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Seven years ago, a shocking murder took place inside the courthouse itself, and a freshly-promoted detective is the prime suspect. Edgeworth takes on his first "investigation" and forms bonds that will last him a lifetime, all while taking on the mystery of the famed master thief, Yatagarasu.
Date: September 10, 2011
Seven years before the start of the game, a man is on trial for murder. But he's not about to go down quietly: he declares to the court that he committed the murder under the orders of Yatagarasu, who is in fact none other than the prosecutor in charge of that very case, Byrne Faraday. The court falls into uproar and the judge (yes, THAT judge) suspends the proceedings. That afternoon, Edgeworth waits in the Prosecution Lobby for his chance to take over the case, now that Prosecutor Faraday is under suspicion. It will be Edgeworth's first time stepping into court as prosecutor. He is joined by his mentor, Manfred von Karma, who outlines the case. The victim is an employee at the Cohdopian Embassy, Deid Mann, who was killed in view of security cameras by Mack Rell. At the time it was said that Yatagarasu was snooping around the embassy. At first Rell himself claimed to be Yatagarasu, but when faced with a guilty verdict he insisted he was actually hired by the real Yatagarasu, Prosecutor Byrne Faraday. They're calling the case KG-8 II. Edgeworth is not familiar with the original KG-8, and Karma explains that only a small number of people in law enforcement are allowed the information. 3 years ago, the secretary of Amano Inc, Colin Devorae, was arrested for suspicion of smuggling contraband. Cece Yew was a witness and set to testify, but she was killed before ever making it there. Arrested for the murder was Manny Coachen, an employee at the Cohdopian Embassy, but because of a lack of evidence he was declared not guilty. Karma blames this on Faraday being too weak of a prosecutor to do what was necessary. And now, just like then, a witness has been murdered before he could testify against the smugglers. However, there is one major difference between KG-8's I and II: Yatagarasu. Yatagarasu's MO is to sneak into corrupt companies and send incriminating evidence to the media, and in this case he stole something from the Cohdopian embassy. What that was, Karma does not know: only those directly on the case do. Since Faraday is also in charge of the Yatagarasu case they'll have to get more information out of him. As they talk a little girl with a red balloon runs up to them. She calls Karma scary and then asks Edgeworth if he can exchange some coins for her. He gives her a doller in exchange for her handful. The bailiff then arrives to tell them court is in session. Karma and Edgeworth head to the courtroom, but once there they find that Faraday and the defense attorney are missing. The Judge takes his seat and asks if it's someone's birthday, as he heard some kind of firecracker going off a moment ago. Just then a young Dick Gumshoe bursts into the courtroom and announces that Faraday and his defendant have been murdered. Edgeworth rushes to the scene, but is stopped by and older man in a gray coat, homicide detective Tyrell Badd (who was set to be called as a witness for the prosecution). He's dismissive of Edgeworth at first (throughout the case he finds different ways of referring to him as "kid" and "boy" etc), but when he learns that Edgeworth was supposed to be taking over the case he gives a few details: Faraday was stabbed to death, and was found holding a gun in his hand which they presume he used to killed Rell. Gumshoe was standing guard at the door and claims no one went in or out, so they must have killed each other. Edgeworth then tries to speak to Rell's lawyer, Calisto Yew, who is dismissive of him at first because he's so new. When Edgeworth cockily declares that he's Karma's pupil and "I wouldn't have you think of me as a normal beginner" she laughs in his face and makes fun of his suit. He also introduces himself to Gumshoe for the first time, who was only recently made a detective. Gumshoe admits that no one came in or out of the room, and he didn't hear any sign of a struggle until the gunshot. A bailiff approaches to tell Calisto that she has a visitor, Manny Coachen. She and Badd both go pale but she agrees to go meet him. As she leaves Karma approaches, and is soon followed by a young Franziska. Franziska is very put out that her father chose Edgeworth to handle the case when she's very close to becoming a prosecutor herself, and she insists that he has no intention of losing to her younger brother. Karma tells Badd to let both his pupils in to see the crime scene, and Badd protests as they're both so young, but Karma pulls rank on him and he has no choice but to comply. Karma and Badd make it clear they don't like each other and Karma leaves. At the crime scene they discover the two bodies each holding murder weapons. Faraday is half draped over Rell and there are plastic evidence bags everywhere, one of them bloody. Badd confirms that the gun is actually the murder weapon from the case at hand, but he's not sure where the knife came from. Because Rell was searched before taken into custody the knife must have belonged to Faraday. On the nearby table there is a tea set that is completely undisturbed despite the mess of the crime scene, along with Faraday's bag of evidence from the case. In one corner of the room a window is open through which Edgeworth can smell flowers, and a large TV with a VCR. When Gumshoe starts playing with it they find the volume is turned up way too loud. Investigating the bodies, they find a black ink stain on Faraday's hand, and Edgeworth requests they move the bodies so they can examine them more easily. Once turned onto their backs their wounds become visible: both wounds are on the right side of their chests. Rell's gunshot wound bears no burn marks and therefore he must have been shot from something of a distance. They also find a fountain pen in Faraday's pocket, the source of the ink stain, and determine with it that Faraday was left handed. This contradicts the fact that Faraday is holding the gun in his right hand. Edgeworth suspects there was someone else at the scene. The CSIs finish examining the bodies and determine that Rell might have lived for a moment after he was shot, but Faraday died almost instantly from his stab wound. Franziska reasons that Faraday must have been the instigator then, as he wouldn't have been able to retaliated after being stabbed. She and Edgeworth argue over the timing of the events, until Edgeworth points out that when the bodies were discovered Faraday was on top of Rell, and therefore must have died second, except Rell could have stabbed him if he was already on the ground...none of it adds up. There must have been a third person on the scene. Calisto returns with the Judge and declares that Gumshoe is under arrest. The Judge himself saw that Gumshoe left his post in front of the door at one point, and therefore could have gone into the room and committed the murder. As for a motive, Calisto says last week she saw Faraday shouting at Gumshoe that he was going to cut his pay, and maybe Gumshoe held a grudge. As for why he killed Rell, he was just disposing of a witness. After all, there isn't anyone who could have a grudge against the both of them. Edgeworth reminds her of the KG-8 incident, and Manny Coachen, who had just paid them a visit. It's possible that he could have enough of a motive to want both men dead. Badd agrees, except that Manny was in the court gallery at the time of the murder. Because Gumshoe still insists on being in the hall the entire time, but he didn't see anyone else come in or out, Badd drags him off and Franziska leaves to go tell Karma what they've discovered. Edgeworth hangs behind to ask Calisto about KG-8, and at first she denies knowing anything, but then he points out the name of the victim: Yew. Calisto admits that Cece was her younger sister. It wasn't that Manny got away from lack of evidence--the evidence was stolen, so Faraday told her after the trial. It's because of that she signed up to be the defense lawyer in the current case, not that she's gained much from it. When asked about Manny she says he was in the gallery watching the trial, and when he recognized her he came by to taunt her. Edgeworth is outraged, but Calisto laughs off his concern, saying she's fine. As much as she hates to admit it Manny was seen in the gallery the entire time that that the murder could have taken place and can't possibly be involved. She leaves, and Edgeworth is more determined than ever to solve the case "perfectly." Edgeworth meets with Karma and Franziska again, and learns that the trial has been put on hold indefinitely thanks to the prosecutor and defendant being dead--so much for his debut trial. When Franziska asks Karma if he'll come see her debut trial he only smirks and says "I'll think about it." She then asks if she and Edgeworth can be allowed to compete to see who can discover the truth behind the current murder case first, and Karma begrudgingly grants them permission. He leaves to let them investigate on their own. They talk to Calisto, who says she was in waiting room 1 when the murder took place next door. She was talking to Badd, who she knows from the original KG-8 case--it was Badd's job to protect her little sister before she was to testify, and they all know how that turned out. Their talk was not pleasant and they came out after hearing the gunshot. As for her client, she admits freely that she only took him on in order to get information about KG-8 and Yatagarasu, but that was a bust. Franziska accuses her of protecting a man she knew was a murderer, but Calisto insists that was not her intention; she was only interested in using her position as a defense attorney to gain information. They move on to Gumshoe, who says Badd ordered him to watch waiting room 2 (where Faraday and Rell were) right after the court recessed. They search him and find an envelope that held his first bonus as a detective: a whopping $5, the only money he had on him that day, which he has already spent. As they talk, the little girl who needed her coins changed sneaks up, kicks Edgeworth in the back of the knee, and runs away. On her way out she drops a swiss roll (Google it). Edgeworth takes it into evidence. In the hallway in front of the crime scene Edgeworth meets the Judge, who describes what he witnessed. Before the start of the trial he had gone to the bathroom, and the window there has a perfect view of the hall. When he entered the bathroom he saw Gumshoe standing guard, but when he left he saw no one. After the Judge leaves Edgeworth then questions Badd, who said that about 30 minutes before the gunshot he and Gumshoe came to the hallway and there met Calisto. Apprently Faraday was furious with Rell and ordered no one to interrupt them. Badd ordered Gumshoe to stand guard and then went into the second waiting room with Calisto to talk. According to the bailiff in the lobby Gumshoe did not leave the hallway through the door, so in order for the Judge's testimony to be correct Gumshoe must have gone into the room with Faraday and Rell. At the end of the hall they find the window through which the men's bathroom can been seen. On the windowsill is a potted cactus and a scrap of pink rubber. Below is a small sofa with red bean paste crumbs under it and a dirty handprint on the cushion. They call a CSI over who confirms the fingerprints are Gumshoe's. Further down the hall is a vending machine, and the cheapest thing it holds is a pack of swiss rolls for $6. Edgeworth presumes that Gumshoe purchased a swiss roll and sat down on the sofa to eat it, but dropped it, and that's how he dirtied the floor and the sofa. However, there's another contradiction: the swiss roll is $6, but Gumshoe only had $5 on him that day. Where did he get the rest of the money? Edgeworth thinks he knows, and he and Franziska find the Judge to hear his testimony again. When the Judge mentions how Gumshoe vanished, Edgeworth explains that he was simply sitting on the sofa and was therefore out of view (the Judge declares him guilty of sofa destruction!). The Judge then asks to add something to his testimony, and says that on his way out of the bathroom he heard a loud bang. Before he mistook it for a firecracker, but now he thinks it must have been the gunshot. However, the Judge was in the bathroom about 20 minutes before court was supposed to start, but Badd says the gunshot he heard came only just before. Edgeworth supposes that the bang the Judge heard was actually the popping of a balloon as it struck the cactus on the window. He requests one more chance to cross examine Gumshoe. The Judge allows it, and Gumshoe is pulled over. He insists he didn't take one step away from the door the entire time he was guarding the door, until they show him the stain he left on the sofa. Edgeworth demands to know who helped him purchase the swiss roll, and Gumshoe refuses to tell, but just then the little girl creeps up behind Edgeworth and tries to kick him again. He catches her this time, and Gumshoe insists that he not hurt her--confirming the two of them are acquainted after all. The girl introduces herself as Kay Faraday and Edgeworth realizes she's actually Prosecutor Faraday's daughter. Gumshoe tries to stop him from saying anything because she doesn't know yet, but Kay admits she already overheard the officers talking about it. She starts crying, and though Edgeworth tries to giver her his handkerchief, but she chooses instead to blow her nose on his cravat. Once Kay has calmed down she shows Edgeworth a notebook her father made with her that has their list of promises: things like "don't accept gifts from strangers" and "don't let a stranger see you cry." She says she wants to someday be a hero of justice like him. Edgeworth tries to give her his cravat to cheer her up some more, but she refuses, as she promised her father not to accept gifts from strangers, so he says instead that he's lending it to her. All she has to do is return it someday and she won't have broken her promise. She agrees (and Edgeworth pops on his spare cravat). Edgeworth then turns on Gumshoe again, declaring that he and Kay bought the swiss roll together. The reason he lied all this time about no one coming into the hall was so that no one would know Kay broke her promise about accepting things from strangers (he's a big softie). But when they sat down to eat, Kay's balloon popped on the cactus and made Gumshoe drop his. Now he has an alibi! Calisto interrupts suddenly, declaring that Gumshoe has just made it impossible for anyone but him to be the killer. She calls in one of the cops to have them take Kay away, but she runs off before he can catch her. She and Edgeworth trade barbs and then she leaves again. Edgeworth and Franzsika head to a final investigation, of the second waiting room where Badd and Calisto were supposedly conversing during the murder. There they find Badd and Kay who seem to really be getting along. Kay presents Badd with a bottle of perfume, and he says that because it's not what he's looking for she can keep it. He then gives her a swiss roll, and as she chows it down she tearfully insists to him that Gumshoe is innocent. Franziska suggests that Kay should go home, but she says she can't because she's helping Badd solve the case (which pisses Franziska off, since Badd was barely willing to let even her join the investigation in the first place). She heads out to investigate somewhere else leaving the "adults" to talk. Edgeworth asks Badd about the perfume, which seems to have permeated the entire room. Badd says that it's Calisto's: she spilled some in the room and it reeked so bad that he had to open a window. After some prompting Badd talks about the KG-8 case. 10 years ago he and Faraday were in charge of the case involving Amano Inc and the smugglers, but their star witness Cece Yew was murdered. In the end all they got was Colin Devorae, who Badd suspects was thrown to them as a scapegoat by Amano himself (Edgeworth resists the idea). They arrested Manney Coachen for Cece's murder but couldn't convict. Badd blames himself. When the decision was handed down he met Calisto for the first time, and apologized as best he could, but she said "That won't bring my sister back" and slapped him. Since then Faraday and Badd have continued to chase the smugglers but haven't been able to make significant progress. But then Calisto started appearing in court as a defense lawyer, using her position to draw closer to the smuggling group in hopes of uncovering more information about them. As for Faraday, Badd has known him ever since he first became a prosecutor and Kay was born. They worked many cases together, including the Yatagarasu case. No one knows more about the thief than them; he was even called in to today's trial to argue that Rell could not have been Yatagarasu. He tells them there are three reasons why Yatagarasu can't be caught: 1) He knows exactly where to get what he's after, no matter the building; 2) He knows how to work around any security system; 3) he doesn't leave a single piece of evidence behind. He would never be caught on a security camera like Rell was, and he doesn't kill. There was only one thing about this case that was different, and that's that Yatagarasu sent his stolen information directly to Faraday and Badd. They know it was him because it came with the white Yatagarasu card that always shows up with his information. A bailiff appears to let them know that the KG-8 II evidence has been investigated and gathered, and is waiting for them in the courtroom. They find the court documents, both murder weapons, and Faraday's journal. In the journal Faraday talks about how easy it will be to get Rell found guilty, and if all else fails, he still has the "Yatagarasu Key." There's a picture of the key pressed inside. Edgeworth wonders if the key was the evidence that Yatagarasu stole out of the Cohdopian Embassy. There's no note about where the knife came from. Something like that would not have been in the courthouse normally and it's not a piece of evidence. With some investigating they discover that the knife is the key--the handle unlocks and swings around. Since Faraday never mentions this fact in his journal Edgeworth supposes that only Yatagarasu himself knew about the trick before now, and thus only Yatagarasu could have killed him. But if it's not Rell, who is it? Edgeworth notices another piece of evidence missing: the video tape of the surveillance camera that recorded Rell's crime. He and Franziska return to the scene of the crime in time to see a young Rou stalk out. Apparently Rou is on a mission to restore his family's status by studying law enforcement procedures all over the world. Badd suspects he's more useful than Gumshoe, despite his foul mouth. Badd tells them it's useless to investigate further, but then Edgeworth presents the secret of the key they discovered. Badd admits not even he knew about it, and so no one on the force could have. He had promised Faraday that no matter what he would protect that key, and so after it "disappeared" from the evidence he's been trying to find it (with Kay's help). Edgeworth convinces Badd to "testify" for him. He asks why Badd didn't hear Kay's balloon pop and come running (since the Judge mistook it for a gunshot!) but Badd explains that the courthouse walls are reinforced and meant to not allow for sound transfer (thus nullifying Gumshoe's testimony about not hearing a struggle before the gunshot). Edgeworth turns that around and asks how Badd was able to heal the real gunshot then, and they realize it's because the windows in both rooms were open. This means that other sounds might have gotten through as well. Edgeworth plays the tape currently in the room's VHS player and discovers the missing security cam evidence. The murder shows up 30 minutes it with a loud gunshot: it's possible that what Badd heard was actually the gunshot on the tape and not the actual murder taking place. The killer was trying to throw off the time of the murder. An officer shows up saying that Calisto is asking for them. The three of them follow him to the courtroom, and run into Kay, who Badd sends back out on her secret mission before she can overhear anything. In possibly the most epic maneuver ever Edgeworth takes his place behind the prosecutor bench and Calisto at the defense bench. Badd says he has a duty to see the case through and watches from beneath the Judge's bench. Calisto still insists that Gumshoe is the killer. Even if Gumshoe was with Kay that was 20 minutes before the gunshot was heard, and they can't verify his whereabouts for the entire time. There's no one else who could have killed them. Edgeworth asks if she's checked for the alibis of everyone from the time before Gumshoe took up his post, but Calisto says that wasn't necessary anyway; the timing of the gunshot says it all. Edgeworth presents the video as a possible explanation. With the windows open it would have been very easy to hear the loud TV and mistake it for a real gunshot. Edgeworth accuses Calisto of the murder, to the surprise of everyone, but Calisto smoothly brushes him off. As proof that it was Calisto who opened the windows and set the tape Edgeworth presents her perfume, which spilled all over and forced Badd to open the window. She planned that specifically so that Badd would be able to hear the gunshot and mistake the time of the murder. After all it was her who pulled Badd aside and said that Faraday didn't want to be disturbed. Calisto says that spilt perfume isn't enough to pin a murder on someone. In fact, she couldn't have killed Faraday, because she had no idea he had a knife on him. Edgeworth plays a bluff and says the knife was Faraday's bag as a piece of evidence he had not used in court yet. Calisto shoots him down, saying that the only evidence in the bag was the Yatagarasu Key. By admitting she knew the key was at the scene Edgeworth claims she's admitting she had the means to kill Faraday. Calisto tries to say that Faraday told her the secret about the key-knife just before disappearing into the room with Rell, but Edgeworth points out that not even Faraday or Badd knew the secret. In fact the only one who knew was the real Yatagarasu. Calisto bursts out laughing, unable to believe that a novice prosecutor could have seen through her. It's even more exciting than thievery. Her true name is the Thief Yatagarasu. She says that Faraday was close to uncovering her identity and that's why she tried to get rid of him, promising Rell she'd get him not guilty as long as he implicated Faraday in open court. But when Faraday dragged Rell to the waiting room she followed, and listened through the half open door. Faraday offered Rell bribes to disclose the truth to him, so she killed them using the very evidence she had sent. She covered her hands with a plastic evidence bag, grabbed the key, and stabbed Faraday with it before he even realized it was a knife. The least she could do was kill him quickly after their long acquaintance. After that, Rell had to be silenced. She talked him into helping her doctor the scene and killed him when his guard was down. Edgeworth finds it outrageous that a defense attorney would betray their client so openly, but Calisto reminds him that she was originally Rell's client--it was her that hired him to kill Deid Mann in the first place. In fact, she's been working for the smuggling ring all along. Badd asks if she was connected to Manny Coachen as well, and she doesn't deny it. Yatagarasu is nothing more than a murderer. She asks Edgeworth if she knows what it means for it to have 3 legs: it means always being able to wield more than one weapon. Calisto pulls a gun on them and demands Edgeworth hand over the key. Franziska ducks below the bench, but Edgeworth is rooted to the spot until he hears Kay cry out to him. He dodges just in time to avoid being shot and Calisto runs from the courtroom with Badd in hot pursuit. When Edgeworth looks around for Kay, she's gone. Badd returns with Gumshoe and the Judge. He's got another hole in his coat but he wasn't hit, he says. He apologizes to Gumshoe for doubting him and tells him never to lose his detective spirit. Promising to capture Calisto, he leaves. Gumshoe thanks Edgeworth for his help as well, and in return gets the swiss roll Kay dropped earlier. He promises to follow Edgeworth from now on. And thus a legend is born...! Several months later, Edgeworth took his first case in actual court with Gumshoe as the detective (3-4). They never found Kay, or Calisto. Back in the present (just after case 3) the trio enjoy their reunion. Kay says that after that she went to live with her mother's family, and they were so far away that she couldn't come visit them easily. When Edgeworth asks why Kay is there now (and calling herself by the name of her father's killer!) Kay explains that Faraday was the real Yatagarasu after all. She recently discovered among his things a journal entry where he wrote, "I chose the path of Yatagarasu. I have no regrets." As proof she shows him Little Thief again, which was Yatagarasu's secret weapon previously owned by her father. Kay then shows Edgeworth a newspaper claiming that Yatagarasu has returned, as a white card with the symbol was sent to a foreign embassy. She says it must be the work of Calisto, since the real Yatagarasu never sent out advance warnings (unlike some thieves we know). She came to Edgeworth knowing he was the only one who could help her uncover the truth. Edgeworth agrees, since he owes her for saving his life.
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