The demo picks up where the last ended; Ryuunosuke and Asougi have shown that the victim, John Watson, could not have been eating the meal at his table due to having undergone tooth surgery just hours before. The question of the hour is: who did? The game gives four choices (Watson/Ryuunosuke/Uzukumaru and Sonohigurashi/someone else) and after the hosts pick Ryuunosuke for laughs ("Sir! Maybe... maybe I ate it?") they make the proper claim: someone else was sitting with the victim when he was killed.

Ryuunosuke maintains that there was a woman sitting with Watson. Asougi demands the witnesses tell the truth, going so far as to say he'll sue to have them arrested for perjury and as accomplices to murder. After some back-and-forth, the two let it slip that they were "told not to mention the lady." In other words - they _did_ see an English woman at the scene, but someone's keeping them quiet! Payne pleads ignorance, so the question falls to the defence: who is intimidating the witnesses into silence?

The hosts go through the cast of characters. Their first guess is Yuujin Mikotoba, and they strike out (giving us a look at the penalty animation). After some prodding from Kojima and (in-game) Asougi, they re-examine the evidence. When they get to the map of the scene the waiter, Satoru Hosonaga, submitted, they flip it over and find it's his business card - and his occupation is "Chief Detective, Capital Police First Division." More than authority enough to shut up a few witnesses. They make their accusation, and -

[HOLD IT!]



For a few moments, the court is silent. Then Asougi speaks up: if memory serves, just as he is to go to England, there was supposed to be an English exchange student at Teito Yuumei University - a young woman, to be precise. Hosonaga acknowledges he looked into the woman at the crime scene; her name is Ms. Jezail Bulette, and she is indeed an exchange student working with Dr. Watson. The judge declares that as things stand, he cannot pass a verdict on Ryuunosuke, and despite Payne's protests, he orders Jezail to be brought to the stand. Court goes into recess.

In the lobby, Yuujin and Susato show up again, and Yuujin congratulates Ryuunosuke and Asougi on making it so far. He also apologizes for convincing Ryuunosuke to lead the defense, but stands by his decision; he believes young people like Asougi and Ryuunosuke are the future of the country's law, and he didn't want to risk Asougi losing his chance to study abroad. Asougi replies that had he lost the case and failed a friend, he would have turned down the exchange program himself.

Yuujin tells the pair to see things through to the end; as he was the one who invited Watson to Teito, he wants to know the truth as well. He also asks Susato to return to the university... just in case "that" turns out to be necessary. And with that, time's up for the recess; Asougi encourages Ryuunosuke, who in turn thanks Asougi for supporting him thus far.



Court resumes; Payne tries to guilt-trip Ryuunosuke over causing all this trouble, but Asougi shuts him down pretty quickly, and then goes a step further by rallying against the state of justice in the country. Ryuunosuke gets in on the action too:



The judge agrees the purpose of the court is to apply justice, and with that he calls Jezail to the stand, much to Payne's distress.

Jezail comes to the stand with Hosonaga and an elegant leitmotif in tow. Payne pretty much has the same reaction his descendant will with Dahlia, and asks her for her name and occupation about as politely as possible. She responds in English (rendered as jibberish) but Hosonaga translates: she is indeed Jezail Bulette, an exchange student working in the medical department of Teito Yuumei University. The judge asks her to clarify something, and... the demo ends.

Interesting that not being able to understand English will be used as a plot point and makes me wonder how the game will be handled after the first case. Will our protagonists learn English after the first case? Will everyone be randomly fluent in Japanese? I guess it would make sense given Holmes' intellect and Watson being a super genius and the daughter of a professor fluent in Japanese.

I feel for the localization staff.

And, the English exchange student may in fact know a few things in French, so let her speak that instead. Surely, she's going to have to speak for herself without a translator eventually.

John Watson's the first victim? So he does exist... I can only guess what that means for Iris.