Chapter 6: No Matter How Bad it Gets... (English terminology)

[thewrightway]

[Same Day, 1:13 PM: Outside the District Courthouse]

With the first day of the trial over, Athena, Trucy and I left the courthouse.
Perhaps we should head back to Seafield city for info. I mean, what else can we do? We should use what time we have available wisely...
As I walked pondering these things, he appeared once again.
“That was a close call, Wright.”
“... Edgeworth...”
I was aghast. I'd ended today's trial at an incredible disadvantage, only to run into the person I least wanted to see...
“Were you watching the trial? The chief prosecutor has a lot more free time than I'd expect.”
Edgeworth ignored my flippancy as he responded.
“Don't think the prosecution's request for an extension was for your benefit. We simply pride ourselves on having definitive evidence for our guilty verdicts.”
“... I never considered it a favour.”
“Everything will be made clear in tomorrow's trial. The defendant will be proven guilty without a shadow of a doubt.”
“I'll prove his innocence without a shadow of a doubt.”
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Edgeworth's mouth as he spoke.
“I'll be appearing in court tomorrow.”
“... Eh!?”
Athena, Trucy and I all raised our voices at once.
Trucy spoke, still taken aback.
“You'll be handling the case, Mr. Edgeworth? What about Prosecutor Gavin?”
“I never said that. Gavin will still be prosecuting. I'm appearing as a witness.”
The three of us raised our voices again.
“As a witness? You of all people? What will you be testifying about...?”
“You think I'd tell you? Regardless, my perfect testimony will obtain our guilty verdict. Prepare yourselves.”
Edgeworth turned his back and walked away.
“A witness...? Mr. Edgeworth wasn't at the scene of the crime, was he?”
Trucy tilted her head. Athena spoke up.
“Come to think of it, we saw Prosecutor Edgeworth at Seafield airport. And he really seems to hate the victim, Mr. Goodwin.”
I wonder what the connection between him and Mr. Goodwin is.
A popular politician and the chief prosecutor... There's something fishy about this.

[Same Day, 1:52 PM: Wright Anything Agency]

We returned to the office to figure out our game plan.
“Let's go over the series of events again.”
A large sheet of paper was laid out on my desk. Trucy had laid out some small figures that had come as a bonus with some candy on the paper.
“This is the hand luggage examination area. Here's the counter with Mr. Sacco behind it. The only ones lined up are Mr. Goodwin and Apollo. Past the examination area is the departure lobby, which you can't enter unless you pass through a metal detector.”
I arranged the figures as I spoke.
“The passengers who had completed their inspection were in the departure lobby. All of them had cleared the metal detector, meaning none of them possessed metallic weapons on their person. Suddenly an ice pick fell by Apollo's feet. As soon as Apollo picked it up, Mr. Goodwin let out a scream and collapsed...”
“If that wasn't the moment he was stabbed, then why did he collapse?”
Athena was lost in thought.
“The theory that it was a shock reaction to the soccer match... isn't very likely.”
Trucy offered a harsh opinion. Ugh... Even I think it's unlikely... But I didn't really have many cards to play at the time.
“Anyway, Apollo isn't a killer, which means that Mr. Goodwin couldn't have been stabbed at that time. Let's assume it was a sudden case of anemia.”
I moved the figures located in the departure lobby.
“All the people who noticed the commotion came running over. They all passed through the metal detector on the way back. Which means none of them were carrying anything metallic at the time.”
“And Mr. Secker was the first one to reach Mr. Goodwin.”
That point was made clear by Ms. Temple's testimony.
“That's right. Then Ms. Temple was the next one to try and help Mr. Goodwin. She realised that Mr. Goodwin's shirt was bloody and screamed. That's when Dr. Mendel attempted to treat him, but it was already too late. They were the only three to have touched Mr. Goodwin.”
“Polly was detained and the police were contacted. Everyone involved gathered in the waiting room, but Mr. Secker went to the observation deck, followed shortly after by Dr. Mendel...”
The waiting room is close to the hand luggage examination area. And the observation deck is just past there.
“The police arrived and did body checks per Mr. Secker's proposal, but they found nothing suspicious... Hmm. As the only ones who didn't come to the waiting room, Mr. Secker and Dr. Mendel are definitely the most suspicious.”
“I agree. But we can't make a case against them without decisive evidence.”
“Decisive evidence... huh?”
Yeah. It'd be great if we could find the weapon with blood and poison on it... But Prosecutor Gavin had told that the deck and tarmac had been thoroughly investigated. There were no signs of any weapon.
“I got it!”
Trucy shouted.
“The weapon was a needle made of ice! Mr. Secker threw it away on the deck and it melted.”
“The ice would vanish, but the blood and poison would remain. It'd raise suspicion if those traces were found on the deck.”
“I know what happened!”
Athena raised her hand with a shout.
“The weapon was a biscuit! The culprit stabbed Mr. Goodwin to death with a sharp biscuit, then ate the weapon!”
“It was covered in deadly poison. You'd die if you ate it.”
“... Oh, good point.”
“Hmmm...” We all looked at each other as we thought.
Then beep boop beep... an electronic sound rang out. It was my ringtone.
“Hello...?”
I put my phone to my ear and a lively voice leapt from the other end.
“Ah, Nick! How ya doing!?”
“Eh...”
I was lost for words. I hadn't heard that voice in a while.
“Maya!? Is that you, Maya?”
“That's right. It's been a while, Nick. You sound like you're doing just fine!”
Her voice is so laid back. Hearing her at such a tense moment helped put my nerves at ease.
Maya – Maya Fey, was once my assistant. Or rather, her official job title was ‘assistant', but she was so much more than that. When I was still just a novice attorney burning with the passion of youth, Maya was always there to support me. Or rather she dragged me around with ridiculous energy and pushed me from behind when I needed it.
Maya and I resolved a lot of cases together. It's thanks to Maya that I've made it to where I am today as a lawyer. More so than an assistant, I'd rather consider her the ultimate ‘partner'.
At the moment, Maya has left America to train in a country called the Kingdom of Khura'in. You would never guess from her laid back attitude, but Maya is a spirit medium with incredible power. In order to further improve her spiritual power, she has to train in the Kingdom of Khura'in.
“You seem to be doing well, Maya.”
“Yep, yep! The training is tough, but everyone is so kind and I'm enjoying myself. The only problem is that there's nowhere to get my burger fix.”
Trucy whispered “We're heading out for a bit.” and dragged Athena off by the arm. Athena nodded and said “See ya later.” as she left the room. It seems they wanted to leave me to take my phone call in private.
“What have you been up to lately, Nick? In trouble as usual?”
“It's not like I'm always in trouble... Although I'll admit this current trial is a tough nut to crack.”
“All your trials are like that though. Struggling your way through?”
“Yeah... More or less.”
I gave her an outline of the case. That the defendant was one of my employees and we'd reached the end of the first day up against ridiculous odds.
“Honestly, I'm stumped. In any other position I'd say that Apollo was obviously the killer. I believe in him of course... but I have no clue how to prove his innocence...”
My tone became darker as I spoke. I was aware of it, but I couldn't muster the energy to avoid it.
“–Wright.”
Maya's tone suddenly changed. I gripped my cell phone tightly.
“Have you forgotten? A lawyer is someone who smiles no matter how bad it gets.”
I was lost for words, I could simply just press the phone against my ear.
That voice... it couldn't be... Mia...?
Maya had an older sister. A lawyer named Mia Fey. Mia was my mentor back when I had just become a lawyer.
But Mia lost her life in a certain incident. Losing my mentor like that was a huge shock...
For many generations, the Fey family have been a clan of powerful spirit mediums. Which means that Maya must have called her sister's spirit to tell me that.
The summoned spirit of Mia has given me all kinds of useful advice in the past. Her words have always supported me when I hit rock bottom.
The voice on the other end of the line must be–
My phone is a pretty old model, so the sound isn't the clearest. But this voice is–
“... Just kidding!”
The voice on the other end of the line suddenly changed. The laughter was clearly Maya, not Mia.
“I sounded just like my sister for a moment there. Did I surprise you?”
“... Ah... Yeah. A little.”
Surprised doesn't cover it. The shock had hit me like a punch.
The worst of times are when a lawyer has to force their biggest smiles.



That is the single greatest piece of wisdom Mia imparted to me.
It's helped me out whenever my heart stops or I'm frustrated with no clear path ahead, yet it had slipped my mind. Today in court, I'd been furrowing my brow during the rough times when I should have been smiling.
“My sister isn't going to come out over a minor problem like this. You've gotta handle this yourself, Nick.”
“... Yeah.”
“You'll be fine, it'll work out! Just do your best!”
It's odd, but hearing Maya's carefree tone made me feel like things really would work out fine.
“Thanks. Hang in there with your training, Maya.”
“I will! Catch you later, Nick.”
The call ended. I raised my head, the clouds in my heart have cleared.
I'll be fine. No matter how bad it gets, I'll keep on smiling.
I'll keep the attorney's spirit I inherited from Mia Fey alive.