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The very moment that Gumshoe heard that Phoenix Wright was disbarred on count of forging evidence, he knew for sure that there was a huge misunderstanding. There was just no way, absolutely no way possible, that the lawyer could ever have done something like that. Sure, the young lawyer tended to pull off bluffs and had a habit for finding evidence the police didn’t think twice about, but he was no forger. The detective knew as much based on their interactions on previous cases.
He went as far as going up to the office of that rockstar wannabe to give him a piece of his mind. That punk-nosed brat who Phoenix went up against during his final trial and cost him his badge. The detective slammed his hands on his desk and shouted at him in an accusatory tone.
“What do you want me to do about it, Herr Gumshoe?” He scoffed. Gumshoe could see him rolling his eyes behind those dark shades of his, “Mr. Wright was found to have forged evidence in an attempt to acquit his client, and that’s all there is to it. End of discussion.” The prosecutor gestured towards the door with the pen in his hands and shooed him out directly after the fact.
His smugness was enough to make the normally gentle detective want to punch a wall. And Gumshoe wanted to, oh boy did he want to! But then he remembered that he didn’t have enough money to pay for any repairs in the event that the wall got damaged, and subsequently decided against it.
However, this encounter did lead Gumshoe to the Wright & Co. Law Offices, where he pounded on the door. Aside from that, he was also worried about Phoenix and wanted to make sure that he was okay.
“Open up, pal!” He called, but there was no answer. Gumshoe tried and tried again, but still there was no reply. Sighing in resignation, he decided to leave him alone for the day when he heard the door creak open a little bit.
“What the hell do you want?” A voice dripping with rage answered from behind. Gumshoe was taken aback by the usage of such a tone. He’d never heard Phoenix sound so angry before, especially not while addressing him. Gumshoe hesitated for a moment, scratching his head.
“I-It’s just me, pal.” Gumshoe assured, “I heard what happened and I just wanted to check up on you, that’s all.” The hallway was silent for what felt like minutes. Gumshoe wondered if Phoenix heard him at all; he cleared his throat in preparation to repeat himself before the door opened a bit more.
Now, Gumshoe could clearly see Phoenix. The former lawyer’s hair was disheveled and there were dark circles around his eyes indicating a lack of sleep. The area around his eyes seemed to be red too, but most of all, his expression was set in a fierce glare.
“Look, I’m fine! I don’t need your pity,” He spat venomously, “So if that’s what you’ve come here for, then you might as well leave!” Gumshoe let out a gasp at shock of how angry he’d sounded. But the more he thought of it, the more he could detect a trace of sadness in Phoenix’s voice.
“T-That’s not at all what I’ve come here to do, pal!” The detective stated, picking out his words carefully so as to not anger Phoenix further. “I-I just wanted to know more about what happened. Mr. Edgeworth didn’t give me all the details!” He cried. Phoenix looked on silently as he took in Gumshoe’s words. He looked as if he wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him but eventually sighed in resignation.
“...Come in…” His voice dropped to a low whisper. Gumshoe followed him inside with a nervous expression on his face. The two of them sat down on the sofa in the former waiting lounge of Wright & Co. Phoenix hung his head as he gazed at the ground intensely as if silently wishing it’d collapse underneath them. He closed his eyes and sighed before looking towards Gumshoe. “How much do you know?” Phoenix asked, in a voice so quiet that the detective had to strain his ears to hear what he said
“Mr. Edgeworth told me that you used forged evidence and got disbarred. I can’t believe it, pal, that’s not like you.” He said, looking desperately to Phoenix to confirm his beliefs. But the former lawyer could only belt out a loud, humorless chuckle as he laid back against the couch. He smiled at Gumshoe, insincerely.
“Are you sure about that, detective? I’ve been known to win my cases through some pretty convenient bluffs,” Phoenix argued, raising his voice, “How do you know that I wasn’t forging evidence then?” The detective spluttered in shock.
“B-but there’s a huge difference between relying on bluffs and forging evidence, pal! And I know you, you’re not the kind of guy who would do that!” He insisted. Phoenix sighed deeply.
“Loyal as ever, aren’t we, detective?” He muttered under his breath. The former lawyer scooted himself closer to Gumshoe as if he were about to tell him a secret, “You sure you want to know what happened?” Gumshoe nodded fervently. Phoenix went on to detail events of the trial: the little girl who gave him the forged diary page, and how he’d presented it without even checking if it was a legitimate piece of evidence.
“In the end, my client wasn’t given a verdict,” His face was stern, “He disappeared, leaving his eight-year-old daughter behind.” Gumshoe squawked in horror. How could anyone abandon their child? It was unfathomable to him! He was about to go on a tangent before he was cut off by Phoenix.
“I’m going to adopt her.” He revealed.
“W-what? But you don’t have a job, pal!” Gumshoe exclaimed. The other man snorted in response.
“It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t have anyone else who can look after her. She needs a parent, and I plan on filling in that role.” Phoenix said, with a serious expression on his face. Gumshoe was so moved by Phoenix’s determination that he felt a sudden lump of emotion in his throat. He swallowed it and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Pal, if you need any help with the paperwork, I’d be happy to help. Mr. Edgeworth and I are on your side!” He spoke. Phoenix smiled at the detective, grateful. It wasn’t the wide, goofy grin that he was used to seeing on his face, but it was still something.
A few months passed since then and fortunately, Phoenix managed to adopt the defendant’s daughter, Trucy Gramarye. Gumshoe was too busy to meet her, as at the time, he was handling a big case. But the day finally arrived where he had some free time, and he chose to spend that time to go meet Phoenix’s daughter.
Coincidentally, that day also happened to be when Phoenix had to go out for an afternoon though he didn’t tell Gumshoe where he’d be. He asked Gumshoe if he’d like to look after Trucy, and the detective readily agreed.
Gumshoe made a timely arrival at 11:00 that morning. He knocked on the door and much to his pleasant surprise, the door swung open right away. Phoenix appeared and the detective noticed a few improvements to his appearance. His hair was less unkempt than it’d been before, and the dark circles around his eyes had disappeared somewhat. Not only that but there also seemed to be a bit of stubble growing on his face.
“Good of you to come, detective.” He greeted, sounding slightly cheerier than he had before. Gumshoe grinned and puffed out his chest.
“Of course, pal. So, where is she?” He asked, tilting his head curiously. Phoenix turned and called out his daughter’s name. Subsequently, Gumshoe could hear the pitter-patter of tiny footsteps which got louder and louder as they approached the door.
Then, he saw a little girl wearing a magician’s outfit, complete with an oversized top hat, poke her head through the door. She watched Gumshoe with wide, curious eyes as she clung to the leg of her adoptive father. Her gaze was intense but not in a manner that made the detective feel uncomfortable. He grinned in a friendly manner and waved towards her, causing the child to smile back.
“Daddy, who is that?” She asked, looking up at Phoenix. The former lawyer looked down at her and smiled.
“That’s an old friend of Daddy’s. His name is Detective Gumshoe, and he’ll be looking after you this afternoon.” He explained. She looked satisfied with this new information and bounced on her tiptoes.
“Hello, I’m Trucy! It’s nice to meet you, Uncle Gumshoe!” She greeted with enthusiasm dripping from her voice.
“Oh ho ho! I’m an Uncle now?” Gumshoe chuckled, quirking his brow amusedly. Trucy beamed.
“Of course, anyone who’s friends with my Daddy is family!” She commented.
“She does this with everyone. A couple weeks ago, the DeLites were visiting, and she called them 'Uncle Ron' and 'Aunt Desiree'." Phoenix revealed. Gumshoe’s heart was warmed: he hadn’t expected Phoenix's daughter to be so friendly. Phoenix left shortly thereafter.
Once he was gone, Trucy grabbed the detective by the hand and led him inside the office. Gumshoe’s eyes widened in amazement as he gazed upon the new appearance of the Wright & Co. Law Offices.
It was completely unrecognizable compared to the way it looked when Gumshoe was last there. The entrance had magician equipment strewn about everywhere in sight. There even happened to be a plate of spaghetti lying on the coffee table with a fork hanging above it mysteriously. The detective would have to ask Trucy about that later but for now, he let this enthusiastic little magician show him around and chatter excitedly about each new piece of magician stuff they encountered. He found himself endeared by her energy and felt his heart warm as he listened to her. It brought back fond memories of his own childhood.
Eventually, they settled down on the sofa, one of the few areas of the office that didn’t have magician stuff laying around. Trucy bounced excitedly on the sofa as she pulled out a deck of cards from her pocket. Gumshoe observed them curiously.
“Would you like to see a magic trick, Uncle Gumshoe?” She asked.
“Sure thing, pal!” Gumshoe said. Trucy pulled out three cards and laid them out on the table right in front of them. The detective noticed that those were the Ace of Spades, Queen of Hearts and Ace of Clubs in that order. She turned her back to Gumshoe.
“Think about one of those cards!” She ordered. Gumshoe stared at the cards intensely. Then, a picture of one of them appeared in his mind.
“Ok, I’m ready!” Trucy kept her back turned.
“Alright then, swap the positions of the two cards that you didn’t pick!” She instructed. Gumshoe did like so, taking two cards off the table and switching their positions.
“Done!”
“Put the cards face down.” Gumshoe did so and let out a grunt of affirmation. Trucy turned around with an enigmatic expression on her face. “Now, mix them around.” Gumshoe took the cards and started shuffling them as if they were playing a card game in a casino. Trucy kept a close watch on the card in the center, not once letting it leave her sight.
Once he was done, Trucy flipped over the card in the center. It turned out to be the Ace of Spades. She smirked in a cryptic manner.
“Now I’m going to flip over these other two cards. Once I’ve done that, I want you to think about your card.” Gumshoe thought of the card and as if Trucy was reading his mind, she said, “It’s the Ace of Clubs, isn’t it?” His mouth fell agape in shock.
“Wow, that was almost like you read my mind, pal!” Gumshoe exclaimed. The little girl laughed.
“Yeah, that was actually a trick my old daddy showed me.” Trucy said, looking to the side as if not wanting to meet his gaze. He noticed that there was a certain sadness to her smile after mentioning him. As if wanting to change the subject, she quickly said, “So, are there any magic tricks you know, Uncle Gumshoe?” One particular magic trick immediately came to mind for Gumshoe, but it’d been so long since he’d shown it to anyone.
“Well, there is one trick my old man used to show me. Do you have any sponge balls lying around, pal?” Gumshoe asked. Trucy let out a hum of affirmation before producing a bag of them from her pockets and handed them to the detective. He smiled gratefully. “Nice! Thanks pal!”
Gumshoe took two balls out of the bag and placed one in his hand and the other in Trucy’s. He closed his hand around the ball and thrust his hand before revealing the ball to have vanished from his hand.
“Open up your hand, Trucy.” He stated. Trucy did like so and gasped as she saw both of the balls were in her grasp.
“Wow, that’s so neat!” Trucy exclaimed, “Was your daddy a magician too, Uncle Gumshoe?” She tilted her head, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. Gumshoe chuckled heartily, and a nostalgic look overtook his features as he reminisced.
“Yeah, he was! He wasn’t a big magician like your- “He suddenly cut himself off, worried that he’d upset Trucy by mentioning her heritage. Much to his relief, the little girl didn’t look to be offended. Still, he decided to change the subject and made an awkward sounding cough before continuing, “A-Anyway, he always used to show me tricks like this when I was a kid. For a while, I even wanted to be a magician just like him, but I always got it mixed up with being a wizard!” Trucy giggled.
“Wow, I wish I could meet him!” She commented.
After their magical afternoon, the two of them decided to watch a movie together. Gumshoe ordered a pizza in the meantime and the two of them ate in relative peace. As they were watching, Trucy decided to make conversation with the detective.
“Uncle Gumshoe, thank you for spending time with me this afternoon! I had a lot of fun” Trucy said as she swallowed another slice of pizza. Gumshoe smiled and puffed out his chest.
“It’s my pleasure, pal. I had a good time with you too!” He spoke. Eventually, the movie winded down and much to his surprise, Trucy cuddled herself against the detective.
“Uncle Gumshoe?” Trucy said, out of the blue.
“What’s up, pal?” He asked, looking down at the little girl next to her side. She looked unusually serious; the detective was worried something was wrong.
“D-do you think my new Daddy is going to leave like my old one did?” She asked. Gumshoe found himself unable to speak. The idea of Phoenix Wright abandoning anyone let alone a child was outright unfathomable to the detective. It was so unbelievable that if anyone else asked him that, he would have laughed.
“No, I’ve known your Daddy for a long time and trust me, he’s one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met. He won’t abandon you; I promise.” He assured. Trucy looked somewhat satisfied by that answer.
As if on cue, once the credits rolled, the door swung open and Phoenix walked in. He watched the scene of Gumshoe and Trucy with a soft, gentle expression on his face.
“Well, it seems as if you two got along rather nicely.” He chuckled amusedly. Upon seeing her father, Trucy hopped off the couch and embraced him. Phoenix picked her up and held the young magician as she started chattering to Phoenix about their day.
“Daddy, Uncle Gumshoe’s a lot of fun! He should come over again sometime!” She chirped brightly. Phoenix smiled.
“We’ll see.” He looked at Gumshoe, “Thank you so much for looking after her today.”
“No sweat, pal. She was a delight, truly!” Gumshoe responded. He got off the couch and Trucy jumped down before running to him with arms outstretched for a hug. He returned the embrace and ruffled her hair before leaving.