The phone was ringing. Again. Disturbing his sleep. Again.
It always seemed to happen at night for him, whether it was through that phone call, a noisy e-mail alert, or a loud knock on his door. It never failed. Mere minutes into what he had hoped would be restful sleep, some rude person would pull him out of it. Every time it happened, he would recall the bad times quite clearly. The night Larry told him Phoenix had fallen into a river, or the night his alarm clock prepared him for a meeting on the lake three years ago, a nightmare born of another nightmare. Other times, it had been an emergency relating to business, but he always dreaded hearing the bad news. Such events might have been scarce in comparison to the others, but they carried enough of an impact to warrant expectation.
This night was no different.
Edgeworth flinched, some awful feeling twisting around in his gut before he even had the receiver in hand. "...Yes? This is Edgeworth."
There was a long exhalation on the other end. "Oh...sir...thank goodness. It's great to hear your voice."
"Ah..." Though the feeling of dread didn't subside, it waned slightly. "So it's you, Detective Gumshoe."
The man sighed miserably. "Yes, sir. I guess it's been about six months."
It all came flooding back to Edgeworth. All of the news, the scandal, the fallout, the lack of communication with old friends. The last one had been his fault at least partly. While he was on a mission to master the languages and legal practices of other countries, he had had ample opportunity to drop everything and return to the states. Perhaps some people here needed him...but friends at home needed him even more. Of course, he couldn't force them to welcome him back. "Gumshoe. How are things over there?"
"That's...sort of why I'm calling. I need to know something."
"What is it?"
"You wouldn't have, by any chance, heard from Ms. von Karma lately, have you?"
Franziska von Karma. The name surprised him, though not half as much as the fact that Gumshoe, a man practically traumatized by the young woman, was asking about her. Edgeworth reached up with his free hand to turn on the lamp, and then slowly sat up in bed. "No, I haven't. She hasn't said a word to me since she went back over there. Why do you ask?"
Another sigh. This time, Edgeworth could only surmise that the detective was confirming his one fear. "I...I see, sir. Um, I really don't want to say anything to worry you, especially if it turns out to be nothing at all."
"Detective. If something's happened to Franziska, please tell me."
"That's just it, Mr. Edgeworth," Gumshoe said. "Nobody knows. Nobody's heard from her in a while. Haven't seen her in weeks, myself, since the chief has been assigning me to different cases. But apparently she meets up with friends every week, and this week, she didn't show up. And no one knows why."
"That doesn't sound like her. Are you sure about this?"
"Positive. I've spoken to..." He paused. "Well, let's just say I've spoken to a couple of her friends. One of them said she and Ms. von Karma have lunch at the same restaurant every Wednesday. On Tuesday night, they talked on the phone and Ms. von Karma even promised she would be there. But she never showed. She didn't call, either."
"...Hm." The bad feeling came back full force, but Edgeworth was careful to not let it show. "I can see why people would worry. Thank you for telling me, Detective. I wasn't going to return until the new year, but perhaps it is time. If nothing is amiss, I just might get a head start on that new case."
"...New case?"
"Yes, well...there will come a time I can speak of that more freely. All I can say now is that a convict from a past case has filed for an appeal. I've been communicating with the prosecutor's office for the past couple of weeks, and they've been trying to get me to handle things."
"Really? I haven't heard anything about it, but that's great, sir! It'll be good to have you back. We all...I mean...your presence will definitely be welcome."
Will it? Edgeworth thought. The depressing feeling disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. "Then that settles that. I'll be back within the next couple of days. Tell..." The word was cement in his throat. "Er, be sure to tell everyone. Good night."
He set the receiver back onto its stand, still processing everything Gumshoe had told him. He wasn't sure of what he felt; his and Franziska's relationship had always been a complex one. Of course, part of what made it complex was her overbearing nature...and his tendency to never give in to it. Still, he worried whenever she was in trouble, and would do anything he could to steer her toward the right path.
This time was different, though. It was easy to help when the problems were in plain sight. This time, he had a mystery on his hands. How could he possibly help when he had nothing to go by?
Franziska...what have you gotten yourself into?
He took one glance at the clock, uttered a groan, and rolled out of bed.