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The Law Offices of Fey and Wright	By : ElectricOutcast Category: +M through R > Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Views: 6246 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Seeing as this is a fanfiction, I obviously have no ownership of Phoenix Wright, or any characters related to that franchise. They are owned entirely by CAPCOM. no money/profit is made from this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
A/N: Two things I'm gonna say about this chapter; first off, I'm gonna doing a role reversal in this portion of the trial, meaning that Miles Edgeworth will handle the cross-examine of Cody Rojas. Second of all, if any of you notice that this story is structurally messed up, I've been waiting for my beta-readers to finish but I'm about to be planning a new chapter and I wanted to get this chapter out while I did so. Thank you for your support.
Standard Disclaimers Appy
October 19, 11:04 AM District Court Defendant Lobby No.1
"So we got that pedophile confirming to the court what we already know," Phoenix reached for a Styrofoam cup and proceeded to pour some more coffee "but he's also airtight about what he had for lunch, do you think he's also hiding something?"
Mia proceeded to pour her own cup "Last time I checked, I wasn't doing Norell's cross-examination...but I'm even more surprised that you didn't ask anything more about the steak lunch."
"Oh come on, Chief, you knew just as well as I did that Norell's testimony was flat out bullshit, if I did the cross-exam I would've been chewed alive by Edgeworth."
"Care to explain why, student?" Mia asked like Nick was still in law school
"More than likely if I were to press Norell over that lunch break over at studio two, Edgeworth would've said 'The testimony to this point has made one certain fact painfully clear that the people in the trailer had nothing to do with this murder!'
Maya took some hot chocolate powder from her sister's briefcase "The exact same words that you said in the courtroom," she poured some hot water in her cup "and here I thought you were messing with our case."
"Actually Maya," Nick began to reply "from both the statements of Norell and Varnello it was definite that both of them didn't go to Studio One, there's not a doubt in my mind that there is something fishy about both of their statements."
"And how do you propose we do that, Nick?" Maya asked as their client came in their lobby after a restroom trip, "from what I heard Norell is making his exit out of the courthouse."
"First off, it's not Norell that I have in mind," Nick looked at his elder stateswoman, Mia "second, it's not gonna be me that's talking to the next witness on the stand.
Mia caught quickly to the idea "So you still want me to talk to the child?"
"Don't play me for stupid, Chief, I know Briscoe told you to remain silent about your conversation with Rojas last night," Wright referred to last night when Mia was with Briscoe and Reagan at their precinct.
"I told you before Nick, it's a long standing agreement that we had when we first started working together: there are lines that we don't cross unless we have to...if we do it's best we shut up."
Just then Powers began to speak "Um...what exactly is going to happen to me?"
The trio looked at their client when Nick replied what Powers meant "It seems like everyone in that courtroom thinks I did it...They think I'm a murderer!" He began to tear up at the last statement.
Mia gently rubbed Robert's shoulders in a move to be comforting "Don't worry Mr. Powers, if you are innocent, we will prove it."
"She's right Robert, don't be strong for us...be strong for the fans of the Steel Samurai," Maya got into full fan-girl mode this time which ironically did the trick.
Through some hesitation, Powers gave his thanks to Maya before the bailiff came in to notify the group about the end of recess.
October 19, 11:15 AM District Courtroom No. 4
The judge immediately reconvened the trial while the prosecution and defense counsels plugged in their smart-phones to their benches. Edgeworth began to make a statement, "Your honor, the prosecution has a concern, as our witness is a grade schooler of tender years and this is a murder case," he looked at Mia with intent "I've made arrangements with Ms. Mia Fey to handle questioning for this boy, all we need is your approval your honor."
The judge thought hard for a few short seconds "That's fine with me, go ahead and call your witness."
"The people call Cody Rojas to the stand...oh and bailiff bring in a doughnut crate for him to stand on."
Like clockwork, the bailiff followed Edgeworth's command to the letter as a seven-year old boy from second grade appeared on the stand. He wore green Steel Samurai fan gear that consisted of a ballcap, jacket, tennis shoes and it over-layed an orange-pink shirt and black shorts. He carried a digital camera in his hands and a plastic Samurai sword on his back, on his face he wore two red circles and his neck length hair was tied in a ponytail.
Mia began to talk softly to the boy "Thank you for coming, will you please tell us your name and what grade you are in school?"
"My name is Cody Rojas and I'm in second grade," he gave Mia the same voice that signified how shaken he was over what he witnessed.
"Now Cody, you were at Global Studios on October 15 because you were a huge fan of the Steel Samurai correct?"
"Yes ma'am, I was," he answered softly.
When Mia took notice of the digital camera in his hands, she made a gentle reminder to Cody of the conversation she had with him when they were Briscoe and Reagan's precinct. If he didn't discard the camera, the mean judge would take it away from him.
Edgeworth cut in, "That was my fault, Ms. Fey, if it was gonna get him to talk I told him he could keep it."
"Miles Edgeworth making soft bargaining terms, now I've heard everything," Phoenix scoffed a laugh. 'Please tell me the world is not going to end,' he mumbled under his breath.
"My father just bought this camera for my birthday, it cost a lot of money, I didn't want to risk it being broken ma'am," Rojas left no more room for Mia to argue.
But she was already preoccupied with being whispered at by her senior partner "I think it might be a good idea to add his camera to our court record app."
Mia whispered back "I quite agree with you, so take care of that while I talk to Cody, okay?" she turned to the boy "So Cody, would you please explain to this nice man why you went to Global Studios?"
Cody complied to Mia by telling Edgeworth how he wanted to see a Steel Samurai rehearsal, just once, he found a map on the internet and went to the studios that day. By going through the woods to avoid Linda Pennock, he got lost for thirty minutes but when he finally got there, he saw the Steel Samurai and a villain. Rojas finished by saying the Steel Samurai won against that villain like any average television episode.
Upon Cody finishing his testimony, the judge looked at Edgeworth, "Seeing as how this is now Ms. Fey's witness, we're gonna have you cross-examine him, hope I don't have to remind you to be gentle with the child."
"I'll do my best, your honor," Edgeworth replied and began to look at the boy. "So Cody, you're a big fan of the Steel Samurai, correct?"
Cody replied by telling Edgeworth how he DVR'd every show and actually went to an opera adaption of the Steel Samurai, when Edgeworth asked about Cody making trips to the Steel Samurai Amusement Park "Every summer in June, my dad and I make that trip."
"But it was your actual first time being at Global Studios, right?"
"Actually...I've been there a couple of times but I was never able to get into a rehearsal, I downloaded a map to get in the studio without getting grabbed by that security lady."
"So how exactly did you get into the studios?"
"There's a row of trees that are in a park, there's a path you have to go off to."
"When you did go to the studio, did you see anything unusual?"
Rojas felt a little confused and repeated the last word of Edgeworth's sentence in the form of a question.
"I'm talking about the monkey holding those two signs."
"Yes I did see but his head wasn't busted," Edgeworth began to ask him about getting lost, "I couldn't figure out which way I was walking, so I felt very relieved when I saw the blue studio doors."
"By the time you came across those doors, did you see the Steel Samurai?"
"Yes, when I saw him, he was thinking about something before going in, didn't take him long to get inside that gate."
"Reading your testimony, you said that the Steel Samurai was winning against a bad guy, is there anyway you can describe this bad guy?"
"Kinda tall and skinny," but even a man illiterate to the news knew how vague he sounded.
While Edgeworth was weighing the answers of his cross exam, he noticed Cody's camera being installed into his Court Records app and while reading the last part of his testimony he had a burning feeling about the boy hiding something and took the plunge. "Cody, you originally told Ms. Fey here that you weren't carrying your camera with you on that day, right?"
"Yes sir, what are you getting at?" he began to shake at Edgeworth's change of tone that was originally gentle to the surprise of many.
"Well what you said was a little strange, because you stated before that you always bring your digital camera wherever you go, you were very clear about that."
"Mr. Edgeworth, if I may have a word with you," said the judge though Edgeworth knew it wasn't because of his change of tone in voice, "when did this digital camera get entered into evidence?"
"You'd be better off asking defense counsel, your honor, I'm just catching the evidence and running with it." Edgeworth angrily returned his attention to Rojas "For you to be so sure about bringing a camera wherever you go and then look me in the eye and tell me you didn't bring it with you to Global Studios!"
"OBJECTION!" screamed Mia "May I remind you that you're talking to a shaken up child, Mr. Edgeworth!"
Edgeworth wouldn't have it "I'm sorry, Ms. Fey, but when it comes to a child lying, especially in court, there's no such thing as nice," he returned to Rojas "Now I'm gonna ask you again, did you in fact bring your camera?"
Rojas began to feel irritated at this point "Yeah, I had my camera, so what!?"
"Why didn't you use it?"
"I...I was too busy watching," Rojas replied in hesitation.
Edgeworth turned to the judge "You're honor, I request that Rojas add more details to his testimony."
When the judge accepted that request, Rojas told the court how he did have his camera, "Y-yeah, I had my camera with me. But I was glued to the action! I couldn't take my eyes off it! The Steel Samurai, he goes for the bad guy... wham! Then... then the bad guy stopped moving! He's so strong! The Steel Samurai rules!"
By the time Edgeworth was allowed to cross examine Rojas, he spent about three minutes looking at the testimony transcript and noticed how short it was, but after some thinking, he remembered that no one knew that Miles Edgeworth was a huge Steel Samurai...and preferred to keep it that way. Edgeworth talked to Rojas, "I noticed in your testimony, you were kinda vague about how the bad guy stopped moving...why?"
Rojas wore a look of confusion "What do you mean 'why'?"
"Why wasn't the bad guy moving?"
"W-well, because the Steel Samurai brought him to justice!" Rojas tried to smile over his nervousness.
"And how exactly did he do that?" Edgeworth had a feeling what the answer would be.
"With a Samurai kick, punch, chop and slap...somewhere along those lines."
But while Cody gave his description of the event at Global Studios, Edgeworth's mind was already drawing a good idea for a conclusion and proceeded to act accordingly, "You did say that you witnessed the entire event, but I noticed how you missed an important part."
The judge cut in "What are you getting exactly, Mr. Edgeworth?"
"That's the question I'd like to ask Mr. Rojas...what kind of murderer actually uses a Samurai Slap!?" he looked at Cody again "My point is this, Cody, you may have seen some the Steel Samurai's fight but you missed a glaring part of that fight: the killing blow!"
The crowd began to make some noise but the Judge pounded the gavel, called for order, then looked at Edgeworth "Can you explain to me how he might have missed something so vital?"
The prosecutor pondered his answer for about thirty seconds, all the while looked at the defense counsel across from his bench "Perhaps, Mr. Wright himself can explain it for us: there must've been a reason that Cody didn't see the climax of the fight and I know he has the evidence to prove it."
The courtroom crowd began to talk amongst themselves, everyone of them felt so surprised that Edgeworth, in layman's terms, threw a willful interception to the defense council that was Fey and Wright. The crowd talking amongst themselves quieted in an instant when the judge pounded his gavel again and everyone became silent. All the while, Phoenix pondered at Edgeworth's question, it didn't take him long to find the logical answer though. He proceeded to pull up his court records app from his smartphone and presented the camera.
"Your honor, I think what Edgeworth was referring to is this camera, earlier in his testimony he said that he wasn't familiar with its operation."
It took the judge a few seconds to realize what Phoenix Wright was talking about and gave him road to continue his statement "Why would Cody be looking somewhere else at that critical moment? Because he was looking at his camera to try and take a picture"
Cody couldn't believe the fact that these attorneys easily picked through his lie like an ice cream spoon and to his mind, both of those grown-ups obviously had a thing for picking on little kids. So blinded by that personal accusation, he didn't realize that those same attorneys knew that there was no way that he could stand there, watch what happened and not take a picture.
"Your honor," Phoenix looked at the judge "the defense would like to request that Cody Rojas testify once more about his camera and why he couldn't take a picture of the fight."
Like clockwork, Cody began to explain that the Steel Samurai had just escaped from the clutches of the villain, so he tried to take a picture with his camera but the lens wouldn't open in time, so he missed it.
The judge himself couldn't find anything glaring in his testimony, he asked Wright if he found anything but before Wright could answer, Edgeworth cut in "Your honor, I do have a question for this boy, I wish to handle this cross-examination."
"Very well, Mr. Edgeworth, you may proceed," The judge replied.
Edgeworth again looked at Cody "So you tell us that you didn't take a picture...but I have more than enough proof that you actually did take a picture."
Rojas really was surprised at this "How did you know!?"
Edgeworth took this as an opportunity to pull out the trump card, one that was given by Rojas himself "It's because of a little gift you gave me, before you took the stand."
The gift Edgeworth referred to was a light blue book that contained photos of every victory the Steel Samurai had on both the stage and screen. Cody gave this book to Edgeworth personally as a gift, he didn't know why actually but didn't have a problem with keeping the book. When looking at the book while Cody gave his statement about the camera, Edgeworth found the glare.
"Cody...did you really get a picture of the Steel Samurai at Global Studios?"
"Don't I always get a picture of the Steel Samurai and his victories?"
"I don't doubt that, Cody, what I'm doubting is the fact that you took a picture of the Steel Samurai standing victorious over his foe," then he pulled the book out of his briefcase "If you did, I find it very hard to believe that you would just erase it, when you should've put the photo in this book."
The judge motioned Edgeworth to enter this book into evidence, which Edgeworth complied and explained to the court "Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to your attention a book of photos taken by Cody Rojas himself, a perfect collection of every battle the Steel Samurai has won."
When the defense council received the book in their smart phones, it began to sink in as to what contradiction Edgeworth found...the collection wasn't as perfect as advertised. Edgeworth noticed them taking the information in and elaborated more for the court "Think about it, if the Steel Samurai had just defeated his adversary, wouldn't you take a picture and save it for the photo albums?"
But while the words ran out of his mouth, he began to realize that there was a possibility that everyone over-looked, but before he could think on it further the judge cut in "Mr. Edgeworth, can you please explain to the court why there was picture in the album from the day of the murder and why would the boy have erased the photos he took?"
"I was thinking the same thing, your honor, and the only logical reason I have is that the Steel Samurai didn't win, which will explain why Cody deleted those photos." Edgeworth then turned his attention back to Cody "I'm not wrong, am I? Did the Steel Samurai lose?"
Cody was in complete denial "It's impossible! The Steel Samurai never loses, he never loses to anyone! Ever!"
But Edgeworth wouldn't have it "Your honor, the witness has revealed everything with his words, there was a reason why he lied and told us he didn't take a picture. The same reason he erased those photos, for Cody it was inconceivable for the Steel Samurai to be defeated...but he witnessed it. Yet to admit what he saw would destroy everything he believed in. To put everything in perspective: he couldn't handle the truth!"
At that point, the courtroom crowd began to make noise again, though it immediately got quieted down by the judge pounding his gavel, called for order and looked at Cody "What did you see?"
The weight of Edgeworth telling the truth to the entire court overwhelmed Cody, to the point where he broke out in tears and cried like any regular child would...bawling like a baby.
"Cody, you saw the Steel Samurai lose a fight, did you?" Edgeworth asked in a gentler tone.
In between breaks of him crying, he managed to answer "It's true! It's I-it's true! The Steel Samurai f-fell down and he didn't get back up."
And while hearing the statement, both Edgeworth, Wright and Fey had just realized a new revelation in this murder but they needed Cody calm enough to confirm it. Mia spoke first "Your honor, with the witnesses state of mind I request a recess to get him to calm down."
When Edgeworth declared no objection to this recess, the judge granted it, that's when Miles called to Fey, Wright and Maya "I want all three of you and your client in my chambers ASAP. Cody I'm also gonna need you there, that nice gentleman will take you."
Miles left no room for questions as he walked away from his bench while the defense trio did the same.
October 19, 2:30 PM District Court People's Lobby No. 1
Throughout the entire murder case of Robert Powers, the entire paparazzi parade had been on a wild tear about the entire debacle, barely making any room for the defense team to make their way to Edgeworth's lobby; same thing was said about Cody and his father who'd been with him the entire part of the trial, they were being hounded by questions from the paparazzo regarding Robert Powers and his role in Bill Hammer's murder. Robert, at that point, was already taken back into police custody so he didn't get as many paparazzi hounds as his attorney's.
By the time Phoenix, Mia and Maya made it to Edgeworth's Prosecution Lobby, he was already there with Cody and his father "Well Wright, I shall again concede my imminent defeat with you."
Phoenix and the Feys began to take a seat on a couch that sat across Edgeworth's "What do you mean, Edgeworth?"
Mia began to talk "I think what Edgeworth is referring to is that, if we put all the puzzle pieces together, we're beginning to see that a serious error was made throughout this incident...I'm correct on that am I, Edgeworth?"
The only reply Edgeworth gave was a slight nod but Phoenix decided to speak up when he realized "Of Course! It all makes sense now!" Then he looked at Cody who was sitting in a separate chair beside his father "From what you told us, the Steel Samurai was in the middle of a fight but fell down and didn't get back up right?"
When Cody gave Wright a silent nod, he continued "Then there's no question that Bill Hammer was the Steel Samurai."
Thus began a conversation from Mia, Phoenix, Maya and Miles about how a prior testimony from Linda Pennock linked with Cody's. Bill Hammer was present with Robert Powers during the scene run-through that morning, thus knowing that Hammer knew about Powers' foot injury. Reading back to how Pennock didn't see Hammer when she arrived at her guard station at one PM, the conclusion was reached that Hammer left the Employee Area after lunch but no one saw him going to studio one. Instead, Hammer waited for Mr. Powers to take a nap in his dressing room and stole the Steel Samurai costume. What neither party could come to a conclusion to though, was why would Bill Hammer actually steal the Steel Samurai costume in the first place.
But while everyone was conversing about the switch in the crime scene, Cody's father motioned everyone to be quiet because he needed to say something, "Guys...I just remembered that I actually did save a photo."
That made the entire room pin drop silent for nearly a minute before Mia remembered what no one really noticed about Cody's camera. Like most cameras today had an SD Card slot to save the pictures on the computer for a future use, Cody's camera in particular had a USB port, which could also be used to transfer photos to a computer "Cody, sweetie, do you have a USB chord with your camera?"
Cody nodded and replied "It's in a separate bag inside my book bag, give me a minute and I'll get both of them out."
By the time Cody had done so, Mia connected his chord to her smartphone, accessed his photos and sure enough came across a photo of the Steel Samurai, problem was it wasn't really all that legible. All everyone could see was the Steel Samurai standing beside a big wall with an "S" painted beside him and in front of him was another sign that definitely could've passed for either the number "2" or the letter "Z." But Mia Fey wasn't stupid, she remembered how Global Studios only had 2 studios to begin with and began to relay this thought to the people in the room.
"So it does all fit now," Edgeworth realized after Mia finished her thought "the real scene of the crime should've been at Studio Two, but instead Hammer's body was moved to Studio One."
Phoenix added his two cents "He was trying to be the Steel Samurai in place of Robert Powers...he was trying to set him up for a frame."
Maya on the other hand, became a little curious "Well assuming that Cody was right in saying the Steel Samurai fell down and didn't get up after a fight, wouldn't his killing be a form of self-defense?"
"It's one thing to kill in self-defense, sis," Mia replied "but tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice is an even bigger thing."
Out of nowhere there was a knock on the lobby front door and so entered detectives Daniel Reagan and Johnathan Briscoe, which the latter began to speak "Hopefully we're not interrupting anything, fellas."
"On the contrary, we were putting together a different scenario of Bill Hammer's murder," Edgeworth replied as he began to explain to the detectives what transpired at the trial.
It was Reagan who replied "So Cody's testimony already confirmed what Briscoe and I had suspected in this case from the beginning, we were smelling a rat and we found it."
"What exactly did you guys find?" Phoenix asked
At that point, Briscoe opened a briefcase of his own and took out two items wrapped in a plastic bag. One of those items was white china that was covered in a blue liquid stain, the second item was a tiny bottle with a label that read sleeping pills, "Mr. Edgeworth, these items here not only confirmed Mr. Powers' alibi at the time of the murder, but we also have a major link to why Bill Hammer was motivated to kill Ms. Joan Varnello."
"What link would that be, Briscoe?" Edgeworth asked while being handed what looked like a very old photo.
"Last night after we finished talking to Mr. Cody Rojas, we got a call from Ms. Linda Pennock who wanted come forward with some information related to the case and wanted to come into our precinct to talk to us in private. Turns out Bill Hammer was involved in a horrible accident that happened to an extra in a movie that turned out to be canceled," Briscoe explained while Edgeworth looked at the photo.
Reagan began to speak "That photo you see was the only thing linked to that accident, from what Pennock told us, Varnello made a thorough effort to have it all covered up. Apparently she gave that photo to Pennock in case Bill Hammer tried to escape being the Evil Magistrate...Hammer was being blackmailed and he had a motive to kill Joan Varnello."
The photo in particular was one Bill Hammer in his younger years and at the prime of his career, looking in horror at a man being impaled by a spike, dead on impact. That same spike belonged to the flower bed at Studio Two, that's when Edgeworth made his final decision and looked at Phoenix and Maya "I'll arrange for your client to be released immediately and have all of his charges dropped."
Phoenix began to reply "I know who you're gonna arrest Edgeworth, there's a big chance that once Ms. Varnello finds that out she'll make a flight for it."
"What are you saying exactly?"
Mia caught on to Phoenix's thinking "What my partner is saying, is that it might be safer to keep Powers in jail for the time being and...one of us is gonna have to make a sting arrest on Varnello and Norell."
Miles in particular thought about that plan...and actually liked it "Okay, I better get an arrest warrant from the judge, we'll have time to discuss whose going to take part in the sting."
October 19 Studio Two Entrance
Upon hearing the evidence that was uncovered during the recess, the judge easily authorized Joan Varnello's arrest warrant with Wesley Norell being added as a bonus. The only uneasy part was who would volunteer for the sting arrest...it wasn't that nobody didn't want to do it, it was only the reverse. But after some discussion an agreement was reached to have both Phoenix and Maya be part of the sting. So while Phoenix and Maya were getting prepared for this sting at the Employee Area, not only did they notice the tables being cleaned of all the lunch plates and glasses from the day of the murder, they noticed a lot of things from Robert Powers' dressing room and being put right outside his window it was later confirmed by Sophia that Global Studios was going to cancel the Steel Samurai in exchange for serious programming.
Although Maya Fey wasn't angry enough over that news, she was forced to calm down after being reminded of what both her and Phoenix came here to do. Reagan and his team had everything set up for the sting, an unmarked van full of cops in SWAT uniform were in the back of the van while Danny, John and Mia were in the front and ready to listen in the conversation. By the time the pair made their way to Studio Two, Maya was already trying to convince Varnello that since Powers' was innocent of the murder and there was no need to cancel the Steel Samurai.
"Well maybe I'm tired of the Steel Samurai," was all Varnello could say while looking at the blue partly cloudy skies.
That's when Maya really got upset "Your show is popular amongst children and you say you're tired of the Steel Samurai?!"
Before things got out of hand, Phoenix began to speak "Actually Maya, I think it's because she knows what we found out on Bill Hammer."
"What do you mean, Nick?" Maya asked while Varnello was looking away.
"Why else would she want to cancel the Steel Samurai other than to make a final burial of the scandal that she caused?" that's when Phoenix dug out the five year photo from his coat pocket "The same scandal that made you wreck Bill Hammer's movie career."
Though her eyes were still focused on the clouds as Wright pulled out the photo, Varnello asked "Where? Where did you get that?"
"What makes you think I'm gonna tell you?" Phoenix was not in the mood for her bullshit "You still haven't answered my question on why you were so hell bent on wrecking Mr. Hammer's life with this photo."
For a few seconds Varnello was silent before she replied "The wind has gotten stronger don't you think?"
"You're changing the subject again," Phoenix said with annoyance.
"And your conversation interests me...shall we talk about this in the trailer?" though Varnello didn't leave room for a reply she instead marched up the trailer stairs and went inside.
When she did go inside, it gave Wright an opportunity to talk into the hidden microphone inside his jacket "The suspect went inside the trailer, Briscoe, you better get ready."
With that said, Wright and Maya went inside the trailer to confront Varnello.
When Phoenix and Maya did enter the trailer, they gave Varnello no mercy at this point, Phoenix spoke first "You were blackmailing Mr. Hammer so you could control him into doing that kids show for petty change didn't you?"
"Oh...so I'm a blackmailer now?"
"Don't play stupid with us!" Maya replied with a yell "You don't think we knew about how Bill Hammer had a perfect motive to kill you after five years of paying him a ramen-noodle soup wage, let alone making him lose in every Steel Samurai episode!?"
"We're building a witness list that will be used as evidence against you in court," Phoenix pointed a finger at her "Pennock, Nichols and even Norell talked about how you blackmailed Hammer...all because of one simple filming accident!"
Varnello really got upset this time "What is this all about!? You keep saying 'accident' 'accident', how can you be so sure!?"
"Evidence doesn't lie, Varnello," was all Phoenix had to say.
"Think what would it be if it wasn't an accident?" Varnello asked
Maya wouldn't buy it "How can YOU be so sure that Hammer killed that stuntman on purpose, you don't have any proof."
"Would he have let me run his life for five years...over a mere accident? I ran him hard during those five years, that security lady may say it was an accident, but that means nothing coming from a big supporter of Hammer's work."
"From what she told the police, you gave her this photo after having that reporter silenced, he disappeared a few days after that." Phoenix tried to put the puzzle pieces together
Varnello finished it for him "On the contrary, all Pennock had to do was break his leg and in exchange for his silence, we kept him alive and made him not become another part of a newspaper again," the tobacco in her pipe was about to run out so she proceeded to fill it up with more "All the reporter would need is the negatives and he could've made a copy, but we took those away from him so the only copy of that photo is the one you hold...I suggest that you give it to me. Now"
"No thank you," Phoenix replied in defiance.
Then out of nowhere, four men all taller than Varnello, Wright and Maya were standing behind the Mafia daughter who said "These professionals you see before you are good at erasing various things. It's very unfortunate that when the trial ends tomorrow you'll have to miss it."
"You cannot be serious," Phoenix said in disbelief "all this so you can have this photograph back? Why should you even care about this at all!?"
Varnello let out an evil smile at this point "I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to think about that wherever you're going," she then turned around to walk away from her four men "Boys...erase away."
"Nooooooooooo!" Maya screamed out of pure fear that this may be the last day of her life.
BANG! Though it did not come from a gunshot, instead it came from "THIS IS THE LAPD, EVERYONE DROP YOUR WEAPON, GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!"
Those screams belonged to some officers in their SWAT uniforms who just stormed into the studio two trailer and made Joan's boys kneel down on the floor while Detectives Reagan, Briscoe and Defense Attorney Mia Fey followed in from behind; The sting was now considered a success.
Briscoe took out his handcuffs "To think you almost got away with another murder, Joan, you're under arrest for the murder of Bill Hammer, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."
While Briscoe read Varnello her Miranda rights, Mia made her way to Maya who was very shaken up by the ordeal "You were very brave, Maya, I'm very proud of you for what you did today."
Maya didn't reply though, mostly because she was crying, though who could blame her for doing so after having four guns be pointed to her.
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The Law Offices of Fey and Wright