The Stolen Turnabout

Episode 2: The Stolen Turnabout is the second episode in the video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations. Phoenix Wright must defend Ron DeLite as he is charged with the theft of the Sacred Urn of Kurain Village and, later, the murder of Kane Bullard. Prosecutor Godot debuts in this episode.

Oct. 11
The introductory scene depicts a thief, the famous Mask☆DeMasque, stealing another treasure.

Oct. 12
Maya Fey and her cousin Pearl told Wright that one of the prized treasures of Kurain Village, the Sacred Urn, had been placed on display at the "Treasures of Kurain" exhibit at the Lordly Tailor department store. Though the exhibit had not started yet, they had received VIP tickets from the manager and invited Wright to see the exhibit that same night.

At Lordly Tailor, Wright and Pearl were surprised to find that the person in charge of the exhibit was Adrian Andrews, whom they had met during a rather dramatic ordeal seven months previously. Andrews showed them around the basement warehouse where the treasures were being kept. In addition to the Sacred Urn, the exhibit included a golden statue of Ami Fey and a seven-branched ceremonial sword called the Shichishito, both brought from Hazakura Temple.

The next day, Maya arrived at the office and told Wright she had terrible news: the Sacred Urn had been stolen. Turning on the TV, they learned that the one responsible had been the infamous thief Mask☆DeMasque. The theft had taken place in the basement warehouse at Lordly Tailor, so Wright, Maya and Pearl decided to investigate the crime scene.

Investigation
At the department store, they met Detective Dick Gumshoe, who told them that they knew Mask☆DeMasque was the culprit because he had sent his calling card to Lordly Tailor prior to the theft of the urn. Downstairs, the trio met a somewhat egotistical "Ace Detective" named Luke Atmey, who had been in charge of security on the night of the theft. Atmey, who claimed to consider Mask☆DeMasque his "nemesis" and that he had been pursuing the thief since his first heist, had been hired by Andrews before the calling card was even received. He claimed that he had been watching the warehouse from a hiding place, but that no one had come in on the night of the crime. Upon being shown Mask☆DeMasque's calling card, Atmey left and told Wright to meet him at his office. Examining the crime scene, the trio found an empty box about the same size as the Sacred Urn, and deduced the urn had been in there. Oddly, however, the box was stained with pink paint, as was a part of the floor. Two other details stuck out: Ami Fey's statue was not in the same position as the previous day, but further to the right, and the Shichishito was bent and lying on the floor. Wright checked the security camera record on the computer and discovered that that camera had fired once during the previous night, proving someone had entered the warehouse.

After Wright finished examining the crime scene, he received a call from Gumshoe, who told him that Mask☆DeMasque had turned himself in and was currently being held at the detention center. Even more surprisingly, the thief wanted to talk to Wright. At the detention center, the trio met Ron DeLite, who claimed to be the thief, but said he had lost the Sacred Urn. Wright was confused as to why Ron had asked to meet with him, but the latter told him that his wife Desirée DeLite had asked him to do it. He asked Wright to talk to her and gave him the address of his "hideout", which was actually just his apartment.

Desirée told Wright that her husband was not Mask☆DeMasque at all, but simply a fan of his, and that he had deluded himself into thinking he was the thief. Wright asked her about the night of the crime. She told him that she had been out late and only arrived home at 3 a.m., so she couldn't confirm that Ron had an alibi. Desirée gave Wright a letter addressed for her husband and asked Wright to delived it. Upon reading it, Ron asked that Wright defend him in court, to which Wright, unconvinced that Ron was the real thief, agreed. Pearl, angry at Wright for agreeing to defend the person who had stolen the Sacred Urn, yelled at him and left.

Wright and Maya went back to the office to look for Pearl, who was visibly feeling bad for her outburst. She apologized to Wright and left to investigate on her own. Upon returning to Lordly Tailor, Wright and Maya met Andrews, who was in a panic over the stolen urn. She told them she had polished the urn to make it look more valuable, and that she had personally hired Atmey before the calling card arrived, out of fear that something would happen. According to her, Mask☆DeMasque had not entered the department store the previous night.

Wright moved to the Atmey Detective Agency next. Atmey told Wright he did not know how Mask☆DeMasque had stolen the urn, but Wright saw a Psyche-Lock appear. Wright told him the security camera had spotted someone the previous night, so it was strange that Atmey claimed not to have seen anyone. Atmey suggested that the camera might have malfunctioned, but Wright figured out that Atmey had really been unconscious, presenting the bent Shichishito as proof. The culprit must have used it to render Atmey unconscious. Atmey admitted he had been knocked out and showed Wright the picture from the security camera, which depicted Mask☆DeMasque himself stealing the urn.

Wright returned to Ron's apartment, where he found a blackmail letter in a green envelope. It told him to come to KB Security at 1 a.m. on October 12th, the same date and time as the theft of the urn, and bring either $50,000 or the "red diamond", or else his identity would be revealed to the world. The doorbell rang, and Wright was greeted by his childhood friend Larry Butz, who said he had found Ron's lost wallet and come to return it. Ron apparently worked at KB Security, since his wallet contained a security card from the company. Butz, who was currently also working at the same company, told Wright that the card in question could be used to gain access to the CEO's office, and that it left a record when used. Furthermore, he told Wright that KB Security was 30 minutes away by car, meaning that if Ron had been there at the time of the theft, he couldn't have stolen the urn.

Wright then received a call from Pearl, who said she had gotten lost. From what she said, he deduced that she was at Atmey's office, so he and Maya returned there to pick her up. Once there, they noticed a bulky bag on a table that hadn't been there before. Wright reached inside the bag and felt a hard, smooth object, but before he could take it out, Atmey surprised them. Before Wright left, Atmey told him that the prosecutor for Ron's trial would be Godot, a prosecutor Wright had never heard of before, but who was considered even by Miles Edgeworth to be the best prosecutor in the country.

Trial

 * 9:36 a.m.

The defense team congregated at Defendant Lobby No. 4. Maya Fey commented on the crowd that had gathered to watch the Mask☆DeMasque trial and the publicity behind it. Even photos were being sold, one of which Maya took. Ron DeLite once again insisted to Wright that he was guilty of the crime, but Desirée assured the lawyer that she could guarantee to the contrary. Wright decided that he would just have to take her word for it.

In Courtroom No. 6, Wright told the judge that he was ready, but the prosecutor, a masked man with white hair, dismissed the question and asked whether the judge was ready to pass judgment. Bewildered, the judge replied that he would have to hear the arguments first, and the prosecutor retorted that he shouldn't be asking people whether they were ready when he wasn't ready.

Godot formally introduced himself and announced that he had never lost a case as a prosecutor. The judge was impressed, until he learnt that this was the first case Godot had ever prosecuted. The prosecutor simply shrugged off the judge's questions and then rudely addressed Wright, referring to him as "Phoenix Trite" and viciously taunting him. This confused Wright, as he was sure he'd never met Godot before.

Godot called Dick Gumshoe to the stand but spared himself the introduction and had the detective cut right to the case outline. Gumshoe described Mask☆DeMasque as a thief who went only after the most precious treasures. Wright pointed out that the stolen urn was in fact worthless and therefore it would not be something that Mask☆DeMasque would normally steal. He then made the assumption that the thief was in fact not Mask☆DeMasque.

Godot, however, presented a photo taken by a security camera at the apparent time of the theft showing Mask☆DeMasque carrying the sacred urn in a box. Wright then pointed out that the person in the photo was not wearing the broach that Mask☆DeMasque always wore. Godot replied by saying the broach had been ripped off of the thief, and presented the broach that had been found at the scene.

Luke Atmey was then called to testify. He testified that he had been struck and knocked out by Mask☆DeMasque before he could land a single strike on him. Wright objected, pointing out that the broach had clearly been ripped off of in some kind of struggle. Atmey then changed his testimony, saying that the criminal had grabbed the Shichishito from the Ami Fey statue and tried to attack him. He stated that he had tried to fight back with his fists, but the criminal had managed to strike him and knock him out. Wright asked about the circumstances of the fight. Atmey stated that he performed the "Atmey Fighting Style", in which he put his back to the wall to make sure no one could hit him from behind. Wright, however, pointed out the contradiction that the strike had landed on the back of Atmey's head, therefore, he could not have had his back to the wall.

Wright then said how strange it was that Atmey had hidden the calling card from the police. He then accused him of being Mask☆DeMasque. He stated that Atmey had gained access to the warehouse under the guidance of providing security and that his story of him hiding at the scene was a cover-up.

Godot, annoyed at the accusation, threw his cup of coffee at Wright and asked him if he had any proof of the accusation. Wright admitted he did not, but Desirée DeLite burst into the courtroom with a bag containing the sacred urn. She claimed that she had found it in Atmey's office, but Godot stated that she could not be trusted, seeing as how she was the wife of the defendant.

Wright then thought back to the day before and stated that the urn should be checked for fingerprints. He said that Adrian Andrews had heavily wiped the urn down a few days before the incident and that he himself had been to Atmey's office the morning following the incident where he felt a "round and hard object" inside the bag. He concluded therefore that the only time his prints could have gotten on the urn was when it was in the bag in Atmey's office, so if his prints were on it, that would prove Atmey had stolen the urn. The judge agreed to the fingerprint test, but Atmey said that there was no need for it. He then broke down and admitted to being the thief Mask☆DeMasque.

The judge then went to hand down the verdict of "Not Guilty", but Ron DeLite objected, stating that he was the true thief. He was told that it was not possible since the true thief had already confessed, but Godot said that they should hear what Ron had to say.

Ron testified that he was the thief and that he had stolen the urn. He also stated that he had no alibi, to which Wright presented the wallet that Butz had found at 1 a.m. in KB Security. He stated that KB Security was 30 minutes away from Lordly Tailor by car and that therefore he could not have been at the crime scene. Ron said that someone could have planted the wallet to make it look like he had been there, to which Wright said that the wallet was probably dropped when Ron went to use his key-card to enter to CEO of KB's office.

Godot asked what motive Ron could possibly have to go to KB Security in the middle of the night. Wright presented the blackmail letter he had found in Ron's "hideout", which told him to bring $50,000 to the CEO of KB Security's office at 1 a.m. on the night of the crime. He stated that Ron was dealing with the blackmailer at the time of the theft in a place that was half an hour away from the crime scene, therefore he could not be the thief.

Godot objected, demanding proof that Ron even followed the blackmailer's request and did in fact enter the CEO's office. Maya said she and Wright should track down the CEO to get him to testify, but Wright knew there was no need, stating that there was someone in the gallery who could testify as to the fact that Ron's key-card had in fact been used at 1 a.m. He told the judge that Larry Butz worked as a security guard at KB Security and he could check the key-card data, which would show if it had been used at that time.

After a brief break, Godot stated that he could not get in contact with Kane Bullard directly, but he did manage to get the data needed. The key-card data clearly showed that Ron had used his key-card to enter the CEO's office at 1 a.m. Godot admitted he had lost and that Ron DeLite could not have been the thief. The judge, pleased with the evidence, announced Ron as being "Not Guilty".

Defendant Lobby
In the defendant Lobby, Ron kept insisting that he was the thief, but his wife was happy that Ron was off the hook, thanking Wright and causing him to blush. Just at that moment Pearl came in and noticed Wright blushing. Making the wrong assumption, she slapped him. Godot then came in and stated that the body of Kane Bullard, CEO of KB Security, had been found and that the estimated time of his death was 1 a.m. on the same night of the theft. He stated that Wright himself had proved that Ron was in the CEO's office at 1 a.m. and therefore he must be the murderer. Ron was arrested again, this time for murder, due to the very alibi that had proved him innocent of larceny.

Investigation
After the trial, Maya and Pearl noticed that the urn found in Atmey's office looked somewhat different from the original one: it was covered in pink splotches and said "AMI", instead of "I AM" like the urn in the poster. Suspecting that it might not be the same urn, Pearl returned to Kurain Village to have it checked. Wright and Maya went to Mask☆DeMasque's hideout to talk to Desirée, who gave them the address of KB Security. At the CEO's office, Wright and Maya met Gumshoe. The detective showed them the autopsy report, which placed the time of death at around 1:00 a.m. on October 12th. The victim's body had been found at 9:00 a.m. that morning. The reason why it had taken over a full day to find it was because it had been hidden inside the safe. Gumshoe had bad news for Wright: out of all the people who could open the safe, the only one without an alibi was Ron DeLite. The victim had apparently not pressed the emergency buzzer to call for help, since there were no fingerprints on it. In the office, Wright found a large folder containing information on all of the items Mask☆DeMasque had ever stolen. Gumshoe also showed him a newspaper article about Mask☆DeMasque's first heist; the stolen item had been a blue jewel called the "Tear of Emanon".

Wright and Maya went to the 3rd floor security office, where they met Larry Butz. Butz told them that Ron had been fired from KB security a year previously. When Wright asked him whether he had been at his post on the night of the murder, two Psyche-Locks appeared. Butz insisted he had been at his station, but Wright remembered that he claimed to have found Ron's wallet at 1:00 a.m., the same time as the murder, proving that he wasn't there. Butz still claimed that, even if he had left his post, the murderer must have snuck inside the CEO's office before his shift, meaning it wasn't his fault. The security card record, however, showed that the card had been used to open the office at 1:00 a.m., during Butz's shift. Butz admitted that he had gone outside to talk to an ex-girlfriend at the time, but he said that maybe the victim hadn't pressed the buzzer to call for help anyway. Wright told him to check the buzzer records, which proved otherwise; the buzzer had been triggered at 1:00 a.m., exactly the time of the murder.

At Lordly Tailor, Wright asked Andrews if she knew why the urn they had found looked different from the original one. She said she had no idea, but two Psyche-Locks appeared. Wright then returned to the detention center to talk to Ron. Ron still maintained that he was the real Mask☆DeMasque, but admitted that he had not stolen the Sacred Urn, and that instead been at Bullard's office at the time. Right after entering the CEO's office, he had been attacked and knocked out, and, upon regaining consciousness, found Bullard's dead body next to him. Fearing that he would be accused of the murder, Ron had hidden the body in the safe. Wright showed him the article about Mask☆DeMasque's first theft; the security guard seen in the picture bore a resemblance to Ron. He admitted that he was the guard in the picture. After his first theft, he had hidden the costume in a trash can. After that, he had started to receive blackmail letters from someone who had discovered his identity, telling him to steal more items. Said letters came with extremely detailed plans on how to commit the thefts without being caught. Ron said that, upon hearing of the Sacred Urn's theft, he had turned himself in as Mask☆DeMasque to ensure that he would have an alibi for the murder.

Pearl returned and said the people at Kurain Village had confirmed that the urn was the real one, and that the pink splotches were just paint. Wright then returned to Lordly Tailor to talk to Andrews again, having gathered enough information to break her Psyche-Locks. He told her that the urn had been confirmed to be the same, yet the writing now said "AMI", meaning that it must have been broken. Andrews said that the urn might have been broken somewhere else, but Wright pointed out that the pink paint proved it had been broken in the basement warehouse: the paint on the floor had a square pattern on it, the same shape as the box containing the urn.

Andrews admitted that she had broken the urn two weeks previously, before the picture had been taken, by tripping on the paint cans in the warehouse. Not wanting anyone to find out, she had fixed it herself and moved the Ami Fey statue to hide the paint on the floor, but she didn't know who had moved the statue back.

October 14th
Ron DeLite was first called to the witness stand to testify about his visit to KB Security on the night of the murder. He said he had never planned to pay, since he didn't believe Bullard would go through with the threat. Upon entering the CEO's office, he had been hit on the forehead by a suspicious figure and said he would probably have been killed if he hadn't been wearing his Mask☆DeMasque costume. He explained that, since he was being blackmailed as Mask☆DeMasque, he thought it would be best to go to KB Security wearing the costume.

Ron said that he had regained consciousness to find Bullard's body lying on the floor, and hidden it in the safe out of fear of being accused of the murder. This had taken 10 minutes due to his cape getting caught on the safe. Godot argued that Ron must have committed the murder or he would have no reason to hide the body, but Wright pointed out that the buzzer had been pressed. If Ron really was the murderer, he wouldn't have pressed the buzzer. The victim couldn't have pressed the buzzer, either, because he had no gloves on and would have left fingerprints. Furthermore, if Ron had known that the buzzer had been pressed, he would have run away immediately. This seemed to confirm his version; that he had been unconscious when it was pressed.

Wright argued that a third person must have pressed the buzzer. Godot asked why this supposed third party would have done so, and Wright explained that the only reason could be to frame Ron for the murder. Although Godot argued that the guard had never showed up anyway, Wright said this was a coincidence, the murderer could not have known that the guard was not at his station. Godot then asked Wright who he believed to be the real murderer. Wright named Luke Atmey.

Godot said Atmey was being tried for the theft of the Sacred Urn in the courtroom next door, and the trial was about to end in a guilty verdict. If he was found guilty of the theft at Lordly Tailor, he would have an alibi for the murder. Furthermore, the "double jeopardy" law stated that no one could be tried again for a crime they had been found innocent of, meaning that if Wright had any hope of ever indicting Atmey for the murder of Bullard, his trial would have to be interrupted immediately. However, Wright was informed that Ron would be found guilty if he could not prove that Atmey was the murderer. Wright decided to take the chance and interrupted Atmey's trial.

Atmey was called to the stand and asked to testify about his alibi for the murder. He presented the picture which showed him stealing the urn in the Mask☆DeMasque costume, saying that the timestamp proved the theft had taken place and the same time as the murder. Wright suggested that the photo might be a fake, but Godot dismissed this, saying the photo had been printed out by Lordly Tailor itself. Wright, however, pointed out something strange about the photo. It showed the pink paint Andrews had spilled on the floor, but not the statue of Ami Fey she had placed there to cover it. Wright realized why the statue had been moved on the night of the murder. Atmey had taken the photo days in advance to give himself an alibi, but Andrews had later moved the statue to cover up the paint. With the statue next to the warehouse door, the scene no longer matched the photograph Atmey had prepared, so he had been forced to move the statue back to recreate the scene. Atmey argued that the security camera record proved a picture had been taken on the night of the murder, but Wright said that the security camera program belonged to Atmey himself, meaning he could have tampered with the data.

Godot said that Wright still had no proof of his theory, and asked Atmey to testify about his theft of the urn. Atmey testified that he had not actually seen the urn until the day he stole it, but Wright found a contradiction in his statement: the calling card mentioned a "speckled urn", but the speckles were actually pink paint that had gotten on the urn when Andrews broke it. There had been no speckles on it originally, proving Atmey must have seen the urn to know about them.

Atmey then asked what his motive for murdering Bullard could be. Wright remembered something strange about the blackmail letter Bullard had sent to Ron: it asked for a "red diamond", but the only jewel stolen by Mask☆DeMasque, the Tear of Emanon, had been a blue one. Atmey, however, had a red diamond on his ring, and Wright realized that the person the victim had been blackmailing was actually Atmey, who was in turn blackmailing Ron and sending him plans for heists. The "identity" Bullard had been threatening to expose in his letters was Atmey's identity as a blackmailer.

Atmey asked how he could have known Ron was Mask☆DeMasque, and Wright presented the newspaper clipping about the theft of the Tear of Emanon. The photo in the article showed Atmey, and the security guard seen in the background was Ron. He had mentioned hiding his costume in a trash can after his first heist. This must have been when Atmey found the costume and discovered Ron's identity.

Godot, however, pointed out that this was not enough, since Wright had no decisive evidence, namely, no proof that Atmey had been in the CEO's office at the time of the murder. Wright almost lost hope, but then Mia appeared and encouraged him to press Atmey for more testimony. Wright did so, and Atmey eventually let slip that Ron had been wearing his Mask☆DeMasque costume at the time of the murder, something that he should not have known, since he was not in the courtroom when Ron said this. Wright concluded that the only way Atmey could have possibly known this was if he had been at the scene of the crime when the murder took place. Atmey broke down and confessed everything.

References to other cases

 * In Mask☆DeMasque's Hideout, parts of the space suit costume Wendy Oldbag wore in Farewell, My Turnabout can be seen. On the second day of the investigation, Desirée DeLite reveals that Ron asked Oldbag for it.
 * When presenting evidence to Larry Butz, he says that he's "not here to sell [Wright] juicy bits of info and chew the fat", which reminds Wright of when Butz sold Samurai Dogs at Gourd Lake.
 * When cross-examining Luke Atmey, Wright mockingly asks why, if the latter was such an "Ace" Detective, he had gotten knocked unconscious. Atmey responds by asking Wright if he had ever been hit on the head, and Wright sheepishly replies that he had and was knocked out. Maya then adds that this also made Wright lose his memory. This a reference to the events of The Lost Turnabout.
 * When the judge asks Wright if he is okay having Ron testify as a witness, the defense attorney remembers when Mia let him do so when he was on trial.
 * Butz mentions that he was Phoenix Wright's first client.
 * At the start of the second investigation day, Wright and Maya make reference to an incident a year previously, mentioning that while Maya was channelling a spirit she lost control of her body and killed someone. Though this is obviously a reference to Reunion, and Turnabout, the events of the case did not happen as described in this game (in actuality, Mimi Miney incapacitated Maya during the attempted channeling and then killed the victim herself), which Wright even proved in said case.

References to popular culture

 * Wright thinks to himself, regarding Ron DeLite, that: "(This guy's story is more surreal than a Dali painting.)" This is a reference to Salvador Dalí, a Spanish painter who specialised in surrealism.
 * If the player shows Wright's photo to Atmey on meeting him, after Wright remarks that it was impressive how Atmey knew what Wright did for a living, Atmey responds with: "Oh, it's elementary, my dear Wright! Elementary!" This is a paraphrase of the non-canonical catchphrase of Sherlock Holmes.
 * When examining the pile of junk in Ron DeLite's apartment, Wright and Maya find a roll of paper that reads: "Theft of the Mazarin Stone: The Great Albatross Strategy". This may be a reference to The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone, one of Arthur Conan Doyle's original twelve Sherlock Holmes short stories.
 * When explaining that he will be appearing in court, Atmey says: "Shall we say that the figurative Sir William will be dropping his panties before lunchtime?" This is a reference to the TV sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus - more specifically the Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook sketch, where a Hungarian man tries to communicate with an English tobacconist using a phrasebook whose translations range from simply bizarre ("My hovercraft is full of eels") to mildly sexual ("Drop your panties, Sir William, I cannot wait 'til lunchtime").
 * While discussing Godot, Atmey states that "some people spend their entire lives idly waiting for his appearance". This is a reference to the Samuel Beckett play from which Godot's name originates.
 * When talking to Detective Gumshoe about Godot at KB Security, Gumshoe says, "He's an iceman in court, a maverick that  give  me goosebumps" - referring to “Iceman”, “Goose”, and “Maverick”: nicknames of characters in the film  Top Gun

Typos

 * When talking to Luke Atmey in Lordly Tailor's basement, Pearl says, "So you're saying that even though on one came through those doors last night...", instead of no one.
 * When talking to Detective Gumshoe about Godot at KB Security, Gumshoe says, "He's an iceman in court, a maverick that give me goosebumps", instead of gives.
 * During Ron DeLite's murder trial testimony, he states he is not afraid of the "...blackmail thread...", instead of threat.
 * When Mia Fey makes an appearance near the end of Luke Atmey's cross-examination, she says, "Your Honor, when you were in a child, this is what was on your report card every year." This was fixed in the Trilogy.

Other languages

 * French - La Volte-face Volée (lit. "The Stolen Turnabout")
 * German - Der Gestohlene Wandel (lit. "The Stolen Change")
 * Spanish - El Caso Robado (lit. "The Stolen Case")
 * Italian - Giù la Maschera (lit. "Down the Mask")