Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth/The Kidnapped Turnabout/Part 3-1 - Beginning

Prologue

Following the introduction where, immediately after the previous case, Edgeworth was ambushed while providing ransom money to stop a kidnapping, Edgeworth comes to. It is raining, and someone is arguing about the ransom and police. It seems like we're now locked in in a storage room of some sort. Edgeworth recalls why he agreed to deliver the ransom money and introduces us to Ernest Amano, the director of the powerful zaibatsu, the Amano Group. Edgeworth is grateful to him as he helped Edgeworth in the past. His son, Lance, is already 20, but still got kidnapped.

Suddenly, there's another voice. A teenage girl hops down from the window. She calls herself the Great Thief Yatagarasu (although it's in the future for Edgeworth, this title was also mentioned in the first case), though her real name is Kay Faraday. She unties Edgeworth and you automatically talk to her:

• Great Thief: Kay insists that she is the Great Thief Yatagarasu.
• Yatagarasu: Edgeworth seems to know about a previous Yatagarasu. Kay claims that she doesn't steal ordinary things.

Kay asks for Edgeworth's name, after which she seems to remember something about him. Now that the introductions are settled, we can focus on escaping. The door is obviously locked, so that's not an option. Looks like the only way out is through the window that Kay came in from. Kay herself can't jump back up there, so we'll need another way.

Investigation: Isolation Room

Examine the mascot head with sunglasses. Kay recognizes it as part of the Bad Badger mascot costume, but why is the head the only part there? The Bad Badger's Head is added to the Organizer.

Now, examine the small white object on the tarp. It's Edgeworth's phone. We can contact the police to help us! Edgeworth calls Detective Gumshoe. After a brief conversation, Gumshoe is dragged away and replaced by a new person. He introduces himself as Shi-Long Lang, an agent of Interpol. Is he the one who Franziska was talking about yesterday? He blames Edgeworth for falling into the kidnapper's trap and says he can't help you escape as his team is hunting for the kidnapper. Edgeworth's phone then runs out of power. Seems like we're on our own again.

Examine the sign on the floor. The park is holding a Blue Badger photo rally. A prize is given to anyone who snaps a picture of all four badgers: the Blue Badger, Pink Badger, Proto Badger and Bad Badger. There's only one of each in the park. The Badger Photo Rally is added to the Organizer.

Examine the beam. There's a small hook there and the beam leads to the window, so it might be a way to escape! Kay tries to climb it but fails. That's not a usable escape route after all, but you get The beam I was tied to logic.

By now a new topic is open, so talk to Kay again:

• The kidnapping: Kay confirms that there were two kidnappers in the other room. Now we can look through the slot.

Examine the hatch. The Open floor panel is held to the wall by a hook.

Next, examine the boxes. There's a costume of the Pink Badger in the lower right box. Edgeworth isn't very familiar with the badgers so Kay gives him the Blue Badger Bible, which is added to the Organizer. There are eight boxes, seven of which are empty, so there should be seven Costumes being used currently.

Now that you are in a close-up view of the boxes, examine the key at the left edge. We could probably use this Tiny key to open something in this room.

Examine the lockers. Edgeworth and Kay could escape if they can climb up the Lockers, but they are too high to reach. If we were to get to the top, we would need some footholds.

Go into Logic mode and connect The beam I was tied to with Open floor panel. The panel was held open by a hook attached to a beam. There is a beam with a hook in the room we're in, so is there an escape hatch here too? In fact, there is, just hidden under the tarp, so examine it. Seems like an Underground entrance, but it's locked, of course. Go back into Logic mode and connect Tiny key with Underground entrance. The key should unlock the panel lock, and it does! Kay dives in but falls to the ground as the ladder slips. There's machinery in the basement, but no exit that can be seen. We do know one thing, however: the Underground ladder is merely propped to the floor, not attached. Finally, connect Underground ladder with Lockers. We can use the ladder from the basement to climb to the top of those lockers. Freedom!

Bad Ending One: If you run out of ideas, or logic in this case, Edgeworth and Faraday decide to give in and wait for the police to rescue them.

Shi-Long Lang

It seems like we were trapped in the underground floor of a building in the wild west themed area of the theme park. Gumshoe comes and meets up with us. After a short scene, we're officially introduced to Lang, the man who took our call back at the storage room. With him is a mysterious woman called Shih-na. He and Edgeworth exchange business cards. It seems like he really is the agent Franziska was talking about. He was really close to the late Agent Hicks and is a little sad about his murder. He really doesn't like prosecutors, and won't even let Edgeworth investigate! Maybe we can find something out about him if we talk to Gumshoe:

• Agent Lang: Agent Lang seemed to appear out of nowhere after Gumshoe called the precinct for backup. Interpol agents don't investigate normal domestic cases, so why is he here?
• Next step: Gumshoe gets into a slight argument with Kay. Nothing useful for us.

Since we still can't go anywhere, talk to Kay:

• Next step: She is still talking about stealing something.
• One and only one: Kay says she's after the truth. Edgeworth recalls that seven years ago there was another Yatagarasu who found evidence of corrupt dealings and made them public. The thief seemed to just infiltrate the companies and disappear, leaving a card with the mark of the three-legged raven behind. Is Kay really the next Yatagarasu...?

Ernest Amano then arrives and apologizes for Edgeworth being kidnapped. It seems that Edgeworth is grateful to him, as he helped introduce Edgeworth to the law office and study the justice system of another country. He was a friend of Edgeworth's mentor, Manfred von Karma. He is in a pretty bad situation, with his son still kidnapped and the ransom money stolen. You can now talk to him:

• The kidnapping: It happened out of the blue. Ernest received a phone call and heard the pleas for help from his son at the other end.
• Lance Amano: Lance is 21 this year, and is kind and attractive. Ernest also has a butler called Oliver Deacon, though he's nowhere to be seen. He's very close with Lance, so he might know who would want to kidnap him.
• Oliver Deacon: Oliver was a very loyal butler, though Ernest hasn't heard from him after his recent leave. His relatives and friends hadn't seen either. Suspicious...

Well, we can't just idle around here forever. Let's begin our investigation, whether the Interpol agent lets us or not!

Bad Ending Two: If you run out of logic during this investigation, Lang forces Edgeworth to leave. Despite his protests, Lang tells Edgeworth to go back to the courtroom.

Investigation: Wild, Wild West Area

Gumshoe is dragged away by the precinct detectives to work for Lang, so we only have Kay as an assistant. We can't leave this area, so let's see what we can learn about around here. Try to talk to the Blue Badger mascot. Initially, it just dances around, though Kay pulls off the costume's head revealing... Mike Meekins? Edgeworth remembers him as a witness in a past case.

Who's Mike Meekins? Well, if you played Rise from the Ashes in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Turnabout Succession in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, you'll know him better, but watch out for his overbearing personality and megaphone!

• Mike Meekins: Meekins is not currently a police officer, though he still wishes to become a detective.
• Blue Badger: Meekins was ordered by Agent Lang to disguise himself as the Blue Badger to catch the kidnappers.
• Any clues?: Meekins had been standing here for an hour around the time Edgeworth woke up. He could've seen the kidnappers escape! He claims he didn't see anything, however.

Meekins says that he only saw a Blue Badger when he was standing here. That's contradictory with something we already know, though. Present the Badger Photo Rally. There can only be one of each badger in the park at any time, and Meekins is already wearing the Blue Badger outfit! If what Meekins said was true, there must have been A 2nd Blue Badger walking around in the park, but why?

Examine the area around the pipe. There are a bunch of footprints around here, though we don't know which sets belong to the kidnappers. You get the What kind of shoes? logic.

Go into Logic mode and connect Costumes with A 2nd Blue Badger. Since there are seven costumes in use currently, the kidnappers must have been disguised as them! You get the Costumed escape logic. The stolen costumes are that of a Blue Badger, a Proto Badger and a Bad Badger. The kidnappers could still be wandering around in the park wearing those outfits. The Stolen Costumes are added to the Organizer. Now connect What kind of shoes? with Costumed escape. Since the kidnappers were disguised as badgers, we should follow the costume's paw prints.

Examine the area where you found the footprints again. There are two sets, one leading to the west and on to the wooden floor and one headed east to where Meekins is standing. He's not the kidnapper, so maybe one of them walked to the garage. It is currently closed, so examine it to open it. Inside there is... a dead body! Ernest recognizes him as Oliver Deacon, his butler. The set of footprints ended here, so is Deacon a kidnapper? You get the Victim was kidnapper? logic. Looks like he died from a bullet wound. The Preliminary Findings are added to the Organizer.

Agent Lang could be here any minute, so we'd better find out as much as we can before he arrives. Examine the victim's wound. It looks like he was shot in the abdomen and the shoulder, but Edgeworth deduces that he wasn't shot twice, but rather, a single bullet was shot through his abdomen to his shoulder. For a bullet that penetrated the whole way, there is very little blood on the crime scene... The Preliminary Findings are updated in the Organizer. Next, examine the pendant. There's a name on the back of it: Colin Devorae. But that isn't the victim's name... Deduce the pendant and present the Preliminary Findings. The victim's name is Oliver Deacon, not Colin Devorae. Mr. Deacon's Pendant is added to your organizer. With that, our investigation is complete!

Bad Ending Three: If you run out of logic here, Lang disrupts the investigation and tell Edgeworth to go back to the courtroom.

Meekins's Arrest

A woman then walks into the area. She introduces herself as Lauren Paups, the girlfriend of Lance. She came here after she heard about the kidnapping.

Agent Lang returns and sees the crime scene. He detains Meekins as a suspect right away. That's a bit hasty, but Lang insists that it's the way he stops crime. His line of logic is faulty, and Edgeworth must prove Meekins' innocence.

Argument: Shi-Long Lang's Logic

Lang

Lang's Argument

- Shi-Long Lang's Logic -

1. I've seen a lot of bodies like this one being carted off in my time.
2. I can say he was shot in a single glance, but even you figured that much out, right?
3. With your current gun laws, it's not exactly easy to get your hands on a gun.
4. Not unless you're a member of law enforcement like Officer Meekins, isn't that right?

Lang says that he follows the "detainment philosophy" developed by Zheng Faian philosopher Lang Zi thousands of years ago, which is still used by Zheng Fa's police today. Let's put that philosophy to the test.

Rebuttal: Shi-Long Lang

Press statement four. Meekins's gun is the only one that has been fired. Meekins claims he lost his gun! That's not good. You get a new statement:

• Officer Meekins ambushed the victim in this garage and killed him here with his gun!

Present the Preliminary Findings at this new statement. There is simply too little blood at the crime scene, so this garage might not be the crime scene at all. Lang asks us another question: why was Officer Meekins standing right outside the location of the victim's body all this time? Meekins claims he simply took a walk, but it's obvious he's hiding something.

Testimony: Mike Meekins

Meekins

Meekins' Testimony

- Meekins's Testimony -

1. It's true, sir! I wasn't assigned to this area, sir!
2. I was told to check every square inch of the main gate area, sir!
3. I also went looking for the kidnappers while selling dreams in the Blue Badgermobile, sir!
4. But! I got completely caught up in my role, selling dreams to the children! SIR!
5. Before I knew it, I found myself in this area, sir!

The Blue Badgermobile, that's new. Meekins explains that it's a mobile souvenir shop. The Blue Badgermobile is added to the Organizer.

Rebuttal: Meekins's Testimony

Present the Blue Badgermobile at the third statement. The Blue Badgermobile is parked in the garage, so he couldn't have been using it. Meekins claims that he lost it, so he went back to find it in the garage, meeting Edgeworth there. Lang doesn't believe the story at all and arrests Meekins regardless. There is no way Edgeworth can stop him since he is the one who calls the shots!

Bad Ending Four: If you can't win this argument once you run out of logic, Lang arrests Meekins on the spot. Poor Meekins.