"Turnabout with the Wind" is the first chapter in the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney manga.
Unknown date, unknown time, unknown location[]
A bloody knife is seen held in someone's hand as they breathe heavily. The trembling person's stares at the knife, wondering why this had to happen to them. While still breathing heavily, the panicked figure says that they must call "him" now and hastily dials their cell phone. As they does so, the wind gently blows through a nearby window, causing the bell chime hanging in front of it to ring.
August 11th, 10:20 AM, Gourd Lake Park[]
Belle Windsor and Larry Butz - the happy couple.
At Gourd Lake, the Gourd Lake Wind Chime Festival is taking place and the park is bustling with people, stalls and many wind chimes. Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey wander around while talking with one another. Fey marveled at the wind chimes and wondered if there might be a huge Steel Samurai one, while Wright told her that there will likely be fireworks later. Fey stated that they should have come at night instead then, but Wright informed her that it would have been far too busy then, pointing out the numerous police officers preparing for that night's security. The ever easily distracted Fey then ran off to a wind chime stall, telling Wright that they should buy fifty of them due to their cuteness. Wright asked her just where she would put so many, but Fey retorted that she would decorate his "really boring" office. Five would go in the office, some on the ceiling, some on the plants and some as earrings for Wright. Wright didn't seem particularly impressed by these suggestions, especially the last one.
Maya Fey then called her cousin Pearl on Wright's cell phone to tell her what they were up to while Wright mulled over his career and friends. Maya, wanting Pearl to share in the excitement of the festival, began to ring a wind chime but was puzzled that Pearl could not hear it. After wondering if Pearl's phone may have been faulty, she decided that Wright's phone must just be old and broken. Wright began to correct her when they ran into an old friend of theirs, Larry Butz, along with his then-current girlfriend, Belle Windsor.
After introductions, Windsor admitted to having already heard about Wright, since she lived right next to the Gatewater Hotel and was friends with the bellboy there who told her about the lawyer. As Wright told Windsor that the hotel is right beside his office, it dawned on Butz that this meant that she lives nearby to him as well and excitedly asked her if they can go back to her place right then. Windsor agrees and a slightly surprised Butz proclaims that they should treat themselves to melon on the way back.
Wright then pulled Butz aside and asked him what happened to Heidi, the security company girl he had been dating. Eyes typically full of overly dramatic tears, Butz explained that she went to France as an exchange student without saying a word to him. She did, however, leave a letter saying "Please forget everything about me." An unsurprised Wright mused that this was always the way with this man. Butz quickly recovered, however, saying that he was the happiest guy in the world now that Windsor had healed his heart with her gentle voice (a proclamation that left neither Wright nor Maya terribly impressed). The lovestruck Butz then proudly displayed a wind chime he had bought Windsor as a present. His new girlfriend seemed very pleased with it, and said that she would treasure it always. As Butz acted embarrassed, Wright mused on the saying from his school days: "If something smells, it's usually the Butz." He went on to say that this time would be no exception, as the look on Butz's face changes to a more worried one and it is revealed that Wright must once again defend his childhood friend in court.
August 13th, 10:00 AM, District Court, Courtroom No. 2[]
Opening statement[]
Court begins.
The judge called the court to session. Wright stated that he was ready, as did Winston Payne, the prosecutor for the case. Payne began the trial with his opening statement: On August 11th, at 9:25 p.m., the body of a man was discovered in "Burnin' Heaven," a men-only sauna in the city. The victim's body was found leaning against the coin lockers by one of the sauna's employees and the autopsy showed that the cause of death was from excessive loss of blood from being fatally stabbed on the left side, from behind, with a sharp blade. However, the murder weapon was not found at the crime scene. The victim's name was Bright Bonds, a 41-year old business manager for Company Y, which deals in various accessories. According to the company's employees, most of the staff was working overtime on the night of the murder. The victim left the office at 8:55 p.m., the only one to do so, saying that he had "something to do."
On that day, the Gigantes vs. Privateers baseball game was being held at the nearby Homerun Stadium. Being a great fan of the Gigantes, it was assumed that the victim was planning to attend the game. The judge pointed out that victim was not discovered at the stadium, but at the sauna instead. Payne explained that, from 8:30 to 9:30p.m., the game was interrupted by hurricane-level winds that struck the city. Payne claimed that it was likely that the victim gave up on watching the game and went to the sauna instead. Maya remembered the storm, saying that it had prevented them from leaving the office, leading her to wonder if they would starve. Wright told her that she was exaggerating and that it wasn't even an hour long, but Maya reminded him that he was the one cowering under the table with a pillow over his head crying that it was "the end of the world." The two were then told off for their tangent by the judge.
There were no witnesses to the murder of Bonds, but Payne said that there were clues: While investigating the victim's cell phone, a threatening voicemail message was discovered. Pressing "Play" on a tape recorder, a familiar voice rang out in the courtroom: "Hey, hey, Bright Bonds! Belle told me everything! Be a man and get out of her life! Or I'll make you pay!!" Confirming Wright's suspicions, Payne told the court that, using the phone' call history, the call was traced as coming from Larry Butz. Two officers were sent out to his house in order to inquire about the matter, only for him to attempt to flee the scene. This allowed the officers to capture and arrest the man without a warrant. Butz protested that he had just been watching a detective show where the criminal was arrested so he had been unable to help himself from his escape attempt (to a stony silence from the court). Butz admitted that he ran, and that he left the message for Bonds, but pleaded his innocence, only for the judge to silence him and ask the prosecution if he had any questions for the defendant.
Defendant's questioning[]
Payne asked if Butz knew the victim in person, only to be told that Butz didn't really know him, only hearing about him from Windsor. She had previously gone out with Bonds, but know he wouldn't leave her alone. Three days before the murder, he had run into Bonds and Windsor having an extravagant dinner and what looked like a serious discussion together at the restaurant at which he was working. The next day, Butz confronted Windsor over this, and she revealed that he was an ex of hers - one that wouldn't leave her alone. She claimed that he forced her to meet him there, and had kept on telling her that he wanted to get back together with her, despite the fact that he had a wife and child - something that he kept secret from her and Windsor refused to be part of an affair. Windsor seemed very distressed by the situation, and so Butz found Bonds' phone number in the restaurant's reservations list and at 8:00 p.m., called the man who was bothering his girlfriend. However, Bonds did not answer, and so Butz left the message the court had just heard. Payne then accused Butz of tracking down the victim to talk to him in person - where an argument broke out, and the defendant snapped, killing Bonds.
At this Wright objected, stating that this is merely baseless conjecture. He pointed out that the sauna where Bonds was found is located six floors above ground level, meaning that to get there, one must go by the building's front desk. At the front desk, there is a security camera that films those who pass by, and Butz is not on any of its recordings - though the camera did manage to film Bonds' arrival at 9:16 p.m. However, Payne quickly shoots Wright's protests down by revealing that Bonds wasn't actually attacked at the sauna. Payne pointed out that in a photograph of Bonds arriving, he is holding his side and what seem to be bloodstains can be seen on the floor. The prosecutor claimed the victim had already been stabbed before entering the building, and further backed this up by noting that traces of his blood were found on the elevator floor. Wright asked, if this was the case, why Bonds didn't ask for help since it looked like he didn't want anyone to know he had been stabbed. Payne answered that the man had a family and he didn't want them to know he had gotten into a fight over his mistress. Wright attempted to retort that it would not be advantageous for the victim hide his affair if it killed him. Payne merely hand waved this, saying they could think why the victim didn't ask for help later. He continued by saying what was important was that the victim was stabbed before he came to Burnin' Heaven. Therefore, Butz's alibi about not going to Burning' Heaven was now invalid.
While Wright was reeling from this, Maya noticed something strange in the photo; Bonds wasn't carrying an umbrella despite the fact it was raining before 9:00p.m. His suit just looked wrinkled, not soaked. Wright suggested it may not have been taken on the day of the murder, but Payne used the weather report to prove that, despite the strong winds, there wasn't a drop of rain in the city he was murdered, explaining the photo.
Trying to shake this off, Wright announced that he would yet prove Butz's innocence, and decided to call the first witness to the stand: Belle Windsor.
Belle Windsor's testimony[]
When asked, Windsor confirmed that at the time of the murder she was speaking to her boyfriend on the phone, as it had become a daily routine for the couple to do so when Butz finished work at around 9:10 PM. The two then talked for about an hour. Using this, Wright pointed out that the Burnin' Heaven sauna was within walking distance of Gourd Lake Park; just 300 m north of where the Wind Chime Festival was held, and 200 m east of the Homerun Stadium. On the other hand, Larry Butz's house was an entire 15 km away from the stadium and, moreover, the road was so narrow that it took 20 minutes by car to get there and longer if you traveled by train. Bonds was attacked between 8:55 PM and 9:16 PM, the time it took for him to leave his office and arrive at Burnin' Heaven. Since Butz received his call from Windsor at 9:10 PM, this would have meant that, had he been the killer, Butz would have to stab Bonds immediately after the latter left his office. Wright asserted that returning home in just 15 minutes to answer the phone would have been impossible.
Cross-examination of Belle Windsor's testimony[]
Unfazed by Wright's statement, Payne asked Windsor if she called the defendant's home phone, but she replied that she called his cell phone. At this, Payne smugly stated that this negated the defendant's alibi, for Windsor could just have easily been speaking to him while he was away from home. Wright interjected that the prosecutor should allow the witness to finish talking, and asked her if she was certain Butz was home at the time of the call, to which she replied that she was positive. When Payne asks how, she revealed that they had been using video phones. Butz had said that he wanted to see her as often as possible, and so they always talked using their video phones.
Wright informed the court that Windsor used her video phone to store some photos of their conversation, submitting both one of Butz in his room from the couple's conversation along with a photo he himself took that morning of Butz's room - asserting that it was clear that they matched. Payne was suspicious of the neatness of this; why would the witness keep the photograph? It seemed to him as though it was almost as though she knew her boyfriend was going to commit murder and so had created this alibi for him, even going to the trouble of printing it out. Windsor replied that her reason for keeping the image was because, even though the two had been dating for some time, she still did not have a picture of her new boyfriend. Butz angrily backed her up on this, showing everyone that he had a picture of Windsor from that conversation as his screensaver and went on to boast that the numerous presents in the background were all from him, gushing that she had put all of them on display.
Butz happily went on to show an unimpressed Wright a video recording he had taken of their conversation. During the conversation, Windsor thanked Butz for a fun day, including the melon they had which he had cut into rabbit-shaped slices. Windsor also thanked her boyfriend for the talking teddy bear he had bought her, which she had named Larry due to its goatee. She then had it say Butz's name, and was impressed that their cell phones were sensitive enough to pick up the noise of the stuffed animal.
Ignoring Butz's overly romantic video, the judge studied the two images Wright had produced of Butz's room and felt that this left little doubt that the defendant had been at home at the time of the murder. Wright was quite pleased with himself; the two photos had now given Butz a solid alibi. This victory was short-lived, however, as a smirking Payne announced that, at 9:05 p.m., approximately five minutes before Windsor called Butz, she had called Bonds on his cell phone. The victim's cell phone call history had shown this to be the case. Windsor quietly confirmed Payne's statement, but when Payne pressed as to what they had talked about, she shouted that she had told him to never come near her again before hanging up. Payne was quite pleased at this, and announced that the prosecution would like to call the next witness.
Biddy Tenniman's testimony[]
The next witness was a loud-mouthed woman called Biddy Tenniman, who introduced herself as the manager of the Run Down Inn. She remarked that, although her apartments may not be much to look at, the rents were low. Tenniman then suggested that Wright (or, as she puts it, "that broke looking guy") should move in. Although she admits that they have no air conditioning, she added that since Gourd Lake is only a minute's walk away, he could just cool down there on a hot day and look for Gourdy. Despite this ringing endorsement, Wright decided to pass on her offer.
Finally deciding to put a stop to all this small-talk, Payne asked about her recent tenants. Tenniman testified that one month previously, someone called to rent an apartment. They offered to transfer six months rent into her account, including the deposit and finder's fee, which Tenniman was more than happy to agree to, and completed the agreement over the phone. The next day, after confirming that the money was in her bank account, she mailed them the key to Room 101, just like they had requested. However, Tenniman noted that, after their phone conversation, the new tenant did not move into the new room right away. She also added that whoever it was had used some sort of voice alteration device so the tenant could have been either be a man or a woman.
Finally, the tenant finally moved it on August 10th; the day before the murder. On the afternoon of that day, six large cardboard boxes addressed for Room 101 arrived, with an envelope addressed to her attached to one of the boxes. Inside the envelope was a sloppily written letter that said: "Please take these boxes to Room 101." She did so, noting that they were not as heavy as they had looked so she could not charge a handling fee. Later, in the middle of the night, the tenant finally arrived, but Tenniman never saw their face. In fact she only knew they were there because a light in the room was on. The morning after the murder, Tenniman received had an anonymous phone call. The caller said, "The murderer lives in Apartment 101. Inform the police right away." She was incredulous at first, called the police just in case and went with the officers to Room 101. After knocking for some time, to no reply, Tenniman finally resorted to her master key to get in. Once inside, she was shocked to find that the room was completely empty.
Payne thanked the witness for her testimony and stated that the police, upon investigating the room, found a blood-stained fruit knife in the closet. After further examination, the blood was revealed to be that of the victim and was it was assumed that it was the murder weapon. Much to Wright's horror, Payne then stated that it was covered with Butz's fingerprints. Despite Butz's panicked pleads of innocence, Payne continues by explaining what he believed had happened. On the day of the murder, Butz called Company Y and asked Bonds to meet with him. The prosecutor felt that adultery was a crass crime; affecting not only those involved, but those around them as well. Maya misheard this and wondered to herself why adultery was a glass chime. Payne continued his explanation of his version of events by saying that Butz had used the knife to stab Bonds after he left his office, quickly returning to Room 101 of the Run Down Inn. Having set up the apartment to look like his own, he then waited for his usual call from Windsor. Payne then finishes by stating that Butz had then used this phone call to fabricate an alibi.
Wright begins to turn the case around.
Desperately thinking after hearing all this, Wright wondered how he could turn the situation about. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Maya asking him if Bonds's chime had been possessed by an evil spirit, since Payne had said that it affected not only those involved, but those around them as well. Wright corrected her and says Payne said "crass crimes", not "glass chimes", irritated at her for asking him such a thing at such a crucial moment. It was then that Wright suddenly had an epiphany. Payne smugly tells the judge that the defense had suddenly grown very quiet and that perhaps it was time for a guilty verdict. Wright merely grins to himself, then suddenly shouts out "Objection!" with his finger outstretched. He felt that he finally understood what had happened.
Judgment[]
Wright stated that he would prove Butz was not at the Run Down Inn, but at his own home. Presenting the previously shown photograph of Windsor at home from Butz's phone, the judge wondered if Wright was showing the wrong photo while Payne chuckled to himself. Wright then pointed out something strange in the picture; the tail end of a wind chime that could just been seen in shot. The way it had been captured, the tag would have been swaying pretty hard. Payne failed to see what Wright was getting at since that would make sense if one considered the strong winds that night. Wright asked him to recall that, at the time of the phone call, it had been pouring with rain as well as windy. The prosecution responded that it had already been established that the rain was local; just because it had been raining at Wright's office, this did not mean that this was true at Windsor's home. Wright then revealed that it would have to have been pouring, since Windsor's home was right across from his office, which Windsor quietly agreed with. For the chime to blow in the wind, the window would have to have been open. If this was the case, then wind and rain would been blowing into the room. Payne's idea of the air conditioner being at fault was quickly shot down when Windsor admitted that it couldn't reach the wind chime.
These facts meant one thing; Windsor could not have been home at the time of the phone call. The judge asked where she had been if Wright's reasoning was correct. Despite Windsor's support of Butz, Wright felt he was left no option if he were to save his client. He announced to the court that she had been in Room 101 of the Run Down Inn.
Wright went over the facts. On the night of the murder, it had not been raining in the area that Bonds had been murdered and so an open window would not have been strange. In fact, if she had run all the way to the apartment, she would have to open a window due to a lack of an air conditioner. After doing so, she then called Butz to give herself an alibi. Getting to the point, Wright accused Belle Windsor of murdering Bright Bonds. Wright theorized that, after finding out that Bonds had a wife and child, she had devised a plan to kill him by renting the apartment and seducing the gullible Larry Butz. After a worried Payne interjected that Wright had seemingly forgotten about the defendant's fingerprints being on the murder weapon, the defense attorney pointed out the lack of blood on the handle of the knife. Windsor would only have to replace the handle with one covered in Butz's fingerprints, namely the one he had used to cut up a melon for her at her apartment. After Butz was arrested for the crime, she switched the knife handles, left the murder weapon in Room 101, and called landlady Biddy Tenniman to ensure it was found.
Wright asked Windsor if she had called the victim on the 11th of August to ask him to meet with her at 9 p.m. that night. When he arrived as she asked, she promptly stabbed him. The quiet Windsor suddenly yelled that this was all lies. Bonds was a big man, having had played football in school. There was no way that someone like her could have killed him. Wright calmly replied that this was why she had called him at 9:05 p.m., just before stabbing him. Bonds's wrinkled suit indicated that he had probably been walking amongst a lot of people. This had been Windsor's intention as it meant that she could approach him from behind without him noticing her. She then called him to draw his attention before stabbing him in the side.
Windsor protested again that this was all lies. If what Wright had said was true, why didn't Bonds ask the police for help since the Gourd Lake festival had many officers on duty at the time? Wright calmly told her that she was starting to break down. It had been unknown where Bonds had been stabbed, yet she had just stated that it had been at Gourd Lake Park. How could she have known that? She tried to recover by saying the festival had been the only really crowded place nearby, but Wright pointed out that Homerun Stadium was also close.
Windsor once again tried to explain herself, this time by saying that she had remembered why she knew Bonds at been at the festival. She called him briefly to yell at him, but just before she hung up she faintly heard the sound of many wind chimes. Wright retorted that this was impossible. Returning to Butz's recording of the couple's conversation, Wright pointed out that, despite the strong wind, the chime could not be heard at all, although the toy bear could, which would have been expected to be more difficult to pick up. Even a phone could not relay every sound to the person on the other end. In fact, they could only pick up sounds between 300 and 3400 hertz, while the sound frequency of the wind chimes were higher than this. Therefore, she could not have heard the wind chimes over the phone, as anything transmittable would have to be under 3400 hertz, so anything she may have heard could not have been mistaken for one. The only reason she had known that Bonds was at Gourd Lake was because he had been right in front of her at 9:05 p.m. on the night of the murder.
After being asked if she wanted to refute this, Windsor was suddenly very quiet. She explained that she had put the wind chime Butz had bought her in a position so that it would look more natural when she was speaking to him. Wright asked if she was confessing. In tears, she announced that Wright was correct; she had killed him. What she had said about him breaking up with her and him pestering him about it was a lie; it was actually the other way round.
That night at the restaurant, she had begged and pleaded with Bonds, saying that she didn't care that he had a wife and child. Bonds merely lowered his head and kept saying that he wanted to break up. The thought of him being happy while she suffered alone was unbearable to her, and so she came up with a plan to kill him. Since she would be considered the main suspect if he was murdered, she looked for a gullible fool she could use to create an alibi and so began dating Larry Butz. However, she never suspected that Butz would be arrested as the main suspect leaving her as his alibi. Her plan was falling apart and she panicked, although she felt that Wright would have seen through her alibi even if things had worked out perfectly. Windsor then corrected Wright on one part of his theory. The crowd meant that it was easy to sneak up of Bonds without using a phone call as a distraction. She had called him because the crowd meant that he would have died without knowing who stabbed him, and she didn't want that. It was her that stabbed him because she hated him so much, and she wanted him to know that. So, after the stabbing, she had phoned and told him:
The court reacts to Windsor's confession.
| Belle Windsor |
| I'M THE ONE WHO STABBED YOU! |
She then collapsed on the stand.
The silence that followed was broken by the judge, who announced Larry Butz's Not Guilty verdict and adjourned the court.
August 13th, 1:25 PM, Wright & Co. Law Offices[]
Back at Wright's office, Butz was sprawled on the floor feeling sorry for himself and trying to deny that Windsor was a murderer who had only approached him to use as an alibi. Maya felt sorry for him, but Wright felt that this was nothing new. Maya then turned to Wright. Despite the case being solved, there was still something she didn't understand. After Bonds had been stabbed, why did he go to the sauna without asking someone for help? Wright agreed that it was odd. It seemed as though Bonds wanted it to appear that he had been stabbed at the sauna rather than at the lake and so had used the last of his strength to get to the sauna. Since the sauna was men-only, this would have kept Windsor from being a suspect. Wright felt that it was possible he really did care about her. In tears, Maya asked if this meant that, even after being stabbed by her, he still wanted to protect her. Wright looked at the wind chime out the window, and answered:
| Phoenix Wright |
| Love can be like that. |
Notes[]
Timeline[]
Turnabout in the Wind occurs in a semi-ambiguous timeline. However, the presence of both Maya and Pearl point towards the case taking place in either 2017 or 2018.