Ace Attorney: Secrets beneath Secrets

Turnabout Betrayal, Part 5

April 22

Courtroom No. 4

10:45 AM

Cotoli Morix

Ms. Cruz made her way up to the witness stand at the instruction of her brother. I frowned upon realizing that her eyes were red and puffy. It was clear to me that she had been crying, and I wanted to do whatever I had to in order to comfort her. The day before, she had seemed so put-together, as if nothing had gone wrong in the first place, but I suspected she was using the investigation as a distraction to keep from completely breaking down. Her eyes were droopy, and I could tell she hadn't slept much either. I felt a pang of sadness in my heart for her, and I wished there was something I could do.

"Please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Frost announced, looking down towards Ms. Cruz.

"My name? I'm Nikki Cruz... As for occupation, I'm a high school student, but I do a lot of performing in a band with a few of my friends outside of school," Ms. Cruz replied, twiddling with a piece of her hair sitting near her face.

"Your surname is Cruz? You must be related to the victim and Prosecutor Cruz... I'm sorry for your loss," Judge Frost frowned, closing his eyes to think for a moment.

Ms. Cruz shook her head. "It... It's okay. There's nothing you could have done to change it. I just want to find the person who killed him. I don't want to let them go free," she murmured, looking down at her feet. "The sooner we can figure out who did it, the better... They deserve to rot for all they've done."

"I never would have expected her to get so intense, but I can't say I blame her for feeling this way... I would be upset too if something like that happened," Chrysalis said, leaning in close to me to talk briefly. "Well... I guess it already did happen, back when we lost your mother... Even if we shared no common blood, I still wish things could have gone differently. I probably wasn't too different from Ms. Cruz when I was in the same state of grief all those years ago... I don't have much room to talk, huh?"

"It's okay to be bothered by something like this. Anyone would be upset if they lost a family member to murder. That's natural. Nobody can be blamed for their own grief when their world comes crashing down," I murmured, not taking my eyes off Ms. Cruz. My heart ached seeing her in this state, and while I knew we had to stay on track and take care of business, I made a mental note to do my best to soothe her once the trial had ended for the day.

Ms. Cruz noticed we were staring when she looked up from the ground, and she met my eyes for a moment before returning her gaze to the floor. There was so much sadness in her gaze. I couldn't bring myself to look at her for much longer. I would begin crying myself if I kept the eye contact up.

"Please begin your testimony, Ms. Cruz," Judge Frost instructed, not seeming to pick up on how upset she was. If he did notice it, he was choosing not to comment on it.

"Okay," Ms. Cruz nodded, looking up. Her eyes were dazed and lacked a sense of life. "I'll get on it."

~ Witness Testimony ~

~ Finding Lira ~

-"I was at the scene of the crime to meet with my father. My cousin was coming into town."

-"He wasn't able to meet with her as he had originally hoped to, so I was supposed to help her back -home."

-"When I got there, I didn't see her or my father anywhere, so I started searching for them."

-"I stumbled upon my father's office, and when I got there, I could hear yelling and pounding from the inside."

-"A chair was pressed up against the doorknob to keep it from turning, locking Lira inside."