Date: April 24, 2024 Time: 5:15 AM Location: People Park

Miles Edgeworth, had, of course, heard the stories about Naomi Akiyama. She was brilliant, cunning, and highly difficult to work with. Of course, he had done his research on her when she first arrived on the scene.

Naomi Akiyama was orphaned at the age of three, and spent most of her time at an orphanage in London until the age of ten. Miles couldn't find any information about the orphanage itself, truly; her file simply stated that it existed and Naomi was a previous occupant. She gained a reputation for her deductive reasoning skills, but that reputation was met with people finding her to be an odd and somewhat brash character. She didn't go out much and didn't have many friends on the force (or outside of it).

With the benefit of the doubt, Miles knew what that was like. He considered himself to be the same way years ago. He wondered, however, if there were any truth to the rumors about her. He was eager to know that the genius detective would be handling the case, because it made him even more sure that with their skills together, they would catch the culprit in no time at all. But, as he spoke to her at length, he could feel his frustration for the young detective growing.

He saw the small smile she tried to hide when de Killer's card was presented to her and the disappointment that crossed over her face when she realized it was a fake. She obviously didn't want him there. She claimed it was for his conflict of interest, and she was right in that regards. Miles Edgeworth tried his best to keep it together and professional, and he was sure he was doing a pretty good job of it until Naomi arrived on the scene. But, like it or not, he was determined to work on this case.

For the sake of the witness, Miles accompanied Naomi to question the witness, much to the latter's chagrin. The two of them, Kate Garra and Trent Millet were huddled together. Naomi strutted past Justice, who tried to give a report of the interview; however, Naomi didn't want to hear it. She wasn't interested in Justice's musings, even if they were direct quotes from the witnesses themselves. In her eyes, Justice had yet to earn any credibility as an officer. Miles didn't miss the dirty look that Justice shot at Naomi when the latter brushed past her with an obvious disdain.

Naomi and Miles arrived at the witnesses. When they stopped in front of them, Kate broke free of Trent's embrace and took a small step forward.

"Um…they-they wouldn't tell us anything. Please, can you tell us if-if the woman we found will be alright?" Kate said meekly.

Naomi, holding a pen and a notepad, started lightly chewing on the top of the pen. "She'll be fine. Actually, she should heal quite nicely. Whoever did the stabbing did a mediocre job at best," Naomi said brashly.

Miles was usually a patient man, but he found himself trying not to exclaim why in the hell she would say that?Franziska was stable, yes, but what she was saying was not something she should be saying to them. He tried to shoot her a glance with his eyes, but she paid no mind to him, instead looking directly at the two of them.

"Oh really? It looked pretty bad," Trent said, a valley accent thick in his voice.

"Yeah, well, that's why we have professionals," Naomi said. She seemed completely unaware of the attitude that she was giving off. It didn't seem in any way intentional…it just sounded like the natural way that her response came out.

"Y-You're right," Kate said. "I'm glad she'll be okay." She sighed with relief. "It really freaked us out when…when…" Kate drifted off as Miles stared, dumbfounded at Naomi. In the middle of Kate's talking, she had waltzed up to her and studied her face from only inches away. She did the same to Trent.

"Um, what the hell?" Trent said, backing away from her.

Miles Edgeworth didn't get embarrassed easily, but he knew his face was turning red. With frustration or embarrassment, however, was yet to be decided. "Detective!" He said as sternly as he could. "What exactly are you doing?" He stared her down, expecting an answer.

Instead of answering his question, Naomi merely stepped back, tapping her pen against her chin. "I'd like to ask you some questions about what you saw." Miles didn't miss the inflection in her tone. Not only that, he was still reeling at her completely unprofessional actions.

"O-Of course. That other officer already questioned us, though…?" Kate said. It was clear that she was unsettled by the odd detective.

"We'd like to ask some follow-up questions, if that's alright," Edgeworth added. He didn't need Naomi making any snide comments about Officer Jenkins. To be honest, he wasn't sure of what to think of her either. He didn't work with Justice personally, in any of his cases, but he heard of what happened. He understood Naomi's apprehension, at the very least.

Naomi looked at him pointedly this time, then brought the pen back up to her mouth. "So you two were on your way back from a birthday celebration?"

Trent nodded. "Yah, a good buddy of mine just turned 21. We decided to go bar-hopping to celebrate, then ended up at UltraClub. Partied there for a bit. Then got tired and left. We found the body as we were walking back home." Everything about him annoyed Naomi.

"Where do you live?" Edgeworth asked.

"21st Street. Ironic, huh? That we live on 21st street and my buddy was celebrating his 21st birthday?" Trent said.

"I'm not sure you know what ironic means," Naomi deadpanned.

"In any case," Edgeworth said. "You decided to go through the park?" That made no sense. That would've made the trip longer. 21st street was on the opposite side of the park. One could walk on the sidewalk that bordered the park, but would eventually have to turn right, away from the park. Cutting across would take you left.

Kate shook her head. "No. We weren't going to. But we walked past the entrance, and we could see what looked like a body under the street lights. That's when we decided to take a closer look. A-And then we…we saw her there…" Kate got a faraway look in her eyes, as though she couldn't possibly fathom having seen a body like that.

"How did she look?" Edgeworth said. He didn't like to constantly have to hear about it, but he forced himself through it.

"Um, we saw her back, it looked like she'd been stabbed, and then we called the police. We didn't see anyone when we arrived," Kate explained. "Then we waited here for the police to arrive."

"I see…" Edgeworth said. Nothing out of the ordinary there. A standard witness testimony. Still, something seemed off. He just couldn't quite put his finger on it. Something that was likely blaring him right in the face. "Was there anything out of the ordinary about the body?"

Kate shook her head. "I-I don't know; I've never seen a body like that before. Um…it looked like there was something in her hand…?" She offered.

"In her hand?"

"Yes, like a card or something. I thought that was a bit strange, but I figured it must've just been an ID card or something. That would be the only thing," Kate said. "Especially since she didn't have a purse or anything."

De Killer's card,Edgeworth thought. Or, the copycat's, at least. He figured that there were sick people out there who actually reveled in the mystery of de Killer and wanted to carry out their own hits in his name. Edgeworth was revolted at the thought: that there were people who would commit such acts all because they wished to be like an assassin. And for Franziska to be the victim… He had to find the person responsible.

Miles glanced over at Naomi, who had kept a straight face. She was thoughtfully chewing on the pen top, though. Whoever was responsible for the crime had obviously made sure to cover his or her tracks. First, Miles would have to strip away the impossible, then, with whatever was left…well, you know the rest.

"Hm. Well, thank you for your cooperation," Miles still couldn't shake that feeling about these two witnesses, but his mind was clouded with a million different thoughts, and he regretted to admit that Naomi might've been right. "We will likely be contacting you again-"

"You specifically saw the card?" Naomi suddenly said, and Miles realized that Naomi had said much at all during the conversation with the witnesses after from her deadpan comment.

Kate nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Where? Which hand?" Naomi pressed.

"It was in her left hand."

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes."

"And you, Mr. Millet?" Naomi turned her attention on to him.

"Me? I saw it after Kate pointed it out."

"You pointed it out?" Naomi said. She chewed on top of her pen before scribbling something down in her notepad. "I see." What was she getting at? Miles couldn't quite figure it out.

"You seem awfully sober," Naomi commented without looking up from writing on her notepad. "You party until 3 AM for a friend's birthday, walk down to the park, notice the body, walk into the park, notice the card, and even now you both seem perfectly fine."

"Well, we didn't drink all that much," Kate said. "It was mostly just to take our friend out."

"I see," Naomi said, a smile evident on her face. It was actually…kind of creepy. Miles didn't see much to smile about in this case, so he failed to see why she had done so. "How much did you drink, would you say?"

Trent shrugged. "We drank a little bit, but once it got to be like 1 AM and we made it to the club, we just wanted to dance. And we had to make sure he didn't get to drunk," Trent said with a laugh. "21 and all."

"How many of you were at this celebration?" More scribbling by Naomi.

"Me and Trent, of course. Our friend Paul, who just turned 21. And another two friends of ours, Jackie and Violet," Kate said. "Why do you ask?"

Naomi ignored her question. "And where is our good buddy, Paul?"

"Ah…er…" Kate's face flushed with embarrassment. "He seemed to hit it off with a woman at the club, so they…left to…"

"We've got the picture," Edgeworth said, cutting her off.

"I don't. What did they leave to do?" Naomi asked. Miles couldn't figure out what exactly she was getting at with her questions.

"Well…probably sleep together," Kate said sheepishly.

"I see…" Naomi started writing again. Miles gaped at her. What could she possibly be writing? "You've been most helpful."

"So, are we free to go?" Trent asked.

Naomi already started to walk away from them when they asked their question. She stared at her notepad, tapping the pen to her chin as she did so. Miles sighed and turned to the witnesses. "You are free to go. Please stay in the area in case we have any additional questions." They both nodded and Miles caught up to Naomi before she got too far away.

"Detective," Edgeworth said. "What was that back there?"

Naomi paused and turned to him. "They didn't smell like alcohol," she said without missing a beat. "When I got up close to them, their breath didn't smell like alcohol in the slightest."

Miles could feel his eyes bulging out of his head. Naomi Akiyama would be the death of him. Somehow, she was even worse than Gumshoe. "You mean to tell me…You invaded their personal space so that you could get a whiff of their breath?!"

"And their clothes," she pointed out. "And, that wasn't an invasion of personal space. There is no such thing as personal space. There's just 'space.'"

"So if I were to come incredibly close to you, you would not consider that to be an invasion of personal space?"

"Miles Edgeworth, are you flirting with me?" She said jokingly, but Miles was less than amused. He saw now why she was considered difficult to work with. She had said it just to get under his skin.

"What does it matter if they weren't drinking?"

"They were at a club. Even if they didn't drink themselves, the UltraClub reeks of alcohol and desperation. The alcohol should've at least been more potent," Naomi said.

"So, are you saying that you think they had something to do with this crime?"

"I'm not saying anything. I'm merely making an observation," Naomi corrected. "Where's Justice gone off to? I want to see the notes she's written down."

"Perhaps I'll get them from her," Miles said warily.

"Alright," Naomi agreed quickly. Almost too quickly for Miles's sake. "The less I have to interact with her, the better. Who was the officer that Franziska was with last? I want to speak with him as well."

"You are mistaken. It was a legal aide, not an officer, Fraulein, whom Franziska last spoke to."

Naomi cringed. She knew that voice anywhere. Yet, she knew it was coming. He was to be the prosecutor when they caught the culprit. She turned and saw Klavier Gavin, rock-and-roll prosecutor extraordinaire, strolling towards them with a strut in his step. His blonde hair had gotten much longer from the last time she saw him. His silver necklace hung off the side of his neck, and he looked like he had just walked straight off of a stage. He was holding a cup of coffee in his hand.

He took of his shades as he approached. "Prosecutor Gavin. The sun isn't even up. Are the sunglasses necessary?" Naomi said.

"It's a bit bright in this park," Klavier said, unfazed. "And I have to have something to shield my eyes from your beauty, liebling." He turned to Edgeworth. "Herr Edgeworth, a pleasure to see you again."

Klavier was, officially, a prosecuting attorney. However, on the side, he also was the lead singer in his own band, the Gavinners. They were actually pretty successful, and so he'd taken some time off to focus work on the music. During his time studying to be a prosecutor, he studied in German for two years, which he never let anyone forget with his common usage of certain German words.

Miles was very familiar with Klavier. After all, he was the lawyer who was responsible for Phoenix Wright's disbarment. Although he was certain that there was more to that situation than met the eye, there was no doubt in Miles's mind that Klavier was a gifted prosecutor.

Miles shook his hand. "Yours as well, Mr. Gavin."

Naomi, however, scoffed. "You're flirting with me at a crime scene, Prosecutor. Someone was stabbed here. Just let that soak in for a bit."

"Ah ha ha," Klavier chuckled. "Fiesty as always, liebling."

Naomi clicked her teeth. "What are you even doing here? You hate investigative work."

"Ja. But when I heard that it was Franziska von Karma, I had to come and see for myself. And I also heard that you were on the case. I couldn't pass up such an opportunity," Klavier said with one of his cocky smiles.

"That's not necessary," Naomi said. "Prosecutor Edgeworth is here assisting me." The comment took Edgeworth by surprise. She hadn't wanted him anywhere near the scene earlier, and now she was willing to have him there instead of Klavier. Although, her comment about him "assisting" her rubbed him the wrong way. Also, Miles wondered why she didn't forcibly make him stop calling her "darling."

"The more the merrier, I say, ja?" Klavier leaned forward. Naomi didn't budge.

"You're welcome to investigate. I'm going to get some breakfast," she said. "And go over what we've gotten so far."

"You're going to eat? We need to figure out our next steps?" Miles demanded.

"I rushed over here. I can't think properly on an empty stomach. You're more than welcome to join me, Mr. Edgeworth," Naomi offered. The offer took him by surprise, but nevertheless, Miles nodded. He wouldn't pass up the opportunity to pick her brain for what to do next. "Alright. There's a 24-hour diner nearby. I need some coffee."

"Up late watching Pink Princess?" Klavier teased. Naomi's lip twitched ever so slightly. She didn't respond. She was thinking of hiring this person to off Klavier. They would botch it, so he wouldn't die from it. Win-win. "Ah ha ha," he laughed and held out the cup of coffee. "For you. Extra cream. Just the way you like it."

Naomi wanted to refuse it, but her love of coffee eventually won over and she practically snatched the cup from his hands, some of it splashing a bit onto the lid. She hated the smug look he got on his face when she accepted it. "Thank you," she muttered begrudgingly. Miles thought back and realized that was the first time he'd heard her say 'thank you.' "Feel free to investigate the crime scene. I'll be back shortly."

"Of course, meine dame," Klavier said, the same teasing smile on his face. Naomi half-wanted to slap it right off of him.