| Courtney Sithe |
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- "Courtney" redirects here; you may be looking for "Justine Courtney", the judge in Gyakuten Kenji 2.
Doctor Courtney Sithe (née Simon) was the newly-established head coroner of Scotland Yard. She worked at the forefront of forensic science with her daughter, Maria Goulloyne. She was a witness during Odie Asman's murder trial.
Part of a conspiracy
- Main article: The Professor Killings
Courtney Sithe, then known under the surname Simon, was once the second assistant of Doctor John Wilson, along with exchange student Yujin Mikotoba. The two were present during the autopsy of Klimt van Zieks, the supposed final victim of the infamous "Professor." Though neither Mikotoba or Simon were watching, Wilson supposedly found the ring of Genshin Asogi in the victim's stomach; in truth, this was a forgery to frame Asogi and protect the identity of the true Professor, Klimt. Though Mikotoba had some reservations, the ring was used as decisive evidence to arrest Asogi.
However, Asogi had made a deal with Mael Stronghart in order to return to Japan: by pleading guilty, he would be falsely declared executed, and later dug up. Stronghart enlisted Simon's help for this, and she wrongly declared on the autopsy that Asogi had been executed. The student was then buried alive, and waited to be dug up.
However, that night, disaster struck: Rather than being dug up by Stronghart and exchange student Seishirou Jigoku, Asogi was instead found by student Enoch Drebber, who had been acting as a grave robber in order to pay his debts. In panic, Stronghart ordered Jigoku to end Asogi, and Drebber fled. The student would later speak of his encounter to multiple tabloids, and the legend that the feared "Professor" had risen from the grave swept through England for a short period, before eventually dying out.
Drebber's discovery of the "Professor"
However, one of these tabloid authors was very persistent. Understanding the truth of the rumors, then author Odie Asman blackmailed Simon under the threat of revealing the truth of the forged autopsy; these blackmails appeared in records as the odd and recurring purchases of 500 scalpels. In the subsequent years, Simon's former mentor, John Wilson, would take a position as part of the secret "Death Bringer" organization, and forged the autopsies of its victims. When Mikotoba invited Wilson to Japan, Simon would end up taking his place in this role, and assumed the role of head coroner. It was during this time that she seemingly married and adopted the Sithe surname. She also started to work with her daughter, Maria Goulloyne.
Getting her revenge
- Main article: The Case of the Explosive Exhibition
10 years later, Courtney Sithe was called to the crime scene for the teleportation device of Albert Harebrayne, who had been funded by Odie Asman, now a famous investor. Upon discovering Asman's body, however, she found it was not a corpse, but rather a wax figure of the Professor. Furthermore, she discovered an anonymous note on the sculpture that ordered her to rearrange the crime scene in order to frame Harebrayne, under threat of revealing the truth of the Professor autopsy. Sithe easily complied, seeing it as her way to finally get back at Asman for the years of blackmail. While she ordered her trusted subordinates to arrange the scene, she secretly descended into the depths of the teleportation device. There, she found Asman, who had actually fallen through the device; the teleportation had all been a magic trick designed by Enoch Drebber in order to kill Asman for ruining his life. Meningen was still alive, and attempting to escape, so Sithe stabbed him with Harebrayne's screwdriver, killing him. This caused blood to drip vertically down his shirt.
The next day, Sithe discovered Ryunosuke Naruhodo and Susato Mikotoba rummaging through her office, and hurriedly forced them out. She later discovered them once more, along with Herlock Sholmes, Tobias Gregson, and Gina Lestrade, who had discovered the hiding place of Drebber ahead of her arrival. When she threatened Gregson and chastised Naruhodo, Gregson revealed that without them, Drebber's lab would have been blown to bits by his time bomb. However, Drebber revealed they had only deactivated one of his time bombs; the other was located in the teleportation machine, and destroyed all traces of it, removing Drebber's "magic trick" from the world.
The following trial, Naruhodo was able to deduce that only someone working with the crime scene would have been able to manipulate it, and pinpointed Sithe. However, due to her high ranking position, it was not enough to bring her to the witness stand. It was only after Naruhodo found a connection between Drebber and Sithe through the Professor that the doctor was able to be summoned. Courtney at first pleaded that she had nothing to do with the crime. However, as Naruhodo revealed more details and pushed Drebber into a corner, Sithe pleaded accomplice, and declared that she would take any punishment that was given to her. However, Naruhodo was not convinced; with help from Barok van Zieks, he was able to push for more testimony, and uncovered that Sithe was not an accomplice, but in fact the true killer. Defeated, Sithe slammed her fist on the witness stand, while telling those present that they had no idea what it was like protecting the Professor case all those years. She was then arrested after Drebber admits the full extent of his plan.
During the credits, Maria Goulloyne visits Sithe, admitting she is glad her mother is still alive, despite everything.
Name
- Courtney possibly comes from "coroner", relating to her profession.
- Sithe comes from the verb shisu (死す), "to die".
Trivia
- Courtney Sithe is the third culprit to appear in the credits, after Robert Crogley and Beh'leeb Inmee.
- Ironically, she also appears in jail during the credits which is another similarity to Robert Crogley. Though technically, Seishirou Jigoku and Mael Stronghart appear in the credits of The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures. However, they weren't established as culprits in the first game.
- Tobias Gregson appears in the credits of the first game and The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve; however, while he planned several assassinations, he never directly killed anyone.