Ace Attorney: Secrets beneath Secrets

The Explosive Turnabout, Part 1

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

"You wouldn't show me the location of the evidence... And now, everything will go up in flames because of you."

"Not if I have anything to say about it...!"

"May you all burn in the fires of--"

"Forget it, idiot... May you burn in the fires of hell. Not on my damn watch, dastard."

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, to--

"No more of that... Never again that."

April 23

Prosecutor's Office

1:05 AM

Yuri Rinko

When we got to the Prosecutor's Office, I couldn't even begin to count how many police officers there were scattered around. They were all focusing on investigating, meaning none of them really cared much for what we were doing. After we showed off our badges (I say our when I really mean Mr. Morix and Lily showed their badges), we were able to get in without any issues.

We didn't have to go far to look at the crime scene, to say the least. In fact, as soon as we walked in, it was right there. The lobby of the office was exactly our destination, and in my opinion, that only freaked me out more. A murder had happened so close to the door, so close to the outside world. Mere feet away from escape, somebody had tracked down Cormous to strike him down without any remorse at all. It was a chore to keep my heart from pounding louder than a jet engine in my ears.

I followed Mr. Morix to the back area of the lobby. At the entrance of the Prosecutor's Office, there was a set of stairs once you got through the security room. The large staircase took up most of the room and hid everything that was behind it. There was an elevator on the side of the room, which was the preferred method of transportation for most of the people who passed through the office, but it was far less grand than the staircase.

Mr. Morix led us around the back of the staircase. That was where the police seemed to be centered. Sure enough, that was where the body was centered. Cormous was lying face down on the ground, absolutely covered in his own blood. There was one weapon that had been used as far as I could tell, and it was a small cube. The cause of death had definitely been blunt force trauma to the back of the head. The killer didn't hold back or anything either, as nobody who was holding back would have caused this much bloodshed. I felt like I was going to throw up the longer I stared at the corpse.

"The cube's corner got into the back of his head, and it was swung hard enough to kill him instantly," Chrysalis remarked. "At the very least, that's what I suspect happened. It must have been the corner that got the hit in to cause this much bloodshed... Though I can't really say for sure who did it."

"The hit was to the base of his neck," Deirdre murmured. "That's where the blood appears to be centered."

"Wait... I just realized something," Mr. Morix suddenly told us. "There are cuts in the back of his jacket. It looks like he was stabbed multiple times. That would explain how much blood there is. Whoever the killer was didn't bother to hold back."

"Stab wounds and blunt force trauma... I wonder which one could have actually killed him," I frowned with a small shake of my head.

"You know, something about this cube is rather strange... I can't really put a finger on it, but I think something is going on with it," Lily said softly, crouching down to pick up the cube.

"Hey! Don't touch that cube!"

Two people appeared from the crowd of police officers, and Lily shrieked as they came into view. She jumped away from the cube, hands in the air to show that she wasn't touching it anymore. In her panic, Lily didn't realize that the two people who had just appeared were familiar faces she knew well.