木下 大作

Ken "Acro" Dingling is an acrobat whose legs were paralyzed during an accident six months prior to the murder of Russell Berry, in which Acro was called as a witness. Acro is polite, pleasant and optimistic. Unlike his colleagues in the circus, Acro can see the "diamond shining in [Galactica's] soul", namely his pride as a performer, and he feels that this is something lacking from the others until the magician showed up. He does admit to still having some issues with him, however. Bat had developed a crush on the ringmaster's daughter, Regina Berry. The two often played pranks on one another. One day, Bat sprinkled some pepper on Regina. The resulting sneezing fit was such that even onlookers could not help but laugh. Regina thought it would be funny to get him back with the same trick, so she doused a scarf in pepper and gave it to the young acrobat as a gift, who eagerly wore it. During practice on that same day, Bat suddenly made a bet with Regina that, if he could put his head inside the mouth of Léon, the circus lion, then she would have to go on a date to the movies with him. Everyone thought that Bat was being stupid, but since the lion was old and had much experience in doing that very trick, nobody stopped him. Unfortunately, due to Bat's pepper-laced scarf, the lion sneezed, consequently closing his jaws on the young man's head. Acro leaped towards the lion to try to save his little brother, only for the lion to turn on him. The incident caused Bat to suffer severe brain damage and lapse into a coma, while Acro's legs were paralyzed, confining him to a wheelchair. Although the incident had been entirely accidental, Regina never seemed to grasp the seriousness of what had happened to Bat. This was because her father had told her after her mother's death that people became stars when they died. Acro knew that she had never intended for anything bad to happen, having only wanted to make his brother sneeze a few times. However, Regina's continuing innocent belief that Bat had become a star became unbearable, and eventually, Acro decided to end it all. Six months after the accident, Acro planted a note into Regina's pocket during one of her daily visits. The note anonymously told "the murderer" that the author had conclusive evidence of what had taken place and that she should be at the lodging house plaza at 10:00 p.m. that night. Using a pulley system, he lowered a large wooden box containing a bottle of pepper (the "evidence" from the incident) from his window to the courtyard below. He then positioned a bust of circus magician Max Galactica, which Money had stolen, above the box. The box was made in such a way that whomever tried to pick it up would have to squat, guaranteeing that the victim's head would be in the perfect position for a killing blow from the bust. All Acro had to do was wait for the sounds of someone trying to lift the box, release the rope in order to kill "the murderer", then hoist the bust back up to his room. The plan quickly fell apart, however, since Regina had no idea what the note was about, or even that it was intended for her, and had instead posted it on the cafeteria's bulletin board. Although other circus staff members saw it, only Russell seemed to know what it meant. He went to the courtyard in her stead, disguised in Galactica's trademark hat and cloak. Since Acro could not see very far down outside his window due to his confinement to a wheelchair, he had no idea who it was outside the window. When Acro saw the cloak on the bust, he didn't know how it got there. However, since it was incriminating evidence, he burned it and threw the ashes away. The bust, on the other hand, could not be disposed of so easily, and so he kept it in his room. Acro was racked with guilt for his crime. Instead of killing the intended target, he had killed the ringmaster, who had shown him nothing but kindness and generosity. At first, he contemplated suicide, then thought about giving himself up. In the end, he endeavored not to give up. If he died or was incarcerated, then no one would be left to look after Bat. He therefore went along with the police's suspicion of Galactica. In the courtroom, Acro took the stand and gave his testimony. Through pressing statements and finding contradictions, Wright was gradually able to figure out what had happened on the night of the murder and, eventually, that the murder weapon was under Acro's blanket. Finally being found out, Acro confessed to the crime and openly wept for murdering the man who had become like a father to him. He also apologized to Galactica for framing him. It may have been that Acro was not given the death penalty, as Miles Edgeworth told Detective Gumshoe in a phone conversation to "go easy on him".