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Episode 1: Turnabout Worlds1,206 words
Investigation2,207 words

Investigation

March 23, 10:30 AM
Detention Center

On their way to the detention center, Phoenix and Maya were able to learn some quick information about their surroundings. One, the name of the city they were in was called Canterlot. Two, Phoenix had learned based off the news about the events of the death in question. The victim, Prim Hemline, had allegedly been pushed off the balcony in her apartment by the suspect, meaning the fall was the likely cause of death. As for the suspect, Wallflower Blush, there wasn’t much information given out about her but Phoenix somehow knew she needed help.

He knew it was a long shot, but he believed if he helped this girl, she would be able to help them figure out why they were here in the first place. At the very least, he hoped she would allow him to defend her, despite the fact he may be considered a foreigner.

Phoenix had been worried that he would have a tough time through security, but apparently the badge he wore and the credentials he had were enough to gain him entry. Technically he said he was here to see Miss Blush, despite the fact that she hadn’t met him or even agreed to having him as a lawyer. But that would be a bridge to cross when they got there.

“You know, I was expecting that whole process to be a lot more difficult,” Maya pointed out as they sat in the waiting room.

“Yeah, which makes me wonder if their system is pretty close to ours,” Phoenix replied. Still, couldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth… “Still, we have to be careful, just because we’re new around here doesn’t mean they’ll give us a free pass if we mess something up.”

“Um..excuse me?” Both Phoenix and Maya looked over and saw a girl sitting on the opposite side of the glass. She had green hair and freckles on her face.

“Oh! Sorry, we didn’t notice you coming in!” Phoenix stammered slightly. How long was she in here?

“It’s alright, I get that a lot…” the girl replied, frowning slightly.

Not exactly the best first impression… “You’re Wallflower Blush, correct?”

“Yeah, are you a lawyer?” Wallflower asked.

“That’s right, my name is Phoenix Wright and this is Maya Fey, my assistant.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Maya said, bowing her head slightly.

“You two…seem different from the kind of lawyers I’m used to seeing,” Wallflower pointed out.

“Well uh…” Phoenix wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It was better to get to business anyway. “Before I say anything else, are you currently in need of a lawyer?”

Wallflower looked away slightly with an embarrassed look. “Yes…unfortunately my family can’t really afford one but I know the city will provide me one if-”

“I’ll need to stop you there,” Phoenix interrupted. “We’d be willing to help defend your case.”

“What? But I just said-”

“Money isn’t a concern at the moment,” Phoenix said. He knew what he was about to say next was risky but he didn’t have much of a choice. “The truth is, we’d be needing your help as well. It’s kind of hard to explain but…”

“What Nick’s trying to say we got transported here from another world and we need to find a way back!” Maya said with a big smile.

Wallflower stared back at them for a moment and Phoenix for a moment thought she had decided they were both crazy. However, a slight smile crept onto her face. “I see…so if I help you you’ll represent me in court?”

“Uh…yeah that’s right,” Phoenix said. She actually believes us?

“Alright, it’s a deal then,” Wallflower said. “But first, I assume you have some questions for me?”

There were many questions, so Phoenix decided to start from the top. “Can you tell us anything about the victim?”

“Prim? I know she’s practically a fashion icon and has been a judge for a lot of different clothing competitions. Oddly enough, even though she has quite a lot of money, she likes to live modestly, hence the apartment she lived in. That’s pretty much all I know…”

“Miss Hemline’s cause of death was from being pushed off the balcony in her apartment, and you were apparently at the scene of the crime.”

“When I came to her apartment, the door was open and when I went in, I couldn’t find her…but she was already dead when I got there.”

“Why were you there in the first place?” Phoenix asked.

Wallflower seemed to hesitate. “I had to speak to her about something…something I was looking into.”

“Can I ask what it was?”

Suddenly, chains appeared in front of Wallflower as large red locks flashed into existence. I should’ve known… Phoenix thought. She’s hiding something… He looked to Maya and she nodded back at him.

“It’s nothing important,” Wallflower said. “But obviously I’m being framed.” Obviously she was going to change the subject and for now Phoenix would oblige.

“Whoever it was knew you were coming,” Phoenix said. “Did you tell anyone in particular?”

“Just Prim,” Wallflower said. “Unless she…mentioned it to someone.”

“I think that’s we can get for now,” Phoenix said. “We’ll have to check the crime scene for ourselves.”

“I understand,” Wallflower replied. “But before you go…do you have a piece of paper and pen?”

Fortunately, Phoenix always kept a pen and notebook in his pocket and was relieved both items were still in there. Wallflower then gave them a phone number. “Her name is Sunset and she can help explain what might be going on…and if you could, let her know I’m alright.”

“Thanks for the help Wallflower,” Phoenix said. “Just remember, we’ll do anything we can to make sure you’re found innocent.”

March 23, 11:15 AM
Prim Hemline’s Apartment

By the time they arrived at the crime scene, there were only a few officers present. “Guess they’re wrapping up the investigation,” Phoenix noted.

“Do you think we’ll find anything?” Maya asked.

“Well, in our experience we’ve always been able to find something that’s often overlooked,” Phoenix replied. If the COD was indeed asphyxiation from falling, that means no murder weapon that can be linked to the suspect…but it may still not be enough to prove her innocence. We just need to get in there and…

“Hey pal, you lost or something?”

Phoenix’s thoughts were interrupted as he looked up and saw a woman standing before him with yellow-orange hair. She was dressed formally in shirt and tie with a tan coat on top. She was also wearing sunglasses and while Phoenix couldn’t see them, he was sure she was staring daggers at him currently.

“Ah, my apologies, I’m a defense attorney, currently representing the accused,” Phoenix said.

“An attorney?” the woman asked. She looked at Maya. “And who is this?”

“Hi! I’m Maya Fey, Nick’s assistant!” Maya said with a warm smile.

“…You look like you belong in a temple,” the woman pointed out bluntly.

Well…she’s not wrong… “Anyway, the reason we’re here is to study the crime scene for the upcoming trial, detective…?”

“Spitfire,” the woman replied as she lowered her shades. “And as for the crime scene, we’ve already swept through the place, not much else to look at.”

“If I may, Detective, not saying the police can’t do their job, I just want to make sure nothing’s been overlooked.”

Spitfire looked rather annoyed by the idea and sighed. “Fine, CSI and everyone else has already gone home so it can’t hurt.”

“And if it’s alright, I want to ask you a few questions about the murder itself.”

Spitfire suddenly looked guarded. “You know I’m not really supposed to give out details like that to just anyone.”

“Well, as the defense, it’s only fair that both sides know the full story.” I’ve been in this situation before, which makes me wonder who we’ll be facing in court.

Judging by Spitfire’s body language, Phoenix knew she couldn’t argue with that logic. “I…guess that’s only fair…fine but only about the murder.”

“Thank you Detective. Could you tell us about the victim herself?”

“Victim’s Prim Hemline, age thirty-four, and a former fashionista. M.E. declared her time of death to be around 10 PM last night. We have to wait for the full autopsy report but judging by the angle her head was facing and the bruising on her neck, the impact caused her neck to be broken as well as possible fractures in her skull.”

“Such a horrible way to go…” Maya said sadly.

“So she was pushed off the balcony?” Phoenix asked.

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like so far. We noticed a lamp had been broken in the room that leads to the balcony which means an altercation took place. The way I see it, the suspect somehow overpowered the victim and pushed her over.”

“Doesn’t that seem odd?” Phoenix asked. “I mean, the victim was about twice the age of the suspect and while I haven’t seen the victim herself, my client has a pretty small figure so overpowering her seems like a big stretch.”

Spitfire shrugged. “Apparently someone witnessed the suspect go into the apartment at the time of the murder, though they didn’t specify when exactly. Also, we checked around for fingerprints and we found the suspect’s prints on the balcony itself.”

Oh no… “Even so, what would be the motive?”

“Honestly, not sure, though the department is looking through the victim’s phone to see who she’s talked to recently,” Spitfire replied. “And that’s pretty much all we know for now. The autopsy report should be finished by tomorrow, along with an analysis of the phone.”

The fingerprints definitely prove Wallflower was here…but there’s still many unanswered questions. “In that case, you won’t mind if we check around the crime scene.”

“Sure. Oh, and just so you know, we did check around the body where it fell but we didn’t find anything suspicious.”

“Good to know then. Alright Maya, let’s see what we can find around here.”

“Got it Nick!”

The two started their investigation and Phoenix was the first to notice a particular stain on the carpet near the sliding glass door along with glass fragments. “Is that wine?” he asked out loud.

“Yeah, or what’s left of it,” Spitfire answered. “Oddly enough, most of the glass is missing.”

But why do that? Unless… “Do you think this bottle could’ve been used as a weapon?”

“It’s possible…the bottle itself couldn’t do a lot of damage but one strike to the head would be enough to daze you…”

Which blows my previous argument out of the water…still, I feel like there’s something important about this. I’ll have to remember it for later.

Phoenix then went over to where Maya was, next to a small bookshelf that contained many books and magazines. “Wow, these are all about fashion,” Maya commented. “I guess she really had a passion for it.”

“The fashion industry is pretty big, no matter where you go,” Phoenix added.

“Speaking of fashion…” Spitfire was looking in Maya’s direction. “I don’t want to sound rude but…you don’t exactly looked dressed like an assistant.”

“Oh, assistant is merely my secondary job,” Maya said. “I’m actually a spirit medium.”

Phoenix could see the surprise on the detective’s face but what surprised him was the hint of curiosity in her eyes. “Like…talking to dead people?”

“Channeling them actually, but in a way yes.”

“Right…well, you do you I guess.”

Phoenix could feel the awkwardness build up in the room so he chose to go outside onto the balcony. There was nothing that he could see that caught his eye but upon looking past the railing, he could see the faint outline of where the body had been found. Judging by how high up they were, there was no doubt the fall had definitely been the cause of death. Still, it bothered Phoenix that Wallflower’s prints would even be here if she wasn’t the one responsible.

“I guess that’s all we can do here,” Phoenix said. “Thanks for letting us look around, Detective.”

“No problem,” Spitfire replied. “Not sure how you’re gonna turn this one around, the evidence is as clear as day.”

“Don’t count Nick out just yet,” Maya smirked. “He has a reputation of turning all his cases around.”

“T-That’s not really something to brag about, Maya,” Phoenix laughed slightly. “Actually Detective, I just had one more question. Do you know who’s prosecuting the case?”

“Not really sure I’m supposed to be giving out that kind of information…” Spitfire said. She then smirked. “But I supposed since you’re not from around here I can guess it can’t hurt. Her name is Erlyn Spiel, and she’s one hell of a prosecutor. Has quite the undefeated record, though she doesn’t brag about it. Not gonna lie…though she gets the job done her methods can be a little…odd at times.”

“I see. Thank you for the info.” Phoenix and Maya said their goodbyes to the detective and made their way out of the apartment complex.

“So what now Nick?” Maya asked.

Phoenix reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone number he had written down. “I think it’s time we give this Sunset a call.”

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