7 A Time to Kill

Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth
Edgeworth’s Penthouse, Los Angeles

There was a hushed silence from Edgeworth and the children as five sets of anxious eyes fixated on the defense attorney, whose fingers were trembling as he held the cell to his ear.

“H-hello?” He swallowed hard and tried to keep his voice steady, even as he felt beads of sweat forming by his temples.

“Hey, Mr. Wright! How’s it going? Are you and Mr. Edgeworth watching that John Grisham movie A Time to Kill? It’s on TV tonight!”

A Time to Kill? Otherwise known as any time should our wives ever find out about the series of unfortunate events that transpired tonight?!

“A-Apollo?” Phoenix’s knees sagged beneath him, such was the weight of his respite, as he flopped down on the sofa between the twins and Ace as limply as a rag doll. The sound of his subordinate’s voice on the other end of the line, instead of the anticipated suspicious and disapproving one of his wife, made him feel as if he’d just gotten the world’s biggest reprieve!

Around him, Edgeworth and the children gave a collective sigh of relief as well.

“Yeah, Mr. Wright, don’t you remember?” Apollo sounded surprised. “Earlier today at the office, you said that since your wives were going out, you and Mr. Edgeworth would babysit tonight at his place and would shuffle the kids off to bed early and that afterward, your game plan was to relax and check out that movie. I said I’d do the same, and we were going to compare notes at work, and laugh our butts off at all the dumb Hollywood courtroom and legal inaccuracies in it!”

Take it easy? The Baron of Bluffing rubbed his aching forehead with his free hand. Did I actually say that? Moreover, did I seriously believe that?! How foolish and naïve could I have possibly been back then… even though this was only 14 hours ago?! What possessed me to ever think that looking after kids was going to be relaxing?!

Phoenix cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh yeah, I guess I did say that, didn’t I?” He mumbled, feeling a blush crawling up his cheeks. “Is that what you and Athena are doing right now?”

“Well, Athena’s upstairs putting Dion to bed,” Apollo explained. “But that was my game plan for the rest of the evening, unless of course…” There was a smirk in his voice with his next innuendo sentence. “My lovely wife has better and more creative ideas for what we can do the rest of the night…”

The meaning of the subtle as Mack truck words were not lost on Phoenix, who suddenly felt ridiculously envious of his employee for getting the chance to kick back and idly watch television, as his young son was only a young infant, and therefore still incapable of walking and talking!

“Yeah well appreciate that while it lasts,” he muttered darkly. “If you’ve never taken my advice before, Apollo heed my words now as your older and wiser boss OK? Enjoy what time you have now to relax and be with your wife while Dion is still a baby! And if you know what’s good for you… You’ll stop at just one!”

“But I’d love to have another one! I really enjoy being a father!” Apollo protested. “By the time I get home from work, it’s just in time for me to give my son his dinner. I love feeding him – he’s starting to be on solid foods now and isn’t just solely on tap any more – and then he just goes to sleep shortly afterward, and I get to enjoy the rest of the evening with my wife! So, what is there not to love about being a parent to such a sweet baby? And you have to admit, little Dion is cuter than most!”

Would it be wholly cruel to tell him that’s probably because Dion’s looks took after his mother’s, ergo they got lucky with this one? Phoenix thought grumpily.

“You’ll see what I mean once the little guy is running around and talking,” he advised with a knowing grin, just as he suddenly heard Athena’s voice in the background.

“I’m still recovering from spending 20 hours in labor and being ripped from stem to stern, getting your spiky-haired, big-headed baby out of me, and you’re already talking about another one?!” Athena exclaimed in disbelief. “Do I get any say in this at all?! And you think just because Dionysus is worn out and ready for bed by the time you come home, that that’s all there is to be a parent?! You’re not the one who has to keep an eye on him all day and clean up every time he spits up and pees, Apollo! Being a stay-at-home mom is a lot harder than you think, Buster!”

Ain’t that the truth! Phoenix silently agreed. Tonight was obviously me and Edgeworth’s karmic retribution forever thinking, never mind saying, otherwise!

“B-but…” Apollo stammered, frantically trying to placate his wife. “I- I didn’t mean it like that, Athena! Ow! Why’d you have to hit me!?”

“Because you just don’t get it!”

“Tiger, I’m sorry!”

“After getting sore and chapped nipples from feeding that greedy little guy every day for the past six months, who, by the way, has got an even more insatiable appetite for my breasts than his father ever did, including off and on all day today, I am not spending the rest of my evening watching anything even remotely lawyer related!” Athena asserted. “For once, we are gonna do something that I want to do! And pour votre information, I am beyond exhausted, so don’t even think about any of this evening’s activities in any way including the unzipping of your pants!”

“Athena!” Apollo whined plaintively. “Mr. Wright’s on the phone!”

“Yeah well he’s got kids, and I’m sure he’s done the same thing we did to wind up with them!” The yellow attorney giggled shamelessly. “Now put it on the Women’s Network! There is a commercial-free 50 Shades of Grey trilogy marathon that I’m dying to check out!”

Apollo barely stifled a whimper in response.

“I’m going to make some popcorn!” Athena announced cheerfully. “It starts in five minutes! Tell Boss and Mr. Edgeworth I said hi!”

“Of course, you’re entitled to do whatever you want Tiger…” The red attorney stammered, frantically groping for a way out of this unanticipated fresh hell! “Er, I’m just going to step out for a bit…I um, need to deliver some legal files over to Mr. Edgeworth’s that Mr. Wright asked me for – just now!”

“No, I did not!” Phoenix chuckled ruthlessly. “I refuse to be your alibi if it means partaking in any sort of dishonesty, especially regarding your wife and my fellow employee, Mr. Justice! Shame on you!” He barely suppressed another snicker at his end as he pictured the red attorney’s radio antenna horns drooping like fallen rabbit ears in defeat.

Apollo’s voice dropped a notch to a frantic whisper.

“Come on, Mr. Wright! You heard what cruel and unusual punishment she’s got planned for me! You’ve got to help me out!” Apollo begged. “I will do anything you want! I’ll even clean the toilets, until they sparkle, just like those lame-ass Twilight vampires, every single day, for a month!”

“Sorry, I can’t be your get-out jail card, Apollo, but Mr. Edgeworth and I have our hands full tonight as it is! Besides, this will build character! You know what they say, couples that suffer together, stay together!”

Phoenix rang off before the young man could make another desperate plea, and was still laughing to himself, however heartless it may have been, that his employee would have preferred to deal with 30 Days of Shit rather than 50 Shades of Grey!

He sobered then as he looked at Edgeworth and the kids, immediately reminded that his current plight was no laughing matter!

“That was Apollo and Athena,” Phoenix told them, fighting to erase all harboring traces of mirth from his face. “The newlyweds say hi.”

“That was a rather lengthy hello,” Edgeworth commented with a knowing grin, giving a full indication that he had overheard the majority of the conversation.

“What can I say? My employees are chatterboxes!” The blue attorney smirked right back.

Just then, there was a knock at the door to the condominium and the sound of jingling keys.

The look of relief that flashed across the chief prosecutor’s pensive face at the sight of the recent arrival was unmistakable.

The cavalry had arrived at last.

The next moment, a tall, barrel-chested, broad-shouldered man carrying a pair of galoshes in one hand and a toolbox in the other, confidently strode into the living room. Despite his casual attire of faded denim and polo shirt, he carried himself with dignified air and turned to Edgeworth with an attentive expression

“I have arrived at your bidding, Master Edgeworth,” he announced grandly in his posh British accent, with his customary reserved countenance and decorum, despite being off duty. “How might I be of service?”

“Hiyee, Hand-Dicks!” Ace chirped, waving cheerily from the sofa.

There was the mother of all awkward pauses in the living room.

“I’m so sorry…my son’s only 2… he can’t say, Hendricks…” Phoenix muttered, beyond mortified, but the butler waved the apology away with a good-natured smile and turned to his employer.

Edgeworth gulped, obviously uncertain of how to begin.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Hendricks,” he mumbled awkwardly. “I realize that you are indeed off for the evening and apologize for any imposition this may have made on your plans…and assure you of course that you will be consequently compensated for this additional time.” He coughed nervously. “Er, you do remember my friend, Phoenix Wright, and his children, don’t you?”

Hendricks regarded the magenta-clad man with an uncharacteristic expression of barely restrained amusement.

“But of course,” he replied politely, then graciously inclined his head towards the visitor.  “I do say, Mr. Wright, you haven’t changed a bit! And it’s been hours.”

The butler’s gentle teasing reminder to his flustered employer that he had already been there previously that evening (and served the guests) was not lost on Phoenix, who grinned in response, but Edgeworth just gawked at his manservant blankly for a moment, obviously too stressed to have gotten the joke.

“Although, I do notice some changes from the last time I saw your children, Mr. Wright,” Hendricks continued, his merriment evident now as his dark mustache twitched to hide a smile. “Now, of course, my memory may be fading in my old age, but I could have sworn your lovely daughter did not have more white hair on her head than I did, when I saw her last, and that your mini-me son… appeared to have been washed and bathed and in the custody of trousers.”

Phoenix’s cheeks reddened. Aside from Mia’s powdery ghostly appearance, he realized that his son’s bare bottom on that leather sofa was probably bringing back other memories to the butler which the defense attorney fervently hoped wouldn’t be brought up at that particular moment!

Dear God, please let him have forgotten, he prayed. After all, our use of that couch goes back over 10 years ago now…

“I see your son is following in his parental footsteps, Mr. Wright, and continuing the grand custom of leaving of his personalized cheek marks on that poor chesterfield,” Hendricks derided, his dark eyes twinkling. “Ergo, I foresee my Wright family traditional scrubbing of the next generation’s posterior prints from those cushions will be a long-standing practice of mine, which shall need a continuance.”

Phoenix wished the earth would open up and swallow him at that precise moment! Would he never live down the shame of the time he and Maya had needed to use Edgeworth’s condo as their love shack, under the strict watch of Hendricks, the cock-blocking, mercilessly-ribbing Butler from Brighton?!

Well, maybe when the manservant passed on.

Hmmm… he’s in his 60’s now after all, although as fit as a fiddle, it appears, along with his accursed fool-proof memory!

“Yes, well, I shall take care of anything Ace happens to, ah, leave behind, so as not further laden your workload, Hendricks,” he mumbled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “As luck would have it, my wife left earlier this evening in quite a hurry, and therefore forgot the diaper bag with Ace’s extra diapers and clothes, which also had a change of outfit for Mia in it, as well, in the car…”

“Fret not, Mr. Wright, I imagine any markings of your son’s, at least, will still take me less than the previous three months to remove!” Hendricks put up a rubber-gloved hand. “Say no more; they often say the truth is stranger than fiction, after all, and I’m only here to mock, not make any judgment.”

The manservant then turned to the twins, his well-groomed brows nearly rising into his salt-and-pepper hairline at the sight of Gregory’s velvet and lace attire.

“Master Gregory,” the butler began grandly. “If you do not mind my candor, I must say that particular shade of dusky rose does absolutely nothing for your coloring at all.”

“Rose?! See! I told you this was pink, Daddy!” Gregory pouted. “This color completely makes me look like a dumb, prissy, sissy girl!”

“I disagree with that notion entirely! Pink does not in the least make you look like a sissy girl, Master Gregory,” the Brit deadpanned. “I believe that would be the entire fault of the dress itself.” 

Mia let out a snigger and quickly clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle it. Phoenix bit his lower lip, hard, to withhold his own. Edgeworth scowled at them both.

Undaunted, Hendricks then shook his head at the sight of Mila’s electric blue dye job.

“Miss Mila, I do declare that while your own hairdo is the lesser shocking one between yours and your brother’s, I truly hope this was a temporary rinse. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of one’s brightness being an exhibited reflection of their brain, not from the blinding glare of their tresses! However, I suppose we should be grateful that you still have all the strands on your entire head. May I please, at this point, attempt to dissuade either of you from attempting to pursue a hairstylist career path?”

Mila simply treated the manservant to a Miles Edgeworth trademark glare and huffily crossed her arms.

Hendricks turned back to Edgeworth.

“Might I take the liberty to suggest professional services to remedy this hair scare, Sir? My areas of expertise include cooking, cleaning, and minor plumbing issues. Alas, fixing hairdo blunders stemmed from the depths of Hades is not among them, unfortunately.”

Edgeworth cleared his throat and crossed his arms.

“Yes, I completely understand, Hendricks. If you will follow me to the kitchen…”

The two men had left the living room for no more than ten seconds when, the next thing Phoenix knew, Edgeworth was frantically racing after the manservant, who was making rapid, determined strides towards the front door, chin obstinately lifted in the air.

“Hendricks!” Edgeworth yelped, his cool completely unraveled as he gripped the butler’s arm. “Where on earth are you going? You haven’t even looked at the bathroom yet!”

Hendricks eyed his employer with an expression of barely masked disdain and turned his nose up.

“I have noted all there is to see already, Master Edgeworth,” he sniffed haughtily. “I can already smell the evidence of said lavatory from here! You had indicated that the toilet had merely overflowed, and naught else! This overpowering, fetid, wafting aroma, coupled with the scene straight from Abaddon that I have witnessed in your kitchen, is enough for me to enquire if I might use this opportunity to give immediate notice of my impending early retirement?”

“Retiring?!” The prosecutor cried disbelievingly, his eyes round with shock. “As of when?”

“As of…” The butler looked down at his Rolex watch. “Thirty seconds ago, Sir.”

“Hendricks, please! I implore you to have mercy!” Edgeworth was practically wringing his hands. “You can’t do this to me! Do you have any idea what Mrs. Von Edgeworth will do to me if she sees the state of this place, after she entrusted me in the care of our children, for one evening?!”

“I can only imagine she won’t halt at merely killing you swiftly. I fathom the Mistress will whip you into a bloody pulp until there is no more flesh left on your bones, and then use the said weapon for purposes of asphyxiation that have nothing to do with the erotic proclivities,” Hendricks answered, without cracking a smile. “Speaking of which, my gentleman tendencies prevented me from querying how a bottle of amatory oil even made its way out here into the kitchen. However, judging by the scent of Mr. Wright’s son over there, I can certainly hazard a guess.”

He bowed grandly then.

“I wish you a good night, Master Edgeworth. I must be off. I do believe I have some packing to do this evening. I’ve heard that Barbados is a beautiful place to visit this time of year…”

“Ngh!” Edgeworth raked his hands through his hair and stared at his loyal employee of over 20 years with an imploring expression. “Hendricks, have a heart! This is my marriage we’re talking about… Not to mention my mortality! I – I will double your salary!”

The butler paused, one hand on the door handle, and regarded the pleading man with a raised eyebrow. Then, with a resigned sigh, he put down his toolbox, removed his loafers, and slipped on his rubber boots.

“Perhaps I was too hasty. Allow me to take a look at the collateral damage in the guest facilities.” He headed down the hallway, and then returned a mere half-minute later, wrinkling his nose as he reached for the doorknob again. “God save the queen, that stench is too noxious for words! Fare thee well, Master Edgeworth.”

“Hendricks!” The desperate Edgeworth rasped. “I will triple your salary …effective immediately!”

The Englishman tilted his head to the side as a small smile played on his lips.

“Perhaps… I can wait until Christmastime to visit the beautiful Caribbean after all,” he conceded. Nevertheless, he still reached for the doorknob.

“Hendricks! I thought you had just agreed to help me out, under the stipulation of tripling your salary!” Edgeworth’s eyes were wild with panic.

“Oh, I did, Master Edgeworth.” Hendricks smiled reassuringly. “However, I need to go back downstairs to my flat to retrieve the clothespin I shall need for my nose, in order to stomach exorcising the demons from that underworld, which are presently residing in the loo!”

“No! If you leave this place, you know that I know that you know that I know you will never return!” The prosecutor shook his head frantically as he raced to the kitchen, frenziedly rummaged into a drawer, and came back with a giant yellow plastic item, which said chip clip on the side. “Here, take that! Surely this will suffice!”

“It really should!” Gregory piped up helpfully. “That’s what Mommy uses on her nose whenever she’s gone to the bathroom after Daddy!”

“Can you stop flapping your gums for one minute, you big mouth!” Mila jabbed her brother in the arm. “Hendricks doesn’t need to know everything that happens in this house! Besides, Mommy only says Daddy stinks up this place to high heaven whenever he eats Mexican, not all the time!”

Phoenix snorted derisively. This time he just couldn’t help it!

That’s one great defense team you got there, Edgeworth!

The Chief Prosecutor’s countenance turned puce as he glared at his best friend and then looked pleadingly at the butler.

“Hendricks, I beseech you! Please hurry!”

“Righto, Sir!” The butler obligingly opened the clip, clamped it against his nostrils, grabbed his toolbox, and walked back towards the bathroom with as much dignity as he could muster. “I believe I have a latrine to snake!”

Edgeworth’s shoulders sagged in relief as he shuffled himself back towards the living room.

“So now we have that situation under somewhat control…” He flopped onto his armchair and looked at the four silent perpetrators, all sitting on the sofa next to Phoenix. “I want to hear, first of all, how in the name of God the two of you wound up handcuffed together!”

Flashback 20 minutes ago…

Mila Edgeworth and Gregory Edgeworth
Mila’s Bedroom, Edgeworth Penthouse, Los Angeles

“It’s your stupid room,” Gregory muttered as he halfheartedly tossed a few stray Lego pieces from the floor back into the plastic bucket. “I don’t see why Daddy said that I have to help you clean it up! You never help me clean mine!”

“Because, Streber!” Mila snapped. “You’re the reason that it’s such a mess right now, so shut your blathering pie hole and help me clean already!”

“Don’t you call me Streber, Sie dumm fuhrt!” Gregory yelled, stamping his foot. “And you can’t tell me to shut up! You’re not the boss of me!”

Mila brandished her skipping rope menacingly, looking very much like a miniaturized version of her mother wielding her whip, poised for action.

“If you won’t listen to me,” she threatened, narrowing her eyes. “Would you prefer to listen to this instead?”

“If you hit me again with that thing, I’m gonna tell Daddy!”

“Hiyee!” Ace singsonged suddenly, running into the room from out of nowhere. A silver set of shiny bracelets dangled from his tiny fingers. “Lookee! Magic! Like Two-see!”

The twins turned around and realized that the bangles the toddler was holding were actually handcuffs, with two tiny keys, one that was placed in the middle of the lock.

“Hey! Those are Uncle Gumshoe’s, Ace,” Mila noted, walking over and taking the cuffs from him. She studied them with a puzzled frown. “Where did you find these?”

Ace clapped his hands excitedly and flashed a disarming dimpled smile instead of replying.

“Do magic!” He cheeped excitedly. “Do magic like Two-see!”

“He’s trying to say Trucy,” Gregory said, coming over and taking the cuffs out of his sister’s hand.

“I know that! I’m not a Dummkopf, unlike you!” Mila glowered at her twin and then looked at Ace while shaking her head. “I’m sorry, Ace. Your big sister is a professional magician. As much as we would love to show you her handcuffed magic trick right now, we can’t, because we are not magicians.”

“Oh, please!” Gregory scoffed. “We’ve seen Trucy do that trick a million times on stage! I bet you I could figure out how to do it, no problem – it’s super easy!”

“I don’t think so, Gregory.” Mila shook her head again and looked doubtful. “Trucy has been performing since she was about our age, so of course it looks easy when she does it, but I don’t think it is anywhere as simple as you think it is!”

Ace began to whimper, his eyes filling with tears

“Do magic!” He blubbered. “Want magic!”

“Way to go, you big mean stink face!” Gregory glared at his sister. “Ace is our cousin, and he’s just a baby! Now, you’ve made him cry! Try explaining that to Uncle Phoenix!”

Mila bit her lip and tried to put a consoling hand on the bawling Ace’s shoulder while looking worriedly at her brother.

“Ace stop crying, please!” She begged. “I’m going to get in even more trouble if Daddy thinks I’m being mean to you, and Uncle Phoenix will hate me! Ngh! Gregory, are you sure you know how to do this?”

“Piece of cake!” Her brother proclaimed confidently and then without warning, slapped the handcuff onto his left ankle and then onto his sister’s unsuspecting right one. “See! Ta-da!”

Ace immediately stopped crying, as if on command, and beamed happily, jumping up and down jubilantly.

“Magic!” He squealed joyously, clapping his hands. Then, without warning, he bent down, grabbed the keys from the lock, and giggled. “Yay!”

Unfortunately, Gregory and Mila’s attentions were diverted from the mischievous toddler at the moment as the little girl wriggled her ankle, and found the more she moved it, the tighter the cuffs got!

“What do you mean ta-da?” A concerned look flickered across her face as she looked at her brother. “Okay great Houdini, now that you got us handcuffed together, how do you do the magic part of separating us now?”

Ace grinned roguishly at the twins, the keys clutched in his chubby fist as he turned around, giving one last wave over his shoulder.

“Bye-bye!”

With that, the little hellion swiftly ran out of the room with the tiny single object, the sole thing that could separate the twins, in his hot little hands!

“What – the?  Ace! Where you going?!” Mila shrieked in horror. “Come back here!”

“It’s fine!” Gregory assured her as he wriggled with his own fastening. “Trucy never needed keys to get out of these, and neither do I!”

He tugged at the handcuff link around his ankle and his eyes widened in alarm as it further tightened.

“Uh-oh! I don’t think this part is supposed to happen!”

“Gee, you think?” Mila’s gray eyes shot daggers at her brother. “I told you this was a bad idea, you dork pie! Now, what are we supposed to do?!”

“That’s easy, we go after Ace!” Without thinking, Gregory lunged forward with his free leg, only to forget that his other one was attached to his twin’s, and ended up sprawled and face down on the carpet, dragging his knee roughly against it, while catapulting his sister flat onto her bottom at the same time. “Ow! My knee!” 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought was gonna happen if we tried that – which is why I didn’t try to do it!” Mila rubbed her sore bottom, then smacked her brother upside the head. “So, what are we going to do now, lint for brains?”

“We sit here and wait for someone to find us, that’s what!” Gregory groaned and rubbed the back of his skull, now tenderized from his twin’s assault.

“Ugh,” Mila grimaced. “I cannot believe I am stuck here with your foolish behind when I should be playing with Mia! Which I was …until you ruined it!”

“Oh, quit your griping!” Gregory groused, folding his arms across his chest. “If anyone should be complaining right now, it should be me!”

“You?!  Why you?!”

“Er, because….” Gregory grinned awkwardly. “I kinda, sorta… Need to go to the bathroom.”

“Well, you’ll just have to hold it!” Mila snarled and gripped her skipping rope tightly in her hand. “Because if you even think of peeing all over my Pink Princess rug, Gregory Edgeworth, I swear I will skin you alive!”

Back to the Present

 Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth
Edgeworth’s Penthouse, Los Angeles

Edgeworth didn’t speak. Once the twins were done giving their explanation, rather than utter a word, he just let out a barely audible grunt and slumped defeatedly in his armchair, while gently massaging his temples, obviously bemoaning his fate and wondering what he had ever done to deserve any of this!

Seeing as how his best friend seemed to be just inches away from a complete nervous breakdown, Phoenix had to be the one to speak.

“Let me get this straight,” he said slowly. “Mila, the reason you agreed to go against your better judgment and let your brother handcuff the two of you, is because he figured that he could emulate Trucy’s magic trick?” Upon hearing this, Gregory whimpered softly and slumped lower on the sofa. “And because you didn’t want to make my son cry?”

Mila nodded and bit her lip.

The spiky-haired man sighed. He couldn’t possibly be angry with his goddaughter, or at his alarmingly manipulative toddler son (who could cry on command and at will)! However, he did need to have a little chat with his godson, since apparently, his own father didn’t seem capable of speech at the moment!

“Gregory,” the blue attorney began. “You do understand, don’t you, that my daughter is a professional magician? One who has been doing this for over half her life now, and doesn’t use real cuffs? She has a very special pair of trick handcuffs.”

“Really?” Gregory sniffled and looked miserably at his godfather. “Like, magic cuffs?”

“Yes, Gregory,” Phoenix replied gently. His lips twitched as he fought back a smile. “I don’t even think Troupe Gramarye legend Trucy Wright, would be able to get out of genuine police handcuffs, which it appears those actually are,  if she didn’t have the key!”

“Which begs the question.” Edgeworth finally spoke. “Just where are those keys now?”

They all turned to look at Ace. Nobody wanted to ask the $64,000 question. They were too afraid of the answer.

Finally, Phoenix bit the bullet. Picking up his son off the couch, he held Ace up in his arms so they were face-to-face and affixed the toddler with his most serious expression.

“Roc Ace Wright,” he said in his sternest possible Daddy tone. “What did you do with those handcuff keys?”

Ace peered nervously at his father and his lower lip quivered.

“Kid, I’m not fooling around.” The spiky-haired man was officially in courtroom mode now and his face was one to be reckoned with. “Tell me where you put those keys. And no crying!”

Ace shook his head sadly.

“Key go down the hole.”

Phoenix sweatdropped.

Gregory gulped.

Mila groaned and clapped her hands over her eyes.

Mia shook her head in dismay.

Edgeworth resumed rubbing his temples.

This had been the answer they’d all been afraid of. There was no doubt.  They all knew what hole.

Things were looking very grim indeed…