After a sleepless night, you find yourself in the defendant lobby. Klavier has come with the results of the voice analysis, and the voice is definitely the same as the one in the mock trial. The Tape Recorder is updated in the Court Record. The study of the tape is still ongoing. Signs of overdubbing have been found, but recovery of the erased audio will take a while. You suddenly hear the sound of someone falling, but the person fled too quickly to see them. You think it might've been Hugh... After a mini Chords of Steel exercise, it's time to enter the courtroom.
Trial Begins[edit | edit source]
Robin and Hugh have recanted their confessions, and the art room photo is no longer relevant, according to Blackquill. He means to prove that Juniper was the only one that could have moved the body. According to his theory, the victim was murdered in the center of the art room, and then dropped from the window over the maintenance area, bleeding on the pottery in the process. The body then landed on a mat and was carried with the ball cart. He calls O'Conner as a witness to prove this.
O'Conner's Testimony: What O'Conner Saw[edit | edit source]
- The Lecture Hall was packed before the mock trial, but the rest of the campus was empty.
- That's when I saw Juniper dragging a large mat from behind the stage.
- I was watching her from a vantage point between the stage and the maintenance area.
- She was heading towards me, so I assume she was on her way to the maintenance area.
- But I didn't have time to stand around and see what she did after that.
The drag marks you saw yesterday were from the mat. It is the only mat on the entire campus, and therefore the one used to cushion the fall. It looks like you're off to a bad start again.
Cross-Examination: What O'Conner Saw[edit | edit source]
Present the Stage Set Up Photos on the third statement. If O'Conner really was standing between the stage and maintenance area as he claims, he couldn't possibly have seen Juniper because of the big construction screen that is in the way. O'Conner now claims it was a slip of the mind, and that he watching her from the front of the stage, but you cannot see behind the stage from there. The only way this would be possible is if O'Conner was actually in the same area behind the stage, but in that case, Juniper surely would have seen him.
Blackquill now says that Hugh actually was standing at the vantage point, but he was sitting inside the crane. From here, he could look over the construction screen. Apparently, he was working part time as a crane operator. O'Conner clearly doesn't want anyone to know about this, and denies that he operated the crane. In the other photo that you received from Scuttlebutt, the crane operator is visible, and it clearly looks like Hugh! O'Conner still denies that the person in the photo is actually him, so you propose to examine his neck to prove the person inside the crane is actually him. In the photo, he has a unique object around his neck, and O'Conner's neck is concealed by his tall collar. Sure enough, when he unbuttons his collar, it's the same neckband as in the photo.
He finally admits to having a part time job as a crane operator, but shouldn't you be at least twenty to have a license to operate such a crane? Blackquill decides to reveal his secret: Hugh is actually twenty-five years old! He took a seven year break from school! Despite this new information, the prosecution's claims have not changed. Thankfully, Apollo has thought of something. Hugh couldn't have been on the job right before the mock trial, so what was he doing in the crane? He was probably using the crane to move the body. When asked for an explanation, Hugh shows his left hand that has been in his pocket all this time. It's injured and covered in bandages! Two hands are necessary to operate a crane like that, so he couldn't have moved the body, and the prosecution's claims still hold ground.
The only thing you can do is think of a way the body could have been moved without it being dropped. When you are asked what was used to move the body, present the School Banner. Someone could have used the banner to lower the body along the wire! The bottom part of the banner was knotted up, so the body could have been bundled in there and lowered to the stage without the use of a mat. However, if this is the case, the body would have been carried to the window with the wire, and not the window with the bloodstained pottery. That means the blood on the pottery must not have been the victim's blood. And indeed, after a blood analysis, the blood on the pottery turns out to be from O'Conner! Does this mean the blood got on there after a struggle with the victim? It would also explain the injury on his left hand.
Blackquill presents an envelope with Scuttlebutt's script inside. It contains a trap with a powerful blade, and only Courte knew the correct way to open it. Hugh was caught in this trap, resulting in his hand injury. This disproves that the body was dropped to the maintenance area! If the body was lowered with the wire, that would also explain the crashing sound you heard during the mock trial, resulting from the body crashing into the statues on the stage. But that creates another problem: if this sound was heard after the mock trial started, the body wouldn't have been on the stage before the mock trial, like O'Conner testified. When putting him under pressure, O'Conner admits that he was lying, and he never actually saw the body. But why would he lie about this?
You have now proven that the body was moved during the mock trial... but that leaves Juniper as the only suspect! As the student in charge of the audio, she is the only one who could leave and reenter the Lecture Hall. Now you've really dug your own grave, and you have nothing to counter it. Just before the judge delivers the verdict, however, he gets interrupted by O'Conner. He asks for the court's attention, and then he... confesses again?! He couldn't actually be the culprit, though, because he was at the mock trial at the time of the murder. O'Conner gives his testimony explaining what he did at the time of the murder.
O'Conner's Testimony: Hugh's Confession[edit | edit source]
- You won't believe this, but I used a body double!
- That wasn't the real me at the mock trial!
- That means I didn't almost lose! My body double almost did!
- I slipped out stealthily while my double took care of the trial.
- I had the run of the campus. In short, I'm the killer. Juniper's innocent!
Seriously? A body double? Even the judge agrees that this testimony makes no sense at all, but Hugh insists that this is the truth. But if you don't take this chance to cross-examine him, the verdict will be reached, so you don't really have a choice. The judge allows you to do a short therapy session, but Blackquill doesn't feel like this is worth his time, and leaves for a walk with Fulbright. O'Conner's emotions are out of control, and you have to find the source of his happiness.
Mood Matrix: Hugh O'Conner[edit | edit source]
| 1. | You won't believe this, but I used a body double! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 2. | That wasn't the real me at the mock trial! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 3. | That means I didn't almost lose! My body double did! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 4. | I slipped out stealthily while my double took care of the trial. | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 5. | I had the run of the campus. | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 6. | In short, I'm the killer. | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 7. | Juniper's innocent! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
Probe Woods on the seventh statement. Make sure you click on Juniper to get the answer to his overwhelming happiness. O'Conner says the confession is about the truth and that he still doesn't care about Juniper, but this is clearly not true. In reality, Hugh feels great happiness in the thought that his testimony might save Juniper. Blackquill returns and demands a verdict, but a large amount of noise remains, so you need to continue the therapy.
| 1. | You won't believe this, but I used a body double! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 2. | That wasn't the real me at the mock trial! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 3. | That means I didn't almost lose! My body double did! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 4. | I slipped out stealthily while my double took care of the trial. | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 5. | I had the run of the campus. | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 6. | In short, I'm the killer. | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 7. | Juniper's innocent! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
Pinpoint happiness on the third statement. That's strange... he exhibited happiness during the entire testimony, except during this statement. O'Conner now claims that he left during the pre-trial speech and came back only just before the verdict, and that this is the reason that he didn't feel happy. No one in the audience could have seen him if he entered through the doors behind the lecture hall screen, but the people in the faculty seats would have spotted him with ease. O'Conner then claims he went through the right door near the lawyer's bench, and he wasn't spotted because he could only have been seen from the left balcony seat, which belonged to the already dead Prof. Courte. But this is a lie, and to prove this, present the Lecture Hall Diagram. The left balcony couldn't have been empty, because that was where Prof. Means was seated, but he doesn't seem to be lying about what he saw. O'Conner is asked to testify once more.
| 1. | The second floor was deserted! | |||
Happiness
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Anger
|
Sadness
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Surprise
| |
| 2. | Why won't you believe me?! It's true, I tell you! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 3. | I went out through the back door without anyone noticing. | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 4. | Then, all I had to do... was go through the empty audio control room! | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
| 5. | It leads into the hallway. So I was perfectly capable of moving the body. | |||
Happiness
|
Anger
|
Sadness
|
Surprise
| |
Pinpoint sadness on the fourth statement. The audio control room wasn't really empty, because someone returned from there after Prof. Means' speech. Present Juniper Woods' profile. Hugh realized that if he said that the audio control room was empty, it would mean Juniper was roaming around the campus. Blackquill is enraged by O'Conner's constant lies, and breaks out of his shackles again! He is about to cut O'Conner down, but then Apollo reminds Blackquill of his "shocking" experience last time he tried doing something like that and backs off... for now. O'Conner admits to not being a genius, and says that several days ago, he accidentally learned that his parents have been bribing the school for good grades. When he confronted his parents about this, Juniper overheard him and reported his conversation to Prof. Courte. O'Conner wanted to make it up to Juniper for disappointing her, and pinned the blame on himself to do so.
The truth is, the friendship between the three of them is still rock solid, and you just need to prove that. Your mind goes back the "proof of friendship" they were talking about, and you suspect that it's the neck band he has. O'Conner always touches his neck when pressured, and the other two are the exact same way. Juniper, Robin, and Hugh wear their proof of friendship where they're easy to touch. Robin holds her arm, and Juniper holds her wrist when pressured. Hugh recounts the moment when Robin first made the friendship bands... and then Juniper and Robin interject, showing that they still have their bands as well! Hugh has no response but to break down in tears of joy.
Afterwards, Hugh recants his confession again, and now refuses to tell anything but the truth. Unfortunately, this means you're back to square one, and Juniper is still the only one without an alibi during the mock trial. At least, that's what Blackquill claims, but if O'Conner was telling the truth, that would leave another person without an alibi. During the mock trial, the left balcony really was empty! Present Aristotle Means's profile.
Bringing Means to an end[edit | edit source]
Prof. Means was supposedly giving his speech during the mock trial, but he could give his speech from an empty seat if it was pre-recorded. O'Conner says accusing Prof. Means is insane, because he gave Hugh the tape recorder and told him to tell the police, but that was forged evidence! The Tape Recorder is updated in the Court Record once again. Prof. Means is called to the witness stand. The court takes a listen to the pre-trial speech to find a contradiction, but you forgot that the speech takes a long time to listen to! You're left snoring by the end of it... but you do notice a contradiction towards the end.
- "Once again, our pure white Lady Justice will be watching over all of you today."
Present the golden statue in the centre of the Lecture Hall. The statue obviously isn't white, as the speech says! The white statue was replaced after it broke on the night of the murder, but Means must have assumed the white statue was going to be used and didn't factor it into his recording. Prof. Means claims it was nothing more than an oversight, and this isn't enough evidence that the speech was pre-recorded. But Apollo notices something: if you look at the timestamp, you will notice the speech lasted exactly ten minutes and thirty-five seconds. Could this help prove your point? Present the Voiceprint Analysis. That's the same length as the noise found on the tape recorder! Prof. Means' speech had been overdubbed by Juniper's fabricated threat! Prof. Means now claims that he didn't want to testify to protect Juniper, but now that he is under suspicion, he has no choice but to tell the truth and decides to school everyone about his innocence.
Means's Testimony: Prof. Means's Testimony[edit | edit source]
- The defendant came to me with what she said was very important, and by necessity, secret.
- She asked me to pre-record my speech and come to the audio room during the mock trial.
- Juniper confessed to the murder and asked that I get her declared innocent in court.
- She also said I'd become an accomplice after losing my alibi due to the pre-recording.
- But when I said I would protect Juniper, I meant it because it's the humane thing to do.
Cross-Examination: Prof. Means's Testimony[edit | edit source]
Present the Tape Recorder on the fifth statement. He obviously didn't want to protect Juniper if he would forge incriminating evidence against her and pass it on to the police. Prof. Means is serious now, so he fixes his hair and brings a blackboard, now looking like a Spartan warrior! He grabs his chalkboard, and after roll call, explains why he couldn't be the murderer. The murder occurred between 6 and 8 PM, but he claims to have already been at home at that time. Then, Robin takes the witness stand to make another confession: she did not make the two statues all by herself. After the last bell, she asked Prof. Means to finish the second statue, and therefore, he must have been at school until at least 7 PM. Prof. Means offers an explanation for this.
Means's Testimony: Prof. Means's Work of Art[edit | edit source]
- Now, pay attention! Robin took over half a day to complete one statue.
- I, however, finished most of the other statue between 7:00 and 8:30 PM.
- The defendant Juniper saw the two statues with her own eyes at 8:30 PM.
- Completing a statue so quickly meant I could not leave the stage for a single second!
- How could I have possibly had the time to go to the art room and commit murder?!
It is true that Juniper said that she saw both statues finished around 8:30 PM at the detention center, and it is possible to finish a statue in that amount of time. There doesn't seem to be a contradiction in his testimony, but you know he's not getting off that easy.
Cross-Examination: Prof. Means's Work of Art[edit | edit source]
Press on the fourth statement. Means repeats that he couldn't have left the stage during this time. There is nothing more you can do, so when the judge asks if you accept the witness's claim, select Yes, I accept it. However, you have another objection. If Prof. Means didn't move from the stage, then everyone was wrong about the crime scene. When asked where the crime was committed, present the Stage. But there was no blood found at the scene... except for one thing. Present the School Banner. However, the cause of death was blood loss, and there was only a trace amount on the school banner. If so, then there must have been something else to soak up the blood! Present the Gavinners banner on the ground. Since it's on top of the school banner in the photo, it would have soaked up most of the blood if the victim was killed there, with the school banner only having a small trace.
Blackquill reminds you that there was also a large pool of blood in the art room, but you make the claim that it was faked by transporting blood from the stage to the art room. When asked what was used to transport the blood, present the Burnt Fragments. The Gavinners banner was reeled up to the art room via wire, where the blood was wiped onto the floor, and it was subsequently burned. Then, you are asked to explain the loud noise you heard during the mock trial. The statues were knocked down by something carried in the banner, alright, but it was something besides the body. Present Lady Justice. This statue was seen in the art room, and was subsequently found in pieces on the stage. But why would Prof. Means move the statue? Considering that the statue was moved during the mock trial, while Means was faking his alibi, the most logical explanation would be that he wanted to point us to the body. This should explain everything, but Prof. Means asks one final question: if the victim was killed the night before and only found late the next day, and if her body were left on the stage, why did no one see it?
With your argument backed into a corner, Means states that not only have you failed to defend Juniper, but you almost got her friend Hugh convicted, and that you are not worthy of your attorney's badge. You experience past trauma over failing to save someone close to you, and have no choice but to shut down completely... but you’re not down for the count yet! Robin, Hugh and Juniper remind you of the good things you have done for them, Blackquill reminds you of someone that you were trying to save, and Apollo tells you the truth will always win against people like Means. With everyone's help, you’ve cleared your mind, so now all you can do is look back over the entire case.
Revisualization[edit | edit source]
There wasn't any time to move the body somewhere else - therefore, Courte must have been killed on the stage. This also means the body must have been hidden somewhere on or near the stage. First up, when did Prof. Means remove the body from its hiding place? Prof. Means was using the tape recorder to make a fake alibi, giving himself the opportunity to move the body where it would be easily spotted. Therefore, the body was moved during the mock trial, and more specifically, during the speech. Apart from the body, the professor also moved the white statue to the stage, knocking down the two statues. The body must have been hidden someplace. How about something that should've been finished, but was only mostly done? It didn't draw any attention because it looked like it belonged on the stage. The only thing that was on the stage and capable of concealing the body was the Wright statue!
Recreating the Statue[edit | edit source]
The Wright statue was never actually finished! The body was simply wrapped under some cloth to make it look like a statue. It sounds insane, but you'll never know unless you try for yourself! When you make the objection pose and get wrapped around in a (humorously pink) sheet, it doesn't look very convincing, however. You're missing the spiky hair, and a dead person can't hold their arm like that. You remember that Courte's wrists were tied up, so maybe that's how the effect was made. To recreate the spiky hair, select to have your hands tied up behind my head. However, it doesn't look like you're in an objection pose at all. But there was something on the victim's body that you don't have now. Present the Arrow. Courte's body had an arrow in its side, which could serve as an arm. But, even with the hands tied behind your head and the arrow, it still doesn't look like the statue. The arm is way too short!
What else could have been used as an arm? If the murder wasn't premeditated, then Prof. Means must have used something that was close at hand. Present Means' staff in the photo. When you use the staff as an arm, it looks just like a statue of Phoenix Wright (according to the gallery, at least)! Prof. Means says this is a mere coincidence, but you can prove it if you test the spear for blood. There is no real need to do this, however, because it is already obvious who the real culprit is. Means makes a few proposals for his punishment, but none of them suffice for the gallery. When he writes down his proper punishment, that being the "Guilty" verdict he deserves, his teeth shatter and he collapses to the ground.
Juniper Woods is found...
What really happened[edit | edit source]
The 67th school festival took place in 2027, and featured a mock trial between the two best students in the lawyer and prosecutor course, in this case Robin Newman and Hugh O'Conner. The winner would receive a special lecture from either the ace attorney Phoenix Wright or famous prosecutor Klavier Gavin, depending on the course they are taking. The script would be written by a student from the judge course, and Woods' script was chosen by Prof. Courte.
In the wake of the dark age of the law, an unspoken rift emerged between students and teachers. Rumors begun circulating of teachers accepting bribes from students. This led to Prof. Courte assigning Juniper Woods as her "snitch" to find the culprit behind the bribes. Hugh O'Conner accidentally discovered that his parents were bribing one of the professors for good grades. When confronting his parents about this on his phone, Woods overheard him and assumed Hugh was the one bribing the professor. On October 22nd, Woods gave her monthly report to Prof. Courte, and reported the bribery. After meeting with O'Conner, she learned Prof. Means was behind the bribery.
The next day, around 7 PM, Hugh O'Conner went to the art room and noticed a script written by Myriam Scuttlebutt. Thinking it was another nasty tabloid with malicious intent, he opened the envelope, only to have his hand injured by the booby-trap inside, leaving the pottery with bloodstains. As he was heading towards the hallway, he was spotted by Woods with his hand dripping with blood. Meanwhile, Prof. Means was asked to finish the Wright statue on the stage by Newman after the last bell. When Courte confronted Prof. Means about the bribery, Means stabbed her with his staff and left her for dead. Having read the mock trial script's details from Courte's notes, he decided to frame Woods for the crime.
Means wiped up the blood with two banners, and brought them to the art room, where he created a large pool of blood by wiping one of them on the floor. He then proceeded to throw the Gavinners banner in the incinerator, and brought an awl from the art room to cover it in Courte's blood. Means tied Courte's hands behind her head, positioned his staff, and covered the body with sheets to make it look like the Phoenix Wright statue. Sometime after the murder, Means also pre-recorded his speech for the mock trial, lasting ten minutes and thirty-five seconds, in order to give himself an alibi.
The next day, during the mock trial, Means played the pre-recorded speech, and left for the stage to enact the final part of his plan. To hide the method he used to hide the body and to draw attention to it, Means moved to the art room and lowered the white Lady Justice statue with the school banner, making it crash into Gavin's statue. After creating a fake alibi, Phoenix Wright and Athena Cykes were led to the body, with the crime looking like it was carried out in the same way as the mock trial script.
Finally, Means used the tape recorder to fabricate evidence of Woods screaming "You're a goner!", and gave the tape to Hugh O'Conner to take to the police. His last step was attempting to take Woods' case. Thankfully, Cykes insisted on taking the case, which proved to be his downfall.
After the Trial[edit | edit source]
15
The school festival is being extended one more day until tomorrow! At the festival, we see Juniper about to sing the Guitar's Serenade with Klavier (sound familiar?). Also, we finally get to see Juniper's costume glowing in the dark! After the performance, everyone is gathered in the Lecture Hall. Hugh thanks Phoenix for the training seminar, as it resulted in him winning the mock trial. Robin also decides to pursue a career as a prosecutor after all, to make up for her defeat.
It looks like O'Conner is about to confess... but he asks Juniper if they still can be best friends. The confession was never about love - it was about his age and his "genius status", which were already dragged out of him in court. Juniper proposes that Robin, Hugh, Myriam and herself will work together to put an end to the dark age of law, because the end never justifies the means.
You and Apollo start talking about his best friend, and he wants you to meet him. Unfortunately, that promise was never fulfilled, which is why he left the office. The bonds between the two are falling apart... and there’s nothing for it but to go through how it all happened.