Ace Attorney: Web of Mistrust

Turnabout Reignition, Part 3 (Niamh)

//December 2, 2029. Beau Road, 11:00 AM//

"Witness time," Ms. Shield announced once Ms. Starr had left to do whatever her plans detailed.

"I agree," I nodded.

"The witness is right over there," Mr. Carson said, pointing to a girl standing under a nearby tree, her arms crossed. "Good luck getting her to say anything, though. She refuses to say anything for whatever reason."

"Might as well give it a shot," Ms. Shield shrugged. She turned on her heel and walked over to the witness, who appeared to be about the age of Ms. Starr. I followed a few steps behind.

As soon as we were within speaking distance of the girl, Ms. Shield gasped. "E-Estella!?"

"Estella?" I echoed, looking over the girl Ms. Shield had just named. She had brown hair and a leather jacket.

"This was the witness from your trial a while back!" Ms. Shield exclaimed. "Estella, you're the witness Detective Carson mentioned?!"

"Yeah," Estella answered before turning to me. "I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves. My name is Estella Cignus."

"Niamh Tenniswood. Attorney at law," I told her, bowing my head ever so slightly.

"Now that we have that sugar and spice out of the way, what do you want to hear?" Ms. Cignus asked.

"What exactly did you witness?" Ms. Shield questioned.

"I was just strolling along the sidewalk, you know, like you do. I live around this area, so I was going to visit my friend, Ashi. Anyways, I was stopped by seeing this woman with long hair in the middle of the road. She had jumped in front of a car and pulled out a gun. I'm not sure who she was, though, as she had something covering her face. The woman shot at the car twice, causing it to drive around crazy before crashing into the tree over there." Ms. Cignus pointed to the tree next to the car.

"What could you see of the woman?" I asked.

"She had this long, dark brown hair and wore all white. That's about it, though. I ran off to call the police after the crime occurred. I just don't get why I wasn't arrested and Yuri was..." Ms. Cignus frowned.

"That bothers me as well..." I agreed. "She's more of a victim than a suspect, truthfully. It doesn't make any sense that she was arrested and not somebody else."

"Speaking of Yuri, do we want to go speak with her one more time now that we're pretty much done with investigation?" Ms. Shield questioned.

"I don't see any harm in such," I nodded before turning to Ms. Cignus. "Thank you for speaking with us."

"No problem. Just find that weird woman, okay?" Ms. Cignus asked. Ms. Shield and I replied with short nods before beginning our journey to the detention center.

//December 2, 2029. Detention Center, 12:19 PM//

Yuri already had two guests when I arrived at the detention center with Ms. Shield. Both of the Umber siblings were sitting in chairs on the side of the glass that didn't contain a crime suspect.

"You're sure nothing is off about your agency?!" Prosecutor Umber roared.

"Why would anything be weird?!" Yuri's voice showed obvious panic, noticeable even without my special hearing.

"We think that you and your friends are involved with an evidence forging gang! You think that we wouldn't question you on that?!" Prosecutor Umber continued.

"I'm telling you! I don't know anything!" Yuri shouted, beginning to tremble. The motion was subtle but it was still present. 

"You liar! There's a dark deal where you work and you know it! Say it now or we'll be forced to take action and have you all arrested and interrogated until we get what we want!!" Prosecutor Umber yelled, his voice the volume of colossal thunder.

"Calm down, Anthony! Maybe we know that she's lying, but what of it?! Perhaps she just can't say!" Detective Umber scolded. "Any sort of underhanded things could be keeping her quiet!"

"Exactly! You haven't refuted that she's involved in dirty legal things, Abilene! This is just further proof that this girl right here is working with her agency friends to forge evidence and steal it for their own sake!" Prosecutor Umber retorted.

Unable to keep quiet any longer, I clenched my fists. "What's going on here?!" I demanded, striding towards the argument as seriously as I could. The air was so thick with intense anger and words never to be taken aback it could have been pierced with a blade, no matter how dull.

"Nothing," Prosecutor Umber replied before his sister could cut in and say the real topic of the conversation. "Come on, Ab."

After brief hesitation, Detective Umber followed her brother, a sad look in her eyes. "Excuse him," she whispered. "Our boss has been uptight and getting on him ever since this case began."

"Boss?" Ms. Shield repeated.

"My brother works as an investigative prosecutor, so his boss is more the Chief of Detectives than the Chief Prosecutor. He can't stand Chief Prosecutor Bespoke, anyways," Detective Umber replied.

"So you work under Detective Carson and he's been acting odd over this case?" I summarized.

Detective Umber nodded. She was called off by her brother before she could give a more full explanation. I turned to Yuri, who was playing with her jacket sleeves in silence, as if hesitant to speak about what had just happened.

"What was that argument about?" I asked at last.

"Prosecutor Umber is starting to suspect our agency of being involved in legal scandals," Yuri frowned. "It's like he knows about the project."

"Is there something else bothering you?" Ms. Shield questioned before I could even dream of forging the words.

"Yes, actually..." Yuri's eyes darted away silently. "He knew I was lying, like he shares the lie detecting power of mine..."

"That's really weird," I nodded. "I believe I heard once that only people in the Rinko family have that ability."

My words hung in the air. Was it really true? If it was, then there was some deep dark connection between the Umber twins and Yuri.

And it could be a vital fact in figuring out why the people at the agency keep falling victim to arrest.

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GUESS WHO STOPPED PROCRASTINATING

Today is a special day. Six months ago today (10/11), QATH began!!!

eEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKkkkkkk

Okay. I'm done.

-Digital