Ace Attorney: Web of Mistrust

Turnabout Masquerade Part 5 (Ghastly)

A girl with light brown walked to the witness stand. Her gaze had this far off aura to it, like something other than the trial was on her mind. The girl, who I assumed was the Razi Lesa Polly had called to the stand, flashed an empty glance at Nevada (who sat on my right) and I before turning away. I got this weird sense of deja vu when she gave me that gaze. Was she a witness in an old trial of mine or something?

"Witness. State your name and occupation for the court," Polly demanded sternly.

"My name is Razi Lesa... And as for my occupation... I don't know..." Ms. Lesa replied. Her voice was rather quiet and didn't bounce off of the courtroom walls the way that it did with other, louder witnesses. "You see... I'm suffering from amnesia... A blow to my head recently caused me to lose my memory..."

The people in the gallery alongside Nevada and I began to spread their speculation on how the witness lost her memory. Nevada whirled to face me. "Pops! I can tell that she's lying! That witness is really easy to see through!" she exclaimed.

"How can you tell?" I questioned. I wasn't exactly doubtful of her skills, but for the witness to have said 30 words and for Nevada to already know she was lying seemed rather odd.

"She lies the exact same way that... An old friend did..." Nevada's voice trailed off. "The victim..."

Nevada had received a phone call that morning from Cotoli. I overheard one part of the call from Cotoli due to Nevada's phone not being a good sound muffler:

"She's gone..."

I found it odd, but I shrugged it off. It seemed strange, but whatever.

But now, I was starting to think that maybe Nevada had more connection to the victim than I suspected...

"Order in the court!" the judge demanded, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Getting back on task, you will testify about what you saw the day of the crime."

"Okay..." Ms. Lesa whispered.

WITNESS TESTIMONY: RAZI LESA- WHAT I SAW

-I was walking in the building because... I lost my memory in one of the rooms...

-I was just... Investigating like you do... When I heard a scream...

-I saw a man with white hair... Pick up the victim and strangle her...

-She whispered, 'You're the mastermind...'

-...Before she dropped dead...

"That's all..." Ms. Lesa finished.

"Please begin your cross-examination, Ms. Tenniswood," the judge instructed.

"I'm on it," Ms. Tenniswood nodded.

CROSS-EXAMINATION: RAZI LESA- WHAT I SAW

-I was walking in the building because... I lost my memory in one of the rooms...

-I was just... Investigating like you do... When I heard a scream...

-I saw a man with white hair... Pick up the victim and strangle her...

-She whispered, 'You're the mastermind...'

-...Before she dropped dead...

"OBJECTION!"

"Dead, you say?" Ms. Tenniswood smirked. "You've got that wrong."

"How so...?" Ms. Lesa asked sleepily.

"After examining a peeling area on the victim's neck, my partner and I concluded that the victim is alive and well, just suffering from a head wound, strangulation bruises, and a slit wrist!" Ms. Tenniswood shouted. "She falsified the body to escape from the real person who tried to murder her on the day of December eighth!"

The people in the gallery began chattering. A fake body?! That sure is new!

"Is that possible...?!" Nevada whispered.

"What kind of connection do you share with the victim?" I questioned. "You said that you knew her."

"I-I don't want to talk about it..." Nevada replied simply, her good eye narrowing as she stared at the witness.

I stared down the witness as well, hoping to figure out how in the world she connected to the victim. I drew a blank. I suppose maybe I should have napped on the job while Polly was investigating yesterday since I could barely sleep last night. I was too busy thinking about what to get Cotoli for his birthday in a few days.

I shoved that out of my mind and attempted to draw a triangle of links between Nevada, Ms. Lesa, and the victim. Once again, no ideas came to mind. Dang it.

"Order in the court!" the judge demanded. "Ms. Tenniswood! What are you proposing?!"

"I'm saying that the victim never died! She was attacked, sure, but she was never injured enough to cause death!" Ms. Tenniswood answered. "The victim, Eileen Liyle, is most likely hiding out somewhere in an attempt to not be found by the culprit!"

"Why would the victim need to fake her death, though?!" Polly yelled.

"She felt threatened by something, and in order to escape it, then she faked death!" Ms. Tenniswood replied. "Our witness just happens to be suffering from amnesia due to a head wound! Could it be coincidence... Or is she more involved with the crime than we initially thought?"

"You... You can't prove that!" Ms. Lesa yelled. "Your claims mean nothing unless you can provide proof! As a lawyer, you should know that better than anybody!!"

"Ms. Lesa, if you would just tell the court now, we won't have to go any further in this argument," Ms. Tenniswood smirked, crossing her arms.

Nevada nudged me, her elbow being driven into my upper arm. Before I could complain about the ache that followed, she hissed a few words my way. "Pops... Do you smell that?"

I sniffed the air. It smelled like something was being roasted... "Yeah... But what is it?"

"Pops!!" Nevada scolded, her eyes going wide. "I'd recognize that smell anywhere! It's...!"

"What?!" I asked, my heart beginning to beat faster. I couldn't hear anything other than Nevada's voice as well as mine. The argument Ms. Tenniswood was having with the witness slowly faded into obscurity.

"It's...!" Instead of finishing her sentence, Nevada shot up out of her seat and cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound.

The word she shouted changed the aura in the room from tense to fearful.

"Fire!!"

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WHO KILLED MR STUPID TEACHER

Sorry. I had to do that.

-Digital