Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney/Episode 3: Turnabout Samurai/Day 3 - Trial

You start out in the courtroom, where things aren’t looking too good; even Mia calls Will a dead-man-walking.

Edgeworth calls Sal Manella to the stand.

The Day of the Murder: Cross-examination
You know that he is lying; the evidence isn’t in your Court Record, but if you examined the area outside the Studio Two Trailer, you would have noted that there were empty plates. Press him on his fifth statement. Mia will then ask you if something is odd. Choose "It’s contradictory". He will now say that he had lunch outside the trailer. This admission has created another contradiction in his testimony. Press his last statement about no one leaving their chairs. When you have the option, press harder. Sal will now admit that they did take a break. He will testify again, this time about the break.

The Break: Cross-examination
Press his first statement, and you'll find that their break directly coincides with the time of the murder — 2:30 to 2:45. If you then press his third statement, Edgeworth will stop you and tell the court that it was impossible for someone at Studio Two to go to Studio One. The judge will ask you if you are trying to claim otherwise. Edgeworth is correct; Mr. Monkey’s Head was blocking the path at the time. Choose "No, it’s impossible". Unfortunately this rules out the people at Studio Two as suspects, leaving Will as the only possible person left.

After a short recess, Edgeworth calls Cody to the stand. Mia tells you to take note of Cody’s camera in the Court Record. Cody’s Camera is added to the Court Record.

Witness's Account: Cross-examination
You have to be a little hard on Cody, but it's just to reveal the truth. Look at the statement where he claims he didn’t have his camera with him. This seems a little out of character for Cody. He always has his camera with him! Present Cody’s Camera against his 9th statement. Cody will admit that he lied, and that he did have his camera with him. However he was too distracted to take a picture.

What I saw: Cross-examination
Cody appears to be a little vague. Press the fourth statement about the bad guy not moving. When you can, choose "Press him harder". Phoenix will imply that Cody didn’t see a stabbing at all. The judge will ask why Cody didn’t see the pinnacle of the fight. Remember that Cody said that his camera is new and he is still figuring out how to use it. He must have been trying to take a photo of the Steel Samurai at the time and was trying to work his camera to take the photo. Select "Show evidence", then present Cody’s Camera. Cody confesses and provides another testimony.

No Photo?: Cross-examination
So Cody claims he didn’t get a photo. That doesn’t seem right. After he came all the way to Global Studios to see the Steel Samurai, he certainly would have taken a photo once he got his camera open. Press Cody’s last statement. When you can, choose "Press him hard". Phoenix tells Cody that he believes that he did take a photo. Cody confesses (again). He changes the last line of his testimony:
 * "I took a few shots, but it was too late, so I erased 'em."

Surely Cody would keep any and all photos he had of the Steel Samurai. It doesn’t make sense that he would delete them. Present the Path to Glory against this new last statement. Phoenix and Mia now realize the truth. Why is there no victorious photo of the Steel Samurai in Cody’s perfect collection of victory images? When the judge asks why Cody erased the photos. Choose "The Steel Samurai didn’t win".

Revealing the truth
Cody lied about what happened because he couldn’t bring himself to believe that the Steel Samurai didn’t win a fight. Cody will burst into tears and finally admit the truth. It was the Steel Samurai that fell down and stopped moving. If this is the truth, then the person inside the costume was not the killer at all. When you have the option, choose "Steel Samurai was the victim".

The evidence is pointing towards the fact that Jack Hammer was inside the Steel Samurai costume. Everybody assumed he went to Studio One after lunch, but no one actually saw him go and the security camera wasn’t turned on at the time. He was also present to witness Will spraining his ankle. He could have waited for Will to fall asleep, stolen the costume and then limped past the camera.

Unfortunately, Phoenix doesn’t know why Jack Hammer did this. Cody is glad to know that it wasn’t really the Steel Samurai that got beaten. Cody says that he did save one photo from that day. The judge says it's impossible to really know who was in that costume, and Phoenix agrees. Mia stops you. There is something really important in this photo, something so important that it can change the case completely. Look at the top of the photo carefully. It's partly cut off, but there is a number there. It looks like the number "2". This means that the Steel Samurai went to Studio Two that day. All the people at Studio Two that day had an alibi, because of Mr. Monkey's Head blocking the path, however they didn’t need to use the path, because Jack Hammer came to their location. Point out the number "2" in the photo, and present it to the court.

The judge doesn’t really understand what Phoenix is saying. Phoenix will take out the Guidemap to explain. You have to show the court where the real location of the murder was. Select Studio Two and present it. When you can, choose "The trailer is there". This means that Dee Vasquez and Sal Manella were actually at the scene of the crime that day after all.

New claims
Phoenix now states the defense’s new claims:
 * The scene of the crime was Studio Two.
 * The man Ms. Oldbag saw walk by the main gate was Jack Hammer, the victim.
 * Mr. Hammer, for some reason, stole a Steel Samurai costume, then he went to Studio Two.

Edgeworth finds one problem. Why would Jack Hammer steal the Steel Samurai costume? Edgeworth asks for proof. When you can, choose "I have proof". Remember the Empty Bottle, a bottle of sleeping pills that was found next to the lunch plates in the Employee Area? Will really was asleep in his trailer after lunch; this is because Jack Hammer drugged him with the sleeping pills! This would make it easy for Jack to steal the costume out of Will’s dressing room. Present the Empty Bottle.

When you can, choose "Fingerprint the bottle". The judge collects the bottle to be sent for fingerprinting. If Jack Hammer drugged Will with these pills, his fingerprints will be found. The judge extends the trial for another day. He wants Phoenix to find out why Hammer stole the costume and who killed him.

That was a very close one today.