26DONA DIPRIMA: ACE APPRENTICE ATTORNEY
Case 3 – The Festive Turnabout
Investigation: Part 1
October 31, 2031
7:15 PM
Global Studios – Party Hall
After Will called the police, he ordered some other employees to usher the party-goers out of the hall, leaving only him and Dona standing in front of the display. Ironically, the silence felt more eerie than the creepy music that was being played on the loudspeakers earlier.
"I can't believe this is happening…" Will whimpered, sounding like a deep-voiced terrified child. "How did you figure out that this was a real body, Dona?"
"It was the flies," she replied while gazing at the deceased, still feeling slightly sick to her stomach. "They were only gathering on this so-called 'mannequin'. I was worried about health and safety regulations being violated, so I performed a closer examination. There were other telltale signs I discovered that helped me reach this conclusion."
"Oh man… I'm so sorry that you had to find something as ghastly as this! Do you want to sit down or something?"
"I'm okay. To be honest, this isn't the first time I've had the displeasure of finding a dead body."
"Really? Now that I think about it, your lady friend there looked like she was going to puke up a week's worth of food, and yet you're totally fine despite being the first discoverer. If this isn't your first time, then that would explain it. In any case, it's a good thing you told me right when you did. I certainly wouldn't want any of the kids to have found Mr. Blaich first."
"So who is this Blaich fellow anyway?" Dona wondered.
"His name's Mael Blaich. He is… Or was, the assistant director for Mr. Sal Manella, the creator and director of Steel Samurai, Pink Princess, and Bronze Ronin. Mr. Manella was the creative genius, but Mr. Blaich provided the direction and scenarios. He was supposed to be on stage with me for the Glittering Geisha contest, and we were to be in the panel of judges for deciding the winner."
"So the winner would become part of this new show?"
"Right. The Glittering Geisha is supposed to be the princess of Neo Olde Tokyo, Princess Maiko, but she wants to fight for her kingdom against her cruel father, the Dark Shogun, and his subordinate, the Evil Magistrate. She's only six years old though, but she uses her mother's heirloom, the Glittering Ring, to transform into a costumed teenager and help the Steel Samurai and Pink Princess out, while harboring feelings for their grown up son, the Iron Soldier. But don't let the part about the princess being the Geisha be leaked to the presses," Will whispered in a hushed tone.
"Why not?"
"That's supposed to be the big twist in the story. The spoiler, if you would. Until that point, her identity's supposed to be a mystery."
"I see. So why did you tell me just now?"
"Only staff and the contestants know about it. Everyone else believes that the princess and the Geisha are two separate characters. In fact, even everyone we invited to this party has no clue. All they know is that this contest is to decide who will take on Princess Maiko's role. But now that the whole thing's been called off, we have no choice but to divulge this information to the police. Since you're going to be questioned, I figured it'd be best to let you in on it as well."
"I suppose you're right. I wouldn't want to accidentally give away the director's storyline to the wrong people," Dona shook her head. "I'm just surprised that you're so well-prepared for such a situation, Mr. Powers."
"Yeah, well…" Will sighed. "I don't know if you know this, but a long time ago, I was accused of murdering one of my co-stars, and Mr. Wright was my attorney. Gosh, hard to believe it's been 15 years already. You would've just been a little tyke back then."
"I didn't know that. I'll have to look it up in his files later."
"Funny that we're both so experienced with murder, huh? What a world we live in."
Dona put her hands in her pockets, silently agreeing with Will about the sorry state of the world. They eventually heard the police sirens outside, and some officers arrived at the scene to meet with them. Leading them was none other than Detective Heather Fenberry, the same woman that Dona worked with four years ago.
"My, my, my, my…" Heather sighed in exasperation. "What a coincidence to see you like this again, Dona DiPrima."
"You make it sound like finding dead bodies is some kind of morbid hobby of mine, Detective," Dona muttered.
"I wasn't implying that. It just seemed like bad karma, that's all."
"It's been a while, and yet it feels like nothing's changed."
"Well, no point in complaining about it. So tell me what happened that lead you to find the body."
Dona explained everything in detail to the detective, and the older woman wrote it all down in her notebook. Heather couldn't help but remark, "What a crude way to hide a corpse – right in the middle of a Halloween party, and with little kids about to take the stage too. But I can understand the killer's intention; it blended in almost perfectly with the rest of the scenery. I've heard of the phenomenon where people mistake suicide victims for mannequins during the Halloween season, but disguising a homicide victim is a first for me."
"No one appeared to suspect a thing, so the ploy worked for a while," Dona said.
"So why did you go to such great lengths to inspect it when no one else did? And how did you know what checks to make in the first place?"
"Remember my butler, Adelbert Krandes? He used to be an MI6 agent, and he told Diva and I about a bunch of things he learned that he thought would be useful for our law careers. One of them was identifying how long someone has been dead through skin color, blood mottling, expulsion of internal gases, and other factors. In this day and age of autopsies though, I never thought I'd find any practical use for that information until now."
"MI6, huh…?" Heather appeared to be lost in thought.
"Is something the matter, Detective?"
"No, it's nothing."
"So has forensics been able to determine the cause of death?"
"After we removed the prop rope around the victim's neck, we found ligature marks consistent with something like a garrote or a thin piece of cloth beneath. The prop rope would hardly have been enough to cause such tight markings, so the hanging had to have happened postmortem. We also found fingernail marks showing that the victim tried to resist, but was ultimately unsuccessful."
"So this isn't a suicide?"
"No. This is most definitely a homicide. In addition, there was a large injury on the back of his head, but we believe it's not related to the actual death."
"Hm…" Dona murmured. "Do you know what the time of death was?"
"Not conclusively, but since the body wasn't kept under extreme conditions, the decomposition analysis should be fairly straightforward. Why do you want to know that?"
"I'm just worried that you're suspecting me since I'm the first discoverer, so I want to know the time of death to corroborate my alibi."
"Ever the prudent one, as always," Heather scoffed. "The forensics guys should be done soon. I'll let you know as soon as possible so I can get your statement."
Not being able to offer anything else to the investigation, Dona sat in an available chair and observed the officers investigating the crime scene. She figured that she had done everything possible, and that she wouldn't have any further involvement in this case. Yet for some reason, something kept bugging her in the back of her mind.
Why do I feel like I'm missing something extremely crucial here?
While she was waiting, she called Adelbert to notify him of her situation, and then followed that with a call to Diva.
"No way!" was the predictable response Dona got out of her sister.
"I'm afraid so. I already told Bertie what's going on, so you go on home ahead of me."
"Oooh, that's no fair! Why didn't you tell me during the party!? I would've loved to have taken part in the investigation!"
"That's what you're upset about?" Dona muttered.
"Think about it! Prosecutor Gavin is definitely going to prosecute this case, right!? Shadowing such a handsome man while searching for clues to a grisly murder is my dream come true! I'd be the beautiful assistant to a superstar! Think of the movies and novels our escapades would inspire!"
"I'd hate to break this to you, but it doesn't look like Mr. Gavin is going to be the prosecutor."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I just saw the detective talking to a well-dressed man. I don't know who he is, but I noticed him wearing a prosecutor's badge on his lapel."
"Aww. The PO already assigned someone else? Oh well. Can't hog every show out there," Diva grumbled in disappointment.
"Well that's how it is. If everything goes well here, I'll see you at home later."
Dona hung up and continued waiting. After another 10 minutes, a forensics specialist finished talking to Heather, and she approached Dona and said, "Sorry for the wait. We've determined that the estimated time of death was between 1:30 to 2:00 PM today."
"Then my alibi is rock solid. I was in classes at Themis during that time. My professor, Byron Lawe, and my classmates can attest to that."
"Then you're free to go."
"Good luck with the search. I'll keep an eye on this case in the papers."
Heather escorted Dona out of the party hall to Global Studios' front entrance, where a sickly pale Athena was waiting for her. She had been greatly disturbed by the crime scene and gotten sick as much as she could. Widget even had a sad blue expression on its face to symbolize her distress.
"There you are!" Athena exclaimed to Dona. "Is everything okay!?"
"Detective Fenberry gave me the green light to leave for tonight. I've given her all the details I could, and my alibi will definitely check out."
"Thank God! I can't stand this place anymore! I wanna go back and have a nice long shower!"
As they prepared to leave the studio, Dona said to Heather, "If you have any more questions for me, I'm apprenticing at the Wright Anything Agency from 3 PM 'til 7 PM on weeknights. Otherwise you can call my house."
"Very good."
"Then if you'll excuse me."
Dona headed back to her car in the parking lot and prepared to return home for the night. The others agreed to take a taxi back to the agency, leaving her alone to think about the evening's outrageous events. She had been confined in the studio for questioning for about two hours and was starting to get tired. She let out a good yawn, anticipating that Diva and Adelbert would barrage her with questions before she could get a good night's sleep. However, she wouldn't even be able to open the door to her car when she found an impatient Diva waiting for her nearby.
"There you are!" the older twin yelled. "My god, that took forever!"
"What are you still doing here?"
"Isn't that obvious!? I got so worried about you that I couldn't go home by myself!"
"What is there to worry about?"
"That the police would falsely accuse you because you were the first discoverer. It happens all the time, doesn't it?"
"I guess so. But that's not going to happen this time. The estimated time of death is between 1:30 and 2:00 PM today, and we were both in classes then."
"Really!? That's great!" Diva let out an exhale of relief. "Bertie will be happy to hear that!"
Although Dona was equally consoled with the estimated time, she still couldn't shake off the persistent feeling that she had overlooked something vital. Diva noticed her sister's troubled look and asked, "What's wrong? You feeling tired?"
"I am, but there's something on my mind…"
"Like what?"
"It's weird. I've got it on the tip of my tongue, but it's not coming to me…"
"My! Did you forget to tell something to the police!?" Diva barked.
"Of course not. Who do you take me for?" Dona glared. "It's nothing to do with me discovering the victim. I think it's something about the victim himself, but I'm not entirely positive…"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure."
Diva sighed, then patted her sister's shoulder and exclaimed, "You're probably just exhausted, that's all. Come on, let's go home and have Bertie whip us up some hot chocolate."
"Speaking of which, did you call him to let him know you were going to be late?"
"Eh…? Well, uh…"
"You waited two hours for me out here, and not once did you think about calling him?"
"W-Well what about you!? You were probably too busy answering questions to let him know!"
"I remembered to tell him."
"Er…" Diva's hesitant smile had an edge of nervousness to it. "O-Oh ho ho ho! I'm sure he'll understand! He knows that our line of work will involve long hours of investigations!"
"Except we're students, not professional attorneys. Don't be surprised if he slams some kind of curfew on you. You know how much he hates being kept out of the loop about our activities."
"Aw, man…"
November 1, 2031
2:55 PM
Wright Anything Agency
After Dona finished her classes for the day, she headed straight to the agency and entered the office. It was a complete mess as usual, but she had grown accustomed to navigating around the flagrantly disheveled space. Phoenix, Apollo and Trucy were nowhere to be seen, but Athena was sitting on the couch watching the news.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Cykes," Dona said while hanging her jacket on the stand. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. I thought I was gonna have nightmares about it, but I slept like a log," Athena smiled. "Imagine that! Someone having the gall to hide a murder victim right in the middle of a Halloween party! The news stations have been going crazy over this story!"
"I'm a minor, so my testimony should remain anonymous to the public. I shouldn't be getting any pesky reporters on my doorstep anytime soon."
"Oh, about that. Although the crime scene really disturbed me, I wanted to hear what happened from you directly. The news reporters were rather vague about the details since the police didn't want to release all of the information they had."
"I don't mind."
Dona focused on making some food for them to eat while she explained the previous evening's events to Athena. After hearing her junior's story, Athena grinned, "Wow, that's really something else. I don't think I would've been able to keep my head on straight if I was in your position. Apollo might have Chords of Steel, but you've got Nerves of Steel. Hey, I like that! I think I'll call you that from now on!"
"Please don't. There's only so much silliness I can take."
"Ha ha! You're so funny sometimes!"
As Athena giggled at Dona's expense, they heard the TV blare with an urgent news message. The male reporter announced, "We have breaking news in the Global Studios Halloween murder case. Police have taken in a man for questioning after he turned himself in. Although we do not have the full details at this time, we understand that the suspect, 43-year old Benjamin Vanille, had gone to the police station and turned himself in as the culprit behind 40-year old Mael Blaich's murder. Police are telling us that Mr. Vanille is fully cooperating with the investigation, and that he will plead guilty to the charges to reduce his sentence."
"Wow. So the suspect turned himself in already? That was rather quick," Athena muttered.
"Well, with him pleading guilty, this case won't be dragged out with a trial," Dona said as she opened her textbooks and began to do her homework. "Diva's probably fuming that she couldn't participate in this case as Prosecutor Gavin's apprentice. No need to worry about it any further."
Just then, the office door echoed with several knocks. Athena called out, "Come in!"
The door opened, and in walked none other than Tiara Fulsome and her daughter Tabitha. The overdressed mother chirped, "Good day, Dona-dear! Is Trucy-dear available right now?"
"It looks like she's gone out at the moment," Dona said as she looked around the office for the magician.
"She's practicing for a show today, so she won't be in for the rest of the day. Is there something you need, ma'am?" Athena asked.
"Oh dear, I am in quite the pickle," Tiara looked a little flustered. "You see, the usual babysitter that I hire for Tabby is sick, and I am quite frightfully busy this afternoon. Then I remembered that Trucy-dear was co-owner of the Wright Anything Agency and thought that she could help me out of this jam. Oh, but if she's not available, perhaps I could ask you to do this favor for me, Dona-dear?"
"A favor? You mean you want me to watch your daughter for you?" Dona raised an eyebrow.
"Precisely."
"But Ms. Fulsome, this is a legal office. We're not exactly a childcare service."
"Oh, but the office is called the Wright Anything Agency, right? I figured that Mr. Wright and his daughter ran an odd job business aside from their legal services."
"Well, um…" Dona scratched her chin and thought, Damn it. That 'anything' part of the name is an easy loophole for clients to treat us like doormats. I should have a word or two with Trucy about this.
"Hey, why not?" Athena said. "As long as we're compensated, there's nothing wrong with watching your daughter for the day."
"Yes, yes, I will pay whatever fee you require!" Tiara beamed jubilantly. "Oh, thank you so much… Why, I don't believe I got your name, missy."
"Athena Cykes, ace attorney!"
"Oh, Athena-dear! You're such a doll! You hear that, Tabby? These nice two ladies will be babysitting you today, so you be on your best behavior, okay?"
"Okay," Tabitha nodded.
"My, my, my, what a rush I'm in. To think my ex-husband would do something like this is just ridiculous! You wouldn't believe all of the appointments I had to cancel just to be by his side!"
"Your ex-husband?" Dona wondered.
"We divorced two years ago, but we still keep in contact with each other for Tabby's sake. I heard on the radio about how he turned himself in for Mr. Blaich's murder. Oh, why would he do something so foolish like that!?"
Athena and Dona's throats choked up at the same time. Their surprised reaction got Tiara's attention, and she asked, "Oh, did you both hear about it too?"
"They had a breaking news segment just now," Dona explained. "Some man named Vanille went to the police and willingly gave himself in."
"Yes, yes! That's my ex-husband, Ben! I've gotta go to the station and find out what the devil is going on here! Sorry, girls, but I can't chat any longer! Take care of Tabby for me!"
Tiara hurriedly shuffled out of the office, nearly tripping on her garish long dress while tightly gripping her red purse. After a minute, Tabitha put her arms behind her back and asked Dona, "Hey, aren't you that ugly girl I met at the party last night? I'd know those huge glasses from anywhere!"
"Excuse me, but my name is not Ugly Girl," Dona sternly folded her arms. "It's Dona DiPrima."
"Oh, sorry. And that chirpy lady who looks like a canary is Athena?"
"Yep, got it right," Athena smiled. "Did you meet Dona yesterday?"
"Mm-hmm! I was chasing after Noir when I saw her at the place with the big stones."
"That was the fake cemetery," Dona explained. "Noir is that little black dog, right?"
"Yep! He's Mr. Blaich's doggy. Mama doesn't let me get near dogs because she hates them, but Mr. Blaich always lets me play with Noir! When I grow up big enough that Mama can't boss me around anymore, I wanna have lots of dogs of my own!"
"Wow, isn't that fantastic!?" Athena commented. "Dogs are said to be a great way to relieve stress, and they provide companionship for people who feel lonely."
"But Mama told me that I won't be able to see Mr. Blaich anymore because Papa did something really, really bad to him," Tabitha became sullen.
Dona and Athena glanced at each other hesitantly. They weren't sure what to say to console the six-year old girl, so Dona instead asked, "What did your mom tell you about Mr. Blaich?"
"Something about how Papa got into a fight with Mr. Blaich and hurt him real badly. But I know Papa would never hurt anyone! He's the nicest person you could ever meet!"
"Well, you'll get to learn that everyone has more than one side to their personalities."
"No way! Papa is my most favorite person in the world! Mama even said that if the police think Papa is a bad guy, he'll be put in jail for a long, long time! I don't want that to happen!"
Tabitha was on the verge of crying. Athena placed her hand on the child's shoulders and moaned, "I'm sorry, honey. But if your dad really did do something bad to Mr. Blaich, then he has to take responsibility for it."
"I know that… Say, aren't there those types of people who go into this big room and argue with other people about what the bad guys do? Like, one side says, 'They did it!' and the other side says, 'No, they didn't!'"
"You're talking about a courtroom," Dona said. "And those people who argue with each other are called attorneys. One side represents the prosecution, or the attorney who proves the suspect's guilt. The other side represents the defense, or the attorney that the suspect hires to prove their client's innocence."
"That's it! That's what Papa needs! He needs that defender person to help him!"
Both women scratched their heads, not sure if they wanted to bombard the idealistic girl with the concept of pleading guilty to avoid a trial. Yet if they didn't make at least some reasonable attempt to explain, Tabitha would just pressure them until they gave in reluctantly. Rather than put up with her incessant whining, Dona replied, "Maybe he does. But from what I understand, your dad hasn't hired a defense attorney."
"What!? Why not!?"
"I think he wants to take responsibility for hurting Mr. Blaich, and he feels there's no need to go to a courtroom to argue about it."
"But Papa would never do that! He never, ever, ever, ever would! This has to be some kind of mistake! Maybe someone else was the one who hurt Mr. Blaich, and Papa is being blamed for it!"
"Hmm…" Athena hummed curiously. "That could be possible…"
"But it didn't look like Mr. Vanille had been coerced into turning himself in," Dona whispered.
"Mama said that you guys are those defender people, right!?" Tabitha asked with a sudden surge of exuberant hope in her voice. "Please defend Papa! You're the only ones who can do it!"
Dona asked, "What about your mom? She's going to the station to talk to your dad, isn't she?"
"She won't protect Papa at all! She might act all nice and friendly with him, but she really, really hates his guts!" Tabitha retorted, then pulled Dona down by the shirt and whispered, "I think she'd be real happy if Papa was in jail so I never got to see him again."
"Eh?" the student widened her eyes in shock.
"Ah, now I get it," Athena crossed her arms. "Custody issues. If Mr. Vanille were to be arrested for this crime, Ms. Fulsome would gain sole custody of Tabitha."
"So what's the problem?" Dona shrugged. "At least she'd still have her mother. Better than being tossed around in foster homes, if you ask me."
"No, no, no, no! You don't get it at all!" Tabitha threw a tantrum. "I don't like Mama at all! She always forces me to wear those awful dresses, and she's always making me wear make-up when I don't want to! I can't hang out with my friends when I want to, and she takes me to these weird places to audition for contests all the time! Papa is way nicer to me! He lets me run around and play, and we go to the dog park so I can see the puppies running around!"
"How often do you get to see your dad?"
"Just on the weekends. I have to stay with Mama on school days."
"So you're scared of losing that precious time you have with your dad…"
Athena and Dona glanced at each other for a moment, then nodded together. Athena said, "I guess there's no harm in going to the detention center and hearing his side of the story. If there really is some sort of foul play going on here, then we should at least hear it and see if he reconsiders his stance."
"You'll listen to what Papa has to say!? Thank you so much, Dona and Thena!" the child cheered.
Dona leaned over Tabitha and said, "You should wait for us to come back."
"Aww, why can't I go with you guys!?"
"We're going to be talking about adult things, and I think you would get bored very easily."
"But we can't leave her at the agency by herself. We need to have someone watch over her while we're busy," Athena frowned.
Dona took out her phone and said, "Let me call Bertie. He might help us out a bit."
She spent several minutes talking with Adelbert, then hung up and said, "He's okay with letting Tabitha stay at my place. He and Nye will babysit her until we get back."
"Oooh, that'll be exciting, Tabby!" Athena grinned. "Dona's house is BIG! You'll have lots and lots of room to play around in!"
"How 'big' big are we talking about?" Tabitha asked.
"Big enough to fit a bunch of elephants in!"
"Wow!" the girl's expression lit up. "I've heard about big, big homes that rich people have! I actually get to play in one like that!? That's gonna be so cool! Everyone in my class will be so jealous!"
"Speaking of elephants in the room," Dona interrupted them with a stern tone, "we're only going to listen to what your dad has to say. If he still doesn't want us to defend him, then there's nothing else we can do. Do you understand, Tabitha?"
"Um… Not really… I mean, why would Papa not want you to defend him?"
"I don't know. That's why we need to talk with him first. But a lawyer always abides by their client's wishes, so if he turns us down, it's our job to respect his decision."
"Hmmm… Okay. I don't know what's going on, but you and Thena are gonna try your best, right?"
"Absolutely!" Athena flashed the peace sign. "We won't let you down, Tabby!"
November 1, 2031
4:15 PM
Detention Center
Dona drove Athena and Tabitha to her house and left the young girl with Adelbert and Nye to babysit. Dona also explained where Tabitha was staying to Tiara so she could pick her up whenever she wanted. Tiara had been surprised to hear about their interest in the case (Dona didn't tell her about Tabitha's request), and provided some details that would be useful when they questioned the culprit. With that sorted out, the two attorneys finally made it to the detention center and arranged to talk to Benjamin Vanille.
"So what did Ms. Fulsome tell you about her ex-husband's arrest?" Athena asked.
"From what I understand, Mr. Vanille was at Global Studios during the victim's estimated time of death, since he had to go through the front security gate and was caught on surveillance cameras going into Mr. Blaich's office. He spent about 10 minutes inside, then ran out flustered for some reason. After the murder was discovered, the police investigated the office and found some blood on the corner of one of the work tables, as well as a patch on the ground next to it."
"Work tables?"
"Mr. Blaich was a creative director, so he was involved in helping Mr. Manella with story direction, as well as designing costumes and making props for their shows. Ms. Fulsome said his office is more like an art studio."
"I get it. So did that blood belong to the victim?"
"The police identified both stains to belong to Mr. Blaich. They think that he had been forcefully shoved onto the corner of the table straight on the back of his head, then collapsed onto the floor."
"Ouch!" Athena winced. "And if Mr. Vanille had left in a panic, then he must be the perpetrator!"
"Must be why he turned himself in – he heard the news of the victim's death and realized that he was responsible, so he gave himself up before the police could look for him."
"I don't know, Dona… Even though Tabitha begged us to defend her dad, this is looking more and more like an open-and-shut case to me."
Dona paused and folded her arms while tapping the floor with her toes. "I wonder about that…"
"Hmm?"
Before Athena could question her junior any further, an officer brought in an ordinary-looking man with trimmed brown hair wearing a typical business suit. Compared to the nauseatingly colorful costumes that Tiara wore, this fellow was frightfully… plain in appearance.
"Hello there," Benjamin Vanille said in a pleasant tone. "I've been told that you're both lawyers who are interested in my case."
"That's right, sir," Athena said, then flashed the peace sign. "My name's Athena Cykes, and this is my apprentice Dona DiPrima. Your ex-wife left your daughter with us while she ran around doing errands, and Tabitha actually asked us to defend you!"
"I see… So you're the ones taking care of Tabitha, and you both came here on her insistence," Ben murmured. "I'm sorry for the trouble she's caused you. She can be quite the handful."
"Hey, don't worry. It's normal for six-year olds to be energetic little things. But we explained to her that if you don't want us to help you, then we have to respect that."
"I appreciate your concern, but I've already pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. I don't think there's any need for your services."
"Let me go over this one more time, Mr. Vanille. Are you absolutely, positively sure that you shoving Mr. Blaich against the table in the heat of the moment caused him to have a fatal head injury?"
"Well, I didn't actually bother to check and make sure… I was in such a panic from the argument spiraling out of control that I got out of there as soon as possible. But I heard from one of the detectives who interrogated me that Mael had a huge head injury that bled out quite a bit. From the pictures he showed me, the wound was on the back of his head, and an x-ray scan showed some fracturing as a result of that fall…"
"Mr. Vanille," Dona became stone-faced. "Was Detective Fenberry among the officers who interrogated you?"
"No, she wasn't. Apparently it was one of the junior officers who spoke with me."
"Then I already have a big problem with this scenario."
"What do you mean, Ms. DiPrima?" Ben's eyes widened.
"I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but I was the one to first discover the body during the party."
"What!? You were!?"
"It's true," Athena nodded. "She alerted Global Studios' staff and had them stop the night's events for the investigation."
"I would have never guessed! I wasn't told anything about this! But what does this have to do with you having a 'big problem' with this?"
Dona took out her notes that she wrote while with Heather and explained, "While I didn't do a thorough examination of the body like the police would, Detective Fenberry told me about how the victim was definitely killed as a result of strangulation with some kind of thin rope or thick thread."
"Are you sure…?"
"Positive. I got to see the ligature marks myself."
"That's insane!" Ben yelped.
"It's not. There are even marks from the victim's fingernails scratching against his skin to remove the murder weapon, but he was unsuccessful and succumbed to strangulation."
"I don't believe this."
Athena put her hands on her hips and demanded, "You weren't told anything about this, Mr. Vanille!?"
"No…"
"That's why I asked him if Detective Fenberry had interrogated him," Dona said. "If she did, she would've invariably told him about this. For a different officer to tell him that Mr. Blaich died from a passionate shove that fractured his skull, it must mean that this strangulation piece was omitted from the discussion."
"Then is that cop trying to frame me!? What the hell is the prosecutor doing!? Why are they keeping this from me!?"
"I don't know," Athena growled, her eyes flared with anger, and Widget turned red, "but now I definitely want to get to the bottom of this! Mr. Vanille, please make me your lawyer! Plead not guilty and let me defend you! I'll find out every nitty gritty detail and shove in their face for everyone to see!"
"Ack-! I-I can see that you're passionate about my case, but…"
"What's wrong!? Just do it!"
"It's just… Do you guys have any proof to support your story?"
"Huh?"
"I see," Dona nodded. "That's a reasonable doubt to have."
"Care to explain?" Athena grumbled.
"It's simple. We don't have any kind of evidence like crime scene photos or the autopsy report to show him. All he has to go on is our word. For all he knows, we could be making all of this up to coerce him into being our client. You know the whole stigma we lawyers have to face about being 'ambulance chasers'. He must be on his guard because of that."
"Ugh… W-Well that's… I mean, you were there, weren't you…?"
"What do you mean?"
"As the first discoverer and all that…?"
"Detective Fenberry said that the victim died at roughly 2:00, while I found the body at almost 7:00. I have no idea what happened before I got involved. All I can tell anyone is what I saw during the party, well after the death occurred."
"Oi…"
"Ms. DiPrima is right," Ben frowned. "Unless you have proof, I can't accept your story, and thus your services."
Just then, a man's voice interjected over the trio, "Then why I don't I help clear up our little misunderstanding, ja?"
The guard opened the door leading to the cells, and in walked Klavier Gavin.
Athena yelped and exclaimed, "Prosecutor Gavin!"
"Achtung, baby," the man gave her a quick two-finger salute. "Couldn't help but overhear your conversation there. I think I can help out a bit by unraveling the tangled web that you have caught yourselves in, little butterflies."
"Can you!?"
"Mr. Vanille, if you would care to take a look at this, I think you'll reconsider your stance," Klavier offered Ben the autopsy report for Mael Blaich.
He spent a few minutes reading through it carefully, then exclaimed, "This is ridiculous! This is hardly the autopsy report that that other prosecutor showed me before!"
"I thought as much."
"What in the world is going on with you prosecutors!? Is this going to be like Manfred von Karma all over again!?"
Athena and Dona glanced at each other, completely perplexed as to who that was. Klavier replied, "On behalf of the Chief Prosecutor and the Prosecutor's Office, I want to extend my deepest apologies for this falsity. I found out about this after I spoke with Detective Fenberry and discovered that you pleaded guilty for killing Mr. Blaich by shoving him against the table, but she found it suspicious because she knows that the victim was killed by strangulation."
"Then what is the meaning of this mix-up, Mr. Gavin?" Ben sternly demanded. "Is there some kind of cover-up going on here?"
"Unfortunately, sir, that appears to be the case. I expediently spoke with Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth about this, and he has formally dismissed that prosecutor for attempted malicious prosecution. Likewise, Detective Fenberry fired the officer who interrogated you since he was in cahoots with that prosecutor."
"My God! What in the world are you people thinking!?"
"I'm not privy to whatever the previous prosecutor was thinking, but I assume that since you turned yourself in and that there was a large wound on the victim's head, he could use that to his advantage by charging you with second-degree murder. It meant he had to alter a lot of the details for the trial, but unlike Von Karma, this fellow wasn't very smart and left a nice little paper trail for us to follow."
"So you're saying my case would have just been another notch on that guy's belt, and that the judge would never have learned the truth?"
"Most likely. If left for too long, the other prosecutor would have destroyed the real documents to eliminate the trail."
"This is too absurd for words," Ben seethed so hard that his body literally shook on its own volition.
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Vanille," Klavier apologized again. "I have taken care of things though, and Mr. Edgeworth has assigned me your case for a fresh review."
"I see. If that's the case, then thank you for your work, Mr. Gavin. I don't want to imagine what kind of disaster would have been wrought upon me if that fellow's ploy actually worked."
"Well, don't be too quick to thank me. If you change your plea to not guilty, I'll have no choice but to prosecute against you."
"And that's where we come in, Mr. Vanille!" Athena chimed in enthusiastically. "You should change your plea and let the Wright Anything Agency defend you! Something fishy is going on, and I want to get to the bottom of this! It's for you and Tabby!"
"Tabitha…" Ben closed his eyes and thought about his daughter. Finally, he opened them with newfound determination and said, "All right. I'll let you represent me, Ms. Cykes."
"Tres bien! We won't let you down!" she flashed the peace sign.
"This means you're officially changing your plea, ja?" Klavier asked him.
"Indeed. I know I shoved Mr. Blaich against that table, but I definitely did not strangle him."
Dona scratched her chin and asked, "So why did you turn yourself in and plea guilty in the first place?"
"I don't know if you've seen the injury to Mr. Blaich's head, but during our heated argument, I pushed him backwards and he lost his balance. He fell and hit his head against the corner of a work bench so hard that I saw some blood, and he had passed out. I panicked and ran out of there as soon as I could, but when I heard he was dead, I was sure that I caused his death. I wanted to do the right thing and turn myself in. But if me pushing him wasn't what really killed him, then…"
"I get it. Seeing such a gross injury would make anyone think incoherently."
"We'll have to do some further investigating to figure out what's going on here," Klavier said, then gave the girls a suave grin. "And with that, I will have to ask you both to come talk to your client at a later time. I have some hard questions of my own that I want to ask Mr. Vanille here, and it may take me a good part of this afternoon."
"Aw, shucks," Athena pouted.
"At least we managed to grant Tabitha's wish," Dona said. "With Mr. Vanille's request for defense in hand, we can go back to Global Studios and investigate Mr. Blaich's office."
"You're right. Let's make haste, then!"
