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 Fey explained to Wright how one of the prized treasures of Kurain Village, the Sacred Urn, has been placed on display at the Lordly Tailor exhibit. Nick coincidentally meeting a former associate from a rather dramatic ordeal who has turned security guard at the exhibit, the three are surprised to discover that the urn has been stolen. According to Detective Gumshoe, this -- the calling card he left behind considered -- was the work of an infamous thief, Mask☆DeMasque. Some clues are gathered from the scene. The trio then met a somewhat egotistical "Ace Detective" Luke Atmey, -- he was the security guard that night but he claims that he failed to stop the thief and was K.O.'d in the process.

Phoenix (briefly re-encountering his old friend, Larry Butz in the process) encountered Desirée DeLite who requests that he -- in spite of how his close friends (Maya and Pearl) are the victims of the crime -- defend her husband and suspect in the robbery, Ron DeLite -- who looked to be desperate to confess to the crime.

Towards the end of the investigation, Luke Atmey informed Phoenix that a brand new prosecutor -- a highly mysterious man named Godot -- would be acting as Phoenix's opponent in the trial tomorrow. With an ace detective, a desperate-to-confess suspect/defendant, and an all-new prosecutor, Phoenix was surely headed for quite the case...

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 Fey 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 as 10:00 approached.

In Courtroom No. 6, Wright told the judge that he was ready, but Prosecutor Godot 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 Godot retorted that he shouldn't be asking people whether they were ready when he wasn't ready.

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 treasure. 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. Phoenix then pointed out that the person in the photo was not wearing the broach that Mask☆DeMasque always wears. Godot replied by saying the broach was ripped of the thief and he presented the broach that was found at the scene.

Luke Atmey was then called to testify. He testified that he was stuck and knocked out by Mask☆DeMasque before he could land a single strike on him. Phoenix objected, pointing out that the broach was clearing ripped of a piece of clothing in some kind of stuggle.

Atmey then changed his testimony saying that the criminal grabbed the Shichishito from the Ami Fey statue and and tried attacking him. He stated that he tried fighting back with his fists however the criminal managed to strike him and he was knocked out. Phoenix pressed him asked about the circumstances of the fight. Atmey stated that he performed the "Atmey Fighting Style" in which he puts his back to the wall to make sure no one could hit him from behind. Phoenix 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.

Phoenix then said how strange it was that Atmey had hid 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 over Wright. He then asked him if he had any proof of the accusation. Phoenix admitted he did not, however Desirée DeLite burst into the courtroom with a bag containing the sacred urn. She claimed that she found it in Luke's office, however Godot stated that she could not be trusted seeing as how she was the wife of the defendant.

Phoenix then remembered 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 get on the urn were when it was in the bag he felt in and so if his prints were on it then it proved Atmey had the urn in his office.

The Judge agreed to the prints test however Atmey said that there is no need for it. He then broke down and admitted to being the true thief and Mask☆DeMasque.

The Judge then went to hand down the verdict of "Not Guilty", however 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, however Godot said that they should hear what Ron has to say.

Ron testified that he was the thief and that he stole the urn. He also stated that he had no alibi, to which Wright presented the wallet that Larry found at 1AM in KB Security. He stated that KB Security was 30 minutes away from Lordly Trailer by car and that therefore he could not have been at the crime. Ron then said that maybe someone planted the wallet to make it look like he was 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. Phoenix presented the blackmail letter he found in DeLite's "hideout" which told him to bring $50,000 to the CEO of KB Security's office at 1AM 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 infact enter the CEO's office. Maya said she and Wright should track down the CEO to get him to testify, however Phoenix 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 was in fact used at 1AM. He then told the Judge that Larry Butz worked as a security guard in KB Security and he could get the key-card data which would show if it was used at that time.

After a brief break, Godot stated that he could not get in contact with Kane Bullard directly, however he did manage to get the data needed. The key-card data clearly showed that Ron used his key-card to enter the CEO's office at 1AM.

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, however his wife was happy that Ron is 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 1AM on the same night of the theft. He stated that Wright himself proved that Ron was in the CEO's office at 1AM and therefore he must be the murderer.

Ron was arrested again, this time for murder, due to the very alibi that got him of the hook for larceny.

To be continued...

Investigation
Pearl returned to Kurain Village.

Wright and Maya visted Desiree. She told them where the KB Security offices were located.

When Wright and Fey arrived at the offices, where they met Detective Gumshoe. He informed Wright and Maya that the body was found in the safe in Kane Bullard's office at 9:00 am that morning. No fingerprints could be found on the safe.

Maya pressed the emergency alert button, which sent a loud alarm to tell security guards to come down to the office.

Wright and Maya went to the 3rd floor security office. They met Larry Butz there. Two Psyche-locks appeared. After breaking the psyche-locks, Butz revealed that the previous night at 1:00 am, he had gone to the house of Desiree Delite to return a dropped wallet, therefore leaving the building without a security guard. After examining the records, Butz realized that the previous night the emergency alert had been triggered at 1:00 am, the time of the murder.

October 14th
With Luke Atmey's trial, which -- due to the notoriety of Mask☆DeMasque, had been receiving much media attention -- going on in a nearby courtroom, Phoenix was left to defend Ron in court. After extensively cross-examining Ron (who, as he did yesterday, admitted to having hid the body in a safe), Phoenix deduced that in reality, Luke Atmey created an artificial alibi against being convicted of murder by using the guilty verdict he was being assigned at the time. The judge issued an order to allow the judge of that case (his younger brother) to move Atmey to his courtroom.

After a particularly extensive argument and cross-examination against Luke, Phoenix was able to expose him as the true perpetrator of the crime, and that he did attempt to use a guilty verdict for grand larceny to escape one for murder. Atmey breaks down and confesses everything. But there is still mystery over just who Godot is...

References to other cases

 * In Mask☆DeMasque's Hideout, parts of the astronaut costume Wendy Oldbag wore in Farewell, My Turnabout can be spotted.


 * 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 alright having Ron testify as a witness, the defense attorney remembers when Mia let he himself do so when he was on trial.


 * Larry 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 other media

 * 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.

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.


 * During Ron DeLite's murder trial testimony, he states he is not afraid of the "...blackmail threads...", instead of threats.


 * When Mia Fey makes an appearance near the end of Luke Atmey's murder trial, she says, "Your Honor, when you were in a child, this is what was on your report card every year."

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")