Murder in the Dark

Cafe Alley: Monday 2:15 a.m.

A man is seen running away from a building into an alley. It seemed as if he was trying to escape from something. A few moments later a shadowy figure is going after the man with a knife shining in the moonlight. The man speeds up as soon as he sees his pursuer. But it's too late, the knife plunges into his back. With his last few breaths he stumbles into the light of a street lamp. The man falls to the ground as the blood pools around him. The figure pulls the knife from the victims back and wraps a white cloth around it. Another person walks out into the scene. This person sees the figure and tries to question, but the figure takes off not wanting to be seen by a witness. Seeing as there is no way to catch up to the figure the person bends down to check on the man. He is breathing, but barely. The person takes a vest off and puts it on the wound then proceeds to call the hospital and police. By the time they get there the man has died. The person is held for questioning.

Wright Office: Monday 3:30 p.m.

I sit at a desk being complety bored. Sandra, Apollo, and Phoenix are all busy with some court cases and I'm stuck with doing nothing, but answering calls and looking after Trucy. I let out a sigh. This is pretty much where I'm stuck every day. I'm not even being paid unless you count college credits. I guess that's just how it'll be while I'm an intern.

"Hey, Mira! You look deep in thought! Are you thinking about Apollo again?" Trucy teased.

"Wh-what?! N-no! I'm just bored!" I responded as I blushed.

"Sure you aren't thinking about him! And if you're bored you could have told me! I can show you some of my magic tricks!" Trucy laughed.

"No thank you! I'm good!" I replied turning my attention to some of Phoenix's and Sandra's old cases from the filing cabinet. I pulled one out and started reading it. I heard Trucy laugh, but thought it was nothing, so I continued reading. A few minutes later Mr. Hat pop out. I let out a surprised scream.

"Haha! Got you Mira!" Trucy laughed.

"Tr-Trucy! Y-you nearly scared me to death!" I yelled. Sandra walked out to check on us.

"Is everything alright out here?" Sandra questioned.

"Yep! Everything is alright! I'm just keeping Mira company!" Trucy answered.

"Yeah, by nearly scaring me to death." I said under my breath.

"Well, we just got a call for a case. And seeing as you're bored you could do it." Sandra stated handing me a case folder. I quickly grabbed it and cheered in my mind.

"Oh wow! I'll go to help you!" Trucy said smiling at me. Who knew what she had planned for me.

"Ok, I guess you can come with me. But no tricks!" I commented.

"Trucy, please go easy on her." Sandra told her as she went back to work. With that Trucy and I left.

Apartment 34: Monday 4:00 p.m.

"What are we doing here Mira? And why?" Trucy asked looking around.

"This is my apartment, I need to grab a few things and get changed into something else." I answered unlocking the door.

"Why is that?" Trucy questioned as she entered.

"Well not a lot of people will talk to a lawyer. So I'll dress as a journalist. More people talk to journalists rather than lawyers. (At least I think so. I could be dead wrong about this.)" I responded following her in and closing the door behind me.

"Oh, ok! And this is so small..." Trucy commented.

"Well I'm not being paid as a lawyer so this is all i can afford right now." I sighed entering my room and getting changed. When I come back out Trucy is flipping through a photo album.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" I asked.

"I got bored so I started going through this! Who are these people?" Trucy replied.

"My family and an old friend of mine (I wonder if he ever became a lawyer like he wanted to.) Well let's go to the scene of the crime now!" I said closing the photo album and putting it on a shelf. I took the case file from my bag. Trucy pulled something out of her bag. I blushed when i saw what it was.

"Wh-why do you have Apollo's bracelet?" I asked.

"Apollo gave it to me before we left! He said it's to give you good luck and to help you on your case!" Trucy replied. That made me blush more. I shook my head. (Mira! Stay focused on the case! This is no time to think about anything else, but the case!) I thought to myself. Trucy laughed when she saw me blush. I ignored the laugh and opened the case file.

"W-well this restaurant is down the street from here. In fact one of the workers live right next door to me." I said closing the file and heading out the door.

Cafe: Monday 4:13 p.m.

We arrived at the Cafe or Restaurant or whatever you want to call it. I slipped the bracelet on, which it was pretty loose on me and we headed in. It seemed like it was business as usual. No one seemed to care that their boss had died this morning. Well there was probably questioning going on in the back since there were police cars parked in the front. A waiter came up to us.

"Excuse me, are you two waiting for a seat?" The waiter asked.

"(Oh my gosh! He's cute! This place sure knows how to hire people! But Apollo has my heart! And I lov... Umm... Back to the case...)No, we're just here to ask questions." I answered.

"Mira, you aren't going to cheat on Apollo, are you?" Trucy questioned.

"Tr-Trucy! N-not here!" I whispered to her as I blushed.

"You're the second person to say you're here to ask questions." The waiter sighed then added, "Like I told the other person I don't know anything." Some weird looking chains and two locks appeared. (What the heck are those?!) I thought staring at them.

"Mira, why are you staring at him?" Trucy whispered to me.

"Wait, don't you see those locks and chains?" I asked.

"What locks and chains?" Trucy questioned looking at me like I was going nuts.

I shook my head a few times. "It's nothing, never mind." I answered. (Am I going completely insane?) I thought to myself.

"Well if all you're here for is questions then can you please leave? We're very busy today and can't answer anything." The waiter said walking away from us to tend a table.

"Mira, is something wrong? You seem out of it today. Do you want to talk to Mr. Hat about it?" Trucy asked with a grin on her face.

"N-no Mr. Hat! We just need to talk to another waiter! (I blew it with the first one, but I've learned my lesson now!)" I answered. A guy walked by and bumped into us.

"Sorry there lovely Misses! I can be so clumsy when I see such beautiful women!" The guy said.

"Watch where you're going next time sir!" Trucy yelled at him. This guy seemed familiar to me. (Oh dear God! Not him! Anyone, but him!) I thought to myself as it hit me. This was my old friend Roy.

"Oh, it's you Mira! Who's your cute, little friend here?" Roy asked as he realized it was me.

"Wait, you know this jerk Mira?" Trucy asked.

"This is Trucy. She's a very good friend of mine. And yeah, I do Trucy. Anyway we have to get some questioning done." I responded.

"Oh, ok! By the way did you ever become a musician or singer like you wanted when we were kids?" Roy asked.

"You wanted to be like Klavier?!" Trucy commented.

"Look that was when I was way younger. That was before I knew Klavier. (I guess that would be nice if Klavier wasn't in that field. But I wouldn't have met any of my friends if I did.) Well we have a case to get back to." I stated.

"Don't bother you two! I already questioned everyone out!" Roy said with a smile across his face. I heard a ticking sound this time.

"What?! You couldn't have! Wait, why are you questioning people?" Trucy asked.

"Well I need to get the whole story for my job! I can't do it very well if I don't get all the information!" Roy answered in a mocking tone. And I heard the ticking noise again. (What the heck is going on here?! First weird locks and chains now a ticking noise?! Is this case turning me completely insane?!) I thought to myself looking towards Trucy to see if she heard it as well, but she was too busy yelling at Roy.

"Well anyway I have to go! See you two lovely ladies later!" He said winking towards me. I just sighed and waved him off. Trucy stuck her tongue out at him. I grabbed her hand and lead her farther in to the restaurant.

"What are we doing now?" Trucy asked.

"Something tells me Roy was lying. So we're going to question people." I answered.

We walked around that place for a while trying to get answers, but no one would talk to us. Worse of all I kept seeing those weird locks and chains and hearing that ticking noise again. I had no idea what they were or how I was experiencing them, Trucy didn't seem to be seeing or hearing what I was and no one else did either. Maybe it was a bad idea to become a lawyer. Maybe this job is way too stressful on me. I guess I should have stuck with music, but I had a very bad experience with an obsessed fan. Maybe I'm just not good at any job…

"Mira, what do we do now?" Trucy asked.

"I'm not sure, maybe we should head back to my apartment. Who knows maybe a clue or lead will hit us or something." I answered completely stuck on what to do next. I wish I knew what the chains, locks, and ticking meant.

"We could ask my daddy for help!" Trucy said smiling.

"No, this is a solo case. I can't do that." I replied. It's not that I couldn't do that it was I wouldn't go crawling to Phoenix for help. I've always complained to him about not giving me a case and now that I had one I was over my head. Well now I know why he wouldn't give me one. This is just so overwhelming. And if I went to Apollo or Sandra for help somehow Phoenix would find out and give me an "I told you" look.

"Ok, if you're sure! Well you could ask Polly or Sandra for help then!" Trucy stated.

"No, I can't do that either. I have to prove to hi….. Them (and myself) I can do stuff on my own." I responded.

"Ok, whatever you say Mira." Trucy said. So we headed back to the apartment.

Apartment Buildings: Monday 5:05 p.m.

When we got back to my apartment there were cop cars in front of it. (What the heck is going on here?!) I thought to myself. Trucy looked as confused as I did and a girl with brown hair walked up to us. It look like she had a bag of chips maybe?

"Excuse me! This is a crime scene! Go away before I have to make you!" The girl demanded. I think I heard Apollo talk about this girl before. He said something about getting snackoued or something like that.