Turnabout Corner (4-2) Review: Noodles, Gangsters, Panties, Oh My!
A series of panty raids, a robbed noodle stand, and a nasty car accident all evolve into the conspiracy around the death of a shady doctor. Welcome to Turnabout Corner!
Don't call it a comeback! Welcome to 4-2, our first full-fledged case of the Apollo Justice Trilogy! This case is one of the cornerstones (get it?) of the trilogy, building up our core cast and introducing plenty of characters that are gonna be vital to the series coming up. 4-2 was one of the first cases I ever played, so I've got quite a few thoughts on it. Let's see if 4-2 lives up to 4-1's standards or if it fails at the last lap!
Also, I hope y'all like the new title format. I think it makes everything stand out a bit more! I'm gonna go back to all the cases I've already reviewed and add the new format to those ones, as well, so take a look if you wanna!
THE CORE CAST:
Apollo Justice: Fresh out of a job and shit outta luck, Apollo decides to swallow his pride and take up Phoenix on his offer... for better or for worse!
Phoenix Wright: Phoenix returns as both a victim and our boss in this case: not a murder victim, thankfully!
Trucy Wright: Trucy Wright is Phoenix's mysterious daughter from the last case: a magician by trade and... well, definitely a little old to be Phoenix's biological daughter, right?
Klavier Gavin: Klavier Gavin, the brother of Kristoph Gavin, serves as the prosecutor in this case. Does he know about our role in his brother's arrest?
Ema Skye: ema ema ema ema ema ema ema ema ema
THE MAIN CAST:
Wocky Kitaki: Wocky Kitaki is our defendant and the heir of the infamous Kitaki crime family. He's a bit of a hothead... and a lot of an idiot.
Alita Tiala: Alita Tiala is Wocky's fiancee. Despite deciding to marry the son of a yakuza boss of all people, she seems to be rather timid.
Wesley Stickler: Wesley Stickler is an Ivy U (sound familiar?) student entranced by magic tricks and their logical impossibilities. He looks like somebody, but... y'know, I never could put my finger on it.
Guy Eldoon: Although he never takes the stand in 4-2, Guy Eldoon is a pivotal cast member: after all, if he wasn't here then the case wouldn't have proceeded like it did!
THE SECONDARY CAST:
"Little" Plum Kitaki: Little Plum Kitaki is the wife of Winfred Kitaki, the oyabun of the Kitaki family. Despite her jovial demeanor, she's quick to deal with threats to her or her family.
Winfred "Big Wins" Kitaki: Winfred "Big Wins" Kitaki is the oyabun, or boss, of the Kitaki crime family. Recently, however, he seems to be turning a new leaf: behind those massive eyebrows are far sadder, far friendlier eyes.
Pal Meraktis: Pal Meraktis is our victim. He was a greedy, gaudy, paranoid quack, and the lifelong rival of one Guy Eldoon.
A BRIEF RECAP
Our mysterious narrator gives a monologue as various scenes flash forth. A man is hit by a car, a girl chases after somebody, and a man blows a harmonica in the middle of the night. All the while, a man drags a large cart behind him before meeting somebody in the middle of a park.
A gunshot rings out... and somebody dies.
Ooh, 3D!
Investigation, Day One
It's been two months since 4-1. Apollo told himself he'd never come "here", but he's got no choice: he's out of a job and out of options. Walking in, we're welcome to the...
Wright & Co.... Law... Offices? Well, it's certainly gone through a few renovations. There's junk all around, a new couch, a tea set, a piano—well, that one makes sense at least—even a guillotine to put your hand through. What happened to this place?
Suddenly, a girl appears and asks us if we're here for the interview. This is Phoenix's daughter from 4-1! She asks us if we have any special talents, and after an awkward conversation where she tries us to be her attorney right then and there, she realizes the mix-up. This isn't the Wright & Co. Law Offices. This is the Wright Talent Agency! After telling us we've come to the Wright place, she introduces herself: meet Trucy Wright, CEO of the Wright Talent Agency and practicing magician!
Okay, now she's too old to be Maya's.
Talking with Trucy, we learn that she's only 15—impressive to be a CEO and a professional magician at such a young age!—and that some sort of "incident" made Phoenix lose his badge. Here we are again! What exactly happened seven years ago? Apollo says he doesn't know the details, but in any case we were called here by Phoenix himself. Trucy tells us that he's not here. He's in the hospital! Trucy tells us he's staying in the Hickfield Clinic and we decide to visit him. Trucy decides tags along!
Mr. Wright's hospital room is decorated with a swaying, swaying pillar of Steel Samurai DVDs and one small toy piano. Wonder who sent him those, hint hint nudge nudge. Before we can examine them, though, we see a familiar face: a creepy old doctor! It's Hotti! Hotti, who now claims his name is "Hickfield", creeps on Trucy before Phoenix kindly refrains from rightfully beating the shit out of him and gets to talking with us. He tells us what happened: he was hit by a car! Thankfully, he didn't sustain any major damage, only spraining his ankle once he was stopped by a sturdy light pole. We also get to talking about Trucy. Phoenix dodges the question, telling us that Trucy isn't just a stage magician—she's a genius. She glows at the compliment and he tells us that we'll soon appreciate her talent. Whatever that means. Maybe she's a Fey after all...
Apollo asks why Phoenix called him anyways. Phoenix made up a story about the Wright and Co.-, er sorry, Wright Talent Agency, being in big trouble. He says that he didn't make anything up: he was hit by a car, after all. It's big trouble in little LA. After a little joint father-daughter guilt tripping, he manages to get us to look for whoever hit him.
Tokyo drift!
Apollo goes to leave and Phoenix apologizes: he was just joking around. He tells us that we do have a real client waiting for us at the Wright Talent Agency! After asking us to look into his accident as a favor, we leave the Clinic and go back to the Wright Talent Agency. Getting to the WTA, we meet our client: an old salty man with ramen hair and discolored eyebrows. This is Guy Eldoon, owner of Eldoon's Noodles! He tells us to not let him down, but when we get to asking about his trial, he doesn't know what we're talking about. He's not our client for a court case: he's our client in the Mystery of the Missing Noodle Stand! Guy explains that he's from a long line of noodle makers, and that back during Phoenix's days as an attorney he and Maya would drop by Guy's father's own stand all the time. He tells us the story: last night, he closed up his stand after a day of work. When he woke up, it was gone! Vanished into thin air! He gives us a good luck wish before sending us off to find the missing stand! That's not all, though. Trucy has her own request: last night, she was the victim of a theft herself! A victim...
...of a panty snatcher! Dun-dun-dun! That's three mysteries to solve, baby! Trucy marks the scene of the crime, which is conveniently the WTA itself, and tells us to get cracking on the car accident, the missing cart, and the stolen panties! With no other choice and with the vague hope of getting paid, we set off to the streets of Los Angeles! We decide to head over to the scene of Phoenix's accident first. There's paint splashed everywhere, and there's a lady sweeping it up: we go to ask her some questions while keeping nearby People Park in mind and Apollo goes to leave. This isn't just any lady. This is none other than "Little" Plum Kitaki!
Talking with Little Plum, we learn she was a witness to Phoenix's accident. When the car hit him, it also splattered buckets of paint all over the Kitaki Mansion's front door! Hinting that she got rid of some garbage, we check out the trash can in front of People Park and find a broken-off side mirror alongside a discarded pair of slippers: but not before crossing paths with a strange young woman wistfully at the park. The lady disappears and we take the mirror with us in our search for the mysterious hit-and-runner! When we try to take a closer look at the park, though, a certain "Detective Skye" interrupts an argument we're having with the police officer posted out front.
...Wait, Detective Skye?!
the SMILE on my face dude
It's none other than our good old friend Ema Skye, all grown up! She was so pretty she crashed my game. Before we can talk to her, she kicks us out of the crime scene. We ask Little Plum and she tells us that it was "Chicago Lightning": gunshots! Somebody was killed last night. Furthermore, there was one more crime last night... a panty raid on the Kitakis! Our serial panty snatcher didn't just steal from Trucy: he stole from hardened criminals! Trucy forces us into looking for her bloomers, and hey, maybe having a mob matriarch owe us a favor isn't such a bad idea. The mysterious lady returns and greets Plum as "mother". Turns out that she's also a Kitaki! Trucy gives her a flyer for the Wright Talent Agency—rechristened the Wright Anything Agency—and we're done here for now. Time to go over to Guy's place!
Guy's house is situated next to the very ostentatious Meraktis Clinic. The clinic just so happens to have a police car parked outside and Trucy wants to investigate and tells us that's where the panty snatcher ran off to, but we need to talk to Guy! He interrupts us and we get to talking about his stand. It was stolen sometime between 10 PM and early this morning, and everything that he needs for his business was inside: his stock, his bowls, and his pots. Trucy brings up that her thief ran into the garage of the clinic and Guy gets mad: it seems like he hates the owner. Checking out Meraktis Clinic, we note the presence of a police car outside and the fact that it's closed down. The officer brushes us off and we ask Guy about it. He tells us that the owner, presumably one Dr. Meraktis, works for the "wrong crowd" and "got what was coming to him". There's a lot of bad blood here. Given the police presence, the closed clinic, and the fact that Meraktis worked for the "wrong crowd", could he be involved with our murder in the park?
Sneaking into the garage, we've already solved one job: the mystery of the hit-and-runner! The side mirror in Trucy's pocket lines up perfectly to the side mirror on the car. Our mysterious driver was Dr. Meraktis! Checking out the car a bit more, we notice something stuffed in the tailpipe (sound familiar?). Pulling it out, Trucy goes wild—it's her panties! Showing off a magic trick for us, she explains that they're not underwear: they're a prop for one of her most popular tricks!
Seriously, don't mention it.
Well, at the very least, that's two mysteries solved. Now all we need to do is find Guy's noodle stand. Trucy wants us to track down the panty-nabber, but we don't know where to start! Continuing to check out the garage, we find a pink cell phone under one of the tires. That's everything for the garage, so let's head back to the Hickfield Clinic and tell Phoenix we've found his car. Well, not his car, but–y'know what I mean. Talking to Phoenix, he tells us that he's heard of the Meraktis Clinic. Like Guy, he has nothing good to say. He tells us what Guy only tapdanced around. The Meraktis Clinic has ties to organized crime! The Kitaki Family, to be precise. Meraktis helps them deal with the injuries they can't take to public hospitals: gunshot wounds, stuff like that. Phoenix gives us his thanks and sends us off to find the noodle stand.
We're interrupted when we stop by the WAA by the lady we saw meeting Little Plum: introducing herself as Alita Tiala, she asks us for defense. In court! We've got an actual case on our hands! We're not defending her, though. She's come on behalf of her fiancée: one Wocky Kitaki, son of Little Plum and heir to the Kitaki Family. She tells us that he's been charged with murder—the murder that happened at the park, no less! The victim was shot with a pistol, and apparently the circumstances are "unusual", but we don't get anything else about the murder from her. She gives us a letter of request and head down to People Park. We try getting in, but we're stopped by the officer and interrupted by...
...Mr. Gavin?
This mysterious new Gavin lets us into the crime scene personally. Guess we've found Eldoon's stand: it looks like it was being pushed by either a Weeping Angel cosplaying as a police officer or the victim! That's all three mysteries wrapped up. Gavin takes his leave and Ema takes his place, asking us how we get in. We tell her about Gavin and her mood immediately sours: she angrily calls him a "glimmerous fop" and pouts about him getting in her way. Guess she's also got some bad blood. We give her Alita's letter of request and she reluctantly lets us look around. Ema tells us that the mannequin is taking the place of the victim's body: the victim was dragging the noodle stand! Ema formally introduces herself as Detective Ema Skye, in charge of the crime scene and visibly upset about it. What happened to make Ema so bitter since 1-5?
When we try to talk to her about the case...
...she cuts us off with a snack break, complaining about "not getting the position she requested" after nine years of being out of the country. All we can really do is look around, then. When we try to look at the crime scene, Ema cuts us off, saying that investigations should be done by professionals: done scientifically. Guess she still has that forensics special interest. We have nothing else to do here, so we go back to Guy's house to tell him that we've found his stand. He's not home! Guess we'll need to take Phoenix up on his offer of giving us help when we're stuck. Going back to talk to him, we tell him about the murder. He reveals (shockingly!) that he knows Ema from years ago. Trucy brings up the mysterious new Gavin and Phoenix tells us his name: Klavier Gavin, the younger brother of Kristoph Gavin and "rock'n'roll god incarnate". He tells us to give Ema a bottle of white powder hidden under a top hat in the WAA. We retrieve it and give it to Ema. It's a bottle of fingerprinting powder!
Cocaina. No, flour. Somebody just asked me why I hate the military...
We show it to Ema and her mood quickly changes. When Trucy asks her how she knows Phoenix, she's shocked: she didn't know that he had a daughter! Our relationship with Phoenix turns her mood around 180. She's happy to cooperate in any way she can! Ema tells us to use the powder on any evidence that might have fingerprints on it. Digging around the crime scene, we find a small knife. Using the powder on it, we figure out who was holding it it: our client, Wocky Kitaki. At the very least, we know that this isn't the murder weapon: the victim was killed via gunshot. As someone who took a forensics class in high school for a semester, yes, this is as fun as it sounds. Fingerprints rock.
There's a piece of cloth sticking out of a nearby trashcan. We go over to investigate and find... a pair of bloomers. These must be Little Plum's. There's little else here. Talking with Ema, we learn that the victim was killed by a bullet wound to the temple. Furthermore, we learn the name of our victim. It's none other than Pal Meraktis, the driver who hit Phoenix! Ema gives us a copy of the autopsy report and we tell Ema about Guy Eldoon, saving her the trouble of finding him. The real question is why Pal stole the stand in the first place. We don't have the answer to that question and decide to ask Ema about her story. She was studying in Europe to become a forensic scientist, but when she came back to the States she was forced into detective work! No wonder she's so bitter. Talking about the defendant, she tells us that Wocky is causing quite the stir in the Detention Center. We ask her why he was arrested and she tells us that they've got an eyewitness.
Greeeeeeeeeeeat.
Heading down to the Detention Center, we're late to the party: Wocky's busy talking with his father, Winfred "Big Wins" Kitaki, and we get to overhear the conversation. It's, er, more of a screaming match than a father-son talk. Wocky yells at his father to die and that he's on his way out: Big Wins exits the room and meets us. He tells us that Wocky is innocent, and if he's found guilty then it won't end well.
Wocky interrupts us, saying that he did kill Pal. Big Wins tells us that he didn't, tells us to not let him down tomorrow, and the first day of investigation comes to a close with an invitation from Trucy to watch her at the Wonder Bar!
Trial, Day Two
We have a small talk with Trucy before trial begins. Phoenix isn't here, claiming that his "old foot injury" is acting up again, and after we show off our Chords of Steel to Trucy, Wocky comes in. He asks that we get him a guilty verdict and Big Wins comes in to tell him off. Before we can talk with Wocky at all, trial starts!
It looks like Mr. Klavier Gavin isn't just a rockstar—he's a prosecutor! Hope he doesn't have any hard feelings about what happened with Kristoph. He says that he's here to see the "true strength" of the "little boy who bested [his] brother"... yikes. Maybe there is some bad blood there. In any case, Klavier livens up the atmosphere with some music and we get rolling!
Ooh, an FPS counter!
Apollo is thoroughly unamused with Klavier's antics. Getting right down to business, he explains the facts of the case as we already know them: our victim is Pal Meraktis, shot dead while pulling a noodle stand in People Park. Klavier is quick into jumping into the motive. We object, saying that he's not obligated to testify, and he counters with a clean comeback. Wocky himself wants to testify about his motive! We've been blindsided twice in maybe 5 minutes: talk about a Blitzkrieg Bop...
We're on to our first bit of testimony. Wocky testifies that Meraktis was a quack, telling the court about a botched operation that happened about half a year ago. Pressing him for more information, we learn quite what this operation was about: he was on Rivales family turf and got shot in an ambush. Klavier explains that he was shot in the heart, no less.
fuuuuuuuuuuuck dude that rivales guy is cold as shiiiiiiiit
Wocky testifies that he was passing through People Park to get to Meraktis Clinic to get the drop on Pal: so they just happened to meet in People Park on accident? After pressing through every statement, His Honor cuts off the cross-examination. He's curious as to why it took Wocky so long to figure out what had happened. Klavier explains that the bullet was only found during a recent health checkup, and after Wocky says it's better to die young than to fade away he reveals an uncomfortable truth. The bullet in Wocky's heart? It will kill him. He provides Wocky's check-up report to the court to prove as much.
Wocky is taken off the stand and our first witness is called up—a student at Ivy U (hey, that's Phoenix's alma mater!) named Wesley Stickler. Jeez, this guy's tangents. Anyways, he's more than willing to give us his first testimony. Wesley testifies that he was passing through People Park on his way home. He saw Wocky and Pal, with Wocky holding a pistol and pointing it at Pal before pulling the trigger. There's one issue with his testimony—Wesley says that Pal was shot in the forehead when we know that he was shot in the temple. Before cross, though, Klavier produces said pistol.
Pretty heavy weaponry. ...Even if it's pretty clearly just supposed to be a USP.
Trucy says that she feels like she's seen Wesley before. In any case, we present the autopsy report to his claim of seeing Wocky shoot Pal in the forehead. After bumbling for a bit, Apollo points out the problem: Pal was shot in the right temple, not the forehead! It's a solid contradiction... until Klavier pipes up. Klavier gives us a simple explanation. If you're walking through the park and see a man about to murder another man, you'd shout "stop". That's what Wesley did, Pal turned his head, and then Wocky shot him. Plain and simple.
Wesley gives his second testimony, this time about the fact that Pal turned his head. He cried out to the two of them, Pal turned his head, and then a gunshot rang out. Wocky threw the pistol down to the ground and ran away. The contradiction in this testimony is also pretty clear. After all, we didn't find a pistol at the scene... but we did find a knife with Wocky's fingerprints, thrown down onto the ground where he would've been standing! Furthermore, there aren't any fingerprints on the gun itself: if Wocky had both, why would there be fingerprints on the knife but not the gun? The gun had to have remnants of fingerprints, given that we know they were wiped away. But Wocky didn't have time to wipe the gun! Wocky threw down the knife. This proves that he didn't throw away a gun and that he wasn't wearing gloves!
Klavier counters that we've just proven that the "killer" Wesley saw was indeed Wocky and that he came to the park with the intention of killing Pal. His Honor asks for one more testimony, this time without any assumptions.
It does make an ass out of you and me.
Sticker is asked to testify about what happened after the shot was fired. Wesley says that he used his cell phone to call the police and didn't leave the scene. Pressing Wesley for more information, we don't get much to go off of: although Trucy looks like she has something to say. In fact, his testimony seems airtight! Klavier even manages to explain away the knife. Maybe it fell out of Wocky's pocket when he threw the gun away. It's a perfectly plausible explanation. With no room to go, His Honor is ready to call an end to today's proceedings... and pronounce a verdict!
Before he can do so, though... a scream racks the courtroom!
A dashin' assassin!
Trucy's being held at knifepoint! The hostage-taker says that unless the courtroom wants to see her die here and now the court must adjourn for a recess. With no other option, and with Klavier asking him to do so, His Honor acquiesces. Trucy calls for us to come to the defendant's lobby, and we rush there.
Returning to the defendant's lobby in a panic, we run into Trucy. She's, thankfully, safe and sound: and after calming us down reveals that there was no kidnapper. It was her trusty sidekick, the fantastic Mr. Hat! Trucy explains that what she was doing was buying time. Remember how we revealed Shadi hit Olga last case? It turns out that she's got the same ability—and she saw Wesley's tell! That's what was bothering her during his testimony. Calling back to the other times Wesley was unsure about his testimony, she points out that when he was unsure about his testimony he fiddled with the page of his book, and each time he was unsure there was a blatant contradiction! Once is a coincidence, but twice is a pattern. Trucy even tells us that this is the same way Phoenix went undefeated in poker for seven long years. She tells us that to get Wesley to crack we have to "perceive the truth". Before we can talk more, though, court reconvenes and we're forced back into the courtroom.
Apollo covers for Trucy, and even though His Honor buys it Klavier is totally on to her. We ask to cross-examine Wesley again, explaining that we forgot to ask a question. His Honor lets us get back to it with a strict warning against stalling. Wesley testifies the same exact testimony and we feel it: the bracelet on Apollo's arm clenches around his wrist. Questioning Wesley about his cell phone, the one part of his testimony where he's flipping through his book, we feel it again. Trucy tells us that this is it! We touch our bracelet...
...and suddenly we can see everything so much clearer.
Behold, my favorite mechanic in any Ace Attorney game!
After a brief pep talk with Trucy, we listen carefully to Wesley's testimony. We focus on his fingers, and sure enough right as he talks about his cellphone... he rubs his fingers together.
Gotcha.
We've got him now. Focusing on his cell phone in particular, we ask one question: what's his phone number? Klavier is obviously amused by wherever we're going with this and His Honor asks Wesley to tell the court his number. We ask Trucy to call it... and the other phone in her pocket starts ringing. It's Klavier's own music, no less. Flattering. Anyways, this was the phone we found in the Meraktis Clinic, remember? Right under Pal's car, no less! Everything's starting to make sense! Wesley lied about calling the police on his phone and admits that he used a payphone to call the police: a phone quite a distance away from the park, no less. Now we just have to figure out why he lied. The why is pretty simple: he didn't want the court to know about his location. Why? Because he broke into the garage! Wesley counters. We can't prove that he lost it that night!
Except that we can. Trucy herself did so the moment we found it: remember that it was Pal's car that hit Phoenix. If Wesley lost his phone earlier, it would've been crushed under his tire!
God, I love how this connects back to the investigation.
His Honor asks Wesley to testify one more time. This time, nothing but the truth! Trucy is still staring intently at him, though. Wesley testifies that he must've dropped his phone walking home from the supermarket. He still insists that he saw both Pal and Wocky in the park: his testimony, at its core, hasn't changed. Going into cross, we ask Wesley if he could show us the path he took coming home the night of the crime. He explains that he was walking home from the supermarket and passed by the Meraktis Clinic on his walk home, and that must've been when he dropped the phone. He walked into People Park from the northeast, straight from the Meraktis Clinic, and that's when he saw the crime.
I really, really like this map for some reason.
Asking more about his route to the park, we ask if he noticed anything suspicious. He firmly says that he didn't, so that's a dead lead for right now. We decide to ask him about the very moment of the crime: specifically about the noodle stand itself. After a moment, he says that he could even read the sign—it said "NOODLE" in big, bold letters.
Here's the thing. Mr. Eldoon's stand only says "NOODLE" on its right side... which was the side that was facing Wesley. He's even adamant that it said "NOODLE". Trucy takes over for us! She shows off her Wright heritage by explaining her own theory. If he's not lying, then that can only mean one thing. He was coming in to the park from the northeast, and was facing the crime scene from the north, not the South! Ergo, when he called out to Wocky and Pal the latter would've turned his head to the right, not the left. In other words, if Wocky shot him, the entry wound should be in his right temple, not his left temple! Wocky couldn't have seen his left temple, but since Wesley was standing from the north, he had a clear line of sight while Pal was still facing forward. Ergo! The only person that could've shot Pal in his left temple was Wesley himself!
Klavier objects, asking us to clarify if we're really accusing Wesley of murder. Trucy definitely wants to, but we take a second to think a bit more about it. Something still doesn't add up. Wesley is lacking a motive: Klavier himself said that there was no connection between he and Pal. Did we find anything near the Meraktis Clinic that he... could've...
...Ah, jeez.
Wesley might not be our killer, but he's definitely of a crime: theft. He's our panty snatcher! Trucy chased down Wesley and he hid in Meraktis Clinic, where he dropped his phone. In a panic, he stuffed Trucy's underwear in the muffler of Pal Meraktis's car! He desperately tries to defend himself, crying that it's not what it looks like before collapsing onto the witness stand.
A broken panty raider.
Wesley finally explains himself. Thankfully, he's not a pervert or a member of OVO: he'd seen Trucy perform her Magic Panties trick at the Wonder Bar and was desperate to see how it worked. As a scientist. Wesley admits that he was behind not just stealing Trucy's panties but a whole rash of panty thefts, all in an effort to try and understand how exactly the trick worked. His Honor wonders: why did Wesley lie about the direction he witnessed the crime from? This is easy to answer. Remember what we found in the trash can on the north side of the park? Another pair of panties. He was just disposing of Little Plum's bloomers in the trash.
Wesley admits to everything. He avoided the Wright Talent- well, now Anything Agency, but saw Plum's bloomers drying on a clothesline. As he was leaving to go home he witnessed the murder and disposed of the panties out of fear of being searched.
His Honor decides to end proceedings here. Klavier points out all the evidence pointing towards Wocky's guilt, and His Honor brings up the discrepancy with the entry wound: Wesley was viewing the crime from the north, meaning that Wocky couldn't have shot Pal in the right temple from where he was standing. With that question still being unanswered, His Honor sees fit to permit another day of investigation... and court comes to a close for the day!
Investigation, Day Two
Right after the trial concludes, we head back to the Wright Anything Agency. Trucy's taking the whole thing in stride, thinking about the publicity for her magic acts, while Apollo's clearly exhausted. While we're talking, who else shows up but Alita Tiala! She compliments us for our showing at the trial today and asks if Wocky will turn out okay: revealing that they're due to be wed just next month. Although we're curious about her decision to marry into the mafia, Alita explains that she truly loves Wocky and that they met at her old job. She's mum on what the old job actually was, though. She explains that Big Wins is trying to get out of the mob business, transferring all of his assets to a legal company out of the blue. Wonder what's going on?
The next Big Boss, you say?
Alita says that Big Wins focuses a lot on profit. Guess that explains the switch to a legitimate business operation. Wocky's the other way around: he doesn't care about profit, he cares about gangster tradition. We ask about Wocky's operation and his relationship with Pal. Alita doesn't explain much, but she disagrees with Klavier's claim that his life is in danger. We're curious about the operation itself, though. Alita takes her leave and we plan to head down to the Meraktis Clinic. Before we do that, though, we stop by the Detention Center. Maybe Wocky's ready to chat about his operation. When we get there, though, he's nowhere to be found: the guard informs us that the "other suspect" is free for an interview, though! Wesley Stickler sees us and freaks out, but he quickly calms down.
The first thing we ask about is the panty-snatching. He reiterates that he stole them out of curiosity, not for any other reason, and once he sees Trucy he outright grovels for the chance to learn magic from her: we tease Trucy, and she decides to back off. We ask him once more about what he saw during the murder. Wesley says that his testimony isn't changing—he saw both Wocky and Pal, shouted at them to stop, and a gunshot rang out.
Either way, this confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that Wocky was at the scene of the crime. After we present the infamous Magic Panties, Trucy explains that they're actually just... normal underwear. It's all slight of hand, then? Heading back to Meraktis Clinic, we run into Little Plum in front of the Kitaki Mansion. She congratulates us on finding her bloomers and we talk about Wocky. Plum says that Wocky's simply not the type of person to shoot somebody: his bluster and bravado is just that, bluster and bravado. Like Wocky, Big Wins puts on his own gangster image, but deep down he cares deeply about his boy. She reiterates what Alita said about the family trying to move on to legitimate business operations, and after Trucy asks Plum explains that the old gangster life just isn't making enough money. Enough clean money. She even confirms that the pistol used in the murder was one of their own: one of their pistols has gone missing! None of the rank and file have access to weaponry, so it must've been one of the higher-ups. A higher-up like Wocky...
Talking about Alita, Plum makes it very clear that she's not a big fan of her and Wocky's relationship. Apparently their engagement was super sudden. She's about to say something but cuts herself off, blaming it on paranoia from being a gangster for too long. "Stay in the business too long," she says, "and you start to only see darkness in people." That's all she has to say. Hey, remember the trash can from yesterday? Trucy said there were two pieces of garbage inside. Taking a look, we find a pair of slippers from the Meraktis Clinic. There's even paint on the soles! They must've been thrown in here after Phoenix's accident. Some park keeper needs to be reprimanded for not taking out the trash...
That's all she wrote for the Kitaki Mansion, at least for right now. We continue our walk to the Meraktis Clinic and run into Guy Eldoon outside of his house. Guy thanks us for finding his stand, although he's rather salty about not being able to get it back. He says that Pal spites him "even in death": was there some sort of connection between the two? Guy spills his beans. Er, broth. Noodles? Whatever. He explains that he initially didn't want to be a noodle salesman like his forefathers, but Pal moving in next door forced his hand. Lamenting about his "stolen dreams"... maybe we've got a good idea of what he was before all of this happened. Guy explains that he hated Pal, exposing that he worked for the mafia: a fact which we already knew, but apparently he was also swimming in dough. He'd give illegal offers to the Kitakis and they'd come to him in return... with blood money in tow.
We ask and Guy tells the truth. He was a doctor before he became a noodle salesman. He was a surgeon until around two years ago, when Pal moved in and took over. Guy was left destitute and forced into the family noodle business. The two were lifelong rivals: everything Guy did, Pal just had to do better. What a loser. He apologizes for venting to us and gives us an offer—if we ever need a doctor, or any information about doctors, just stop by Eldoon's house. Heading over to the clinic, we're about to make our way in, but the police officer from the park stops us. No dice in investigating Meraktis Clinic... for now.
With nowhere else to really go, we head back to the Detention Center. We finally have a chance to talk with Wocky, and he briefly confuses us with Alita before finally talking to us. Now that we can finally talk with our client, we ask him the most important question: he's being married next month, right?
...I'm not Californian enough to understand this guy.
Trucy asks Wocky how the two met, but when he hears that Alita wouldn't tell us he stays quiet. Guess that's a dead end. She asks him about his relationship with Pal and we finally get somewhere. Wocky tells us the story: he walked into Rivales territory with a knife and got shot for violating their turf. He nearly died, but Kitaki made men helped him get out. Wocky swears that Pal didn't remove the bullet on purpose, certain that the Rivales family paid him off so that he would eventually die and the Kitaki family would be left heirless. Moving on to the Kitakis themselves, Wocky complains about Big Wins's turn towards legitimate operations. He's angry about the shift away from gangster tradition, that's for sure. The turn towards making money instead of keeping the gangster business running is a betrayal in his eyes. Wocky's clearly waiting for Big Wins to die so that he can taken over the Kitaki family... if he doesn't die first, that is.
We move on to talking about the weapons found at the crime scene: the pistol and the knife. Wocky confirms one last time that they're Family property and he even admits that he snuck them out. The "killer" that Wesley saw was, in fact, Wocky. Trucy butts in and asks him about the night of the crime—finally, we're getting somewhere! When we ask him if he shot Pal, though, he hits us with a very flat "I dunno". Well, that's better than "yes". Not by much, though... Wocky explains that he planned to kill Pal but he ran into him in the park. What actually happened is a little fuzzy. He doesn't remember exactly what happened but is pretty sure he had to have done it since there was nobody else there.
We've got nothing left to talk about with Wocky, so I guess there's nowhere else to go but People Park. I hate it when conversations just kind of abruptly end like this. Probably my biggest pet peeve in all of AA. Anyways, when we get there there's a huge throng of people outside of the park. They're not here for the murder scene, though... they're here to meet a rockstar!
Good to see you too, Prosecutor Spray Tan.
Klavier explains that his new album just dropped. He's got to wave to the fans, ja? He was on his way back home when his motorcycle stopped working: a clogged exhaust pipe. Hey, wait a minute. That rings a few bells! I wonder... Klavier explains that cars and motorcycles—anything with an exhaust pipe, really—won't run if it's clogged. Fun fact: that's actually true. Ignition engines like the ones cars and motorcycles use need to expel gas to work. That's why planes have those big-ass turbines on the side, so they can constantly take in new air. Anyways, Klavier takes his leave: but not before warning us that Ema is not in a good mood. Grumpy detectives and glimmerous prosecutors...
Ema is... Ema. She's upset about her new forensics kit not working, upset about us talking about her behind her back, and upset at Klavier for existing. I totally get two of those things, but... upset at people talking about you? I jest, I jest. She spits vitriol at the so-called "glimmerous fop" before we finally get to talk to her a bit. Ema's, understandably, rather private about SL-9. Can't blame her. She explains that she went to Europe right after to become a forensic investigator, but was forced into detective work after failing the test. A defiant Skye is a Skye nonetheless, however: she decided to do forensic work anyway, bringing along a new kit to play with.
And to think I didn't clock her as autistic on my first couple playthroughs...
Trucy asks what it is and Ema tells us that it's a footprint analysis kit. Y'know, you can't leave the house without it. Phone, keys, wallet, footprint analysis kit. She explains that it was raining on the night of the murder, meaning that there were footprints left in the mud from the incident. That must be why those tarps were there earlier! With the kit, we can tell exactly where somebody was standing. She offers it to us to try out, putting allegiances aside in the name of love- friendship. Friendship. Friendship. Sorry, Apollo, not yet.
Ema explains how the footprint analysis kit works. There are three sets of footprints at the park: a pair near the south road, Wesley's near the trash can, and a mysterious third print at the back of the noodle stand. Wonder how that got there? Anyways, Ema points out the prints near the road: those must be Wocky's. Since we know whose those are, they're a good control. After pouring in a cup of plaster, drying it, and rolling some ink over the bottom to make out the soleprint, we take out the mold and compare the print to his shoes. Sure enough, those prints are Wocky's! Looks like he stepped in some gum, too. Oof.
Doing some more footprint analysis, we confirm that the ones near the trash can are indeed Wesley's. As for the mysterious lone print near the noodle stand, we take it and... don't have a match. Huh. It doesn't even look much like a shoeprint. More like somebody got a leaf stuck to the bottom of their socks. Shudder. I wonder... taking a look at the slippers that we picked up from the trash can, sure enough they have a leaf imprint on the bottom. These are what left our mystery print. Why exactly is the print here in the first place, though? What were slippers from the Meraktis Clinic doing in the noodle stand? We ask Ema if she can get us access to the Merkatis Clinic. There's bound to be clues inside! Ema tells us that she should be able to do something for us and gives us a letter to show to the cop outside. Finally! We can explore the Meraktis Clinic! Er, investigate. Yes.
Before we leave, we ask about her animosity with Klavier. She explains that she's not really a fan of his style: she doesn't like the glimmer and flash, preferring prosecutors who are more "simmerous" than "glimmerous". Cool of wit, furrowed of brow. Sounds like somebody still has a crush... Ema also explains that she's pissed at him for "what happened seven years ago".
Is this what Kristoph meant by "revenge for the events that took away your attorney's badge seven years ago"?
Apollo is shocked by this and explains that he never really heard the details about what happened. Ema coolly tells us to investigate on our own. Touchy subject, I get it. Trucy certainly doesn't want to talk about it. Heading back to the Clinic, we show the officer Ema's letter and he reluctantly lets us in. Inside the Meraktis clinic, two things immediately stand out: a pile of bowls from Eldoon's Noodles and a pair of blue high heels on the ground near the slippers. It's starting to come together! Pal Meraktis stole Guy's noodle stand. Remember what Klavier said? What if it was because his car's engine was clogged? We take note of the bowls and the sandals near the slippers. In the back of the room is a door leading to the doctor's office. Trucy's just about to start bragging about her lockpicking skills when we hear a thump from inside the office! We rush inside but we're a bit too late to catch whoever was inside. The office itself is a mess. The window is busted open, there's a lamp on the floor, papers are flown everywhere... somebody broke into the Meraktis Clinic! But why? Who? When? Where? How? Three of those questions don't matter!
There's a cup of juice on the counter, but weirdly enough it's dried up. Either this person was searching around the clinic for way too long or it was spilled a while ago. Did something happen in this office beforehand? The lamp on the floor has a broken bulb. Weirdly enough, though, it's standing upright, like it was set down carefully. On the cord, there's a red splotch: a bit too bright to be blood, though. The last thing we look at is a safe on the shelf. Two numbers have been entered: this must be what our burglar was trying to get into!
We know that the first two numbers are 7 and 9. That only leaves 100 possible combinations! Time to get cracking. Apollo has a better idea, though, and whips out the jar of fingerprint powder. Sure enough, we get that 100 down to 2—it's either 7952 or 7925. 7 and 9 have glove marks, meaning our burglar was wearing gloves. No luck identifying them through the powder, then. Entering 7952 opens the safe, and inside we find two things of interest: a folder laying inside and a bullet embedded into the back of the safe! The folder contains a medical chart with an x-ray inside. The patient is "Wocky Kitaki", the doctor is "Pal Meraktis", and the nurse is... "Alita Tiala"? Looks like Plum's instincts were well-founded. We fish out the bullet and put it into the court record.
We rush back to Guy to learn what the chart's talking about. He's not home, though, so instead we run down to the Hickfield Clinic. Phoenix is happy to see us. We put the chart aside and finally ask him the big question: what happened seven years ago? Phoenix explains that seven years ago he was serving as the defense attorney for a client in a murder trial. He was up against Klavier, still in high school, and Phoenix says that he was ashamed that he was defeated by a 17 year old prodigy and left law forever. Apollo interjects.
Suddenly SL-9 feels so, so recent...
Phoenix doesn't respond to the accusation. Not directly, at least: he just asks Apollo how it feels to stand before Phoenix Wright, Forgin' Attorney. After all, he did forge evidence to get Kristoph convicted. "Maybe I did forge evidence, maybe I didn't," he says with a smirk. "It doesn't really matter now, does it?" Well, leave it to Phoenix to be edgy and secretive about his personal life. It's kind of a thing with him. We head back to People Park while we wait for Guy to come back home. Maybe Ema will be able to science something up for us! Sure enough, she notices a toe mark on the inside of the sandals. Toeprints leave behind oils like fingerprints do, but the LAPD doesn't keep a record of toe prints. We might not be able to know who the sandals belong to, but we can check if they belonged to whoever wore the slippers! Sure enough, the toe prints on both match up perfectly. Whoever owns these sandals wore the slippers that left the footprint near the noodle stand! Apollo seems like he knows who they belong to: I think we've got our suspect.
Guy's still not home. That means there's one person we can talk to about the medical chart: Wocky himself. We head down to the detention center and meet with him. Showing him the chart, Wocky says that he doesn't smoke (good for him!), so he should be fine, right? That's not the issue. We point out Alita's name. He finally spills his beans and admits that he met Alita when she was working at the Meraktis Clinic right after the operation to "remove" the bullet from his chest. Apparently, right after the operation, Alita wanted to leave the clinic and marry Wocky. Sounds to me like she was waiting for him to drop dead. Asking him about the sandals, he confirms that they're Alita's. It's all coming full circle. That's all she wrote for Wocky. We head back to Guy's house and finally get a chance to talk to him, and he's apparently overjoyed to be able to talk doctor stuff for once. When we show him Wocky's medical chart, though... Dr. Eldoon's demeanor very quickly changes.
"There's no 'I' in team. There is a 'me', though, if you jumble it up."
Dr. Eldoon lays it out straight for us. Wocky should be dead. Klavier was right: the bullet is still in his chest, specifically right next to his aorta. If his heart keeps pumping, eventually it's going to dislodge, either get stuck in or cut his aorta, and he'll be dead in a few minutes. If that. Two millimeters to either side and he'd be bleeding like a stuck pig. Guy's prognosis? Half a year at most. That's the thing—Wocky got shot half a year ago. He should be in an operating room, not jail! Trucy asks why Pal didn't do anything. Guy says that he couldn't. Once he opened up Wocky's chest and saw the bullet, despair probably washed over him like a tidal wave. Pal was too proud to admit that he couldn't, though, and lied about the operation to the Kitakis. Once Wocky finally kicked the bucket, he could lie to the Kitakis. Everything would be swept under the rug. Trucy desperately asks Eldoon if he could operate on Wocky, but he shuts her down. There's probably nobody in the country that could help him. Maybe nobody in the entire world. He's going to die.
And Alita Tiala was complicit in the cover-up.
Trial, Day Three
Before trial begins, Phoenix pops in to tell us that Alita is showing up as a witness for today. Trucy wonders why she'd want to testify against her own fiancée, but before we can have a good discussion about it trial begins. Klavier explains why he's called Alita to the stand—to look at the crime from an outsider's perspective. How everything led up to the crime in the first place! Alita is called to the stand and explains that she couldn't hide the truth any longer.
Alita says that Wocky confessed his plan to kill Pal to her. He was incensed at the fraud and took one of the Kitaki family's pistols, planning to confront and kill Pal. Klavier confirms that the Kitakis are under investigation for owning illegal firearms and that the gun that took Pal's life was one of the Kitakis' through the bullet's rifling marks. Going into cross, we ask Alita how she's sure that only Wocky could've killed him. Klavier confirms that Wocky took the pistol from his home and asks us how anybody else could've done it. This is simple. There's somebody else who could've stolen the pistol and shot Pal: Alita Tiala herself!
Don't play dumb, Alilita Tiala.
Alita knew what Wocky was planning: she knew what pistol he would use! Both His Honor and Klavier are rather skeptical of the idea of Alita murdering Pal on Wocky's behalf. We counter—what if Alita had a motive of her own? She helped cover up Wocky's surgery, after all! Alita's demeanor suddenly changes: she drops her naïve and innocent façade, revealing a far more cold-blooded demeanor. Alita shoots back, saying that she has no connection to Pal anymore, but we prove that she does given that her sandals were found in the clinic. She tries to say anybody could own those sandals but it's Klavier that shoots that idea down: he could just subpoena her toe prints and match them with the sandals. Alita is forced to testify about why she went to the Meraktis Clinic the day of the murder, and she says that she went to warn Pal about Wocky's plan. She says that she just went there as a friend to warn her old boss about what was happening, that's all! She didn't have any dark secrets. Klavier asks why she left the sandals in the lobby, but gives her a way out, suggesting that she might've simply mixed her sandals up with somebody else's on the way out.
We present this chart again. This is a pretty dark secret, wouldn't you say? Here's the thing: why would the chart be in a safe of all things? What if it was because Alita knew about the failed operation? This isn't enough to convince His Honor, although he does ask her for more testimony: but right as she taunts us our bracelet reacts. We tell Trucy and she's a bit skeptical. She can't see anything. Is our power stronger than hers? Regardless, we take a good look at Ms. Tiala, and sure enough she's fiddling with the ring on her finger. Right as she mentions having to go "now", she tenses up! Something about the chart was threatening.
Why did it become a threat now? Because of the check-up. Wocky knew about the bullet: and if he broke into the safe, he would've discovered that she helped cover it up! Her position as his fiancée would be jeopardized!
We've got her now!
Alita was lying about not having a connection to the Meraktis Clinic. With nowhere else to turn, she admits that we got it right. Alita still maintains that she went home right after telling Pal about the checkup. We know this isn't true. Remember the bullet we found? Klavier is visibly perturbed: the police didn't check inside the safe! All we need to do is compare the rifling marks on it with the bullet to see if it was fired from the same gun that took Pal's life. The marks are analyzed and it's confirmed—the bullet was fired from the same gun on the day of the murder! This is why she went to the clinic. Alita was threatening Pal to open the safe in order to destroy the chart! Her plan was to wait until Wocky dropped dead to get her hands on the money the Kitaki Family was raking in from its new legitimate business operations. Speak of the devil, he launches up from the defendant's chair and tries desperately to defend her. Alita breaks out in laughter and confirms that all she really wanted was the money. She asks us what crime, exactly, we're accusing her of. After all, we haven't proven that she had the pistol! Klavier butts in, asking why exactly she didn't take the chart. His Honor asks her to testify why exactly she went to the clinic.
Alita reiterates that she went to grab the chart, but Pal refused to give it to her. She left and tried to go back to grab it, but cops were swarming the building. It was her that broke in when we started investigating! She's admitting to a smaller crime to avoid being punished for murder. Clever. Pressing Alita, she mentioned that it doesn't matter whether the doctor was shot in the temple, getting ahead of our argument. Remember: Pal was shot in his right temple, and when he turned his head to face Wesley after he called out his left temple would've been facing Wocky. Klavier asks us from where, exactly, another person could've shot Pal.
...What if the killer was inside the noodle stand? That's the only place that the killer could've been while still shooting him in the right temple! Klavier asks us if we're seriously considering that Meraktis was carrying his own killer. We ask why he was carrying the noodle stand in the first place! He asks us to prove it and we provide the slippers. Remember? We found that print right next to the back of the noodle stand!
Here we go! Time to take down our second killer of the AJT!
Klavier asks us how, exactly, we're sure it was a footprint. How can we prove that a single slipper didn't just fall out? Apollo calls that argument "just dumb" and asks how how Alita would've fit in there anyways with all the noodlemaking equipment and the like. Remember the bowls we found in the Meraktis Clinic? The noodle stand was hollowed out! His Honor concedes that we have proven motive and opportunity. The last questions we need to ask are why exactly Meraktis was pulling the cart and what in the world Alita was doing inside. Alita gives her final testimony, saying that Pal misunderstood her and thought the Kitakis sent her. She ran home afterwards. She doesn't explain how or why she got in the stand, leaving everything intentionally vague. Our bracelet is reacting: now's our time to take a good hard look at Alita.
When she says that was all she did, she starts pulling at the scarf around her neck. Remember the lamp we found? What if the splotch is lipstick: and she's pulling at her neck because it's her lipstick? When we present the lamp, she starts pulling at her scarf. Bingo. We ask Alita to remove her scarf, and after a brief verbal tussle His Honor asks her to take off her scarf.
It all comes together.
A very dark bruise has blemished her neck. We've come to the truth: when Alita threatened Pal, he lunged and tried to strangle her with the lamp cord. Alita grabs her head and screams, breaking down on the witness stand. Klavier asks us what happened next: we present our theory. Meraktis stuffed her in the noodle stand and was dragging her to the park to dump her body—and the gun—in the river when he ran across Wocky. Why did he do that? Because his car wouldn't run. Why wouldn't his car run? Because Wesley clogged the exhaust pipe when he stuffed Trucy's panties inside!
Alita knows she's defeated and confesses. What we just said is true: she woke up in the noodle stand right as Wocky ran across Pal in the park. Pal began to tell Wocky about what happened, and Alita knew that she couldn't let him tell the truth: when Wesley called out to stop them, she found the pistol and shot Pal in the head before running off. She accepts defeat and confesses to everything. Wocky Kitaki is found not guilty!
After the trial, we tell Wocky why the Family is moving away from the criminal life: for his sake. Big Wins explains that he found a doctor who has the ability to take the bullet out from his heart, but they need a lot of clean money to get it out. Wocky breaks down in tears and Big Wins gives us a heartfelt thanks before taking off, ending Turnabout Corner.
What Really Happened?
The Kitakis were once one of the largest crime families in Los Angeles: one of the few true-blooded yakuza clans left. Despite their influence, they were always in hot competition with other crime families, namely the Rivales—the gangs had been involved in a hot-blooded turf war for years by the time the heir to the Kitaki family, Wocky, was old enough to understand the gang's history. Wocky, always a hot-blooded kid angered by his father's desires to move the family away from its criminal origins, did something very stupid. In the middle of the gang war, he foolishly violated Rivales territory: and was shot in the chest as a result.
Wocky nearly died and was taken to a corrupt doctor named Pal Meraktis for surgery. Pal realized that the bullet he couldn't remove the bullet from Wocky's chest without killing him, and if Wocky died on his operating table then he'd be bringing the full force of the Kitaki crime family down on his own head. He did the unthinkable: he sewed Wocky back up and lied to the Kitakis, saying that he'd removed the bullet from Wocky's heart, leaving Wocky to die. Once he died Pal could cover everything up. He kept the record of what had actually happened in his safe, though, just in case. The sheet told the truth about Wocky's condition and it was signed by two people: Doctor Pal Meraktis and nurse Alita Tiala. The bullet remained in Wocky's chest... two millimeters away from his aorta, a vein connected to the heart. There was a serious risk that the bullet could be dislodged and pierce his aorta, killing him—he had maybe half a year to live at most.
Alita came up with an idea. The Kitakis, due to their mob connections, were filthy rich. Wocky was the only son of mob boss Winfred "Big Wins" Kitaki and his wife Plum "Little Plum" Kitaki, and when he died then whoever he was married to would effectively be left in charge of the organization: as well the heir to their vast fortune. Alita pretended to fall in love with Wocky, even going as far to become engaged. There was one issue—the chart. The Kitaki family had a checkup done, Wocky found out about the bullet in his chest, and he planned to kill Pal over what he had done. Alita needed to get the chart so Wocky couldn't find out about her involvement in the cover-up. On that night, as Pal was driving home, he accidentally hit Phoenix Wright while he was walking to a piano gig at Alden Tae's: the accident broke off his rear-view mirror. Pal parked his car in his garage, and eventually somebody else was chased into the garage: Wesley Stickler, fresh off of stealing Trucy Wright's prop underwear to find out how her "Magical Panties" trick was performed. In a panic, he stuffed them inside of the car's exhaust pipe and went off to steal another pair of underwear, this time from Plum Kitaki, to see if he could find out what made Trucy's prop so special.
Soon after Wesley left the garage, Alita walked into the receptionist's office at the Meraktis Clinic. Slipping out of her sandals and putting on a pair of the hospital's slippers out of habit, she confronted Pal in his office about the chart with a gun she'd stolen from the Kitakis. Holding Pal at gunpoint, she told him about Wocky's plan to kill him and demanded that he open the safe. When he did, though, he lunged at her! Alita tried to shoot Pal but missed, instead denting the safe. He grabbed a nearby lamp and wrapped the cord around her neck, strangling her to unconsciousness.
Fearing that he had murdered Alita, Pal came up with an idea. He had to hide the body and the gun: and People Park was right next to a river. He dragged Alita to his car and stuffed her in the trunk, but his car wouldn't start! Wesley had stuffed Trucy's underwear inside the muffler, preventing it from starting. Pal panicked before coming up with another idea. Stealing his preschool rival, Guy Eldoon's, noodle stand, he emptied out the bowls in the back, put Alita and the gun inside, and planned to dispose of both in People Park. When he got to People Park, though, two people were waiting for him. The first was Wocky Kitaki, brandishing a knife; the other was Wesley, fresh off of stealing Plum's bloomers and discarding them in the trash. Wesley called out for the men to stop fighting. They both turned to look at him, and the call woke up Alita. Alita picked up the gun and shot Pal in the head and got out of the cart when Wocky and Wesley ran away, accidentally stepping in the paint that was spilled when Pal hit Phoenix with his car. Throwing the sandals away, Alita returned home, planning to hire rookie lawyer Apollo Justice as a terrible attorney to get Wocky convicted. She also tried to steal the chart from Pal's office but was interrupted by Apollo and Trucy, ultimately sealing her fate.
THOUGHTS
4-2 is not a great case. It's got some bad pacing issues, some weird pathing, and Wesley Stickler. The second day of investigation drags on a bit too long and the first day of trial is incredibly handholdy. That all being said... I really like it!
4-2 is probably my second second case after 3-2, just barely eeking out 2-2 for second place. It's one of the quintessential Ace Attorney cases for me: if somebody was just getting introduced to the series then 4-2 would be one of the cases I'd want to see them play. It matches or even exceeds cases from the PWT, giving both 3-3 and 2-2 very solid runs for their money. It does an absolutely wonderful job of mixing a more light-hearted tone and a pretty funny cast with incredibly dark subject matter, something AJ as a whole does perfectly. Wocky's impending death looms over the second trial day like the sword of Damocles and such a massive tonal shift has the potential to really mess with the narrative and pacing.
That's what makes 4-2 so special to me: it doesn't. The shift from a mystery about three interconnected murders to an incredibly tense situation where the defendant is on the verge of death is carried out nearly flawlessly, although Klavier lampshading the idea in the first day of trial does make the impact hit just a little softer. 4-2 setpieces and art direction are also all beautiful: I especially love the Kitaki Mansion and Guy's house, and thinking back to when I first played it on the DS and heard Alita rummaging around in the office brings me back. 4-2 was one of the first cases that really enamored me with Ace Attorney, and I'll always love it for that. 4-2 also does a great job with its clues: the logic flows very naturally and everything adds up very well. I particularly like having to present the river to prove where Meraktis was planning to dispose of Alita and the gun in the park—Apollo does a lot of the heavy lifting in this case and Trucy shows off her prowess as an investigator, a magician, and even an attorney. It's a really cool way of introducing their dynamic that sells their partnership magnificently.
I think the biggest criticism I can give 4-2 is that it's just way too handholdy. 4-1 had this problem as well, although that made sense for the context of the case. Maybe it's just because I've played AJ so many times that I can almost definitely speedrun it, but 4-2 has a lot of obvious clues that are spelled out to the player. The biggest example of this is the last part of Wesley's testimony in the first day of trial: there's an extra 10-15 lines of dialogue just explaining how Wesley viewing the crime from the north changes which temple Pal would've been shot in even though it's incredibly obvious. We get a super cool 3D graphic to make up for it and Trucy gets to show off her own detective skills, but still. It's completely unnecessary. Apollo Justice Flashback Syndrome also rears its ugly head in 4-2, especially during the first trial day, and as a result of both of these problems 4-2's pacing is kind of all over the place. It's not as bad as, say, 1-3, but it's still jarring and definitely detracts from the case's quality overall. The other obvious issue is... well, everything surrounding Wesley Stickler. There's no real good way to frame a 20 something year old man stealing a 15 year old's underwear, but honestly? At least he's not a total weirdo. We do not need a repeat of 2-3. Alita also isn't a super interesting killer, although I do like how she's exposed and her motive for killing Pal. She's just kind of bland and easily the weakest killer in AJ.
4-2 is a supremely charming and, more importantly, fun case. Is it executed perfectly? No. Does it have its moments? Oh, absolutely. But it's a super fun and surprisingly light-hearted case, especially for AJ:AA, and does the legwork in giving Apollo agency, making Trucy distinct from both Maya and Ema, and connecting all three of its smaller mysteries into a larger set of coincidences and conspiracies. It's a great setup, even if it wasn't executed perfectly: but it was executed well, and honestly that's all I need to consider a case solid at the end of the day.
Next time we'll be taking a trip down to Sunshine Coliseum for a well-deserved concert break. I wonder if Klavier's gonna shoot people with a t-shirt cannon? See you then!
(on an unrelated note jfc playing a game and reviewing it at the same time is so much harder than using actual footage. that was a huge reason this was delayed so long, alongside going back to college and some health issues at home. apologies for the delay! xoxo)
Overall Rating: 7/10
FAVORITE LINES
"I'm a lawyer. I live for needless procedures." - Apollo Justice, trying to convince Trucy to let him talk to Little Plum
"Hey, Herr Forehead." "...!" (F... "Forehead"?!) - Klavier Gavin and Apollo Justice, after Wesley's first contradiction is exposed
"And the forecast for the park today... Gloomy Skyes." - Apollo Justice, after Klavier leaves People Park
"Alita Tialita is Wocky's fiancée!" "That's one 'ita' too many, Apololo!" - Apollo Justice and Trucy Wright, after finding Wocky's chart in the safe
"He's got the kid's chest open on his table. Then he finds that bullet... that's despair right there, Trucy-doll. Cold despair." - Guy Eldoon, explaining why Pal didn't help Wocky
"Objection! That's… That's just dumb!" - Apollo Justice, objecting to Klavier's line of reasoning about the slipper print
CASE RANKINGS
Turnabout Trump (9/10)
Turnabout Corner (7/10)
