All That Counts

By: Aviantei

Chapter Nine: Better Review

June 18, 2021, 2:18 PM

Gatewater Apartment Complex, Room 429

Garnet Westenberg didn't exactly know how he felt at the moment. Taking everything in perspective, his life wasn't going that bad. He was alive, for one, and in the LAPD, that was something to be grateful for, particularly when you were in criminal affairs and had been under fire in the last twenty-four hours. He had been able to get the ash out of his clothes from the previous day's investigation, which was nice. It had taken a call to his sister, a lot of hands-on scrubbing, and some bleach (in the case of his jacket, but he was rather attached to it, so whatever it took to get it clean was of little consequence) before everything went in the wash, but it had gotten the job done. He even had a lead in the case, which he had been a bit worried about yesterday. Then again, that was what was bothering him, despite the fact that it should have made him feel better.

Nora seemed to be a really nice girl when she walked onto the crime scene the previous day. She was loud and a bit rude—then again, so was he—but under that it was obvious that she was passionate about what she had come to do, and he could respect that. What wasn't obvious was that underneath that was a whole other set of problems, although Garnet really should've guessed. It really shouldn't have taken him until the woman had started showing her weak side for him to have known it was there.

In retrospect, it was obvious how she had been faking being alright, even if the enthusiasm she had fell into helped cover it. It was also easy to see the descent into breaking down. Even worse, Garnet could tell Nora Southway had bigger problems than reencountering her mother's death. Regardless, she was going to hide everything until she didn't have a choice anymore, act strong, pretend to be alright for everyone else's (mainly Ichiyanagi's) sake—

Now who does that remind you of?

The fact that Edgeworth was glaring at him allowed Garnet to dismiss the thought. Well, "glaring" wasn't really the right term. Garnet had seen Edgeworth glare, and this was much tamer than that. But it was still a look that conveyed the message of "I recommend focusing, particularly considering the fact that I control your income." The detective merely smiled in response.

"Edgey, if you keep using expressions like that, you're gonna give yourself wrinkles," he commented. "You don't want those too early, since you're still relatively young. You still need to make sure Ce-Ce's gonna marry you, after all!"

"Detective Westenberg," Edgeworth said as seriously as always, although Garnet could see some pink on the prosecutor's cheeks, "I once again request that you refrain from bringing up my love life on the crime scene. Additionally, I once again request that you do not space out on the crime scene." It was notable that he didn't mention the use of the nickname. Then again, Garnet knew for a fact that his superior was (begrudgingly) used to it. "Surely you haven't forgotten why we're here."

As much as Garnet enjoyed being more of the comic relief of an investigation, he knew the difference between playtime and game time. The grin slipped off his face as quickly as it had appeared, leaving a much more serious expression in its wake. "Trust me, I know," he responded. "Norrie's dealing with a lot of problems thanks to that discovery of hers, and it's up to us to take that lead and run with it."

Garnet finally opened the plastic grocery bag that had been dangling at his side, offering it to Edgeworth first. The prosecutor reached inside, pulling out a small spray bottle and a pair of goggles, and Garnet grabbed the other set out when Edgeworth was done. They had taken a drop by the forensics boys before they had left, who then gave them tools to search for traces of botulinum.

Garnet would be the first to admit he wasn't good at any of the science stuff, so he had kind of tuned out the explanation Samuel Howard—a bit young, a little bit of a know it all, and all of a genius—had given them on how it worked. Something about something oxidizing something and something, which caused—whatever; it worked and let the police catch killers. That was all Garnet really needed to know, although he guessed Edgeworth would talk his ear off with an explanation if he said anything.

He just slipped his goggles on with a grin, failing at stifling his snort when he saw the prosecutor. Sure, Garnet knew he probably looked just as ridiculous, but it didn't matter. A laugh was all he needed to get the tension off his shoulders, so the glare—an actual one this time—was worth it.

This was the part Garnet looked forward to anyway; the reason he became a cop. Things didn't always look good in an investigation, and if there was an investigation, things didn't look good anyway. But every now and then something hit and turned things around so that there was a fighting chance, no matter how small. And that's when things started rolling, started giving you a chance that, in the end, you'd be able to give somebody closure.

Rosannah Perry had lived alone, and the previous trial had shown she didn't have any close family left. She had friends from work, but obviously none of them were at the level to come beg the police to do something about it. Regardless, Nora was looking for reassurance that this didn't have anything to do with her mother's own death. Even if it did, that still gave someone to catch, and someone to give closure to. Thinking that, it was relatively easy for Garnet to work himself up into wanting nothing but to do his absolute best.

An hour later, though, his enthusiasm was a bit drained. Other officers had shown up not long after Garnet and Edgeworth had started, and the small team was able to scour every nook and cranny of the apartment with little difficulty. The only problem was that none of them had found anything in that entire time, and the smell of whatever chemical they were using was more than a bit prominent. Sure, the chances of actually finding traces of a poison in a burnt-out apartment were slim, but Garnet had actually felt like they had been on to something. The disappointment was almost crushing.

"Hey, pal, come here a second!" Detective Gumshoe called. Garnet practically ran over to where the senior detective was standing, a bit of hope swelling in his chest. The feeling promptly disappeared when he pulled the tinted goggles down and saw nothing. Garnet tossed them to the ground—Howard could give him an earful for it; he didn't care—and Gumshoe gave him an apologetic look before gesturing to the wall. "These are from the bullets yesterday, right, pal?"

Garnet felt his eyes widen before embracing his mentor in a three-second hug. Gumshoe stammered after his release, and the redhead burst into a smile. "Gummy, you're a fuckin' genius!" he exclaimed. In the rush to try and catch whoever their shooter was yesterday, they had completely forgotten about the bullets. "Oi, someone get over here and get me these out of the wall!"

It didn't take long for a couple of officers to get to work on it, and Garnet felt better all over again. If they had the bullets, there was a chance they would be able to use the ballistic markings to figure out who was shooting at them. And it was a good chance their shooter was the arsonist, or at the least connected.

One of the policemen pulled away from the group at the wall and came to stand in front of Garnet. "Sir!" he shouted, saluting. "We have retrieved both bullets!" The officer held them out, and Garnet picked one up, thinking he saw something odd. Turning the thing around, his excitement soared.

"Oi, Edgey! You're gonna wanna see this!"

June 18, 2021, 3:52 PM

Police Station, Conference Room 3

"Whoa…" was the first word out of Ichiyanagi's mouth, and Garnet was inclined to agree. For an engraving on a bullet, it was pretty high detail. You couldn't see much else of the tree, but a couple of branches were apparent, as well as the apple hanging from one. Above said branch flew an owl, wings spread and ready for landing. It was a pretty piece of art, but that wasn't where Garnet's wonder came from.

This was a chance. It wasn't random, as the other bullet had the same insignia on it as well. Okay, maybe there was a chance it was random, but Garnet highly doubted that. Personalized bullets weren't exactly common, and especially not in crime. It was the best shot they had.

"It is pretty," Cecilia remarked, now in possession of the bullet. "So if ballistic tests fail to get a match, we should be able to track down our shooter off of this logo." She paused as she looked around the surface of the bullet. "I wonder why this pattern. It's the slightest bit decorative for common customization…"

"That should make it easier to find," Garnet asserted, folding his arms. "And if the ballistics testing gives results as well, that will only serve to supplement the evidence. We'll be able to snag the guy, easily. Of course, once we're done with this bullet, the lab boys want it, too, just on the off chance that they were fired from separate guns. While there's probably only one person involved in this, we really don't have any evidence to suggest that there aren't more people involved."

"Additionally, we also have no guarantee that this shooter is the same person as our murderer and arsonist, assuming they are the same," Edgeworth added. "We need to stay on high alert for anything we can find. Although I can guess that we've satisfied the courts that this investigation isn't a waste of time for Ichiyanagi-kun and myself. We should have gained a few more days, but don't let your performance drop. If we waste too much time, the truth will escape us."

"There's the poison, too right?" Ichiyanagi said, which caused everyone to look at him for a second. He looked nervous under the collective gaze, but didn't falter. "Nora said it herself; it's not a common poison, so shouldn't we be able to see if we can track sources? If our shooter isn't the killer, we might be able to catch them that way…" The lack of response made his words trail off, and the teenager wilted. "If I'm wrong, you can just say it…"

"No, you're exactly right, there, Ichi," Garnet reassured. The young prosecutor sighed in relief. "We've got ourselves into a good place. Now we just need to keep up the good work, and we'll figure it out in no time. Let's catch this guy and toss him away where he belongs!"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Nora was the only one that seemed distracted, which Ichiyanagi actually responded to rather quickly. Garnet felt a little bit better; not only did those two need each other, he was getting tired of doing his boss's work. "Nora, is something wrong?" Ichiyanagi asked, peering at bullet Nora was now holding in her hand.

"There's more than one person," she whispered. Garnet couldn't help but react, along with everyone else. While this woman had good gut instincts, he really hoped she had more than that to back up the assertion. Edgeworth seemed to be thinking the same thing, since he asked the question.

"And what makes you say that?"

Nora started a bit, seemingly surprised that she had spoken aloud. After regaining her composure, she answered, "Cesare."

A collective question mark formed over everyone's heads, and Ichiyanagi even let out a small "What?" (as if the curl on the top of his head wasn't enough). Nora sighed at the confusion, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. "Cesare is an assassination group; well, family really. They're deadly efficient, and while everyone knows they do it, they don't get caught, and even if they did, they don't leave evidence. Well, except for things like this, but they do it on purpose. That way everyone can rest assured that they're still doing their job." She held up the bullet, showing off the owl and its tree to the group. "This is their insignia. It pretty much says 'Hello, Cesare did this; we'll collect our paycheck shortly.'"

"It's like Shelly de Killer all over again," Edgeworth commented, and Garnet shuddered. He didn't exactly have pleasant memories of the assassin, and he hoped he never had the misfortune of meeting him again. "May I ask how you know about this, ah…'Cesare'?"

"I learned about them from a case back in England," Nora responded. Ichiyanagi's mouth opened, but Nora cut him off. "And before you ask, no, it had nothing to do with Mum's murder. Throughout university, I did an internship at a coroner's office. There was general stuff, but he still did work for the police. One of our cases involved Cesare, front and center. Besides, I don't see a reason for someone to shell out the big bucks just to take out a medical examiner, particularly one that's a single mother. That's going a bit too far."

Garnet felt like commenting on the murder method was going too far, but he didn't want a repeat of the morning's incident. The detective kept his mouth shut, and Edgeworth spoke instead. "Is there any other information you can give us on this group, Ms. Southway? I understand if you don't know much considering the nature of such groups, but every little piece of information is helpful."

Nora frowned slightly, focusing for a moment. "Well, I know they generally work in groups to cover their tracks, but can make it look like it's the job of one person," she ultimately said. "They're also expensive, so when we're looking for the one that hired them—I refuse to let anyone that would sign an order to end someone else's life go free; bloody cowards—we need to consider either who has money to spare or who thinks it's worth it to blow away their cash. I recommend eliminating those in the second group first, since they're few and far between and really obvious."

Garnet processed the information, trying to see if there was anyone that matched this profile from the Rosannah Perry case. No one came to mind, but it was still something to look into in more detail, considering the last case had focused more on the relations of its victim. At the very least it was something else to look into that would help.

"There's something bothering me, though…" Nora commented, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

Cecilia was the one to ask. "What's that, Ms. Southway?"

"The Cesare are a well-known family in the underworld, that's for sure. It's not unusual for them to take foreign operations, but that's usually pretty high profile jobs. I guess it wouldn't be impossible for them to do a hit in America, but something as low-class as taking down a career woman who has a relatively clean record? These guys primarily operate in Europe, and barely leave the place unless necessary…"

Garnet swallowed. As good as the leads were, he really didn't like where this was going. His voice was close to a whisper when he finished Nora's thought.

"…so what the hell are they doing here?"

To Be Continued

Garnet's narration is definitely one of the more interesting parts to write about this story (I realize this is in third person but when I write a section I tend to focus on one character's thoughts and reactions, thus making it some weird version of POV), as is his working relationship with Edgeworth. The two don't always have cases together, but they're meant to cross paths every so often, and it ends up like this.

That being aside, the plot thickens! Cesare gets introduced this chapter, and are highly relevant in all of the Nora/Yumi plots I have planned. This is the first taste of them, so be prepared. I hope that this story is working out as a crime/mystery story with good pacing. If anyone wants to object to the way the plot is progressing, feel free to. Just because I've actually finished writing this doesn't mean commentary won't have a huge impact on how I write the sequels and other Ace Attorney stories in the future, which I hope to do lots of.

As a note, Samuel Howard is an original character meant for one of those stories, as well as a friend of Garnet's on the force.

Once again, thanks to ghostfacekiller39 for your review!

Next time, Nora tries to get some work done, Cesare makes a move, and a new character makes their appearance! Please look forward to it!