[August 17, 2:59 PM - Downtown]

"AAAAAH!"

One thing about a girl's scream, it transcended language barriers. Little wonder Phoenix was quick to react, and turned back to see what all the fuss was.

Imagine his surprise to see the girl, once again naked, meekly covering what little her arms could, with a pair of ribbons settled around her bare ankles.

"Of all the times..." Trying to hide his intense embarrassment, Phoenix took action. In one swift motion he had reached Ami, taken off his suit jacket, and thrown it around the girl, covering as much of her as he could. Which, thanks to its broad design, was most everything of importance.

"Can't keep you out of trouble for a moment..." With that muttered under his breath, he took the blushing girl by the hand and hurried away before someone notified the authorities... assuming they hadn't already.

[August 17, 3:30 PM - Wright Anything Agency]

"I've never seen anything like this..."

The coated woman's gaze practically sparkled as she looked over the clump of fur. Ema Skye adjusted her glasses and slid the pink-tinged lenses down for a closer look. "I'm gonna need a few hours, Mr. Wright... possibly a whole day!"

"We need it back by the morning, Ema."

The trip back had occurred without incident, apart from Ami shivering every so often, as if trying to drown out the memory of what had just happened. It was unlikely that would happen anytime soon, but at least she'd been quiet. She was still sitting on the sofa, keeping the suit jacket close around her as if her life depended on it.

"What?! Well-... I guess I can borrow the forensics lab and pull an all-nighter, but you owe me!"

The detective/investigative specialist gave the cowering girl a brief look, then tilted her head back at Phoenix. "...are you cradle robbing again?"

"I, I already said it's not like that! She's a client!"

"Uh-huh... suuure. Well, she is a cutie!" Ema looked over to the girl and winked in a way that turned Ami's face as pink as her shades. "I'm sure I could hook her up with someone real ea-"

"Thanks, Ema, call me as soon as you have something!"

"Hey, I was just being nice to the gi-!"

With that failed attempted at protest, Ema was nonchalantly urged out of the office, her complaints muffled behind the closed door.

Phoenix sighed, brushed a hand across his forehead, and steadied himself for a long night.

If Ema didn't deliver, tomorrow's trial was going to prove impossible to win... it might have been, regardless.

[August 17, 9:30 PM - Wright Anything Agency]

Without much else in the way of leads, most of the staff had long since retired for the night. Ami, however, had been given free reign of the office for the night, so she had opted to sleep in the living room. The blanket and borrowed jacket weren't much in the way of sleepwear, but they were warm.

The girl had been intent on turning in early, and had just been about to drift off when a loud knock from the door stirred Ami from the attempt at sleep. Ami tried to ignore it, but then another sound followed, more stubborn than the last.

She looked around, realizing that no one but her could or would answer it, then she went to the door and looked through. It was the bespectacled girl from before, frantically waving a sealed envelope. "Mr. Wright, I have the results! Come on, open up!"

Ami looked behind her, and tucked the blanket closer around her shoulders. No one was going to respond but her, it seemed, so Ami took a deep breath and opened the door to answer the girl's request.

Had she known how the enthusiastic investigator was going to react, Ami might not have been so eager.