You were wonderful, absolutely brilliant!” Iris told Apollo, after they had left the courtroom.

Apollo scratched the back of his head, hoping he wasn’t blushing. “I’m just doing what I can, Mrs. Wright.”

“I’d have to say that I’m impressed, as well,” said a voice, and Apollo looked to see Mr. Wright had come out as well, and was standing beside his wife. “You’re exceptionally skilled, for someone who’s not really a lawyer.”

Apollo grimaced, but quickly tried to hide it with a nervous smile. “Er.. uh… what makes you say that, sir? Of course I’m a lawyer!”

“Kid, I’ve been at this job for nearly a decade,” Mr. Wright replied, smiling. “If there’s anything I know, it’s that a defense attorney just isn’t an attorney without their badge. I see you’re currently not wearing one.”

“A b-badge, huh,” Apollo replied; that’s right! Grossberg had one of his own, as well; a shiny, gold, button-like thing that he kept fastened on one of his lapels.

“You’re a real lucky kid, you know that?” Mr. Wright continued. “I’m surprised that nobody’s noticed yet.”

“Well… er…” Apollo said, before hanging his head. “Er… you don’t mind, do you?”

“Not in the least,” Mr. Wright replied. “I mean, you’re doing an impressive job. I wouldn’t stop you at all.”

“We won’t tell anyone,” Iris added. “Won’t we, Feenie?”

Mr. Wright shook his head. “Absolutely not. As a matter of fact…”

He began to dig into his pocket and pulled out… a shiny, gold, button-like thing. “Here, you can borrow mine for the remainder of the trial. I don’t want you to risk anything, all right?”

“Wh-what?!” said Apollo, staring at it. “You’re giving it… to me?!”

“Only lending it,” Mr. Wright replied, looking somewhat stern. “Go on, take it.”

“Th-thank you, Mr. Wright!” Apollo said, quickly taking the badge and fastening it to his vest.

“Please,” Mr. Wright replied, almost laughing, “call me Phoenix.”

Apollo laughed, and scratched the back of his head again. “Sure, okay! But I’ll still have to call you Mr. Wright in the court.”

“Yeah, I know,” Phoenix replied, and they all smiled together.

“…you know, I can’t help but wonder,” Apollo added, after thinking for a second, “why they even arrested you, Mr. Wright.”

Phoenix shrugged. “Murders tend to be rather… sensational, I guess,” he said. “Besides, I was the only person in the store when they came by in response to my call.”

Only person…? Apollo thought. That was certainly odd. “Yeah, but…what about that woman in the video?” he said.

“Oh, her?” Phoenix replied. He smiled sheepishly. “To tell the truth, the first time I had ever seen her was today in court, on that tape. I didn’t even know she was in the shop with me.”

Apollo’s eyes widened slightly. What? “Really?” he said. “So… if you didn’t see her, and she wasn’t found at the scene…”

His eyes wandered to the floor, and he thought for a moment, before quickly realizing, “There’s something strange going on with this case, and I have a feeling it has to do with that woman.”

-///-

20 minutes came and went, and Apollo had returned with the Wrights to the courtroom, but Ema Skye still hadn’t come back with the woman on the tape.

Payne was getting impatient, running his fingers through his hair (which had gotten much greasier, over the course of the trial) and constantly pushing up his glasses. “If she doesn’t show up in the next five minutes I’ll-”

“WE HAVE FOUND OUR WITNESS!” Ema yelled, bursting into the courtroom. “We found her! Ha! I told you we’d find her!”

“Er… So you did. Thank you, Ms. Skye,” the judge said, his beard looking almost a little more frizzed than usual, out of shock. “Witness, would you please take the stand?”

“Well, all right,” the witness, a rather pretty woman with thick, dark hair, said,” but I’m really confused as to why I was called away so suddenly! I mean, I had just barely been able to-”

“To the stand, please,” Payne interrupted, clearing his throat.

“Well, all right, if you say so,” she said, and was escorted to the stand.

“Your name and occupation, if you so please, witness,” Payne said, attempting to sound as polite as he possibly could.

“Oh, me? My name is Elle Mañana, and I’m a housewife!” She said this as if utterly proud of the fact, which was probably the case. “I have a doting husband and the most wonderful little boy in the world! My son is my life, you know.”

“That’s, er… very nice, Mrs. Mañana,” said Payne, forcing a smile of interest. “Now, we’d like to ask you a few questions, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Questions?” Elle said, tilting her head. “About what?”

An undeniable wave of “What is she thinking?!” fell upon the inhabitants of the courtroom.

Payne was affected quite visibly. “The murder we believe you may have witnessed, Mrs. Mañana.”

Elle gave a most fearful look. “Oh, you mean… that. The thing I saw happen at Squickmart,” she said, clinging to the straps of her purse, which was slung over one shoulder.

“That’s right.” Payne nodded. “Could you please tell us what you saw?”

“Well… I suppose,” Elle said, still looking rather troubled, “though it’s not going to be pleasant to talk about at all…”

“Just… your testimony, Mrs. Mañana,” Payne sighed, adjusting his glasses.

Everyone had a feeling that the rest of this trial was going to be a rather long one.

“Sure, okay! So, a night or two ago, I had just finished putting my son to bed, when I got this terrible craving for popcorn! There wasn’t any in the house, so I stepped out for a moment to get some from the local SquickMart. I went to the back of the store to pick some up, when all of a sudden, I saw it! I saw this man pull a hood over his face, and then go over to the cashier and break a bottle over her head! She collapsed, and he ran off!”

There was a very, very uncomfortable silence.

Apollo blinked where he stood. “Are you… kidding me?” he said softly.

“Is that, er, all, Mrs. Mañana?” Payne said, adjusting his glasses again.

“It’s exactly what I saw,” Elle replied, nodding.

“You may… begin your cross-examination, er, Mr. Justice,” the judge said, blinking. Apparently, he was as confused by the inconsistent testimony as everyone else.

“Er… right,” Apollo said, and cleared his throat. “Mrs. Mañana, I can understand if you’ve been a bit… scared by this ordeal, but you have to get your facts straight when you testify.”

“Huh? What?” Elle said, looking a little scared, but mostly confused.

“Mrs. Mañana, you said that you saw the murderer hit Ms. Ricks on the head with a bottle,” Apollo said, his arms folded. “However, you said, before that, that you were in the back of the shop. So, tell me.” He smiled. “You weren’t really in the back of the shop, were you?”

“I was!” Elle quickly shot back. “I could see the cashier!”

“Could you, now? Would you mind pointing out where you were, then?” Apollo said, feeling rather sure of himself. This was going to be far too easy. “We have a floor plan of the convenience store that you could use.”

“Oh, that’ll help a lot,” Elle said, and the bailiff brought her a copy of the floor plan and a pen. She drew a small shape somewhere, before having the bailiff hand it back to Apollo.

She had drawn a small circle in the right, upper corner of the shop—an aisle in which the check-out could clearly be seen.

“I saw everything from right there,” Elle said, nodding as she folded her arms.

Payne looked at Apollo with a smirk, expecting his opponent to be in a cold sweat—but, rather, Apollo was smiling. Payne was immediately worried.

“Mrs. Mañana, again, please get your facts straight,” he said. “It’s true that you very well may have seen this occur from where you stood, but how could you have seen the killer ‘flip up his hood’ as you said?”

“I-I saw him as he came down the aisle to attack, o-of course,” Elle replied. “He flipped up his hood right before he went down the aisle.”

Highly satisfied, Apollo nodded. “Mind telling us which aisle he came down, Mrs. Mañana?” he said. “We can lend you the plans again.”

“Um, sure,” Elle replied, once more being given the pen and the map by the bailiff—although, this time, she was a little slower in marking which aisle she saw the killer go down.

It returned with a mark in the aisle directly next to the one Elle witnessed the murder from.

Apollo couldn’t have been more excited.

“Mrs. Mañana, really, if you’re this upset, then we can let you rest for a while,” he said, sounding almost genuinely worried.

Not many other people had any idea what he was going on about, either, Elle included.

“I’m… not quite sure I follow,” she said.

“There’s a security tape in our possession, Mrs. Mañana,” Apollo explained, ever so gently, yet forcefully, “that shows, undeniably, that the killer came, not from that aisle, but from the one directly to its right.”He looked up with a rather cutting glance.“It just so happens that you said that’s where you stood, wasn’t it?”

Elle winced, looking very nervous indeed. Her hands clung tightly to her purse straps. “Then maybe I got mixed up…” she said.

“Objection!!” said Apollo. “Mrs. Mañana, you’ve already established that you witnessed the crime from here.” He pointed at the corner she had circled on the layout. “You can’t have seen it anywhere else!”

Elle was silent for a good while, biting her lip. Apollo exchanged a quick smile of victory with the Wrights, before Elle suddenly spoke. “Well… yes, it’s true. That’s where I saw it happen,” she said, her brows furrowed, “but I saw the killer approach from somewhere else! Remember that map I wrote on?”

“You mean the floor plans?” Apollo replied.

“Yes, yes, those,” said Elle. She smiled. “I got so muddled that I switched around everything in my brain! I’m sorry!”

“Mrs. Mañana, if you would please amend your testimony to reflect, er, the correct proceeding of events,” the judge said, clearing his throat, “we would all greatly appreciate it.”

Elle tilted her head and gave a smile to envy any one Iris might give. “Of course!” she said, and began.

“You see, I was in the aisle right to the left of that wall. You know, the one I said the killer went down. I saw a man pull his hood over his face as he was walking towards the other side of the store, and he was walking in such a strange manner that I followed over to the next aisle to see what was going on. That’s when I saw it! He just went up and hit her on the head with that bottle! I was so scared that I ran!”

Once again, there was a silence.

“Er… is that all, Mrs. Mañana?” Payne asked.

“Sure is,” Elle replied, smiling. “I’m sorry for messing it up earlier…”

“Yes, well… very well, then,” the judge said, nodding. “The defense may begin its cross-examination.”

Apollo was feeling confident, of that there was no doubt—but despite the fact that he knew exactly what he was supposed to say, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was treading on thin ice.

“Is something the matter?” Iris asked, after nearly a minute had passed and he hadn’t said anything.

“Er, no, no,” Apollo replied quickly. “I’m fine.”

Iris gave him a worried smile as he cleared his throat. “Mrs. Mañana, I’m just a little confused,” he said. “You said that you… ran away, upon seeing the crime?”

“Oh, yes,” Elle replied. “I was just so scared!”

“By what means did you get away, then?” Apollo asked. Elle blinked, looking very confused. “Er… how did you leave the shop, Mrs. Mañana?”

“Oh, that! There’s an emergency exit at the back of the shop. I used it, of course,” Elle explained. “Really, what else could I have done?”

“Perhaps called the police, Mrs. Mañana,” Apollo said smugly, but quickly adding (before Payne could shatter his eardrums with another “OBJECTION!”), “Though, in your panic, you possibly couldn’t.”

“Yes, er, that’s right,” Elle said, nodding quite a lot. Once again, there was silence.

A very long silence, in fact, that lasted near to two minutes.

Iris cleared her throat softly. “Have you anything more to say…?” she whispered.

“I’m thinking!” Apollo replied, massaging his temples.

And his thinking soon paid off, for he began to grin. He had gotten a marvelous idea, but it had just taken a while to fully “catch.”

“Could the defense please ask Ms. Skye a question?” he suddenly said.

From the observer’s gallery, Ema’s head snapped up. “Ehwhat?!”

“What would the defense like to ask Ms. Skye?” said the judge.

“I just want to know whether or not there were any fingerprints found on that emergency door that night, Ms. Skye,” Apollo said, feeling immensely proud of himself. If this wasn’t going to be one hell of a piece of evidence, he didn’t know what would be. “Are there any reports available on that?”

Ema blinked a few times, before diving into her bag of papers, trash, and chemicals, and brandishing a small stapled packet of papers. Her rose-lensed glasses askew on her face, she shouted, “There weren’t any fingerprints found!”

Apollo felt, in that moment, quite like a god. Not necessarily like the god of his namesake, but something more like… Athena, or Thor, or something like that.

At any rate, his hell of a piece of evidence was now, absolutely, confirmed.

“Mrs. Mañana, I’m generally a very trusting person,” he said, in even, lecture-speaker tones. “From what you’ve told me, combined with the fact that you entered the shop, but did not exit on camera, I have very good reason to believe that you, indeed, used that emergency exit.”

“Well, of course I did, I-” Elle began, but was very quickly interrupted.

“However!” Apollo added sharply, causing Elle to deflate just a little. “This new evidence proves that there were no prints on the door. So, Mrs. Mañana, that means either one of two things: That you never used that exit (which I highly doubt), or that you werewearing gloves.”

Elle gulped as the court began to bubble with muffled conversation.

“Well, which is it?” Apollo asked, through the din—and, miraculously, it quieted down. “Did you teleport out of that store, or wear gloves?”

“Wh-what a silly question to ask!” Elle said, smiling nervously. “O-of course I didn’t teleport! Real people can’t do that! I was wearing gloves. It was cold that night, you know.”

“I see, I see…” Apollo said, smirking. “Then that means you’re a suspect, Mrs. Mañana, and a prime one at that.”

Elle grimaced, tightly clutching the straps of her bag. “S-suspect?! What do you mean?!”

“It’s really quite simple, Mrs. Mañana,” Apollo explained. “Not only were you the only one in the shop, besides Mr. Wright and Ms. Ricks, but you were also wearing gloves.”

“And h-how is this important, might I ask?” said Elle.

“Well, you see, the bottle that was used to hit Ms. Ricks on the head has fingerprints on it,” Apollo said, glancing at the reconstruction as he did so. “Mr. Wright's fingerprints, in fact. True, he had a pair of gloves on him at the time of the arrest, but there's considerable evidence that he wasn't wearing them at the time of the crime. Which means-”

“Objection!! ” Payne shrieked.

Elle grabbed at her heart, and even Apollo had gotten rather startled.

For the first time since the adjournment, Payne flipped his hair anew. “This is something you have not yet presented to the court, Mr. Justice,” he said, sounding decidedly displeased. “It's a very immature tactic to make things up as you go.”

Apollo, surprisingly angered, slammed his fists on his stand. “I am not making this up! I can prove it without a doubt!”

“Can you, now?” said the judge. “Well, then, why don't you share with us what you're talking about?”

“Sure,” Apollo said. “May I please see the video one more time?”

Payne scoffed. “We've seen that thing enough times, already.”

“The tape, Mr. Payne,” the judge said sternly, and so, it was played.

Apollo, feeling rather excited by this getting-ahead-of-Payne, paused it near the end, as Phoenix came on-screen for the last time.

“Mr. Payne, I suppose you could answer this next question for me,” Apollo said, folding his arms with great satisfaction. “What is my client doing in the video, at this moment?”

“It... appears he is... dialing a number,” Payne said, smelling a bad outcome for him, though confused as to what Apollo was getting at.

“Thank you, Mr. Payne,” Apollo said, nodding. “Now, does anybody in this courtroom have a cell phone? Anyone? Perhaps you, Mrs. Mañana?”

Elle thought for a moment, before opening a pocket in her purse and carefully retrieving an orange cell phone. It matched the warm orange of her jacket. “Here's mine.”

“Tell me, Mrs. Mañana,” Apollo asked, “is it easy to use your phone?”

“I'd' say it's fairly easy,” Elle replied, sounding vaguely ill at ease. “Why?”

“Is it as easy to use with gloves on?” Apollo said, smirking. “That is, is it any harder to dial numbers with them?”

“N-no, it's rather hard,” she replied, before glaring. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I'm just making a point, Mrs. Mañana,” said Apollo. “Mr. Payne, earlier, you proved that Mr. Wright's gloves could not be discerned from his skin, correct?”

“That is... correct,” Payne replied. Sweat shone from atop his head. “What point are you trying to make, Mr. Justice?”

“I'm just confirming a hunch, Mr. Payne,” Apollo replied. “You see, shortly after Ms. Ricks was killed, Mr. Wright appeared to call the police on his cell phone.”

He paused, taking a breath or two for good measure, before continuing. Elle, seeing that he wasn't going to ask about it anymore, returned her cell phone to the front pocket of her purse. Payne cleared his throat. “Yes, and?” he said.

“ I'm getting to it,” Apollo said, frowning a little. “Now, if he were the killer, he'd have to have taken off his gloves after performing the murder in order to call the police, however illogical that may be. For, you see, Mrs. Mañana,” he said, now addressing her with a rather determined stare, “there are no prints on the bottle that account for it being held by the neck to hit someone with! The attacker was, without a doubt, wearing gloves!”

His voice was rising, gaining a beautiful intensity that caused even Phoenix's angled eyebrows to rise. Payne looked like had been dumped, waist-deep, into a very cold lake, on the other hand.

“Therefore, Mrs. Mañana, I return to my earlier statement of you being the prime suspect,” Apollo continued. “In fact, I would argue that you are the only suspect, on account of this.”

“O-o-only suspect?!” Elle squeaked, her knuckles white from their grip on her bag. “Wh-what do you mean? Where's your proof?”

Apollo sighed. “I'll repeat it for you, if you'd like,” he said evenly. “Not only is it confirmed that you were wearing gloves that night, but you were shown to be in a position that corresponds with the killer's entry on the videotape, and you fled the scene! You are also the only person, other than Mr. Wright, who was in the store as a customer!

“Plus,” Apollo added, completely losing his even tone of a few seconds prior, “Mr. Wright has been proven innocent, hasn't he?”

There was a knock of wood on wood as the judge pounded on his gavel. “Not officially!” he said resolutely.

Silence filled the court.

“Er... is that all, Your Honor?” Apollo said, a decidedly confused look on his face.

“That is all,” said the judge.

Apollo took a moment to collect himself, before slamming his fists on the defense stand. “Mrs. Mañana, in the light of all this evidence, I would have to conclude... that you are the killer!!”

Elle looked positively furious. “How dare you,” she said, nearly whispering. “I am not!”

“Do you have any evidence to support yourself, Mrs. Mañana?” Apollo said, folding his arms, smiling. There was no way she could possibly...

“My purse,” Elle said, a chilling expression of determination on her face.

“Your... er, what?” Apollo said. Her what?!

“ In that video, the one you showed us all just now? The killer didn't have a purse with them,” Elle replied, matter-of-factly. “Mr. Attorney, I would never take my purse off in a place like that. It was a present to me by my husband, and it has all my ID, cards, pictures of my son...”

“Your point is...?” Apollo said, trying hard not to look hugely disappointed.

“My point is, Mr. Attorney,” Elle said, a trace of poisonous smugness in her voice, “that I would never, ever take my purse off in a convenience store. It's just too risky!”

“From the way she's so protectively holding it,” Payne said, managing a half-hearted tap to his head, “I'd have to say that Mrs. Mañana is indeed quite attached to her handbag.”

“I can't possibly be the murderer!” Elle continued. “It has to have been someone else! Maybe somebody came in through the emergency exit!”

“Objection!!” Apollo screamed, barely able to keep his anger from seeping into his yell. “Mrs. Mañana, there is absolutely no way that the killer entered that way, or exited!”

“Wh-why is that?” Elle said, frowning.

“Emergency exitsnever open from the outside,” Apollo said, though his voice wavered. “Besides... er, wouldn't the killer have come from the front, rather than go through all the trouble of getting through the back?”

“Objection!! ” Payne flipped his hair, much to Apollo's annoyance. Would he everstop doing that?! “To use your own words against you, Mr. Justice, that's only conjecture,” he said, a slimy snideness in his voice.

Apollo grimaced, his stomach plunging into a bucket of ice.

“Apollo, it's okay. Just hang in there,” Iris said softly, putting a comforting hand on his arm.

Elle sighed. “Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just go around accusing people like that!” she said, rolling her eyes. She glared at Apollo, as if challenging him. “Mr. Attorney, unless you can prove I was definitely the murderer, them I'm as innocent as you!”

She's right! Apollo thought, horrifiedly. His face contorted and squirmed as he thought of some way, any way he could prove something.

“Sometimes, the best course of action... is to bluff, I guess,” came Iris's voice, hushed and almost ashamed.

“There's one thing she hasn't yet mentioned,” Phoenix added—or was it just Phoenix's voice? Apollo's eyes were closed tight in concentration, and he didn't know if anyone was speaking to him at all.

It's the most important piece of evidence, but nobody knows where it is. The evidence that she shouldn't know about

Another voice touched his ears, female and unfamiliar—and yet, it was right!

There was something that Elle shouldn't know about! The one piece of undeniable proof!

Apollo sighed, regaining his cool. “I'm so sorry, Mrs. Mañana. Thinking it over, you can't possibly be the killer. I mean, after all,” he added, smiling slightly, “you'd never hide such a bloody knife in your beloved purse or anything, would you?”

“Of course not!” Elle replied. “The thing was absolutely coated in blood, I would never!”

Everything went silent. Elle immediately grew suspicious.

“Why are you all staring at me?” she said, looking from defense, to judge, to prosecution, to observers. “What is it?”

Apollo, full of cool confidence, folded his arms. “How did you know a knife was even involved, Mrs. Mañana?” he said. “After all, you ran away in fear after you saw the killer hit her on the head with a bottle.”

Elle nearly jumped a foot in the air out of astonishment, and the grip on her purse intensified to a near bone-breaking strength. “Well, I saw him slit her throat!” she said. “I really did!”

“Where, Mrs. Mañana?” Apollo asked.

“The corner of the shop, of course,” she replied. “Right before I ran away, I saw him slit her throat.”

Apollo shook his head. “Not this again...” he said. “If that were the case, Mrs. Mañana, then I doubt you'd be here speaking to us today.”

“Well... what do you mean?” she said, frowning.

“If you really were where you said you were,” Apollo said, holding the floor plan before him, “then the killer would have seen you as they made their escape, I believe. Besides,” he added, “according to the video, the only way the killer could have left SquickMart is through the emergency exit. I doubt that, if that were to happen and the killer exited right after you, Mrs. Mañana, then your safety wouldn't exactly be guaranteed.”

Elle glowered. “All right, so I didn't actually see it happen,” she said, diverting her eyes in angry embarrassment. “But! I saw it in that video you showed us! That must be where I'm remembering.”

Apollo shook his head, smiling ever so slightly. “You're a very clever woman, Mrs. Mañana,” he said. “You've certainly proven how you could have seen the knife. However,” he added, “there is one thing you have yet to tell us.”

He slammed his fists down, and like an executioner pulling the lever on the gallows, said, “How did you know that the knife had been hidden?!”

Elle's arms froze, folded across her chest. She gasped. “H-hidden?!”

“You were out of this court when it was revealed that the investigation of the crime scene could not find the knife—the murder weapon!” Apollo said, his voice filled with fire and conviction. “The knife was also never mentioned at all during the cross-examination, Mrs. Mañana, so you can't have heard it there, either!”

Elle bit her thumb, before suddenly cracking into a smile. A very, very uneasy smile. “My goodness! Wh-what is the police force coming to?” Elle said, laughing nervously. “They can't find a murder weapon? Not even a blood-stained knife? They must not be looking hard enough. I mean, it's a fairly small knife, it could be stuffed anywhere!”

“OBJECTION!!” Apollo cried. “Mrs. Mañana, how could you possibly know what size the knife was?”

“Er... I... I...” Elle stammered, her face white as a sheet. “I saw it on the video!”

“On the contrary, Mrs. Mañana,” Apollo replied. “You can't tell the size of the knife at all on the tape—the handle and the majority of the blade are obscured by the sleeve of the attacker's jacket.”

Elle gulped.

Then, she screamed.

She screamed a scream like that of a lioness, or a she-bear, her beautiful black hair blowing in some angry, unseen wind.

“SHE WAS ASKING FOR IT!” she growled.“SLEEPING WITH MY HUSBAND LIKE SHE DID! THE WHORE DESERVED TO DIE!”

As Elle stood alone on the stand, panting as the outraged court burst into murmurs and shouts, Apollo found himself panting for other reasons entirely—he felt absolutely thrilled.

“My goodness!” the judge exclaimed. “Bailiff, I believe we have our murderer! Take her awa-”

“OBJECTION!!!”

It was Payne, the sweat disgustingly causing his hair to stick to his face.

“Th-th-there is one thing you are gravely overlooking, M-Mr. Justice,” he said, managing a crooked, nervous smile, and even a floppy flip of the hair.

“Er... Mr. Payne, we got a confession,” Apollo said, feeling almost pitiful for the man.

“That is t-true,” Payne said, “but you have yet to prove one last thing!”

Apollo gulped—did Payne have a trump card?! Oh no... “Wh-what is it?” he said.

“ Just a simple thing, really,” Payne replied, the slightest hint of a pleased tone in his voice. “Tell us where Mrs. Mañana's murder weapon is. After all, if she's the killer, then she has to have hidden it somewhere.”

Apollo blinked, his eyebrows knit. “...can't we just ask her?”

“I'm not saying anything more,” Elle said, fiercely, through gritted teeth.

“See? If we can't find the knife, then there's no right to take Mrs. Mañana into custody,” Payne said, his glasses flashing. “You know first-hand what inconclusive evidence can do in court. Do you remember Luke Atmey, Mr. Wright?”

Phoenix smiled a little, and waved his hand. “Mr. Payne, I'm not defending here. But I do remember Mr. Atmey.”

Condescendingly, Payne semi-flicked his hair, his arrogance back with a vengeance. “I thought as much.” He returned to addressing Apollo. “Well, Mr. Justice? Have you any idea where the murder weapon may be?”

Apollo frowned, running his head over his bangs as he wracked his brain over the facts.

There was nothing!! Nothing was at his fingers—a dead end!

Apollo.

Where in the world could it have been?!

Apollo.

Where would she hide it?!

Look at her, Apollo. What do you see?

Who said that?

Look at her, Apollo.

There was a voice. That unfamiliar, female voice.

What do you see?

“What do I see...?” Apollo said softly, to himself, as he focused on Elle's seething face.

Suddenly, something strange, something powerful surged behind his eyes.

Uncontrollably, he found himself looking at her hands, nervously clinging to her purse. Clinging like they had been each time... Each time...

All of a sudden, he realized it.

It was all too simple.

Apollo smiled. “I believe I have the solution, Mr. Payne,” he said. “Mrs. Mañana, would you please allow us to examine the contents of your purse?”

Elle's eyes widened, and she clung more fiercely to the straps. “Why?!” she yelled, although by now, it was obvious why.

“It's because you've got a knife in there,” Apollo replied. “Won't you let us see it? It's no use hiding it anymore.”

What little color remained in Payne's face left as the bailiff extracted the purse from Elle's suddenly yielding arms.

Amidst the lipstick and wallets, there was a knife, dried blood still all along its blade.

“I do believe we have, without a doubt, our killer now, Your Honor,” Apollo said, as the court exploded with scandal-induced yelling.

The judge, his eyes wide, nodded. “Bailiff! Please have Mrs. Mañana arrested immediately!”

The two officers grabbed Elle, locking her hands behind her in cuffs. With the sudden realization that she was bound, that she was caught, she began to scream again, causing the court to go silent in shock.

“YOU MONSTERS! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME! WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY SON?! MY ANGEL! NO, MY ANGEL!! LET ME GO, LET ME GO!!”

Wailing and sobbing by this point, Elle Mañana was taken out of the court.

After a large amount of stunned, almost pitiful silence, the judge cleared his throat.

“I do believe,” he said, “that the verdict in this case has been undeniably reached. The court finds the defendant, Mr. Phoenix Wright...

...Not Guilty. Court is adjourned!”

And, almost numb from the realization that he had won the trial, Apollo was quickly given a very long and very grateful hug from a very, very, happy Iris Wright.

-///-

“Uh, Mr. Wright, you can have your badge back,” Apollo said, once they had gotten out of the courtroom. “I, uh, don't think I'll be needing it anymore.”

Phoenix, with another one of his warm smiles as Apollo dropped the badge into his open hand, said, “Really? I'm surprised! You did so well in there, especially that thing you figured out about the purse—how did you do that, anyways?”

Apollo squinted—howdid he figure that out, anyways? “Well,” he said, scratching the back of his head, “I guess it was just something I noticed her doing every time the subject of the actual murder came up.”

“Ah, a tell, you mean?” Phoenix said. “That takes quite a lot of skill, Mr. Justice!”

“Nah, it was more of a coincidence,” Apollo replied, not exactly wanting to add that he had noticed it because of the weird voice in his head. Voices in heads tended to not be well received. “When push came to shove, I think I just picked the right hunch, is all!”

“And a very good hunch it was!” Iris said. “It won the trial for us.”

“...not really, Iris,” Phoenix said, smiling a little embarrassedly—though was it on Apollo's behalf or his own? “I'd argue that the trial was won long before that Mrs. Mañana showed up, thanks to our friend Mr. Justice.”

“Aw, well... I just tried my best!” Apollo said brightly. “Looks like it just worked out, huh?”

“Sure did, thanks to some quick thinking from both you and my Iris.” Fondly, he stroked a bang behind her ear and kissed her slightly on the head. She giggled. “Speaking of which, 'Ris,” he said, scratching his forehead, “where did you find this kid? I thought I told you to go look for Grossberg.”

The words jumped from Apollo's mouth before he could even think about stopping himself. “G-Grossberg?! You were looking for Grossberg?!”

Iris and Phoenix both blinked. “You know him?” they said.

“Know him? He's my-” Apollo began, but was interrupted by a hearty clearing of the throat by the man himself.

“Well, well, well! Apollo, m'lad, what brings you here, so far away from my trial?” he said. “I was looking all—well bless my soul, if it isn't Phoenix Wright!” Grossberg's face lit up, just a little. “What a surprise! Been staying out of trouble, m'boy?”

Phoenix nodded, and grinned. “With the help of this brilliant young man, of course.”

Grossberg blinked. “What, Apollo? Help you?” he said.

“Apollo defended Phoenix in court today,” Iris beamed. “All by himself.”

“You helped a little, you know, Mrs. Wright...” Apollo said, wishing dearly that his face wasn't as red as his suit by now. “Your husband did, too.” And that strange voice, but he wasn't exactly going to mention that...

“My word, Apollo, you've certainly been busy while you were away,” Grossberg said. “If you don't mind me asking, just how in the world did you get acquainted with the Wrights in the first place?”

“That would be my fault, actually,” Iris said, waving her hand as she smiled. “I was told to try and find you, Mr. Grossberg, because there was a bit of trouble last night, and Phoenix was going on trial for it.”

Grossberg peered over the top of his glasses. “Trouble, you say?” he said.

Phoenix nodded. “Yep. I happened to be the witness to a revenge killing by a vengeful wife, and all the blame fell on me,” he said, and laughed. Apollo blinked—he thought it was funny?! “We couldn't find a lawyer in time, but I had a hunch that you'd be here today.”

“Which is why you sent me to go and find Mr. Grossberg,” Iris said, leaning her head in Phoenix's direction rather fondly. “Unfortunately... well, I couldn't find you, and the trial was about to start... I was put into such a panic...” She glanced downward, looking rather embarrassed at her behavior.

“Which is why you were so... er, upset when you grabbed me?” Apollo said.

“Exactly. But it's all right now,” Iris said, and smiled. The heart of every man present just about skipped a beat. “I'm really sorry I mistook you for a lawyer at first, Apollo. You really did well, though.”

Apollo smiled. “Glad I did!” he said. “I mean, compared to your husband—he's a lawyer, right?—how well did I do?”

As Apollo and Iris began talking, Phoenix motioned for Grossberg to follow him, and they stepped a few feet away. “Grossberg, I dunno about you, but from what I've seen today... wow.” He shook his head, almost in amazement. “That kid's got to be some sort of prodigy. I'd have to say that, if you polished them up a bit, his skills are on par with mine!”

Grossberg's eyes widened. “My word...” he said. “Are you serious?”

“I wouldn't lie,” Phoenix said, nodding. He glanced at Apollo and Iris over his shoulder, before looking at the floor. “You've got kid with lots of raw talent working under you, Grossberg. I'd hate to see it go to waste.”

Suddenly, he smiled, and looked up. “Hey, why don't you let me train him?”

“Train him?” Grossberg said, rather loudly. Phoenix shushed him. “Train him for what?” Grossberg continued, much softer.

“To be a lawyer,” Phoenix replied. “From what I've seen so far, he's got the potential to be a fantastic defense attorney. He's already good enough to fool Payne! Did you know that they didn't even notice when I lent him my badge halfway through the trial?”

“You lent him your badge?” Grossberg said, wrinkling his brow.

Phoenix sighed. “Nevermind! What I mean to say is that he's already good enough to be a lawyer as it is, that much is true. He just needs to become one officially. And you know what...” He scratched his chin, thoughts turning in his mind. “I'm sure he could pass the bar exam easily, from what he's learned working under you...”

“You are absolutely out of your mind, Wright m'lad,” Grossberg chuckled.

“Come on, Grossberg,” Phoenix implored, almost to the point of whining. “You know I'm right.”

Almost winsomely, Grossberg glanced at the young man chatting with Iris, and sighed. “He was only 18 when he came to my door, asking for a job,” he said. “Just 18, can you believe it? Such an eager boy. To think that he's learned all that from me...?” He sighed again, a deep, almost regretful sigh. “I'm going to miss that boy. I'm going to miss him.”

Phoenix very nearly gave the old man a hug. “Thank you,” he said. “This really is the right thing to do.”

Grossberg chuckled again. “Oh, I can already guess that's so,” he said. “You run along now, tell Apollo your plans. I must be getting on my way...”

Phoenix smiled. “Sure thing,” he said. “Hey, Apollo! I got an idea!”

“What is it, Mr. Wright?” Apollo said.

“Why don't we take you out to dinner? You know, as a thank you?” he said. “It's too late for lunch.”

“That sounds wonderful!” Iris said, clasping her hands together. “I know a wonderful restaurant we can go to.”

“Aw... gosh, you guys really don't have to...” Apollo said, smoothing his bangs as his face turned slightly pink.

“Really, I insist!” the both of them said.

Apollo smiled a little nervously at the sudden hospitality. “Wait... where'd Mr. Grossberg go?”

“He told me he was going home,” Phoenix said. “Come on, Apollo, it's the least we can do.”

“Well... all right, I guess,” Apollo said, smiling. “If you really want to.”

“Wonderful! Our car's this way,” Iris said, pointing down the hallway. “You know what, Feenie, I'm sure Trucy'd love to meet Apollo too.”

“Yeah, I think she would,” Phoenix agreed, laughing.

“...uh, who's Trucy?” Apollo asked.

“Our daughter,” Iris and Phoenix both replied.

“Ah!” Apollo said, imagining a cute little raven-haired girl, standing no taller than his waist. The Wrights didn't seem all that old, anyways—maybe only in their early 30's. He smiled. “I bet she's really cute. How old is she?”

“15,” Iris and Phoenix replied.

Apollo jerked a little. “Uh... wow, that's... well...” How could he put it without being rude? “Well, if it worked out for the two of you back then, then I'm glad for you!” he said, attempting to not sound skeeved-out at all.

Iris turned bright pink, once she realized what Apollo was trying, modestly, to imply. “She's adopted, actually...” she said quietly.

“Oh! Oh, well... yeah! That explains a lot!” he said, nervously forcing a laugh. “Sorry!”

“It's all right,” Phoenix said, having a good laugh from the whole thing. “She should be home from school by now, so we'll stop at home first. Ah, there's our car.” By now at the exit of the court house, they pointed to a rather modest blue car parked outside. “Iris'll drive.”

“Of course,” Iris said, smiling, as they exited.

“So, Apollo,” Phoenix said coolly, as they walked down the steps together. “How'd you feel about becoming a lawyer?”

-///-

Thus ends Case A-1, The Accidental Turnabout. :D

Please tell me what you thought about it! Case 2 will be up before you know it!