After they exited the Sacred Cavern, the little group encountered Gumshoe outside mumbling to himself about "something he should erase". Obviously von Karma and Wright were intrigued by this so the group decided to divide and conquer. Franziska and Phoenix would go to the garden to find out what Gumshoe was trying to conceal while Gregory and the kids would go back the main temple, where it was warmer, to talk to sister Bikini. The two entered the garden before Gumshoe's voice rang out.
"Aaah! What are you doing here sir?" yelled Gumshoe. "I thought I said you can't come in here!"
"Oh? Don't you know Scruffy? A von Karma will always show up wherever there is a clue. And there seems to be plenty of clues here." said Franziska.
"B-but!"
Franziska ignored him and moved passed him to see what Gumshoe was trying to block with his body. Phoenix followed after her while he sent Gumshoe an apologetic look. The discovery they made, froze his insides. On the lantern in the garden, was an upside down bloody note that read "Maya".
"This is rubbish!" exclaimed Franziska. "Scruffy! Explain this at once!"
"Ach!" exclaimed Gumshoe as he got whipped in the shoulder. "I don't know sir! It was already here when I arrived. "My best guess is that the killer must have used the victim's blood to try and accuse her, like Redd White did. I mean, this combined with some other things we found make it seem pretty obvious that this is the scene of the crime."
Franziska sighed. "While I wish that were true, there was no time for the real killer to plant them after the murder, since sister Bikini witnessed the stabbing in Hazakura Temple, and the burned down bridge meant that the Inner Temple side was inaccessible. No, this had to be written by Elise Deauxnim herself as she gave her final breath."
The three of them were somber, this new revelation did not bode well for Maya.
"Gumshoe, you mentioned finding some other things. What did you find?" asked Phoenix.
"Oh, I found this neat little thing. Apparently it belonged to the victim. Y'see there was a broken leather cord around the lady's neck. The ends of the cords found on the victim's body match the one on the talisman perfectly."
Phoenix looked at the red charm and recognize it almost immediately. "This is the crest of the Kurain Master."
"Are you sure?" asked Franziska.
"Positive. Maya had recognized it on a scroll depicting her mother."
"But what could a charm with the Master's crest be doing in the possession of Elise Deauxnim?" asked Gumshoe.
"There's only one explanation, Elise Deauxnim is actually Misty Fey. Maya's long lost mother." said Phoenix.
...
Gregory was holding onto Pearl's hand as he entered the main temple. Once they entered a warmer side of the temple, Kay and Sebastian let out a sigh of relief.
"You kids ok?" asked Gregory.
"Y-yeah we're f-fine Mr. Greg." said Sebastian. "Just really really cold."
"The coat from Miss von Karma is helping at the back, but the front is wide open." said Kay.
Gregory put his hand under his jaw as he thought about it. "Well, since we're here, we can probably ask sister Bikini if she has any spare blankets. Pearls, are you cold too?"
"Oh, no I'm fine Mr. Greg. Traditional Kurainese winter coats are made with wool and goat fur. They keep you very warm. Although..." Pearl bit her lip unsure if she should say something. "Mystic Maya bought me a little winter hat with cat ears...I took it off last night because I was scared it'll get ripped during the channeling. But I'd like to have it back now."
"Very well, we can ask Sister Bikini if she saw it when we find her."
Luckily they didn't have wait long, because sister Bikini was in the next room over, praying.
"Excuse me, sister Bikini." said Gregory, attracting her attention. "I was wondering if you had any spare blankets you could afford to share. I'm afraid these two did not dress themselves properly for the cold weather. And I would rather they did not get a cold."
"Oh, and Pearly left her hat here last night, do you think you've seen it?" asked Kay.
"Oh you poor things." said Bikini. "You must be freezing! Actually I have something better than some blankets." and she quickly left the room and returned with 2 sets of traditional Kurainese winter coats and Pearl's hat. "These belonged to Misty and Morgan Fey, back when they were your age and came to train here for the first time. I think they should fit you and keep you warm. Oh and Mystic Pearl, here's your hat."
Sebastian and Kay put on the coats and sighed in relief as the warmth started flooding them.
"Maaaan, god bless that goat fur, Pearly. Now I feel really warm." said Kay.
Gregory chuckled at Kay's reaction, before addressing Bikini much more seriously. "Sister Bikini, I hope you don't mind but I have more questions for you."
"Ah, yes of course. Please ask away, anything I can do to help Iris. She's like a daughter to me you know."
Gregory asked Bikini why Elise was at the temple and while the nun was reluctant to answer, after a bit more pressing and the reminder that he was on Iris' side, she revealed something shocking. Elise Deauxnim was actually his old friend, Misty Fey. Gregory could not believe it. Misty was dead.
The two of them had become good friends when he just started his career. For a short period of time, Misty ran away from Kurain Village and went into the city. Unfortunately she has gotten into a little bit of trouble at the inn she was standing at, in one of the shadier parts of town. One of the guests there had been murdered and the young Fey, age 19 at the time, had been framed. She had been his first murder client and he's very glad he won. Since then the two had been friends and she even assisted him in some investigations.
The news of her disappearance after the DL-6 had hit him hard. He was hoping to look for his old friend after he gets his badge back, but it seems that was impossible now. She died. This newfound knowledge made him want to uncover the mystery behind this case even more. So he steered himself and asked sister Bikini, again, why Misty was at the temple.
Bikini revealed that Misty Fey had come to Hazakura Temple to foil a plot to destroy the Fey main family line, as well as the feud between Misty and her older sister, Morgan. Gregory had minimal knowledge of the feud, only small things caught from court records and what Maya told him. But he did know that Morgan was obsessed with Pearl inheriting the title of master and getting rid of Maya. He told the nun what he knew, while Kay and Sebastian were distracting Pearl, and she let something crucial slip. Pearl was not Morgan's only daughter.
Originally, Morgan had 2 twin daughters with a wealthy jeweler. However, upon discovering that Morgan will not become master, the jeweler divorced her and took his daughters with him. Those daughters were the defendant, Iris and the source of Phoenix's occasional nightmares, Dahlia. And while Gregory knew about Dahlia being related to Maya (god knows how many times he had to comfort her after a nightmare related to her cousin's execution), the fact that Iris and Dahlia were twins revealed how Iris was seen in two places at the same time. Someone must have channeled Dahlia at the Inner Temple when the murder took place. The only questions were who and why.
...
Miles had just entered the main gate with Iris in tow. When he arrived at the Detention Center and told Iris about the situation, the nun offered her help almost immediately. Together they left the Detention Center in silence and remained that way until they reached the bridge. When the two were about to cross, the ground beneath them rumbled. An earthquake was happening.
His vision was darkening and he couldn't breathe properly. He clutched at his chest as he tried to control his breathing. The earthquake raged on and his panic attack got worse. As he fell to his knees he saw Iris run towards the bridge in his peripheral vision. He wanted to go after her, but he couldn't move. He saw a flash of blue and pink on the other side of the bridge before passing out.
...
When he woke up, Miles felt something warm holding him tightly. There were voices around him talking and a pair of hands was petting his hair. When he opened his eyes, he saw Phoenix's face looking to the side speaking to someone. He looked to the side and saw that it was Franziska he was talking to. Next to her, Sister Iris was working on the lock, no wait, now there were locks, five of them, it seemed they were in the Sacred Cavern, when had that happened? A low groan brought a pair of heterochromic eyes on him. Phoenix's eyes widened before he smiled at him.
"Miles! You're awake! How are you feeling?" asked Phoenix softly. His question also attracted Franziska's attention, who immediately left Iris' side and crouched next to him.
"W-what happened?" asked Miles.
"We found you passed out near the other side of the bridge, after the defendant burst through the garden, saying something about you fainting." said Franziska. "You're lucky you didn't hit your head or fall down the bridge like your fool of a fiancé."
"Hey!" exclaimed Wright.
Miles snorted as he slowly rose from Phoenix's lap. Once he was on his feet he asked for a status update. Both Wright and Franziska told him of their findings, the upside down bloody note and that Elise Deauxnim was Misty Fey. After that, he also told them of his own findings. After quite a lot of digging and buried under mountains and mountains of paperwork, he found a crucial fact. Iris had a twin sister, the nightmare of a woman known as Dahlia Arsenia Hawthorne. This shocked both Franziska and Phoenix, who turned around to look at Iris. The woman in question did not even flinch at the revelation, merely looked back at them shyly.
The german woman glared at her, before deciding that Wright is more than capable of supervising 'a meek little nun' and started pushing Miles out of the door so he can help her look for the real murder weapon. Only once they were outside, did Miles turn to look at his sister.
"What was that all about, Franziska?" asked Miles.
"That meek little nun. It's very obvious she knows Wright from somewhere. I tried questioning her multiple times as we waited for you to wake up but she would only shake her head and glance at that fool of a defense attorney, who was ignoring her completely." said Franziska. "Besides...aren't you the one who keeps talking about getting closure or whatever? This might be the only chance he gets at understanding the reason behind Hawthorne's heinous actions."
"I suppose you're right...Very well. Let's go find detective Gumshoe."
They found the detective examining the Hazakura Temple courtyard, looking for the real murder weapon. He was currently searching the ground using a metal detector. Once in a while he would crouch in the snow and dig around before finding some small scrap metal or a penny that he pocketed.
"Detective Gumshoe." said Miles.
Gumshoe turned around instantly and saluted stiffly. "Prosecutor Edgeworth, sir. You're back already. What are you doing here, sir?"
"I am currently searching for the murder weapon. Have you found anything?"
"Negative sir. I searched the whole perimeter but found no sign of a murder weapon."
"Maybe it was actually this thing." said Franziska. Both men turned around and saw her holding the victim's staff in her gloved hands. "Its sharp enough to be used as a murder weapon and the killer could have wiped the blood off."
As she neared them the metal detector started beeping. They all stared at it before Franziska extended the staff and let Gumshoe run the metal detector over it. The metal detector started beeping wildly so Franziska and Miles started examining it. Together they discovered that it contained a hidden sword. They examined the blade carefully and found it splattered with blood, almost all the way to the hilt.
"This is it, this is the murder weapon." said Miles.
...
Once Franziska and Miles left, Phoenix asked Iris about the night of the crime. Unfortunately, Iris still claimed that she had been inside her room the whole time. He reminded her that sister Bikini saw her at the Inner Temple and not only that, but she also talked with her. The first Psyche-Lock broke and Iris admitted to having left for Maya's, but unfortunately lied about the time she left the main temple. Wright reminded her that she was seen by him bare minutes before ringing out the lights out bell at the main temple. That's when he brought forth the channeling and as the final lock broke, Iris finally admitted to everything.
"I...I was in my room in the Main Hall. As soon as I heard that I'd been spotted at the Inner Temple I knew." her eyes teared up. "I knew it was my sister. Dahlia, the other half of me who...left this realm last month..."
I knew it..."Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"B-because...because my sister is always right. And because I mustn't get in the way of what she's trying to do. I-I already betrayed her once, I cannot do it again..."
"Betrayed her? What do you mean?"
"Yes...you know about it don't you? Mr. Wright. The fake kidnapping that took place here on Eagle Mountain. That was the start of it all. That was what sent her down this twisted path, 11 years ago. She started committing crime after crime and as her sins kept piling on...it eventually led her to her death. And all of this...it happened because of...because of ME."
"How did you betray her, Iris?"
"It was no coincidence that Eagle Mountain was the place for the exchange. After all...I was the one that...helped plan it all. But I got scared...so I ran away."
"W-what are you talking about Iris? Why did you help her?"
"I promised her...I promised her that I'd help...She was my sister...the only thread I had left to my family. When I got sent here...my name of Iris Lily Hawthorne was erased. The other reason why I promised to help her was...revenge."
"Revenge?"
"I'm sure you know of our father's marriage with Morgan Fey and the resulting disaster." Once she got confirmation from Wright she continued. "My sister stole a diamond worth $2 million...as revenge for what he did to our mother. Thinking back on it...I probably should have just helped her with it..."
"What do you-"
"If you'll excuse me Mr. Wright...I need to return to figuring out these locks."
"Yes sorry...Actually, there's one more thing I want to ask. Years ago...Right after your sister poisoned that defense attorney, she started dating a college student for several months so she could use him. I'm curious...did she ever say anything about him?"
"Not really, but she did tell me one thing...that she hated his guts."
"I see...Thank you for all your help."
After his talk with Iris, Phoenix met with everyone else at the temple. Franziska will remain here overnight with Kay and detective Gumshoe to supervise the nun. Meanwhile Miles, Phoenix, Gregory and Sebastian will return to the apartment to prepare for the trial tomorrow. Pearl wanted to spend the night at the temple too in order to help Maya but she was quickly outvoted and sent back back to the apartment with the rest.