//------------------------------// // Part 24 - Double Blackmail // Story: Phoenix Wright - Turnabout Storm! // by Firesight //------------------------------// Hay and Stay Hotel June 10th, 5:25PM Five minutes after leaving the library, Phoenix arrived at the Hay and Stay Hotel and asked the surprised earth pony mare at the front desk if Sonata was still staying there. Told she was, he immediately walked to Sonata’s room, instructing the startled bellmare to call the police if he didn’t return within fifteen minutes. Pausing at her door to smooth out his suit again—he was dreading taking it back to Rarity in the shape it was after the attack—he knocked on the door, waiting for Sonata to answer it. It didn’t take long. “Yes?” she said as she opened the door with a flare of her horn. Her mouth fell open and eyes widened as she recognized Phoenix, looking speechless for a moment. “Hello, Sonata.” Phoenix greeted the grey unicorn mare over crossed arms with a slight smirk on his face. “Surprised to see me?” “What do you want, Mister Wright?” Sonata recovered quickly, her horn flaring again briefly to no visible effect except she closed her eyes and opened them again before looking him over from head to toe. “And why do you look like something the cat dragged in?” “Another pony ambushed me in the forest to steal my evidence,” he told her point-blank, noting she looked genuinely perturbed at his state. “Know anything about that?” he asked mildly, palming his Magatama in expectation of it revealing a lie. “No. Why would I?” she asked him blandly but in perfect honesty, and to Phoenix’s great surprise, no locks and chains appeared around her, indicating she wasn’t hiding anything. “What are you doing here, Mister Wright?” She’s telling the truth? So she DIDN’T send that pony after me? Phoenix was very surprised, having been all but certain she had and considering her a new suspect in Ace’s murder for it. He found no other explanation as for why she hadn’t reported his illegal break-in earlier but that he’d found something she didn’t want the police to see among the evidence he’d collected, and that she’d enlisted a confederate to prevent its exposure. “I just want to talk. That’s all,” Phoenix said, ducking his head under the door to step inside, immediately changing his tactics to not be too confrontational. Hell, I was even half-thinking she gave me those pills to affect my judgment, making me more likely to go into the forest alone! But that’s all out the window now. If she didn’t do it, I’ll need her help to find out who did! Her surprise gave way to annoyance. “I already spoke to you, Mister Wright. Can you please leave? You should be grateful I didn’t tell the police about you and your pink friend’s intrusion today,” Sonata reminded the taller human, almost glowering at him. He shrugged dismissively. “Funny you should say that, Sonata. Because in all honesty, I was wondering why you didn’t,” he mused, taking on his pondering pose. “After all, if you did have me arrested, I’d have to be replaced as defense attorney. Meaning, Rainbow Dash would be most likely found guilty,” he recited. “In other words—exactly what you want?” Sonata didn’t bat an eye. “Perhaps I just took pity on you for your poor courtroom performance, Mister Wright. In any event, I gave you plenty of help and information already, including insights on Trixie. I have already said all I intend to say, so I fail to see what you think you’ll gain by coming back here. It would seem to me that if you’re looking for a new suspect in Ace’s murder, it would be the pony who attacked you.” She’s right about that, he granted with his thoughts. If it wasn’t her, my assailant jumps to the top of the suspect list. I’ll follow that up later, but for now… “I admit you answered all my questions—save one. And I can’t help but feel the answer to it is significant, somehow.” As he spoke, he went for his Magatama again, knowing it was time to force the issue. “So tell me, Sonata: what was it like being Ace’s manager?” Phoenix asked as he held the green crystal gifted him by Maya in his hand once more. When he asked the question while touching the gemstone artifact, the distinctive chains immediately reappeared and coiled all around the unicorn mare, guarded by four red psyche-locks. Unaware of their existence, Sonata ground her teeth. “I admit I don’t know how things work in the human world, but here in Equestria, a question like that is none of your business, Mister Wright.” “It is if the answer directly affects my case and client,” Phoenix replied evenly. Now let’s see what you’re hiding, Sonata! he thought as he readied to start his own unique brand of interrogation, vowing to show the bespectacled unicorn mare how observant and perceptive he could be. “By your reluctance to answer alone, I’m guessing it wasn’t good at all.” Her tightened lip told him a nerve had been touched. “I fail to see why I should submit myself to your interrogation. Shouldn’t you be investigating the crime? You’re wasting time bothering me with your annoying questions,” Sonata replied in an irritated tone. “Because I think you have something to do with all this,” Phoenix informed her. “In fact, I’m certain you do!” “Really? Me?” Sonata replied, putting on a dumbfounded air. “Very well. I’ll humor you, Mister Wright. Why do you think I’m involved with this crime?” she challenged him. He grinned at that. “I’ll show you why, Sonata…” Phoenix revealed the resignation letter. “Does this look familiar to you?” Sonata flinched in very telling surprise. “How—where did you get that?” she gaped, looking caught off-guard. Her reaction was not lost on Phoenix. “It seems someone who was working with Ace was planning on quitting after the race,” he noted dryly while Sonata fell silent. “And I think that someone is you, Sonata!” He held the pieced-together letter with his left hand while tapping it with the fingers of his right. “After all, you were the only one working with Ace in Ponyville, and quite frankly, you don’t seem too torn up by his death. Or was his passing actually a relief?” he suggested. She gave a frustrated growl as Phoenix watched the first of her psyche-locks break with a sound of shattering glass. The grey unicorn mare gathered herself carefully, drawing herself up straight before turning fractionally away, closing her eyes and putting on a haughty air. “Hmph! You think I wrote this? I’ve never even seen this letter before. For all you know, it could have been mailed here by Ace’s butler, Proper Protocol,” she dismissed him. Phoenix resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The butler did it? Really? he thought derisively, before remembering that in the Matt Engarde case… the butler really had! “No, I don’t think you wrote this. I know you wrote this!” he shot back at her claim, making a mental note to check on the progress of Edgeworth’s Shelley de Killer investigation when he got back home. Maya was still having nightmares about the hired assassin; he’d abducted and starved her for days, using her as a hostage to force Phoenix to defend a clearly guilty Engarde. Phoenix had eventually lost that case to Miles Edgeworth, who had worked with him behind the scenes to prolong the trial long enough to save Maya and trap Engarde into a guilty plea, but it was a blemish on his record he was only too happy to have. “Care to explain how?” Sonata raised a skeptical eyeridge, pulling him back to the here and now. “My pleasure!” He nodded, putting his previous case out of mind, resolving to give Maya a big hug and treat her to her favorite hamburger restaurant as soon as he got back home. “It’s very simple, actually. We can just compare the writing on this letter to something I know for a fact you did write!” Sonata gasped. “And I have it right here…” Phoenix reached up to the top shelf and pulled down the same thick tome that had fallen on his head earlier. “This unicorn spellbook I found in this very room,” he proclaimed. She gave him an incredulous look. “Oh, please, Mister Wright. Are you seriously saying I wrote this book?” “Of course not,” he answered evenly, recognizing a deflection when he heard it. “But this book has some interesting characteristics. I can’t read a single word of it,” he admitted, flipping through the pages of hieroglyphic-like symbols, looking for one entry in particular. She rolled her eyes. “Then why are you showing it to me? It probably belongs to the hotel.” He shook his head, having already argued the point with Pinkie Pie. “No, it doesn’t belong to the hotel. I know a unicorn who reads advanced spellbooks like this, and she says they’re only available in Canterlot—the place you say you’re from!” Phoenix dismissed her explanation out of hoof. Sonata sighed. “Whatever. Fine, it’s my book. So what exactly are you trying to prove here?” she asked, taking an air like she was being forced to suffer fools. “Like I said, I can’t read any of the characters written inside these pages...” Phoenix stated as he found the page he was looking for. “Except for these!” he turned the book around so she could see. Sonata’s eyes widened. “Ah!” “’Continue from here, third line’,” he quoted the handwritten annotation. “You couldn’t find a bookmark, could you Sonata? So you just jotted a note directly on the page,” he guessed, closing the tome and setting it on the table. Sonata was starting to look frustrated and angry, but Phoenix wasn’t too worried—he’d taken precautions; even if she was involved in the earlier attack on him, she had to know that if she did something to him here, there would be no way she could escape suspicion—and that she’d be absolutely no match for Twilight’s power. “I’m sure if we compare the writing in here to that letter, we’ll get a perfect match,” Phoenix continued, unafraid. The unicorn mare hissed air out through gritted teeth. “Ugh—fine! I wrote the letter!” she confessed angrily as another lock broke. “But—you still fail to prove any relevance to this,” Sonata started again, sounding like the prosecutor she claimed she could be. “Hmm?” Phoenix raised a brow. “So I was going to quit. So what? Why do you think I have something to do with this?” Sonata protested. In response, Phoenix picked the letter back up, quoting directly from it. “’I can’t help ruin others’ lives.’ I wonder what that could mean?” Phoenix pondered out loud, making a show of taking his trademark pondering expression, his hand on his chin and eyes looking away as if in deep thought, to Sonata’s immense annoyance. Eventually, he grinned. “Well, I won’t play dumb, because I know exactly what this little statement means…” It felt like all the air was suddenly sucked out of the room as Phoenix brought out the packet with the pictures of Rainbow Dash Trixie had presented at the end of session. Sonata recoiled from the manila envelope. “Is this some kind of joke? Why are you showing me these pictures?” she demanded to know, her voice betraying an element of revulsion. Taking a deep breath, he scattered the photographs on the room table, face up, watching her reaction carefully. She flinched hard when they came out. “I found out earlier today from my client that Ace was doing something very wrong to her.” Despite his words, Sonata kept silent, pointedly not looking at the pictures—he could hardly blame her for that; he was doing his best not to look at them either. “And I think you know exactly what it was! You were in on this blackmailing business, weren’t you? It fits perfectly with the context of your resignation letter!” Sonata grimaced as if in pain. “Ugh!” The breaking-glass sound of another shattered lock was only heard by Phoenix. Taking a deep breath, she tried to compose herself again, but was not entirely successful; Phoenix noted her lip was quivering and voice was starting to sound shaky. “You certainly have a wild imagination, Phoenix Wright. Even if your client was being blackmailed, what makes you think Ace and I were behind it?” Sonata questioned his accusation, forcing a disbelieving smile. He crossed his arms. “I know it’s the truth, Sonata.” “Is that so?” She snatched the letter from him with her magic and made a show of scanning it top to bottom. “Funny, I don’t see anything mentioning blackmail on this letter of mine,” Sonata pointed out, turning it back to him. “And these pictures of my client?” He motioned to the table, raising a disbelieving eyebrow in return. She shrugged. “Maybe Ace just needed a good laugh at his competition to get in the right mindset.” Oh, come on, you can do better than THAT, Sonata! “I don’t think so. ‘Ruin other’s lives’ kind of fits the description of blackmail,” Phoenix immediately countered. “It could mean anything! You have no proof Ace and I were blackmailing anypony.” Sonata resorted to a lawyerly denial, not budging in the least. Stubborn as a mule, aren’t you? he asked her mentally, suddenly wondering if there were intelligent donkeys and mules in Equestria as well. “Actually, I do,” Phoenix announced, causing the unicorn mare to start. “How?” she asked in disbelief. She was still trying to evade his efforts, but Phoenix was too close to the truth and too sure of the facts to be denied. “We just have to use this…” Phoenix showed Sonata the blackmail letter he got from Rainbow Dash. “This is the letter my client was blackmailed with, stating demands right from the horse’s mouth, if you’ll forgive the expression,” he added as an afterthought. Her lip curled at that; Phoenix was starting to realize how insulting calling a pony a horse in this world really was. “As I said, Mister Wright, there is no way you can prove Ace or I wrote this. It doesn’t even have a name on it!” Sonata reminded him. But Phoenix was ready for that. “I don’t need a name, Sonata. I have another way to find out who wrote this!” he announced. “Wh-what?” Sonata stuttered, caught off-guard again. “Just like before, let’s compare the writing style on this blackmail letter to your letter of resignation,” Phoenix took the two sheets of scroll paper in opposite hands, looking back and forth between them, making a show of comparing what he saw. Grinning in satisfaction at his findings, he placed them on the table side-by-side. “I admit I’m no expert, but the writing styles seem to match up perfectly, Sonata. I’ll bet my Equestrian attorney badge that were we to submit these two sheets for police analysis, they’d conclude the author was one and the same. Would you have any idea as to why?” he asked mildly, but his equine quarry remained silent, the final lock still stubbornly intact. Just one more push! Phoenix thought. “And finally, there’s this…” He showed her a picture he’d taken earlier on his digital camera. “I found a list of names on your table with ‘8:35’ written next to Rainbow Dash—the same time requested to meet her on this blackmail letter!” Phoenix brought out his last piece of evidence. “Hard to call it a coincidence when that’s the same time Ace was meeting Rainbow Dash in the forest, don’t you think?” he asked her mildly. Registering his final blow, Sonata closed her eyes in defeat. “Well done, Mister Wright. I guess there is no way for me to deny it any longer,” she conceded as the final psyche-lock shattered, and the chains retreated out of sight. “You are correct on all counts. Ace and I blackmailed Rainbow Dash.” —— Unlock Successful —— With that, the room became strangely silent. Phoenix and Sonata exchanged glances at each other, the atmosphere turning strangely awkward. “Uh…?” the former began, unnerved by her apparent lack of concern. “Is there a problem, Mister Wright?” Sonata raised an eyeridge at him but otherwise sounded perfectly calm. “I gave you your admission, for all the good it does you.” “For all the good it does me?” Phoenix mimed her tone, and then drew himself up straighter, pointing an accusing finger at her. “I found you out! You were blackmailing my client! That’s a crime, Ms. ‘Cold, Hard, Swift Justice’!” Phoenix flared up. “This not only implicates you in an extortion scheme, but it also gives you a potential motive for murder if you wanted out but Ace wouldn’t let you!” he accused despite the Magatama indicating her innocence of possible involvement in the attack on him earlier. Once again, Sonata didn’t blink. “Me, and every other pony Ace and I ever blackmailed, including your client, Phoenix Wright,” she stated with certainty, catching him short. “There were no shortage of racers who hated him for it, though few to none of them knew that I was actually the mastermind behind it.” “Then maybe you had him killed to keep that secret?” he suggested, watching her reaction carefully. But again, no psyche-locks appeared as Sonata rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, Mister Wright. If I wanted to kill Ace, I would hardly have been so sloppy about it. I wouldn’t have left direct evidence like that blackmail letter behind that might indicate a motive or provide possible proof we were running an extortion racket. I wouldn’t have left a list with a time on it to indicate I knew where he was going to be. “And I wouldn’t have done the deed myself; I would have simply let slip the meeting time and location to one of the more volatile or easily blackmailed racers, having them do the job for me… like your client.” She closed her eyes and smiled unpleasantly, causing Phoenix’s accusing look to falter as everything she said rang true. “But allow me to put your mind at ease, Mister Wright—this is all but idle speculation. I didn’t want Ace dead, and I didn’t set your client or any of the other racers on him.” Phoenix weighed her words and the lack of more psyche locks appearing, quickly coming to the only conclusion possible. She’s right. She’s far too smart to not have covered her tracks well if she was the killer, he realized. The letter indicates she was trying to quit, not kill him. It doesn’t feel like she could have committed premeditated murder on that basis. And yet… He wasn’t sure why he was still getting such an odd feeling from her. “Even if Ace wouldn’t let you out of the blackmail scheme, or he threatened to expose you?” “Even if,” she confirmed, and once again, the Magatama indicated no deceit, though Phoenix still found himself perturbed by her complete lack of emotional reaction to his questions or Ace’s passing. “And as for the blackmail scheme itself? Your knowledge of it neither aids your client nor poses any threat to me.” “Huh?” “Earlier, you asked me about my talent—my eye for detail? It’s what I’ve been using the whole time Ace and I have been doing this,” Sonata explained. “Finding out secrets and learning how to use them to control other ponies is my speciality, Mister Wright. For example, in the days I studied Ms. Rainbow Dash I could see that she had quite the ego and reputation. That’s why I took those photographs of her, knowing she would protect her image above all else and do anything to prevent the exposure of her little… hobby,” she began, wincing again at the memory. “And for the longest time, it worked. We had quite the lucrative business, Ace and I. We had several gamblers placing large sums of money on him after we had our way with the potentially tough competition, and then split the money 50/50 on top of what he was awarded for winning,” she detailed the blackmail scheme without so much of a hint of regret or fear. “That’s why your client was targeted—Ace thought her a threat to him after her performance at the Cloudsdale Young Fliers’ Competition.” “And just why are you telling me all this?” Phoenix asked in confusion, uncertain why she’d be giving him so much ammunition he could use against her in court. In reply, Sonata took on a haughty pose again, closing her eyes and turning slightly away from him. “To prove that I’m not worried at all. You see, I can get anypony—or anybeing—to keep their muzzles shut once I find out what makes them tick. And you, Phoenix Wright, are no exception,” she declared, a sly grin growing on her face. “Wh-what?” Phoenix’s eyes grew wide. “I’m not worried in the slightest, because you’re not going to tell a soul about this,” Sonata informed him flatly. Phoenix looked at her like she was nuts. “You’re wrong! I’m going to tell the police about this right away!” “No, Mister Wright. You won’t,” Sonata stated with certainty, then turned away from him fractionally once more. “And the reason is very simple. From my conversations with you, I can tell you hold your loyalty to your client in high regard,” she noted with another smirk. “So what? You can’t take that away from me!” Phoenix crossed his arms and smirked back. “Or can I…?” Sonata countered in a mild voice, turning back to him and giving him a chilling smile, causing Phoenix to lose his own. “If you so much as utter the word ‘blackmail’ to anypony? I’ll report what you and your little accomplice did earlier,” she threatened. “And if I do that, you will spend the rest of your stay in an Equestrian jail instead of a courtroom.” That caught Phoenix short. “But—” “But nothing, Mister Wright. You had no business searching my hotel room, and you and that pink pony left prints all over the place. I can have you both charged with trespassing, breaking and entering, and theft of personal property,” Sonata recited. “Again, I don’t know how things work in the human world, but here, such transgressions carry a substantial penalty. You’ll no doubt find it quite difficult defending your client from a prison cell,” she noted idly, causing Phoenix to gnash his teeth. “In short, I have more than enough evidence to take you and your friend down with me. But it doesn’t have to come to that. Even if, as I suspect, you care more about your clients than yourself, I doubt you would wish to drag down yet another of Miss Sparkle’s friends with you. It would be troublesome if information regarding my blackmail racket with Ace got out and you want to defend your client, correct?” she asked him. “Then I think we understand each other.” Phoenix deflated as he found himself holding an inferior poker hand, and worse, facing an opponent he couldn’t bluff. “So if you weren’t afraid I’d tell, then why didn’t you report me earlier?” he wanted to know, his voice suddenly weak. She gave him a lazy shrug. “Simple. Like any good prosecutor, I held my best evidence in reserve until I could use it to maximum advantage—which is right now. So do we have a deal, Phoenix Wright? Don’t reveal the blackmail scheme, and I won’t report you and your earth pony friend,” she spelled it out, then nodded in satisfaction when Phoenix didn’t answer. “I’ll take your silence as a yes. Don’t worry; I’ll be watching the trial from the gallery tomorrow to make sure you keep our little secret to yourself,” she assured him. “In any event, this conversation is concluded!” With that, her horn flared and Phoenix’s eyes widened when he realized she was picking him up with her magic, moving him outside the door; though he did notice the effort seemed to be severely straining her, judging by her gritted teeth and suddenly ragged breathing. Surprised, he stumbled backwards when her aura let go, dropping him a foot to the ground. Grimacing like she was in pain, Sonata followed up his ejection by magically tossing all his evidence out into the hallway, shoving the envelope full of pictures into his stomach, a light sheen of sweat suddenly visible on her forehead. “You can have these back. They’re just reminders of a life I’d like to leave, and little good they will do you now!” the former manager of Ace Swift stated, sounding slightly out of breath; Phoenix even thought she might have been trembling a bit. “Goodbye, Phoenix Wright. Please go away and don’t come back!” she ordered him, trying not to wince as she closed and locked her door with a final flare of her horn, leaving a stunned Phoenix outside. Startled and a little scared by her actions—it was only at that moment he understood he had no defense against unicorn magic and there were likely any number of things she could have done to him—he gathered up the scattered pieces of evidence, leaving the same way he came in. Looks like I ended up on the same boat as all her other victims, Phoenix knew as he left the hotel after checking back in at the front desk, trembling a bit at his sudden feeling of helplessness and the knowledge that he’d been completely at her mercy. At least I can cross Sonata off the list of potential suspects now. Aside from the blackmail scheme, the Magatama said she wasn’t lying and she’s right—the available evidence doesn’t fit her potential Modus Operandi for premeditated murder, he knew. UGH! But if she didn’t do it, then who? The pony who attacked me? That isn’t in itself proof of guilt; he might have been after my evidence for other reasons. And how was he even able to call me to set up the meeting? Phoenix wondered, knowing he was now left with more questions than answers. And even though this whole blackmail business could certainly be motive for murder, how do I tie it to any one pony in a sea of possible suspects—which includes every racer Ace ever blackmailed? he pondered as he sat down on a bench outside the hotel, clutching his head in his hands as he tried to make sense of something that still made none. Hell, even if I do find a definitive suspect, whether it’s my assailant or someone else, I’ll need the blackmail to establish motive if—as seems likely—Ace was killed over his extortion racket. But how do I bring it up in court without ending up thrown in jail by Sonata and off the case by The Judge? He didn’t immediately have an answer. And what’s with her pain, too? Why does Sonata need those pills? he further wondered, noting the strain using her magic had apparently caused her. He took some comfort from the fact that there were apparently limits to what she could do; in hindsight it looked like all she could actually manage was to pick him up and move him a few feet. Maybe the heavier something is, the more difficult it is to manipulate? he reasoned, noting he’d mostly seen unicorns moving small objects, not big ones. Should probably ask Twilight exactly how magic works. Regardless of the answers, Phoenix felt frustrated as he began the walk back to the library through the early-evening bustle of Ponyville, pointedly ignoring the gawks and angry looks he still got from the residents. Though successful in making Sonata confess to the blackmail scheme, he now had an even more intractable problem—he had gone through all the hard work of uncovering her secret only to end up unable to punish her for it or use it at trial. With the new information regarding Ace Swift and the extortion racket he ran revealed, Phoenix knew he had to both hatch a plan to get around Sonata’s threat and somehow find the link from the blackmail scheme back to the murder before he could use it to defend Rainbow Dash. But in order to come up with that plan, he had to first go back to the Library and consult with the one pony who shared the drive and desire to uncover the still-elusive truth behind Ace’s murder as he did… Twilight Sparkle.