A flash of light- a spotlight.
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."
The silhouette of a girl with her shadow reaching out from behind her.
"They have their entrances…"
"Wait, what are you doing here?" Footsteps and another flash of the spotlight.
A sudden snap and a scream.
"…and their exits."
The outline of an open book, before the pages flutter closed.
"And one man in his time plays many parts."
June 13, 11: 45 AM
Wright Anything Agency
"Polly!" Apollo grumbled under his breath as he accidentally banged his head on the underside o f the couch. He pulled his head and upper torso out from under the furniture and frantically re-spiked his hair before glancing over at Trucy. The teenager was bouncing up and down excitedly, a flyer clutched in her hands. "Look at this! We have to go!"
She thrust the flyer out at him, urging the young defense attorney to read it. Apollo shot a glare at her before taking the paper and scanning it quickly. It was brightly colored in streaks of navy blue, red, white, and dark purple and proclaimed in large, bold letters, 'THE DAZE OF LOVE.' He winced slightly at the corny title, thinking to himself, what is this thing for?
"It's this new musical that's showing at the Dove Theatre downtown!" Trucy smiled widely as if she had accomplished something. "We need to go see it, Polly! It looks really good. Daddy wanted to go see it to, but he has to go play at the noodle place. You'll go with me, right? Yesterday was opening night, and the next shows at 1 o'clock."
"…Do I have to go?"
"Of course you do!" Trucy glared at him, hands on her hips before she seemed to remember something and her expression turned into one of curiosity. "By the way, what were you doing underneath the couch anyways?"
Apollo coughed and held out the feather duster he had been gripping with his free hand behind his back. "Your dad told me to do it. Apparently it's somewhat of a tradition for defense lawyers working here to do menial chores." And I have to admit, getting all dusty is better than cleaning toilets.
Trucy blinked for a second before remembering what she had been saying. "Anyways, we have to go see it! I read that the guy playing the main character is really good. It's only a high school and college production, but it's still made it into the newspapers because of him."
And with that Apollo found himself being dragged out of the Anything Agency, the only thought in his mind being, how do I get myself into these things?
June 13, 12:50 PM
Dove Theatre
Lobby
Whispers were erupting all around the crowded lobby as Apollo and Trucy pushed their way through. "I don't get it," Trucy muttered as they shoved aside people to get to the doors to the theater where another large crowd was milling. "They should have let us in by now."
Apollo frowned as well as they neared the doors and caught a glimpse of what everybody was looking at. There was a large, white poster taped to each of the doorways which were covered in hasty black writing.
DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL,
'THE DAZE OF LOVE' IS CANCELED FOR AN
UNDETERMINED PERIOD OF TIME.
WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE
YOU MAY HAVE SUFFERED.
THANK YOU.
And underneath each was another scrawl, this resembling a signature of some sort. Who had signed it, Apollo had no idea. He glanced at Trucy, who appeared to be deep in thought. 'Circumstances beyond our control'? What happened here?
"Stop! I'm innocent, let go of me! I'd never kill him, you hear me? Let go of me!" The two hastily looked over towards the sound of the voice but could see nothing. Whoever it was had been abruptly silenced, and a crowd of policemen were quickly shooing everybody out of the theatre. Trucy was being targeted particularly, due to her odd attire. Apollo was about to follow her out of the building when a hand gripped his arm, the other pulling on Trucy's.
They were dragged around a corner quickly and both turned to face the person who had grabbed them. It was a boy, maybe 19 years old, with short black hair and brown eyes that were slightly wide, as if in shock. He stared at them levelly, eyes flicking down to take in their appearance before he let out a sigh of relief, tension visibly flowing out of his shoulders and back.
"You need to help her," he said, eyes boring into Apollo's skull. The boy glanced down at his attorney badge before looking back up. "You're a lawyer, right? She didn't kill him, she couldn't have. You need to go see her."
Apollo and Trucy stared blankly at him before the boy sighed exasperatedly and stuck out a hand. "My name's Calvin Bolts. Sorry for grabbing you like that," he didn't look very sorry, "but there's trouble. They arrested her, and you need to defend her. Please, she'd never kill anyone, much less him."
"Wait, what happened here?"
Calvin shook his head, black hair falling in his eyes slightly. "Never mind that, you can ask her. Just get to the detention center quickly!" He let out a sad breath, eyes staring off in the other direction. "She's probably bawling right now. She always does, whenever anything happens, and this was by far the worst."
Apollo glanced at Trucy, and winced slightly when he saw the tears that were already forming in her eyes. "T-That's so sad," she whimpered, scrubbing her eyes before turning defiantly towards the young lawyer. "Come on, Polly! We need to go see whoever it is!"
He sighed slightly and shrugged, before setting off back towards the doors, Trucy close on his heels.
June, 13 1:20 PM
Detention Center
Visitor's Room
Apollo stared at the girl behind the glass. She had long trails of eyeliner running down her cheeks, and her white-blonde hair was pulled up in a hasty pile. She kept taking in gulps of air in attempt to stop the dramatic sobs that continued to rack her frame. Eventually she quieted down enough to let him talk, which he did.
"So…I'm Apollo Justice-"
"And I'm Trucy Wright, Magician!" Trucy cut in, grinning widely at the girl who just blinked.
"…Right. Anyways, we were told to come and talk to you by somebody. Calvin Bolts, to be exact." She instantly perked up, eyebrows shooting up her forehead.
"Calvin? Why'd he send you?"
Apollo sighed and pointed to the small gold badge pinned to his lapel. The girl blinked and then smiled, eyes narrowing in glee. "Oh, you're a lawyer? Why are you here?"
"…You do realize you've been arrested, right?" Trucy ventured, tugging on the edge of her cape uncomfortably.
"…Yeah." She scrubbed at her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Sorry. Just…have to get used to it, you know?" She smiled weakly, before continuing. "So, what should I tell you about first?"
"Well, who you are, for starters."
She grinned. "My name's Alice Goodman. I'm- well, I guess I was in the production of 'Daze of Love' down at the Dove Theatre. I'm not too sure how the show can go on now that he's dead." Alice's lower lip wobbled before she burst out sobbing again, new trails making their way down her cheeks.
I guess that's as good of a place to start as any. "Alice, what happened? Who was killed, and why'd they arrest you?"
Alice paused and bit her lip, eyes flicking back and forth as she thought before answering. "Well, it was a freak accident. The wires holding up one of our big spotlights snapped, and fell on the starring man in the show and my best friend, Sean Vineer. Anyways, long story short, when the police got there they went and looked at the rafters were the wires were. There's something of a platform up there, and the stage manager can go up and fiddle around with the lights. The police…well…" She looked down at the ground and rubbed her arm. "They found something of mine by the wires, as well as a pair of scissors with my fingerprints on them, and they arrested me."
Apollo felt a cold sweat running down his face already. That's not a freak accident! How am I supposed to defend her with evidence like that? He cleared his throat. "Oh…okay." Trucy was still staring at Alice, her eyes watering slightly. She's already got Trucy wrapped up in her case.
"Well? Do you need anything else, or are you just gonna stand there?!" Alice had stood up from the chair she was sitting in and was shaking a fist at them. "The trial's tomorrow, you know. Its stuff like that that's gonna get me a guilty verdict!"
Apollo blinked. "Oh, right. Well, we'll need a request for me to be your attorney from you-" he was cut off by Alice waving a hand dismissively at him and shoving an envelope through the slit in the glass.
"Already got that, and give this to Calvin." She tapped a smaller piece of paper, folded up into a small square. "He'll know what it is."
Trucy nodded and grabbed the papers before beginning to pull the attorney out of the room. "Don't worry, Ms. Goodman! We're certain you're not guilty," she proclaimed, and they were off, once again, to the theatre.
June, 13 2:04 PM
Dove Theatre
Lobby
The two looked around the lobby. It seemed much more different now, completely empty of people. Trucy glanced at her half-brother and shrugged before padding over to look at a map of the theatre
stationed on one of the sleek walls. It showed the lobby, a large square with a red dot showing where they were standing. Through the doors was another square, labeled the theatre, and a thin rectangle portraying the stage. Behind the stage were two squares, dressing rooms 1 and 2, and another room, the sound booth. Trucy glanced around in the semblance of caution before hastily scrawling the map down on a blank piece of paper, which she then shoved into one of Apollo's pockets.
They pushed open the doors and Apollo noted that the signs were still taped to them. I guess they'll have to cancel the show, now that their lead is dead.
June 13, 2:07 PM
Dove Theatre
Audience
The area in front of the stage of the Dove Theatre looked pretty normal. There were rows upon rows of red and black seats, four sections of them with aisles separating each. The stage's red curtains were drawn closed, and the entire space was dim, with just a few lights on over-head.
And it's already swarming with cops, Apollo noted dryly, although it doesn't look like this is where the killing took place. I wonder if we can get backstage...?
"I think we just have to go through those doors," Trucy piped up, pointing at two different doors on either side of the stage. A piece of black cloth hung over both to block any light coming from behind them.
The two glanced at each other before shrugging and heading over to the doors. They were only a little bit away from the door to the right of the stage when a familiar voice was heard over the din.
"Well, look who's here. Somehow I knew I would see you two around." Apollo and Trucy whipped around to see Ema Skye standing behind them, signature bag of snacks clenched in one hand. "After all, you seem to gravitate towards trouble." The detective paused, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if there's a scientific explanation for that…"
Apollo stared blankly at her as she pondered this before snapping back to the real world. "Oh, right. You can't go back there," she said, lazily pointing a finger at the door. "Attorneys aren't allowed at the scene of crime, you know. You have to have a special permit from someone important."
Trucy pouted angrily. "Come on, Ms. Skye! You know us; we're your favorites, right? Please!"
Ema shook her head resolutely. "Nope. Sorry, but unless you run into one of the big wigs around here and persuade them to give you a permit, you're not allowed anywhere near the backstage area." And with that she continued to munch on her Snackoos, ignoring Apollo and Trucy.
The two half-siblings glanced at each other, before Apollo sighed. Might as well see what information I can get out of her, he thought to himself.
"What do you know about the defendant?"
Ema blinked, swallowing. "Who, Alice? Not much. She lives with a roommate who's around 22, I heard, and her parents are deceased. Legal guardianship went over to one of her aunts, but she doesn't live around here. Although…" She stuffed another Snackoo into her mouth thoughtfully. "Something about her seems…familiar."
Trucy frowned slightly. "Familiar? What?"
"I'm not sure. Something about her name…I think I've known someone with about the same name as her, or something. And her eyes remind me of somebody, I just can't remember who."
"Her eyes?" Apollo thought back to what Alice looked like. Her eyes were very dark, and slightly spacey looking, but kind. "They didn't ring any bells when I saw her."
Ema shook her head dismissively. "Well, it might just be my mind playing tricks on me."
Trucy shrugged. "Maybe. But what about the guy who got killed? What was his name again? John or something?"
"Sean Vineer. I can't really tell you anything about him, though." The detective rolled her eyes. "The higher-ups don't tell us much at first, since the killing just happened about an hour ago. Everyone's really hyped up."
"Killing?" Apollo interrupted, eyebrows furrowed. "How is everyone so certain about that? Couldn't it have been an accident, since the wires just snapped?"
Ema shrugged. "Well, they found scissors, didn't they? Plus, according to someone who knew both the defendant and the victim, Alice had a motive to kill Sean."
"WHAT?!" Apollo yelled causing everyone in the room to glance over at him, disturbed. He ignored them and continued. "But she said they were best friends! Why would she want to kill him?!"
The detective shook her head resolutely. "Classified information. Can't tell you. No worries, though. I'm certain the topic will come up in tomorrow's trial."
Trucy blinked. "Oh, that's right, the trial's tomorrow. Who's supposed to be prosecuting it? Mr. Gavin?"
Nodding grimly, Ema scowled. "Yeah, that glimmerous fop. I haven't seen him around here yet, but he's no doubt looking through the rough case file they typed up as soon as they could."
Apollo blinked. "Do they have an autopsy report yet?"
Ema chewed another Snackoo before swallowing. "Nothing official, we just know it was cerebral hemorrhaging. He got hit on the head after all."
Trucy frowned and pulled Apollo out of Ema's earshot. "We need to find someone important so we can get backstage access," she hissed in his ear, making him lean dangerously to the side.
Apollo sighed. "Yeah, I know, be we also have to find Calvin," he added, pulling out the small square of paper. "Alice said to give this to him." He turned the paper over and inspected it from both sides, but there was no sign of what was written on the inside.
Trucy pursed her lips impatiently. "Fine, let's go find him then. Do you think he might still be in the lobby?"
He shrugged. "Who knows, he wasn't there when we came in before, but we might as well check now."
