Ace Attorney: Andrew Dalmin

Chapter 2 Final Part

  The cards.  My ace in the hole, my secret weapon, my last resort.  How they came to be, where they came from, and why they came into my hands is a mystery beyond compare.  If you were to ask me how the cards work, the only response I would be able to come up with would simply be "magic".  It sounds silly, but there's no scientific way to explain these.

  It all began several years ago, after I finished my second case.  I had succeeded in defending an old gypsy woman, who had been blamed for killing one of her neighbors.  That was the first case I ever fought Brandon in, but that's not why this case has stuck in my memory.  In my last conversation with the gypsy woman, she reached in her little satchel and pull out what appeared to be a deck of trading cards.  Before I could say anything, she put the strange cards into my hands.

  "These...these were meant to come to you.  I'm not sure why, but these sense something in you.  Even I don't fully understand them, but they have made one thing clear: that they are yours to have.  Take them, and your life will be changed forever."

  I took them, not quite understanding what she meant at the time.  I still don't...but it did change my life forever.  That day, I gained a power, a power that I have used countless times since that day.  It's so strange that I can't even give it a name.  I will do my best to explain it, but it's not something so easily explained.

  Whenever someone is hiding something, whenever you're trying to extract a secret from them, they each have ammunition.  Specific logical points that will try to hinder you from finding out what's hidden within.  There are several analogies you could create for this: bullets in a gun, how many dollars you have in your wallet, or as I see it, a hand of cards.  In any card game, your hand is what you have to work with, your ammunition, in other words.  You play your cards from your hand strategically, hoping to beat whatever your opponent has either already played or is going to play from their hand.  In other words, each logical point of defense someone has could be seen as a card in their hand.

  My power is the ability to perceive that.  Whenever someone tries to hide something from me, my mind's eye sees their hand.  Not what exactly is in their hand, but what their hand is.  For example, if someone was trying to hide something from me, and had three main logical points, my mind's eye would perceive three cards.

  That was exactly what was happening at the moment Jenna denied having known Brea.  I holding some of the cards in my hand, I could see she had a hand of three cards.  Certainly something she wanted to keep secret, but it wasn't the largest hand I'd ever seen either.

  "So, you say you've never heard of this person?  Are you sure?  You sound pretty nervous."  I said, still grinning.

  "N-no I haven't...I haven't ever heard of this person before!  W-why would you think I'd know someone of that name?"

  Her teeth were really chattering.  She must not be that great at hiding secrets.

  "You know who Brea is, and I can prove it!"

  The cards have another use too.  Just like storing memory on a USB drive, I can mentally store evidence into the cards.  While generally the picture is blank, when I will it, the picture will suddenly contain a piece of evidence.  I can also make the card blank again when I'm done with that piece of evidence, so I can use it for another piece.  It's a great way carry around all your evidence with you...and it kinda looks cool to act like you're playing a card when you object too.  Maybe not to everyone, but I think it does.

  I pulled out a card of my hand and revealed it, in a cool, "OBJECTION!" sort of way.  On the card was a picture of a drawing notebook, or more specifically, Jenna's drawing notebook.

  "While I was going through the pages in your notebook earlier, I couldn't help but notice an unusually reminiscent picture earlier."

  I flipped through her notebook, and stopped on one of the pages she had drawn a pony on.  It was like most of the other ponies, but it had glasses and greenish hair.

  "Does this pony look familiar to you?  Because to me, it looks like a certain female prosecutor I know...by the name of Brea Firehawk!"

  She began sweating tremendously, I was on the right track.  However, not a single card in her hand disappeared.  Apparently she wasn't going to admit she knew Brea yet.

  "Not good enough, eh?  Well, I guess I'll have to show you something else."

  I pulled another card out of my hand.  This card contained the picture of two little girls playing together.  Once again, I revealed it in the same cool way I did before.  Goodness, I love doing that.

  "Believing you had an involvement with Brea, I did a little search on the two of you.  During my search I came across this special picture, a picture of two girls playing together on an elementary school playground.  Recognize either of them, Ms. Wolf?" I said, grinning maliciously.

  Her eyes widened, and her sweat increased.

  "That's not all," I said, pulling out another card that had the picture of a school on it.  "On my way here, I called the elementary school, middle school, and high school of the same area. All the teachers told me the same thing...that you two were the best of friends, from the beginning of elementary school and throughout the rest of your school years!"

   She let out a scream, and one the cards vanished.  Finally, some progress.  I quickly began looking through the cards I held in my hand, looking for what to play next.

  "Y-yes, I knew her."

  Her body relaxed, and she stopped sweating.

  "Just as you said, we were the closest of friends.  So what!?  What does that have to do with anything!?"

  "Well," I said, grinning again, "why don't you tell me?  If she was so close to you,  I don't see any reason for you to hide it from me...unless something has changed..."

  Her sweat began increasing again.

  "W-what are you talking about!?  As y-you just said, we were the closest of friends!"

  "And 'were' is the right way of putting it," I said, pulling out another card, with the picture of a laptop.
  "On my little search, I didn't just find that picture of you two...I found a gap beginning three years ago, where neither of you had been seen together, nor seen talking to each other!  Neither of you have seen each other for about three years!!!"

  She screamed again, and another card disappeared.  Alright, only one more to go.

  "Y-yes...we haven't seen each other in awhile."

  Then she calmed down again, even more suddenly then last time.

  "But that's because I've been traveling!  Yes, I've been gone for three years!  I went to school somewhere in Indiana for three years to learn how to become a better reporter!  Nothing happened between us, I just wanted to become better at my job!"

  She smiled.  "See?  Nothing to hide!"

  I nodded.  "Indeed, that does sound quite plausible.  Most people would believe you."

  She smiled again.  "Yes, most people wo-"

  "Most people would," I said, grinning, "but you're in luck, there's someone here who doesn't!"

  She froze, unable to say anything.  I expected that though, what I was about to say what probably something she never expected.

  "It's funny..." I said, laughing.  I pulled out the last card I held.  The picture in the card was the picture of a male with one large spike of hair...me.

  "I can't believe I didn't think about it until now.  I'm a defense attorney, which you probably didn't know until now, and I seem to recall a case that occurred just about three years ago..."

  She began stuttering, pretty much sweating buckets.

  "Y-y-y-you w-were..."

  "That was my first case against Brea, ironically enough.  Her first loss as a prosecutor.  She took it incredibly hard, I remember...I still have a scar from a dagger she threw at me."   I laughed.

  "Funny thing was...the case was won by a single decisive piece of evidence...a piece of evidence that I remember came from a young reporter...just starting off her new career."

  I pointed my finger, directly at her, just as I had done in court so many times.

  "That reporter was you, wasn't it, Ms. Wolf!?  You were the one that gave the piece of evidence that broke Brea's perfect win streak!:

  She froze.  For a minute she just stood there, not saying a word.  Then...she started to bawl.  The final card disappeared.  I had won the battle.  I put the cards back in my pocket, and gave a somewhat of a bittersweet smile.

  "Since you're probably not in the best condition to explain it, allow me to do it for you.  Brea has a good heart...but she has a lot of pride.  She strives for perfection, and whenever something gets in her way, she tears it to pieces."

  I put my hand on her shoulder.

  "I'm guessing that when she realized that you were the one that presented the evidence, she flipped out on you.  You didn't blame her for it because you knew her as I do.  Instead, you blamed yourself for giving the evidence, and decided that you would only be a burden to her.  After that, you probably did go to Indiana, as you said, which is why I haven't seen you until now."

  I knelt down beside her.

  "...am I right?"

  She cried for a couple minutes longer, then finally started to wipe her eyes, which turned out to be pointless, as she began crying again afterwards.

  "Y...yes...about everything..."

  I stayed there for a minute, trying to think of what to do.  We'd been there for quite some time, someone was bound to be coming for her soon...but I didn't want to just leave her there.  It occurred to me that I still hadn't told her why exactly I was there, and that since she had told the truth, she deserved it from me.

  "Jenna," I said, standing up, "I didn't come here to learn all your secrets...I came here because I'm Brea's lawyer.  From what I've heard, you witnessed the crime."

  She looked up at me for a second, a surprised look on her face, and then proceeded to bawl once more.

  "I....I'm sorry!!!!  I didn't-"

  "I'm not holding it against you."

  She stopped crying, looking quite surprised.

  "W...what?"

  "You made a mistake," I said, wearing a serious expression.  "You ran away when you should have stayed.  What you did was perfectly understandable in your situation.  I have no right to chastise you...what you did wasn't even really a mistake.  I've made some pretty bad mistakes myself over these past few years..."

  I turned around.

  "Yes, you probably hurt Brea, but she was the one who hurt you first...and as Brea's lawyer, I'm not here to pound down everyone who hurt her.  I'm here to find out the truth, what really happened that night."

  She looked at me, quite curiously.

  "If you just wanted evidence...why did you talk to me?  Not just about my friendship with her, but about me as a person?"

  I turned my head, giving a half smile.

  "Because unlike most attorneys, I care."

  I turned my head forward, and then proceeded to walk away.  It hurt leaving her there, but I didn't want to be seen with her and starting any rumors.  Plus, I was done for the day.  Yes, I could have tried to get more information about what she had seen, but I had already caused her enough trouble for one day.  I was tired, and there really wasn't much else I could get.  The rest of the information could wait until tomorrow.

  I called Aaron, and I stayed at his place for the night.  We compared notes, ate supper, and then just sat around and talked about our lives for awhile.  It was nice, just having some time to relax, something I hadn't had in awhile.  Unfortunately, that didn't mean it was going to be easy getting to sleep tonight. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.  I had no choice...win the case, or lose everything.

                                                                                                          Chapter 2 End