Turnabout Ablaze

"Tyrell Badd"

- ...The times, they are a-changing... It's... not just man... but evidence... even they lie to us now...

Episode 5: Turnabout Ablaze is the fifth and final episode of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth. It all starts when Kay Faraday is accused of murdering a man in a burnt-out embassy office. Cameos abound and two countries that were once one clash as Miles Edgeworth finally defeats the international smuggling ring and solves the mystery of the Great Thief Yatagarasu.

Mar. 14
"Miles Edgeworth"

- Two cards. One of the black raven... ...and one of the white raven. A country torn in two. One to the west... and one to the east. When those which were split are made whole again... ...the truth will reveal itself.

"Miles Edgeworth"

- You... accursed Yatagarasu! Kay! You...!

Eight hours earlier

 * 10:17 a.m.

Miles Edgeworth was in his office, enjoying his tea. He had earned this after all the trouble he'd been through in the past two days. However, his day of peace would not come to be just yet. Kay Faraday stormed into the office. Edgeworth told her that the fake Yatagarasu may have been the one who had invaded his office to steal files related to the KG-8 Incident. The mysterious thief was still missing, and only a few hours had elapsed since then.

Faraday showed Edgeworth a newspaper; the Yatagarasu had sent a white calling card to an embassy, saying that she would "come to steal its dirtiest secret". Edgeworth agreed that this was an urgent matter; this would be their chance to catch Calisto Yew, who had killed Faraday's father and was posing as the Yatagarasu. Faraday was mad that Yew had even sent a calling card; the real Yatagarasu would have stolen first and sent afterward. Edgeworth also found it odd that the calling card was white; the real Yatagarasu's card, one of which had been sent to his office, was black.

Beginning

 * 5:00 p.m.

Edgeworth and Faraday watched a Steel Samurai stage show. After the show, Faraday noted how strange it was for two embassies to be sharing a building. Edgeworth told her that the theater was a special neutral zone for the two countries, called the Theatrum Neutralis. The stage show itself was being sponsored by one of the countries, Allebahst. The other country, Babahl, was sponsoring the next stage show, one of the Jammin' Ninja. These shows were part of an embassy event called "The Kingdom of Allebahst versus The Republic of Babahl Goodwill Jubilee". These two countries had once been one country, the Principality of Cohdopia, but after a period of civil unrest, it had split into two. Each country had taken a symbol of Cohdopia for their own; Allebahst had the flower, and Babahl had the butterfly. The two resulting countries had had bad relations since then, but they were now trying to work out their differences, which was the reason for the event that was occurring. However, both countries were laying claim to the Primidux Statue, a national treasure of Cohdopia. Two copies of the statue existed, one in each country's possession, but only one of the statues was real. The statues would be authenticated later.

Edgeworth and Faraday explored the lobby. While they were perusing pamphlets showing a map of the two embassies, the Steel Samurai entered the room carrying his son, the Iron Infant, on a cart. Edgeworth hurried to talk to the Steel Samurai; he was nervous, as he had never seen a superhero up close before. The Steel Samurai signed an autograph:

"Steel Samurai"

- To Mr. Edgeworth, From Steel Samurai Daddy: Married Man of Neo Olde Tokyo

An Allebahstian guard told the Steel Samurai that Ambassador Alba was waiting for him, and the Steel Samurai walked into the Allebahst Embassy to greet him. Now, the Jammin' Ninja show was about to start; he would then follow the same routine that the Steel Samurai had, except he would greet the Babahlese ambassador. After the Jammin' Ninja's show, Edgeworth wanted to go home; the Yatagarasu calling card was probably a prank.

Just then, two officers ran into the lobby from the Allebahstian Embassy saying that the Yatagarasu had been sighted! Faraday tried to run into the embassy, but a guard stopped her; the Allebahstian Embassy was closed to the public. Faraday persisted and ran to the door to the Babahlese Embassy, where the guard let her through. Edgeworth gave chase.


 * 6:12 p.m.



Edgeworth lost Faraday at the open-air stage. There was a fire burning in this area; the Yatagarasu had been in Babahl as well. Edgeworth cursed the Yatagarasu and hurried to find Faraday.


 * 6:45 p.m.

Shih-na had apprehended Faraday at the secretariat's office in Babahl, and Dick Gumshoe had arrived on the scene as well. Edgeworth made it to the office and asked Gumshoe what was going on. Gumshoe gestured toward a corpse in the room. Faraday was being accused of the murder. She said that she had come here because she had seen a suspicious person in the open-air stage and followed the person to the secretariat's office, where she had found the body, but lost sight of the suspicious person. Edgeworth asked Shih-na what her evidence was for suspecting Faraday, but Shih-na told him that he had no investigative authority in Babahl, so she refused to tell him anything. She told him to leave the investigation to Interpol and to go home.

Franziska von Karma then entered the room with Ambassador Colias Palaeno of Babahl, who had given von Karma the go-ahead to investigate the murder. The victim was Palaeno's secretary Manny Coachen, so he appreciated any help that he could get. Edgeworth introduced himself and then requested to act as von Karma's assistant; he would have no investigative authority otherwise since he wasn't working for Interpol as von Karma was. Von Karma was not exactly reluctant to accept Edgeworth as her subordinate, keen to boss her subordinate about.

Investigation


Gumshoe told Edgeworth that he had been placed on guard duty at the Babahlese Embassy, explaining his presence. The Yatagarasu's appearance had driven the embassy to enlist the help of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Edgeworth wondered why von Karma was here, when she was supposed to be in pursuit of an international smuggling ring. She said that she had been investigating the Allebahstian Embassy before the murder had taken place. Another incident had happened at the Allebahstian Embassy, though Shi-Long Lang was in charge of that investigation. As well, he was acting as Ambassador Alba's bodyguard. Edgeworth told von Karma that Faraday was the daughter of the victim from their first investigation, and she had been on the trail of the Yatagarasu. Gumshoe was frustrated that the Yatagarasu was tricking them all; she had mentioned stealing the embassy's "dirtiest secret", but here they had arson and murder, and nothing had been stolen.

Edgeworth guessed that secret had something to do with the smuggling ring, explaining von Karma's presence. Von Karma confirmed this; various intel reports that Interpol had received from other countries had pointed them to this embassy. Von Karma showed Edgeworth the second page of a three-page document, whose paper came from Cohdopia. This meant that the head of the smuggling ring was somewhere in either Allebahst or Babahl.

Edgeworth noticed two knives hanging on the wall. Palaeno explained that these were ornamental knives that had the symbol of Babahl on them. There were supposed to be three of them, and Allebahst had three equivalent knives of its own. The handles had been burnt off. Palaeno also noted that the knives had been designed so that their handles could be freely removed and exchanged. Edgeworth also noticed one of the Primidux Statues, which Palaeno explained only he and Coachen were allowed to touch. As well, he noted the giant butterfly design on one of the walls, the symbol of Babahl.

Edgeworth examined the body. Coachen had been stabbed at the base of his neck. Edgeworth also saw a knife right beside the body; a preliminary investigation that Shih-na had run had confirmed this to be the murder weapon. Von Karma noticed a butterfly motif on the knife handle. Edgeworth noted that this butterfly was the symbol of Babahl, and suggested that the knife had been the missing part of the three-knife set in the room.

Inside Coachen's pocket was the Yatagarasu's Key. Edgeworth recognized the design on the blade; it depicted two interwoven vines, though Gumshoe interpreted them as stars. Von Karma told Edgeworth that he could ask Palaeno about matters pertaining to the old country of Cohdopia, because he had been set to be the Cohdopian ambassador before the country split.

Palaeno told Edgeworth that Coachen had been an admirable man, a terrible loss for the country. He had been in charge of many jobs such as accounting, handling national treasures, and printing pamphlets to fuel Babahl's feverish tourism industry. Edgeworth remembered Coachen from the KG-8 Incident, but Palaeno said that Coachen had recovered since then. He had planned the event itself, and he had been in charge of renovations for the embassy.

Edgeworth asked Palaeno about the key, but Palaeno didn't know about it. He did note that the key aspect showed the butterfly design of Babahl, while the knife aspect showed the flower design of Allebahst. Palaeno suggested that Coachen had used this key during the Cohdopian years. Palaeno didn't know much about the second KG-8 Incident either because he had been instated as Babahl's ambassador after the split.

Edgeworth noticed a locked safe inside the office; he deduced that the Yatagarasu's Key opened this safe, and opened it. Edgeworth found some pieces of paper stuck inside the back of the safe, which implied the existence of a back compartment to the safe. Edgeworth also noticed a peculiar hole on the exposed edge of the safe, where the latch would be locked in. He noticed that the knife portion of the key fit into this hole; something hidden this cleverly had to be of supreme importance. Gumshoe opened the back compartment; von Karma was shocked to find that it contained pieces of art that had been stolen from various countries! As well, the paper that had been stuck could be taken now; they showed the first and third pages of a three-page document signed by Coachen. Edgeworth realized that they were the completion of the document that von Karma had obtained. Von Karma concluded from this that Coachen had been responsible for the smuggling of Babahlese ink, of which only a limited volume was ever exported from Babahl for reasons that von Karma would not state. Von Karma concluded that Coachen had been the head of the smuggling ring; his position in the embassy provided a perfect environment for this. Although Coachen was now dead, many questions surrounding him remained.

Shih-na asked whether Edgeworth was done with his investigation, and she prepared to take Faraday away. Edgeworth stopped her, insisting that Faraday was not the killer.

Shih-na's testimonies
Shih-na testified that the Yatagarasu had been confirmed to have been in the Babahlese Embassy. She claimed that the Yatagarasu had used the fire as a distraction to commit her murder, and Faraday claimed to be the Yatagarasu. Edgeworth found it presumptuous to accuse Faraday of being the killer simply on account of this. Shih-na then elaborated that the Yatagarasu had killed Coachen for the key to the safe containing the smuggling documents. However, the key had been found on Coachen's person, and it had not been stolen. Furthermore, the Yatagarasu hadn't actually stolen the documents; they hadn't been her target. On the other hand, if the Yatagarasu hadn't known about the key, she would have had no reason to kill Coachen. Shih-na retorted that the Yatagarasu may have simply killed Coachen by accident upon sneaking in. Additionally, the Yatagarasu may not have known about the back compartment of the safe, and could simply have placed the key back on the body.

Shih-na had more evidence of Faraday's guilt; she had seen Faraday with the murder weapon. The weapon was three-of-a-kind, and the other two of its kind were accounted for. Everything pointed to Faraday as the killer. Faraday insisted that she had chased the fake Yatagarasu into the secretariat's office. However, she had lost him and had found herself in a dark room. She had felt something beneath her foot, and then she had seen Coachen's body upon turning the light on. A few seconds later, Shih-na had run into the room, hearing Faraday's scream, and arrested Faraday, who had allegedly been holding the murder weapon, on the spot. There had been no prints on the knife; Faraday wore gloves, so this fit in with the accusation. Shih-na believed that the phantom that Faraday had been chasing was just an excuse. Edgeworth, however, didn't give up on Faraday.

Edgeworth found it odd that the handle of the murder weapon didn't have any blood on it. He suggested that the original handle had been switched with that of a different knife after the murder. Edgeworth removed the handle and found that the part of the blade under the handle had a flower design on it. He then concluded that the blade was, in fact, one of the Allebahstian ornamental knives. This proved that Faraday, who had never been to the Allebastian Embassy due to the tight security there, could not have been the killer, especially since no one had crossed between the two embassies during the fire, either.

The question now was how the Allebastian knife had been smuggled into Babahl. The other concern, which Shih-na brought up, was that Faraday could still have been the arsonist, since she was still claiming to be the Yatagarasu. Faraday replied that she wouldn't take back her claim, and reiterated that she was chasing after the fake Yatagarasu, following her father's path. To this end, she reminded everyone that going to the Allebahstian Embassy was the natural next step to take. Von Karma agreed, and the investigation team headed for Allebahst.

Middle, Part 1

 * 7:44 p.m.

In the Theatrum Neutralis lobby, the MiB sounded off Shi-Long Lang's officers. This time, instead of yelling out numbers in succession, all of the officers yelled out "1!" (referencing Lang's earlier assertion that all of his men were number 1). Lang gave one of the officers a birthday present for his younger brother's wife's younger brother; all his subordinates stood in awe of Lang remembering and attending to such details, before they were dismissed.

Edgeworth and his company entered the lobby. Lang greeted Edgeworth coldly as usual and said that Shih-na had already filled him in on the development of the investigation of Babahl. Edgeworth and von Karma asked Lang for permission to investigate Allebahst, but Lang replied that even he was having trouble getting all of his own officers through, with Allebahst's very strict immigration regulations. He added that he was still in charge of the investigation in Allebahst, as had been agreed before, and that an incident had occurred in that embassy as well.

Ambassador Quercus Alba then hobbled into the lobby with his guards. He apologized to the investigation team for all the trouble that had occurred, but he denied the prosecutors' request to investigate Allebahst. However, Palaeno asked Alba to reconsider in light of the fact that Coachen had been murdered. Lang agreed to let everyone in except Faraday, whom would stay in Babahl as a witness to Coachen's murder. Gumshoe agreed to stay behind as well, to watch over Faraday.

Faraday now had time to reacquaint with von Karma. Von Karma vowed that she would outsmart the smuggling ring and the Yatagarasu. Edgeworth thanked Palaeno for his help in securing the investigation privileges, and Palaeno gave Edgeworth a bottle of Babahlese ink as a gift.

Edgeworth then asked von Karma about the Babahlese ink again, saying that it would be advantageous for von Karma's subordinate to know. Von Karma told him that a black market for counterfeit currency surfaced in Zheng Fa, which used Babahlese ink to make the bills. The use of Babahlese ink made it nearly impossible to distinguish fake bills from real bills, so Interpol had ended up keeping a close eye on Babahlese ink exports. That was where Coachen had come into play; as the secretary of the Babahlese Embassy, he was in a perfect position to head the smuggling operation. However, von Karma had yet to find the counterfeit bills or the smuggled ink, as well as the plates used to make the counterfeit currency. None of these were in the Babahlese Embassy, so the Allebahstian Embassy was the natural place to investigate next.

Faraday told Edgeworth that she and Gumshoe would be investigating Babahl, and to call her if he needed her.


 * 8:17 p.m.

At the Ambassador's Office, the Steel Samurai ran right into Edgeworth. Von Karma whipped the Steel Samurai for doing so, causing his head to spin. The Steel Samurai was forced to remove his head to reveal that he was Larry Butz. Butz frantically said something about being in a bind and spotting "the Raven". Butz was a suspect in a murder. As he and Edgeworth briefly reacquainted, it slowly dawned on Edgeworth that Larry was the Steel Samurai, the same Steel Samurai who had given him an autograph.

Lang interrupted the disturbing reunion. Butz was indeed the suspect in the murder of a certain "Mask☆DeMasque II", whose body was lying nearby. Edgeworth asked to examine the body, but Lang told him to stay out of his way. Just then, detective Tyrell Badd entered the scene. He had, of course, been searching for the Yatagarasu for the past seven years, even pressuring Interpol to keep him informed about anything involving the Yatagarasu. This dedication was something that Lang could respect. When Lang asked about what Badd would do about Edgeworth, Badd said that he would cooperate with Edgeworth if it meant taking the Yatagarasu down.

After the Yatagarasu's appearance, Badd and Lang had taken charge of the investigation. Mask☆DeMasque II had broken into the embassy amidst the chaos only to meet his end. Ambassador Alba had been about to give a commemorative speech in the Allebahstian Embassy when the Yatagarasu appeared. Some seats had been reserved for the Samurai actors; they were supposed to have been waiting in a different room, but Butz had been sighted on the roof of the embassy, about to enter a chimney. The chimney lead right into the Ambassador's Office.

Investigation
Edgeworth demanded that Butz tell him exactly what he had been doing on the roof. After a good whipping, Butz claimed that he was trying to be Santa Claus, but the chimney that he had been trying to enter had had smoke coming out of it. Edgeworth reprimanded Butz for his ridiculous endeavor, which had landed him in the middle of a murder investigation as a suspect. Butz had donned the Steel Samurai in the first place to woo Mindy, the actress who played the Pink Princess in the stage show.

The office was strikingly similar to the secretariat's office in the Babahlese Embassy. The Allebahstian ornamental knife trio was on a wall, along with a crossbow and the Samurai Spear. However, one of the knives was missing its blade; Edgeworth confirmed that the weapon in Coachen's murder was the missing blade by fitting it into the handle. Edgeworth noticed that the tip of the Samurai Spear was bent; Butz said that he had swung the Spear, and that the tip had hit a wall. He added that the Spear was not real; its tip was hollow.

Edgeworth noticed a photo of the Steel Samurai shaking hands with Alba; this had been taken before the murder. He also noticed two flowers in full bloom on a windowsill. Von Karma identified them as passion flowers. Allebahst's Primidux Statue was also here, though it was facing away from the flower emblem on the wall, whereas in the photo it was facing the window. An ambassador or ambassador's secretary had touched this statue during the murder.

Edgeworth examined the body. Badd told him that the so-called "Mask☆DeMasque II" was just a copycat of the original Mask☆DeMasque, and he was really an unemployed individual named Ka-Shi Nou, wanted on larceny charges. Edgeworth noted the blood on the back of Nou's head, and he concluded that Nou had been bludgeoned to death. The suspected murder weapon, the Samurai Sword, was beside the body. Under it was a wrapping cloth, with which Nou had presumably intended to carry his stolen treasure. In the victim's hand was a scrap of paper containing hand-written directions to the Ambassador's Office; on the back was a message telling Nou to steal Allebahst's Primidux Statue.

The Pink Princess then suddenly entered the room. Edgeworth moved to ask her some questions, but when the Pink Princess removed her helmet, Edgeworth was horrified to see Wendy Oldbag under it! Oldbag had come in here to complain about the noise, but Edgeworth's presence had surprised her. She had been called up to replace Mindy, who had caught a bad cold; she gave the stand-in request letter to von Karma. Oldbag had also apparently gotten a love letter from a stalker. Oldbag didn't even know that a crime had occurred; after the show, she had had to be taken to the room next to the Ambassador's Office on a stretcher due to her bad hip, and she had used a fireplace in that room to warm it. This meant that she hadn't attended Alba's planned speech. Edgeworth realized that since Butz had definitely been over Alba's chimney, but it was Oldbag's fireplace and not Alba's that had been used, both fireplaces must share the same chimney.

One of Lang's officers brought the Criminal Affairs Department's police dog Missile into the room. Von Karma had requested the dog to aid in the search for the Yatagarasu. Missile found a "Samurai Dog" and a lady's undershirt inside Alba's fireplace; to Edgeworth's dismay, the undershirt could only belong to Oldbag. Oldbag admitted that she had been drying her undershirt in the fireplace next door, but that didn't explain how it had made it to Alba's fireplace. As for the Samurai Dog, Butz explained that he and Oldbag had been tasked with delivering Samurai Dogs to various embassy staff - Butz had stored them in his pushcart - and Oldbag forced one of her boxes of Samurai Dogs onto Edgeworth. Edgeworth had already noted that Alba's and Oldbag's fireplaces shared the same chimney, and he guessed that they were connected to each other. The back wall of Alba's fireplace could turn to reveal a secret passage to Oldbag's fireplace, confirming this suspicion. Edgeworth now asked Butz to testify about his rooftop experience, knowing that Butz was lying about something.

Butz's testimonies
After the show, Butz had left his pushcart in the rose garden and gone into the Ambassador's Office, where he had taken a picture with Alba. He claimed that he had then gone to the rooftop "to play Santa". He didn't want to talk about what had really happened because it was too embarrassing. Lang said that the Santa excuse wasn't a big deal, but Edgeworth disagreed. Butz's "present" would have gotten into Oldbag's hands; Butz had believed that Mindy was under the Pink Princess costume, and he had wanted to invade her room through her chimney.

Butz tried to deny that he had been trying to meet up with Mindy, asking Edgeworth why he'd even try to go through the humiliation that would have ensued. Edgeworth pointed to Oldbag's love letter, whose penmanship obviously belonged to Butz. In fact, his penmanship was so bad that what he had intended to read "Mindy" had read "Wéndy" to the recipient. The writer could even be confirmed by comparing the penmanship with that of Edgeworth's Steel Samurai autograph.

Butz had nowhere to hide. He admitted that when the Pink Princess had been taken on a stretcher, he had no other way to see her but through the chimney. He had written the love letter to the Pink Princess as an advance warning to her of his arrival. Although the truth of Butz's story would get him off the hook, Lang still had a point of contention to make concerning Butz's guilt: the Samurai Sword that had presumably killed Nou.

Why Larry?
Lang had been the discoverer of the body. He had found the blood-stained Samurai Sword, which was supposed to be in the Steel Samurai's dressing room, beside the body. What's more, he had seen Butz near the body. Lang had his suspicions on what Edgeworth had presented as evidence in his rebuttals to Butz, and he would not let go of his suspect on the basis of a prosecutor's shady doings. Edgeworth asked about the Samurai Sword; Lang replied that it was a prop sword, so it wasn't sharp, but it was certainly heavy enough for beating someone to death. Edgeworth disagreed; the Samurai Spear had been bent, so presumably the Sword would have been bent as well had it been used in a bludgeoning.

Von Karma interrupted, saying that using guesswork and taking risks was not the von Karma way. Edgeworth replied that he was not a "genius" prosecutor like Manfred von Karma was, though no one should have conceived of the notion of convicting all defendants anyway. Von Karma insisted that the job of a prosecutor was to convict all defendants, to have a "perfect victory", but Edgeworth retorted:

"Miles Edgeworth"

- That may be your opinion, however, I don't believe that's all we are. As a prosecutor, what I pursue is not the perfect victory, but the perfect truth. And if that means that the bridge I must cross will crumble beneath my feet... then let it crumble as I walk on towards the truth!

This statement took Lang aback, but he went on to claim that perhaps the Samurai Sword had been used in such a way that it hadn't been bent. No other object in the Allebahstian Embassy had Nou's blood on it; this was the only logical explanation. Edgeworth took issue with this statement; the real murder weapon could still not have been accounted for, for only the ambassador and his secretary could touch the Allebahstian Primidux Statue. Indeed, the Primidux statue had been turned after Butz had taken his picture with Alba. The MiB was appalled at the idea of gaining Alba's permission to touch the statue, but Lang now wanted the possibility that Edgeworth had presented to be resolved. However, Alba refused to grant permission to touch the statue. Lang intended to examine the statue anyway and take the fall for any consequences, but Edgeworth insisted that it was his hypothesis, so it would be his responsibility.

A luminol test was conducted on the statue, and there was indeed a bloodstain on the statue's head. Edgeworth also found a black handprint under the statue's base. A fingerprint lift revealed this handprint to belong to the other victim, Manny Coachen! Edgeworth could only conclude that this was actually Babahl's Primidux statue. It seemed that the investigation team was only scratching the surface of these incidents...

Middle, Part 2

 * 9:21 p.m.

Edgeworth left the investigation in Allebahst to von Karma and returned to the open-air stage. He met Faraday, Gumshoe and Palaeno, who evidently had made no progress in their investigation. Edgeworth left what he had of Oldbag's belongings with Gumshoe to deliver to Oldbag, since as a member of the local police he had free access to both embassies. He then discarded his Steel Samurai autograph, knowing who had signed it, as well as the Steel Samurai photo and the Samurai Sword. Edgeworth asked Gumshoe for another favor; before he left, Gumshoe gave Edgeworth a silhouette lantern fueled by whitcrystal oil, the same substance used to make Babahlese ink. Edgeworth noticed that the flames burned green.

Edgeworth asked Palaeno about the open-air stage. The stage was used for concerts and various other tourism-promoting events. Palaeno noted that Coachen had suggested that Palaeno give a speech like Alba was going to do in the rose garden, but that had been canceled due to the fire. When asked about Coachen, Palaeno replied that Coachen had been an able and dependable man. Coachen had been very busy ever since Palaeno had been selected as Babahl's representative for the "Country Unification Council", which had aimed to have Allebahst and Babahl reunited after the Steel Samurai / Jammin' Ninja event.

Edgeworth asked about the Primidux Statues. The real Primidux Statue had allegedly been from the founders of Cohdopia, and it was a symbol of sovereignty for Cohdopia, which was why the authenticity issue was so important. Edgeworth told Palaeno that the Primidux Statues had been switched. Von Karma had already informed Palaeno of this, and he had already confirmed this fact for himself, because Allebahst's statue was the real one. Having known this long beforehand, Palaeno had planned to negotiate with Alba to announce that the authentication results were inconclusive, but the fact remained that Babahl's statue was just a hollow shell. Nonetheless, Palaeno had been willing to lose face for the sake of reunification.

Edgeworth filled Faraday in on the investigation of Nou's body. Despite Babahl's very laissez-faire immigration policy, it still had as strict a border inspection policy as that of Allebahst, so the two murder weapons had to have been smuggled somehow. Only the fake Yatagarasu had been spotted in both embassies; she had to be connected to the murders. Faraday gave Edgeworth a small object that looked like a guitar pick, which she had just picked up off the ground, as well as Calisto Yew's perfume bottle, which she had kept unused for the seven years since she had found it. Edgeworth now headed for the rose garden in Allebahst, where the Yatagarasu had first been sighted.

Investigation: Rose garden

 * 9:58 p.m.

Von Karma greeted Edgeworth at the rose garden. She told Edgeworth about the witness reports; the Yatagarasu's shadow had been sighted before Alba's planned speech, and then the fires had started in Babahl. Lang was also here with the MiB, who evidently hadn't progressed with the investigation, either. Lang told Edgeworth that, oddly enough, he had received an urgent message from Interpol telling him to return, but Lang was not about to leave this investigation unsolved. Lang recounted his sighting of the Yatagarasu's shadow; it had appeared when the spotlights had been turned on in preparation for Alba's speech, and then someone had unplugged the extension plug for all of the outdoor electronics, causing the shadow to disappear.

Edgeworth noticed some spotlights that had been knocked over in the confusion following the Yatagarasu shadow's appearance. He also noticed two statues in the garden, one called "King Primidux and the Battlefield" and the other called "The Queen Who Spoke of Love to King Primidux". He also noticed that the fountain in the garden filled only when the water level was lowered from its normal level; thus the water had been used recently. Larry Butz suddenly rose from the pool, startling Edgeworth and von Karma; he was looking for his "son", the Iron Infant doll. Edgeworth assured him that the Iron Infant would be found.

Edgeworth had figured out how the Yatagarasu shadow had been made. The shadow had been a combination of the shadows of two statues in the garden. The spotlights had been adjusted so that the king's entire shadow would form the Yatagarasu's body, and the shadow of the queen's left hand would form the Yatagarasu's cape. The Yatagarasu had never visited Allebahst, though she certainly had an accomplice in the rose garden.

A most mysterious photo
Badd arrived in the garden, holding some evidence. A photographer had taken a photo showing the Yatagarasu flying over the rose garden from the Babahlese Embassy to the Allebahstian Embassy, after the fires had broken out in the Babahlese Embassy's fourth and fifth floors. Edgeworth headed to Babahl to investigate this phenomenon.


 * 10:37 p.m.

Edgeworth returned to the secretariat's office with Faraday and Palaeno. Edgeworth told Faraday about the Yatagarasu photo and Badd's determination to catch the Yatagarasu. Part of the room had been blocked by one of Lang's agents during the last investigation, so Edgeworth intended to start there.

Investigation: Secretariat's office
Edgeworth spoke to Palaeno. The ambassador told him that there had actually been two fires at the embassy, one on the fourth and fifth floors, which had occurred at the start of the Jammin' Ninja's show, and the other on the third floor, which had occurred after the Jammin' Ninja's show, when the Yatagarasu's shadow had appeared in the rose garden. This meant that the flying Yatagarasu had appeared during the Jammin' Ninja's show. Edgeworth asked about Palaeno's morning whereabouts. Palaeno had intended to take a photo with the Jammin' Ninja, so he had helped to clean up Coachen's office. Palaeno's own office had been undergoing renovations. The clean-up involved burning up some old files; Palaeno hadn't cleaned up the ashes, and he had also spilled some Babahlese ink on the fireplace wall. Edgeworth asked about Palaeno's afternoon activities. Palaeno and Coachen had had to be in the Theatrum Neutralis for the start of the Steel Samurai show; Palaeno had taken a photo with Alba and the Steel Samurai, after which Palaeno had gone to his office alone. He hadn't seen Coachen alive again.

Edgeworth examined Coachen's desk and found an undamaged bottle of ink. Palaeno said that Coachen had rushed back to his office during the second fire. Palaeno had followed him back to the office, only to be greeted by green flames at Coachen's doorstep. The fact that an ink bottle still existed intact seemed odd considering this. Edgeworth opened a drawer on the desk and found a peculiarly-shaped notepad; he noticed that Nou's note had the same shape. Palaeno confirmed the handwriting on the note matched Coachen's; Coachen had intended to steal Allebahst's Primidux Statue. Palaeno suggested that it had to do with the fact that Allebahst's statue was the real one, and that Coachen had intended to make Palaeno the ambassador of the reunified Cohdopia.

Gumshoe entered the room, back from his errand that Edgeworth had given him. He had collected all of the information about the secretariat's office from the Interpol agents and the embassy employees. Faraday commented that the dynamic between Edgeworth and Gumshoe was just like that of her father and Badd. It was now time for Little Thief to do its work.


 * 11:00 p.m.

Gumshoe had participated in the initial Babahlese investigation and the extermination of the fires. No one had gotten a good look at the mysterious "Yatagarasu" figure that had been inside the Babahlese Embassy, but the individual had been seen, causing widespread panic. Gumshoe had heard Faraday's scream from discovering Coachen's body and gone to the secretariat's office, explaining his presence there with Shih-na. Before that, he had seen Shih-na leave the room next door.

Edgeworth noticed that the grandfather clock next to the door had been moved. Although it was now 11:00, the clock hadn't chimed. Gumshoe found a long wire inside the clock, which was jamming the clock's mechanisms. Edgeworth noted the fire; it had been put out by the time Faraday had gotten there. Coachen's killer had evidently set the green fire at the door intentionally using whitcrystal oil. It couldn't have been the ink because an intact ink bottle was on Coachen's desk. Thus, the source of the flames must have been the smuggling ring's counterfeit bills.

Edgeworth asked Palaeno about the similar structures of the Babahlese secretariat's office and the Allebahstian Ambassador's Office, and Palaeno told him that the embassies were bilaterally symmetrical. Edgeworth deduced that, in this case, the fireplace in this office would have to have a secret passageway. Edgeworth thought it likely that Coachen's killer had used the fireplace to escape.

Edgeworth noticed immediately that the fireplace was oddly clean, in contradiction to what Palaeno had testified about it. Faraday updated Little Thief's simulation to account for Palaeno's testimony. Edgeworth saw this as proof that the person that Faraday had been chasing had used the fireplace to escape. He considered Gumshoe's sighting of Shih-na in the next room and knew that he would now have to speak with her.

Shih-na now seemed very suspicious. She had run from the next room into the secretariat's office and rather quickly accused Faraday of Coachen's murder. Edgeworth requested that Gumshoe confirm the handwriting on Nou's note forensically, as well as crawl through the fireplace. As Gumshoe went through the fireplace, Edgeworth determined that he still had some more mysteries to solve, such as the fake Yatagarasu's whereabouts, the other members of the smuggling ring, the smuggling of the two murder weapons, and the involvement of the Yatagarasu's Key in all of this. It was enough to exhaust him mentally, but Faraday told him not to lose hope, and assured him that she and Gumshoe would help out in any way they could. Gumshoe then came back, covered in ashes and ink. Edgeworth thanked him for his work and headed for the Theatrum Neutralis.

Middle, Part 3

 * 11:33 p.m.

Edgeworth and Faraday met Lang, Shih-na, Alba and von Karma in the lobby. Lang was furious about the counterfeit bills that were crashing Zheng Fa's economy. Lang had vowed to take down the mastermind behind the smuggling ring and restore the Lang name, but now the mastermind was apparently dead and he would have to go home with no answers. Edgeworth tried to apologize, but Lang assured him and Alba that this was no one's fault but his own.

As Lang turned to leave, Gumshoe ran into the lobby with the handwriting analysis results, which confirmed Coachen's ownership of the writing on Nou's note. Lang realized that Edgeworth was not done yet; and Edgeworth asked Shih-na how she could have missed Coachen's killer when she had been within the killer's escape route. Lang and von Karma were surprised at the accusation that Edgeworth seemed to be implying, but Edgeworth assured them that he had more than a flimsy hunch to go on. He cited Faraday's testimony about chasing someone in a coat, someone who had been pretending to be the Yatagarasu.

Faraday testified that she had spotted the "Yatagarasu" near the open-air stage during the second fire, but the "Yatagarasu" had run off when Faraday called out to her, so Faraday had given chase. Faraday had chased her to the third floor and then missed her target for a few moments before seeing the "Yatagarasu" enter the secretariat's office. That was when Faraday had discovered Coachen's body, and Shih-na had apprehended her; the "Yatagarasu" had disappeared.

Lang suggested that the "Yatagarasu" had slipped out from behind Faraday, but then she would have run into either Shih-na from one direction or Gumshoe from the other. Faraday quietly suggested that Edgeworth talk about the revolving fireplace now, but he replied that that information would have to remain unrevealed to Shih-na for now. Lang wondered whether Edgeworth was suggesting the escape route implied in the flying Yatagarasu photo, but the prosecutor had already realized that the Yatagarasu in that photo was a fake because the photo had been taken during the first fire. Edgeworth also knew that Lang hadn't been made privy to the most recent Babahlese investigation, so telling him about the revolving fireplace was pointless; Shih-na would have to argue with Edgeworth on her own.

Shih-na's Movements
During the first Babahlese fire, Shih-na had helped in the fire-fighting effort, but during the second fire, she had been chasing the Yatagarasu. She had heard Faraday screaming while investigating the room next to the secretariat's office, and she hadn't seen the Yatagarasu. Lang was angry at Edgeworth for accusing Shih-na based on her being alone, but the Interpol agent was told that both he and Shih-na had done the same with Faraday and Butz, and both apologized for this. Edgeworth then told Shih-na about the Yatagarsu's real escape route: the revolving fireplace, which led straight into Shih-na's location. Edgeworth accused Shih-na of being the "Yatagarasu" that Faraday had been chasing. As the Yatagarasu, she had gone through the fireplace and then discarded her coat to emerge as Agent Shih-na.

Not being able to hold it in any longer, Shih-na burst into laughter. The laugh was very familiar to Edgeworth; in fact, a dead-ringer of Calisto Yew. However, this would not quite be confirmed just yet; Shih-na insisted that Edgeworth's logic was all conjecture. Nonetheless, Shih-na had changed her composure; she wouldn't hold anything back now. She asked what proof Edgeworth had that the Yatagarasu had even used the fireplace. Edgeworth cited Palaeno's testimony, which proved that the fireplace had been turned recently. Shih-na laughed at this logic and prepared her counterargument.

Shih-na's Rebuttal
Shih-na insisted that Edgeworth still hadn't proved that the Yatagarasu had actually used the fireplace, and that nothing suspicious had been found inside Coachen's office. Edgeworth knew that Shih-na had made sure that he hadn't gotten the evidence that he needed. Faraday was frozen in shock, but Edgeworth told her to pull herself together.

"Miles Edgeworth"

- If you want to steal the truth, then you must never take your eyes off of it. This chase you're running to catch the truth... you must see it through to the very end.

Edgeworth decided to start with the wire and the counterfeit bills. The bills had been burned, which was why Lang hadn't found them. Shih-na refused to accept a Little Thief re-creation as proof that the bills had been burned, but Edgeworth replied that he was merely demonstrating that Shih-na's investigation was incomplete. Her men had failed to investigate the room next to the secretariat's office because Shih-na had been there. Gumshoe hurried to investigate that room.

As Gumshoe conducted his search, Edgeworth told von Karma about Gumshoe's dirtied coat. The detective came back with make-up, a coat and a pair of shoes; Shih-na claimed ownership of them. Shih-na tried to prevent Edgeworth from inspecting these items, but Lang overruled her; he wanted to know whether he could really trust her.

She explained that the soot on her coat was from the first fire; this included a particularly dark smear on the coat's hem. Edgeworth explained that the dark smear was Babahlese ink from the stain on the fireplace, and he intended to prove this by cutting off a patch of the smear and burning it. Indeed, the patch burned green, proving she had indeed gone through the fireplace. Shih-na still asked for definitive proof that she was Yew, but Faraday had already preserved it for seven years: the fingerprints on Calisto Yew's perfume.

"Shih-na"

- It seems... you've seen right through me yet again...

Yew once again told Edgeworth about the chill he was sending down her spine, an even greater thrill than seven years ago. She was a mole all along, feeding intel on Interpol's movements to the smuggling ring, but it was all over now. Edgeworth told her to submit herself quietly, but Yew began to taunt Faraday. Faraday lunged herself at her father's killer, but fell into Yew's trap. She put Faraday in an headlock and pointed her gun to the girl's head. Yew asked Edgeworth again why the Yatagarasu had three legs. Edgeworth realized that both Yew and Byrne Faraday were the Great Thief Yatagarasu. An attorney like Yew would be privy to the dealings of corrupt corporations, and Byrne had Little Thief to disarm security systems, as well as the knowledge of criminal behavior that a prosecutor would have.

Tyrell Badd filled in the third skill as he entered the lobby and aimed his gun at Yew. The lead detective on the case would ensure that no evidence was left behind. Badd had been searching for the mole in the Yatagarasu team for seven long years, and now he had her. Yew made to shoot Kay, but Lang subdued her, getting shot in the leg by Badd's bullet in the process. Lang declared that whatever his subordinate's past was, she was still his subordinate, and he wouldn't let any harm come to her. Gumshoe conducted a body search and found the missing Babahlese knife blade; Edgeworth told Gumshoe to return the blade and the handle to their rightful place.

Edgeworth accused Yew of being Coachen's killer. She had allowed Kay Faraday to chase her into the secretariat's office to be apprehended, intending to retrieve Little Thief. Byrne had been the one to steal the key, and Yew had killed him for it. She had joined the Yatagarasu in order to betray Byrne and Badd from the very beginning, as the real ringleader of the smuggling ring had requested. The real mastermind was not Coachen.

Yew admitted to setting one of the fires, and Lang moved to take her away. However, Kay noticed that a pair of hair sticks had fallen to the floor, and she wanted to return them, but was told to keep them. Yew then told Edgeworth that she was not Coachen's killer. Lang was now even more determined than ever to catch the mastermind of the smuggling ring, because this case had become personal.

Kay said that she had seen into Yew's soul; it was dark, cold and lonely. Whoever was pulling the strings was still out there. She gave Yew's hair sticks to Edgeworth because she couldn't bear to look at them.


 * Midnight

Badd was now set to retire. Edgeworth insisted that not everything had been solved yet, but as far as Badd was concerned, the Yatagarasu case had been fully solved, and he knew that he could leave the case to Edgeworth, who had figured out the Yatagarasu's identity. Badd apologized to Kay for all the trouble that had occurred because of the Yatagarasu, and then he apologized to Edgeworth for stealing the KG-8 Incident files from Edgeworth's office. Badd had been the intruder.

Badd recalled the KG-8 Incident. Manny Coachen's trial had been a very emotional one, and when Coachen was found not guilty, that was when Byrne and Badd had known that there were limits to the law, and that the only way to bring people like Coachen to justice was to do so outside of the courts. That was when they had formed the Yatagarasu. However, just as they were about to uncover the mastermind behind the smuggling ring, Yew had betrayed them. Badd had then looked into Yew's past to find that "Calisto Yew" never existed. Cece Yew's "sister" had been a mole, right from the start of the KG-8 Incident.

Badd told Edgeworth that hidden in the KG-8 files was a trump card that Byrne had hidden away all those years ago. Behind a photo was a picture of the black raven, which Badd revealed to have been a "directives card" from the boss of the smuggling ring. On the back was a message that Coachen had on him ten years ago, as well as Cece Yew's blood. The Yatagarasu had actually been derived from this card, and they had used a white version of the card, which the smuggling ring would recognize.

Badd had one more piece of evidence to give: a video containing the definitive evidence that had been stolen in the KG-8 Incident. Ernest Amano had stolen it, and now that he was in jail, Badd had gotten hold of it. This video was the same one that Jacques Portsman had tried to steal, after receiving the directives card that had been found the previous night. Both the video and the card would be illegal as evidence, but Badd told Edgeworth that they would allow him to take down a criminal who was above the law. Edgeworth insisted that the law was limited only by the people. The detective was surprised that Edgeworth would still be saying this after seeing crimes inside an embassy, but he nonetheless resolved to leave the case to him.

Badd then turned himself in to Gumshoe as the last member of the Yatagarasu. Gumshoe was saddened to have to take his own superior to jail, saying that this wasn't justice, but Badd told him again never to lose his detective's spirit. Gumshoe took Badd away, leaving Edgeworth, von Karma and a downcast Faraday.

The Ambassador's Office

 * 12:07 a.m.

Miles Edgeworth cleared his organizer of now-unnecessary testimonies and evidence concerning Babahlese ink, as well as Yew's perfume. When Dick Gumshoe came back, he found a VCR player in the lobby and played the long-lost KG-8 Incident video. Sure enough, Manny Coachen was in the video, holding a knife. Edgeworth was certain that Jacques Portsman had gone through all the trouble of trying to steal this video for a reason, and as he watched, that reason soon became clear. A Cohdopian government car had been parked outside of Cece Yew's apartment after the murder.

Quercus Alba interrupted the investigation of the video. He thanked Edgeworth for his work in his investigation, but he requested that the investigation be put on hold because it was disrupting the festivities. Shi-Long Lang re-entered the lobby, apparently not debilitated by his wounded leg, and told Alba that he would have to finish this case now, but Alba replied that Shih-na had tainted the credibility of Lang's officers. Lang thought for a moment and then suddenly accused Franziska von Karma of Ka-Shi Nou's murder. His reasoning was that Alba had called von Karma to his office before the murder, and von Karma had also had free access to both embassies, able to do just about whatever she wanted. Lang requested permission to investigate Alba's office again to solidify his theory, which Alba reluctantly granted. Edgeworth, Faraday and Gumshoe also requested permission to remain in the investigation team, now being personally involved with the case, which Lang and Alba granted.


 * 12:53 a.m.

The group gathered at the Ambassador's Office, where Lang explained von Karma's motive. Desperate for any evidence that she could get, she had sneaked into this office and encountered Nou. Von Karma was also a perfect vessel for smuggling the weapons. Hearing this, she tried to whip Lang, but he caught the whip with his left hand. Edgeworth assured von Karma that she knew only half of the story, and that Edgeworth would bring the full story to light to get her off the hook. Von Karma warned Edgeworth that showing how Nou had been murdered was not his only problem; relating Nou's murder to the smuggling ring was the only way to prolong the investigation.

Border-Crossing Weapons
Lang testified about the smuggled weapons, but Edgeworth pointed out that both statues had been smuggled. He also pointed out another method of border-crossing had been employed outside of the Theatrum Neutralis: the flying Yatagarasu. He suggested that the flying Yatagarasu was really the fake Primidux Statue draped in some clothing. Edgeworth realized that he would have to question von Karma about her meeting with Alba.

Movements in Allebahst
Von Karma talked about her guard duties prior to the murder; she had been called to Alba's office before the murder. Edgeworth asked her about the meeting. She replied that she had seen only Alba watering his flowers, and not the deceased; Alba could back her up on this. Edgeworth asked whether Alba's body had blocked von Karma's view of the flowers, and she replied that he had turned to greet her, exposing the flowers. After that, they had talked about the flowers; all four of them had been in full bloom. However, only two flowers were now present in Alba's windowsill; Edgeworth asked to examine the flower box to explain this seemingly irrelevant contradiction.

Passion flowers are actually vines; they need supports to grow. The sticks supporting Alba's passion flowers resembled Shih-na's "hair sticks"; they had been the other two vine supports. Edgeworth also noticed that the supports were shaped like arrows, and he concluded that the crossbow on Alba's wall had been used to shoot them.

Border-Crossing, Pt. 2
Lang argued that the arrows couldn't have carried the Primidux Statues. Edgeworth suggested that the arrows hadn't carried the statues themselves. He then pointed to the wire that had been hidden in Coachen's office. Lang agreed that it was plausible for Shih-na's accomplice to shoot the wire down to Coachen's office on the third floor and then carry Allebahst's statue there, but that didn't explain Babahl's statue being moved upward into Alba's office on the fifth floor. Edgeworth replied that the accomplice had tied both ends of the wire to the arrow, forming a circular belt. The two statues wouldn't collide with each other because the fake one was lighter. The accomplice had then shot the entire wire to Babahl with the other arrow for Shih-na to dispose of.

Von Karma took her opportunity to whip Lang and succeeded this time. Lang asked about the wire belt's power source, and Edgeworth looked to the ceiling and found it: the ceiling fans in both offices. Lang realized that Edgeworth had figured out who Shih-na's partner in crime was, but Edgeworth knew that his next accusation would cause an explosive international scandal. Nonetheless, he had to press on. Only one person had the foreknowledge necessary to pull off this heist: Quercus Alba.

Von Karma asked whether Edgeworth had lost his mind, but he was resolute in his conclusion. Lang asked why Alba would even do such a thing as swap the real statue for the fake one. Edgeworth called for an examination of the statue in Alba's office, and Lang told Alba that they would examine the statue whether Alba wanted it or not. Edgeworth found a gap at the base of the statue's neck, which opened the left side of the statue to reveal a plate for making counterfeit bills.

The fake statue was the perfect place to hide a plate for making counterfeit bills because of Alba's near-unique privilege to touch it. After receiving the statue from Shih-na, Ka-Shi Nou had burst in, and Alba had killed him right then and there, and then covered the Samurai Sword in blood to frame Larry Butz. Quercus Alba was the true leader of the smuggling ring.

Alba was surprised that Edgeworth had figured out so much. He insisted that Coachen was the real leader, but Lang wouldn't hear it. Lang had merely pretended to accuse von Karma to get to Alba! Lang knew that if anyone could find the damning evidence and logic, Edgeworth could, so he had brought him along. Still, Alba requested proof that he was the real head of the smuggling ring. He claimed that he had known nothing about the plate.

Edgeworth realized that the trump card and the video tape would bring Alba down for good, but he couldn't bring himself to contradict his role as protector of the law by presenting illegal evidence. He remembered his mentor, Manfred von Karma, saying that victory was the only thing that mattered. He then recalled Tyrell Badd saying that he would have to go outside of the law to take down those who were above the law.

"Miles Edgeworth"

- I no longer follow the path of Manfred von Karma... and I won't follow the path of the Yatagarasu! This leaves me with what? What creed will I believe in? If I want to pursue the truth, then I will sully my hands in illegality... and if I want to pursue justice, then I will lose the truth! What is the "law", and what is "justice"? And which path is a "prosecutor" supposed to follow!? That choice... is one I must make by my own hand here and now!

There is no limit to the law. Any limit that exists was set there by man. When a person goes beyond that limit, then the law, too, crosses into new territory! For what reason were laws invented? The answer to that is what I must now show!

Edgeworth played his trump card. He told Alba that Manny Coachen had been given this card, ordering him to kill Cece Yew. Edgeworth then presented the video tape, showing Manny Coachen entering Yew's apartment with murderous intent.

The trump card

 * 1:34 a.m.

The group gathered at the lobby to play the video. Edgeworth pointed to the directives card in Coachen's right hand. The trump card in Edgeworth's possession still had Yew's blood on it, confirming that the two cards were one and the same. He then pointed to the government car in the video; Gumshoe magnified the video to reveal the lone passenger, Manny Coachen, with the same directives card in his suit pocket. The license plate on the car had also been recorded, so verification of each passenger would be easy.

Quercus Alba then laughed and straightened to his full, imposing height. He said that the Principality of Cohdopia no longer existed, which meant that all records from that time had also been erased. Edgeworth examined the close-up of the car again. Edgeworth noted that Alba had once been a Cohdopian general, and thus he had a unique badge upon his breast. This badge also appeared in the footage!

Alba laughed and declared that he had lost this round. He admitted to the murder of Ka-Shi Nou... out of self-defense. He showed a bandaged wound near his shoulder as proof that Nou had attacked him, and then he showed Nou's weapon, a pair of shears. He then claimed that his secretary had committed the smuggling acts. Edgeworth, von Karma and Lang could do nothing about the case; not only had the crime been committed on Allebahstian soil, but Alba himself had full extraterritorial rights as an ambassador even outside of his country, and so the case would be taken to the Allebahstian courts. All that the United States could do was chase him out to a different embassy. Meanwhile, Alba would have the Allebahstian legal system wrapped around his finger. Alba left the lobby to fetch eviction papers for the investigation team...

Last investigation

 * 2:11 a.m.

The investigation team was in a rut. The leader of the smuggling ring was right in front of them, and they couldn't touch him. Lang left the lobby to fetch something. Faraday, meanwhile, told everyone not to give up. They still had the ability to investigate the embassies further. Gumshoe left to investigate Babahl, while von Karma headed for Allebahst. Edgeworth discarded his passion flower data and began his own investigation.

Edgeworth first noted that Alba had been agitated about something that perhaps he didn't want him to investigate. He also noted that Coachen had used the Babahlese Embassy's coupon printing press to make the counterfeit bills. Edgeworth knew that the only way to bring Alba down was to nullify his extraterritorial rights somehow.

He realized that the renovation of Palaeno's office had been the cause of the disposal of Coachen's smuggling evidence, and he concluded that Alba, the one who was cleaning up all evidence of his involvement in the ring, had the most to gain from the evidence cleanup as well as Coachen's murder. Edgeworth then concluded that Alba didn't want him to find out about how Coachen had really died. Faraday wondered why Alba would want to kill his closest subordinate, and Edgeworth suggested that Coachen had been betraying Alba by trying to make Palaeno the ambassador of the reunited Cohdopia, stripping Alba of his legal power and giving Coachen full control over the smuggling ring.

Edgeworth saw a picture of the two ambassadors with the Steel Samurai, showing off flower bouquets. He noticed a yellow flower on Alba's bouquet, the national symbol of Allebahst. He realized that this was the Allebahstian knife; the flower in the picture was missing a petal just like the one on the knife.

Now, Edgeworth had to figure out the real location of Coachen's murder. The only natural stage for this was somewhere in the Theatrum Neutralis. Since the Theatrum Neutralis was considered American soil, this would remove the location aspect of Alba's extraterritoriality. Edgeworth would have to obtain immigration records from both Allebahst and Babahl to prove this. Fortunately, von Karma had already fetched the security videos from the entrances to both embassies; she would not back down without a fight. The Steel Samurai had entered Allebahst at 5:23 p.m. with the Iron Infant in his pushcart; Edgeworth noticed a strange bump on the Iron Infant's blanket and concluded that it was part of Coachen's corpse. Edgeworth also noted the absence of Coachen throughout Babahl's video, which proved that Coachen had never left the Theatrum Neutralis alive.

Alba returned to the Theatrum Neutralis with his guards, but Edgeworth reminded him that they were technically standing on American soil, so he couldn't be kicked out. Alba applauded Edgeworth's efforts, but he reiterated that it was game over for Edgeworth. Alba claimed to have been "overcome with regret" from Nou's death and was heading home, and Edgeworth could not stop him. However, Palaeno arrived with his guards and convinced Alba to stay for a little while more. Palaeno told Edgeworth that he only wanted Allebahst and Babahl to be on good terms with each other, but one person was standing in the way of that dream. Palaeno had done his part in stalling Alba because he believed in Edgeworth. Alba would nonetheless allow only one question, which was all that Edgeworth needed. Edgeworth asked about Alba's alibi; little did he know of the long and epic battle ahead of him.

Early game
Alba questioned Edgeworth's claim that he and Coachen had been fellow smugglers. Alba had been in Allebahst during Coachen's murder, and Coachen had been found in Babahl; that was his alibi. Alba now told Edgeworth to get out of his way, but Edgeworth wouldn't budge from where he was until Alba answered his question truthfully. He reiterated that his "claim" had already been proven earlier, but Alba claimed that he still had no motive to kill Coachen even if Edgeworth's claim was true. Edgeworth disagreed; there was the note from Coachen telling Nou to steal the real Primidux statue, as well as the opportunity to make Coachen out as the leader of the smuggling ring. Alba insisted that a possible motive did not a murderer make, and then told Edgeworth to move out of the way again. Even Palaeno couldn't convince Alba to stay now, but Faraday brought out Little Thief and her father's organizer, which contained details of Alba's misdeeds. She told Alba that if he left now, she would send this incriminating evidence to Allebahst behind him, but if he stayed and defeated Edgeworth, he could take the evidence from her. She quietly told Edgeworth that there was nothing case-breaking in the evidence - it was a bluff - but the existence of Little Thief alone would compel him to stay. Edgeworth braced himself for Round 2.

Alba testified that the last time in which he had seen Coachen was in the Theatrum Neutralis, after which he had been in Allebahst. He told Edgeworth that he was reaching the end of his patience, and that he would be punished severely for asking inane questions. Nonetheless, Edgeworth had only one thing to say; the photo that Alba had taken with Palaeno and the Steel Samurai revealed the murder weapon, placing Coachen's murder in the theater! Alba abruptly replied that it was game over for him; no matter what Edgeworth did, Alba still had diplomatic immunity, so Edgeworth would be unable to touch him.

Alba then turned to leave, but he found Interpol blocking his passage. Lang dropped the bombshell; he had been negotiating with the imperial household of Allebahst and, while it had taken much convincing, the KG-8 video was what had sealed the deal; Alba had just been removed from his position as ambassador, losing all his extraterritorial rights. Alba temporarily hunched over into his usual facade, but then he regrouped. Alba asked for evidence of Edgeworth's claims. Not only had he left his bouquet at the theater, giving everyone in the theater an opportunity to take it, but Coachen's body had been found in Babahl, in which Alba had not set foot recently. Edgeworth accepted Alba's challenge.

"Miles Edgeworth"

- Ex-Ambassador Alba, are you ready? Because this is no game. This is war!

To begin retracing the path of Coachen's body, Edgeworth drew attention to the Iron Infant's pushcart, which had been caught in Allebahst's security footage. He noted his hypothesis that Coachen's body had been in the pushcart. Alba was not amused at this guess and started to leave, but Gumshoe returned with the pushcart itself, which he had found at the edge of the open-air stage. Edgeworth noted the blood at the bottom of the pushcart, proving his hypothesis. Alba had killed Coachen in the theater and then used the oblivious Steel Samurai to transport the body to Allebahst, where he could look after it until his speech, after which he had smuggled the body to Babahl. Edgeworth asked Alba to testify about his movements after he had gone back to Allebahst.

Midgame
After his return to Allebahst, Alba had taken his photo with the Steel Samurai. The Yatagarasu had appeared just as he was about to make his speech, and he had fled back to his office, worried for the national treasures. Von Karma pointed out that he had left out Nou's murder and his meeting with her, but Alba felt no need to repeat what he considered "trifling matters". Edgeworth replied, "People like you cannot be allowed to wander freely through society." However, as Edgeworth questioned Alba on all of the points in his testimony, even pointing out that Alba had set up the Yatagarasu shadow, he found no flaw in Alba's testimony.

Just then, the Steel Samurai and the Pink Princess entered from the theater doors to provide assistance in vanquishing the "Evil Magistrate". They had found the Iron Infant in a pool in the open-air stage. Edgeworth remembered that the two embassies were symmetrical, so naturally there would be a pool in Babahl; Gumshoe confirmed this by going to the open-air stage to find a pool there. More importantly, the Iron Infant had just revealed another smuggling route; the pools in the rose garden and the open-air stage were connected!

Lang pointed out that the fact that the Iron Infant had made its way into Babahl didn't prove that Coachen's body could. He also asked how Coachen's body had made it to his office. Edgeworth knew the answer to the latter problem already; Shih-na had helped Alba with the smuggling. He also remembered that Shih-na had set a fire in Babahl, and he realized that her first fire had been for the purpose of draining the pool water. Lang noted that the pools were extremely deep, and that there were no footholds or ladders in either pool, but Edgeworth replied that Alba had simply controlled the fountain spouts to allow Shih-na and the body to float back up to the surface after the body had been transported to Babahl. To prove that all this had happened, Edgeworth presented the wet "guitar pick" that Faraday had found; it was actually a part of the murder weapon, from which a petal of the flower had been chipped off after the murder and accidentally transported with the body.

"Miles Edgeworth"

- You should've known from the very beginning... when you took your first life! No matter how you may plot, or how you may try to cover it all up... you can never hide from your crime and what you've done. Because we're here to see to it that justice is served to people like you.

Alba still wouldn't give in, but Edgeworth knew that even Alba would break eventually under the weight of his crimes.

Endgame

 * 3:33 a.m.

Edgeworth asked Alba to testify about his whereabouts before the murder. Alba testified that he had watched the Steel Samurai show from the back row, and he said that he remembered the show's contents well. Edgeworth assured Lang that this was the end for Alba, and Lang replied that he could give trusting Edgeworth a try, addressing him by his name for the first time. As Edgeworth was examining Alba's testimony, Butz remembered how "awesome" the climax was, and Alba agreed that the "Early Summer Rain Jab" had been quite a sight. Edgeworth got his opening; the actual finishing move that the Steel Samurai had used was the "Steel Samurai Sushi Slice", which used the Samurai Sword, because the bent Samurai Spear had prevented its use. However, Alba calmly explained that he had gone to the bathroom during the climax.

Butz then wondered how Alba had even known about the Early Summer Rain Jab. The name had been thought up five minutes before the show, and it had been scrapped because of the fiasco with the Samurai Spear. The name could only have been known by the staff, who had seen the name on the dressing room whiteboard. Alba told Butz to be quiet, but it was too late. The secret was revealed; Alba had seen the name of the move on the whiteboard when he was killing Coachen! Since the pushcart had been in the dressing room, this decisively placed the crime scene in the dressing room. Alba was forced to admit to being in the dressing room, but he claimed that he had gotten lost and had wanted to ask for directions in the dressing room, only to find no one there. Lang's men had already investigated the dressing room and found nothing. There was nothing that Edgeworth could do now.

Oldbag interrupted the interrogation to give Edgeworth a "special" present... a box of Samurai Dogs. Everyone was bewildered by the timing of the present; Oldbag said that she had thought that this particular box was special because it had a hinomaru fan on it. Edgeworth found this odd because there were no "Rising Sun Dogs". He also remembered that the Samurai Dogs had been stored inside the pushcart, and he thought about Coachen's body being placed into the pushcart. Edgeworth realized that Alba would have had to remove the Samurai Dogs from the pushcart to fit Coachen's body in. Edgeworth then realized just how "special" the Samurai Dog was and thanked Oldbag for the present. The hinomaru was a drop of blood! It was fortunate that Oldbag had gotten her hands on this definitive piece of evidence, and Lang sent it to forensics for testing.

An officer returned with the news that the hinomaru was indeed blood. However, Alba calmly retorted that the blood didn't place Alba at the crime scene during the murder. As Alba prepared to leave, there was one final interruption: the officer continued that the blood didn't belong to Coachen. Lang told Alba that he would chase him down eventually despite this setback, but Alba was unfazed. Edgeworth was now backed into a corner.

"Miles Edgeworth"

- In a situation like this... what would that man do...? What would he who can turn any desperate situation around do...? .........Turn it around...? That's it! I must turn my way of thinking around!

Edgeworth realized that the owner of the blood had to have been in the dressing room. As Alba declared that the law was powerless before him, Edgeworth called him "pitiful", for he was trying to escape when he had already been ensnared by the trap that would finally take him down. The fact that the blood didn't belong to Coachen was exactly why it was the most relevant part of the case; if the blood didn't belong to the victim, it must have belonged to the killer, Quercus Alba! Edgeworth pointed to Alba's wound; Coachen had attacked Alba before dying. Edgeworth commended Alba for evading the law for over ten years and not showing an ounce of fear or anxiety doing it. Alba replied that it wasn't possible for Coachen to have brought a weapon to the dressing room, but Edgeworth disagreed; Coachen had attacked with the Yatagarasu's Key! Alba couldn't dispose of the weapon, so he had wiped it and placed it back into Coachen's pocket. The police would find the key and unlock Coachen's safe, making it look like he had died as the leader of the smuggling ring at the hands of the Yatagarasu.

Alba called everyone swine, especially Manny Coachen, who had betrayed him. He had sent the Yatagarasu card himself to set all of these events into motion and pin the role of leader of the smuggling on Coachen. Coachen's death was supposed to have brought everything to a close. Edgeworth asked Alba which country's court he'd like to face first: an American court would judge him for Coachen's murder, and Allebahst would judge him for Nou's murder. Either way, it was game over for Alba. As Alba began to scream Edgeworth's name, he dissolved and withered into a state more feeble and pathetic than that of his original posture.

Mar. 17
It was 11:21 a.m. in the District Court, defendant lobby no. 2. Quercus Alba was about to stand trial for the murder of Manny Coachen, with Miles Edgeworth as the prosecutor. The following week would see Alba in another courtroom in the newly reunited Cohdopia, with Franziska von Karma leading the prosecution there. Dick Gumshoe shuddered at the thought of facing both Edgeworth and von Karma in court; he had seen Alba earlier, and he had looked very glum indeed. Edgeworth and Gumshoe talked about Alba's subordinates; Cammy Meele had used her position to help with the smuggling, and Jacques Portsman had used his job to rig trials concerning fellow ring members. Many more ring members were out there, all around the world. Ernest Amano was also to stand on trial later in the day for his role in assisting the smuggling ring. Edgeworth said that, while he owed a debt of gratitude to Amano, he'd still have to pay his debt to society for his crimes. This trial would also bring the KG-8 Incident to a close, with Edgeworth revealing to the court the true nature of the murders of Cece Yew and Deid Mann and their brave efforts to take down the smuggling ring.

Cohdopian Ambassador Colias Palaeno had given Edgeworth some food coupons, but Edgeworth gave them to Gumshoe, having no need for them himself. Ever since Allebahst and Babahl had reunited, their economy had changed for the better. Gumshoe initially refused the coupons, but Kay Faraday sneaked up behind Edgeworth and said in Edgeworth's voice that he'd give them to her instead. Shi-Long Lang entered the lobby as well, saying that he hadn't set foot in a courtroom in a long time, but he wasn't about to miss the man who had thrown Zheng Fa into chaos get what was coming to him. He had also wanted to see Edgeworth in action. He thanked Edgeworth for this day, and Edgeworth returned the thanks for stripping Alba of his ambassadorship, for which none of this would otherwise have been possible. Lang said that he still wasn't willing to forgive prosecutors, and that he still had no interest in Edgeworth's so-called "truth"; he would conduct his business in his own way and catch his criminals no matter what. Edgeworth agreed that that was how Lang should do his job.

The trial was about to start. Gumshoe had brought ticker tape to throw after the verdict reading, and Faraday, Lang and his men would be helping with the celebrations.

"Miles Edgeworth"

- (Although I've only been away from the courtroom for a short time... ...I feel as though... it's been a lifetime since I've set foot in one. And today, more than any other day, I feel the fight within me rising...)



Where are they now?

 * Rhoda Teneiro put her suitcases on sale over the internet, where they became a sensation for being truly "post-modern". Teneiro was subsequently selected to design the next line of iFly Airlines jets.


 * Zinc Lablanc received the Primidux Statue from Palaeno, though he noted that it felt a little light...


 * Interpol offered Franziska von Karma to work with them on another case, but she declined in favor of the Cohdopian courts.


 * Mike Meekins was fired from the police force after losing his badge. He thought of filing a complaint with "Ruffles Man".


 * Ema Skye had hoped to speak with Edgeworth a little more, but she had to return to Europe. She hoped to come back one day as a real forensic scientist to help him.


 * Lauren Paups got off easy for her role in the kidnapping because it had been faked, though she was placed under house arrest. She fawned over her guard with his cold stare...


 * The judge heard some rumors about Edgeworth's recent escapades and wondered whether he should team up with a baliff and become a lawyer.


 * Maggey Byrde was fired from her security job because she had lost her key, but she didn't lose hope. She commented that changing jobs was becoming fun.


 * Colias Palaeno was hard at work promoting the Cohdopian Embassy. The theater had recently presented the "Let's Investigate a Murder!" show, but the show had ended up starting some real fires, but Palaeno had high hopes for his next attraction, "Catch the Yatagarasu!" He intended to enlist Kay Faraday's help for this.


 * Mindy ditched Larry Butz and traveled to Japan, but Butz quickly moved on to another girl, Miharu. They were planning to set up a business in Paris selling "Blue Ocean Dogs". Speaking of which, Butz wondered what had happened to the "guy in the blue suit"...


 * Tyrell Badd testified in Alba's American trial as part of the Yatagarasu. Lang later told Badd that elements of the smuggling ring were moving again. Badd guessed that they were fighting to succeed Alba as the leader. Badd wished that he'd never heard of the ring, but Lang was ready to bring the entire ring to justice. Badd wondered when he had gotten so old.


 * Wendy Oldbag got a letter from "Edgey-poo" saying, "Please take care of your hip, and when you wish to speak, first take off your headpiece."

Aftermath
It was 4:33 p.m. and Edgeworth was in his office with Gumshoe and Faraday, talking about Alba's trial. Based on the information that Alba had given up, large-scale operations had started to clean up the rest of his ring, which Edgeworth was glad to leave to von Karma and Lang. Faraday wondered what she would do now; she didn't want to steal Gumshoe's job as Edgeworth's assistant. Edgeworth asked whether she would continue to be a Great Thief, but Faraday replied that she would have to gather a three-person group of her own before attempting to live up to the original Yatagarasu's legacy. She would work hard to continue her father's work toward a world that didn't need the Yatagarasu. Edgeworth agreed to work toward such a future as well. Faraday said her farewells to Gumshoe and Edgeworth, but before she left, she took a picture of them to commemorate this moment.



"Miles Edgeworth"

- And thus, the long tale of the KG-8 Incident came to a close. It saw the demise of a smuggling ring and the birth of a little Great Thief. But there is little time to rest and relax... for I am eager to tackle the investigation into a new case. The reason for my eagerness is my want to pursue the truth, and my want to believe in the strength of those who use the power of the law for good. As someone who has chosen to live my life as a prosecutor... that is my new creed.

Japanese title note
The episode's romanized title is Moeagaru Gyakuten (燃え上がる逆転). The "Moeagaru" ("燃え上がる") in the name means "burning up", as opposed to simply "Moeru" ("燃える"), which means "burning". This would mean that the literal translation would be "Burning Up Turnabout". This led some to refer to the episode as "Turnabout Up in Flames" or simply "The Burning Turnabout".

References to other cases

 * When shown the photograph of the "Yatagarasu" seemingly flying, both Edgeworth and von Karma recall previous cases with apparent human flight, with Edgeworth being involved in one and von Karma being involved in two. These cases are: the murder of Russell Berry (which Franziska von Karma prosecuted) and the murder of Elise Deauxnim (which Edgeworth defended and von Karma once again prosecuted).


 * While discussing the Steel Samurai franchise with von Karma, Edgeworth mentions a case involving the Nickel Samurai during the course of which, von Karma was shot by an assassin. The memory of this apparently still haunts von Karma.


 * The murder of Mask☆DeMasque II makes Edgeworth remember that he had read about Phoenix Wright's defense of the original Mask☆DeMasque. He admitted that he didn't know any details of that particular case, but assumed that since Wright was involved that it would have been a rather hectic and odd one.


 * The ladder vs. stepladder gag occurs between Edgeworth and Kay when Edgeworth examines the ladder at the open-air stage.


 * Lotta Hart (who made her last appearance in Farewell, My Turnabout) makes an appearance near the beginning of the case and even later provides a piece of evidence. However, her identity is never directly stated, with her only being referred to as "Cameraman" and Edgeworth having the feeling that he should avoid talking to her.


 * During one of Oldbag's rants, she mentions "that tabloid went missing" and "that camera went missing", referencing events in Farewell, My Turnabout". She goes on to say that "that lawyer always blames me", referring to her previous encounters with Wright in Turnabout Samurai and Farewell, My Turnabout''.

Reference to popular culture

 * Tyrell Badd's statement that "The times, they are a-changing" is likely a reference to the similarly-titled Bob Dylan song.


 * Lang's line about Alba's diplomatic immunity being revoked is similar to an exchange at the end of the action comedy film Lethal Weapon 2 between protagonist Roger Murtaugh and antagonist Arjen Rudd.


 * Edgeworth at one point objects with: "The special move today was the 'Early Summer Rain Jab'? Is that your final answer?" This is a reference to a catchphrase on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, where the host usually confirms the contestant's answer to a question by asking, "Is that your final answer?"


 * When Alba is "defeated", he says, "And I would've gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling prosecutors!" This is a paraphrase of the "I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those meddling kids!" catchphrase commonly spoken by the culprit at the resolution of most episodes of the American cartoon series Scooby-Doo.


 * On examining the damaged ceiling fan in the secretariat's office, Kay Faraday suggests its similarity to a mobile for a baby's cot, enthusiastically remarking, "No way! You spin those babies right round, like a record!" This is likely a reference to the song Right Round by Flo Rida, a popular song during the game's time of translation and release for US audiences.