Ace Attorney Investigations: Virtual Despair

Chapter 1: Escape from Despair ~ Part 5 (Deadly Life)

~ Ultimate Pokémon Master Akari Hinata's POV ~

*HERE!*

"I'm talking about... the message written in blood." Niamh announced. "It was underneath Toshiaki's body. It was a little bit smudged, so he must have been hiding it from the real killer."

"Well, okay, there was a message. But can we really be sure that it was Toshiaki who wrote it?" Octavio asked.  "I mean, it could have been written by the culprit to throw us off!"

"No, I'm certain that Toshiaki himself wrote that message." Niamh replied. "I can prove it, too."

*I CAN PROVE IT WITH THIS!*

"I found a spot of blood on Toshiaki's right index finger." Niamh continued. "He must have used that finger to write the message."

"Well? What did he leave behind?" Venisa questioned.

"It was... 'UP'." I said. "He obviously didn't mean up as in the direction, so maybe it's someone's initials...?"

"But nobody here has a name beginning with U." Zach pointed out. "Hang on... what if the U was short for Ultimate?"

"You could be right." Susumu agreed. "Maybe Tosh didn't want to risk being seen or something, so he stuck with something less obvious, but it would still lead to the real killer. I guess he did have a brain of some kind, ha ha."

"In that case, we have two suspects." I said. I didn't want to believe that one of my new friends was a killer, but if this is the only way to survive, then we didn't have much of a choice.

"Two...?" Clement repeated. "Who are you talking about...?"

I hesitated, struggling to push away the last bit of doubt in my mind. "The Ultimate Prankster and the Ultimate Pilot." I concluded.

"Wh-What?!" Kyle exclaimed. "N-No way, it wasn't me!"

"He's right." Jordan nodded. "He has an alibi. I can prove that."

"If that's true..." Niamh stated. "Then there's only one person it could have been..."

*YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE!*

"Octavio... I want to ask you something." Niamh began. Octavio remained silent. Everyone was staring at him now; some angry, others fearful.

"Kyle's been proven to have an alibi. Nobody else here has a talent with the initials of 'UP'. Nobody except you." Niamh continued. Octavio was still silent. His arms were crossed and his expression was emotionless.

"... Did you do it?" Niamh interrogated. "Did you... kill Toshiaki?"

The courtroom was silently still as we all waited for Octavio to answer. "Well?! Answer us!" Jordan yelled, impatiently slamming a fist onto the wooden stand in front of him. Octavio still refused to answer.

"This'll drag on forever at this rate..." Kyle muttered. "So let's beat the confession out of him!"

"That won't be necessary." Octavio cut in. "I have no intention of confessing because I didn't do it."

"Come on!! Who else here could have done it?!" the Ultimate Delinquent shouted, his frustration obvious. "Just admit to it so we can get out of here already!"

"It could have been Akari." Octavio suggested.

"M-Me?" I stammered, taken aback by his sudden accusation. "Wh-Why...?"

"You're the Ultimate Pokémon Master, right?" Octavio asked. "That's 'UPM'. Maybe Toshiaki didn't get enough time to write the M on the end. Sounds reasonable, right?"