Date: April 24, 2024 Time: 5:37 AM
Location: Becky's Diner

Miles should've known exactly what he was getting himself into when he agreed to have breakfast with Naomi. She certainly wasn't joking when she said that she was hungry. Miles warily took a sip of his Earl Grey tea as he watched Naomi scarf down a plate of blueberry pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash browns. Her stomach was like a never-ending vacuum. She'd already gone through Klavier's coffee plus an additional cup, and was in the middle of smearing apple butter onto a biscuit when Miles finally cleared his throat.

"Perhaps we should start discussing the case in detail…?" Miles asked.

"Hmm?" She said, her mouth full of biscuit. She quickly chewed and swallowed. "Oh, right, right. Man, I love apple butter. You've got to try some."

"Maybe later," he said, tapping his fingers against his thigh underneath the table. He mentally reminded himself that she was one of the best, so he would have to tolerate her behavior…for now.

She could sense his disdain at her etiquette. "You know, maybe if you ate something you wouldn't be as crabby," she pointed out simply, taking another bite of her biscuit and gesturing towards him.

"Actually, I find that tea does wonders for calming people down," he said. Never before had someone tried his patience so much. Although, he expected his lack of sleep and frazzled state of being to be a huge part of his lack thereof. "Now, I want to get your thoughts about the case."

Naomi sighed, placing the unfinished biscuit on the plate. She picked up the mug of coffee and brought up to her lips. "Seems clearcut, doesn't it? Someone has deluded themselves into thinking that they are de Killer. Quite disappointing really. They did a terrible job. Can't even kill someone properly."

"Yes, let's be grateful for that," Miles said, right at the heels of her statement. "Shall we get to the point, then?"

"To be honest, I'm not interested in a non-lethal stabbing. Such a small crime, and I did just solve a case of a serial rapist. And the New York eco-terrorist bombings. There are far better cases that I would be working on right now," Naomi said, clearly bragging. "But I am intrigued by this case." Naomi picked up the spoon she'd used to stir the cream and sugar into her coffee and lightly bit down on the top of it.

He took a sip of his tea. "What I want to know…is if this was truly a random act, or if the person masquerading as de Killer actually did carry out a hit that was placed on her."

"If the latter is the case, then we are virtually screwed at finding whoever hired our copycat. I'm sure Franziska has made plenty of enemies as a prosecutor. Too many people would want her dead," Naomi said.

"Nevertheless, we can round up some of her recent prosecuted cases. It's likely that the person who hired the hit did so recently, therefore their wound must be fresh."

Naomi fought the urge to wag her finger at him and instead bit down on the top of her spoon again. "Don't be so sure. De Killer is committed to his job. Has he not go to such lengths in the past? Surely you can't have forgotten."

Miles rose his eyebrows in slight surprise. It was true, while investigating a case, he'd come across de Killer. He'd, in a sense, worked with him on a case about five years ago. He tried to capture him afterwards, he was able to evade the police.

"Honestly, working with a serial murderer," Naomi said disapprovingly. "If I were you, I would have had him arrested the second I found out his true identity." Of course, she'd done her research on the cases. de Killer was a big name, and she'd spent countless hours reading articles and case files about him. To her, it seemed like the police had plenty of ample chances to catch de Killer in each case Miles had crossed paths with him.

Miles tapped his leg a little harder. "We acted in regards to the circumstances given."

"I mean honestly, cuff him to a wall or something and have an officer watching him at all times."

"…Detective, I think we should get back to the case at hand," Miles said through gritted teeth. There was a part of him that was grateful that it had only been a copycat; he didn't know what he'd do if the person that he'd let slip through his grasp and escape ended up murdering Franziska. His Franziska.

"Fine. I'm only saying," Naomi started. "Yes, you should look into those recent cases, but there's a chance that it may have been quite some time since then. Wasn't she just awarded that awful King of Prosecutors trophy? It was all over the paper. Anybody with a vengeance from any of her previous cases could have seen that and decided that they could possibly let her continue to live and keep prosecuting."

"But only the local paper," Miles pointed out. "So it would have to be someone who is at least in the Los Angeles area. Or happened to be here."

"I don't think the client should be the focus," Naomi said. "There's no point. We need to track down de Copycat."

"And if we find the client, we may be able to find-" Miles paused. "What did you just call him?"

"Well, we have to give him some kind of name," she said. Miles sighed. A long day, indeed. "We don't even know if there is a client. Like you said, there is a chance that this was just a random act."

"What are the chances of that…" Miles muttered to himself.

"Not high," Naomi said loudly. "A bit higher since her purse was missing. Although this could just be a ruse to throw us off and believe that it was a mugging after all."

"Then why go through the trouble of leaving a card?"

"Hmm," Naomi leaned back in her seat. "That's true. Maybe the stabbing was intentional, but the theft was not. Our copycat got hungry and wanted to stop for breakfast afterwards, but forgot his wallet."

"Detective, please be serious about this," Edgeworth said. "Franziska was almost killed! This is not a game, nor is it a joke," he said, with frustration. He brought his fingers to his forehead, closing his eyes for a moment.

"I'm not joking," Naomi said, seeming completely unbothered by his outburst. "It's a distinct possibility. Although there is a less than 1% chance of that being true, it's not impossible." She took a sip of her coffee. "I still don't believe that you should be on this case, and your outburst just proved why."

"Yet you invited me to accompany you for breakfast."

Naomi gripped the handle of her mug a little tighter. "I have my reasons."

"I suppose Prosecutor Gavin was one of those reasons," Miles said, and Naomi refused to look at him in response. A part of him was curious as to their situation, but then realized that he didn't really care, nor did he need to know.

"As I said before, I have my reasons," Naomi finally said. The words came out slower this time, and more deliberate.

"No matter. The fact of it is that you've invited me here, and you've already told me this much, therefore, it's likely that I'll be working with you on these investigations, even if I am not the lead prosecutor," Miles said, sipping his tea.

Naomi pursed her lips. "I suppose you could be useful." She stabbed into her hash browns with her fork. "Don't you think it's odd?"

"What is?"

"That this card would show up," Naomi mused.

Miles thought for a moment. He was sure that she was testing him, and he didn't want to play along in her little game of seeing if he would be a worthy companion, but he was willing to this time around. It seemed to be the only way to get her to trust in his abilities enough. He tapped his finger against his thigh and took a sip of his tea with his other hand. She'd stopped eating by this point and watched him with a curious eye, the tip of the spoon at her mouth again.

Certainly, the idea of a copycat seemed strange. If it was indeed a copycat, they would've had to fool whoever their client was into thinking that they were actually the true de Killer. In that case, how would said person have contacted de Killer and known that the source was reliable? They had to have asked for proof…right? There was no way de Killer's first meeting with them would be in person, not until he verified their intentions. Miles thought back to all the previous times he'd encountered de Killer. He went by the name of John Doe. Perhaps he could see if any persons who went by that name crossed paths with Franziska.

And why go through the trouble of making a card that was deliberately a fake? A copycat would likely want to leave the exact same card, hence why they would be called a copycat. Unless they held a mentality that they would never be as good as the original, in which case they wouldn't want their mark to be exactly the same. The card…the card… No doubt Naomi had already figured it out and was waiting for him to come to the same conclusion. It was a bit annoying to Miles, but he knew that he'd pulled the same thing in his career more than a few times.

This person admired Shelly de Killer, that was without question, and wanted to emulate what he'd done. But…why? Wait…maybe that was it. The clue came crashing to Miles all at once.

"You've been staring in this direction for about three minutes. Are you sure you don't want to try this apple butter?" Naomi said. She was now stuffing another biscuit with apple butter into her mouth. She held it out to him.

"That's quite alright," he said quickly. "But I've just been thinking…Shelly de Killer hasn't been on the record for five years. There have been incidents of his card being left at any crime scenes, to my knowledge, all over the world. I have strict informants that are told to let me know when de Killer strikes."

Naomi smiled - the same smile she'd gotten when Kate told her that they didn't drink a lot on their outing. "I have the same," she said, and Miles wondered just who her informants may be. "And I was thinking that too. A copycat appears five years after de Killer's trail goes cold. Why wait this long?"

"Maybe they did show up, but the authority realized the card was a fraud and so it was never reported to either of us nor treated it as an act of de Killer," Miles suggested. "Or…no." He corrected himself almost immediately. "The card is close enough that I'm almost certain it wouldn't slip my knowledge."

Naomi nodded. "I've been waiting for a moment for de Killer to show himself again so that I can finally bring him to justice. I would know of any instances. It seems more likely that a copycat would spring up about a year after de Killer's inactivity. Not five. It's not impossible for the latter to be the case, but I think something else is going on."

"Such as?"

Naomi drummed her fingers on the table. "I believe that you and I are likely thinking the same of de Killer." Miles subtly shook his head, allowing her to continue. "As you know, Shelly de Killer has been around for over 100 years. Our 'John Doe' was the third. It's about time for a new de Killer to take up the mantle. The next successor."

Miles blinked a few times. He certainly hadn't been thinking that. But, it was possible. "You believe that the person who did this is the next person in line for the de Killer name?"

"I don't believe anything. The card is obviously different, which has never been the case in any of the instances, so I'm inclined to believe otherwise. However, I don't think this should be ignored-" Naomi said.

"Objection!" Miles interrupted, on instinct.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "We're not in a courtroom. You don't need to say that."

"Gnnh…Apologies…force of habit," Miles said. "But perhaps, but it would be more likely to be a copycat. The person who attempted the hit was unsuccessful in killing their intended victim, and they did a sloppy job of it. de Killer is a trained assassin. Surely it wouldn't stand for said person to do such a job."

Naomi clicked her teeth at him. "No. I thought it was sloppy at first. Now I think it may have been deliberate. Recall what we said before. If he wanted to kill her, he easily could have. Either way, the person was trailing Franziska and waited for a moment for her to be completely alone, away from street cameras. He also made sure to not be caught on any of the ones that caught Franziska walking. He's obviously smart. Yet he went for the lower back on the left side. There were no signs of struggle, so he must have come up behind her, grabbed her, and chosen to stab her in the back. She falls. He places the car in her hand, takes her purse, and leaves."

"So he never wanted to kill her after all?" Miles said. This overwhelming feeling must be how Wright usually feels, Miles thought. "A copycat…or successor…that doesn't kill? Who would hire someone for that?" Miles sighed warily. "I think the random mugging seems more plausible at this point."

Naomi had her elbows on the table and both of her hands balled into fists at her mouth as she concentrated. Her mind ran through every possible explanation, both logical and convoluted. If the card hadn't been there, there would be no doubt in her mind that it was a random mugging. However, if that card had been there and Franziska had actually been killed, there would be no doubt in her mind that a copycat was lurking in the shadows somewhere. But this…this was something in between. She thought of the possibility of de Killer's next successor before. But Miles was right. Any normal de Killer wouldn't act this way. As much as she despised criminals like de Killer, there was a certain creed they followed. This wasn't sloppy, it was…toying with them. Catch me…if you can, it seemed to say. Or, maybe it was her brain hoping for some excitement in this case.

Naomi thought to the witnesses. There was something suspicious about them. She could easily go to UltraClub, but it would be nearly impossible for someone to verify seeing them there. She made a mental note to get in touch with Paul and the other of their friends. Their story was clear enough, but since they were the ones that found her, it did put added pressure on them. Naomi thought back to when she questioned them. She'd deliberately told them that Franziska would be fine and the mediocrity of the job; if one of them was in fact the culprit, they would likely show up to finish the job. Neither of them flinched either. Her comment about the mediocrity had been mostly to gauge their reactions. They seemed shocked, but it wasn't any unexpected type of reaction.

Naomi picked up Justice's blue notepad that was next to her own and flipped to the notes. They were also pretty mediocre. She'd written a few words here and there, and what she did write matched up with the responses that Naomi and Miles got during their questioning. The name of the club was written, Paul's full name was written, as was the time they found the body and what they saw. It didn't make Naomi change her opinion of Justice, but she was grateful that Justice could do this much.

"You wrote a lot in your notepad when we were questioning them," Miles noted.

Naomi held up her own notepad. "Oh this?" She flipped it open to the page she had written on. "I was coming up with my grocery list. If I don't do it, I'll just forget and then it becomes a whole thing," she waved it off as Miles gaped at her. Eggs, coffee, creamer… Miles could barely believe it.

"Detective…you mean to tell me that during questioning you didn't write down anything?!"

Naomi shrugged. "I don't need to." She tapped her forehead. "I can remember it. Surely an esteemed prosecutor such as yourself has enough of a memory too."

"Well, if you can't remember your own grocery list, how do you expect to remember their testimony," Miles grumbled. And she'd had the nerve to say that Justice was likely drawing unicorns on her notepad, Miles thought. This girl was unbelievable!

Before Naomi could respond, she heard the gentle sound of her phone's beeping ringtone. She looked at her flip phone, which was on the table next to her coffee, and groaned when she saw the name. However, she couldn't ignore that he may have actually done some investigating and found something. She answered. "Hello?"

"Liebling, you will not believe what your good Detective Gumshoe has found," Klavier said, amusement in his voice.

"Why doesn't Detective Gumshoe tell me then instead of you?" Naomi said boredly.

"Ah ha ha. It seems Herr Detective is a little intimidated of you," Klavier responded with a light laugh.

She sighed. "What do you have to report, Prosecutor Gavin?" Naomi said formally.

"We've found Franziska's purse. It was in a trash can outside in a gas station about two minutes from People Park," Klavier finally said. Naomi sat up a little straighter. As if reading her mind, Klavier continued. "The wallet and her cell phone are inside. There is money in the wallet. Quite a bit too. Obviously we will have to check to see if the credit card was used, but it seems unlikely."

What? Naomi closed her eyes, the phone still up to her ear. So the person took her purse, only to toss it not far from the Park? And there was still money inside, so it's not like he took all of the money, or most of it, then tossed the rest in the trash. Why? What was the point? To make it look like a mugging? But if he wanted to make it appear as such, why throw it away so close to the crime scene, where the police would definitely sweep the area?

"Also, this may be unrelated, but it was found at a Shell gas station," Klavier noted in a tone that made it obviously that he thought it was related. There were two gas stations near People Park, and only one of them was the Shell…Did the person choose that deliberately or by chance?

"I'll be there shortly," Naomi said. She had to go and see for herself. "And if you can find that legal aide, please let her know that I would like to speak to her."

"Ah, am I your assistant now?" Klavier teased. Before Naomi could respond, he spoke again. "I will let our officers know your request. See you soon."

She heard the beep on the phone and closed her flip phone, turning to a confused Miles Edgeworth. "Her purse was found at the Shell gas station near the park. Wallet and phone is still there. Money is in the wallet." Miles opened his mouth, about to ask the same question that she'd thought to herself. "I know, I'm thinking it too," she said. "I want to go and take a look."

"Alright, I'll go with you."

"No," Naomi said.

"We've been over this, Detective. I will be assisting-"

"You've made that clear. But Prosecutor Gavin will be there and I don't need two prosecutors down my back. If Franziska wakes soon, we'll need to know exactly what she saw. I figure the best person for that is you," Naomi said. She was partly trying to get him out of her hair, but she also knew that she could work better this way.

"I'm not going to just sit around and wait-"

"Yes, I know," she said interrupting him again. "If you want to do something, start making a list of Franziska's recent prosecutions. But you'll be no good to us if your deductive reasoning skills suffer due to lack of sleep. You're running off adrenaline now, which is no good to me or Franziska. Get some rest," Naomi said sternly.

He hesitated for a bit, but he knew she was right. He decided that he would go visit Franziska, and attempt to compile that list she mentioned. He would also do a search for any cases with a card like this that may have slipped through his knowledge. Finally, he nodded. "I suspect a part of this is also to get me out of your hair," he mused with a raised eyebrow.

"Sounds like win-win for us both," she said with a joking smile. He gave her a tired, weary smile in return.

Naomi Akiyama, brilliant detective. If anyone would be able to piece this case together, it would be her. There was something very un-standard about this case. Something…deliberately puzzling. Miles had had some outrageous cases, but somehow, he felt like he was gearing up for a cat-and-mouse game. But he was ready, because he knew, always, that the truth will always make itself known, eventually.