March 29, 8:23 A.M.

Wright Anything Agency

Apollo reached the Wright Anything Agency, ready for a new day of the same old paperwork and the same old waiting for a case to show up. With Phoenix and Athena showing up, Apollo didn't get as many cases as he would have liked. This meant that more often than not, Apollo was designated to doing the paperwork throughout the building and other generic chores. One of these "chores" was that he would often act as a secretary to the agency, which meant that when the phone rang, Apollo picked it up without any hesitation.

"Hello, this is Wright Anything Agency," Apollo began, his boredom obvious in his voice.

"Apollo," Phoenix' voice said plainly. "Come down to the detention center. We've got a new case for you."

Apollo said no more words and hung up the phone to sprint towards the detention center.


March 29, 8:30 AM

Detention Center

He saw Phoenix waiting for him, sitting on one of the benches. He silently pointed towards the booth in front of him. Apollo wordlessly followed where his finger was pointed and saw who his new client would be.

The first thing Apollo noticed about his new client was how… pink she was. She had pink hair, a low-cut pink dress (that Apollo tried his hardest to avert his gaze from), everything about this girl was pink.

"Ooh~" she said as Apollo sat down, the flirtatiousness in her voice obvious. "Are you gonna be my lawyer? 'Cuz you're a real cutie!"

Why is everyone so weird? Apollo thought. "Um...yeah," Apollo said, a blush beginning to form on his face. "A-Apollo Justice, at your service!"

The client winked, slightly lowering her hands that were almost cat-like near her eyes. "Joy to meet you, Apollo!" she responded coyly.

"T-tell me what happened!" Apollo quickly blurted out. Why can't I speak at all to this lady?

"Nuh-uh, Mr. Lawyer-man. It's impolite to not ask a lady her name."

Apollo was about to ask, but Phoenix calmly said, "April May. Charged on suspicion of the murder of her long-time boyfriend, Octavio Jules. Jules was killed by the ingestion of a lethal poison found in his coffee. Several witnesses allegedly saw Ms. May give Mr. Jules the already-poisoned coffee, and he died shortly afterwards."

"Why are you always taking my fun away, Mr. Big Lawyer?" Ms. May said, dropping her cutesy tone of voice.

Phoenix remained silent. These two know each other!? Apollo thought. "Apollo," Phoenix said after some time. "The scene of the crime was the park in the old district of town. You might find clues there." He slowly got up. "I, on the other hand, have work on another big case."

Phoenix handed Apollo a sheet of paper with the directions to the park and then continued his way out.


March 29

Memorial Park

Apollo arrived at the park that was the scene of the crime. The park was fully closed down, and police were surrounding it. While Apollo wasn't familiar with most of the officers, he did notice a few. Ema was talking to a higher up within the department. Another detective that Phoenix had introduced to Apollo and Athena, Gumshoe, was at the head of the scene. A few of Apollo's friends were also bustling about, questioning witnesses.

Apollo walked towards Detective Gumshoe and asked, "Anything on the case?"

Gumshoe slightly flinched at Apollo's sudden appearance, though quickly returned with, "You defending this case, pal?" Apollo nodded. "Alright, here's what I got. The defendant was the 35-year-old Octavio Jules. We didn't know much about him, but he worked at a nearby restaurant as one of the kitchen people. The vic died at 7:23 AM, as all the witnesses agree. The cup that Ms. May brought him had traces of poison, and a poison bottle was found nearby, with Ms. May's prints. We've got three witnesses, though two already left." He rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, pal. This isn't looking good for ya."

"Where is the remaining witness?" Apollo asked, thinking about what he had just learned and marking what Gumshoe told him in his court record.

Gumshoe pointed Apollo towards a gazebo some ways away, and Apollo followed the direction of his finger to the first of the three witnesses.


March 29

Memorial Park- Wedding Retreat

By the time Apollo arrived, the officer who was there had already left, though he apparently told the witness that Apollo was coming, as he was sitting down on one of the benches in the gazebo.

"..." the witness stared in silence at Apollo, dead in the eyes. While he was staring down Apollo, he adjusted his silver-blond, close-cropped hair.

"Um…" Apollo began. Again, why are these people so weird? "I was informed that you witnessed-"

"Silence!" he shouted commandingly. The tone of his voice hardly matched the high-pitchedness that came out. "Gel?" he said after some time.

"Um...what?"

"Gel. How much?"

What is up with this guy? "Uh...about a tube per day?"

"Tsk. Tsk. I can hook you up with something so much better than that. Maybe only a half-tube per. You may want to consider a change in hairstyle, though. Some folk may think you're a demon. That, my friend, is where I come in! Cody Feur! Hear my name and remember it well! I am a prodigy amongst prodigies! My skill in styling is unmatched! I will become the most famous hair stylist this world has ever seen! The world will know the name-no-the brand of Cody Feur, master of hair! Here friend," he handed Apollo a card, "my card. If you need to look your best for something, just call me up and I'll have you looking like the best person there!"

Apollo was genuinely speechless. This man who had spent the first two minutes of their meeting in total silence had nearly busted Apollo's eardrum. Maybe some of his product got into his brain? "R-right," he began, suddenly nervous. "I heard that you witnessed a crime take place."

"Yep," Cody responded meekly.

"..!" What? He's quiet again? "Oh...uh...can you tell me what you saw?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"The officers said that I can't tell."

Thanks, guys. "Uh...are you sure? Even for your new friend Apollo?"

"...No." He thought for a moment. "Fine. I'll tell you one thing. Even if she didn't outright kill him, she murdered by not doing anything to help him."

"What do you mean?"

"The man...the victim. He started choking, but the lady didn't do anything to help him. She just...watched as he died."

What..? WHAT? "A-are you sure?"

"Yep."

"How?"

"I watched it happen."

"W-why didn't you do anything to help?"

"..!"

"What?"

"Uh...uh..nothing! I..um...I don't know how to do...that stuff."

Something's fishy about this guy. "Alright, I'll see if I can find one of these other witnesses and get what they can learn."


March 29

Seuse Massages

Detective Gumshoe had pointed Apollo in the direction of two new witnesses: a firefighter and a masseuse. Apollo decided to check out the masseuse first, as the firefighter was on duty. The first thing Apollo noticed as he walked in the door was the strong scent of peaches filling the air. Several bowls of the fruit were scattered throughout the salon, and it seemed as though most of the masseuses were hard at work.

"Hello there, Mister..?" a man said, standing at the counter.

"Justice," Apollo said, realizing that the man was talking to him. "Apollo Justice."

"Okay Mister Justice, let's get you all set up."

"What? Oh, no no no no. I'm not here to get a massage, I'm here for a witness to a certain crime."

"Maddie!" the man shouted without a second thought. "She'll be right here, doll."

Apollo was suddenly uncomfortable again. Why do I even expect that I'll find a normal person?

"Hello?" a petite girl asked, coming up to the counter. She looked no older than 16.

"Umm..are you the witness?" Apollo asked.

"Yes. Maddie Seuse. I own this parlor."

"Y-you're the owner!? Aren't you a bit young?"

Maddie seemed slightly taken aback, though she quickly smiled and giggled behind her hand. "I get that a lot. I'm 25, Mr..?"

"Justice, Apollo. Anyways, what did you see?"

"I know how your agency works, Mr. Justice. You'll find out the truth eventually, so I'll just tell you now."

Finally! Someone cooperative! "Well, what did you see?"

"I was taking my usual stroll in the park as I let Jan run the shop-"

"Jan?"

"The attendant who saw you at first. He was the victim's best friend. Jan Febrin. I'm sure you'll be able to talk to him later. Anyways, I was walking in the park, and I was quickly approaching the center gardens in the park. Octavio and April were on the left bench, and the other kid on the right bench."

"The detective said there were three witnesses."

"Oh, the firefighter? She was on one of the other paths to the center, approaching by the kid. I was several steps behind the benches when I saw April hand Octavio a coffee. It was probably cold by the time he got it, but he seemed delighted nonethless. He had taken a single sip and quickly began coughing. Ms. May leapt from her seat, and the kid looked ready to vomit. The firefighter jumped in to try and help, but it was to no avail. She quickly apprehended April and waited for the police."

This testimony...I don't see any holes in it! April's pretty much dead!

"Uh...thanks, Ms. Seuse. I'll take this in mind as I ask the firefighter what she saw."

"No use, Mr. Justice."

"W-what?"

"She's on duty for the rest of the day, and probably well into tomorrow. Her testimony may not even be needed."

Crap! "Then...what do I do?"

"That's your job to find out, Mr. Justice. Are we done here?" Apollo weakly nodded. "Then I'll be on my way. See you tomorrow."

This doesn't look good! I don't have much to go off of, but I don't think I can get much more. Here goes nothing!