— CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO —

  Ace Attorney, Cherry Keane

  -Fritz-

  It was a new day, bright and early in the morning, and we were back in court. The spectator seats had filled up since yesterday - word must have gotten out that some Fringe were going to get the chair. Percy sat beside me at the defence table, just as neutral as he was yesterday, while Lucy shuffled through her notes one last time.

  Yagglebirch slammed the gavel. "I'm calling this trial back into session. So, defence, do you have any new evidence to show?"

  Lucy stood up, smoothing her skirt. "We do, Your Honor, but it pertains to the witnesses, and we will need to reexamine them."

  Yagglebirch frowned. "Approach the bench."

  Lucy walked forward, her heels clicking against the floor. The prosecutor also rose and made his way to the judge's bench.

  While they huddled in conversation, a soft hissing sound drew my attention to the front row of the audience, where two pesky paparazzi were trying to get my attention. Cherry and Ace were in their courtroom finest - by which I mean Cherry was wearing a wide-brimmed hat that clashed horribly with her blouse, and Ace was dressed like a Jehova’s Witness. It looked like they hit the thrift store on the way over when they remembered where they were going, then tacked their press badges on top.

  "Did we miss it?" Cherry asked.

  I shook my head. "You're just in time."

  The judge cleared his throat and addressed the court again. "Prosecutor, are the witnesses here today?"

  The prosecutor, now looking for something on his table, shifted uncomfortably. "Er, no, Your Honor. We thought their testimony was complete."

  "Call them back in - we'll take a short recess until they are retrieved." Yagglebirch slammed his gavel again and stood, disappearing through a door behind the bench.

  Lucy returned to our table with a pleased smile. She noticed Cherry and Ace. "Oh, I didn't think you would come." she said, setting her notes down.

  "We can't miss the fruits of our labor!" Ace said.

  Cherry nodded enthusiastically, causing her ridiculous hat to slip forward. "We told our boss we were going to sit in on a trial or two to see if it'd make a good column."

  "You think we got a chance here?" I asked.

  Cherry scoffed. "Please, we are professionals! We wouldn't have sent you in with substandard intel."

  "We got you everything there is to find." Ace added. "You got all the tools, you just have to use them."

  "But is it enough to get over the Fringe allegations?" Percy asked.

  Lucy's face darkened. "Stupid rotten - the judge cut that line of questioning off before I had a chance to ask why you were on that list of associates. I'm sure we could have painted you as victims."

  "We were victims!" I protested. "They cut our legs off, like, twenty times!"

  Percy shrugged. "We did have multiple opportunities to get out that we didn't take."

  "But that was so we could get information for the Protectorate!"

  Lucy tapped her pen against her notepad. "But if you try telling the court that, the prosecution is going to object that it was already rejected. Gah! Scumbag!"

  "He's just doing his job, Luce." I said.

  Lucy didn't respond, lost in thought as she angrily scribbled something on her notepad.

  Ace straightened suddenly. "Oh, looks like we're back on. Good luck!

  A judge took to the bench, but it wasn’t Yagglebirch. It was a tall and lean man with features that reminded me of a bird of prey. He settled into the chair and leaned forward, hands clasped before him, his intense gaze sweeping across the courtroom like we were all mice to be caught. His nameplate read E.A.R.L. I had no clue what that could stand for - Exalted Adjudicator of the Righteous Law?

  {L}?Executor of Arbitration and Dispute Resolution - or in French, a la Système International: Exécuteur de Arbitrage et Résolution de Litiges

  (P)?Show off.

  -F-?"Judge Yagglebirch has other cases to attend to," Earl announced, "and this is dragging on longer than expected, so he has been called away. I will be taking over in his absence."

  Behind me, Cherry and Ace started hissing in whispers. I glanced back to see them looking at us with wide eyes. Cherry drew her finger across her throat while Ace leaned forward. "This guy is bad news!" he whispered urgently. "Tread carefully!"

  Earl shuffled through some papers. "I've already been briefed on the case, so please continue as if there was no change." He paused, looking up from the documents. "Although, there is one error yesterday I would like to redress. Judge Yagglebirch refused to permit the submission of the physical items in question into evidence."

  The prosecutor perked up like a dog that had just spotted an unattended steak.

  "The standard stance on this issue," Earl continued, "and the one taken in my courtrooms, is that these objects may be a good visual aid with the caveat that they are not the specific objects of interest. We may start there."

  The prosecutor practically leapt to his feet. "Thank you, Your Honor!" He hurried into his inventory, materializing a small cart and started arranging a series of items on it.

  My jaw dropped as he wheeled the display toward the jury box. The cart was loaded with comically oversized flasks and beakers, each containing small amounts of colorful liquids that glowed faintly in the courtroom lighting. A complete chemistry set, arranged to look as impressive - and incriminating - as possible.

  But seeing them in person, that wasn’t adding up. Those weren't my drugs.

  I leaned toward Percy and whispered, "I didn't sell that much."

  Lucy said, "That's why they put them in the giant containers - to make it look more substantial."

  "No," I insisted, "I mean I don't know what most of those are. I don't carry that stuff. I've got a few potions, but I mostly stick to the herbal stuff. I’m a dreamleaf guy, you know that"

  Percy said, "They probably took everything the guy had on him and put it all up to that one transaction."

  "I'll press him on it." Lucy promised, making a quick note.

  "How do you think they search inventories, anyway?" Percy wondered. "Couldn't the guy just say 'Nah, I got nothing.' then refuse to show them his inventory?"

  Lucy said, "Maybe they know a workaround, like with the NPC guards."

  The prosecutor was finishing his presentation to the jury, gesturing grandly at the collection of potions as if he'd just unveiled the secret lab of a mad scientist. Several jurors leaned forward, clearly impressed by the visual display. Leaving the cart off to the side, the prosecutor then returned to his table.

  "Now I understand there is new evidence to be presented?" Earl's voice cut through the murmurs of the courtroom like a knife through butter.

  Lucy straightened her back. "Yes, Your Honor. We would like to recall Mr. Erlendecker to the stand."

  Earl nodded to the bailiff. "Bring the witness in."

  Erlendecker entered in through the side door and retook the witness stand. He didn’t look quite as self-assured as he had yesterday. Probably didn’t expect to get called back in. He settled into the chair, adjusting his tie with a quick tug.

  Lucy approached the stand. "Mr. Erlendecker, yesterday you testified that you clocked out at 9:00 PM on the evening of the 9th, correct?"

  "Yes, that's right." he replied, his voice steady but his eyes darting briefly toward the prosecutor.

  "Well," Lucy said, lifting a sheet of paper from her notes, "I have a copy of the official Trade Union records of your timecard here."

  The change was subtle but immediate. Erlendecker's posture stiffened, and the sweat on his brow became more pronounced.

  Earl's eyes narrowed. "Bring me that." he commanded, extending a hand.

  Lucy approached the bench and handed him the sheet. Earl examined it, turning it over and scrutinizing the official Trade Union seal at the bottom.

  "This appears to be a legitimate record." Earl conceded reluctantly, handing the paper back to Lucy.

  She turned back to face Erlendecker, whose collar now seemed a size too small for him. "Mr. Erlendecker, this timecard shows that you clocked out at 5:00 PM on the day in question, not 9:00 PM as you testified. Care to explain?"

  Erlendecker shifted in his seat, clearing his throat. "W-well... I was told I had to cut down on my overtime hours, but there's still so much to do at the office. So I started to clock out early, then remain at work. I didn't leave until 9:00."

  Lucy nodded with a faint smile. "I see. But this timecard also shows that you clocked out in the 8:00-9:00 PM range every day last week and earlier this week - except yesterday, of course. Why was the 9th the only day you 'cut down' on your official hours?"

  The question hung in the air like a guillotine blade.

  The prosecutor shot to his feet. "Your Honor, I would like to resubmit the witness's photos into evidence - not as evidence that the incident occurred, but as proof that the witness was where he claims to have been."

  Earl considered for a moment, then nodded. "I'll accept it."

  Lucy waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, I'm not disputing where the witness was - I have no doubt that he was there outside that bar." She turned back to Erlendecker, her voice hardening slightly. "The issue is why? Yesterday, you claimed you were on your way home from work, but that's not possible - you left work hours earlier."

  Erlendecker, visibly nervous now, wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "I told you - I stayed late after my shift and was on my way home."

  "And did you take a direct route to your home?" Lucy pressed.

  "R-reasonably so." he stammered.

  Lucy walked back to the defence table, picked up another document, and approached the witness again. "Because your house, according to World Guard registration, is located in the Constellation District, near the river bank, correct?"

  "Yes." he admitted.

  "And the Trade Union offices are in the eastern Eclipse District?"

  "That's right."

  Lucy's voice rose slightly, carrying to every corner of the now-silent courtroom. "The route between there and your home wouldn't take you anywhere near the bar in the southern Eclipse District where you photographed my client, would it?"

  Erlendecker opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. No words came out. The prosecutor was chewing his lower lip, eyes darting around his table frantically, searching for a way to salvage his witness's credibility. The silence in the courtroom was absolute.

  After what felt like an eternity, Earl leaned forward on the bench. "Defence, could you please state plainly what conclusion you are trying to draw here?"

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  Lucy hesitated, just for a fraction of a second. Her eyes darted to the notes in her hand, then back to the judge.

  {L}?Honestly, I was just flying by the seat of my pants trying to exploit that little hole we found - I had no idea what was at the bottom. But of course I couldn’t go around saying that.

  -F-?"To... fully explain, Your Honor," she said carefully, "I will need some information from our second witness."

  Earl's mouth tightened into a thin line. "Mr. Erlendecker, get your story straight. In the meantime, bring in the other witness."

  Erlendecker practically ran from the witness stand. As he passed our table, I caught a glimpse of pure venom in the look he shot me. The bailiff led him out through the side door, then disappeared to fetch Ratpack Superman. The doors opened again, and the guards brought the skeevy little Rat back into the courtroom. He slumped into the witness chair, doing his best to shrink out of the crowd's sight.

  This time, Lucy wheeled the cart of confiscated drugs over. "So, Rat, there's a lot of things on this table - how much did you pay during this alleged transaction?"

  Rat looked at the colorful array of containers, then back at Lucy with uncertainty. "Uh, I don't remember."

  Lucy pulled out a slip of paper from her notes. "Well, the street price for these materials totals to 173 marks. Do you often carry that kind of money around on you?"

  Rat's eyes widened, and he let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "You kidding? That's more than I've ever had at once!"

  The prosecutor was on his feet instantly. "Objection, Your Honor. Relevance?"

  Earl's eyes narrowed. "Again, defence - where are you going with this?"

  Lucy turned to address the judge directly. "My point, Your Honor, is that no one has yet proven what was bought in the alleged sale. What is presented here is merely what the witness had on him at the time of arrest."

  "I didn't have anything on me when I got to the bar!" Rat interjected. "I remember that part."

  Earl's patience was visibly wearing thin. "Unless you have a point, this is wasting our time. Do you have any concrete evidence or questions to ask, defence?"

  Lucy took a deep breath, straightening her shoulders. "Your Honor, I'm going to need to cross-reference the testimony of the two witnesses. To save some back and forth, I request that they be brought in for questioning at the same time."

  "This is most unusual..." Earl paused, considering. "I will allow it, but after this we are going straight to closing arguments. Bring in the other witness!"

  As the bailiff moved to fetch Erlendecker, Lucy returned to our table with a look of panic.

  "What are you doing?" I whispered.

  "Improvising!" she whispered back. "Just... There's something weird about these guys, but I need to bring it out without the judge stopping me!"

  The bailiff led Erlendecker back into the courtroom with all the ceremony of a man escorting a bomb. The tension followed him like a shadow. Ratpack, already seated at the witness stand, perked up at the sight of him, offering a small smile and a tentative wave. Erlendecker's eyes slid past him as if he were nothing more than another piece of courtroom furniture, his jaw set in a rigid line.

  Earl gestured to the chair where the stenographer would normally sit, on the opposite side of his bench from Ratpack. "Mr. Erlendecker, please take a seat there so we can proceed with this... unusual arrangement."

  Erlendecker complied, smoothing his tie with trembling fingers. The two witnesses now sat like bookends to the judge, neither directly facing the other.

  Lucy composed herself and once again took the floor. "Mr. Erlendecker, did you attend the party that night? The one where my client allegedly sold drugs to Mr. Ratpack?"

  "No, I did not."

  "Then I ask again - why were you in that area? It was nowhere near your route home from work, as we've established."

  Earl cut in, "Defence, we've been over this."

  "With all due respect, Your Honor, he never actually answered the question. You told him to straighten his story, and I would like to hear the response."

  Earl's eyes narrowed. "Do you have any reason to believe the witness's actions are relevant to the sale of the drugs he observed?"

  Lucy hesitated. "I, er..."

  Beside me, Percy was studying Erlendecker's timecard, all the way back as far as our segment of the records showed. The crazy overtime hours of the past weeks started suddenly - he wasn’t always a workaholic. I didn’t think anything of it past that, but Percy froze. Something had clicked.

  He slammed the timecard down on our table with enough force to make both Lucy and the judge glance our way. Then he stood up. "Did you want to attend that party?!" Percy shouted, the question cutting through the courtroom.

  The prosecutor leapt to his feet. "Objection - relevance!"

  "Sustained." Earl said automatically, glaring at Percy. "Young man, control yourself or I'll have you removed."

  Percy didn't sit, didn't even acknowledge the reprimand. "But I do have reason to believe the witness's actions are involved! He was the one that planted those drugs on Ratpack!"

  The courtroom erupted in whispers. Erlendecker's face drained of color.

  "Wh- why on Earth would I want to do that?" he sputtered, his composure cracking.

  Percy pointed at the timecard. "Because you were hurt. Two weeks ago - that's why you've been putting in obscene overtime. You tried to drown yourself in work, but it wasn't enough. That's why you left early that day - to find him, and to set him up! Then Ratpack cut a deal with the prosecution and flipped that plot onto our client!"

  Something in Erlendecker's expression shifted. His hands began to shake, not with fear but with something more volatile - like a pressure cooker about to blow. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

  The whispers in the courtroom grew to a dull roar. Cherry and Ace were frantically scribbling notes behind us.

  "ORDER!" Earl's voice boomed over the chaos. His gavel slammed down three times in rapid succession. "I WILL HAVE ORDER!"

  The noise receded like a wave pulling back from shore, leaving an expectant silence in its wake.

  "Defence council, sit down!" Earl commanded, his face flushed. "That is quite enough of this circus!" He turned his glare on Lucy. "Defence, unless you can prove something, we are moving on to closing statements!"

  Lucy glanced at Percy, who nodded almost imperceptibly as he returned to his seat. She took a deep breath and turned back to Erlendecker, who sat rigid, trembling with barely contained emotion. He looked like a string pulled too tight, about to snap.

  "Mr. Erlendecker," Lucy asked quietly, "do you know the other witness?"

  For a moment, there was silence. Erlendecker stared at his hands.

  "Know him?" His voice started quiet, almost a whisper. Then it rose, gathering strength like a storm. "Know him?! I was trying to forget him! But no matter what I did, I couldn't! It didn't matter how many times I told myself to move on, how many nights I drank myself sick, how long I worked, how many times I replayed every goddamn fight in my head - it was always him! I woke up every morning and thought about him. I went to sleep and dreamed about him. I couldn't - I can't - get him out of my head!"

  His breathing had grown ragged, but he pressed on. "So yes, I followed him that night. I saw him at that party. I saw him laughing, having a good time, with-" His voice broke for just a second before he thrust his finger toward me, accusation burning in his eyes. "- That Man! And I snapped. I wasn't thinking! I just - I just couldn't stand it!"

  Ratpack had gone completely still, his eyes wide and fixed on Erlendecker.

  "Seeing him with someone else, acting like what we-!" Erlendecker's voice cracked. "Eight years! Like our eight years together had meant nothing - it felt like someone took a knife and ripped it straight through my chest! So I called the cops! I told them there was a deal going down! But I didn't plant anything! I didn't have to! He picked it up on his own! He was blitzed, stumbling around - all I had to do was leave it out on a bench! He did the rest himself!"

  Finally, Erlendecker turned to face Rat directly. His fury seemed to crack open, revealing something raw and wounded beneath. Tears streamed freely down his face. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped, hoarse and aching. "I didn't do this because I wanted to destroy you. I did it because I didn't know what else to do. Because losing you... Losing you was worse than anything else I've ever felt."

  The courtroom remained perfectly still, as if no one dared breathe. Earl's gavel lay forgotten in his hand, his stern demeanor replaced by stunned silence.

  Ratpack stared at Erlendecker, eyes wide with realization. After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice soft and shaken. "I... Len... I never meant to hurt you like that."

  For a moment, they existed in their own universe - no judge, no jury, no lawyers - just two people stripped of pretense, facing the wreckage of something that had once been whole. The spectators sat in stunned silence.

  Ratpack stood up slowly. Nobody moved to stop him as he crossed the space between them. When he reached Erlendecker, he hesitated for just a moment before reaching out and taking his hand. "Do you want to talk about this over a coffee?"

  Erlendecker clutched Ratpack's hand tightly, his knuckles white with the force of his grip. His shoulders shook as he broke down completely.

  "Packie!" he sobbed.

  Out in the audience, Cherry's whistle cut through the silence, followed immediately by Ace's enthusiastic applause. Like a wave, the sound spread - first the audience, then the jury, and finally Percy and I joined in.

  "You love to see a happy ending." I said, grinning as I clapped along.

  Lucy stood next to our table, her jaw slack, notepad hanging limply from her fingers. She blinked several times, as if trying to process what had just happened. "What is this soap opera?"

  Earl banged his gavel, but the applause continued. Even the prosecutor had cracked a reluctant smile. In the middle of it all, Erlendecker and Ratpack stood with their foreheads pressed together, whispering words meant only for each other.

  Earl finally recomposed himself and banged his gavel hard enough to overwrite the applause. "ORDER! ORDER IN THIS COURT! Everyone settle down this instant!"

  The applause faded, leaving only a few scattered claps from the back row where someone hadn't gotten the message. Earl fixed his raptor gaze on Erlendecker and Ratpack, who were still locked in their private moment.

  "You two get out of here! That's quite enough of this... interruption! It's high time we moved on to closing statements."

  A bailiff stepped forward to escort them out, but it wasn't necessary. They were already moving toward the door, Erlendecker still clutching Ratpack's hand like it was the only thing keeping him anchored to reality, and they disappeared through the doorway.

  Earl straightened his robes with a sharp tug. "Defence, you start."

  Lucy cleared her throat and stepped onto the floor. Her usual professional demeanor had slipped, replaced by a slightly dazed expression. She blinked rapidly, as if trying to remember what planet she was on.

  "Er, as I stated at the beginning of this trial, Fritz Carlton is a good man - a Vanguard hero, veteran of the Oxtongue raid." She paused, glancing at her notes, then walked over to the cart holding the confiscated drugs. "This evidence is a complete sham." She lifted one of the massive flasks. "I mean, look at this - it's a piddling thimble. There's as much air in here as marshmallows - that's not going to get anyone high."

  She set the flask down and, for a moment, she just stood there, staring into the middle distance. "He's a good man." she finally concluded, walking back to the defence table with a slight shake of her head.

  "Now the prosecution."

  The prosecutor stood behind his desk, looking like he'd been hit by a truck and was still trying to figure out what happened. "I have nothing more to add, Your Honor."

  Earl's mouth twitched at the corner. "Then you-" he pointed at the jury, some of whom were still dabbing at their eyes, "- go deliberate. And remember, this case is about that Fringe sympathizer selling the drugs - nothing else."

  As the jury filed out, Earl rubbed his temples in small circles. The audience immediately broke into murmurs. Cherry and Ace came right up to the edge of the seating area, leaning over to talk to us.

  "What a great day to come to court." Ace said, rubbing his hands together. "I think this story's got legs."

  Cherry nodded eagerly. "A feel-good for the third page!"

  Percy asked, "Did we... prove anything, legally-speaking? I mean, you did sell him some of those drugs, didn't you?"

  I shrugged. "Eh, whatever happens, we saved a relationship."

  "This court is an absolute joke." Lucy muttered.

  About fifteen minutes later, the jury came back in. Earl called the court back to order with three sharp raps of his gavel. "Foreperson, your verdict?"

  The old man stood and read from a piece of paper. "In the case of Fritz Carlton, on the charge of distribution of a controlled substance, we the jury find the defendant not guilty on a vote of 8-3 with 1 abstention."

  "Woo!" Cherry's shout cut through the momentary silence before the courtroom erupted again. She and Ace high-fived, then immediately tried to play it cool when Earl glared in their direction.

  The judge put his face in his hands and shook his head slowly from side to side, like a man wondering what sins he'd committed in a past life to deserve this day. Finally, he raised his head and slammed his gavel down. "This court is adjourned. You're free to go."

  We collected our things quickly. The crowd funneled out of the courtroom in a chattering mass, with us caught in the flow.

  At the clerk's office, Lucy handled the paperwork to get our bail returned. We pushed through the massive doors of the capitol building and descended the wide marble steps onto East Boulevard. The late afternoon sun had broken through the clouds, bathing everything in a warm glow that felt appropriate for our victory.

  I clapped Percy and Lucy on their backs. "You kids did a damn fine job fighting that 30 mark fine - great work."

  Cherry and Ace stumbled mid-step, nearly tripping over each other as they spun around to face me.

  "What?!" Cherry's shriek sent a nearby flock of pigeons flapping into the air.

  Ace's jaw hung open. "That was for 30 marks?!"

  "Yeah." I said with a nod. "It was first-time offense for a minor charge - and it's still a week's pay for most people!"

  Percy's face contorted with rage. "This sham of a government doesn't deserve that money!"

  Lucy straightened her spine and crossed her arms firmly over her chest. "This wasn't about money - it was about principle! I do not lose to scumbag prosecutors!"

  Cherry exchanged a glance with Ace. "You know... 30 marks saved is 30 marks earned. You mind, uh... sharing some of that wealth with your private investigators?"

  I chuckled. "We couldn't have done it without you, yeah. Here." I went into my inventory and spawned a money pouch with 15 marks.

  Ace pocketed it. "God bless ya; we'll use it better than the Guard."

  "It's garlic fries time." Cherry declared, already turning toward Syzygy Square with a bounce in her step.

  The two reporters headed off on their own, their voices carrying back to us as they walked.

  "For the headline, I'm thinking 'Miracle in Courtroom 3'." Cherry suggested.

  "Is 'miracle' really the best word there?" Ace asked. "What about... 'Romantic Showdown in the Court of Law'?"

  Their voices faded into the background noise of the bustling plaza, leaving the three of us standing in the shadow of Evermoon Gardens.

  "Let's go home." I said.

  We made our way through the winding streets of Celestia Grand, from the polished marble and gleaming glass of the governmental district to the more lived-in charm of the Nebula District. The walk was quiet, each of us lost in our own thoughts after the bizarre events of the day.

  (Percival)

  We burst through the door to our house with all the ceremony of exhausted travelers reaching an oasis. Fritz shambled directly over to the couch and fell over the back, faceplanting onto the cushions with a muffled groan.

  "Wake me up on Christmas." he mumbled into the fabric.

  Lucy headed straight for the kitchen, already opening menus and scrolling through options. "Do you two want anything?" she called over her shoulder.

  Fritz raised one arm weakly. "I'll takes some bacon."

  "I'm fine." I said, stretching my arms over my head. "I want to work on my model kits."

  I was already sorting through which project to tackle first. I figured I’d start small - just a residential street. Maybe the one we were living on. "It's good to be home." I murmured.

  At the foot of the stairs, I stopped and looked back. At Fritz lying face-down on the couch, one arm dangling limply over the back. At Lucy messing with menus at the kitchen island.

  "... Huh... We're home."

  ---

  Next Time:

  Home is a nice feeling. It’s someplace safe, comfortable. It’s where you go when the world threatens to topple down around you. But where do you go when that place is ripped away from you?

  This one is the story of a girl named Davi.

  Episode 15 - Lieutenant