APOLLO'S POV
Fey Manor: Guest room
1:40pm
Ms. Fey laughed as I drank my warm tea. In fact she was laughing so hard she had to put her tea down on the table. After a few minutes she finally calmed down, still giggling a little.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't know he was the one in charge of this."
"You didn't?"
She shook her head. "I didn't expect it really. I haven't heard from him in at least seven years."
There it was. The seven year timeline. There had to be something here that I was missing. I scratched my forehead. The Pearl Fey… Maya Fey… their names sounded so familiar to me for some reason I just couldn't remember why. It was really bugging me. I know I've heard of the Fey's before. I would have to go and look them up later.
I put my hand to my forehead. I couldn't get into the crime scene and I had no way of getting permission to get into it. I looked up to Ms. Fey who had a big smile on her face.
"I could help you," she said.
"Wait what?"
She nodded and stood up. "We're going to go and look at that crime scene."
"We can't though. Edgeworth said we're not allowed in."
Ms. Fey began walking off. "You'll see. There are always tricks to get in."
The door creaked open just as she was about to head out. I stood, looking into the dark eyes that glared into me. Edgeworth stood there unfazed and looked towards Ms. Fey.
"May I speak with you a minute."
She put her hand behind her back and motioned, then nodded towards him. "Of course." She looked at me. "Mr. Justice could you step out so we can talk?"
"Oh! S-sure," I answered. I stood and began walking out, but she grabbed my arm and looked up at me, smiling.
"Now's your chance. There shouldn't be anybody there. Go!"
I nodded and walked off as she shut the door behind me. Now was my chance. I wonder if Edgeworth knew what I was doing though. If he did, why would he just let me go?
Kurain Village: Path to the Waterfall
2:32 pm
When I arrived there had been nobody there, just as it was with the first time. So I carefully walked in and went over to a tree where the outline of the body was taped up. I looked around. There was little blood around, though the snow could have covered it. It was hard to really investigate the scene because of the snow. Pearl did tell me that there was a storm in the mountains. It could have covered a lot of the evidence.
It was strange really, being on my own out here. This village was so far from the city that there were no noises from cars or people. I was alone. I could hear the waterfall in the distance and a few birds chirping. Trucy wasn't here either. I had gotten so used to her being around me making so much noise, even some times helping me out. It was quiet, too quiet. Normally I'd love it. Now though?
I was distracted from my thoughts by a blinding flash of light.
"Gotcha!" I heard someone yell.
I turned to see more blinding flashes of light.
"Hoo whee! Wait till they hear about this! The real murderer right here! They always return to the scene of the crime!"
The flashes stopped but I could still see spots, and a silhouette of someone in front of me. It sounded like a woman with a heavy country accent. Another flash of light appeared, but I shielded my eyes to this one.
"W-what?" I stuttered, "Who's there?"
The dots stopped, my vision cleared. I saw a woman with a camera right in front of me. Her most distinguishing feature, the large red afro. I shook my head. "Wait I'm not-"
"Hey!" she shouted, "I found the real culprit! He's over-"
"HOLD IT!"
She stopped, and looked over to me, "What!?"
"TAKE THAT!"
I flashed my attorney's looked as if she calmed down, then snatched it.
"Hey!" I shouted, "What're you doing!?"
She eyed it precariously, even biting it, then she looked at the back.
"Well I'll be darned and call me Jeramiah! This is the real thang!"
Yes because how many people do you know would be able to make a fake attorney's badge?
I sighed and stood. "I'm Apollo Justice, attorney. I'm investigating this crime scene."
The woman gave a big smile and put her hand to her hips. "Sorry 'bout that. Ya see I got so worked up over this story I'm just about willin' to put anything into the camera."
"Um, who exactly are you anyway?"
"Oh! Name's Lotta Hart! Photojournalist. I come from the best place on Earth."
"Where would that be now?"
"The Heartland of course!"
I was already wondering the obvious question.
"Why exactly are you here?" I said, a little suspicious of her motives already. She glared and gritted her teeth.
"I know exactly what you're thinkin'!" she shouted. "Tryin' to go around suspectin' every little thing that comes around! Why I oughtta just smack you around a few times! No better than another lawyer city boy I knew once."
I waved my hands frantically. "Hold on hold on! That's not what I meant! I was just thinking it was strange for somebody to be out here is all!"
She didn't hear me. "Well I'll let you know I was out here when it happened! I SAW THAT GUY GET KILLED!"
I stopped. She saw him got killed? She's a witness! This would help me!
"Please! Tell me what you know!"
She shook her head and smirked. "Sorry kid, but I just can't do somethin' like that."
"Why not!?"
"I got somthin' good here." She patted her bag. Considering what she told me her job was I figured it was pictures of some kind.
"Can't you at least tell me something?"
She laughed. "Man kid, you may be a lawyer but you sure don't have HIS style."
I looked at her. His style? Who is this "his" guy?
"The other lawyer boy was so much different," she continued. "His eyes were always full of fire and he would fight no matter how hard or how impossible something seemed to be. The city boy was always in the field though, so much different from any other lawyer. He struggled to find evidence, but when he did whoo boy was it somethin' grand! It was never small, and he was sure to use it in court at just the right time. He wouldn't stand for no lies either, and he was always able to see through a person's lie. It was a sight to see!"
She looked at me, her smirk faded and her head dropped. "I don't see any of that in you."
I fell to the ground. I feel so unappreciated. I admit I wasn't the best at finding evidence, in fact more than ninety percent of the time I always had some form of help. I could never connect the pieces until I was in court either. Could you blame me? I'm a defense attorney! The courtroom is my battle field! Not the investigation field! It's best left to people like Ema who know what their doing.
I looked up at her and she smirked. "Oh calm down Lawyer Boy. I'm gonna help ya out."
"What do you mean."
She pointed to the ground. "I was up here durin' the storm you know. It snowed pretty hard out here, but it stopped. No new snow's fallen in almost a day. Which means what now? Come on Lawyer Boy think!"
She was being loud but I still tried focusing. That was a new piece of information. I wondered though. "Ms. Hart how long had the storm been?"
"All day yesterday," she answered. "It was calmed down a bit between one thirty and three but after that it started right back up. I took advantage and took pictures of the scenery."
"Scenery?"
"Yes the scenery!? You think I can't take the time to appreciate this here beautiful land!?"
I sighed, rather not get her started again. She started babbling about how many pictures she took, I was only half paying attention as I looked around. There had been no blood, but no new snow had fallen which means it should be around the area. The victim had died from blood loss after all, there should be a lot of it. There was nothing in the report about finding a bullet which means it should be around the crime scene.
I scoured the area, no bullet, no bullet hole. It could have been blown off by the wind. I thought. What was going on?
"HEY YOU! PALS! YOU TWO CAN'T BE HERE RIGHT NOW!"
I turned to see a large man charging me. "What the!?" He stopped just short of me, huffing and puffing for air. "You! Both of you have to leave!"
"Who the-"
"Name's Detective Dick Gumshoe, I'm heading up this case. Who are you!?" I flashed my badge and he smirked. "A defense attorney eh? Well sorry pal you got to leave." He looked over to Lotta. "Oh yeah, Mr. Edgeworth wanted to talk to you."
"Tell Mister Brooder I don't give a hoot!" she retorted.
The detective began to push me out. Things were happening too fast right now, however not fast enough that I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Something shining in the sunlight, it was just outside of the yellow tape. As soon as I was kicked out I walked over to it and knelt. I had to dig a little bit but pulled out the item. What I saw was something amazing. A large serrated knife, blood dried on it with green cloth on the one of the ridges. I bagged it. Why was there a knife here?
I stood, looking at the knife through the plastic bag. I heard the shuffling of feet and looked over to a tree. Someone darted out and ran. Whoever it was they were fast. Could it have been the suspect?
Fey Manor: Meditation Room
Maya giggled a little. "So you met Lotta?"
"You know her? Can you tell me about her? She was kind of loud."
Maya nodded. "I guess you could say she's a friend of mine. She's a good woman but um, if Gumshoe is talking to her then you might want to be careful."
"How come?" I asked. She ignored the question and smiled as she stood up.
"I'm sorry," she said. "That's all I can tell you right now. I must go train under the waterfall."
The waterfall!? Isn't that freezing cold water!? Regardless she began walking out, but stopped at the door looking back at me.
"Mr. Justice," she said quietly. "Your job has just started. I would start doing research if I were you. You'll need it. Especially if you're going against Edgeworth in court." She smiled and left.
I sat there, alone with my warm cup of tea. I had nothing but a bloody knife in my possession that may or may not be needed for my case. Also, whoever it was that ran off. Whoever it was they were extremely quick. I sighed and face palmed.
"I'VE GOT NOTHING!"
A/N: Well that's it for this chapter! Typical Apollo with his horrible luck. Oh well please review!
