Ace Attorney: Secrets beneath Secrets

Turnabout Betrayal, Part 4

April 22

Defendant Lobby No. 4

9:35 AM

Cotoli Morix

The next morning, there weren't many people in the defendant lobby. Chrysalis and I were silent when we walked inside before sitting down on the couch. I didn't see Ms. Giuseppe anywhere, and because she wasn't here, all we could really do was wait. It wasn't exactly productive, but we couldn't do much aside from wait given the circumstances.

We still didn't know who the assisting prosecutor was going to be, or if there was even going to be one, as a matter of fact. We didn't know entirely what was going on, which was mildly irritating to put it lightly. Chrysalis and I were silently thinking about this as we sat on the couch, and while we didn't talk about it, I could tell that's where her brain was going towards.

"I want to know about who could have wanted to lock up Ms. Giuseppe at the time of the crime. I get the feeling they're the killer, but... I'm a bit worried, to say the least. If there's something else going on behind the scenes here, who knows what the truth is behind this case? I'm not entirely fond of the ideas I've been getting on the matter," Chrysalis sighed, shaking her head.

"I understand what you're talking about. I'm concerned as well. The culprit could very easily be involved with the Emsthorpes, and if they are, then we need to finish this case as soon as possible. They're incredibly dangerous, and we can't let them be free. No person can be considered fully safe until we can lock them all up to pay for their crimes," I told her with a frown.

"And yet, we aren't going to be finishing this case today. We don't have enough information right now to even come close. I don't think Prosecutor Cruz has anything else hiding up his sleeve since we're trying to work together to find the person who killed his father. He has no reason to keep anything from us. He can't solve this case on his own since he's on the other side of the courtroom," Chrysalis replied.

"Even if we aren't going to be finishing today, we rarely finish a case in one day anyways since we tend to get the most complex crimes to solve. I'm sure it'll be fine. We don't have a suspect yet, but the second we find one, this case will be good as done," I assured her despite not entirely feeling that was true. I was worried out of my mind that something was going to go horribly wrong, even if there was no evidence right now that the case would slip down that path.

"I know that's true, but I can't really help my worry. You know where I'm coming from here, I know you do, but... I don't know what to think at this point. It's a lot to take in, to say the least, and I'm concerned," Chrysalis said, choosing her words slowly and carefully.

"There's something else that we're going to struggle with today too... I mean, on top of everything else, we still can't communicate directly with Ms. Giuseppe, and that's not the best for us. Ms. Cruz is probably with her brother preparing to testify, and that means she won't be able to help us until the trial actually begins. I was hoping to talk to her a little bit before court went into session, but I don't think we're going to have that option now," I frowned.

"Yeah. I mean, because she's foreign, there's a chance the police will try to put more pressure on her than they usually would in an attempt to prove that she did it. Corruption is everywhere, and that includes interrogation rooms. We already saw how little Detective Wattson had to do with this whole thing. She wasn't even around to arrest the suspect. I doubt she had much to do with the interrogation, which means Ms. Giuseppe could be pressured into confessing," Chrysalis pointed out.

"We won't let her confess though. If she tries to, we'll have to cut her off and explain the situation to the court. If all goes well, we may be able to sway the judge in our direction from the start. I hope we have somebody judging this case with a strong sense of empathy, as that'll make things much easier," I said, nodding firmly. "If not, then we'll just have to handle things ourselves."