Ace Attorney: Web of Mistrust

Turnabout Mansion, Part 9 (Estella)

I was one of the only quiet people in the gallery. All others were desperately attempting to be heard over their fellow trial watchers. I stomped my foot on the ground (very loudly and forcefully) to get everybody's attention. "I wish to say something!" I exclaimed, not used to trials, much less interrupting them to find the truth.

"Don't speak out of turn!" Prosecutor Moody scolded.

"I never saw the witness the night of the crime! Nobody was there, as a matter of fact, other than myself when I saw the hooded figure!" I said, ignoring the prosecutor's outburst.

"And that's proof that the witness is lying!" Ms. Shield roared, slamming her hands on the desk (that must be painful. How do the lawyers and prosecutors do it all the time?). "I wish to make my accusation now!"

"Who are you accusing?" the judge questioned.

"The witness, Timothy Gam! I indict him for the murder of Callie Umber!" Ms. Shield shouted, finger pointing at the witness stand.

"You can't really be accusing me! I am innocent!" Mr. Gam exclaimed.

"Then why were you lying about your location at the time of the murder!?" Yuri asked, her expression fierce. "You have just been proven a committer of perjury due to such lies!"

Mr. Gam began gripping the witness stand, hair falling over his eyes. His breathing was becoming more and more heavy. "You... Have no... Other evidence...!!!" Mr. Gam growled, practically seething with anger at this point.

"He gets angry even faster than his brother," Chrysalis muttered, rolling her eyes, though I caught on to her rather unobvious unease.

"OBJECTION!"

Ms. Shield crossed her arms and began to smirk. "You really think that I'd make an accusation that grave without more evidence to back up my claims?"

Mr. Gam looked even angrier than he had before at hearing her words (if that's at all possible). He slammed his fist on the witness stand once again. "What sort of evidence could you have?!"

"The blood writing, of course," Ms. Shield smirked. "The blood writing said 'T.W.' We all immediately assumed that meant 'Tenniswood,' but that assumption was wrong from the start. It really stood for Timothy William, in other words, the witness' full name!"

"Then why didn't she write 'G' at the end?! Or my full name?! The only explanation is that the victim was showing that the defendant is her killer!" Mr. Gam roared. He was looking up now, his eyes practically fireballs with all the angry steam built up inside that head of his.

"The victim merely didn't have enough time for such! She had just been stabbed and was about to die from blood loss!" Ms. Shield retorted. "So, she tried to shorten it as much as possible: T.W.! The victim didn't have enough time to write the final initial of her killer, as she had died before that was possible!"

Mr. Gam was practically drowning in his own sweat at this point. He gripped the witness so hard, I thought it would snap.

And snap it did.

The witness stand's top railing cracked right down the center, leaving splintering shards of wood raining to the floor. The outlines of Mr. Gam's hands could be seen on either side of the crack. He released the witness stand from his tight grasp to stand up to his full height. Mr. Gam's head was down, hair over his eyes just like a few moments before.

Suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, too, Mr. Gam started laughing. I couldn't hear it at first, and it took a few seconds for me to be able to hear the subtle laughter. I strained my ears, even then. Slowly, but surely, Mr. Gam's laughter became louder and louder. It echoed across the courtroom, the sound reverberating madly. I covered my ears when the sound became almost unbearable. A few moments later, it was unbearable. I forced myself to clap my hands over my ears tighter, though it seemed impossible at first.

"You still don't have a motive for me!" Mr. Gam cackled. "You can't have me arrested without a definitive motive! As defense attorneys, though rather bad at your jobs, you should know that!!"

"OBJECTION!"

Ms. Shield was still smirking as she objected. She sighed and brushed a piece of hair away from her face cockily. "You really think I came this far without a motive for murder?"

Mr. Gam was clearly taken aback by her comment. He took a step back from the broken witness stand, breathing even faster than I did after doing the running test in P.E., and that's saying a lot. Ask anybody in my class. "Then tell me: what is your so called 'motive for murder?!' Whatever it is, it won't get me arrested in the end!!"

"...Was that foreshadowing I detect?" Yuri questioned with a smirk.

"I don't even know what foreshadowing is!" Mr. Gam yelled at her.

Chrysalis gasped. "How did Author Senpai Digital not teach you such?! Even as a killer, you must understand the ways of foreshadowing!!"

"Ms. Starr, please. This isn't the time," the defendant (who I assumed to be 'Niamh Tenniswood') muttered, placing one hand on her forehead and shaking her head from there.

"I'm not a killer!" Mr. Gam shouted. "You have no proof that I am the one who killed the victim! Things are only pointing to the defendant!"

"How can he still be saying that after we've given him two or three good pieces of evidence that incriminate him?" Yuri asked, sighing in disappointment.

"You haven't heard my motive yet," Ms. Shield reminded him. "That will most certainly corner you and no other as the culprit behind this murder!"

"Then why don't you just spit it out?! You're talking tough, but I doubt that you really mean all that you're saying! After all, you keep procrastinating and dodging the subject!" Mr. Gam yelled at her.

"But he's the one doing the avoiding..." Chrysalis muttered.

"This guy is a pain in the backside," Yuri agreed.

"That's what Author Senpai Ace said about a certain-" Chrysalis began, only to be cut off by Yuri placing her hand over the older girl's mouth. Chrysalis was sassing Yuri off underneath the younger girl's hand. I could just tell.

"One motive, coming right up!" Ms. Shield exclaimed, finger pointing at the witness stand powerfully.

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

The obvious culprit of this case has the most over the top breakdown I've ever designed, and the first one (there are two) in case five is pretty epic.

And I wrote a really poetic opener to case 5 today during school after finishing my science test (I HAVE THREE TESTS/QUIZZES IN TWO DAYS ALONE WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE) since thinking of dorky lawyers helps me get through the torturous school day.

I am also coming up with a random AMV in my mind for a certain trio of characters (who I won't name here Cruz much spoilers) in an unreleased case.

Oh and I'm also obsessed with Steven Universe music now I promise you I don't have a problem-

Pretty sure you guys are tired of hearing all my ranting by now, so I'll just kind of... *slinks away*

-Digital