Ace Attorney Case Files: Rise From The Ashes(Part 1/3)

The gap between my previous update and the one before it was longer than usual, so to make up for it, I'll post this next one a bit early.

 Introduction

Rise From The Ashes is unusual in many ways. It's the only case in the franchise that doesn't have "Turnabout" in its name. It was added to the original game's rerelease on the DS, between Trials & Tribulations and Apollo Justice. It also features minigames that would later be seen in Apollo Justice. To a lesser extent, it's one of the longest cases in the franchise.

Because of the latter, this Case File will be split into three parts, one for each day.

Investigation Day 1

The case begins with Phoenix in his office, some time after Maya's return to Kurain Village. Apparently, he's had offers for cases, but hasn't taken any, which is a poor idea considering how little business he usually gets. He receives a visit from a girl named Ema Skye, who's asking for Mia Fey, and mistakes him for her. In the original Japanese, Mia had a unisex name of Chihiro, a bit like Adrian Andrews in Justice for All, but that doesn't explain why Ema doesn't know that Mia was murdered months ago.

Ema introduces herself as an eleventh grader and a scientific investigator. She mentions that her sister has been accused of murder, with the trial being set for tomorrow, and that her sister asked her to hire Mia if she were ever to need a defense attorney. Ema also hints that their relationship has grown strained. Phoenix later observes that Ema reminds him of Maya, but while Maya also had a much older sister in Mia, the Fey sisters' relationship was heathier than that of the Skye sisters.

When Phoenix and Ema head to the Detention Center, Ema's sister Lana is rather unhappy to see her, threatening to ensure the guard doesn't get a raise this year over it. While she is Chief Prosecutor, one would expect that she no longer has any authority now that she's being detained as a suspect in a murder.

Lana is rather cold to Ema. She also tells Phoenix that she confessed, that she injured her hand during the crime, that a witness saw her commit the crime and that since the victim is a detective, the prosecutor's office will go all out to find her guilty. Despite all this, Phoenix believes something doesn't add up. Ema also observes that Lana has changed.

Phoenix and Ema head to the crime scene, and while Ema wants to make a good impression on her future coworkers, Phoenix wants to keep a low profile, since attorneys aren't supposed to examine crime scenes. His caution is reasonable, but if he'd refrained from examining the crime scenes, he wouldn't have won any of his past three cases, given that prosecutors aren't willing to share evidence with the defense.

A policeman dressed as a cowboy shows up and, in his own vernacular, tells Ema and Phoenix to stay out of the crime scene. Despite that, Phoenix and Ema investigate.

Upon picking up a wallet, Ema teaches Phoenix about examining 3D objects, a mechanic that's exclusive to this case, and later saw more use in Apollo Justice and subsequent games. An examination of the wallet reveals that the ID belongs to the victim, Bruce Goodman.

Examining the car results in the cowboy police officer appearing again and referring the two to the 12th floor of the Prosecutors' Office, where they will find its owner.

Phoenix and Ema encounter a lunch lady who reveals that she is the witness to the crime. Her name is Angel Starr, and she hates prosecutors for some reason. She apparently has a boyfriend on duty at the parking lot. In yet another case of the Japanese elements of the story appearing in the localization, she hands out bentos(Japanese lunch boxes), and you can see rice balls on her hat.

Phoenix pays a visit to the office in question and finds the King of Prosecutors trophy. He finds out that it belongs to Edgeworth, as well as how Ema is a fan of Edgeworth. Edgeworth is less than happy about the body being found in his car(implying he was supposed to be framed for the murder), as well as him having to prosecute his boss. Apparently, people are spreading rumors about him, and suspecting that he's responsible for Goodman's murder. He's also unhappy about receiving the King of Prosecutors award, calling it a "toy." While Edgeworth has always been the sort of stoic individual who isn't overly concerned what other people think of him, it's indicated that he's perhaps ashamed of the person he's become.

Edgeworth mentions having worked with Lana in the past, but feels betrayed by her stabbing someone in his car with his knife. He also recalls being given the King of Prosecutors award on the day of the murder. The ceremony was held in the police headquarters, which did its evidence transferral- putting away old evidence- that day. This seems like quite a coincidence, although it's later suggested that the real killer wanted Edgeworth at the police station.

As Phoenix's conversation with Edgeworth concludes, Mike Meekins, a police officer, shows up with  report for Edgeworth, but Edgeworth shoos him after hearing that it supposedly has nothing to do with his case. This ends up coming back to haunt Edgeworth, but Meekins could have done a better job explaining what it was about.

Phoenix and Ema go to the police headquarters, and notice the disturbing-looking Blue Badger mascot outside. Detective Gumshoe arrives, convinced that Lana is guilty but unaware of her being Ema's older sister. He apparently is out of the loop on the investigation, despite the fact that a patrolman like Marshall is in charge of the crime scene. Since Edgeworth had always been the subject of unsavory rumors, and his critics became emboldened after his murder trial, it's possible Gumshoe is suffering due to his association with Edgeworth. Gumshoe offers Phoenix a letter of introduction to convince Marshall to let him access the crime scene.

Phoenix returns to the crime scene in time to see Angel leaving to see her other boyfriend in Criminal Affairs. Marshall accepts Gumshoe's letter, noticing that the front is incorrectly written. When asked about the victim and defendant, Marshall suggests that Goodman worked with Lana in the past, but is somewhat evasive. He also mentions that contrary to what Gumshoe said, the police are shorthanded and Gumshoe was kept out of the loop for associating with Edgeworth; Gumshoe seems dumb enough not to notice this, despite being aware of Edgeworth's bad reputation. Like Angel, Marshall dislikes Edgeworth, and suspects Lana was in some way responsible for his unnatural winning streak.

Phoenix finds a note in the trunk of Edgeworth's car with what looks like a date on it. Looking closely, however,  reveals that the stationery logo is on the bottom of the note, revealing that it was written upside down, but no one knows the significance of the letters and numbers.

Phoenix finds Lana's cell phone on the ground at the crime scene, and after impulsively pressing the redial button, learns that Lana called someone just before her arrest. As the investigation concludes, Ema assumes Lana called Phoenix, but Phoenix realizes that Lana actually called Ema. The answer to the mystery is not revealed at the moment.

Trial Day 1, Part 1

As the trial begins, Phoenix is unsure of what to think, but Lana is convinced she'll be found guilty. She warns Phoenix not to believe in his clients, since being on trial means they're already suspected of wrongdoing(although the basis can be rather flimsy). Phoenix politely and succinctly shuts Lana down by saying that she reminds him of Mia in a few ways, but she isn't a defense attorney. It's a short and effective display of Phoenix's ideals, even if he hasn't been put to the test the way he is in "Farewell, My Turnabout."

Phoenix mentally remarks that he's going to court without either of the Fey sisters' help, so things will be especially hard. He's not wrong about that, but in "Turnabout Goodbyes," Maya was unable to use her channeling at all(instead taking a key piece of evidence), and in the anime adaptation of "Turnabout Samurai," Maya didn't channel Mia.

Court begins, and Edgeworth appears confident despite all the stress he's under- confident enough to warn Phoenix not to let his feelings get in the way before calling his first witness. Unlike most cases, the detective investigating doesn't take the stand, probably because Gumshoe is being frozen out due to his ties with Edgeworth.

That witness is none other than Angel Starr, a "professional." She's reluctant to provide her profession as a lunch lady, but it eventually turns out that she's an ex-homicide detective.

Angel mentions that the parking lot where the crime took place is divided into two lots- the A lot, where the murder took place, is reserved for prosecutors, and Angel witnessed the crime from B lot. Angel apparently was the one who arrested Lana, despite no longer being a police officer, let alone a detective.

In the first cross examination, Angel claims to have seen Lana kill the victim, but there's a problem- the photo she took was after the stabbing. Angel, undeterred, claims that it was premeditated by virtue of Lana wearing gloves. Phoenix, however, observes that if Lana didn't bring the knife, but had to use Edgeworth's knife, she couldn't have planned it.

Angel, increasingly angry, makes even more obvious mistakes. She claims that she saw Lana stab Goodman again and again, despite the autopsy report revealing that Goodman was stabbed once. Angel's basis for this claim- the red muffler Lana wears- turns out to have been refuted by Angel's won photo. Edgeworth, apparently as tired of Angel's unreliable testimony as Phoenix is, helpfully points out the flaws and gets the credit.

Despite this, the most damning point- that Lana was seen stabbing the victim- still stands. Angel claims that Lana mentioned the muffler on a phone conversation, first trying the nearby phone before using her cell phone. Unfortunately, Angel couldn't have seen Lana from her vantage point, and it turns out she actually witnessed the stabbing from the security room. Angel bitterly says that she's determined to see that Lana gets what she deserves, but Phoenix suspects Lana wouldn't commit perjury(which gets a slap on the wrist in the Ace Attorney universe, but that's beside the point) without a good reason. The reason is that because of the stuck door, Angel couldn't have reached Lana immediately, resulting in her running all the way to B Parking Lot, and Phoenix observes that Lana should have used that time to try to get away.

Although Angel's credibility is all but gone by this point, she still has one last piece of evidence left- a bloody shoe that has Lana and Goodman's blood on it. Edgeworth, however, refuses to accept it, citing the first rule of evidence law- that evidence can't be shown without the approval of the police, which does beg the question of why Phoenix constantly gets away with presenting evidence he found at the crime scenes. Despite her rather unreliable testimony, Angel is aware of this and has prepared for it, having run the evidence by her "boyfriend" in forensics. Amazingly, Phoenix doesn't know about evidence law at all, which makes one wonder what he learned about in school and how he even got the job of being a lawyer for Mia's law office.

Despite the gaps in Phoenix's knowledge, he's no fool, and he notices a problem with the shoe- blood on the sole, despite the fact that there was no blood on the floor of the crime scene. Nevertheless, Edgeworth recalls when Angel mentioned how Lana knocked over an oil drum full of water, and concludes that this washed away the blood.

The judge is prepared to declare a verdict, but Ema, by protesting(unlike Maya in the previous case, she avoids being found in contempt of court), goads Angel into sharing a photo of the crime scene... one that lends credence to the water theory. Phoenix then bluffs about having an objection, and manages to buy enough time to point out a flaw in the photo- the muffler of Edgeworth's car, which has a piece of cloth hidden in it. While Phoenix often squeaks by through improvising, it's often necessitated by the judge not giving him time to properly think.

The judge, having realized that a significant piece of evidence exists, calls for a recess, leading to a save point. Your life gauge will also be restored if you made any mistakes, which is a welcome development after this relatively difficult session.

Trial Day 1, Part 2

During the recess, Marshall comes to speak with Ema and Phoenix, confirming that Lana was wearing a scarf that day.

Court resumes, and Edgeworth is at a loss for some reason. At that point, Damon Gant, the police chief, arrives, accompanied by a rather ominous organ leitmotif and raising the temperature by over five degrees just by his presence. After the leitmotif ends, Gant turns out to be rather familiar with the judge, calling him "Udgey," and while this implies that they're friends,  he's just as familiar with Phoenix "Wrighto" Wright (who not only hasn't met him but doesn't know who he is), as well as Miles "Worthy"/"Little Worthy" Edgeworth(whom Gant doesn't seem to like)/

Gant brings two piece of evidence with him. The first is Lana's muffler- that is, her scarf- and the ea switchblade knife. Edgeworth asks why Gant didn't bring this to him earlier, but Gant says that he had sent it over the previous day, but Edgeworth hadn't taken it.

The judge asks Phoenix to inspect the knife, which has a broken tip, blood on the blade and a tag saying "SL-9." The case being identified by two letters, a hyphen and a number is familiar to Phoenix, who spent much of the previous case investigating DL-6, as well as to Ema, who somehow finds the number familiar.

Gant then takes the stand and reveals that the police have been conducting a top-secret investigation of a murder of a detective at the police station, at the same time as Goodman's death.

The next cross-examination is rather complicated. Unlike most cross-examinations, it doesn't end when you 1)Present a piece of evidence that contradicts a statement or 2)Press all relevant statements(which usually happens at the start of the trial, during the detective's testimony).

Phoenix must present the note, which actually reads "SL-9," to prove that the knife is connected to the murder. After that, Phoenix must then press Gant about where the other detective was killed to learn that the crime took place in the evidence room- where the knife came from. Phoenix then presses Gant (no evidence presentation requiremed) to assert that the killing is related to the case, and gests Gant to give the detective's ID number... the same as Goodman's.

The court is rather confused about the same victim being killed in two different locations. Edgeworth is especially flustered, but Gant chides him for sending Meekins away(although to be fair, Meekins failed to explain why it was relevant). Gant cites the second rule of law- evidence must bet relevant to the case at hand- and says Phoenix proved its relevance. Gant refers to Edgeworth as "a thorn in (his) side," citing his being on trial for murder and implying that he buys into the rumors, if he's not spreading them. The judge scolds Edgeworth for his negligence and says both prosecution and defense have another day to investigate the incident, resulting in court adjourning and a save point.

The Case Thus Far

So far, this is one of the more complex cases of the original trilogy, especially Angel Starr's testimony. Gant's testimony is more complex, but it's easier to avoid penalties if you know what you're doing.

At this point, it's impossible to determine the true culprit's identity, assuming one doesn't believe that Lana is guilty, but some crucial pieces of evidence have become available, even if their significance isn't obvious yet. It also hints at crucial story elements, such as a past murder case and Edgeworth changing for the better, without being too obvious about it. The characters introduced are relatively interesting and memorable, and as such, Rise from the Ashes gets of to a strong start.