Ace Attorney: Web of Mistrust

The Misled Turnabout, Part 2 (Niamh)

Mr. Carson walked up to the witness stand in silence. His red eyes were cast downwards. I got the feeling he wasn't in the mood to testify. When he looked up, he refused to meet the eyes of anybody.

"Witness. Name and occupation," Prosecutor Bullgard demanded.

"Name's Carson. I'm the Chief of Detectives," Mr. Carson answered.

"Why have you refused to say your last name?" I asked in curiosity.

"...I have my own reasons for not saying. Reasons you will not hear of," Mr. Carson replied seriously.

"This man sure is tiresome," Ms. Jones whispered. I nodded in reply. She wasn't wrong.

"Defendant!" Prosecutor Bullgard shouted, slamming her hands on the prosecution bench.

"What is it, prosecutor?" Mr. Carson questioned, messing with a small golden locket around his neck. I wondered for a split second of the contents.

"Please testify about why you were at the crime scene in the first place," Prosecutor Bullgard instructed.

Mr. Carson rolled his eyes before nodding. "Fine," he spat, as if the words were poisonous and he was terrified of catching the contagious disease. The recurring question echoed through my head: what is with this man?

WITNESS TESTIMONY: CARSON- CRIME SCENE DETAILS

-I was called to the mansion by a friend of mine, Abilene Umber, who was the owner of said mansion.

-She wished to speak with her about the RB-7 case from two years ago.

-While I was waiting for her to find me, I stumbled upon a gruesome scene:

-The victim was unconscious against a wall, three people, two male and one female, next to her.

-I must have dropped the file in my shock. My apologies for this.

I frowned. The discord from this testimony was overwhelming. He was lying about just about everything he had said. The only thing that rung true was that the mansion was owned by an Abilene Umber character. If I had investigated more, I probably would have run into her at some point or another.

"May the defense begin the analysis?" I questioned.

"A-analysis?" Prosecutor Bullgard stuttered.

"The psychological analysis?" the judge asked. I nodded in reply. The judge did as well. "Very well then."

"What are you two talking about?!" Prosecutor Bullgard demanded.

"The defense is examining the witness' testimony psychologically. Nothing more," I answered.

Prosecutor Bullgard looked as if she wished to retort before sighing. "Go ahead."

PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: CARSON- CRIME SCENE DETAILS

-I was called to the mansion by a friend of mine, Abilene Umber, who was the owner of said mansion.

-She wished to speak with her about the RB-7 case from two years ago.

-While I was waiting for her to find me, I stumbled upon a gruesome scene:

-The victim was unconscious against a wall, three people, two male and one female, next to her.

"GOT IT!"

I smirked and crossed my arms. "Hm... I find that hard to believe," I announced, still smirking.

"And what is that supposed to mean? Usually, I leave the court work to the lawyers and prosecutors, so I'm not used to your flawed logic," Mr. Carson said, a sickly sweet smile on his face. Averl growled at him. I, too, felt anger build up inside me. Who did this man think he was?

"When you said you had seen the victim unconscious with three people next to her, you had an unusual amount of glee as well as anger. Why is that?" I questioned. Here's hoping this doesn't damage our case...

"A long time ago, I met Prosecutor Bloom. She and I immediately didn't get along. After two years of arguments, she was attacked in this case. I guess you could say I was overcome with shock and slight glee at this," Mr. Carson explained.

"You felt no shock at this statement, however!" I exclaimed.

Mr. Carson didn't listen. "I was angry because like I said, I don't get along well with Prosecutor Bloom."

"But I detected anger when you mentioned the other three people!" I retorted. "If I may, who were these other three people?!"

"...I also have strong distaste for these three people. That is all I wish to say. Nothing more is necessary," Mr. Carson answered simply. He shook his head. "You do tire me with your needless questions."

"This isn't what I would call a 'needless' question!" I roared. "The identities of these three people could be crucial! They could be potential witnesses!"

"All three people refused to testify in court today. I would have called them, but they insisted on not being forced into testifying. I hear the victim is their good friend," Prosecutor Bullgard reminded me. "If they didn't want to be called, I doubt that they'd wish to be brought up in court with their actual names."

I sighed. There was no reasoning with them, was there?

"See? My so called 'unusual' emotions were all too normal. Maybe your all hearing ears just heard wrong," Mr. Carson smirked.

"If there are no problems-" the judge began, but he was cut off.

"OBJECTION!"

Everybody in the courtroom looked among themselves to see who had yelled out the word. Nobody seemed to realize who it was other than myself. "Ms. Jones!" I hissed. "What are you doing?!"

Ms. Jones slammed her hands on the desk. "The defense has realized something important! It creates a major problem!"

"What might this problem be?" Prosecutor Bullgard asked.

"The witness knew about my partner having good hearing. How?" Ms. Jones questioned.

Mr. Carson cleared his throat. "I merely heard about her in the newspapers. I still read those. I assume you young ones have rejected such customs."

"I might have to call Ms. Nevada on him," I muttered, hoping Ms. Jones wouldn't hear.

"...If you promise to leave this subject alone, I guess I could tell you who the three other witnesses were," Mr. Carson said.

I was taken aback by this. I turned to Ms. Jones. "Should we?" she asked.

I frowned. "Prosecutor Bullgard. Please tell us the identities of the three mystery witnesses." We could use this later if we need to trick Mr. Carson into giving us information.

Prosecutor Bullgard nodded. "The three witnesses are..."

-----------------------------------

Did you expect me to tell you?

Man, this is The Undercover Turnabout all over again.

Note to readers: no matter what, chances are I'm not going to tell you.

I'm just nice that way.

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-Digital