Ace Attorney: Crashing Fates

Turnabout Forgeries, Part 6 (Thomas)

//June 17, 2031. Morix Law Offices, 12:39 PM//

I'm not entirely sure of what happened during the trial. Ms. Raine just went all... Emo... And started yelling at me and everybody else who had been passively sitting in the gallery. The judge got afraid pretty quickly and adjourned court. I bet that Prosecutor Yin (who Ms. Tenniswood exclaimed was a split personality of Prosecutor Lin) would really crack the whip down onto her for going so crazy.

I sat on the agency couch with a frown. "This is all crazy..." I groaned, staring up at the ceiling. This case was seeming hopeless...

"Kyo and Abby told me that they think something's weird with the victim person, so can we go check that out?" Sophie asked me, taking a seat on my lap.

I shook my head. "I don't think that you should come with us. It could end up dangerous if we run into the real kille-"

Before I could further protest, Sophie grabbed my hand and began pulling. "Tommy! Tenny! Let's go! I want to show you guys something at the scene of the criiiiime!!" she cried, yanking harder. "I have something really cool that I need to show you, and I can only do it at the crime scene! There's a reason Kyo had me help you, you know!!"

I sighed eventually. "Fine. Let's go."

//June 17, 2031. Umber Mansion, 1:12 PM.//

Sophie stared at the body with wide eyes. She didn't seem too fazed by the sadistic scene before her, instead staring at something else. It looked like she was potentially looking at the knife, but I could tell there was something deeper.

The same scene I saw yesterday stared back at me. A man with dark brown hair wearing a fancy light blue suit was on the ground, a knife sticking up out of his chest. The cravat the victim wore was regularly white, though it was now stained in red. Even if I had seen the scene before and was an adult, I was still unsettled by the gruesome area I stood over. 

Sophie crouched down next to the corpse and grabbed for an object around the victim's chest. She picked up the cravat and glared at it. "This is what Abby was talking about," she whispered, staring at it even more. "This thing isn't supposed to be here. I can just tell. Some liar poopy face put it here to throw us off."

"Could you please explain what exactly is happening?" I asked her in confusion, staring at her.

Sophie grinned. "Looks like I know something Tommy doesn't. I thought you'd have a bigger brain under that hat, you know," she beamed, obviously proud of herself for making such a joke about my esteemed hat.

I growled unhappily under my breath, face going bright red in anger. "S-Sophie, just tell us what in the world it is you're on about," I said through gritted teeth, though it came out meaner than I had expected that it would.

"Don't be so emo, Tommy," Sophie told me, placing her hand on my shoulder. "It's time for me to tell you about my power! Kyo taught me how to use it, and it's really cool! Just you wait and see! Soon, it'll be Sophie and Thomas, crime fighting partners until the end all because of Sophie's magic power!"

"Your... Power?" I asked her, cocking my head.

"If you haven't already caught on, I can tell if objects are telling the truth or should be somewhere or not," Sophie began to explain. "I'm getting this weird sense in my gut, the way I get when there's a Valentine that doesn't say what the writer wanted it to say. It means that the object is a lying object!"

"So the cravat on the victim isn't supposed to be here? Come to think of it, Detective Umber did mention something to that extent during the trial earlier today..." Ms. Tenniswood commented, looking lost in thought.

"She did say that something was off about the victim during her testimony before Ms. Raine went all demonic," I agreed, placing my hand on my chin to think. "And I'm sure that she wasn't lying about such."

"What do you mean?" Ms. Tenniswood asked.

"I never told you. I can read into people's pasts judging by the way they speak. I can also tell if they're lying by thinking about the statements a little bit deeper than most think about," I told her. "Okay... Let's think... Judging by the way I heard her talk, there was another murder here before. The unhappiness I can clearly notice behind her voice says this loud and clear."

Ms. Tenniswood didn't immediately reply. Instead, she looked down nervously, unwilling to meet Sophie's eyes or my own. I frowned. I guessed that it was a case that had gone on before I had joined the agency... Erm, been proposed a challenge that could get me hired at the agency. Technically, I don't officially work there quite yet. But the technicalities aren't all that important, right?

Sophie held up the cravat insistently. "Guys! This could have been left behind by the real killer! If it wasn't the victim's, then who's could it have been?!" she cried, shaking it around dramatically. "There aren't any other possibilities about why it would be at the crime scene on the victim's person! It had to have been that jerk who framed Kyo for this stuff!"

"I think that it's about time we went to go talk with Detective Umber about her testimony in the trial today," I suggested. "Maybe we can figure out a little bit more about the case. It seems like we're going in blind as of now."

Ms. Tenniswood  nodded her agreement. "That sounds like a wise idea. Let's get going. And Sophie, thanks for your help in this case," she told the younger girl.

Sophie smiled up at her widely. I guess that she was happy to have her gratitude... I don't blame her. Ms. Tenniswood notice me-

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Thomas pls-

-Digital