Turnabout Target

Episode 1: Turnabout Target is the first case in Gyakuten Kenji 2. Miles Edgeworth, Dick Gumshoe and Kay Faraday must solve the attempted murder of the president of Zheng Fa at Gourd Lake. It features the return of the professional assassin Shelly de Killer, once again under the name "John Doe", as a suspect.

Beginning
The beginning shows the president of Zheng Fa, Teikun Ō delivering a speech about a smuggling ring which exported counterfeit bills to Zheng Fa (resulted in ruining the country's economy) and how thankful they were for Edgeworth to take down the ring's leader. A gun was then shown and it fires the bullet. The crowd screamed and ran while the two bodyguards suddenly became alert of the gunman. Edgeworth then arrived at the scene.

March 25, 2:46 PM

Edgeworth and Detective Gumshoe then recounted the facts about the case and Edgeworth gathered two pieces of Logic.

A woman from beneath the stage then yelled out and asked what was he going to do next. Edgeworth didn't reply back but Gumshoe answered her question by explaining the process of Logic (making Edgeworth seem a little unpleasant after the explanation was over). Edgeworth then investigated a Zheng Fa flag and a popped Steel Samurai balloon on the left of the stage and deduced that the stray bullet came from a certain direction.

The woman, now revealed to be Mikiko Hayami, then bugged Edgeworth more about the investigation. At first, Edgeworth ignored her. But when Hayami tells him she has more information about the assassination attempt, it captured Edgeworth's interest. However, Hayami refuses to give up her information easily. Edgeworth instead faced Hayami in a game of Logic Chess. After destroying Hayami's pawn, it was proven that Hayami was a reporter. Edgeworth then proceeded to prove that Hayami recorded the gunshot and destroyed her Queen, beating Hayami in Logic Chess. Hayami gave away her information, telling Edgeworth she recorded the speech (with her own commentary in it). The tape shows Ō talking before two gunshot sounds were heard.

Gumshoe then found a bag with the stage plans in it, which showed the two bodyguards as "Rook" and "Knight" (it also listed them with their surnames, "Tojiro" and "Naitō") while Ō was shown as the "King". The bag that contained the stage plans also had the gun inside it. Edgeworth examined the gun and it was revealed that two of the bullets were fired, just like the tape showed, and the gun had a laser sight. Edgeworth also deduced that the shooter had to be in the lower-left part of the stage, which is where the spectators were.

Kay then appeared on top of a van and talked to Edgeworth. She then showed him three photos: the second photo - a photo of the two bodyguards and the president with a strange red dot on his forehead - contradicted with the newspaper article with a picture of Ō, which showed nothing unusual. Edgeworth then deduced the red dot was actually the laser sight. Edgeworth looked at the first photo (which has Kay taking up most of the frame) and he noticed a red-coated figure with a laser in his hands behind a man.

Edgeworth then examined the third photo, which showed the same red-coated figure. Edgeworth then talked to a man, who was revealed to be Winston Payne. He said he is assisting as a prosecutor and that the Chief Prosecutor was excused from the blockade because of a "special case", which doesn't sastify Edgeworth.

The investigation proceeded to a Samurai Dogs stand, which was revealed to have the red coat hidden underneath and a button nearby. Edgeworth examined the coat, which strangely had some blood stains inside. One stain was near where a button should have been, which confirmed the button was from the coat. Gumshoe went to look for anyone suspicious.

3:27 PM

The police then found the suspect, "John Doe", an ice cream vendor and Edgeworth decided to confront him (right after Gumshoe explained the process of cross-examining a testimony). Doe was then shown to be wounded, which interested Edgeworth a little.

John Doe's Testimony
Doe argued that even though someone who is wearing a raincoat might look suspicious, it doesn't mean that they have to be injured. Doe then stated he used an umbrella. Edgeworth then stated that the raincoat had blood inside it so the owner had to be injured.

Doe admitted he wore the red raincoat during the speech but the bodyguards scattered rather quickly when they heard the gunshot. Edgeworth then wonders if he really was the only one that could've wore the raincoat. When Edgeworth asked Doe about the bodyguards, he stated that the bodyguard on the left side of the stage took action quickly. Edgeworth then asked that was Tojiro and Doe agreed that a "Mr. Gai Tojiro" was the bodyguard. Edgeworth however noticed how Doe knew Tojiro's name. Doe simply said Edgeworth just told him. However, Edgeworth never told him his first name. Not only that, the stage plans only stated him as "Tojiro", meaning there was no way Doe could've known his first name. Doe simply said he was associated with Tojiro but even in Tojiro's line of work, he isn't an associate of him.

Payne then got impatient with Edgeworth and told him to arrest Doe, claiming he was suspicious enough to warrant an arrest. Doe then decided to tell the "truth". He stated that he saw another person wearing the same red raincoat as him and quickly removed his raincoat. The other person was then close to the "prosecutor". Edgeworth said he only arrived after the speech but Doe corrected him by saying he was referring to Payne, who said that Payne was seen in Kay's first photo and was near the person wearing the red raincoat. Doe also said he noticed a contradiction in the investigation: Hayami's video tape. Since the video tape contained Payne's voice, Hayami had to be very close to Payne.

Mikiko Hayami's Testimony
Edgeworth then confronts Hayami who was implicated by the tape recording. She argued that Kay took the photo at a different time and argued that she was constantly moving during the speech. Edgeworth proved she was lying by her own tape. Her commentary in the tape had shown that Ō raised his fist in the air as he did in the first photo. It was proven that Hayami was the only one in the red raincoat.

Hayami then still pleaed that the red raincoat didn't belong to her. Edgeworth said its owner was John Doe. She was just wearing a red hood. Edgeworth then asked Hayami about her parka. She said she could turn it inside out before realizing what Edgeworth was talking about. The inside of the parka was red. She then told Edgeworth that she wasn't trying to assassinate Ō but suddenly someone interrupted her.

One of the president's bodyguards and the second-in-command Manosuke Naitō then appeared, stating that it wasn't the "endgame" yet. He brought both good and bad news. The good news - the president was safe and sound. The bad news - Gai Tojiro, the head bodyguard had been killed, which Naitō commented that the "castling" was a bad move. He said Tojiro was killed when he gave his life for the president, when he protected him from the bullet. The prime suspect was Hayami and Naitō said that there was also a third thing: he insisted that the Zheng Fa police should take over the investigation. It was then apparent that he was trying to stop Edgeworth's investigation. Much to everyone's surprise, Doe took Naitō hostage. Edgeworth noticed that he used a knife, not a gun. He had the knife concealed in his bandages as he was brought in. Naitō then told Edgeworth "John Doe" is really Shelly de Killer. De Killer noted that this was the first time he and Edgeworth met face to face. He revealed that someone, a "curious personage", requested the assassination of the president. Tojiro was the only bodyguard capable of stopping him, so he wanted to know the truth behind his death. He ordered Naitō to take them to the president's private jet so that Edgeworth could investigate. Edgeworth planned to use the investigation to buy themselves some time and had the police surround the plane so that De Killer wouldn't be able to escape. All six of them then proceeded to enter the plane.

The President's Private Jet
4:15 PM

When the six of them entered the plane, they found the corpse of Naitō's partner, Tojiro. Ō himself was nowhere to be found, still hiding in the security room. Edgeworth examined the body and found out that the bullet was missing. He also found that the suitcase the bodyguard was seen holding was empty and that he was holding his gun. Edgeworth deduced that it was the same kind of handgun as the laser sighted one.

He then found an another version of the stage plans on the desk in the same room. Oddly enough, the new plans had the "Rook" and "Knight" switched and there were supposed to be eight more bodyguards guarding the president during his speech. Naitō revealed that two days ago de Killer, trying to fulfill his assassination contract, slipped by in a bodyguard's suit. They tried to stop him but he quickly incapacitated Naitō by grabbing his neck. The bald bodyguards couldn't do anything either, only the head bodyguard himself managed to injure de Killer's arm. As a result of this incident, Naitō was forced to wear a neck guard and de Killer had to put his arm into splints. For safety reasons, they changed the plan to have the guards standing in doubles, with only two of the president's most capable bodyguards standing next to him. There was also a bulletproof vest on the president's desk. Since Tojiro wasn't wearing one, he deduced that he had to be attacked by surprise. Edgeworth then connected the missing bullet and the bulletproof vest. The number of bullets didn't add up. One shot the the balloon, one hit the president and one killed Tojiro, yet there were only two shots fired.

Behind the desk was a set of nine TV screens, each of them monitoring a part of the plane. One of them was apparently broken, showing only static. Another one was monitoring an odd stuffed Borumosu doll, which was missing one of its horns and Naitō explained it was a keepsake from the president. Suddenly, de Killer, satisfied with the progress of the investigation, decided to make his escape. Even though they tried to stop him, he fled using the emergency exit before he could be apprehended. He left behind his calling card, but he kept the identity of his client secret. However, it was obvious that he wasn't the one who killed Tojiro. Afterwards, Teikun Ō arrived along with his two other bodyguards.

Confronting the president
4:45 PM

The president confronted Edgeworth, first facing him in Logic Chess. Once again, he wanted to take investigative authority from Edgeworth so he had Naitō confiscate all the evidence he gathered. They argued whether extraterritoriality rights can be applied. Edgeworth beat him, since the assassination attempt he was investigating happened outside and not on board of the plane where the rights were valid. He retained his investigative authority and all evidence was returned. Afterwards, he heard the president's testimony about the incident. He argued about the trajectory of the bullet that hit the Steel Samurai balloon. It was supposed to come from the audience. However, it also had to penetrate the Zheng Fa flag, which was waving the other way (to the plane), as evidenced by Kay's photo. Therefore, the shot had to come from the stage, from where Naitō was standing. Also, Naitō claimed that because of his neck injury he couldn't turn his head to the right. Edgeworth combined this fact with the swapped positions of him and Tojiro on the new plans. He deduced that it was changed specifically so that Naitō could shoot the balloon. If he hadn't been injured, he could simply shoot the balloon on the other side from his original position. He combined the "Assassination" and "Change of security plans" Logic pieces with the other facts - the reason why the perpetrator used a laser pointer and why they wanted to take away an investigative authority from Edgeworth. The whole assassination attempt was a setup. Naitō shot the balloon to cause a panic in the crowd and make it seem like an another bullet hit the president. The shot bulletproof vest on the president's desk was indeed Ō's and in had been prepared with a bullet already inside beforehand.

With all that, Ō finally broke down, revealing himself as a gluttonous and chubby man. Hayami added that she was asked at the Zheng Fa embassy to target a laser at the president's forehead. She had been looking for a scoop so she agreed. She was supposed to get a special interview with the president afterwards. Ō admits that he faked the assassination attempt because of declining popularity. He wanted to look like a hero to his people. He also mentioned that the plan didn't involve Tojiro, since he was an honest man and he knew he would never agree to it. Instead, he entrusted it to Naitō. He wondered why Tojiro's life was taken, when the whole thing was fake. He said he was an outstanding bodyguard (even though he wasn't from Zheng Fa) and that he had his utmost trust and truly regretted his loss, to which Naitō responded negatively. He also said he wasn't aware of the details. Naitō pointed out that from now on, he's the leader. Edgeworth questioned his ambition and said that his "perfect plan" today was a failure. Naitō defended himself and said it was Edgeworth's and Tojiro's fault that it failed. He tells them he died protecting the president, that it was his "lifelong amibtion", mocking him.

Naitō's Logic
Naitō then interrupts, claiming that it was still Hayami who shot Tojiro. He admitted shooting the balloon but said that the real assassin fired the second shot. And since De Killer intended to attack the president with a knife, the real assassin was Hayami. She quickly denies it, but Naitō claims she threw the gun in the trash. Edgeworth proceeds to confront his logic. The oddest point in his testimony was the number of guns and bullets. Naitō used a gun to shoot the balloon and one gun was found in the trash to make it look like the killer was in the audience. Edgeworth pointed out that the gun in the trash didn't match the number of gunshots, so it was false evidence planted by the killer. He then accuses Naitō of killing Tojiro, which shocks the president. Edgeworth argued that the third shooting occured in the plane, when Ō was taken to the security room, so Tojiro and Naitō were left alone. Naitō said that there was no third bullet, because only two gunshots were heard. The doors were closed and soundproof. Oddly enough, the president, who was in the next room didn't hear the gunshot. When pressed, he reveals he was hiding under his bed, covering his ears. Even though the assassination plan was fake, he tells them he hates the sound of gunshots. Since there was no chance to throw the bullet out after he was shot, the bullet had to be somewhere in the cabin. Before, they thought the bullet that killed Tojiro went through his body and hit the vest. Now that they knew the assassination plan was fake and the bullet in the vest was prepared earlier, so the real bullet had to be somewhere else. He remembered that one of the surveillance monitors was broken. He realized that it was struck by the bullet. He had it researched while Naitō pleaded to the president, saying that his extraterritoriality laws do apply to the plane. The president, however, wanted to know the truth behind Tojiro's death so he let them. The forensics confirmed that the blood on it was Tojiro's and the fingerprints on it belonged to Naitō, but also that the ballistic markings on the bullet matched that of the pistol found in the audience, which had a laser scope attached to it.

Hayami defended herself, claiming she was innocent and that it was all Naitō's work. His fingerprints were on the gun, but then again he was the one who temporarily took all the evidence. Edgeworth argued that he detached the laser pointer behind his back. However, there wasn't any evidence to prove that. The final evidence to prove his involvement in the murder were the bullets in the gun. He should have been the one who filled them in and he didn't have any time to get a pair of gloves. As expected, there were two bullets fired. The fingerprints on the casings matched the bloodstained one, they were Naitō's. That proved that he had been the real culprit. On the stage, he faced the balloon and let off two shots. Afterwards, one shot killed Tojiro - a total of three shots - so he replaced the bullets. And at that time, he wasn't wearing any gloves. Thus it was proven he switched the guns when he tampered with the evidence given to him. Confronted with the facts he finally broke down. Naitō spun his gun even more wildly than before, tossing it into the air multiple times. Immediately a horseshoe, The Thinker, a Blue Badger doll, Mr iFly, a box of Samurai Dogs and a hammer, presumably dislodged from the overhead baggage compartment, fell on his head, before his gun finally fell back down and knocked him out. Apparently, he hated Tojiro and was jealous of his position. He wanted to be the leader, he hoped that he would finally get promoted to head bodyguard and he said his assassination plan was perfect.

Aftermath
5:12 PM

The president realized how Naitō was brimming with hatred for Tojiro and that he was anxious about asking him instead of Tojiro. He probably sensed the anxiety which gave him the impetus for murder. Edgeworth tells him that he still came up with the fake assassination, which is a crime. Ō said he was correct and apologized, saying that he has to take responsibility. He thanked Edgeworth again and told them he will be staying only for a little while longer and that if any of them wanted to visit Zheng Fa, they would be always welcome. With these words, he left. Hayami was cleared of all suspicion of murder. However, she was going to be accused for being an accomplice to the fake assassination attempt and for giving a false testimony about the incident. She was going to be questioned by the police later.

Edgeworth then said that the case was still not over. There was one question left open - who Shelly de Killer's client was and why he wanted the president dead. De Killer's request wasn't carried out, though Edgeworth was glad that it didn't grow into an even more serious incident.

The case made news all over the country. It was reported in the media that Edgeworth would prosecute in Naitō's trial. Everyone heard about the case, and everyone was talking about it, but the game had only just begun...

References to other cases

 * The case takes place at Gourd Lake. Along with the popped Steel Samurai baloon, this is a reference to Turnabout Goodbyes.
 * After his breakdown, The Thinker (The First Turnabout), a Blue Badger doll and Mr. Ifly (Turnabout Airlines) fell on Naitō's head.