Atroquinine Merlot: Chapter 1
Summary: When the daughter of an influential lawyer supposedly commits suicide after a party, Miles Edgeworth is called to investigate. But when all the party guests have a motive for wanting her dead, could this really be a case of murder?
A/N: pronunciation guide - Willamijna = Wil-a-mee-nah
Miles Edgeworth was thinking about Willamijna van Hale. He tried to recall every expression on her face, every word she'd said that night, anything that might give him his final clue. All he had learnt so far was laid out like a jigsaw puzzle in his brain, but there were still missing pieces, making the picture an indiscernible blur of colour. He could not shake the feeling that the last pieces were right in front of him; so conspicuous that they were inconspicuous. Edgeworth stared at his office door, eyes glazed over in remembrance, brow furrowed, wracking his mind for the clue that would solve Ms Mina's murder.
The van Hale Estate was quite a beautiful one. It was made of sandstone brick and stood 3 storeys high. The green ivy that grew on the west wing of the building gave it a very 'English country manor' feel. To the east was a large grass field and flower garden and to the west, a copse of trees that separated the main house from the guesthouse. The whole estate had a decidedly quaint feel about it, reminding Edgeworth of the von Karma estate back in Germany. Mr. van Hale was a very prominent and influential lawyer who'd branched out into business and politics. Having been acquainted with von Karma for many years, he'd taken interest in Edgeworth's career. It was van Hale who had made it possible for Edgeworth's study of European judicial systems, having funded the whole thing. And that was how Edgeworth had found himself standing in front of the van Hale estate. He'd been invited to dinner to celebrate Mr and Mrs. van Hale's 30th wedding anniversary. After all the man had done for him, Edgeworth could not refuse.
As he reached the estate's front door, a woman of at least 50 opened it, greeted him curtly and ushered him quickly inside. Edgeworth raised an eyebrow at her behaviour but remained unperturbed; he'd experienced far worse in court. The inside of the house was exactly as he expected: opulent paintings hung from the walls and exotic Persian rugs covered the dark wooden floorboards.
"Mr. van Hale and his guests await you in the drawing room," the woman announced, all brusque efficiency. She indicated with a sweep of her arm which room that was and disappeared down a hallway leading to the west wing.
When he entered the drawing room a very enthusiastic van Hale greeted him.
"Mr. Edgeworth! We're all so glad you could come." van Hale made an exaggerated gesture with his arm, indicating the other people in the room. Although born and raised in the Netherlands, van Hale spoke perfect English, any trace of his Dutch accent gone, replaced with a convincing British accent.
Shaking van Hale's hand, Edgeworth replied "Thank you, I'm honoured to be here, Sir."
"Edgeworth, we are in the company of friends; please, call me Daniel."
From there, Daniel introduced the rest of the party. His wife, Brigitte, was seated in the chair closest to the door. Her light brown hair was tied up in a bun and her silver dress clung loosely to her body. She rose from her chair.
"It is so nice to see you again, Edgeworth," she greeted, her accent much more apparent than that of her husbands. Edgeworth replied saying that he too was happy to see her again. The corner of her lips turned up into a small smile that never really reached her eyes.
After that, Daniel introduced the rest of the party: sitting opposite Brigitte van Hale was Dr Mike Newman, the family doctor; standing by the window was Albert van Hale, the son-in-law and next to him, Cassandra Long, the best friend of van Hale's daughter.
Curious, Edgeworth thought, that the daughter was absent.
This thought was evidently apparent on his face as Daniel said, "Willamijna should be here shortly," his tone apologetic.
Cassandra made an amused snort and exchanged a look with her best friend's husband indicating this would not be the case.
While they waited, Edgeworth talked with the van Hale's about law and politics, Dr Newman occasionally joining in when he was not reading. Albert and Cassandra talked quietly at the window.
They'd been talking for about half an hour when Willamijna sauntered into the room seemingly oblivious to her lateness. She wore a very flattering red dress with matching lipstick and her long blonde hair was swept over one shoulder. Her smile was self-assured and Edgeworth thought she looked amused at her company for the night. She would have been the picture of health and beauty if not for the sickly pallor of her skin that was poorly disguised under her makeup.
"Good evening, everyone," she said in an over-dramatic tone. She held her head up high so that she could look down her nose at the guests as she appraised them.
"Mina, darling, so glad you've decided to join us," her mother greeted, the insincerity of the statement obvious.
"Yes, so glad," Cassandra echoed, with a sneer on her face.
Mina seemed either oblivious to or unaffected by the less than warm greeting as she settled her gaze on Edgeworth, her smile widening in recognition.
"Miles Edgeworth!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in years." Already, Miles was beginning to tire of her overly dramatic tone. But for civility's sake he put on a polite smile and shook her pale hand.
"It has certainly been a long time, Ms van Hale."
"Oh please, Miles. There's no need for such formalities," she insisted, her emphasis on every second word beginning to give Edgeworth a headache.
"You," she continued, "can call me Mina."
"Of course, Mina," he replied, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. Mina only acknowledged his response with a grin that was far too smug for his liking.
At that moment, the lady who had greeted Miles at the door entered the room and announced that dinner was ready. Brigitte van Hale was the first to react, standing up quickly to take Edgeworth's arm and guide him to the dinning room, a knowing look in her eyes.
As he was pulled out of the room, he heard Mina begin talking again. "Oh darling," she said, "it's so good to see you."
The dinning room's décor was much like the rest of the house's. Paintings lined the walls just like in the front foyer and Edgeworth was sure the one behind Mrs. van Hale's head was a Monet. The seven were all seated at the long table by van Hale's wait staff. To Miles' right were Dr Newman and the son-in-law Albert and to his left was Daniel at the head of the table. Brigitte sat opposite him and next to her was Cassandra. Mina made a big deal about sitting at the end of the table, complaining about how far she was from everyone and how she would need her ghastly glasses just to see everyone's faces. Dinner came and went without incident, the gathered people chatting amicably – for the most part – amongst each other.
"Oh Cassie, dear," Mina began, "how absolutely wonderful is this quail?" When she noticed the bird untouched on her friend's plate, she spoke again, interrupting whatever Cassie was just about to say. "You really should try some, otherwise you're missing out."
Edgeworth noticed for the second time that night a sneer on Cassandra's face.
Perhaps they're not as close as I thought, he mused.
"Mina, dear," Cassie replied, copying her friend's speech pattern, "I'm a vegetarian." Her tone was clipped and her eyes had narrowed. She glared at her 'friend' for a moment before turning her head to look out the window opposite her.
"Well that's very unfortunate for you," Mina said as she pushed food around her plate with a fork.
Miles couldn't tell if Mina was really that oblivious to her friend's attitude or simply didn't care. From what he had seen so far, it could really go either way.
At the completion of dinner, the party reassembled in the drawing room. Surprisingly, Mina sat down and opted to read a book by the window, but not without taking a whole bottle of wine for herself. The rest of the party sat down in front of the fireplace. It wasn't lit; it was still far too warm at this time of year. Cassandra and Albert seemed content in talking amongst themselves and whilst the van Hales reminisced about the 'early days' Edgeworth was left to suffer through Dr Newman's explanation of the thesis he was working on. Edgeworth was only half listening.
"… It's easy if you think about it: if a patient is taking Apomorphine and anti-depressants and has a blood-alcohol content of 0.15 and given certain genetic factors within the person's body, they can all combine to create Atroquinine. Do you know what Atroquinine is, Mr. Edgeworth? It's a slow acting poison, it is. Takes about 15 minutes to attack the central nervous system. There's no cure. Did you hear that, Mr Edgeworth? No cure. That's what I'm working on: a cure. A cure that will –"
"That's very fascinating, Mr. Newman," – Oh god, that girl is contagious – "but –"
"Please, call me Dr Newman," he interrupted.
"Yes, Dr Newman," the irritation barely hidden in his tone, "but I'm afraid I must excuse myself for a moment." Without waiting for a reply, Edgeworth stood up and walked swiftly out the room, ignoring the curious looks of the van Hale's.
He walked a way down the hall till he was sure he wasn't being followed. Had van Hale gone out of his way to invite the most insufferable people? Well that wasn't fair; only Mina and Newman were insufferable.
"Oh just where did I leave my glasses?" Speak of the devil.
He heard determined footsteps coming from the drawing room.
Oh please no, no, no, no. Edgeworth tried to find somewhere to hide but it was too late.
"Oh there you are, Miles! I was wondering just where you'd gone." And the headache re-emerges.
"Ms Mina, is there something I can do for you?" he inquired politely.
"Well," – no please just kill me now – "what you can do for me at the moment," he didn't miss the way her eyes glinted at that, "is help me find my glasses. I just can't read without them!"
"Then how were you reading before?"
"Oh silly Miles. I was drinking my wine. I can't do both at once."
"Actually you definitely could," he mumbled in response.
"Pardon?"
"I said: 'I've not seen your glasses, Ms Mina.'" He felt his eye twitch at the blatant lie, becoming increasingly frustrated at the woman in front of him. If she saw through his lie she didn't show it. Instead she glanced back and around to make sure they weren't being watched.
"There is one other thing you could help me with…" she trailed off, eyes scanning her surroundings constantly on the look out for other people. Her whole demeanour had changed at that instant. Gone was the infuriating self-assured smugness; her face a perfect mask of nonchalance and the hint of … fear in her eyes?
Edgeworth took a breath to quell his irritation. When it was evident that Mina was not going to continue, he prompted her: "Yes Ms Mina?"
"… What's your opinion of blackmail?"
That was definitely not what he'd been expecting. He stared at her for a moment in surprise, but quickly composed himself.
"What do you mean by 'opinion'?"
"Well… it's quite low isn't it? I mean, what kind of person would do such a thing?" The fear in her eyes had remained, looking out of place on her usually smug features. Her sickly pale pallor and the dark bags under her eyes were highlighted by the poorly concealed fear on her face.
Slowly, Edgeworth replied "Ms Mina, you're not being blackmailed are you?"
Before she could reply, let alone react, to his question, the housekeeper rounded the corner and strode down the hall towards the drawing room.
"Well, if you do find my glasses, I'd be most appreciative." She'd composed herself, changed the subject and began to walk back to the drawing room.
Back to her old self, he thought.
As Edgeworth returned to the room, Daniel van Hale was on his way out followed by the curt housekeeper. Daniel's face was pinched with some emotion Edgeworth couldn't identify quick enough, because upon seeing him van Hale had slipped on a blank mask.
"Got to make a phone call," was all the explanation he received before van Hale was off down the hall.
Not much had changed in Edgeworth's absence: Albert and Cassie were still talking – he was surprised that he had not seen Albert and Mina talk to each other once considering they were married – Mina was sitting back in her seat, reading with her glasses perched on her nose – so that had all been a rouse – and Brigitte was politely half-listening to Newman's medical jargon.
"Mrs. van Hale," he interrupted Newman's monologue, "that's such a lovely garden you have there," he looked pointedly out the window. "I'm not good with flowers, tell me: what are those blue ones called?"
Relief washed over Brigitte's face, having been saved from Newman's rambling and eagerly talked about her hyacinths and scillas.
When Daniel returned he seemed troubled, perhaps a business deal had gone south? Edgeworth didn't have time to dwell on that much longer as Mina stood up and began to address the whole room.
"I propose a toast," she said, thrusting her wine glass in the air where some wine sloshed over the edge and onto the carpet. "To dear Mama and Papa. I truly wish that I should have such a happy and long marriage to my dear Albert." She smiled broadly and sculled the rest of her glass, struggling to keep herself from swaying.
There was an uncomfortable silence that followed until Albert stood up and walked towards his wife.
"Come on, Mina," his tone like that of an adult to a sleepy child, "I think you've had enough." He tried to take her wine glass from her but she swatted his hand away. "Mina, you're drunk." Again he reached for her glass and again she swatted his hand away.
"No, I'm not drunk, you are all just too sober," she said in a tone far too amused for someone who was not drunk.
"Just go to bed, Mina, you're ruining the night," was the curt statement from Cassandra.
Brigitte said something Miles couldn't quite understand in Dutch to Mina. Whatever she said, it worked: Mina sighed, closed her book and placed it on the side table with her glasses and stumbled out of the room with her mother.
When Brigitte returned some minutes later, it was decided to call it a night and the guests all said their goodbyes. Albert and Cassandra were both staying overnight at the guest house (Mina had been in no condition to walk that far and had gone to bed in her childhood room). Dr Newman had his own room in the main house, which left Edgeworth as the only one driving home that night. Brigitte had insisted he stay, but he had work to do the next morning and refused her offer. He was tired and really needed to leave before we went insane. He said his goodbyes to Mrs. van Hale (Mr. van Hale was on the phone again), promising to come visit soon enough. She'd said that he really must – Mina would enjoy the company. His eye twitched at that. It was too late; he'd already begun the short spiral into insanity.
The next morning, Edgeworth woke to his mobile phone ringing. His alarm clock read 6.05.
It better not be that fool Larry, he thought grimly as he reached for the phone.
The screen on his mobile indicated an unknown caller, ruling Larry out. But that meant that it ruled work out as well. His interest piqued, Edgeworth pressed the accept button.
"Miles Edgeworth speaking," he answered.
"Mr. Edgeworth? It's Cassandra Long," came the hurried reply. She was sobbing making it very difficult for Edgeworth to understand her. Suddenly on alert, he sat up in bed.
"Ms Long, tell me what's happened," he commanded, unease pooling in his stomach.
"It's Mina," she cried, "… she's dead!"
TBC