Turnabout Big Top

"Phoenix Wright"

- (Fabulous... This mystery just keeps getting deeper...)

Episode 3: Turnabout Big Top is the third episode in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All. Much like Turnabout Samurai in the previous game, this is a "filler" episode, having little to do with the main plot of the other episodes. This episode explains Miles Edgeworth's "death" and features his return to America.

Prologue
All that can be seen is darkness. Suddenly, a drum roll starts and an announcer begins to speak:

Lights come on to reveal a giant lion's head bathed in red light. The light turns from red to blue and jets of smoke blast up at the front of the mouth. The smoke disappears to reveal a man wearing a purple top hat and cape. The voice-over continues:



Galactica then proceeds to fly up and out of the lion's mouth into the air. He soars across the circus arena and audience below before twirling on the spot, wrapping himself in his cape, then disappearing, leaving only his hat and cape which drop to the ground below to rapturous applause from the awed audience.

Dec. 26
At the Berry Big Circus Entrance, Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey and Pearl Fey talked about the show they had just seen. Pearl was awestruck, talking about the various things she saw: a dancing bear, a tiger that jumped through a ring of fire, an elephant who rode a giant ball, and Galactica's flight through the air. Maya then took Pearl home on the last train with Wright promising to clean his office for New Year. Pearl wished him a happy New Year (hoping that Maya would spend it with her "special someone") and left.

Dec. 28
Two days later, Wright was in his office worrying about whether he would be able to clean his office in one day. Suddenly, his phone began to ring. Wright answered it to find it was a distraught Maya. She urged him to turn on the TV. He promptly did so and witnessed a news report on a murder at the Berry Big Circus. Maya then informed him that Galactica was the one the police had arrested as the prime suspect and ordered Wright to meet her at the Detention Center in two hours.

Wright arrived to find an agitated Maya demanding to know why Galactica had been arrested, saying that he would never kill anyone. She was interrupted by a voice telling her that what she had said was "fabulous" and that she was a clever girl. Much to the delight of Maya, Max Galactica appeared. After a pick-a-card magic trick with a star-struck Maya (and a less enthused version with Wright) he told Maya to dump "porcupine head" and shower him with her attention. The conversation revealed that he had joined the circus to revitalise it, as it was a "dinosaur" in his eyes and his act had made all the other circus performances obsolete.

Eventually, Wright managed to steer the conversation onto the murder. Galactica told them that the previous night Russell Berry, the circus ringmaster, had been been found slumped over after being smashed over the head with something. He had been brought in for questioning by the police who proceeded to thoroughly question him, since Galactica had been the last person to see the ringmaster before his murder. When Maya asked why he had been arrested, Galactica reacted with surprise, telling her that she was making "an ant hill into a moutain, sweetie". He thought he was just there to consult the police on matters. Wright and Maya realised that the circus magician didn't understand the seriousness of the situation. They questioned him on his meeting with the ringmaster. Galactica told them it was about his salary, namely about a raise since he was the one bringing the customers in. When he told Wright that was the only thing they talked about, three Psyche-Locks appeared.

Galactica then asked why Maya looked at him in such a sad way. She replied this was due to his arrest, which Galactica didn't believe since they "wouldn't arrest someone like [him]" since he was the "fabulous" Maximillion Galactica. Eventually he realised the seriousness of the situation and reverted to his true self; that of "country bumpkin" Billy Bob Johns (much to Maya's dismay) and begged Wright to help him. After composing himself, he apologised for not being his "usual fabulous self just now". Wright eventually agreed to become his defense attorney and he and Maya left to begin their investigation.

The duo began at the circus entrance noting that, since the crime was fairly recent, the police were still present at the scene. Not finding any useful clues or information, they moved onto the lodging house plaza, where the circus performers lived, to find Detective Dick Gumshoe working hard at his investigation. Unusually for Gumshoe, he sounded restrained and slightly fed up with his job. Wright and Maya joked that it was a rarity to hear Gumshoe complaining. The detective mentioned that the prosecutor for the case was Franziska von Karma, which Wright was none too thrilled to hear about, and that he would definitely be losing this time. Maya took the opportunity to ask about Miles Edgeworth, but Wright angrily demanded that she not talk about the man, stating simply that he was gone.

As the three talked, Gumshoe began to return to his usual self, talking about how the lack of any footprints from the killer made no sense. When asked about Galactica, he showed them Galactica's silk hat (which along with his cloak and white roses is one of his trademarks), recovered from the scene of the crime, citing that as proof of Galactica's guilt. He also mentioned the magician's unpopularity with the rest of the circus performers and that there was a eyewitness. When asked about said eyewitness he told them that they were not to talk to him. Gumshoe then a mistake typical of the blundering detective; he told then that he was suddenly remembered to tell them to stay away from the lodging house. When asked why he hastily said it was "for no reason". Wright and Maya guessed that the witness was inside and so went in, leaving an angry and embarrassed Gumshoe behind.

They entered a room on the first floor of the lodging house. However, when they arrived they found that nobody was in and so they left for the moment and went on to investigate the Big Top. While Maya was teasing that Wright should try some somersaults, the pair were interrupted by growling. This growling quickly turned into a roar, and the source was revealed to be a tiger which prompting leapt onto Wright. Suddenly, a voice commanded the tiger to heel and stay, and the big cat moved away from Wright and Maya. The voice was revealed to be that of a blonde-haired and blue-eyed teenager who told them that the "cute tiger"'s name was Regent and that he apparently hardly ever bites people. She then said that Wright was lucky to get to play with a wild tiger and looked at him in a cutesy, innocent way, such that Wright was forced to half-heartedly agree with her, to Maya's surprise.

The girl then became excited at Maya's "cute" spirit medium outfit, wanting to try it on. Although Maya was as uncertain as Wright was before, once again the newcomer gave the look she had earlier given Wright, and Maya also halfheartedly agreed. The bubbly girl finally introduced herself as Regina Berry, the circus's animal tamer. The animal tamer confirmed that she knew about her father's death, but to Wright's and Maya's confusion she seemed unperturbed by this. Eventually, she was able to point them in the direction of the Ringmaster's room, where Russell and Galactica had their meeting. Before they left, however, Regina revealed that both Max Galactica and "a tenor who sings in the circus" named "Trilo" had professed their love to her on the same day. Not entirely surprised with Regina's popularity amongst her fellow performers, Wright and Maya left to investigate the Ringmaster's room.

Upon arriving at the office, Maya became excited at the sight of the many posters covering the walls of the room asking Wright if she could take one, which he flatly refused. However, while innocently pointing out that there were so many posters that one wouldn't be missed, she triumphantly revealed that she had already swiped one, much to Wright's frustration. They also found a paper detailing Galactica's salary negotiation, the amount shocking both Maya and Wright. Wright then noticed that it was dated the previous week, meaning that Galactica was lying about the reason for his meeting with the ringmaster.

The duo returned to the circus entrance to find someone loitering nearby. It was a man wearing an oversized bow tie and looking quite nervous. He didn't answer their greetings at first, but then suddenly noticed that they were there. When asked if he worked at the circus, he denied it, stating that he was just an "everyday average Joe", which both Maya and Wright found difficult to believe since he was hanging around the circus dressed "like that". The pair introduced themselves and eventually managed to learn that this shy man was the circus's ventriloquist, Benjamin Woodman. Although they tried to talk to the man, the only interesting thing Woodman said was that he thought that Galactica wasn't "V-Very... N-N-Nice" and then complained that his head hurt. Wright thought that sounded almost like he had "popped a gasket". Finding Woodman's stammering quite tiring and even, at one point, contagious, Wright moved on.

Returning to the first floor of the lodging house, the pair were greeting by a excited and laughing figure that turned out to be Moe, the circus's clown. Talking to the clown proved to be as difficult for Wright as talking to Woodman, since Moe kept telling awful jokes and terrible puns. Maya, on the other hand, quite enjoyed Moe's comedic style. Upon talking about the late ringmaster however, the clown became serious and even angry at the tragic death of the ringmaster. Moe told the pair that he had been with the circus since it started 20 years ago and that the ringmaster was a good and decent man who would happily pay his employees out of his own pocket if times were tough. Wright then steered the conversation onto the murder and was told that Moe had "caught a peek" at the murder. This meant that Moe was the eyewitness to the crime that Gumshoe had mentioned earlier.

Moe also revealed his dislike of Galactica and also hinted that these feelings were shared by the other performers. He finally agreed to tell them what he had witnessed, but only if Wright would tell a joke. Although his attempt did not impress either Moe or Maya ("Do you know why I, Phoenix Wright, am a great lawyer? Because I'm Wright all the time!!"), Moe relented since he had at least tried. Moe told them that he was going to bed that night when he heard an incredibly loud "THUMP" noise from outside. Upon hearing it, he had jumped out of bed to see a shadowy figure towering over Russell Berry's corpse that, in Moe's mind, could only be "that magician". After asking further about Galactica, he pointed them in the direction of the circus cafeteria, where apparently the magician had hit Woodman over the head the morning of the day Russell was murdered. He also gave the pair a map of the circus (after jokingly first giving them an atlas) and told them that Woodman would be more talkative if he had his puppet Trilo.

Wright and Maya were shocked at the mess that the cafeteria was in, guessing that they had not had the chance to tidy due to the murder. An inspection of the room revealed a broken bottle on the floor which Wright took. He then decided that it was time to pay Maximillion Galactica another visit. Galactica was pleased to see them, and even more pleased to hear that they had gathered a number of clues. He didn't seem surprised about his unpopularity amongst the other performers, stating that the "dinosaurs" were just jealous of him and that only Regina understood. The magician went on to tell them that he planned to marry her and that it was all in the works, although Wright thought that it seemed strange that Regina hadn't mentioned this impending marriage, only that Galactica had professed his love for her. Galactica also told them a little about his meeting with Russell, although the Psyche-Lock showed that he was still lying about the purpose of the meeting. Galactica had met with the ringmaster at 10 p.m. on the night of the murder. After practice was finished he had headed straight to his room, although the ringmaster had stepped out to attend to something but never returned.

Wright finally decided to get to the bottom of this meeting and attempt to break the Psyche-Locks. He firstly confronted Galactica with the papers proving that his salary had already been negotiated a week before, breaking one of the locks. Galactica admitted that wasn't what the meeting was about, saying that the ringmaster had called him to his office, but refused to say what for. Wright then presented the broken bottle he had found in the cafeteria which broke another lock, although Galactica stated that it had just fallen on the floor. Wright finished by saying that Galactica had used the bottle on Woodman, breaking the final lock.

Galactica finally admitted that he had been called to the ringmaster's office because of an incident that had happened at breakfast. He and Woodman were arguing about Regina since the ventriloquist had also professed his love for her. Galactica eventually had got so mad at this "ill-bred creep" that he had "to tap him on his hard head" with the bottle. The ringmaster had then called the magician to his office to discuss the matter and Galactica seized the opportunity to let discuss his plans to let him marry his "sweetie pie". Apparently, told him that it "sounds good to me" which is why Galactica believes Regina to be his "sweetie pie" and no one else's. Since Woodman was causing him so much trouble, he took Woodman's puppet "Trilo Quist" and hid him in the ringmaster's room since if "that puppet started flapping off at the balsa, [he]'d be screwed". He was happy to hear Woodman was suffering without his puppet, but decided that he had learned his lesson and asked Wright and Maya to return him to the ventriloquist.

Wright and Maya returned to the circus entrance to find that Woodman had moved somewhere else and moving through the big top showed no sign of Regina either. They then arrived at the ringmaster's room to search for Trilo, finding him shoved underneath the bookshelf. Returning to the cafeteria they found Woodman, as nervous as ever. Woodman was overjoyed to have Trilo returned to him and Wright and Maya made to move on to continue with their investigation when a voice barked at them to wait. The voice turned out to belong to "Trilo Quist", Woodman's puppet that he had given a rather abrasive personality. When Wright tried asking about the murder again, "Trilo" butted in angrily demanding that the lawyer talk to him, not Woodman. The puppet explained his plans to marry Regina and unveiling part of a song he had written for her (the rest of it being private). He then revealed that he had knew something about the murder and left for court to put himself forward as a witness.

As Wright and Maya entered the big top, they heard a screeching noise whereupon Wright was once again assaulted by an animal inhabitant of the circus. This time it was a monkey, who proceeded to steal his attorney's badge, much to Wright's dismay. Regina then appeared, laughing at the dumbfounded look on his face. Wright was far less happy, but Regina promised to help him get it back, first telling him the monkey's name was Money and then telling him that Moe would probably know where Money had gone. When the conversation changed to Woodman, Regina had to take a moment to think about who Wright was talking about and then remembered Woodman as "the guy that is always hanging around with Trilo", completely oblivious to the fact that Trilo was just a puppet. Strangly, it turned out that Regina knew nothing about any marriage proposals, despite what both Galactica and "Trilo" had said.

On their way to see Moe, Maya noticed that Gumshoe was no longer hanging around the plaza. Wright thought the detective had probably got lonely and headed back to the precinct. They returned to Moe's room to find the clown snickering having modified Wright's earlier joke and unleashed a couple of puns involving Wright's name. Moe told Wright about Regina living in a dream world having been raised in the circus. This meant that the extraordinary, such as dancing animals and flying men, were everyday things to her and that she had little knowledge of life outside the circus, with Maya drawing parallels to Pearl. On the topic of Money the monkey (after joking that he didn't want to get involved in any monkey business), Moe told the investigative pair that Money wasn't considered part of Regina's family and had a separate owner. Moe then took them to the owner's room on the third floor of the lodging house.

Moe explained (after an unfit Wright had caught his breath after only two flights of stairs) that the room belonged to the acrobat Acro, although he didn't seem to be in at that moment. Wright and Maya then set about searching through Money's horde of shiny objects to find a fork, a mirror, a cheap-looking wristwatch, a heavy trophy and, finally, Wright's badge, which the lawyer was pleased to have returned. Wright also found a ring with "From T to R" engraved on it.

Wright then decided that it was time to wrap up their investigation for the day. He knew Moe would be testifying in court tomorrow, possibly "Trilo" as well. Maya told him not to worry since they had a magician on their side. Wright felt that they "might need some magic tomorrow".

Dec. 29
The next day, in Defendant Lobby No. 5, Wright and Maya found Galactica looking nervous and muttering about milk. Apparently, whenever he appears on stage he needs to have a glass of milk otherwise he "can't function". Galactica then asked his "sweeties" whether he should fly into the courtroom, in order to make a good first impression and warm up the crowd a little. Wright and Maya agreed that probably wouldn't be a good idea. The magician then suggested that maybe Wright should fly instead. Maya thought that wouldn't be a good idea either, although part of Wright rather liked the sound of it.

In Courtroom No. 2, the trial of Max Galactica began. Just as the judge began, he was whipped by Franziska von Karma, who demanded that the judge got "on with it". The judge explained that he was surprised by Galactica's real name, mentioning that his grandchild was a fan of the magician. He decided that it would be better to refer to the defendant as "Maximillion Galactica" rather than "Billy Bob Johns" as it sounded more "friendly". Wright wondered to himself if that was something to their advantage.

Von Karma taunted Wright, stating that the last case was a sham and that she refused to acknowledge its legitimacy and thus, it did not count. She went on to say that Wright had no chance of winning this time and that they should get with it, yelling at Detective Gumshoe to get up on the stand. Gumshoe provided the initial testimony by providing the basic information of the case. He told the court that on the night of the crime, snow had been falling until 9:40 p.m. making it extremely cold outside. All of the circus performers had gathered in the Big Top to practice their routines, breaking up at around 10 p.m. The murder had taken place in the plaza in front of the lodging house at 10:15 p.m. The victim was found bent over a wooden box, having been killing from blunt force trauma that snapped a vertebrate in his neck. The detective then submitted Russell Berry's autopsy report to the court. Wright was then invited to begin his cross-examination. When asked about the wooden box the victim was found with, it was revealed to be both heavy, locked and containing only a single object; a small condiment bottle filled with pepper.

Von Karma then called Woodman as her next witness, who promptly appeared along with Trilo on the stand. When asked to state his name and occupation, it was "Trilo" who answered, much to the judge's confusion. Woodman told him that Trilo would handle the testimony, although the judge was still confused. Von Karma whipped the judge, told him not to bother trying to figure out the witness and that they should just proceed. "Trilo" testified that, after practice, he and Woodman had left with Moe but "ditched" him at the circus entrance. While at the entrance, he saw Galactica pass by him heading towards the plaza. Since "magic boy" was the only one he saw heading towards the plaza, that meant that only Galactica could be the killer. "Trilo" was sure it was the magician due to his hat, cape and white roses. The judge pointed out that since Moe was not with Woodman during that time, wasn't it possible for the clown to be the murderer? While Wright pondered this, von Karma jumped in. She stated that, while it was a nice theory, she had absolute proof that Galactica was the culprit and presented the silk hat found at the crime scene.

Wright began his cross-examination by pointing out that it was strange that "Trilo" had only seen Galactica that night heading towards the plaza. Surely at least one other person should have been seen, namely, Russell Berry? Von Karma rebutted this by stating that clearly the victim had arrived before the killer and scoffed at Wright pointing out that the ringmaster and the magician had been in a meeting. Why should the court take the word of the defendant? Wright then pressed "Trilo" on why he was waiting out in the cold for half an hour. It became obvious that he was waiting for someone and the only person that could be was Regina Berry. While "Trilo" tried to hand-wave this pointing out that only what he saw was important, Wright felt that if "Trilo" was waiting for Regina, he wouldn't pay anyone else who walked by a second thought. The "puppet" gave up and said Wright was absolutely correct about his reasons for being at the entrance that night. He had planned to give something to her that night while proposing, but since Regina didn't appear he still had it in his pocket.

The object in question was revealed to be an engagement ring and "Trilo" was shocked when Wright revealed that he had the ring, having found it in Money's treasure pile. After straightening out the judge, who thought people were slandering currency, Woodman told the court that the ring was stolen after Galactica showed up in the plaza. The monkey had stolen the ring and Woodman gave chase, but was unable to keep up with the nimble primate.

Wright immediately pointed out that this contradicted the witness's earlier testimony; if Woodman was busy chasing Money, then no-one was watching the entrance to the plaza and someone other than the defendant could easily have entered. He also pointed out that Woodman was an unreliable witness anyway, due to his animosity towards Galactica. "Trilo" protested that he wasn't lying and the judge allowed him to testify once more about what he had seen that night.

"Trilo" stated once again that he had seen Galactica pass by him that night, about five minutes after he started waiting for Regina. Although he had wished the man "good evening", his presence was not even acknowledged. "Trilo" was positive that it was Galactica since he was wearing his "three ridiculous symbols".

Wright once again pointed out a flaw in the ventriloquist's testimony, as since Galactica and Woodman's rivalry was so great that it had lead to their fight in the cafeteria, it seemed unlikely that he would have acted so cordially towards Galactica with a "good evening". The judge then asked Wright who Woodman had actually seen that night. Due to "Trilo"'s ill temper, there was only one person he could have seen that he would have greeted; Russell Berry. "Trilo" stammered that he had thought the figure was the ringmaster at first, but then assumed it was Galactica since he had the magician's three symbols. Von Karma agreed that the figure must have been the defendant, but Wright disagreed. Anyone could wear the hat, cloak and roses, even Russell Berry. The judge decided that this made sense and made to end the trial for the day, but von Karma was not finished. She stated that the only thing Wright had proven was that only one person was seen entering the plaza and that her next witness would prove that this person was Max Galactica. The judge called for a ten minute recess to allow the prosecution to prepare their next witness.

Wright, Galactica and Maya used the recess to talk about what they knew. Galactica suddenly remembered that he had gone to the ringmaster's room still dressed in his stage clothes. Wright deduced that it was possible that Russell could have helped himself to them on his way out of their meeting. The magician wondered why the ringmaster would disguise himself as Max Galactica. He also pointed out that only his silk hat was found at the crime scene with no sign of the cloak. Their pondering was interrupted by court reconvening.

Back in courtroom no. 2, von Karma called her next witness and Moe took the stand. Although von Karma demanded that the "pitiable" clown state his name and profession, it took some whip-based "encouragement" before Moe would talk. He apologized, saying that he had never been in a courtroom before and wasn't sure what joke would be best suited for the occasion. Although he was told off by the judge for treating the court like a "comedy club", Moe told a couple of jokes anyway but he was the only one who laughed at them. After being whipped once again, he calmed down and began his testimony.

Unfortunately, this testimony turned out to be just Moe explaining his lack of skill as a comedian, such that he had not made anyone laugh in ten years and that all his jokes ever got was vacant stares and polite applause. Von Karma pointed out that all they wanted was the facts of the case but, if Moe wanted, she could get one of her staff to hear his tale of woe later. Wright had a feeling that this someone would be Gumshoe. Moe, being greatly cheered up, proceeded once again with his testimony.

Moe testified about what he had seen the night of the murder. After practice, Moe had returned to his room directly since he was exhausted. He had thought of going straight to sleep, but before he did he glanced out of the window to see two figures, only silhouettes due to the distance. He was sure they were the ringmaster and Galactica, who was wearing his cloak. As he watched, he saw Galactica suddenly strike Russell over the head. The judge then warned Wright not to push this "off-kilter" witness too far, otherwise it might bring disaster on the court. Von Karma added that she would hold Wright responsible if the clown strayed from the facts, although Wright felt this was slightly unfair.

During his cross-examination, Wright realized that there was a subtle difference between Moe's current testimony and what he had said yesterday. The difference was that yesterday he had said that he had heard a noise that made him look out of the window. Moe admitted that he forgot about that and, after an enraged von Karma had whipped him, revised his testimony to include the "thump" he had heard. Wright questioned whether Moe had seen the actual murder itself at all when the clown admitted to not seeing the murder weapon. Von Karma demanded that the defense back up this claim, or face a "nice penalty". Wright retorted that the witness's very own testimony backed him up. Moe had testified to hearing the "thump" of someone getting hit, which lead to him looking out of his window and seeing Galactica hitting the ringmaster over the head. This was a blatant contradiction.

Moe stalled for time by reciting the C-Team theme, to allow him to jog his memory. He then stated that events had pretty much happened as he had said, although the ringmaster was already face down in the snow when the clown had looked out of his window. Apparently the prosecution had helped him "fill in the gaps" in his testimony. The judge pointed out that although the witness had not seen the actual murder, he did see the criminal. The clown was then allowed to testify about this, but was threatened with a night in a holding cell if he started telling jokes again.

Moe began his testimony about the silhouette he had seen. Although the figure was around 30 feet away, had snow reducing visibility and he had his face silhouetted, in Moe's mind it could only be Galactica. Moe's reasoning was because the figure was wearing all of the magician's "uppity symbols", namely his silk hat and black cloak. The cloak itself was fluttering in the breeze, which made it impossible to see what he was carrying. Wright pointed out a flaw in Moe's testimony. If what he said was true, the clown had not seen all of the "uppity symbols", as he had not mentioned the white roses. Moe admitted to not seeing them on the person. Von Karma tried explain this by saying that the crime scene was dark, but Wright pointed out that the witness had said he was able to see the silhouette of the criminal's face and that the white roses should have stood out. Von Karma retorted that they must have fallen off when the defendant struck the victim to which Wright responded that the police would have found them at the crime scene if that were the case. The judge interrupted their verbal sparring to ask if this was important to the case. Von Karma felt it clearly wasn't. Wright felt otherwise. He cast the court's memory back to "Trilo"'s testimony, during which it was clearly stated that Woodman had seen all three of Galactica's "uppity symbols" on the figure that had walked past him. A blatant contradiction.

The judge mulled the evidence over in his mind. He was 99 percent certain that the witness had seen the defendant, but to satisfy the remaining one percent he felt more testimony was needed. If there were no more contradictions in Moe's next statement then he would issue a ruling.

Moe testified to not seeing the roses, but definitely seeing the hat and cloak. In particular, he remembered seeing the figure wearing the hat the entire time he was at the crime scene. The judge warned Wright that he was going to give the defense only one chance to find a contradiction. Wright agreed and presented the silk hat to Moe, asking him if that was the hat he meant. Moe stated it was. Wright asked him if he was sure. The clown couldn't see how anyone could mistake that hat for anything else. Wright then asked von Karma where the hat was found. She mocked him for asking ridiculous questions and told him it was found at the crime scene, only to realize what Wright was getting at. Wright stated that the hat was found at the crime but that the witness clearly testified otherwise. The judge demanded that the clown stop making a mockery of the court with his poor eyesight and memory. Moe angrily yelled at the judge for this insult, but was told to cease his childish outbursts. The clown continued insisting that Galactica had left the crime scene wearing his silk hat. It then dawned on Wright; how had the killer left the scene of the crime?

Upon asking this question, the clown attempted not to answer but was forced to by the judge. Moe first tried to say that the killer had simply walked away, but Wright presented a photograph of the crime scene that showed only the victim's footprints in the snow. Moe finally declared that he would tell the truth this time, although von Karma attempted to stop him. He stated that his testimony wasn't false until that moment, he was just told not to tell the court about how the criminal had left the crime scene by von Karma and her whip. The judge rounded on the prosecutor, but she was unrepentant. She told the court the reason she had withheld this information, would be clear once the court heard it. Moe once again said that everything he had said was true, even if what he was about to say was difficult to believe. The suspect had left the crime scene by flight! The revelation was met with silence from the court. Moe repeated that it was all true. The judge felt that more investigation was needed and decided to suspend proceedings for the day, demanding that the mystery of how no footprints were left behind be solved.

Back in defendant lobby no. 5, Galactica wondered what in the world was going on. Maya asked him if he had flown that night, to which the magician revealed that it was all done on invisible wires that hoisted him through the air, only to realize that he had just broken the magician's code. Wright apologized to the distraught magician, but promised to catcht the real flying criminal.

Later that afternoon, Wright and Maya discussed the case in Wright's office. Maya admitted to having no idea how magic tricks work, even being fooled by Pearl showing her a trick whereby her thumb appeared to detach. After amazing Maya by performing the same trick, Wright left for detention center, with his naïve assistant in tow.

Galactica greeted his visitors cheerfully, but begged them to hurry up and get him out. He explained that the reason for his hurry was that some people from a local television station had just visited him. They said that, since he was a famous magician, he should make his very own live TV special entitled "Maximillion Galactica: The Great Prison Escape". Galactica had a problem however; if he did the special before he was acquitted, then that would probably have a negative effect on the possibility of being released for real. Unfortunately, the production staff were apparently already working on the show, and if Wright didn't get the magician out quickly, then he'd have no choice but to stage a real prison break. Wright pointed out that he seemed awfully calm about that possibility. Galactica replied that he'd have no choice since it would be a contractual obligation and that's how show business works.

Wright asked Galactica about the night of the murder, sheepishly enquiring whether he had flown into the sky that night. The magician repeated that at the time of the murder, he was sitting in the ringmaster's room. He added that it was not as if he had the ability to fly at will. Maya then asked Galactica for a favor, specifically to be friends with the other performers in the circus. The magician thought that she was joking, why would he be friends with a "bunch of hacks" like them? He had won the Magician's Grand Prix and felt that performers should perform on the world stage. Galactica felt that the other performers were "completely and utterly devoid of ambition", something that he could not tolerate. Maya felt that there was some truth to his words.

Galactica then decided that his "sweeties" wanted to hear all about the Grand Prix. Although he made a show of being tired of telling it so many times, it was obvious that he was perfectly happy to retell it. He showed them a photograph of his victory that he just so happened to have, and told them all about his flight over the audience and the rapturous applause he had received. In that moment, he felt he could die a happy man. It was obviously an important night for him. Once the magician had calmed down, he told Wright and Maya that he thought that everyone who is a performer should get to experience that feeling and he wished he could explain that to the others at the circus. He then gave them a picture of his "triumph" and asked them to show it to the other circus performers. When showing it to them, Wright was to tell them to "Watch and learn!"

Returning to the circus, Wright and Maya heard voices arguing at the circus entrance. Said voices were soon revealed to be Woodman and "Trilo" working on a new routine, namely a musical round of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Unfortunately, it was not going well, and "Trilo" was getting very annoyed. Maya took the opportunity to return "Trilo"'s engagement ring and ask him once again about "they" had seen on the night of the murder. Apparently Woodman initially thought that the mysterious figure was the ringmaster, due to his walk and the way he was acting. However, since the figure did not respond to a greeting and was draped in Galactica's symbols. When asked who he thought it could have been if he hadn't been wearing Galactica's symbols, Woodman replied that he would have thought it was the ringmaster, although Wright felt that something wasn't adding up in what they saw.

"Trilo" told them that he was waiting at the entrance for Regina. When Maya pointed out that it would make more sense to go to the big top to meet her, rather than wait, "Trilo" told her that she didn't know anything about love and that "waiting is such sweet wonderful torture" and that "[w]hen your body aches for your partner's love... That's one of the best parts". As for their new routine, "Trilo" was convinced that it could take the ventriloquism world by storm. However, "Trilo" made clear that the reason that they were going to "take on the world" was not because of Galactica's attempts to encourage the other performers to "aim for the world", saying that the magician was not the only who could "conquer the world stage".

Leaving the newly ambitious ventriloquist, Wright and Maya returned to the lodging house plaza to find Gumshoe. Wright pointed out that he looked pretty exhusted and should probably have a rest. Gumshoe responded that he was resting, and revealed that he had been forced to listen to Moe's life story at von Karma's orders. The detective told them that it had been draining, with every pause in Moe's story punctuated by looking at Gumshoe like he should be doing something, namely laughing. This went on until Gumshoe's face hurt from fake laughing so much. Maya interjected that von Karma should have been the one listening to Moe, but Gumshoe hurriedly stated that he would never "backbite a woman with a whip", explaining that it seemed like the prosecutor always had her eyes on her subordinates and appeared whenever you definitely didn't want her to. He then repeatedly muttered "don't show up..." under his breath, leading Wright to mentally remark on how tightly wound von Karma had the detective.

Gumshoe then told the pair that von Karma was above them as they spoke, explaining to a confused Maya that since the criminal had apparently jumped from the plaza into the sky, he must had passed right by Acro's window. He then told them that they shouldn't get any ideas about heading up there while she was investigating. Finding Moe's room empty and unable to investigate Acro's room, the pair headed for the big top, only to find Regina missing from her usual spot as well. Moving onto the cafeteria, they found Moe. After getting Maya to guess the punchline to one of his jokes and complaining about the "tough crowd" in court, Moe repeated his surety over what he had seen on the night of the murder, although he felt that the killer had floated more than flew. The silhouette of the killer's face made Moe sure it was Galactica. Wright noticed that no Psyche-Locks appeared at this statement, meaning that Moe must be telling the truth. When Wright showed the clown the picture of the Grand Prix, Moe despaired that they had been subjected to Galactica's bragging too, but stated that he had not only been shown the photograph, but the bust as well.

When asked about the bust Moe revealed that it should have been on the small table labelled "MAX" in the cafeteria, but had disappeared around five days earlier. He pointed to a photo of the bust on the cafeteria's bulletin board for Wright and Maya to see, which was placed there by Galactica. Wright asked Moe if anything else had changed and was told that on the morning of the crime a torn piece of paper was placed in the center of the bulletin board, the only readable part left was the top which read: "To The Murderer!" The rest of the note had been ripped off and Moe had no idea who posted it.

Wright and Maya returned to Galactica and asked him about the note, since he had been in the Cafeteria fighting with Woodman on the morning it had appeared. The magician admitted that he knew about it and that his had "heart skipped a beat" when he read it. He told Wright that on the morning of the murder, he had been enjoying his morning tea when the ringmaster and Regina had entered the room. When the ringmaster read the note, he "turned an incredible bright red", suddenly tore it off the wall and stuffed it into the pocket of his tailcoat. Although Maya tried to ask what the note had said, Galactica didn't "want to steal the fun from [his] sweeties" and told them to find out on their own. Along with finding the note, the magician also suggested that they ask Regina about it as well.

Returning to the ringmaster's room, Wright searched the pockets of the tailcoat on a stand and, sure enough, there was the other half of the note. Putting the two parts together, it now read: "To The Murderer! I have conclusive evidence of what took place. Meet at 10:00 PM tonight at the lodging house plaza." Wright and Maya were shocked since 10 p.m. was when Russell Berry had been murdered. They now had to find out who sent the note.

The pair then headed to the lodging house to find Gumshoe still hanging about the plaza. He was telling them that he had finished his investigation of the acrobat and was about to mention something about von Karma when he was suddenly interrupted by a strange beeping noise that was steadily growing louder. As Wright and Maya were puzzling over what was causing it, Gumshoe told them that it was von Karma. Whenever he heard that sound, she was usually not far behind. The detective then decided to make himself scarce, with Maya joking that it was amazing that he could run so fast, what with being a flatfoot and Wright never seeing a grown man so afraid of a girl still in her teens. Maya was just suggesting that they should head inside, only to be cut short by a whip crack and for Fraziska von Karma to appear.

The young prosecutor admitted that it had been quite the battle in court that day, but that tomorrow would be the day that her dream would finally come true. Namely that she would defeat Wright and his defeat would be known across the world (although Wright felt that was overestimating the importance of a win). Wright noted that she looked pleased with herself and was told that she had secured "conclusive evidence" and a "conclusive witness". Maya asked why von Karma was so preoccupied with revenge when nothing that she do would bring her father back. The prosecutor scoffed at this and asked when she had ever mentioned her "papa". Her real reason was that she needed to see a certain someone again: Miles Edgeworth. She told them that since her father had trained Edgeworth, she viewed him as her "little brother" (confusing Maya since Edgeworth was older than her). Von Karma blamed Wright for Edgeworth's disappearance. Before Edgeworth disappeared, he left a note that read: "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death!" Von Karma felt that that her "little brother" was not dead, but that Wright had "killed" the prosecutor in him and muddied the good name of von Karma. Maya tried to get more information out of Wright about Edgeworth but was flatly reminded that he already told her never to mention that name to him again. He then angrily snapped that he had had enough of both von Karma and Edgeworth. Von Karma scoffed at this, telling that he was all bark and had already been defeated. She informed him that it would be an incredible battle in court tomorrow and left. Maya apologised for bringing Edgeworth up, but Wright just told her that they should go and talk to the acrobat.

Dec. 30
Phoenix was able to prove that Acro did it because of an accident six months ago: Bat, Acro's brother, bet Regina he can put his head in a lion's mouth. But since the two liked to play pranks on each other, Regina put pepper on her scarf to make Bat sneeze. It didn't affect him, but the lion was. The lion sneezed just as Bat put his head in the mouth, and got injured badly. Acro tried to wrestle the lion but got injured. The incident left Bat in a coma and Acro paralyzed. Regina got over the loss, but Acro didn't. He could never forgive her and decided to kill her. On the day of the murder, he threw a box outside in the courtyard to figure how far he had to throw the statue to kill Regina, however, he didn't notice the ring master picking up the box while he was throwing the statue and Russell was kill instantly.

After the trial, Max thanks Phoenix for his help. Regina is crying now cause she can't believe Acro would do this. Moe is now the new ring master, and they promise they will make the Berry Big Circus a great attraction. Meanwhile, Gumshoe is on the phone talking about the case with someone...



References in other cases

 * The Berry Big Circus is briefly mentioned in Farewell, My Turnabout as the final hiding place of Shelly de Killer and the kidnapped Maya Fey.


 * In Turnabout Ablaze, Franziska von Karma mentions this case as one of two of her cases involving allegedly flying people, the other being Bridge to the Turnabout.

References to popular culture

 * In the English version of the game Moe, upon being whipped by Franziska von Karma during his testimony, starts to recite a clown-themed version of the opening sequence/theme song for the 1990's sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This is cut short when he is whipped further by von Karma.


 * At another point Moe once again panics, except this time it is the opening of the 1980's action/adventure show The A-Team that gets recited, with a clown twist. For example, the name of the team is changed to the "C-Team" (which may be an actual in-game show since the judge seemed aware of it), with the "C" likely meant to stand for "clown". Moe's rambling is once again cut short by von Karma's whip. Earlier in the game, Trilo states that that's "enough jibba jabba" with Wright before leaving to put himself forward as a witness. "Quit your jibba jabba!" was a catchphrase of B. A. Baracus, a character from The A-Team played by Mr. T.


 * When Wright asks Regina about Woodman, only to realize that she has no idea that "Trilo" and Woodman are the same person, he thinks: "Like sand through the hourglass, so are the Days of the Circus". "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives" is the trademark voiceover used during during the title sequence of the long running daytime soap opera Days of our Lives.

What about Rise from the Ashes?
If the fact that Rise from the Ashes was written and released after the original Japanese release of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All is not realized, a few statements in Turnabout Big Top seem odd. For example, several remarks are made that Miles Edgeworth's last appearance in court was during his own time as a defendant and that he had disappeared shortly afterwards, which contradicts the current canon timeline.

Perplexing puppet?
According to Max Galactica, on the night of the murder, he went directly from the rehearsal in the Big Top to the ringmaster's office to meet with Russell Berry. After the ringmaster left to meet Acro at the lodging house plaza, Galactica remained in the office, unaware that anything was wrong until the police arrived. However, he also claimed to have hidden Benjamin Woodman's puppet Trilo in the ringmaster's office at some point. This would have to have been after the ringmaster had left the office since Woodman had Trilo with him when he saw Russell enter the plaza. Therefore Galactica would have had to have left the office in order to steal Trilo, contradicting his statement about never leaving the office.

Forgetting that the Magician's Code was forgotten?
At the end of Moe's testimony in court, he reveals to have seen Max Galactica flying away from the crime scene. When Maya Fey asks Galactica about whether he could have really flown away, he accidentally reveals the secret to his "flight". However, when later that day Maya asks the magician in the Detention center if he could teach her the trick behind his flight, Galactica tells her that unlike amateurs, he does not reveal the secrets behind his magic tricks. This seems bizarre when he had told them exactly how he did it earlier that same day.

Accusing the judge
Uniquely in the series so far, this case allows Phoenix Wright to effectively accuse the judge of hiding the murder weapon, implying that he is either the murderer or an accomplice. Doing so results in a massive penalty (equal to 90% of the health bar) that will lead to a game over if Wright has already received any previous penalties during the trial session.

Naruhodo A. Wrighto
If Galactica's profile is presented to Maya at the Wright & Co. Law Offices she despairs at his real name of Billy Bob Johns. She then declares that if a big star can do it then Wright should pretend to be exotic too and suggests the name "Naruhodo A. Wrighto", with the "A" standing for "Attorney". The name "Naruhodo" is a reference to "Naruhodou Ryuuichi" (成歩堂 龍), Phoenix Wright's name in the original Japanese version of the game.