Finally! I've planned how the case will be! This chapter will be the investigation and the next one the trial. Can you save Juniper? You'll see now!
Also I have to thanks a lot the user 'HiroNinja' for give the idea for the case. Thanks for your support, fellow!
Ch. 8 Turnabout Lovestruck. Investigation
All the students went back to classes. You were now alone in the school grounds staring at the floor trying to organize your thoughts. (Okay (Y/N). Take a breath and relax. You have just accepted a real criminal case and the fate of your friend, who's also the girlfriend of your best friend, is resting in your hands. You can do this!) You tighten up your fist and watched at the horizon in determination. You headed to the sport shed to investigate the scene where Apollo was found. He was taken to the hospital to heal him.
"Okay, what do we have here?" There was a white tape with a humanoid form in the floor (So here's where Apollo was…) You could see a slight blood splatter in the floor. It was gross but you have to do this. Near the tape you saw something that picked your attention.
"Is this… a xylophone? But why here? This is a 'sport' shed, not an 'instrument' shed. Shouldn't this be in the storage room?" (I have the sense that this is something important… I'll write this in my evidences notes) You took a little notebook from your pocket and wrote about the xylophone. You couldn't take it with you so this was the only way you had to gather evidences.
Then, a little pink bottle in the corner of the shed caught your attention too "What is this? 'Pheromone the Amour'? What an odd name for a perfume… This looks like something that Kelvin would use…" (Although, it's very strange to see a perfume in the sports shed. I'll note this too and I think I'm going to ask the caretaker about this…)
"Sorry Mr/Ms.?" A female voice said behind you. You turned and saw a woman in a nurse suit "I think you should be the lawyer of Ms. Woods, right?"
"Yeah, that would be me. What can I do for you, miss?"
"The police told me to give you this" She held a file to you.
"What is it?"
"It's the record of Mr. Justice injury. He was assaulted with a flat object in the back of his head. I must say that the injury was weirdly big" (He was assaulted with a big flat object, got it)
"Thank you, miss"
"You're welcome, Mr/Ms. Lawyer" She said with a reverence. You felt very proud of yourself when you heard the word 'Mr/Ms. Lawyer' "Although, I must say that the report it's not complete yet. You'll have to wait until we can gave you the complete report"
"Don't worry, and thanks again" (Okay, I think this is all for the sport shed. Let's search for someone to ask for) You headed in the academy and started to search for the caretaker. There were a few students who wished you luck in your investigation.
Eventually, you met with Kelvin at the stairs "Looks like the fate of the flower girl rests in you, nerd. If I were her I would have selected a real lawyer"
"Shut up, Kelvin. Shouldn't you be questioning Athena?"
"That's right, but the investigation wouldn't be done for itself. So Angela is questioning her instead" (I hope she isn't being so rudely with Athena…) "Doesn't it hurt? Your chick isn't with you. Your friend is injured and her girlfriend is the one who assaulted him. You are alone, peasant. You'll fail in the trial and you'll be alone forever. Then, when you're out of the way, my princess will be mine at last" (Yeeeah, of course… After proving the guilt of her best friend… Genius…)
"I'll never give up. A lawyer must believe in its client, no matter what. That's what Mr. Wright says and I'll follow up that conviction"
"Hmph. Do what you want, you'll lose either way"
"Now I think of it, I have some questions to you"
"*sigh* I'm not in the mood but it can't be helped"
"Can you tell me more things about Angela?"
"Well, as you can guess she's the cousin of the grand prosecutor Franziska von Karma. She follows up von Karma's conviction as well. She says that everything in her live must be perfect. Although, she was very distracted on the preparations of her mock trial"
"What do you mean?"
"She didn't come the day that Prof. Means and Prof. Courte planned the mock trial and she was notified very late. So she was going to be very blind in her mock trial"
"Who was her opponent?"
"Ironically, it was the victim of this case: Mr. Justice" (So Apollo was going to confront Angela in the mock trial… Is this really important in this case? I'll remember it just in case)
Then, you remembered the perfume bottle. You decided to ask him about that "Moreover, do you know something about this perfume?"
"Hmm? 'Pheromone the Amour'? I didn't know that a peasant like you would have such refined tastes"
"Well, no. Actually I found it"
"Oh, then maybe it's from Angela. She's the only one in the academy who bought it. I don't use it, too girlish for me" (Okay… I'll note this in my court records) "What are you writing for, nerd?"
"Nothing…" You said in a monotone tone. You decided not to continue questioning him and continue the investigation instead. You must find the caretaker and you found him cleaning the boy's bathroom.
"Hey, it's you again, young man/woman. I heard that you would have a trial after the lunch recess. Starting early with the career, huh?"
"I suppose so. But I have a few questions for you"
"Man, can't you see that I'm busy?"
"Yes, but you can clean that whenever you want. I only have time until lunch" The caretaker stared at you with curiosity. Then he smirked a bit.
"A clever one, huh? I like your guts. Okay, you can ask me whatever you want"
"Okay, um… Did you happen to see a pink bottle like this in the sports shed?" The caretaker looked at it closely.
"Nope. I've never seen something like that. Maybe it was left there today"
"What do you mean?"
"I always clean up the academy during night, when there are no students. And I can tell you that I didn't see anything out of place. If I saw something strange, I would have cleaned up on an instant. (So the entire academy must be clean yet there was a little bottle in the sport shed… Wait! Does this mean that Angela was here at the time of the crime?! But why?... I think it's better not ask her… I'll figure it out later…)
"Thanks again for your help"
"You're welcome, man. Good luck with that trial"
You walked through the hallways trying to search for another thing to investigate. Suddenly, you thought about Athena. You were sure that Angela was yelling at her, forcing her to testify against her best friend. You imagined her sitting in a chair being so powerless and defenseless. You frowned at the thought and tighten up your fists. Then, you started to think about what will happen if you couldn't prove Juniper's innocence. Apollo will be so mad at you. He'll use his Chords of Steel like he never used before against you. And you were looking down at the floor not knowing what to say.
"I'm sorry…" You whispered unconsciously. Suddenly, something snapped out of your own thoughts. In the middle of the hallway you found a very strange box.
"Um… Myriam?" You asked looking at the box. Two legs and two arms grew up from the box.
"Kahk kahk kahk! I thought my hiding place was perfect!" (Yeah, a box in the middle of an academy hallway. Not suspicious at all….)
Myriam was a very weird girl studying in the same course as Juniper. She was always inside of a box and she had a very strange laugh. Moreover, she was the president (and the only member) of the 'Themis Herald' a newspaper where there were the news of the academy.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was simply gathering information about my new article!"
"Might I know what is it?"
"Hmph! I would never share information to anyone!... But since you asked so nicely I'll tell you" (Wow, that was easy) "I heard that the she-devil Woods is going to betray Apollo and his love for her!"
"What?"
"She was going to leave him and I have proof of that!" She showed you the same picture that Kelvin showed up when the police arrested Juniper. (It's Juniper and Apollo talking in the storage room door. Looks like Apollo is shocked about something and Juniper has one hand raised up as if she was telling Apollo something very shocking…) "I'm sure she's the one who assaulted the poor boy! Even if he was her boyfriend! She's definitely guilty! Kahk kahk kahk!" She left you running downstairs.
"Hey, wait! I have some questions!" You sighed giving up in pursuing her. (Well… At least I have another place to look… Let's go!) You headed at the storage room. The first thing that caught your eyes was a pair of dirty marks in the floor. You kneeled down to look better.
"Hmm… Looks like some roll marks. But it doesn't have sense: The caretaker said that he cleaned up the academy last night. So this means that these roll marks were made today too? They come from the storage room, I'll check it out"
You entered in the storage room. There were tons of school stuff of all the subjects.
"So the xylophone came from this place. Interesting…" Then, you stared at a pair of suitcases. They were very big and heavy, probably they use it to transport heavy stuff. But there was something strange on the wheels of the biggest suitcase: Dirt.
"So this is the cause that made the hallway so dirty… Someone used this suitcase today to transport something. But who did it? And what did it transport?" You closed up your eyes to gather up your thoughts and knowledge about the facts of the case.
Suddenly, the lunch bell rang. Too late.
In 30 minutes the trial was about to start. You gulped up and took a breath trying to calm yourself.
(This is it. The showdown. There's no turning back now. I must focus if I want to save my friends, all of them… I must remember what Mr. Wright says: 'Always believe in my client, no matter what happens'… 'The hardest time for a lawyer is when they have to force their biggest smiles' and the most important one 'When something looks like it's cornering you, I have to change my point of view of the case'… *sigh* I don't feel very ready for this…)
You walked downstairs to the waiting room. (Why this happened…? I'm not ready to save our friendship… I'm not a hero, I'm just a regular person…) Suddenly, you thought about Athena. You saw her smiling at you in your mind.
"Athena…?"
"(Y/N), I believe in you! You can do it, I know you can!"
"But Athena… I've never been in a trial before…"
"That doesn't matter! You're a very clever and you pay very close attention to the details! I know you can save all of us! I know you can save me…"
Suddenly, you opened up your eyes with the brightest sparkle of determination in the world (You're right, Athena… I can do this! I can save you! There's no one who can stop me now! And… like Apollo says…)
You yelled up with all the air in your lungs. You screamed out loud that you could feel better just by screaming.
"Beware, Kelvin and Angela! HERE COMES (Y/N)!"
To be continue…
Investigation is done. Now it's the time for the truth…
What do you think about the case so far? Is it complex? Or you can have a clear idea of what happened? Let me know what you think about it in the reviews! You can make theories of what happened or who's the real culprit! I know that I can be very annoying but I must thank a lot to 'HiroNinja' for giving me this grand opportunity to write a criminal case in detail for myself. Thank you so much, pal!
See you next chapter!
