery with great characters and some awesome music. 2-3 has none of that. The mystery is incredibly outlandish, the music is grating, and the majority of the main cast are poorly written at best.

I'll go over what I actually like about this case first. Like I said, I genuinely do like Moe, and I think this case's art direction is incredible. It's my favorite looking case in JfA. Max's sprite when he's splaying his hand out and facing the camera is incredibly well made, especially for the time this game came out! The art direction team really went all-out with this case and it shows. I also really like some of the mystery: I think Acro in particular is a great culprit, and he's probably my favorite in JfA to be honest. I also love the reminiscence theme: it first plays when Moe is talking about Bat's accident, and it's probably my favorite reminiscence theme in the game. It's very sad but still has a kind of circus-like vibe that I think fits in very well for a tragedy at a place of joy. It's not SL-9 Reminiscence good, but it's better than DL-6.

I also honestly really like Day 2 of trial. I think the back and forth between Phoenix and Franziska is great, and I love Acro holding his own on the stand. The fact that Acro not being able to leave his room is the one thing that makes this murder possible is a really cool one, and I think it's a really cool way to bring in the traits that only he can have to make him undeniably the culprit instead of simple slips of the tongue or pieces of evidence: the smoking gun isn't testimony or a single piece of evidence, it's the fact that all the pieces of evidence only make sense if Acro can't leave his room! I also love how dark this case is willing to get: Acro is fully willing to murder a minor, which is something that only comes up very rarely in Ace Attorney but always makes a case feel so much darker and meaningful.

As one final note of praise: I love this case's ending. It wraps up everything very neatly, and I love how Edgeworth played a part in settling everything! Gumshoe in particular is honestly near his best in this case: while this isn't his best showing, he's a key figure in making sure this case ended up the way it did and he's a stand-out!

...But then we arrive at the obvious.

The love arc between Max, Ben/Trilo, Bat, and Regina is incredibly creepy and incredibly poorly written. Rather than adding a flair for the dramatic and making the case more interesting, it makes Max and Ben look like cupcake chasers (free cookie if you get that reference: and no, not the obvious one, but the person who coined it). I mean, seriously: Max is 21, Bat was 22, Ben is 31, and they're all lusting over a teenage girl? The jokes—and criticisms—write themselves and it makes this case incredibly uncomfortable to replay.

And that's not even getting to the actual mystery... which isn't bad. I think the core concept of this mystery, which is indeed a locked mystery which are my favorites for AA, is... good? I think it had a lot of potential. I think the trick of the killer's footprints not showing up being due to the murder weapon literally being dropped on the victim's head is unique, if not predictable. The prosecution's case is very flimsy, however, and that entire side of the case just feels rushed and not very well thought-out. The fact that a major part of the plot still revolves around a love triangle between men in their twenties and a sixteen-year old girl is incredibly off-putting and could easily be fixed if Regina was also in her twenties. This is compounded by the fact that this case is riddled with sexual innuendo, from Maya making a subtle dick joke (which, to be honest, I found pretty funny), to Phoenix wondering about Max's "bust", to Franziska offering to whip Moe after trial if he's into BDSM! Maybe it's my sex repulsion talking but I just find the humor incredibly flat: even outright disgusting and out-of-character at times, especially in a circus of all places!

Let's also talk about some of the surrounding details of the plot. How did Ben think Russell was Max? Russell was far shorter and rounder than him and had a massive mustache! My first thought would be "why in the world is he wearing one of Max's costumes", not that he is Max. It's an incredibly hard to believe plot-hole that, alongside with the downright creepy love triangle, makes this case incredibly hard for me to like. Also: THE CAPE LANDED ON THE BUST?! WHAT?! I'm sorry for not mincing my words here, but that is incredibly stupid and so offensively contrived that my heart actually hurts whenever I read it. How did it land on the bust? It was on his back! It was presumably clasped to his clothes! Phoenix, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! Why does this work?! WHY? HAS I EVER?

Let's talk about the characters to move on from it! Regina is grating, Ben's gimmick gets tired very fast, Max is creepy; the only two characters I like are Moe and Acro, and even then they're examples that prove that the rest of the cast are among the weakest characters in the entire trilogy. They are not enjoyable, and even Acro feels a bit undercooked at times. The only one I enjoy on the whole is Moe, but even then... eh. I can't bring myself to say anything more than I think he's alright. I do think the clown being the most mature character is kind of funny, and I do like how he very clearly cares about everybody else, but like Regina and Ben I find his clown act very grating very quickly.

When it comes to non-case specific characters, even they tend to fall flat. I quite like His Honor's characterization here, especially with the way he tolerates absolutely zero nonsense from Franziska and Moe in the first day of trial, but Franziska feels a little out of character at times (such as offering to... whip Moe...) and Maya feels off, for lack of a better word. It's not game-breaking, but this is inarguably the weakest showing for any character in the game in my opinion. What I will say, however, is that I really love Franziska's characterization when it comes to Edgeworth. She's very obviously deeply hurt and incredibly embittered towards Phoenix about his apparent death, and even though she's not making that very clear it still comes across. This is a case that really reinforces that she isn't an adult: she's a teenager the same age as Maya. She's scared and confused, and if 2-3 does nothing else then it manages to really nail down that part of Franziska's character—and given that she's my favorite prosecutor, I love that. When it comes to Phoenix, though, he's just straight up mean at times. It feels like he just straight-up hates Maya at times, which is just... not Phoenix? There's still a lot of the best friend-level friendly teasing between them, but there's also times Phoenix just straight up insults her. When you find Regina's vest, for instance, he'll just straight up-tell her she's fat. Like, what the fuck, dude?

Anyways! I'm falling firmly into the court of popular opinion by saying that 2-3 is one of my least favorite cases in the entire series: it's in my bottom three and it is not particularly close. It's the Last Salute to the Commodore of Ace Attorney: I think it's very tiring and very weird, and the fact that a circus being the scene of a seemingly impossible murder has so much potential that was thoroughly wasted really hurts my heart. Unfortunately, even a standout Day 2 of trial can't save Turnabout Big Top from my lowest rating thus far and our first F-tier case.

Next time, we'll be moving on to the fandom's darling child: 2-4—the famous Farewell, My Turnabout. See you then!

Overall Rating: 1/10

FAVORITE LINES

"Ab-so-lute-ly... FABULOUS!!" (Absolutely cringe-inducing.) - Max Galactica and Phoenix Wright, in the detention center

"Your last name is 'Woodman'? *snicker*" - Maya Fey, meeting Ben Woodman

"'Ill-bred'!! Are you talking about the same Ben!?" "'Told her he was in love with her'!! Are you sure this is the Ben we are talking about!?" - Maya Fey and Phoenix Wright, after Max tells them Ben confessed his love to Regina

"I'm not even sure if this day hasn't been some kind of Kafkaesque dream... OWWW!!" "Now do you think it's still a dream!? Huh, Mr. Phoenix Wright!?" - Phoenix Wright and Franziska von Karma, after Moe says he saw Max fly away

"... You're joking right? You think the monkey has got proverbial 'game'?" "Of course. That monkey doesn't fake the funk on a nasty dunk." - Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey, examining a basketball hoop in Acro's room

CASE RANKINGS

Reunion, and Turnabout (7/10)

The Lost Turnabout (4/10)

Turnabout Big Top (1/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

Reunion, and Turnabout (2-2)

Phoenix Wright finds himself in Maya's hometown... once again defending her on charges of murder.

2-2 is the first multi-day case of Justice for All, introducing quite a few new characters. A murder in Maya's hometown leads to her arrest, and it's up to us to prove her innocence in this prequel: this takes place two months before 2-1!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: After the events of 1-4 and 1-5, Phoenix is approached for his help in a civil case. Didn't know we did litigation, but alright.

Maya Fey: Maya returns as the defendant for this case. She's not taking it very well, and it's up to us to pave the way for her!

Pearl Fey: Pearl is Maya's younger cousin and a wonderful addition to the core cast. She's only 8 years old, yet gifted with incredible psychic abilities...

Franziska von Karma: The daughter of one Manfred von Karma, Franziska takes over the prosecution for this case, becoming the main antagonist for this game and immediately taking over the courtroom in her debut!

THE MAIN CAST:

Dick Gumshoe: Gumshoe returns, this time under Franziska instead of Edgeworth. Wonder what's up with the change of bosses?

Ini Miney: A spacey (see: high as balls) college student with an interest in the occult and either an eye problem or in dire need of glasses.

Morgan Fey: Maya's aunt, Misty's sister, and Pearl's mom. Strict, but understandably so... to an extent.

Lotta Hart: Lotta returns to her job as a paranormal investigator: this time determined to learn the truth about spirit channeling!

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Dr. Turner Grey: A doctor of some repute... and infamy. Allegedly behind a terrible malpractice incident.

Mimi Miney: A former doctor at Turner Grey's clinic who died in a car crash. Allegedly, this was Grey's doing...

A BRIEF RECAP

We open on a red car speeding on the freeway. At the same time, somebody is narrating their own backstory; they were murdered by somebody. As soon as they tell us, the car gets into a horrific accident; the narrator says that they took their revenge, asking "Ini" if it was only fair.

We then see what's going on. Maya has been arrested again, this time telling us that she did kill the victim... already?

I'd make a joke here, but Maya's too distraught.

Investigation, Day One

The first person we see in this case isn't Maya; it's some man in an ugly brown suit and rocky road-style hair. This is Dr. Turner Grey, who's requesting our services to help clear him of malpractice and murder.

Fun fact: in the original release, Grey pushed up his glasses with his middle finger.

Apparently, Dr. Grey is rather fond of suing people; he wants to sue the weather girl for getting the weather wrong. He's saying that a nurse is responsible for the malpractice, not him; and that he wants our expertise in spirit channeling. Well, not ours: Maya's! He wants us to introduce him to her to force a "confession" from the nurse, who died in a car accident (or, as he rather blackly hilariously puts it, "turned her car into the accordion model"). We ask Dr. Grey why he's taking up this case now: apparently his customer base has completely tanked. Maya gave Dr. Grey a condition to channel the nurse's spirit: that she'd be able to see Phoenix again! Dr. Grey eagerly accepted, and Phoenix agrees: but only because he wants to see Maya again.

Maya's hometown!

Welcome to Kurain Village, the humble abode of one Ms. Maya Fey! She is incredibly happy to see us, but before we see her a mysterious girl dressed in similar clothes also passes by. Wonder who that was? Anyways, Maya and Phoenix are ecstatic to see each other: she tells us that pretty much most of the people who live here are spirit mediums, including most of Maya's ancestors. Apparently, only the women of this village are mediums: the men who live here usually work outside of the village itself. The girl that waked by is Maya's cousin, Pearl. Pearl is apparently a genius spirit medium, and apparently under the influence of a controlling mother; Maya lets us into her house as the channeling is set to begin.

Dr. Grey is in Fey Manor, Maya's home, already. He's still pissed about the weather: the weather girl called for rain, but it's rather nice outside today. Huh. He gives us a guidemap to the manor and we talk with him a bit more, telling us his plan: he'll have the nurse sign a confession about the malpractice and the car accident. He apparently heard about Maya from an acquaintance studying the occult at college.

We enter the Channeling Chamber to check it out: the door is blocked with very heavy iron locks and a reinforced frame. The Channeling Chamber has a rather serene atmosphere, complete with flickering candles lighting up the room, and we come to face-to-face with a new person!

I can't be the only one who thought she was drinking a candle as a kid, right?

This is Morgan Fey, the sister of Misty Fey, the aunt of Maya Fey, and the mother of Pearl Fey. Apparently, she's heard quite a bit of us from Maya: talking to her, we learn that Maya is actually the last of the original Fey bloodline. I guess that makes sense: Misty is gone, Mia passed away, leaving only Maya. Morgan is a member of a branch family, and her spiritual powers are not nearly as strong as even Maya's. She also explains that this will be Maya's first official channeling, even though she'd managed to channel Mia's spirit twice: the victims of traffic accidents are easier to pull back into the real world. Last but not least, she explains that the locks exist just in case something goes wrong in a channeling.

The conversation begins to wind down. Morgan asks us if we've met Pearl, and when we say we really haven't she asks us to stay away. Controlling much? In any case, we say our goodbyes and exit the chamber. We do a bit of exploring: this is a big house, after all, and in the Winding Way...

Well butter my buns and call me a biscuit!

It's Lotta! She's very happy to see us, but before we can talk to her she tells us that the channeling is about to start. Maya and Dr. Grey go into the channeling chamber and Lotta gets rather upset about not being allowed to go inside. She and Morgan get into a spat, which is cut short by a bang from inside of the channeling chamber. Then another one! Our resident expert in loud bangs (and, since she's a fellow Southerner, probably guns) notices that it's a gunshot: panic spreads throughout the room.

We don't even bother asking Morgan for permission, tell her to send the repair bill to the Law Offices, and break down the door. Inside, Dr. Grey is dead: and the spirit that Maya was channeling is his evident killer.

Does she remind anybody else of Sadako?

Lotta takes a few pictures. Morgan rushes in and tells us to leave while she takes care of this: there could be even more victims at the hands of an angry spirit, after all! Phoenix uses the payphone to call the police: both us and Lotta are worried sick, but we get to talking anyways. There's only one real conclusion: the spirit of the nurse killed Dr. Grey in Maya's body. Doing her part as an investigative journalist, Lotta also did some digging on Grey. Apparently, he was an abusive control freak: yelling and berating employees who messed up even the slightest mistakes.

Going back to the Medidation Room, Morgan tells us that Maya is unconscious: she performed something called the "spirit severing technique" to exorcise the nurse's spirit from Maya's body. The first detective to arrive on the scene is none other than Gumshoe himself, who goes into the Channeling Chamber with Morgan. We talk to Lotta one more time outside: apparently this has convinced her to give up on paranormal journalism. She's gonna be a celebrity photographer now! I'm sure that won't come up in two cases.

We move into one of the side rooms and a young woman is here: she asks us when the channeling's gonna start! Apparently she doesn't know. This is Ini Miney, who suspiciously has the same name from the intro.

The 'ohm' symbol on her shirt reminds me of that one Sam O'Nella joke.

It turns out that Ini is a bit of an... airhead. She doesn't even know what a murder is off the top of her head: and the way she's keeping her eyes closed... are we sure she's sober? Anyways, this is the college student that Dr. Grey was talking about: she's researching 'parapsychology', involving supernatural powers, ESP, stuff like that. Apparently, she had accidentally eaten some sesame seeds and was taking a nap to power through an allergic reaction. We tell her that Dr. Grey was dead, and for once she doesn't react. Either she's processing it or doesn't care. She quickly says that she didn't know Dr. Grey, though: she was a patient at his clinic once, but that's it. Curious...

Walking out the Winding Way, we come face-to-face with Pearl. We have nothing to say to each other, though, and we quickly go back inside of Fey Manor: Gumshoe says that the investigation won't be done for a long time and Morgan graciously lets us stay the night in Fey Manor.

The next morning, we rush down to the Detention Center. Maya is quick to confess: she says that she couldn't have controlled the spirit's power, and we tell her that people won't care. After all, most people don't even believe it after DL-6. We believe her, though, and we're going to do our utmost to defend her.

Maya tells us what happened. She locked the door, sat down with Dr. Grey, and then blacked out. When she channels a spirit, Maya herself loses consciousness as the spirit takes over her body: she does tell us that she had a dream, however. A dream about being buried, unable to breathe, unable to move. Heavy stuff. She doesn't want us to defend her: she sees her own case as hopeless.

But we don't care.

Before we leave, Maya gives us a very vital tool. It's called a "magatama", and it's apparently a magical charm that has protected her. She tells us to show it to Pearl: apparently that'll make her help us. We say our goodbyes and go back to the office to pick up a newspaper clipping that Dr. Grey left behind: it's about the car accident last year. Heading back to Kurain, we go into the Channeling Chamber and are met by Morgan Fey.

Morgan says that she's going to visit Maya in the detention center and bring her some treats from Kurain to lift her spirits. We ask her about what happened: she apparently hit Maya on the head and then exorcised the spirit. She explains that spirits can become violent and revolt against the medium's own body, which is what the lock on the door was for: and exactly what happened yesterday. Morgan says that she's lucky nothing of importance was damaged: the most precious of which is a paper folding screen, which is one of the village's most prized possessions.

We take a look at the folding screen: there's a small hole in it, and Morgan says that a bug or some other vermin might've chewed through it. Phoenix, however, thinks that it might be from one of the bullets. We leave Morgan to prepare for her visit to Maya after a thorough investigation of the crime scene: there's enough space behind the folding screen for somebody to hide behind it.

We meet Ini again in the side room. She says that she asked Morgan if she could stay for a bit more for her research: apparently Morgan said yes. Talking a bit more, we definitely have a suspicion that she's hiding something: but we can't keep pressing her. We go out into the Winding Way and come face-to-face with Pearl again!

I've mentioned her so much and haven't put in a single picture of her...

Pearl is very excited to see the Magatama: apparently, she's heard about us from Maya... and started shipping the two of us. Okay, well, it's popular in the fandom, can't blame her (even if I think it's best left until T&T, but we'll get to that). We try to tell her that we're not dating Maya, but she won't have any of it: I guess we'll leave her to her ship wars, then.

Apparently, Pearl has her hands on the key to the Channeling Chamber: she was holding on to it yesterday, too. How did she get her hands on it? She's happy to give it to us. Apparently, she found it while playing in the garden. Now... why would it be there of all places? We talk to Pearl a bit more. She's absolutely enamored by her older cousin, looking up to her as a role model. We're about to leave, but Pearl asks us to wait: we ask if calling her "Pearls" is okay and she acquiesces. She says that she can't keep the Magatama, but she can do something else: charge it up with spiritual energy! Woah. It's glowing. Apparently, it'll let us "see people's secrets". Cool!

Well, if there's one person who's keeping a secret...

Try again in two games, lady.

We try talking to Ini about her relationship to Dr. Grey and are met with my favorite part of JfA: psyche-locks. Pearl tells us that we'll need to break that lock with evidence to get her to tell the truth: and that's exactly what we do. Ini says that she has no relationship to Dr. Grey? We know better. We talked to Gumshoe earlier and he gave us a newspaper clipping outlining the car accident. The person who died was Mimi Miney... a nurse at Dr. Grey's clinic.

Ini admits the truth. Her sister, Mimi, was the nurse that Grey was trying to channel: and the nurse that killed him. She was overworked by Dr. Grey, who Ini calls a "slave driver", and Ini has come to blame her sister's death in the car accident on him. After all, she fell asleep at the wheel after the malpractice incident: which she, apparently, was responsible for (but never would've happened if Grey didn't push her so hard). Now that we know the truth, we plan to go back to Maya. Pearl is scared of leaving Kurain Village, though, and runs back.

When we return to the center, it's not Maya that we meet...

MOM!

It's Mia! She's happy to see how far we've come, but tells us that we have to keep smiling no matter how bad it gets. We tell Mia what happened, and she tells us that there's only one thing we can do: fight for a complete acquittal. Maya's not guilty, after all. How does she know that? Well, it's pretty simple.

Mediums can't have dreams.

That only means one thing. Somebody was masquerading as Maya, who was never channeling a spirit at all! They played us like a damn fiddle! She tells us that there's a key to this case: we show her the "key" we have. Apparently, the fact that it's here at all is contradictory.

We ask Mia how we can keep going if we don't know the real killer, and investigation comes to a close...

...with a turn for the interesting!

Trial, Day One

Apparently, von Karma's gonna be prosecuting this case. No, not that von Karma, silly! His successor; a relative? Maybe a child, considering his age. With the constant use of 'was', we get our first few implications on the elder von Karma's fate: it appears that he's dead. Good riddance.

Pearl suddenly shows up: apparently she ran all the way here, on her own, using just a map. Jeez! Talk about a wild child. Maya reminisces about Edgeworth: she's also talking about him in the past tense. Has something happened with him, as well? Phoenix suddenly snaps at Maya to never mention Edgeworth's name again: something's definitely happened with him. No wonder: his own trial and then Lana's must've been a suffocating burden. Being put on trial by your mentor only to learn you convicted a man with forged evidence... it's not good for the soul. Phoenix ominously says that Edgeworth is "gone, and not coming back": this can't mean what I think it means... right? Nonetheless, it's time for court...

she's so pretty...

This is Franziska von Karma (not 'Francesca', PixelPartners...), the daughter of Manfred von Karma. She declares that she's here for revenge, and when His Honor asks her to leave personal vendettas outside the courtroom she hits him with a whip! That's assault! Who cares? Not us, apparently! Franziska, like her father before her, declares that her role is that of a perfect prosecutor; we enter a plea of not guilty and she calls us a foolish fool who foolishly dreams of foolish dreams: giving us ten minutes before we enter a plea of self defense. Not three? Seems she's not as confident as her father.

Nonetheless, Franziska calls Gumshoe to the stand. He gives the court some evidence, namely floor plans of Fey Manor, and goes into a bit more detail: Grey was stabbed in the chest before he was shot and he was shot from point-blank range. We grill him for some more information via pressing: they know that Grey was killed at point-blank range from gunpowder residue found on his forehead, and both Maya and Grey's fingerprints were on the murder weapon. Gumshoe brings out both weapons: and His Honor is ready to reach a verdict.

But we're not.

Franziska demands one more testimony from Gumshoe. He says that Grey was definitely not fighting back: but then how does he explain the bullet hole in Maya's clothes? Right below where her left arm would be, there's a hole: Grey fought back! Franziska is ready for this, though. Doesn't this just help a case of justified self-defense? Gumshoe gives a second testimony: and he slips up.

He says that Grey and Maya were too close and that's why he missed. If that was the case, then where's the gunpowder residue on her sleeve? Franziska fires back: obviously some distance was made between Maya and Grey. She tries to argue it was Grey at first, but we easily shut that down. When she tries to argue it was Maya, we point out the bullet hole in the folding screen. It's only about eight inches off the ground: and last I checked, Maya wasn't eight inches tall... but her sleeve might reach that low to the ground if she was squatting down. There's only one explanation: Maya was right in front of the folding screen, not right in front of Dr. Grey!

This changes everything. Why would she be right in front of the folding screen if she was fighting Dr. Grey?! Logically, she'd be right on top of him! With this, the rest of the trial should be in the b--

...blast radius of disaster.

She kicks Gumshoe out and prepares a new witness: Lotta Hart. His Honor calls a recess for both of us to prepare for her testimony. After a brief recess, where Maya talks to Pearl about Mia, we go back into court and get ready for Lotta's testimony.

The main issue with Lotta's testimony is... well, it's exactly how we would've said it, just with less of an accent. Lotta has something else to give to the court as well: one of the pictures she took in the Channeling Chamber.

I respect people choosing a revolver in this day and age.

We press every inch of Lotta's testimony, but nothing sticks out: it's all true and it's all air-tight. We're asked if we can present any evidence that it's not Maya in the picture, but... we can't. The trial seems over. We're about to give up, when all of a sudden... it's Mia! Not being channeled by Maya, no, but instead by Pearl! Remember how Maya said that she's a genius at channeling?

Mia reminds us of what we told her: that Lotta took two pictures! We object for another testimony: His Honor overrules us but Franziska is fine with it. Lotta is forced to give another testimony. This time, it's vague and non-committal. Pressing Lotta's fourth statement lets us confirm that she took two pictures: as for why this picture wasn't shown? Franziska told her to keep quiet about it! The court gets understandably peeved about this, and Franziska defends herself by saying that since the two pictures are "practically the same" there's no point in submitting the second. She submits the second regardless, and...

TRIGGER DISCIPLINE, TRIGGER DISCIPLINE, TRIGGER DISCIPLINE!!!

We try to do something a little dirty here: play into the court's opinion that spirit channeling is hokum to manipulate the outcome of the trial. Franziska is ready for this, though, and presents as proof... a picture of our conversation with Mia yesterday in the detention center! Undeniable proof that spirit channeling exists: and that Maya can do it!

Mia tries to stop Franziska. A picture like that, taken illegally, cannot be submitted as evidence. That's not what Franziska's doing, though. She's just making sure His Honor sees it. Keep this particular point in mind; it'll come up in about eight cases' time. Anyways, we're left with only one option: to prove that the person in this picture isn't Maya. Can we do that?

Well... there's one thing. Look at the bottom left cuff of the murderer's clothes: there's not a bullet hole there, even though the clothes that Maya was wearing had one in that spot! Von Karma is about to be penalized (which famously ends well for defense attorneys), but she manages to cook up a lie about the police missing the hole instead of her withholding evidence. Nevertheless, there's only one explanation for the hole's existence: the person wearing those clothes isn't Maya. After all, if it was, then the hole would be there after Grey shot back!

Two big questions are raised at the end of today's proceedings: who is the other person and where did Maya go? At the very least, we can answer that last one: remember when we found Pearl with that key? There's only one key in the world, and we had to break the door down to get in. Franziska's catching on: why in the world would we have that key if there's only one? It's simple.

Our first turnabout of the case is a relatively small one, but we get to enjoy this awesome pursuit theme!

Maya must've left the room before the channeling started. She didn't have the key when she was arrested, after all... and we got the key from Pearl! Maya had to have left the room: if she didn't, then there's no way we could've had this key in our possession! Franziska flies into a temper tantrum about her perfect case having such a massive flaw: His Honor makes her stop and adjourns court for the day.

In the defendant's lobby, Maya tells us that she doesn't remember ever leaving the room. Pearl also doesn't think that a third person could've gone in: these are questions that we can answer tomorrow, however. For now, it's time to go back to Kurain Village!

Investigation, Day Two

We get to Kurain Village ready for another day of investigation. We talk with Pearl a bit, and she tells us that she was a little overwhelmed by the trial: understandable, given that she's never been outside of Kurain Village. We talk with her about prosecutors for a bit, trying to explain them to her: we get to reminiscing about Edgeworth, though, and a very uncomfortable truth is spilled.

O! what a fate...

Phoenix refuses to give Pearl, or us for that matter, any more information about what happened. We ask Pearl if she somehow knows who the killer is: she says she doesn't, and we get to thinking. Where was she during the murder? That's a question we need to answer. We ask her, and... psyche-locks! What could she possibly be hiding?

Oh, well. We can't answer that right now. We go back to the scene of the crime, and...

...um...

Morgan is... talking to a picture. Rather ominously, might I add. Telling Misty to "prepare herself", that she's been "waiting for this day"... we approach her and she quickly puts the picture aside and dodges all of our questions. Apparently, she had to watch over training today: it's part of her role now that Misty is gone. Nobody's quite sure what happened to her: she just up and disappeared one day. Anyone who's disappeared from the village for up to 20 years is considered dead, and a new Master is declared; and if Maya is in prison... well, things are starting to fall into place, aren't they?

We go into the side room to look for Ini, but there's nothing here except for a storage box that got moved here for some reason. Apparently it's a clothing box filled with channeling costumes. Huh. We keep walking through Kurain Village, but there's nothing else for us to find. Talking to Pearl again, apparently she found the key near the incinerator. We go to check that out, and... there's something in there! Ini is quick to come up to see us: she was hanging by the incinerator... with a cloth sticking out of it. We talk to Ini about the spiritual traditions of Kurain: apparently the founder of the Fey family's spirit is in a nearby jar. She tells us that she can't tell us about the murder, but we know that she has a connection with Dr. Grey. We ask her about the accident and get psyche-locks! Checking out the urn, it looks cracked and chipped and has "I AM" written on the front. Weird. We also check out the incinerator. Opening it up, we see a torn piece of cloth: definitely from Maya's, given the blood on it! Somebody tried to burn Maya's clothes and hid the key inside of the incinerator as well...?

There's nothing else for us to do in Kurain, so we go back to the Detention Center to talk to Maya. She's even worse off today than she was yesterday, poor girl. At the very least we know one thing for sure: she did not kill Dr. Grey, spirit or no spirit. The big problem? There was nobody else in the room. Maya even checked behind the folding screen. We tell Maya what Mia said about dreams and spirit mediums: if Maya wasn't convinced of her own innocence before, then she certainly is now! The problem? The idea of a set-up ruins her. She just can't catch a break...

We do get to ask Maya one last thing: what Pearl was doing during the murder. She obviously doesn't know, but she has an inkling—Pearl might've been playing with a ball. Maya and Pearl played with it together quite a lot, after all. She puts it in the clothing box in the side room: guess it's time to go back there and check it out!

When we go back to Kurain, Lotta sees us and immediately hightails it. Ooookay, then. We walk through the manor and Lotta is still running from us. Anyways, we go to the Side Room. The ball is on the floor! Wonder what it's doing there. We take another look at the clothes box. There's a hole in it...

And a Lotta!

She runs the fuck away again, but we have two important new insights: that the box is big enough to fit a grown woman... and where Pearl was during the murder. We confront Pearl and break her psyche-locks: the truth is, she was playing with her ball in the Winding Way, accidentally hit the urn, and broke it. She tried to put it back together, but because she can't read accidentally spelled "AMI" as "I AM". That's one mystery solved, at least!

Speaking of that hole, let's think about it a bit more. That hole was 8 inches above the ground and can fit a grown woman... I think we're finally starting to piece together what actually happened. Before we go back to the detention center, we're stopped by Lotta: I guess she was chasing after us now. She asks us to forgive her for her testimony and we reluctantly do so. She also shares a very interesting theory with us: that Ini Miney is the real killer! This must mean that she's got some dirt on her. Lotta tells us the info she has for free: about half a year ago, Ini was in the hospital. She gives us the clinic's address and tells us to find out ourselves.

Welp. Nowhere else to go but there! We meet with the director: a rather itchy, balding man with three missing teeth. This is "Director Hotti", and the less that we say about him the better. He does give us some information, though: the Hotti Clinic deals primarily in plastic surgery, and after showing him our attorney's badge he admits that he's a weird fuckin' pervert interested in young women who come to the clinic. This, and I'm not sure if I should say "fortunately" or "unfortunately", means that he has info on Ini Miney. Apparently, her case was an emergency one: her whole body was wrapped in bandages and her arm was in a cast! What could've caused that...? He tells us that it was a traffic accident. Looks like Lotta might've been onto something.

It was so bad that her entire face was charred: she needed emergency surgery. She just got her license and happened to her license photo on her: "Hotti" here stole it and gives it to us. Apparently, Ini Miney was in the passenger's seat. We look at the newspaper article he gives us, and it talks about a car accident... one year ago. It's all falling into place.

Before we go back to Fey Manor to talk to Ini, we stop by Lotta one last time. She tells us a rather important piece of information: Morgan was supposed to be the Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique, but got passed over by Misty!

I smell a conspiracy!

After getting that bit of info from Lotta, we go to the Winding Way and run into exactly who we wanted to see: Ini Miney. We finally have enough pieces of evidence to break her Psyche-Locks, and the truth of the accident is put together: it wasn't her accident, but her sister's, Mimi Miney's. They were the same accident! Ini is convinced that Dr. Grey drugged Mini to make her crash her car: in other words, Dr. Grey murdered Mimi Miney. Sound familiar? Ini's demeanor suddenly shifts: she's confident, cocky, even a little insulting. She knows that we know that she killed Dr. Grey, but she also knows that we don't have enough evidence to prove it yet!

It'll be no holds barred tomorrow in court...

It looks like Gumshoe might be catching on as well: when we go back to Kurain proper, we see Pearl trying and failing to beat the shit out of him as he's taking Morgan away for questioning. Pearl tells us to go back to the Detention Center to see Maya: when we do, Mia is waiting for us. I think it's finally time to break her psyche-locks.

Mia asks us if we think we're hiding information from her: we tell her that we know exactly what she's hiding. She's protecting her aunt, Morgan Fey. She wants us to prove it. Fortunately, we've got the evidence two: the key and the cloth, remember? Morgan is the only person who could've gotten those two things from Maya's person to the incinerator, since Maya was keeping the key and it was her costume that was burned (as proven by the blood on the scrap and the fact that the key was hidden inside of Maya's sleeve). Somebody had to have changed her clothes: and the only person who could've was alone with her. Morgan Fey. There's one last wrinkle in our theory, Mia says: how did she commit the murder if she was outside with us the whole time? That's an easy question to answer: she didn't. After all, Ini Miney killed Dr. Turner Grey. The two of them were conspiring to get rid of both Dr. Grey and Maya!

Mia is satisfied with our conclusions, for the most part. There are a few issues still remaining, though. Why did Morgan cooperate with Ini Miney: and if she did, where's the concrete proof? Mia gets the answer right. It all ties back to Misty. Morgan was supposed to be Master before Misty took the position from her spiritually weaker sister. If Maya, the last living sibling of Misty Fey, was in prison and Misty remained missing for 2 more years, then Morgan would become Master. Who would succeed Morgan? The most precious person in her world: Pearl Fey.

Mia congratulates us on a job well done and the second—and final—day of investigation comes to a close.

Trial, Day Two

This is it: the day of reckoning. Phoenix tells Pearl to channel Mia's spirit, both for her guidance and to shield Pearl from what's going to happen in court. Maya is left in the dark, confused about what's going to happen today: and her inferiority complex rears its ugly head after she continues to compare herself to Franziska.

In any case, it's time for trial. Franziska and Mia have a very heated verbal spar before His Honor brings up yesterday's theory that Maya left the channeling chamber. Franziska is quick to agree: Maya did leave the room! She's not saying that Maya isn't the person in the picture, though. All she's saying is that, at some point, Maya left the room and dropped the key. To substantiate this claim, she calls Morgan to the stand!

Hell hath no fury...

Morgan is quick to say that Maya escaped from the room while she was trying to exorcise Mimi's spirit. In her testimony, Morgan says that she was hit on the back of the neck and had a fainting spell before being able to subdue Maya again. Mia warns us that Morgan is smart and sly; her testimony is very carefully woven. We press her testimony and Morgan says that her hitting Maya was a lie; she was trying to simply protect her darling niece, you see. She fainted for about ten minutes, not knowing where Maya went due to her being unconscious.

Morgan's testimony is solid and she's called off the stand to make room for Ini Miney: after all, that's where Maya went. Mimi was Ini's sister after all: with Franziska still arguing that her spirit was being channeled, she's basically telling us to think what Mimi would've done (even though we know that's wrong).

Ini says that Mimi came into the side room and told her something "terrible": Franziska asks her to elaborate, and Ini says that Mimi told her that she was drugged by Dr. Grey.

A callback to the very beginning.

Mia knows the truth: this entire testimony is a massive lie. A well-constructed lie, but a lie nonetheless. There's gotta be a crack in it. It's a pretty clear one: we press her for a bit more detail about what it was like seeing her sister, and because Ini is a parapsychology student she said it wasn't too strange.

Bingo.

Her sister would be in a uniform absolutely soaking in blood! Ini is pressed further on this by His Honor and she snaps. Ini says that the blood blended into the dark purple costume, and Ini went with Mimi back to the Channeling Chamber because Ini wanted to apologize to Morgan. Apparently, though, she didn't see anybody on the way there. That's another lie: after all, right when the murder happened, Pearl broke Ami's urn and was putting it back together right in the middle of the Winding Way!

Franziska and Ini double down on her sleeping in the side room. There's just one little issue with that, though. She said earlier that Morgan was the only person in the Channeling Chamber, right?

Now THIS is a contradiction!

There's no way that somebody who was asleep could not have known that Morgan was alone in the Chamber! She went into the Chamber, but not through the Winding Way! How did she go to the Chamber, then? Franziska objects: if we're asking Ini where she was during the murder, why don't we answer it ourselves? Where was she? It's pretty simple.

She was already in the Channeling Chamber, hiding behind the folding screen! Remember the box having a little hole in it 8 inches off the floor? There's a hole in the folding screen at the same height! Furthermore, it's a bullet hole. The person in the picture? It ain't Maya. It's Ini Miney! Franziska calls it mad: there's no way one person could've done it all by herself!

And she's completely correct. Ini had an accomplice: Morgan Fey! If it wasn't somebody from Kurain, then they couldn't have gotten a costume: if it wasn't somebody in the Fey clan, then she couldn't have gotten the box!

We have a very strong case with a lot of supporting evidence and lay out our theory. Ini had planted herself in the Channeling Chamber long before the crime, hiding inside of the box. Maya and Dr. Grey entered, at which point Ini drugged Maya, stabbed Dr. Grey, and put Maya in the box. With the last of his strength, Dr. Grey shot at her, shooting through the screen, box, and Maya's sleeve. Ini then took Grey's own revolver and shot him point-blank in the forehead. This is why Morgan chased us out: using her authority as an elder member of the Fey Clan, no less!

I can't exactly place why, but this line in particular is one of my favorites.

Franziska starts laughing. If Ini is the real killer, as we claim, then why would she go through this entire charade?! Where is her motive? We have enough to prove her motive, though: the car crash! Ini wanted revenge for her sister's death. She's quick to counter, though (Ini, that is, not Franziska), with a simple question: why in the world would she wait this long? It was Dr. Grey that thought of Kurain Village in the first place!

His Honor ultimately rules in favor of the prosecution: it's incredibly unlikely and with very little conclusive evidence. Mia objects before His Honor can give a verdict, however, and tells us that there has to be a reason why Ini killed Dr. Grey this way. We press forward, even though we're not confident. Intrigued, von Karma lets us have a moment to prove our theory: she's determined to knock our will to fight into the ground. She's not just here for a trial: she's here for a battle!

Panzers on courtroom soil, a thunder in the East!

Trial is suspended for a brief recess. A distraught Maya asks us if what's happened with her aunt is true; we confirm it is, and Franziska tells us that everything is going exactly as she predicted. Wait. Franziska? Gah! Franziska's here!

We have a brief conversation with her: she not-so-subtly tells Maya to shut up, and we taunt her a bit by telling her this won't bring Manfred back. Probably hurt, she retreats back to her own chambers to prepare for the grand finale.

Trial reconvenes and His Honor asks if we're ready to prove Ini's motive. We say that we are and ask Ini to testify about her car accident. We drill her testimony for answers, and eventually she's forced to add that she didn't have her license, which Mimi had to drive. That's a very lame lie, Phoenix says. After all, her face was reconstructed from her own license photo! Franziska shuts us down and Ini says that she got her license last November. Either out of fear or belief His Honor suspends our questioning, but not before Ini says that Mimi probably wouldn't have let her drive anyways.

Ini testifies about this: apparently Mimi's car was a brand new shiny sports car and she wouldn't have let her sister touch it. We press her testimony and Ini eventually says it was imported from the UK... which blows her entire testimony wide open. After all, on the newspaper clipping, Ini's own statement is that she got out of the right side door.

Why is this an issue? After all, the passenger's side is on the right, right? Wrong. It's a British car! The UK drives on the left side of the road: as such, their driver's side is on the right! If Ini was on the right side of the car, she'd be the driver!

Fun fact: in the original Japanese version, Ini was driving an American car and got out on the left side—Japan drives on the right side of the road.

There is only one possible conclusion, and it's an insane one. If Ini Miney got out on the left side, that means she was the driver. If she was the driver, that means it was her car. And if it was her car, that means she's not Ini Miney at all. Ergo! If Ini Miney got out on the left side, she's not Ini Miney at all: she's Mimi Miney, who reconstructed her face to look like her sister! Ini Miney died in the car accident!

This is her motive! Dr. Grey wanted to call the spirit of Mimi Miney. Dr. Grey couldn't have called on Mimi Miney's spirit, though. After all, she wasn't dead! This is why she had to kill Dr. Grey. Mimi admits it: we're exactly right. Mimi breaks out into tears on the witness stand.

Mimi had to change her face to run from the truth: that she fucked up and was responsible for the malpractice incident. Franziska is distraught over her perfect record being broken, and after gloating about it she whips us into submission (joke DEFINITELY intended). In any case, Maya is found Not Guilty, and we tell her why Morgan helped Mimi: it was all for Pearl's sake. If Maya was found guilty, then she'd be disinherited. Inheritance would go back to the branch family, and since Morgan was already disinherited, Pearl would automatically be made Master once the 20 year threshold on Misty's disappearance passed. After all, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

In any case: 2-2 comes to a close with a bittersweet ending, a sympathetic murderer, and a great twist.

What Really Happened?

Many years ago, Misty and Morgan's mother died. Although Morgan was born first and therefore in line to Kurain's style of primogeniture succession, her spiritual powers were deemed too weak. Although she pretended to accept this with grace, she was incensed: and this was further compounded when Misty gave birth two not just an heir, but also a spare—Mia and Maya. When Misty disappeared after DL-6 and Mia left the village to become a lawyer, she projected all of her anger onto Maya. Morgan eventually had her own daughter, Pearl: and an idea formed in her head.

Incidentally, last year there was a horrible malpractice incident at Grey Surgical Clinic in which 14 patients died. Dr. Grey blamed a nurse, Mimi Miney, although in truth it was ultimately his fault for driving her so hard: he hired us to clear his name, but not before Mimi got into a terrible car accident alongside her sister Ini after falling asleep behind the wheel. Ini died and Mimi was burned beyond recognition: Mimi took Ini's face and name for herself, becoming Ini Miney to run from the truth of the malpractice incident.

Mimi wanted to kill Dr. Grey (and knew that if Grey tried to channel her, the gig would be up: you can't channel the spirits of the living, after all) and Morgan wanted Maya out of the picture to clear a path for Pearl's succession, so they hatched a scheme. Mimi would drug Maya, taking a spare set of apprentice clothes and a wig provided by Morgan to make it seem that Maya was channeling Ini. She drugged Maya and stabbed Grey in the chest, seemingly killing him. As she was hiding Maya in a nearby clothing box, however, Dr. Grey used the last of his strength to pull out a pistol and shoot at her: he missed, but the bullet went through the folding screen and through both the box and Maya's sleeve. Mimi then used his own pistol to shoot him execution-style. Morgan and Mimi quickly burned the clothes and wig they used, rearranged the crime scene, and covered Maya's clothes with Grey's blood.

During Dr. Grey's murder, Pearl was playing in the Winding Way with a ball. She accidentally knocked over an urn reportedly containing the spirit of Ami Fey, the founder of the Kurain Channeling Technique: she tried to put it together, but because she can't read very well accidentally put it back together as "IAM" instead of "AMI". Because Mimi didn't see Pearl in the Winding Way, however, her alibi was broken: leading to the collapse of her and Morgan's plot.

THOUGHTS

I quite enjoy 2-2. For a case revolving around Maya, it's a much better showing than 1-2. It's not a standout case or anything, but for a second case it's pretty good. It's definitely solid enough to stand on its own two feet, and I think checks all the boxes to be a perfectly fine case. It's really good in the role it's meant to serve.

The setup in the first day of investigation is fantastic. It's an incredibly strong opening, genuinely being on par with 1-3 and even exceeding it at times. There's a lot of early clues that players are allowed to pick up on when it comes to Ini/Mini and Morgan: from the second case in the game it's clear that JfA trusts its returning players. Speaking of returning players, we get a lot of fanservice here: Edgeworth and Manfred are both mentioned, Franziska has a lot of mannerisms that mirror her father's, and Mia shows up! ...Making fanservice a little more literal, but I digress.

This does not mean that 2-2 is without its problems, and there's a pretty big logical one I'd like to point out. Franziska's argument in day one of trial is that Maya and Grey were fighting: Maya then stabbed Grey, pushed him away, retreated to the folding screen, was shot at (explaining there being no gunpowder burns on her costume), walked back towards him, wrestled the gun away from him, retreated again by a good foot or two, and shot him in the forehead from a distance of at least a foot instead of holding the pistol right at his head. It's unnecessarily convoluted, which is either good writing making Franziska overconfident or poorly written overcomplication with little room for any in-between.

Speaking of Franziska: what a debut! She's honestly at her best in 2-2. It's the beginning of a rather intriguing arc and I'm admittedly biased given that she's my favorite prosecutor. She has the same dirty tricks up her sleeve as her father, although her tricks and confidence are obviously on a lower level: she's trying to puff out her chest and portray confidence, even though it's pretty clear that it's an act if you squint hard enough. It's good character work for her first appearance. Her trick of not presenting the picture of Mia as evidence, just making sure that His Honor sees it, is really clever stuff: and Takumi will use it again in the future.

Another big problem is how all over the place the investigation is: especially Day 2. A lot of things don't feel like they logically lead into one another, and it's a matter of exhausting options before finding the right place to turn. It's boring. The pacing in this case is kind of all over the place in general; it's not terribly consistent, but at the very least it doesn't overstay its welcome. Its length is near perfect for a second case, and I think that 2-2 knows where it fits in the game very well. It's not quite filler, but it's not completely plot-relevant, either.

The last thing I'd like to bring up is this case's major turnabout and my favorite contradiction. The twist that Ini is really Mimi is honestly my favorite JfA turnabout: even more than 2-4's, which we'll get to! It's really clever and cerebral twist that straddles the line of unbelievability very well. It's also pretty fucked up if you think about it too hard: Mimi decided to take her dead sister's name and appearance to start a new life to run from the truth. My favorite contradiction is that Mimi testified about knowing Morgan was in the chamber while claiming to be asleep: it's a very simple one that's easy to miss, but it's really cool and a type of contradiction I wish popped up in AA more often.

Anyways: 2-2 is better than I remembered and I still remember enjoying it a lot! It's not a perfect case by any means but I really enjoy it. I like the succession plot cooked up by Morgan a lot: it makes me think of these grand plans I'd enact while playing CK2 or something. Next time, we'll be covering the one and only 2-3: Turnabout Big Top. See you then!

Final Rating: 7/10

FAVORITE LINES

"It's hopeless! If you defend me, you'll lose, I'm sure…" "Stop it!" - Maya Fey and Phoenix Wright, after her arrest

(Alright! With this, the rest of this trial should be in the b-- ...blast radius of disaster.) - Phoenix Wright, after the folding screen argument

(Well, Maya's already naturally short, so…) - Phoenix Wright, after Pearl says Maya looked small in the defendant's chair

"Oh, you simpleminded fools. I'm sorry, are you still by chance, evolving?" - Franziska von Karma, after Phoenix presents his theory

"Not you too, Mia! With the whip… And the pain… And the oww…" - Phoenix Wright, after Mia tells him to keep pressing Ini

"Did you go cry to your mommy like a little bitch?" - Phoenix Wright, to Pearl Fey in the anime bloopers after she admits to breaking the jar

CASE RANKINGS

Reunion, and Turnabout (7/10)

The Lost Turnabout (4/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

The Lost Turnabout (2-1)

Phoenix Wright is called to defend a police officer in her boyfriend's murder. There's just one problem: he's lost his memory!

Welcome to Justice for All! We start off with The Lost Turnabout, involving the murder of a police officer, a proactive defendant, and a head injury resulting in amnesia. Will we remember this case's glory, or will we forget all about it when 2-2 rolls around? Let's take a look!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Phoenix emerges from semi-retirement; what could've caused him to hide his face after SL-9, though?

Winston Payne: Winston returns as the prosecutor for this case, just as screechy as ever.

Maya Fey: Maya briefly returns as our co-counsel later in the case. A spiritual medium in training, she hasn't changed a bit!

THE MAIN CAST:

Maggey Byrde: A rather unlucky police officer and the defendant for this case.

Richard Wellington: The man, the myth, the Richard Wellington. I quite enjoy his design.

A BRIEF RECAP

Phoenix is facing off against a giant His Honor, trying to plead for his life before being hit on the head with a giant gavel! We wake up; apparently we had an awful dream due to a new ringtone. There's somebody lurking around the corner, and just as we're getting ready... we're hit on the head with a fire extinguisher! Yeowch!

"Knew I drank too much last night..."

Trial, Day One

We get come back to our senses and are met with a police officer. This is Maggey Byrde, one of my personal favorite recurring characters in the series! The fire extinguisher we got hit on the head with has really messed us up, though: we've lost our memory! Great.

So it wasn't the sangria...

We enter the courtroom entirely unprepared. After a bit of dialogue where Phoenix very clearly is having problems but nobody really cares, Gumshoe is called to the stand; we also get a picture of the victim, Dustin Prince (who was Maggey's boyfriend at the time). Apparently, Maggey works under Gumshoe: so much for conflict of interest. Gumshoe testifies about the investigation—the victim even managed to write Maggie's name in the sand. Well, there's our first contradiction: her name is 'Maggey', not 'Maggie'. It looks like muscle memory is hard at work, as we point our figure without really realizing it: but we're starting to get back into the groove, pointing out the contradiction and getting a new testimony.

We get a new testimony from Gumshoe after His Honor asks if Dustin and Maggey really were lovers. There's some funny implications about Gumshoe's crush on Maggey here, even if the topic is sore given Dustin's death. Anyways, we press and press and press, eventually coming to the topic of a custom-made yellow baseball glove. Gumshoe presents it to the court; Maggey is about to tell us that she had to special order it for another reason, but we move on. The question is now raised: did the victim really write 'Maggie'?

Gumshoe testifies that there was sand underneath his fingernail and scratches on the nail itself leading to the conclusion that Dustin did, indeed, write the name 'Maggie'. There's just one issue with that: he wrote it with his right hand and the baseball glove that Maggey ordered goes on the right hand. It's a left-handed glove! There's no possible way that Dustin could have written the name 'Maggie'. Ergo, somebody else wrote it! Maggey seems to be exonerated, but Payne objects. He says that they've still got a witness! Court is called for a brief recess.

During the recess, we tell Maggey about our... condition. She offers to kick us in the head, we decline, and she gives us back our business card. Swell. She also tells us about an incident with a cell phone: she and Dustin had found somebody's phone and called them. Whoever was on the phone thanked her and she ended the call by telling them her name was Maggey... pronounced 'Maggie'. I wonder if this is our mysterious writer.

As we're getting ready to go back inside, guess who shows up!

MAYA!!!!!!

We don't know who Maya is, but we do get a list from her; con artists connected to the cell phone. This mysterious phone caller is starting to look more and more like our killer author! Maya makes a subtle insinuation that we're suffering from early-onset dementia before we go back into the courtroom. Time to meet this mysterious witness.

We get Maya back as our co-counsel and Payne introduces this witness as a 'drifter'. The drifter gets rather tilted about it, and good God does he like to rant. This is Richard Wellington (Dick Wellington, and a gumshoe is a wellington boot; "Dick Gumshoe", get it? I like this name a lot!), our assaulter and this case's ultimate witness. He must be our murderer!

With a Ph.D. in Twinking, as it were.

Wellington testifies that he saw Maggey after Dustin fell from a height right in front of him alongside a bundle of bananas. Very short and decisive. We already know, of course, that there weren't any bananas. There was a yellow baseball glove that would look like bananas if he was missing his glasses! We're already on the hyper-offense with this guy. If he was missing his glasses, then there's no way he could've identified Maggey. Wellington testifies again, saying that he immediately called the police station at 6:45... just over 15 minutes after Dustin died. We press him for an excuse; he says he was looking for a phone booth since he didn't have a phone.

So he did lose his phone!

It seems that he does have his phone on him, though. But why would he need to find a phone booth?! There's one right next to the body! What was he doing during those 15 minutes? Looking for his glasses... which were under the victim's body! As he fell, Dustin grabbed his killer's glasses. That's what Wellington was looking for! He's the real killer!

Wellington argues that since he doesn't know who Maggey is, he couldn't have written her name wrong or not! We know for a fact that he knew her name. After all, Maggey found his cell phone! We tell the court this information. He would know her name was pronounced 'Maggie' if he only heard it, and since that's the more popular spelling... well, baby makes two!

Payne argues that we have no motive. We know for a fact he has one, though: remember that name list? It's a list of con artists... and it was in the memory of Wellington's phone! That's why he had to kill Dustin; he was a police officer with a con artist's phone! He panicked. He thought that Dustin might run a check on his phone... or already had! Dustin laughs. There's no proof that this is his phone, is it?!

We want to check for fingerprints, but apparently we wiped it off because of the sand all over it. Wellington says that he has his phone right there, but it "glitched" and "all the numbers disappeared". He also asks us where he found his phone. When he assaulted us! He cockily tells us that we've forgotten who we are.

Who we are...?

Wait.

We have the same model of phone! What if he mixed up the phones? We present our business card to the court and tell Maya to call us.

The good news is that this establishes Maggey's innocence. The bad news is that this sets off an IED, killing everybody in Courtroom No. 8. Too bad!

Wellington is holding on to our phone. He strangles himself to near-death: earning us an acquittal for Maggey. In the aftermath of the trial, Maggey is rather distraught, blaming herself for Dustin's death. After all, her life has been a whirlwind of bad luck. Since she was 6 months old, when she fell from the 9th floor of my apartment building, she's been hit by all sorts of vehicles, gotten sick from all sorts of foods, failed at almost every test she's ever taken, experienced almost every kind of disaster, and never won or even tied at a game of tic-tac-toe! Her misfortune tends to latch on the people around her, she says. She swears to turn her life back around, though! Despite her grief, she leaves with a smile on her face, and 2-1 comes to a close.

What Really Happened?

Richard Wellington was a member of a gang of confidence artists. Maggey and Dustin found his phone, which he had lost, and were going to give it back to him. As they were, though, he saw that Dustin was a police officer. Panicking out of fear that they had searched his phone, he pushed Dustin off of the bridge they were standing on and stole back his phone. He then decided to frame Maggey, whose name he had heard over the phone, by writing her name in the sand.

THOUGHTS

I went into this remembering that I downright hated 2-1. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it; I still don't think it's very good, but it's better than I remembered.

To start with the bad, the amnesiac gimmick overstays its welcome very quickly. This is one of the only cases in the entire franchise that actively makes me cringe at times. When I first watched through PixelPartners's lets play, I actually skipped it. That's honestly the biggest issue with this case: the amnesiac gimmick is incredibly tiring, although I do like the subtle ways it rears its head like Phoenix forgetting he wiped Maggey's phone off. I think a better way to have done this case as a tutorial instead of a somewhat groan-inducing amnesia plotline was to have Maggey actually be a legal aide, like her dialogue says she could've been. That would've been fun, seeing Phoenix be a teacher two games early!

I appreciate the spike in difficulty compared to 1-1, but it's still pretty simple: one thing I think is really cool, though, is the fact that you have to point out that the baseball glove is left-handed by actually looking at the picture of it. Maggey is always a treat, and I like Maya's surprise appearance! Payne is also a welcome addition whenever he pops up.

For his part, I don't like Beef- er, Richard Wellington very much. He doesn't have a lot of character or charisma, lacking a lot of the staying power that Frank Sawhit has. The catch with the switched cell phones is also pretty easy to see coming in my opinion.

Generally, this case is rather lackluster, even if it's much better than I remember it being. Just two days ago, when writing the initial draft for this review, I said that I loathed 2-1 and considered it one of the worst in the entire series. I still think it's the weakest opening case, but that's definitely not for lack of trying. It does what it does well, but has a few more obvious issues compared to other openers.

Next time, we'll cover 2-2: Reunion, and Turnabout. See you guys then!

Final Rating: 4/10

FAVORITE LINES

(Nowhere to hide... I'm sooo dead...) - Phoenix Wright, after Gumshoe is called to the stand

"Oh my go-- NOW I REMEMBER!!" - Phoenix Wright, after Wellington reminds us where he found his phone

"Take that!" "Why, thank you. Here, please have one of mine." - Phoenix Wright and His Honor, exchanging business cards

CASE RANKINGS

The Lost Turnabout (4/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Review - A Flawed but Charming Masterpiece

As we finish up Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, we discuss this game's legacy: and how it stacks up in modern times.

I'm... not exactly sure where to start here.

It would be a bit spoiler-y to say how I think of PW:AA in relation to other games, but I guess there's nowhere else to put it. I think PW:AA is one of the best games in the series, and an incredibly strong starting point. It's my second favorite game in the overall series, and for quite a few very good reasons; it's one of the few games in the entire franchise that I don't think has a single bad case. In fact, it has two of my favorites back-to-back; 1-4 and 1-5.

Here's how we're gonna order this. I'm gonna go through an overall list of pros and cons, giving a few paragraphs explaining them. After that, I'm going to give some closing thoughts and an overall ranking of the cases and top 5 characters. Sounds good? Sounds good.

PROS

Pro One: Tone-Setting.

PW:AA knows how to set a tone. Each case has a very unique feel to it, from the frantic and almost manic speed and nerves of 1-1 to the depressing and bleak atmosphere of 1-4 to the downright oppressive and confounding nature of 1-5. Each case is very easy to distinguish from one another: they have different "vibes", I guess is the best way to put it.

Each case establishes these vibes in different ways. 1-1 puts you straight into the deep end; Mia's still holding your hand, but the case is relatively simple and the stakes aren't very high. 1-2's tone is unfamiliar but not depressingly so, still managing to be relatively lighthearted and fun. 1-3 is incredibly fun and filled to the brim with excitement; we get to see a movie studio! 1-4 and 1-5 take on very bleak tones, but it's different types of bleak; 1-4 is incredibly high-stakes and rather straightforward, setting its bleak atmosphere through the time of year and the overall aesthetic of the case surrounding it all (DL-6), while 1-5's tone is created over time as the corruption and rot at the center of SL-9 comes to light. For example, in 1-5, Gant starts off as a goofy and kind of lovable old codger. By the end, you want to punch him in the face.

This is all done through some of the strongest opening cutscenes in the mainline series. Each case has an incredibly unique and tone-setting opening, from 1-3's exciting showdown between the Steel Samurai and Evil Magistrate to 1-5 starting on an overview of the city during a thunderstorm and ending on a reminiscence theme; tones are made with opening cutscenes, and PW:AA does it nearly flawlessly.

Pro Two: Characterization.

PW:AA is one of those very rare AA games where there's not any characters I downright hate. Hell, the only character I dislike is Sal Manella for obvious reasons, but if you took that away I honestly wouldn't mind him that much. Even from the first case this game sets up its characters and keeps their core values intact; Phoenix believes in his clients no matter what, Edgeworth cares about bringing criminals to justice, Larry is awkward but well-meaning, Mia is a veteran who teaches Phoenix what she knows, Maya is experiencing new stuff and exploring, and so on. Even one-off characters stick around in your head!

One thing I really like about AA in general but PW:AA in particular is that, to some extent, every character we see has some sort of flaw. Phoenix acts first and thinks later. Maya does the same but with a far less mature outlook. Edgeworth gets tunnel-visioned and others, like Manfred, Gant, and even White, will take advantage of that. Even minor characters have flaws; the Bellboy is easy to embarass, Cody lies to protect his favorite hero, Angel has an incredibly personal vendetta, and so on. Even minor flaws exist; Vasquez smokes, Jake (implicitly) drinks, Gumshoe is forgetful, and so on. It all makes these characters feel like real people.

Every culprit has something about them that makes them stick out as their own unique character. Frank is a nervous wreck, Redd is rich and corrupt, Vasquez is aloof and deeply tragic, Yogi is a great actor, Manfred is hilariously aggressive, and Gant gets under your skin. Even the victims have levels of characterization! Hammond was corrupt, Goodman was diligent and liked by many, Hammer was vengeful, and so on. Even Sal is recognizable. No character in this entire game just fades into the background; they all stick.

While we're on the topic of characterization, I'd also like to point out the dialogue in this game. It can go from downright hilarious to deeply personal in just a few lines and the tone can change seamlessly. It's great.

Pro Three: Mystery

At its core, Ace Attorney is a mystery series: a mix of whodunnits and howcatchems. PW:AA has some of the strongest in the series in that regard. 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5 are all standouts: 1-3 is the purest howcatchem in the series while 1-5 is a brilliant example of a whodunnit turning into a howcatchem. Even 1-2 carries its own weight here. Its mystery is lackluster, sure, but it's still engaging!

Circling back to those opening cutscenes, 1-2's, 1-4's, and 1-5's all set up their mysteries within just a minute very well. 1-3's mystery is set up over the course of the first couple of minutes in the case, and they're all articulated well and feel, for lack of a better word, believable. These are things that could feasibly happen, but at the same time some of them are downright challenging (lookin' at you, 1-5!) in very good ways.

The clues provided to us, in most cases, are easy to piece together but not handholdingly so; this game trusts that the player can piece things together by themselves, including things that are seemingly unrelated or mentioned aaaaaaages ago like the parking stub in 1-5, the bent fencepost in 1-3, or the metal detector in 1-4. It's all a really neat and effective way of engaging the player in, generally, well-crafted mystery narratives.

Pro Four: Worldbuilding.

Yeah, bet you didn't expect that one.

PW:AA is a very grounded game. As such, it has pretty grounded worldbuilding; it all makes sense in its confines, which is the type I enjoy. Evidence Law makes sense for what we see, and at times the worldbuilding actively works its way into cases like 1-4's statute of limitations or 1-5's taking 30 minutes to go from the Prosecutor's Office to the Police Station. 1-3 makes the Steel Samurai feel alive, mostly thanks to its opening cutscene: even 1-2 expands on a wider outside world, with Redd White's role in the suicides and blackmailing of political and business figures.

Stuff that doesn't need to be explained, like prosecutor's badges or why trials can only take three days, are! There's also elements that exist behind the scenes, like guilty defendants having to face a higher court or the bureaucracy present in the Police Department. It's all meshed together into a believable world; which, speaking from experience, is not easy to do.

Pro Five: Aesthetic.

I know this is kind of lame to give to PW:AA given that all AA games have similar aesthetics, but I feel like PW:AA gets some leeway because it was the first game in the franchise and therefore set the series's aesthetic going forward. I love it. Characters are portrayed realistically (more or less): nobody in this game feels cartoony at all, which I appreciate. In addition, this game's setpieces are very grounded: lakes, law enforcement buildings, offices, and of course the courtroom.

The courtroom itself is incredibly well introduced and designed; one of my favorite bits is how when Edgeworth points at von Karma he points to the side of the room von Karma is on instead of just forward. The defendant's lobby is probably my favorite setpiece; it's just... cozy.

Like, look at the courtroom! It's so grandiose yet so grounded at the same time. I could see myself in this room! It's a treat for the eyes; the clashing light browns of the desks and Judge's seat with the golden and white walls is awesome. PW:AA knows color theory and it shows. I particularly love the white pillars in the back.

Pro Six: Music.

PW:AA has the most memorable music in the series and for pretty good reason. The Pursuit theme is my second-favorite in the entire series, and it's instantly iconic. This is the Ace Attorney song to many people, including myself! That's not mentioning the Reminiscence themes, which all set and fit the tones of each case perfectly. DL-6 and SL-9's reminiscence themes are perfect for their cases, but I'd also like to point out Maya's own specific reminiscence theme; this plays after Manfred tases her and Phoenix in 1-4, and it fits the inner turmoil and the line where she says she wishes she'd never woken up perfectly. Speaking of DL-6 and SL-9's themes, they both do something very different that fit each case; DL-6's is somewhat hopeful, like there's still a mystery to be solved. SL-9 has come and gone. There's nothing left but despair.

This game plays with your emotions with its music in a very, very, very good way. There's the adrenaline-pumping octane energy of the Pursuit theme and the sadness of the reminiscence themes, but also the sense of relieved finality you get with the Victory music or the "let's get busy" feel to the Investigation theme: and we're not even mentioning character themes yet.

Every character theme has a sense of purpose. Jake Marshall's establishes his rough-and-tumble attitude: the song is wild, carefree, like if you told it to slow down it wouldn't listen. Gumshoe's is weathered and basic but still strong and good at heart; it fills your chest, y'know? I think overall, though, there are two standouts: Maya's, which is upbeat, cheery, and maybe a little scared to be on its own; and Gant's, which immediately makes itself known and takes over the room. Each theme has a purpose and a feeling; it's an incredible use of music.

CONS

Con One: Pacing.

PW:AA is not... the best paced game ever. Out of all the baseline cases, 1-2 is probably the best paced; 1-3 and 1-4's final days feel rushed, with 1-3 being the biggest offender. The DL-6 trial is criminally short for an already short game; 1-5 is nearly half of the game's length on its own! 1-3 is too long and 1-4 is too short, whereas 1-2 is perfectly passable; but I don't think I'd call it excellently paced by any means. 1-5, as much as it pains me to say it, is also a bit too long at times. There's only one excellently paced case (1-5), one case that's paced well (1-2), and three cases that have pacing that's a little all over the place.

One argument I've seen is that another case could easily fit between 1-1 and 1-2, and I'm honestly inclined to disagree. I just think that 1-3 could've been shorter and 1-4 could've been longer: like I said, the DL-6 trial is far too short for one of the most pivotal moments of the series! I get this was their first attempt, and it was a decent showing, but it's still lackluster.

This game just kind of feels a little bit all over the place. There's never really a great time to stop outside of days shifting over for a lot of these cases, which makes sense, but pausing in the middle of an investigation or trial to do something else feels awkward. It's not a satisfying game to put down, which is probably a good thing for some people; but it isn't for me.

Con Two: Original Pixel Art.

Oh, man. I know I just praised this game's aesthetics, and this still holds up, but good God some of the original pixel art sprites were ugly. Edgeworth's stands out the most: it looks like he's trying to see something from far away without his glasses on (which DD later shows is probably what he's doing, but I digress).

It's not like Edgeworth is the only example, either. The contrast between 1-5's sprites and the rest of the game is painfully apparent on the original DS release, which makes sense—1-5 was released in 2006, 5 years after the first game and when AJ was being developed, so of course it matched that aesthetic—and the witness stand backdrop just... isn't great.

Con Three: Navigation.

Bear with me for not having a photo for this one. PW:AA's navigation system is very outdated; and it shows. I complimented it for setting up the general aesthetic, so I guess I can point out that it brought in my least favorite feature that would last until DD. The navigation system is occasionally pretty cool, but more often than not it's just a hassle. I get why it exists, and like I said it's occasionally cool, but on the whole... it gets in the way.

Having to go through two separate locations to get to another is annoying, and it's easy to lose track of the map in your head. It's not "you need to write it down on paper" bad like the first Zelda, but it's definitely not great.

We've still got one promised place to go; my top 5 favorite characters. We'll do this ascending, so let's start with #5!

Number Five: Damon Gant

I think Damon Gant is the best example AA has for "affably evil". He's a heartless piece of shit, sure, but he's also the kind of guy I'd go out and get a beer or watch a movie with. This alone speaks to the power of his character; he's a masterful manipulator, an open abuser, and a two-time murderer, but still a rather fun and swell guy to be around. Have you ever watched Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino? He reminds me a little bit of Calvin Candie, just... y'know, actually smart. And not a racist. Sometimes he's fun to be around and it is incredibly uncomfortable to be fun around him. It feels almost... wrong, you know?

Over the course of 1-5, as Gant's mask slowly slips, so does the overall tone of the case; a double murder mystery becomes an incredibly thrilling conspiracy, all with this man behind it. He influences every little part of this case: there is nothing that his grimy hands do not touch.

And I love it. His shadow looms over the case, and once you go from "whodunnit?" to "howcatchem?" and finally piece together how you're going to take him down? Oh, man. Peak cinema.

And God, is it satisfying to take him down! Watching him slowly crumble into nothing is one of the most satisfying moments in the entire series, and us doing it nearly singlehandedly (with a little help here and there from Edgeworth and Ema, of course) is an absolute perfect way to cap off Phoenix's arc.

Let's talk about his design, too. Orange is his most prominent color; his suit is orange, his skin is orange, even the gold police badge on his tie looks orange, and it's on a red tie; red and yellow make orange. Orange is a color of happiness, enthusiasm, and youth, but it's also a color of spontaneity, superficiality, and in Confucianism is associated with transformation. It's a color that perfectly fits Gant's charming and goofy mask slowly transforming into the man that spontaneously killed Bruce Goodman and keeps up his charades through superficial charm and goodness.

Number Four: Maya Fey

I'll be the first to admit that she is way lower on this list than I expected: but this is not a diss at all. Maya is at her second-best in her debut appearance, and for good reason; this is just as much her game as it is Phoenix and Edgeworth's, making up the last part of this game's core three cast.

Maya is incredibly fun and plain enjoyable, but she also brings a very tragic and emotionally heavy element to this game. Throughout the game she's constantly battling feelings of inadequacy; this all comes to a head in 1-4, but it's hinted as early as 1-2. Maya's arc through this game is trying to find a place to fit in: Phoenix is a defense attorney, Miles is a prosecutor, even Larry is a bachelor... but Maya is just a "spirit medium in training". She's not even good at the one job she has yet.

The climax of her arc and the end of 1-4 tie into each other and it's an incredibly emotional moment; her relationship with Phoenix evolves from an employer-employee one to siblingesque very naturally. By the end of the game, you'd be hard-pressed to say they weren't related if you didn't know their surnames!

Let's go back to color theory. Maya's main colors are purple, black, and white: her robe is purple, her underrobe is a very light lilac, her hair is black, her pearls are white, and so on. It's a color of royalty and creativity: much like how Maya is the heir to the Kurain Channeling Technique through her mom, the heir to Mia's legacy, and the driving force behind some of Phoenix's big breakthroughs like drilling witnesses to get information in 1-2 and that von Karma killed Gregory Edgeworth in 1-4. Black is a strange color and hard to pin down to have a single meaning; it's a color of defiance, sadness, death and life, and so on. In Japan, it's a color of mystery and the unknown; much like how her psychic powers are never fully explained and are incredibly alien and out of place (but in a good way!) throughout the game.

White, meanwhile, is associated in China and Japan with grief: and hooh boy, does Maya carry a lot of it. Grief over her sister and mother, grief over not living up to anyone's (perceived) standards, the grief she gives Phoenix, and so on. White is a color of death: perfect for a spirit medium. Also: red and blue make purple and her pearls are white. Redd, White, Blue[Corp]...

Number Three: Phoenix Wright

Phoenix is at the top of his game: which makes sense, given that he literally is! This is some of his best characterization in the series and an incredibly strong first showing. Mia calls him a genius and it really shows; he pieces together some pretty complex theories by himself, like the entirety of 1-5 and the first half of 1-4. I like to equate him to a chainsaw; he needs time to rev up, but once he does he'll cut down anything in his path.

And boy does that show up here! His thought processes can easily match the player's, and his own arc does as well; over the course of the game he slowly comes into his own as an attorney and problem solver just like the player. By the end of the game he's experienced but not seasoned: again, just like the player.

He has incredibly solid relationships with the entire main cast, and his chemistry with every character is awesome; I particularly like his chemistry with Maya and Edgeworth of course, but he also has some incredibly strong dynamics with Ema, Gumshoe, Lana... even His Honor and Redd White of all people! He's a great bouncing off point for every other character as well as the player.

Talking about color theory a bit more, his main color is obviously blue. It's an old color, and people described it before they had a name for it. It's a color of business—which makes sense, given his role as CEO and owner of the Wright and Co. Law Offices—but it's also a color of authority and nobility: when people think of police officers, the color blue comes to mind, doesn't it? It's a color of the law! Blue is also associated with Heaven and immortality in some Asian cultures, giving Phoenix an almost divine presence; a gift to his clients, saving them from darkness.

Number Two: Miles Edgeworth

Edgeworth has my favorite arc in this game. I think this game really did a good job in making him fascinating: he's an incredibly tough nut to crack, but under his exterior he's very soft and sensitive. He's initially presented as this incredibly intimidating and corrupt conviction machine, but over the course of the game it becomes clear that he doesn't believe in convictions. He believes in justice. Instead of caring about a win record, he cares about what that words to his very twisted worldview.

This all stems from DL-6, the core lynchpin of the game. I'd actually argue that even more than Phoenix and Maya this is Edgeworth's game: I think that JFA and T&T fill Phoenix and Maya respectively. But PW:AA, despite being named after Phoenix, revolves around Edgeworth's trauma and beliefs. When those are shaken in 1-4 and 1-5, he becomes frazzled, dazed, incredibly irritable. His arc breaks down barriers he's kept up for years and doesn't know how to handle coming down. This is his story.

I think that his transition through 1-5 is one of the best parts of this game. To see him slowly realize he has absolutely nothing left to lose and just go full steam ahead on the person who has ruined his career, Damon Gant, is satisfying: it gives Edgeworth even more agency and coolness than he already had, which was already a lot!

His main color is red, obviously. Red is a color of passion and desire, but it's also one of blood and intimidation; it's complex and has two faces, just like Edgeworth. It's also a color of religious reverence, showing up frequently in Catholic art: Edgeworth himself almost looks like a pastor with his black undershirt and white collar. In that respect, there's the opportunity to view his arc through the lens of Christian (specifically more modern, Western, and sometimes secularized) themes of redemption: a dark and tortured soul brought to the light, finding a sort of peace through both the light and his struggle towards it. It's also a color of anger, which Edgeworth has no shortage of: anger at the world, anger at himself, anger at us.

Number One: Ema Skye

I'm admittedly very biased by her later appearances, but Ema is also an incredibly fascinating and amazing character in her first appearance. She is the heart and soul of 1-5, both as your assistant and the reason for the case's existence: it was Gant's fabrication of her murder of Neil, after all, that led Lana to forge evidence.

She has an incredibly active role throughout all of 1-5, as your assistant, suspect, and pseudo-charge: it's hard not to feel like you have to take care of her. Her personality is incredibly bubbly and endearing, creating adorable dynamics with Phoenix and Lana as well as an incredibly hilarious mini-crush on Edgeworth that she's so unsubtle about. Takumi really shows his maturity as a writer with 1-5 as a whole, but Ema is a great example of how he's become a better character writer over time.

As your assistant, she's spunky and fun; she's not even somewhat reserved like Maya is from time to time, but at the same time her spontaneity is far more mental than physical. A lot of people call her a Maya clone, but I disagree: she's a Maya mirror, just like how 1-5 is a mirror of 1-2. Whereas Maya is spiritual, Ema is scientific and materialist; Ema's main color is pink, in a similar spectrum to Maya's purple; her hair is brown, like Mia's, instead of black, and so on. The dynamic that she leads with Lana is incredibly captivating.

Let's finish this off with a discussion of her main color; pink. Yes, I know that most of her design is white, but her design is splattered with splotches of pink that stand out and are meant to be eye-catching, from her glasses to her necktie and undershirt to her watch and even her bag. Pink is her color and it's a color of soothing, love, and in Japan is a rather masculine color. She tries to soothe Lana's worries through her unconditional love, and it's that love that shines through the darkest parts of 1-5; be it Ema's love for Lana or vice-versa. In full honesty, I just decided to bring up pink being a masculine color in Japan because I wanted to share a headcanon I have that Ema is trans. Sue me. There's even an element of her relationship with Lana in the color alone; until the 1850s pink was seen as a masculine, immature and boyish shade of red; a color of young boys in contrast to the crimson worn by men and seen as a symbol of authority. Edgeworth's jacket? Lana's muffler? It's not hard to see the connection.

Overall Thoughts

PW:AA is a treat. It's my second favorite game in the franchise, and for good reason! It's a very very solid mix of mystery and character-driven storytelling, with a whole host of standout moments and an incredibly fun cast. The core cast is generally at their best here; not to degrade his latest appearances, but I think this game by far has Edgeworth's best characterization. I also think Gumshoe and His Honor are at his best here, and even with characters who have their weakest showings in this game still have standout moments that make them incredibly loveable.

My favorite thing from PW:AA isn't its characters, cases, or even its music, though. It's how it slowly builds up Phoenix alongside the player! We mimic his journey; we start off being handheld by Mia, and then we're thrust into a situation without her that we get through with her help. We also rely heavily on Maya but still get to shine on our own terms. In 1-3, we're finally on equal footing with Maya, solving the mystery with her. In 1-4, we take it on in a leading role; Maya takes an understandable backfoot for Phoenix's strong showing, but we still need her to finish the case and Mia still needs to intervene near the end. In 1-5, the core moments—the final trial especially—are nearly done entirely by Phoenix alone. It's an incredibly awesome buildup of development for both the player and Phoenix.

As a fic writer, I'd also like to point out some standout ships. While I don't ship it, Phoenix/Edgeworth ultimately finds its roots in this game; and it roots itself in very well! There's a reason it's the most popular. They have great chemistry. Some ships I do ship that also find their roots in this game are Lana/Mia, Ema/Maya, and some of my favorite non-romantic ships (be they platonic, adversarial, or something in-between): Phoenix and Ema, Gant and Ema, Edgeworth and Gumshoe, Phoenix and Maya, and Phoenix and Mia all shine through in my mind and find their roots in this game. It's a lynchpin for the fic-writing, shipping side of me!

PW:AA isn't a perfect game, but I think that's where a lot of its charm comes from. It's rough around the edges when you really look, but those rough edges make what shines really shine: the highs of 1-4 and 1-5, the dynamic between Maya and Mia in 1-2, the incredible way it sets up themes and vibes, and so on. It does a lot in its limitations and sets up an awesome format for the later games to follow.

Overall? It's fantastic. It's very understandably cemented itself as one of the greatest mystery games of all time! It's aged incredibly gracefully and is a perfect introduction to one of my favorite series of all time.

PW:AA holds a very special place in my heart as the second Ace Attorney game I've ever played and the first one I finished. It was a very fundamental part of my childhood; I started playing Ace Attorney in elementary school. It's incredibly nostalgic for me and this game is a massive reason why.

To wrap it all up, we'll give this one an overall rating and place its cases on our case tier list. See you for 2-1 and Justice for All!

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

[thecourtscorkboard]

Rise From the Ashes (1-5: PART TWO)

Part One can be found here.

A black spot on Lana's record.

Lana isn't surprised to see us. She says she understands the risks: and she is surprised to hear that Ema talked to us about SL-9. We ask her to fill in on the details; especially on her rather peculiar change of career.

The trial wasn't very fair. Ema is incredibly disappointed in her sister: Lana tells us that she always planned to become a prosecutor, but became a detective to learn crime scene investigation to use it in court. We dig in a little more about their investigation. She was second-in-command after Gant. Apparently, they shared the same office and investigations. They were in charge in some of the best detectives on the entire force: Goodman, Jake Marshall, and Starr. There was no doubt that Darke was the killer, and when they called him in for questioning... well, that's when he tried to kill Ema. The first person to come across what happened was Lana.

Gant and Neil were questioning Darke. When they let their guards down, Darke fled the room towards the Gant and Lana's office. Lana says that she panicked; picking up Ema, walking out of the room, and holding her. She's not telling us about the evidence she fabricated at all. Lana tries to play off everybody being involved in SL-9 as a coincidence: but Phoenix isn't buying it at all. There's something deeper here. That 'case', he says, might not be over yet. He has the bright idea of investigating Gant's office himself!

We go over to the Police Department and meet Jake in front of the building. He's going to the Prosecutor's Office for interrogation; guess he's gonna be put under arrest. We talk to him about SL-9. He says that everybody on the force thought that something was wrong about the SL-9 trial; the facts were inconsistent with the evidence. The murder weapon was Darke's knife, but the blade wasn't a match with the wound Neil sustained. So the knife wasn't the murder weapon? We also get to know about his brother. Neil was apparently one of the best prosecutors in the city; SL-9 was their first case together, even. He was even given the King of Prosecutors trophy the day he died. We also learn something incredibly interesting: it was the day of evidence transferal. Just like this case...

Jake is convinced something was going on behind the scene. Every single detective besides Goodman was somehow taken care of. Angel was fired, Jake was demoted, Lana was made a prosecutor, and Gant was made Chief of Police. The people behind the SL-9's fishiness, he thinks, were Gant and Lana. We already know that Lana forged evidence, so what did Gant have to do with it? Apparently he arranged her transfer to the Prosecutor Office. Jake knows that she's changed, but he's not sure how or why she changed: something happened two years ago. Before he leaves, Jake says that Edgeworth isn't his enemy, as somebody gave him in the forged evidence without his knowledge.

The pieces are falling into place...

We move on to the Criminal Affairs Department and get permission to go into the Chief's office. There's a big fuckoff organ in the middle: guess we know where his music comes from. Ema tries to play it and this raises Gant's attention: he was in here the whole time! He draws attention to a picture on the wall of Gant, Lana, and Neil on the day he was awarded the King of Prosecutors trophy. We try to investigate, but Gant politely tells us to get out. When that fails, he gets a bit more assertive. He's definitely behind... something involving SL-9. He kicks us out of the entire Police Department: now Phoenix is absolutely convinced he's behind the forged evidence.

We walk out of his office and go into the Criminal Affairs Department and meet with Gumshoe! Gumshoe takes the time to tell us about Darke. He was 42 years old during the SL-9 Incident and an independent businessman. One day, he hit somebody with his car while on the way home and started killing witnesses; he killed a man who saw the accident, a woman who saw him kill the man, a child who saw him kill the woman, and then a jogger that saw him burying the bodies. After all that, he turned himself in: during his interrogation, he ran away and killed Neil Marshall. There was no evidence that he committed any of the crimes; the only evidence he left behind was after he killed Neil. We show Gumshoe Darke's knife: that jogs his memory on what the evidence was. It was the tip of Darke's knife, found broken off in Neil's body! We get Neil's autopsy report: he was killed after he was stabbed in the back. The wound punctured his lung and heart.

Before we leave, we ask Gumshoe if he can help us get into Gant's office to investigate SL-9 on our own time. He says that any detective's ID card can unlock the door, but they can't use his: he'll get fired. We could try Goodman's right? No dice. His data was deleted the day he died, unfortunately. Oh, well. Maybe we could find a way to change his mind later.

Gumshoe seemed pretty worried about Edgeworth: maybe we should go check in on him. Edgeworth is writing something when we come in, hastily crumbling it up and throwing it on the floor when we see him. We try to distract him, but he sees Ema down there anyways, picking up the paper.

The DL-6 reminiscence theme starts playing here, which is really cool.

Edgeworth is planning to resign from the Prosecutor's Office! He says that something inside of him has died now that he knows he's presented forged evidence; he's openly considering himself unforgivable now. We take the letter: maybe this would change Gumshoe's mind. The idea that he's used forged evidence gnaws away at Edgeworth tremendously—the bond of trust between him and the Police Department has been irreversibly broken, and as the prosecutor in charge of SL-9 the responsibility has subsequently fallen on his shoulders. Edgeworth is still showing up for trial tomorrow; it's too late to change prosecutors. He pulls out the list of evidence for SL-9, telling us it's too short. Most lists run twice as long. Does he also know that some sort of shadowy stuff was going on behind the scenes with SL-9?

We show Edgeworth the photo from Gant's office. Neil and Edgeworth's trophies are different: where'd the little sword go? He tells us the story behind its design. It's based off of the Chinese word for "contradiction", which is written with two characters—'halberd' and 'spear'. As the folk story goes, a merchant from the kingdom of Chu approached his king with two items: a spear that could break any shield and a shield that could defend against any attack. When asked what would happen if the two hit each other, however, he could not answer, and the word for contradiction was born.

We get this awesome ink-style drawing for this scene. Incidentally, this reminds me of a Nixon quote: to paraphrase, "the Chinese people write 'crisis' with two characters: 'danger' and 'opportunity'". It's also total nonsense, but it came from Nixon, so...

Wonder why they took the knife out. Apparently, it's something we'll have to ask Gant: he asked for it to be taken out himself. We run into Angel in the parking lot and she reminds us that she still saw what she saw. We get more information about the SL-9 case from her. They chased after him for half a year; when the case came to its conclusion, Jake became obsessed with SL-9. Angel says that only made Lana even more edgy. Angel says that she's know the evidence was forged ever since SL-9's end. Items that her team never discovered were suddenly found; items that her team found were kept secret. Angel gives us a unique idea: that Lana was transferred to the Prosecutor's Office not as a promotion that she wanted, but because Gant wanted to use her as a pawn in the prosecution.

Apparently, there were rumors about his forging evidence even back when he was still just a detective. Which is... weird. Lana teamed up with him, even though Lana despised crooked cops: she was a role model for all detectives. Apparently, she and Neil were very close. When Neil died, Lana felt like she lost her own brother. Angel's anger towards Lana isn't just a hatred for prosecutors; it's incredibly personal. She and Jake are close, after all. It seems that Lana's becoming cold has affected everybody... except for Gant.

It was Gant's plan all along...

We go back to the Police Department and show Gumshoe the letter of resignation. He immediately tells us that he'll let us into Gant's office: job be damned! He even comes with us. We finally have time to look into Gant's dirty secrets. First and foremost? That piece of paper he stuffed in his desk when we first came by. It's an evidence list: from SL-9. Normally lists are twice as long... this is the second half of Edgeworth's list! There's a drawing on the back. Remember how Ema said she had to draw what she had seen because she was so shaken? This must be it.

Secondly, there's a safe on top of a small bookshelf. It's locked behind a code, but Phoenix has a pretty good idea of what the number is:

7777777.

Bingo. It's now pretty undeniable that Gant is our murderer. Inside of the safe are two things: a big shard from a jar and a piece of leather cloth. This is from the jar that we found in the evidence room! There's a handprint on the cloth: could we pull fingerprints from it?

First things first, the jar. Now that it's all put together, there's some... weird stuff on it. Red stuff. Dried blood, maybe? It looks like it might've been a design of some sort, with the last piece not having the blood wiped off. Weird. We use the fingerprint powder on the leather and check our database. It's...

Ema's...?

Why are Ema's fingerprints on this cloth and why was it in Gant's safe? Every time we answer a question, two more pop up! Gumshoe pulls us aside, equally as confused. We agree to keep that information between the two of us, with Gumshoe giving us the cloth to keep. We compliment Gumshoe on his good work; without his ID, we wouldn't have been able to get in here.

GAH!

It's G-G-G-G-G-Gant! Shit, we've been found out! Gumshoe is immediately fired and Gant asks Ema to stay behind for some reason. Gant forces us out and we run back to the Detention Center to talk to Lana. She remains adamant that she stabbed Detective Goodman: and she doesn't seem to be lying about it. She also tells us that Mia did a good job mentoring us. Even Edgeworth complimented us towards her; saying that once we're convinced we know something we can't be swayed otherwise. "Thick-headed." I'd personally use "stubborn".

Anyways, we get to talking with Lana about SL-9 now that we have a very good idea on what's going on. She was confessing not because there was evidence, but because she wasn't able to tell the truth. Why? Because she's afraid of Gant. "Assuming he is respectable" (DAMN Phoenix!), Phoenix asks a simple question: why would he try to cover his crimes? Edgeworth and Lana are both going to be facing inquiry committees for forging evidence. So why isn't Gant? After all, we found both the jar shard and the evidence list in his office. We finally corner her; she can't tell us why she's taking the fall, but she does tell us that she was taking orders from Gant during Goodman's murder. She was told by Gant to dispose of Goodman's body; she was taking his body out of Edgeworth's car and that's when she found the murder weapon. Not Edgeworth's knife, but Darke's!

Unable to keep the SL-9 knife in his body, she took it out and replaced it with Edgeworth's. This is what Angel saw: what the Parking Lot Murder really was. Lana hid Darke's knife to prevent SL-9 from being re-opened. But why? She doesn't say. She does say that Ema knows about what happened with the knives; and she also called Jake before going to dispose of Goodman's body. She trusted Jake, but after she told him he went into the Evidence Room... disguised as Bruce Goodman.

Lana tells us not to pursue this any further in court. We don't have a choice. The final, and my favorite, day of investigation comes to a close.

Trial, Day Four

Before trial starts, Edgeworth comes to talk to us: it seems that we've both figured out that Gant is our murderer. He also says that once doubt is removed from the ID list he can call for a verdict: which is why he came, to hear what we have to say. We tell Edgeworth that everything hinges on SL-9—and it's his responsibility to dig up the truth.

Court opens up and we're met by none other than Gant. He's here on Lana's behalf to let her give a statement to the court. Lana asks for the trial to immediately be ended!

Gant pulls another set of strings.

Lana confesses to the murder of Bruce Goodman in the parking lot. Phoenix tries to get her to stop, but when we try to keep our Not Guilty plea she straight-up fires us! Oh, man! It's over, isn't it!

Well, not if Edgeworth has anything to say about it! He doesn't like the lack of proof; he doesn't want another strange verdict on his hands, especially one that he knows is unjust. Gant tells Edgeworth to be a good boy and keep his mouth shut: and Edgeworth, for the first time in this case, rises to the challenge and tells Gant to be quiet. He rejects Lana's confession and calls a new first witness: Ema Skye! Gant is sent into a silent rage, telling Edgeworth he will regret this.

Ema takes the stand. Edgeworth asks her about SL-9; it's time to finally bring it out in the open. She testifies about what she saw, seeing Darke stab Neil in the chest and after pressing her a bit more, that she drew a picture of it. Well, we've got our first thing to present: Ema's drawing on the back of the Evidence List. Edgeworth never got this list. Why? Because Gant had it. This is the second half of Edgeworth's list! The list was ripped in half. Is there more of Ema's drawing on the back of Edgeworth's? He turns it over, and there is! It's... the Blue Badger? Wait, but didn't the Chief of Detectives make him up? Ema testifies again, saying this is exactly what she saw. But that's impossible. After all, the object in the stabber's hand is rather blunt. It's not sharp; wouldn't a kid draw a triangle or something instead of a square? The knife was broken already? No. That's impossible, since the tip was in Neil's body. There was another broken knife; the one from the King of Prosecutors trophy. Neil didn't have a gun, so when he attacked Darke when saving Ema, he raised the knife, and...

...and Darke was on the ground. These two men are opposites! She didn't push away Joe Darke: she pushed away Neil Marshall. He knocked that jar off of the shelf (resulting in an infuriating minigame where you have to angle the jar just right), which is what Ema saw that looked like the Blue Badger. Before Ema can say this, however, Lana shouts and rises up from her seat. She demands that court comes to an end: she's already confessed to the crime on trial, Bruce Goodman's murder!

Edgeworth, and indeed His Honor, do not care. So, what does this mean? The jar was on Gant's shelf. This, of course, means that they were fighting on the other side of the office; on Gant's side. Neil stumbled after his being pushed. On Gant's side of the office is a suit of armor holding a very sharp spear. There's only one logical conclusion.

Ema Skye accidentally killed Neil Marshall.

You lose all sense and push him into the armor.

Ema faints due to the shock. This must be what Gant was blackmailing Lana about and why she wanted to confess to Goodman's murder. Lana, in a fit of desperation, demands us to produce evidence. The red marks on the jar form a set of dots; if Marshall didn't die instantly, then he could've written something on the jar that was later wiped away. The red streak on the jar makes something that looks almost like an M: we can spell out the name "EMA" on here.

It's undeniable now. Ema really did accidentally kill Neil.

Gant interrupts proceedings again. The truth has come to light; Edgeworth has absolutely, positively, undeniably used fabricated evidence to convict a man of a murder he didn't commit. Darke was executed for all six murders based on only one piece of evidence from a single murder that he didn't commit.

The courtroom erupts in a furor of anger and confusion. His Honor tries to quiet the courtroom down, but it doesn't work; for the second time in this case, His Honor is forced to declare a recess.

Gumshoe comes by again to drop of some more evidence on Lana's behalf for us (rehashing his exact dialogue from earlier in the case). It's a book on Evidence Law. Apparently this is our big break. Once the trial reconvenes, Edgeworth gives up his right to call witnesses... and there's only one person we can call.

The stage is set.

Gant calls us "either very brave or very foolish" before testifying. After all, he can refuse to give testimony. Apparently, he can waive the right to testify at all: not just pleading the fifth, but making it impossible to force him to. Gant testifies that Lana had already arranged the crime scene when he caught up to her and that he has nothing to do with the forgery.

We know this is a lie, though. After all, we found the evidence list and the jar fragments inside of his safe! Gant fires back. He is accusing us of forging evidence! Edgeworth rushes to our defense, stating that Gumshoe was there, but Gant says that he is going to be punished with the full extent of the law. His Honor is convinced by Edgeworth's claim, however, and asks Gant to testify again.

Gant says that we can't prove when the evidence was "discovered". A bit more pressing, and he says that he would never be anybody's accomplice if there was nothing in it for him; but that's not what happened. He wasn't anybody's accomplice. Lana was his. The person who arranged Lana becoming a prosecutor, after all, was Gant himself: he gained authority over every single investigation in both the Police Department, as Chief, and in the Prosecutor's Office, through controlling Lana as a chief prosecutor.

That's just conjecture, though. Gant (kind of rightly, honestly) points out that we have no proof. Lana won't testify, to protect Ema, but... SL-9 isn't the case on trial. The murder of Bruce Goodman is. We know straight from her mouth! His Honor is shocked, alongside the rest of the courtroom. We are now publicly accusing Damon Gant of Bruce Goodman's murder alongside blackmailing Lana. We have good evidence for this, too: the ID card record. After all, the code for his safe was 7777777!

Gant's rot, out in the open.

Pursuit blares as Gant starts to crack. He tries to defend himself because Phoenix's investigation was against regulations; but Edgeworth covers for us, saying that he'll make sure we face punishment (hey!). Right now, though, the court wants an explanation for why he went into the evidence room! He is the Chief of Police; he can go wherever he wants in the station, and further states that he was alone when he went into the Evidence Room.

When we ask if Goodman was with him, he stammers; the first time he stutters in this entire case. He says he hadn't seen Goodman in days: and overplays his hand. Remember, all the way back at the beginning, that Goodman had lost his ID card? It was stolen by Jake, after all. A lost item report can only be submitted to the Chief themselves! He needed to get into the Evidence Room for evidence transferal. Desperately, Gant tries to say that he might've lent his card to Goodman; but this is impossible. If he did, then Gant's ID would've been found on Goodman's body!

The coolest damage animation in the entire franchise. Sorry-not-sorry.

The murder that Gant committed was likely spontaneous. Nobody would choose the Police Department to commit a murder, after all. He then called Lana to have her dispose of Goodman's body. How did it get to the Prosecutor's Office? Easy. Edgeworth moved it for him. After all, Edgeworth was asked to move a screwdriver during the evidence transferal. He was in the Police Department for the King of Prosecutors ceremony, after all! Damon Gant broke open Edgeworth's trunk and dumped Goodman's body in there.

Gant is asked to testify more by His Honor. He doesn't. As Chief of Police, he can waive his right to testify! He can no longer be asked, forced, or try to give testimony. We're asked if we have any evidence that can prove Gant murdered Goodman, but we don't. He leaves and we're penalized; the trial seems to be over.

Until Edgeworth remembers that we still have to hear one person's testimony. A certain lady's: Lana Skye's. While she's getting ready, the court will take a 15 minute recess. Court is adjourned... until Gant barges back in, reminding Lana that if she accepts our claim Ema will be found guilty for Neil's murder.

Court is adjourned for recess. During this recess, we're approached by Edgeworth, Gumshoe... and Ema, who's taking our side again. Ema says that she actually feels rather relieved about the truth of Neil's murder being out there: and she'll stand by us, no matter what happens. Court reconvenes.

This poor girl...

Lana takes the stand and testifies. She says that her forgery had nothing to do with Ema; denying our "blackmail theory". The only reason she forged the evidence was to get Darke convicted. We drill Lana as hard as we can, pressing statement after statement after statement. We get Lana to tell us what happened when she found the scene. Ema, Darke, and Neil... with the King of Prosecutor award's knife sticking out of Neil's back. After all of this, she's still denying that Ema killed him. She broke off the tip of Darke's knife and planted it in Marshall before moving the body, moving it across the room because of the broken jar.

There it is.

It's a simple thing, really. She wiped away the blood off the jar. This is true. However! For the message to be written on the jar, it must've still been intact before he died! Edgeworth says that we may be missing something critical here. Lana testifies again, saying that she's sure she got all of the pieces. We know for a fact she didn't, though! The piece of the jar in Gant's safe wasn't erased. Lana is shocked; she was detained after her outburst before the recess and didn't know that the jar was in his safe! This means only one thing. Gant was there first! But why did he hide the fact that he arrived at the scene first?

It's simple. Damon Gant broke the jar and hid the pieces in his safe. This is a crime: fabrication of evidence. Lana entered the room after Gant and believed Ema killed Neil; asking for Gant's help covering it up! Lana bites her thumb open, banging on the stand over and over as she continues to maintain that Ema is innocent. She's so adamant about this, though!

A thought bubbles up in Phoenix's head. If Gant hid the fact that he arrived first... was it really just to hide that he was fabricating evidence? After all, he basically got away with it before Lana gave her second testimony. What if...

A gambit exposed!

If Gant fabricated evidence after the fact... what if he also fabricated the murder? With Edgeworth's help in realizing she has nothing left to lose, Lana finally sees where we're coming from, agreeing to tell the truth. Neil was impaled on the suit of armor's spear (even though they call it a sword...) and both Ema and Darke were unconscious. Gant and Lana removed Neil's body from the armor and moved it across the room. She says we've even got proof: she gave it to us! Opening up the book we were given on evidence law, we find a picture of Neil Marshall's body in the back. Eugh. It's impaled on the spear; nobody else saw the body like this at all. He's even had a piece of his vest cut out: the piece we found in Gant's safe.

Before we can cross-examine her, though...

Motherfucker!

Gant interrupts the proceedings one last time. He's being made out to be the murderer and has realized it; he wants to testify in his defense. He can't, though! He gave up his right to testify. There is absolutely nothing Gant can do anymore.

One of my favorite bits of dialogue ever written.

Oh, well, Gant says. He doesn't have to do anything. We do. He asks us to finally cough up our last final piece of evidence; he knows that the cloth will prove who the real murderer is. But the fingerprints on that cloth... they're Ema's!

Gant thinks he has us in a trap: either we present the evidence and make out Ema as the murderer or don't present it and be stripped of our badge while Gant walks free, without any proof that he killed Neil. If we present the cloth here, as we can do, then Ema is found guilty of Neil's murder and Lana is found guilty of Bruce's murder.

But we know better. We refuse to present the cloth. He calls us a liar, saying that he knows for a fact we took what was inside of his safe. Gant knows why we're hiding it: we know whose fingerprints are on it!

Gant points out the picture that Lana gave us and points out the piece of Neil's vest that has been cut out. The court goes into a fury; Gant has undeniably concealed evidence! He admits the 'truth'. He was the first to arrive on the scene and used it to control Lana. He kept the cloth and jar pieces in his safe as insurance; they proved that Ema killed Neil, after all. Gant hid them before Lana caught up to him. We ask Gant if he cut off that piece of cloth and hid it in his safe. He says that he did; and to finally present it.

And so we do.

We just want to confirm, one more time, that Gant cut it off and hid it in his safe. He says he did, and is more than ready to have our badge taken away. We confirm that the fingerprints are Ema's, and she is distraught: it seems that she really did kill Neil Marshall. Lana calls us a monster. Phoenix tells her that this trial isn't over, though. Phoenix is ready to have his badge stripped, but he says that he needs to clear up one last thing.

At long last...

We admit that this cloth proves who killed Neil Marshall: there's a very vital contradiction in the cloth. It's a rather simple one, too. Neil Marshall's lungs and heart were punctured. Blood poured onto his shirt... including the area under the place his vest was cut! At the same time, there's no blood on the cloth we have at all. His vest was cut off before he died! Ema didn't push him to his death. She pushed him to the ground and knocked him out! Who showed up to the scene, by his own admission, before anybody else? Only one person. Damon Gant. Gant then picked up his body and skewered him on the armor!

Gant seems defeated, but out of desperation claims that the cloth is illegal evidence. We admit that we did not have approval from the Police Department. We didn't fulfill the first rule; but we did fulfill the second. After all, before Gant admitted the cloth was cut off by showing the court the photo... it had absolutely nothing to do with the case! It wasn't that we didn't present it; it's that we couldn't! Gant's own attempted trap is his downfall.

Finally defeated, with nowhere else to go... Gant admits to the murders of Neil Marshall and Bruce Goodman.

The longest 2D case finally comes to a close.

In his confession, Gant tells us why he killed Goodman; because he was planning to open the SL-9 investigation again. If he did that, then it would only be a matter of time before they found out the truth: and it would give Lana a means of escape.

The trial is over, but Lana is still under arrest for fabricating evidence. She and Ema give each other a tearful goodbye, as well as giving us her first smile of the entire case.

With that... Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney comes to its glorious end!

It's been a long journey... but it's finally over.

What Really Happened?

Everything began in 2014. Joe Darke, a businessman, accidentally hit a person with his car. The person he hit died, and Darke snapped: going on a murder spree and killing everybody who witnessed his crimes. First, he killed a man who witnessed the accident, then a woman who witnessed him killing that man, then a child who witnessed him killing the woman, and then a jogger who discovered him burying the bodies. The investigation into these murders—the so-called SL-9 Incident—lasted half a year. A team was established to investigate the murders, made up of detectives Jake Marshall and Angel Starr, overseen by Prosecutor Neil Marshall, lead detective Bruce Goodman, and led by detective Lana Skye and Deputy Chief of Police Damon Gant.

Darke eventually confessed to the murders and brought himself in, but during questioning escaped and ran to Gant and Lana's office. Neil got there first, but not before Joe could take Ema, who was waiting for her sister, hostage: the two got into a fight, with Ema seeing both an unstable jar on a shelf falling onto the ground and Neil raising the King of Prosecutors trophy's knife in an attempt to stab Darke. Ema pushed Neil out of the way, believing him to be Darke: all three fell unconscious, at which point Gant caught up to Neil. Seeing an opportunity to blackmail Lana and control the Prosecutor's Office (and therefore every investigation in the district), he cut off a piece of Neil's vest which Ema had left her handprint on and impaled him on a suit of armor. He then wrote Ema's name on the vase that fell in Neil's blood and broke it, putting the largest piece and the cloth inside of his safe.

When Lana arrived on the scene, she believed that Ema had pushed Neil into the suit of armor. Gant "agreed with her interpretation". Lana begged Gant to help her cover it up, and he agreed; on the condition that Lana would do whatever he asked, forcing her to become his puppet. If she didn't, then he'd tell the "truth": that Ema pushed Neil into the suit of armor and killed him. They set up the scene by moving Neil's body to the other side of the room, taking Joe Darke's knife, breaking off the tip, and planting it in Neil's body: this completed the illusion, making it seem that Darke had murdered Neil. Darke was sentenced to death for all six murders, with Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth presiding over the case. Everybody who was involved with the SL-9 Incident was somehow taken out of the rank-and-file police force: Jake and Angel were demoted and fired respectively, Lana was made a prosecutor, and Gant became Chief of Police. The only one kept on duty so as to not arouse too much suspicion was Goodman.

Two years after the SL-9 Incident, Goodman was approached by Jake Marshall. Jake wanted his help in re-opening SL-9, which he had been investigating in secret along with Angel. Jake wanted to re-open it because once two years goes by the evidence for a case is transferred to the County Sheriff's Department: in other words, a solved case can't be opened again after two years! Goodman refused. In response, Jake stole his identity card, but wavered on his plan of disguising as Goodman. Goodman reported his ID as missing and went into the Evidence Room with Gant, who used his own ID to get in. In the room, he changed his mind and took the SL-9 evidence, stating that he was going to give it all to Jake to re-open the investigation.

Panicking that everything was going to fall apart—that the truth about SL-9 would come to light, ruining his career and his power over the law and Lana—a power-hungry and paranoid Gant took Darke's broken knife and stabbed Goodman in the chest. He then called Lana, telling her about Goodman's death and instructing her to stab his body in the Prosecutor's Lobby parking lot; he then took Goodman's body and dumped it in Edgeworth's trunk before giving Edgeworth a mission to transfer some evidence from a case that was solved during evidence transferal. A little bit after Goodman's murder by Gant, Meekins moved the Blue Badger into the Evidence Room, conveniently covering up a bloody handprint that Gant had left.

Lana called Jake Marshall. Jake, now knowing he had no other choice, used Goodman's ID and Goodman's spare set of clothes to go into the Evidence Room: as the guard, he could easily get in or out. When he opened Goodman's locker, however, the SL-9 evidence was gone! Gant took it after killing Goodman. Meekins then approached Jake and demanded to see his ID. The picture on it would prove that he wasn't Goodman, though. Panicking, Jake cut his hand open and got in a fight with him, beating him unconscious and running out: but not before stuffing his disguise into his locker, as it was covered in blood from the fight. A bit after this, Edgeworth unwittingly moved Goodman's body to the parking lot, where Lana stabbed it in the chest. This created the illusion that Lana had killed Goodman, which Angel Starr witnessed. She then apprehended Lana, who proceeded to try and pin the crime on herself to protect Ema: if she told the truth, then Gant would tell everybody that Ema murdered Neil Marshall.

THOUGHTS

I have a lot to say about 1-5, so this is gonna be a loooong section for the longest 2D case.

Let's just get to the point: 1-5 is my favorite case in the entire franchise. It's one of the best mysteries I've ever read or watched, sharing a place in my heart alongside The Bye Bye Sky-High IQ Murder Case (from Columbo) and is easily the best case the entire franchise has to offer. It is a masterpiece: Shu Takumi at his absolute best. He really full-throttles all of his mystery writing potential here: while he's struggled in the past and will struggle in the future, 1-5 is certainly not one of those times. It is an absolutely captivating mystery wrapped in some of the best characterization in the entire series: Phoenix, Ema, Lana, Gant, and Edgeworth are all massive standouts in this regard, and I'm of the very firm opinion that this case has no bad characters. Even Meekins is a fun side character! This is a sentiment that I think can only really be shared with 1-4 in terms of PW:AA, and 1-4 doesn't have the huge roster of main characters that 1-5 has. For a very long time, about a decade, 1-5 was the longest case in the entire franchise: this record wouldn't broken until the release of 6-5 with Spirit of Justice.

PW:AA somehow manages to do a feat which would never really be recreated in having three absolutely fantastic cases back-to-back-to-back: 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5 are all among my favorite cases in the entire series, with 1-4 and 1-5 being my #3 and #1 (at the time of writing) respectively. And how could we not talk about this case's absolutely fantastic music? From Damon Gant's incredibly intimidating yet charming Swimming, Anyone? to Jake Marshall's hilariously Western The Detective From the Wild West to Ema Skye's upbeat remix of Turnabout Sisters, there's not a single wasted bit of music: one comment says that Ema's theme sounds like somebody who's eager to learn, which is a great description! The tragic SL-9 Reminiscence theme is one of my favorite in the entire series, and as the first piece of music we hear in this case sets the tone perfectly.

Speaking of tone, this case knows how to set it damn near perfectly. This is a case of tragedy and loss, but it's also one of an impossible crime. The stakes and craziness get higher and higher with each day, going from a defendant confessing to a murder in two places at once to investigating a serial killing solved two years ago! It takes all three of these concepts and meshes them together perfectly into one awesome package (which makes sense given the time this case came out, but we're not gonna talk about that for a few months, probably). This tone manages to mix the lightheartedness of Ema's everyday activities, the general lighthearted tone of Ace Attorney as a whole, and some really funny moments with incredibly tragic storytelling to make a compelling package.

We've got no shortage of incredible characters, as well. Phoenix, Edgeworth, and His Honor are all at peak characterization for this case, with newcomers like Gant, Jake, and Ema really taking the spotlight. The only weak link I can think of is Gumshoe, but he doesn't show up too much in this case and he isn't too flanderized. Ema and Gant are within my top 5 characters in the entire series, with Ema being my favorite character: and this case is a huge point as to why. She's fun! She's incredibly spunky, upbeat, and passionate about what she likes to do: but she still feels like a teenager, getting sidetracked in conversations and worrying about school. I think her little crush on Edgeworth is adorable, and her relationship with Lana is one of the best things about this case. For his part, Gant absolutely steals the spotlight as one of the series's best villains. He's a great mix of goofy and intimidating: it almost feels like Gant from the first half and Gant from the second half are entirely different characters, but this isn't a bad thing in the slightest. His position as a masterful manipulator, abuser, and slimy cockroach who cares solely about power is incredibly well articulated. He puts on a couple different faces in this case, from a goofy old grandpa figure to a menacing and strict Chief of Police to a downright threatening manipulator and power player. It makes his takedown immensely satisfying.

Phoenix and Edgeworth are at their best writing so far here. Edgeworth comes across as who he always was deep down: someone who despises criminals and believes that the defendant is guilty, but someone who also despises criminals more than the defendant. He cares about the truth more in this case than in any other aside from 1-4, and it shows that 1-4 has really changed him: he even argues on our side from time to time! The revelation that he convicted Joe Darke due to faulty evidence destroys him. He's written excellently, and so is Phoenix. Phoenix finally comes into his own here, taking down this case nearly entirely by himself. He's effectively portrayed as an incredibly smart person who can connect dots nobody else can see, even if he doesn't know exactly where those dots lead themselves. His plan to trap Gant is absolutely amazing and we see this repeated later on: this battens down Phoenix's characterization as an incredibly effective, if somewhat manipulative, seeker of the truth.

Finally, this is a minor detail, but it's one I love a lot. 1-5 is a mirror image of 1-2. Two sisters, the elder of whom is a lawyer, are involved in a murder case involving another murder years ago that involved Miles Edgeworth. One of the key pieces of evidence is the "killer's" name being written in blood on something by the real killer, who is an incredibly powerful man who influences the case from behind the scenes. Mia in particular is brought up a lot, which is really cool. There's only one line to support it, but Mia and Lana were very very very gay and Ema/Maya is a good ship as well. That is all.

Anyways, I see no other rating to give this than a perfect score. I don't think there are any major or even any really minor flaws with this case outside of the jar sequence, but even that's not too bad. 1-5 is just downright incredible.

Next time, we'll be giving PW:AA as a whole a review and retrospective before moving on to a new game and a new case! See you then!

Overall Rating: 10/10

FAVORITE LINES

"Just sit back, relax... and enjoy the sound of the noose tightening around your own neck." - Miles Edgeworth, after Gant attempts (and fails) to testify again

"Too bad I won't be around to work with you... after you become a real scientific investigator." - Jake Marshall, to Ema Skye before he goes in for interrogation

"There are only three people I look out for: Me, Myself, and I." - Damon Gant, after he's accused of being Lana's accomplice

"You certainly are the curious sort, aren't you? Kind of like the first person who sucked a cow's nipple to discover milk." - Angel Starr, when she sees Phoenix on Day Four Investigation

(It should be okay now. Everything's proceeding as predicted.) - Phoenix Wright, as Gant falls into his trap

"No, I... it's just, I got confused..." "And this is news?" - Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth, after Gant tells us Goodman's ID number

"At that trial two years ago... I sold my soul." - Lana Skye, to Ema

CASE RANKINGS

Rise From the Ashes (10/10)

Turnabout Goodbyes (9/10)

Turnabout Samurai (8/10)

The First Turnabout (6/10)

Turnabout Sisters (5/10)

[thecourtscorkboard]

Rise From the Ashes (1-5: PART ONE)

2005 was a landmark year. North Korea announced it had nuclear weapons, the Xbox 360 was released, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was given a new case—Rise from the Ashes.

Rise From the Ashes (1-5) is the grand finale to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: a mystery that revolves around a grand conspiracy, a culture of unabashed corruption, and a climax two years in the making. Phoenix is called to defend Lana Skye, a chief prosecutor arrested for a murder that she has confessed to!

Interestingly, Rise From the Ashes was not in the original Japanese releases of the game. It came out alongside the English translations. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney closes on one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever written, no joke. Let's jump right into it!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Four trials in and already proven to be an incredibly gifted lawyer, Phoenix's sudden hiatus after Maya's departure is finally broken.

Ema Skye: A high school student with a vested interest in forensic investigation, Ema takes Maya's place as Phoenix's assistant and co-counsel. (she's also my favorite character in the series :3)

Miles Edgeworth: 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5 make up a trilogy of incredibly important character growth for Miles, and he's at his best here: his cold veneer is broken, with his need for the truth finally at the forefront, but two paths equally parallel laid before him.

Dick Gumshoe: Dick once again returns as our resident gumshoe, serving as one of the detectives on this case and a vital ally.

THE MAIN CAST:

Lana Skye: The case's defendant and a chief prosecutor. Notably not the Chief Prosecutor and notably cold and callous towards anyone... including her own sister.

Damon Gant: Chief of Police. Veteran detective. Swimming enthusiast. A key character in this case, Damon Gant is the police's poster boy for efficient investigation and operations as well as Gumshoe's boss's boss.

Jake Marshall: A patrolman who has taken control of the investigation through raw Texan power. Has the best theme song in the entire game and a penchant for thinking he's in 1901.

Angel Starr: A key witness with an uncertain connection to Lana. A food truck owner and operator who specializes in boxed lunches and polyamorous relationships.

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Mike Meekins: A police officer who later proves to be an important figure in discovering the truth. Annoying as all Hell, but it's hard not to smile at his passion.

Bruce Goodman: A detective and the victim of this case, found stabbed to death in the trunk of a car in the Prosecutor's Office parking lot. A great detective and a good man.

Neil Marshall: A former prosecutor who was killed at the hands of Joe Darke in the SL-9 Incident. The elder brother of Jake Marshall.

Joe Darke: A spree killer and former businessman executed for the murders of 5 people, including Prosecutor Neil Marshall, in 2014.

A BRIEF RECAP

A thunderclap. The skyline of Los Angeles rushes past the camera, rain falling down in sheets. A person raises a knife and brings it down: and suddenly the camera shifts! Two people are stabbing two other people at two separate locations at the same time? What's going on here?!

Perhaps one of the coolest opening cinematics in the entire series.

Investigation, Day One

It's been two months since 1-4. In those two months, Phoenix hasn't taken a single case: Maya's leaving has affected him that much, it seems. Poor guy. He's still returning to the office every day, and today's no exception. Except... there's somebody here before us!

...and somebody who's getting her news a year late, apparently.

Meet the myth, the legend, the wonderfully AuDHD (SHE JUST LIKE ME FR), Ema Skye! Oh, Ema, my beloved! She'll be our main assistant for this case, but right now, she's just requesting our services. Phoenix moves to say "no" as always, but when Ema brings up her sister, he can't help but think of Maya. Reluctantly, Phoenix agrees to hear her out. Talking with Ema, we get to learn the basics of the case: her sister has been arrested for murder. We also learn that she's a scientific investigator! Or, er, will be. In three years. Right now, she's just a junior. (We also get some 2-4 foreshadowing; if you investigate the window, Phoenix says that the Gatewater Hotel is planning to open up a new branch outside Los Angeles!)

Ema tells us that her sister was seen by a witness stabbing somebody with a knife. Greeeeeat. Welp. Remember 1-4? We've worked with less. We also get to learn Ema's backstory: her parents died in a car accident when she was still young, with Lana being the only family she still has. Agreeing to go to the detention center to talk to her sister, we go there and meet this case's defendant.

Lana Skye, chief prosecutor. No, not Chief Prosecutor, silly; that's Blaise Debe- er... Excelsius Winner. There's chief prosecutors and the Chief Prosecutor. Get it? Got it? Good.* Anyways, Lana has told Ema not to come nor to get her a lawyer: was she planning to take the state-assigned one? Maybe she really did do it.

*My headcanoned explanation for this is that Lana is the chief prosecutor of the district while Excelsius/Blaise is the Chief Prosecutor for the entire State of California.

She's rather adamant about her guilt...

It took place yesterday at 5:15. The witness saw her stabbing the victim very clearly, and it took place in the underground parking lot of the Prosecutor's Office: in the trunk of a subordinate's car, no less. The victim was a detective, stabbed once in the stomach. The victim being a detective... it will be considered a matter of pride for the police department to convict her. They'll go to any lengths... oh, man.

As a chief prosecutor, she oversees every single trial handled in the district. No wonder she's heard of Phoenix! Raising her hand to her chest, Ema notices a bandage: Lana says that she cut her hand open when she stabbed the victim. Greaaaaaaat. So not only is there a witness, there's evidence on her fuckin' body. Moving onto Lana's relationship with Mia, which Ema brought up earlier, Lana gives us a rather frank overview of their relationship.

"Intellectually attracted" my ass.

Lana tells us the facts: she is admitting her guilt. There's no way we can take this case, right? Ema lashes out at Lana, saying that she's being selfish; she's adamant that Lana isn't the killer, lamenting that without Lana she'd be left alone and going as far to say that she hates her sister. Lana turns around, telling us to leave, but not without telling us that it's in our hands now. We're officially on the case! Something definitely doesn't fit, and we're gonna figure out what that something is.

Ema tells us that Lana's changed over the years: she used to be far kinder. What's going on, exactly? In any case, we move on to the underground parking lot. Yep. This is the scene of a murder. White tape and all! We also get to meet our third character of the case: Officer Jake Marshall!

Cue Gunsmoke!

Gah, I love this guy. Officer Marshall seems to be in charge of the investigation; he tells us to leave, but we take a look around. The first thing that pops out is a wallet on the ground. Ema tells us to put it in our pocket. We do, and we take a closer look at it: in this case's first gimmick, 3D investigation! We open up the wallet and see who it belongs to. Sergeant Bruce Goodman, a detective with the police department. Could he be our victim? Trying to investigate the scene a bit closer, we get stopped by Marshall. We get to ask him a question, though. Who owns that car (apparently a Mustang)? Well, he tells us. The car belongs to somebody in the Prosecutor's Office: whoever is in Room 1202. Marshall tells us to stay away, so we do just that, but not before being stopped by... a lunchlady. Huh. A lunchlady calling herself the "Cough-Up Queen", no less. And she has clearance? Apparently she's connected to the case. The images are burned into her eyes; oh, she's the witness! Welp, that's Angel Starr for you.

Angel tells us that yesterday a prosecutor was awarded a "King of Prosecutors" trophy. She has a massive grudge against prosecutors, it seems: just our luck that our client is a prosecutor. Apparently, whoever they awarded the trophy to is the owner of the car; the most "evil prosecutor of all". But von Karma's in prison. No...

Angel tells us what she witnessed: Lana Skye undeniably had a knife and stabbed the victim and Angel saw it happen firsthand. Apparently she even has a personal connection to Lana! Hmm. Something is going on here... asking about Angel, she comes here every day to serve boxed lunches. Her boyfriend works as the security guard, apparently. Her vendetta against prosecutors is pretty deep; wonder if she got into trouble. Anyways, we've expended our talking options, so we head up to Room 1202. Wonder who it belongs to-

Oh!

Apparently Ema knows who Edgeworth is; and has a bit of a crush on him. Don't blame her. The body was indeed found in, in Ema's words, a "nasty bright red sports car"... that happens to be Edgeworth's. Can I just say that I love how much fun Edgeworth is having in this scene? He's very clearly having a blast teasing Ema with her constant slip-ups and I love that for him. In the "that would be my car" line I like to imagine he's trying really hard not to laugh. We get to talking with Edgeworth about the case: he's the prosecutor for this case, and he has to prove her guilt! Edgeworth says that he's surprised he's still in the Prosecutor's Office. After all, rumors have surrounded him for years. Phony evidence, false confessions... the Demon Prosecutor, even though DL-6 is over, still lives. Edgeworth is innocent of both murders; but what about this murder?

Edgeworth was given the King of Prosecutors trophy yesterday, it seems. Edgeworth and Lana apparently worked on a case two years ago: his first big one. It looks like they don't have a good relationship, though. After all... the victim was stabbed in his car with his knife. Man. This winter has been harsh for Edgeworth, huh? The King of Prosecutors trophy is sent to the best prosecutor every year: it doesn't seem like he's a big fan of it, though. I wonder why- actually, nevermind. We know why.

Talking a bit more about the King of Prosecutor's Trophy, Edgeworth tells us he had to go all the way to the Police Department to receive it. He received it yesterday, so we talk about yesterday; it was "cleaning day", when evidence for solved cases is sorted and filed to make room for new cases. He got back at 5:12, only three minutes before the murder. After talking to Edgeworth, we're interrupted by a police officer. He's here at the request of the "Chief", apparently, to give Edgeworth a report. Edgeworth turns him away after learning there's no evidence against Lana in the report, taking his name: Officer Mike Meekins. Edgeworth tells us to leave, so we do.

The Police Department has some weird... thing in front of it. Right: the "Blue Badger", the new mascot of the police force. Ema seems to know about the Blue Badger. Someone's dancing next to it. Running up to us, it's... Gumshoe! Talking to him, we get a little bit more information on the case: he tells us not to defend Lana. Well, about that. At the very least, we do get confirmation that the victim is the card's owner, Bruce Goodman. That's not important, though. Gumshoe's been kicked out of Criminal Affairs! Only the highest-rank people are allowed in the Police Department: the lowest-ranking member is the Chief of Detectives, and the Chief of Police is directing the investigation itself! Is it just me, or does something smell besides the Butz?

Apparently, Goodman wasn't at the police department yesterday. He was assigned to evidence transferal... for a case two years ago. That's rather familiar, isn't it? Apparently, Lana called him out to the parking lot. That's the theory, at least. All the rumors about Edgeworth really kicked up after the murder of Robert Hammond. People are, naturally, suspicious of a nearly-perfect prosecutor. There's a rumor that he's taking the prosecution solely to take Lana's position for himself! Before we leave, Gumshoe tells us something. Officer Marshall was assigned to this case by the Chief of Police himself. Aw, man. Gumshoe gives us a letter of introduction, letting us investigate the crime scene! We give it to Marshall and he lets us investigate! Yay!

We're given the autopsy report: Bruce Goodman was stabbed with a knife once, dying within an hour and a half of 4 PM (so anywhere between 4:00 to 5:30). Yep, that lines up. Sliding on over to the scene of the crime, we find a phone on the ground. Turns out...

This places her at the scene of the crime when the victim was murdered... great.

She tried to call someone. Our phone rang when we pressed re-dial... did Lana try to call us? Nope. Turns out it was just a wrong number. Prrrrrobably. Hopefully. Checking out Edgeworth's trunk, we find a piece of paper: "6-7S 12/2", on Goodman's own stationery. Huh. Weird. As we're leaving, we press the re-dial button on Lana's phone. The Steel Samurai theme starts playing. It was Ema's phone, not ours! The last person Lana called was Ema; why did she hide this from us? Lana hung up right after calling Ema at 5:18. Well... what a way to end our first day of investigation.

Trial, Day Two

We meet Lana in the Defendant's Lobby. She tells us the exact opposite of what Mia told us: to never believe in our clients. We tell Lana that she reminds us of Mia. Edgeworth calls Angel Starr to the stand, running a food truck for her job. We're told that, until two years ago, Ms. Starr was actually a detective! Two years ago... again? What happened two years ago?

Angel tells us that the parking lot is divided into two blocks: A Block, for prosecutors and staff, and B Block, for visitors. She gives her first testimony, stating that she saw Lana stab Goodman in the chest with her right hand. Pressing Angel a bit further, she says that she felt it in the air; apparently her bias against prosecutors comes from her being fired as a detective! Well, doesn't that mean she's biased against the defendant, who's the chief prosecutor? Not with the photo she took of the crime scene!

You, uh... have a stain.

Now, now. Isn't that interesting? After all, I can't see a knife anywhere in this photo. Edgeworth responds with a very simple "Objection." The photo was taken after the stabbing. Starr said that she took the picture the moment she saw the crime, though: but this contradiction isn't much. She just misremembered! Adamant and spiteful, Angel claims that the murder was premediated due to Lana's wearing gloves. Presenting the knife, the courtroom starts murmuring once we reinforce that it is Edgeworth's. Speaking of that knife: if the murder was premeditated, why would she not bring her own knife? "When you plan a murder, you don't forget the weapon!"

Edgeworth is pretty quick to counter, though. After all, it's not his theory. It's solely Angel's. She's very adamant about it being planned, though! Why does she care so much? Angel says that Lana stabbed Goodman over and over, even though the autopsy report only says that he was stabbed once. Wait, Edgeworth takes over our objection! Asshole. Starr says that she just mistook something else for blood, thinking that was from Lana stabbing Goodman; her red muffler.

But she's not wearing a muffler in that picture, is she? Edgeworth takes over our objection. Angel Starr is apparently convinced that there was something red: she's forced to testify about when she apprehended Lana. Lana mentioned the muffler when she was arrested. That's where her confusion came from? Really?

There are a few issues with this testimony. Why would Lana run to the partition? What did she say about the muffler, actually? Well, we don't know exactly, but Angel does tell us that she was on her phone: the phone on the wall doesn't work, remember? And there's our next contradiction. How did Angel know that Lana tried to use the phone? You can't see the phone from B Block: it's behind that partition! She's been lying about her testimony this entire time? But why? Because... she wasn't in B Block at all, was she?! She was in A Block: specifically, the security room overlooking it. Remember that she brought a lunch to her boyfriend, the security guard?

Angel concedes: she was lying! But why? Why would she risk perjury over this kind of detail? Well... the Security Room is inside the building. Remember: what she saw isn't the problem. It's where she saw it! Angel concedes: this is, indeed, where she saw it from. She had to run down the stairs, but the door to Block A was locked. She had to run all the way across to B Block and then run over the chain-link fence separating A Block and B Block. It took her five minutes?! That's a long time for something like this! What in the world would Lana be doing in those five minutes? Why didn't she run away? Angel's testimony seems to be over for the day: alongside court.

Knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Angel brings up Detective Goodman's shoe. Two types of blood were found on it: Goodman's and Lana's. Remember when she said she cut her hand open? Edgeworth says he can't accept the shoe as evidence, claiming it's against evidence law! Rule One: No evidence shall be shown without the approval of the police department! Edgeworth says that her evidence is illegal on that basis!

Angel counters. It was approved by the police apartment today! Aww, man. Edgeworth goes from pretty happy to utterly defeated. Cross-examining Angel, we ask for more information on the shoe. We have a problem with the shoe, though. Not just a problem, actually: a full-fledged contradiction! After all, there's blood on the sole! Why is this a problem? Well, in the crime scene photo, there's no bloody footprints on the ground! Edgeworth reminds us that Angel testified earlier that Lana kicked over an oil drum: those oil drums are filled with water! Trial nearly comes to an end, but Angel pulls out yet another piece of evidence! A photo of the crime scene; complete with Goodman's body, complete with water on the ground! Darn! This really puts us in a tight spot.

There's just one thing we can do; point out a piece of... something in the muffler. Wait! The muffler...? The car muffler! Remember what Angel said earlier, about hearing Lana say something about the muffler? That's a vital piece of evidence we need to review! His Honor agrees; trial is suspended for a thirty-minute recess.

Howdy, pardner!

During the recess, we're greeted by Jake Marshall! Marshall tells us that he's stopped by to watch the proceedings, telling us that Lana absolutely had her muffler on that day; she always did, and she had it on at the awards ceremony. So then what, exactly, is going on?

Court is back in session and Edgeworth. Is. Pissed. He is absolutely livid at something. During the recess, His Honor charged Edgeworth with investigating something; Edgeworth shouts out that whatever his investigation led to was "unacceptable": and somebody interrupts the proceedings...

Remember when people thought he was Apollo's dad?

Everybody, meet the second best character to come out of this case (after Ema, of course): Damon Gant, the Chief of Police! This must be why Edgeworth was freaking out. Gant hasn't visited the courtroom in two years (again...?), and he's dropped by because of Edgeworth. He's bringing in Lana's muffler: it was stuffed in that exhaust pipe! Furthermore, inside of the muffler is a switchblade! Edgeworth remains livid, pissed at Gant: he's blaming his investigators for missing such a vital piece of evidence. He tells Edgeworth to wait, which Edgeworth doesn't do, and then he tells Edgeworth to wait. After all, Edgeworth was in charge of the investigation. He's silent: Gant knows how to shut people up.

We open up the knife (but not before looking at the knife's tag; "SL-9 2"? Hmmm.). The tip is broken and the broken part is bloody; and it was found wrapped in Lana's muffler...? Gant is asked to testify about the knife, and he happily does, saying that the knife has nothing to do with the tape. Unless there's evidence that would connect the knife with Goodman, he can't give us anything. He does say that another detective was killed at the police department at 5:15. Scary coincidence, eh? After all, 5:15 was the exact same time that Goodman was killed! Two murders at once? What's going on?! We decide to exercise our right to cross-examine Gant. Well, what we need to find is a connection between the knife in the muffler (henceforth the SL-9 Knife) and the case at hand. Well... remember that scrap of paper we found? "6-7S"? What if it's upside down? It's not "6-7S 12/2", it's "SL-9 2/21": and SL-9 is on the knife's tag! Where did we find that note? In Edgeworth's car; the crime scene!

Gant is impressed. These two cases were connected: we get a new piece of testimony. The knife was evidence in this "SL-9 case" and stolen from the Police Department's Evidence Room. Well, that's where the detective was killed, right? Not the Evidence Room, but the Police Department itself. A suspect was arrested in the Police Department murder (let's call it Murder 2), but there's still a lot of questions that haven't been answered. We ask for a quid-pro-quo: we'll help out Gant in his case, answering some of his questions, and he'll help us out in ours, giving us information on his own. Accepting our offer, we get to ask Gant one thing and one thing only. We ask him where the victim was found. The... Evidence Room. The Evidence Room?! Wait, that's where the SL-9 Knife came from!

Quid-pro-quos, blank checks... why does this feel like a political thriller?

Phoenix argues that the two cases have a proven connection! In an understatedly cool section Gant points out that it took Edgeworth and Phoenix maybe 20 minutes tops to figure it out when it took the police two days. Edgeworth requests that Gant releases the victim's information: he can't, however, because the crime isn't public. We can get some information, though, under the table. We can't get the victim's name. That's his red line. Well, we can get the victim's ID number, right? The victim's ID number, Gant tells us, is 5842189.

...Wait.

That's Bruce Goodman's ID number! The victim in Murder 1 and Murder 2 were the same person?! What the Hell is going on?! Edgeworth is blows his lid again ('emotionally stable' does not apply to Edgeworth in this case, it seems), absolutely incensed about not being told about this! Gant tells him to wait. After all, the oversight in this case... it's not Gant's fault. It's Edgeworth's. Meekins dropped by to give him the report, after all. Edgeworth tries to argue that Gant could've submitted the report this morning as evidence, but Gant says "no". After all, that'd break evidence law! As the Chief of Police he can personally approve evidence, sure, but there's a second part to that law. Evidence submitted without prior approval must be relevant to the case at hand. And since this file wasn't on the list of evidence provided to the court before trial... there was no way it couldn't have been submitted. There wasn't a connection until Wright pointed out Goodman was killed in two places at once.

With Edgeworth's position on the line and questions raised, trial comes to a close for the day. Edgeworth is given an extra day to investigate (which means that we are, too!) and answer a whole host of questions. How was Goodman killed in two places at once? What was the SL-9 case and how does it relate to this case? What's Gant's angle? If it wasn't Goodman... then who died in the Prosecutor's Office Parking Lot?

With those questions still in the air... court is adjourned.

Investigation, Day Two

Enjoy this silly frame of Ema I paused on.

Ema asks a good question: "what's going on?" Well, Ema, I don't really know myself. Bruce Goodman apparently died in two places at once, even though the two crime scenes are thirty minutes away. We immediately go down to the crime scene to do a bit more digging: and Ema gives us a secret tool! Luminol! This is a magic little chemical that can detect blood stains. Donning Ema's bright pink glasses (that are... apparently red), we find a few stains on the ground where Goodman was stabbed. Isn't this kind of weird, though? Why isn't there more blood? Think of how much blood is on Goodman's shoe: it's more like he stepped in a puddle of the stuff. As Ema's talking about the stuff, we get interrupted by Angel Starr: she's surprisingly cordial with us, explaining that she lied because it "wouldn't sound convincing enough". In any case, Angel still saw what she saw: Lana stabbing a man. We talk with Angel a bit more, and we learn why she was fired: a case called the "SL-9 Incident".

Apparently, SL-9's evidence was due for transference on the day Goodman was killed. After talking about the knife and the crime photo Angel tell us about it: it was apparently this incident that convinced her prosecutors view detectives as disposable tools. Two years ago, something happened: it was a big case, and the police was desperate for evidence. Despite the criminal being caught, convicted, and executed, the police didn't have any truly decisive evidence. Angel has a suspicion that it was forged. Well... who else worked on a big case two years ago? There's Jake Marshall, who Angel is trying to lead us in the direction of (by giving us a Salisbury steak to give to him), but maybe we should also talk with Edgeworth about this.

Angel Starr: detective, lunchlady, webspinner.

Jake and Angel worked together on SL-9, and Ema asks if he and Angel have become an item. Angel denies this, but Ema seems worried: does she have some connection to Jake outside of Lana working on SL-9? If you talk to her a bit more we get to learn that these "boyfriends" of hers are allies: people who still trust her, respect her, and are helping her and Jake in their secret investigation of SL-9.

Now that we've talked to Angel, there's really only one place to go: the Police Department, both to see Jake and see if we can investigate the murder that happened here. The second murder of Bruce Goodman! Gumshoe is in front of the Police Department, wailing about his lack of lunch and running off. He tells us that "he" is having a good cry at the Detention Center now that he's out of questioning: perhaps our suspect in the Evidence Room murder. When we head up to the guard station, Jake Marshall isn't there: guess we're going to the Detention Center! Who's the suspect in the Evidence Room murder? Why, it's...

Poor guy.

Officer Mike Meekins? He's their suspect? Meekins tell us that he went to the Evidence Room: the guard station (Jake's!) was empty. There was a suspicious person in the Evidence Room, and Meekins blacked out; when he woke up, he was in the detention center. Meekins has a bandaged hand, just like Lana. What's up with that? One more similarity between the two murders. Meekins tells us that the detective in the Evidence Room pointed a knife at him before he went unconscious. When he came to, he was alone; Detective Goodman was gone after he cut his hand open! The victim's body apparently disappeared: Meekins insists that he's not the perpetrator, though. So who was...? He tells us that he didn't know Goodman: Meekins works in a small department, devoid of life and other creature comforts. He doesn't know any detectives at all!

Something really weird is going on, but what exactly is it? If it was Goodman in the Evidence Room, then would his ID card trigger Meekin's memory? Meekins says this is "it". When he approached Goodman, he asked for his ID card. Goodman then cut his hand open with a knife and the two started fighting! Well... there's something there. Ema points it out: Meekins didn't see the man's ID card. The body disappeared, as well! There's not just no proof that the man was Goodman. There's no proof that there was a murder in the Evidence Room at all! Apparently, the police are pretty sure that it was Goodman. After all, it's on video. There goes Ema's theory.

We go back to the Police Department, planning to walk into the Evidence Room to check it out. There's somebody already there, though...

So... what's up with his tie? Is it like a bowtie mixed with a necktie, or...

Gant is consulting with the Chief of Detectives, talking about looking through "his" belongings. Probably Meekins. We take the time to talk with Gant. Apparently, Edgeworth's subject to an official inquiry. His reputation's already down the drain... and his own mentor was not only found guilty of the murder of Gregory Edgeworth, but also forging evidence (presumably concealing the DL-6 bullet and destroying the DL-6 evidence). Depending on what the committee decides Edgeworth's career could be in jeopardy. Man.

We also talk with Gant about the murder in the evidence room. "Goodman was stabbed in two locations at the same time": that's what the evidence is saying, according to Gant. It turns out, according to the Chief of Detectives, they were checking out Goodman's belongings: the only thing he left was a half-written lost item report, written the day of murder. Apparently, it can only be submitted to the Chief himself.

Speaking of the Chief, we ask him if we can at least investigate the evidence room. He's a very generous man: hell, he'd give us $50 if we asked! He lets us into the evidence room, giving us a special ID card for guests. We try to go in, but the card reader is turned off. It ain't workin'! Jake comes back to his post. He lets us into the crime scene now that we have a card. Well, now that he's here... we might as well give him his lunch.

We talk with Jake a bit more after he's done eating. We talk about Meekins's not seeing him: Jake says that he's lost his passion for police work after his demotion in the aftermath of SL-9. He doesn't see much need to be a guard; the security cameras do a good enough job for him. Ema asks him about SL-9, but Jake tells her that some things are better off not knowing. Hm. It almost sounds like he's being protective.

Jake doesn't really know what the machines in this room actually do, but he knows about the security cameras. Every six hours, if nothing happens on them, the data is wiped. You need an ID card to enter the evidence room, as well, and that leaves a record. As luck has it, he's got us a list. "5842189", i.e. Detective Goodman, entered the room at 5:14...

...alongside "4989596", presumably Meekins.

Jake says he can't tell us anything else. We show him Goodman's card, though, and Jake tells us that there's only one copy of each ID card in the world! He agrees to give us the ID Card Record as evidence. We go into the Evidence Room and run into a ghost! Nope, it's just Gumshoe. Turns out that he's been put in charge of the investigation for the day! He gives us the floor plans to the evidence room and tells us that they're gonna use the evidence from yesterday to prepare for Meekins's trial: turns out that Gumshoe's just been kicked out of the investigation. He also tells us that only detectives can open their own lockers and that each one is locked behind a detective's own fingerprint. Neat! Some people don't even know they exist, apparently.

Well, since Gumshoe's here, we might as well talk about his boss. Edgeworth is still with the inquiry committee, and Gumshoe tells us that SL-9 was "the beginning of the end" for him. Hmm. Taking a look around, we see the metal detector and fishing pole from 1-4! Neat! We also see a bug detector; remember this one! We also see a bloody handprint on one of the lockers. Wait, that was Gumshoe's locker! Huh... there might be more bloodstains around the room! Before we look around more, though, there's another evidence locker that's been opened. Some ceramic shards are on the floor: they're SL-9 evidence, apparently. Putting the shards back together, it turns out to be a broken jar; but one of the pieces is missing. Weird. There's also another piece of SL-9 evidence hanging on police tape: a glove.

Well! Time to see if there's any more blood. We look around and find a handprint: or a partial one, anyways. It's from the first locker—the one with a piece of cloth hanging out of it. It can't be the murderer's handprint, since they wouldn't be facing this way if they were running out the room. So... what's going on?

Curiouser and curiouser...

Going over to the other side, there's a lot of blood on the floor at the crime scene. Somebody was definitely killed here. The handprint we find on Gumshoe's locker is also somebody's right hand, not their left. Speaking of the Evidence Room murder, we show Gumshoe the ID list. The second number freaks him out: it's Edgeworth's?! Edgeworth came into the evidence room at 4:40 PM and the victim died within an hour and a half of 4 PM... how strange.

In any case, we present some of the SL-9 evidence to Gumshoe and he agrees to tell us about it. Edgeworth was the prosecutor on his face. That was his "big case"! Gumshoe thinks there might be some loose ends. SL-9 was an incredibly bloody case: a serial killing. Edgeworth built his case around a mistake the killer made. This case both shot Edgeworth into stardom and started the rumors around him. It was the last job Goodman ever did. He was in charge of SL-9... so does this mean he took the knife out himself? Gumshoe runs off. Edgeworth's inquiry committee is letting out soon. Maybe we should also go see him.

When we get there, the bellboy from 1-2 appears out of nowhere. Guess he works here now. Edgeworth is in: he's staring out the window, very very peeved, and says our name without seeing us. Either he's good at recognizing voices or he did that five times and got everybody's name wrong. He got Gumshoe's memo but apparently neglected to flip it over. He's not alright, is he?

Edgeworth's inquiry committee went... not bad. He didn't conceal evidence, they said, there was just a communication error. An official warning was given: "you got lucky... again." Man. Edgeworth is still showing up for trial tomorrow, but control over the investigation was given over to the police department. Any more investigation will be directed by Gant himself. Speaking of the Chief, Edgeworth was told by him to go into the evidence room the day of the murder to transfer evidence from a case solved half a year ago. (A blue screwdriver... half a year ago... I wonder if that screwdriver is from 1-2?) Wonder what that's about: if the evidence was already filed, then why would Gant want it? Weird.

If you spray around Edgeworth's room with luminol, you can find some blood on the floor. Looks like somebody had a bloody nose. Anyways, we talk about SL-9 a bit more with him: Goodman was in charge, but the overall head of the investigation was the Deputy Chief of Police, Damon Gant.

I call ageism, Phoenix!

Phoenix asks a good question: why was the Deputy Chief of Police on an investigation? Edgeworth admits that the methods he used were extreme: he believed that if the murderer was let go, the blood would be on his hands. He denies forging evidence, though. Edgeworth says that he has a code that he follows faithfully: does this mean he didn't forge the autopsy report in 1-2? Anyways, as we're about to leave, Edgeworth asks Ema if she's still studying forensic science. He gives her some aluminum powder for fingerprints! Woot woot! Thanks, Edgeworth. (between you and me, fingerprinting in real life is a lot of fun: take a forensics class!)

We go back to the locker room to look at those handprints. Maybe there's some fingerprints we could lift there? We go, but the fingerprint we lift from Gumshoe's locker is completely blacked out. Whoever left this handprint was wearing gloves! Drat. Looks like there's another fingerprint on the locker besides the bloody hand, though. To nobody's surprise... it's Gumshoe's. Welp, how about we check out that other fingerprint? It's probably just Meekins's, remember he cut his hand open-

Jake Marshall?!

Now why would Marshall's bloody fingerprints be here? Did he commit this murder? That's a question we'll have to answer tomorrow: investigation comes to an end on a very juicy cliffhanger!

Trial, Day Three

So. The victim was murdered in two places at the same time and two people were arrested for the same crime. Lana in the parking lot and Meekins in the evidence room... she tells us that the police are absolutely clueless. Lana tells us that she's struck a plea bargain: if she tells them the truth, they won't seek the death penalty. Fortunately for us, Lana is just as clueless as the rest of us. Unfortunately for us, Lana is just as clueless as the rest of us. We tell Lana about Jake's fingerprints in the evidence room. The signs are pointing to Mr. Marshall being Bruce Goodman's murderer...

Edgeworth starts off pretty strong. It takes 30 minutes to get from the Prosecutor's Office to the Police Department by car and vice versa, yet Goodman was killed at the same time in both places? Impossible. Edgeworth's case for today is going to be around the Evidence Room murder. Edgeworth calls his first witness: the suspect of the Evidence Room murder, Mike Meekins!

Meekins testifies that he was supposed to guard the evidence room that day. He spotted a suspicious man and the two of them fought, with Meekins saying that he "did it". After that, he fainted. A very vague testimony, huh? Pressing Meekins, his job was not just protecting the security office but also protecting the Blue Badger during the transferal process. He had to relocate it to the evidence room. We keep pressing him, and the court comes to a conclusion: it's pretty hard to say if the victim in the Evidence Room was Goodman at all. At least, it would be if Meekins didn't have a video tape!

Apparently, Meekins was given it by the Chief himself. Edgeworth says that he was told that no such tape existed! We take a look at the tape...

Five Nights at Court

Well... someone's in the way. We do see Goodman walking past and opening his locker, with something falling out. Meekins is sneaking up behind him, and we see Goodman cut his hand open and the two of them get in a fight: from the video, though, it looks more like Goodman killed Meekins and then disappeared! What the Hell happened? Edgeworth wants to ignore the footage. It clearly doesn't show much.

Meekins testifies again, saying that there's no question in his mind that it was Goodman. After all, he opened up Goodman's locker, which requires his fingerprints. This is a strong point: each locker can only be opened by the detective it is assigned to. But what if the locker was already opened? The indicator light is open above Detective Goodman's locker! The locker was already open!

The lock wasn't engaged on the locker. This is weird: Edgeworth tells us that the lock is automatically engaged once the door shuts. Ema has a neat idea, though. What if something jammed the sensor? This something would have to be an insulator, since the sensor is electronic. Well... the glove we found earlier is made of rubber, and if you look at the tape you can clearly see something fall out of Goodman's locker!

There's only one conclusion. The person in the tape opened Goodman's locker without any fingerprints. We never see his face. He attacked Meekins when he was asked for his ID card: this man wasn't Detective Goodman! Edgeworth objects. The only thing we have raised the possibility that this man wasn't Bruce Goodman. Edgeworth asks Meekins to testify once more.

Well, here's the thing, Meekins says. Bruce Goodman had to use his ID card to get in. There's only one ID card given to each member of the force, and we know for a fact we know he used his card because of the record. His Honor has a good question: hundreds of pieces of evidence were due for transferal on the 21st. So why was this room so empty? Edgeworth clarifies that this room was used to store evidence from "special cases": extremely violent ones involving members of law enforcement. I guess that means SL-9 falls under that umbrella: which makes sense, given that Gant himself was involved in leading the investigation.

Well, there's already a pretty significant issue. Goodman issued a lost item report, remember? On said item report, he couldn't remember his ID number. What if Goodman lost his ID card and was writing out his report, misremembering his own number? This raises a very key possibility: somebody else stole Goodman's ID card and walked into the evidence room masquerading as him. That would explain the clothes as well!

Somebody's confident...

Edgeworth summarizes are argument. On 5:15, a man disguised as Bruce Goodman was approached by Mike Meekins. This is because the locker in the evidence room was open and Bruce Goodman lost his ID card. There's only one conclusion to be drawn: there was no murder in the evidence room. Make sense so far?

...Wait.

That means the murder that Angel Starr saw in the parking lot was the real one! Lana stabbed Bruce Goodman! We've just argued for our own client's guilt! "Never interrupt your enemy while he's making a mistake," and all that. Oh, but only if it were that simple! Remember when we were checking out the Evidence Room and found that pool of blood? A murder did happen at the Evidence Room: the video tape just didn't show it. Edgeworth is out of options. He considered the Evidence Room murder unrelated. We finally have the upper hand! We know exactly who this "Goodman" was, and we call him to the stand! No rhyme intended.

Edgeworth agrees to our request. We keep the true reason for calling him secret, though. The court agrees for a 30 minute recess for Jake to be subpoena'd.

Here's hoping he can answer some of our questions.

During the recess, Lana says that we've figured "everything" out: even though we haven't really figured out anything. Ema asks Lana why she's not telling us everything. Lana says nothing, though. Gumshoe bursts in and leaves in embarrassment before we call him back. Apparently, he was called here by Lana using our name. He's brought files on the SL-9 Incident of all things! Apparently Lana was a witness in SL-9. There's one more thing, though. Why is Ema's name in here? The rest of the world called SL-9 the "Joe Darke Killings": a distraught Ema storms out of the room. Jake Marshall, Angel Starr, Damon Gant, Miles Edgeworth, Lana Skye, Ema Skye... everybody in this case was involved in SL-9.

Trial reconvenes. It's just us and Edgeworth: we're all alone here. We take the time to go over the SL-9 files.

The perpetrator's name, rather fittingly, was Joe Darke. He was sentenced to death for the serial murders of 6 people; Edward Jones, Jason Knight, Edith Kirby, Rachael Moss, Jeb Bates, and Neil... Marshall. The lead prosecutor was Miles Edgeworth and the witnesses were Lana and Ema Skye. The executive investigators on the case were Damon Gant and Lana Skye; the head investigator was Bruce Goodman; and the secondary investigators were Jake Marshall and Angel Starr. That's all the file tells us.

Anyways, Marshall comes to the stand. He's here to testify about the security room; he says that he was across the street when the "murder" in the Evidence Room happened. We know that's impossible, though. After all, his bloody fingerprints were found inside! Marshall argues that the murderer just touched a place where his fingerprints were: the murderer was wearing gloves, after all.

Pressing his new testimony, Marshall eventually strengthens his argument. We can't see who the person in the tape is. We're openly claiming that it was him now, though, and we have proof inside of the tape itself. There's a white cloth in the leftmost locker that suddenly appears: and he said earlier that was his locker. The locker wasn't already opened, and it only opens with his fingerprints! Marshall didn't know about the fingerprint sensor. That was his mistake! He was in the evidence room during the crime. He was "Bruce Goodman"!

Our first breakdown of the case!

Meekins saw his face, yes, but Meekins did not know who Bruce Goodman was! That's why Marshall attacked him: if he showed Meekins his ID card, then he'd be caught instantly! Marshall stills calls our evidence circumstantial. There's no proof that he dressed up as Bruce Goodman. Ah, but we graduated from the school of Mia Fey with a degree in Thinking Crazy! We don't need proof that he was disguised. We need proof that only exists because he was disguised!

The answer is rather simple. He didn't plan to open his locker; he had to. Why? Because Meekins's blood got on his disguise! That's what the 'cloth' is: it's his jacket! Marshall gives up; we've beaten him.

Marshall confesses everything in one last testimony. He had to do it on that day because of the evidence transferal: he was, and is, still trying to solve SL-9 with Angel. He stole Goodman's ID and a spare set of his clothes, knocking out Meekins and escaping the room by hiding in the camera's blind spots. There wasn't a murder in the evidence room at 5:15. Jake went into the evidence room to steal the SL-9 evidence and investigate it on his own terms; but the evidence was already gone when he looked for it and is still missing. After pressing his testimony more, he says he can't forget about SL-9 for a rather simple reason: the death of Neil Marshall.

It's all starting to fall into place...

...and the killer comes to light.

Neil Marshall was a prosecutor. He was assigned to SL-9 before his death, at which case it transferred into Edgeworth's hands. Neil was ostensibly killed by Darke, but Jake doesn't believe it: nobody could beat Neil in a fight. It was the first time Darke left behind evidence: it was all the court needed, apparently, and the court found him guilty based on Neil Marshall's murder.

His entire personal war against the system was to avenge his brother: he blames not just the police department but also Edgeworth. The Evidence Room murder is solved; there was no murder there, just theft and assault. This, of course, means that Lana had to have murdered Goodman in the parking lot. There's no way that this is a coincidence, though! Lana is in an incredibly tight spot: the only reason she wasn't convicted yesterday was the "murder" at the Police Department. Is it finally over...?

No! It can't be. Ema runs into the courtroom right before His Honor is about to give his verdict: she ran to the Evidence Room to look at the crime scene, but unfortunately didn't find anything. Ema's putting our full faith in us: there has to be one last contradiction here somewhere! Only one question remains. Is there any reasonable doubt? A bloody handprint was discovered at the crime scene. Is there a problem with this?

Well... there's one. Something is missing from the floor plan. The biggest part of the security footage, hiding in plain sight. Where's the Blue Badger? If the Blue Badger was there during Jake's break-in... then how could he leave a handprint there?! After all, it was right in front of the locker! He would've left a bloody handprint on the Blue Badger!

But what does this mean? The only reasonable conclusion is that the blood mark had to have been left before Jake's attack. After all, after that, the Blue Badger was there all day. That means...

...That... means...

Boom.

Goodman wasn't stabbed at 5:15! He was stabbed earlier: remember that giant pool of blood we found? A murder did happen. It happened before Jake, or even Meekins with the Blue Badger, came in! We get an awesome back and forth between Phoenix and Edgeworth here: objection-objection-objection. There's one undeniable fact. Goodman's murder had to have happened before 5:15. After all, it happened in the Evidence Room, and the ID card record proves that nobody came in after Meekins was assaulted!

Edgeworth is suspected for a second by His Honor and Jake, but he quickly shoots down that hypothesis. The killer has to have been whoever owns the "777777" number: but we don't know who it belongs to. It belongs to somebody with a clearance level Captain or higher. The only way to know for sure is if we launch an official investigation against this "executive officer". That means... well, I think we might know who our murderer is. Goodman walked in with 7777777!

Marshall asks Lana a question. He's not about to ask about her ID number. He's asking her about SL-9: in the trial, did she use legitimate evidence?! Edgeworth asks her himself, given that he was in charge of the investigation. Lana skirts around the question, but eventually gets to the point. In the SL-9 trial, two years ago... she fabricated evidence to get Joe Darke convicted.

A nightmare come true...

Edgeworth is distraught. The courtroom is in chaos. The courtroom simply will not calm down. Trial is forced to be adjourned with so many questions still in the air! What will happen to Edgeworth now? How and why exactly did Lana forge evidence? Who owns 7777777: and why did they kill Bruce Goodman?

This day comes to an incredibly bittersweet close. We now have a lead on who the true killer is, but at the cost of jeopardizing Edgeworth and Lana's careers...

Investigation, Day Three

Ema tells us what she had to do with the SL-9 Incident. On the night that Neil was murdered, Darke tried to kill Ema. Neil saved Ema's life, but Darke killed him: a terrible storm came through that night, and Ema saw Darke raise his knife Neil when the lightning lit up the room. This must be why Lana forged the evidence: Ema being attacked sent her over the edge. The question remains. Did Edgeworth know that the evidence was faulty? The answer is probably—hopefully—not. After SL-9, Lana became cold and distant: it affected her that much.

Ema fell unconscious after seeing Darke attack Neil: when she woke up Lana was holding her in he arms. Darke had been taken in for questioning when Ema was attacked: he tried to run away during the interview, running into Lana's office after getting into the elevator. After all, the elevator was right in front of the detective's office. Before Lana was a chief prosecutor, she was a detective! We go to visit her at the Detention Center.

And with that, we've reached the end of Part One! Part Two can be found here.