Disclaimer: Anything to do with ace attorney isn't mine

Chapter 24

Date: 7th July 2026, 21:30

Location: Sunshine Coliseum, California

Trucy and Liam met up with Apollo back stage after leaving Emma to help out with organising the crowd. When they got there Daryan, Klavier, Ema and Apollo were talking.

"Hey guys. What's going on?" Liam asked as he and Trucy walked up to them. Klavier smiled a slightly strained smile.

"Ach, Liam, Fräulein, there has been a slight incident…" He sighed. "There has been a murder…" Liam's eyes widened slightly and Trucy gasped. "I request that you all tell no one about any of this, no word gets out."

"Tell no one… Not even Lamiroir?" Apollo asked. Klavier nodded.

"Not even her. We must keep everything under wraps." He pulled out a sheet of paper. "I will need you three to sign this." Liam took the papers and read through them before looking up at the others.

"Investigation request, you two are civilians…" Liam looked at Trucy and Apollo. "…And although I am an inspector at Scotland Yard, it's not recognised in the States." Liam signed the request before passing it to Trucy. "May have to look into that." He muttered. Trucy and Apollo signed the request and gave it back to Klavier. He nodded and told them they could investigate and left. Soon it was only Trucy, Apollo and Liam left in the backstage hallway. Liam sighed and looked over at the door, which lead to Lamiroir's Dressing room. "If we are going to start investigating, we better start at the crime scene." He said. Apollo nodded and the three of them headed inside. Ema was already in there.

"Oh, it's you. I figured you'd come." She said. Apollo spoke up.

"You have to let us investigate the scene, please!" Ema looked at him.

"You're an attorney, no? Shouldn't you wait until you have a client…?" Apollo stood there in silence for a couple of moments, glaring slightly. "G-Glare at me all you want, you'll get no snacks from me." Trucy then chimed in.

"Please! Think of poor Lamiroir!" Ema sighed.

"Oh well, I suppose. You did find the body with me." Apollo smiled.

"Great! Let's get to it!" Apollo and Trucy started their investigating, with Liam supervising, as Ema was just snacking on her Snackroos. After searching everything, they spoke to Ema about what they had found. After Ema told them she had to go report the evidence and left the three of them in the room. Trucy then spoke up.

"Let's go and investigate somewhere else." Apollo was reluctant to do so but Trucy convinced him. Liam just went along with them into the hallway. Suddenly someone bumped in to them. It was a man in a bright yellow magician's outfit.

"He was wearing a silk hat. Friends of yours Trucy?" Trucy just shook her head.

"Hardly!" They then moved to the wings of the stage where Klavier was ranting on again.

"What is it with today!? Problem after problem! Achtung!" Daryan huffed.

"You ain't kidding." Apollo, Trucy and Liam walked up to them.

"What's happened now Klavier?" Liam asked. Klavier sighed angrily.

"My hog won't start. My guitar case is busted. My guitar's been burnt to crisp and to top it all off, someone's dead! And that performance just now." He shook his head. "What was that all about!?" Daryan put his hands up.

"Hey, man, don't blame me. You were the one who missed the cue." Klavier glared at him.

"Me? Miss a cue!? How could I conceivably get the most important part of that song wrong? How!? And what was that tinny playing of yours?" Daryan then glared back.

"Who you calling 'tinny'!?" Liam sighed and whistled loudly. Klavier and Daryan looked in his direction. Klavier cleared his throat and turned to talk to Daryan.

"You need to confirm that with the Republic of Borginia, Detective Crescend." Daryan nodded.

"Right, anything else?"

"What did he just call him? 'Detective'…?" Apollo spoke up. Daryan faced him.

"Ah, greetings. Daryan Crescend… Criminal Affairs, Division 3." Apollo nodded slowly before showing Klavier a key ring.

"Um, I was wondering if you knew anything about this." Klavier's eyes widened and his mouth dropped slightly.

"Th-That…!"

"Does it look familiar?"

"Familiar! It's mine! That's my key ring! I've been looking all over for it!" Thought so… Liam thought. Trucy then spoke.

"Whaaaaaaaat!? This is yours, Mr. Gavin!?" Klavier nodded.

"So, where did you find it?" Apollo and Trucy looked at each other so Liam took over for them.

"The victim was holding it." He said. "It looked like he was trying to keep it from his killer. Even if it meant his life." Klavier stood frozen for a couple of moments.

"….. Wh-Wha… Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?" He exclaimed. "The victim… you mean, Mr LeTouse had my keys?" Liam nodded. "Hrmm… When will my trials be over?" Liam shrugged. There was a slightly awkward silence before Trucy decided to speak.

"Mr. Gavin, maybe we can help. Tell us about your troubles today." Klavier looked down at her, uncertainly.

"I really don't think that's…" Trucy interrupted him.

"Tell us… and we'll keep mum about the key ring for now." Liam looked over at Trucy, slightly shocked.

"Trucy, I think that was unnecessary!" He said. Trucy pouted and Liam turned back to Klavier. "How about we talk about something else." He cocked his head to the side. "What about this talk about a missed cue?" Klavier looked slightly more annoyed.

"Ah ha, you heard it, didn't you? From the audience?"

"Um, I didn't notice anything…" Trucy said. Daryan then spoke.

"See! No amateur is going to pick up on that!" The five of them then spent the next few minutes identifying who missed the cue, using a mixing board. They then talked about what they had found in the dressing room. After finding the connection between the song and what had happened that day, Trucy, Apollo and Liam headed back stage once again. The man in the yellow magicians outfit whizzed passed them once again.

"There he goes again. Who is that guy!?" Apollo asked. Trucy was standing there, quite quietly. "Huh? Trucy?"

"You know, he did look sort of familiar…" She trailed off.

"…So he is a friend of yours!" Trucy shook her head.

"No, that's not it. Sorry, I don't remember." Apollo just shrugged and went with Trucy into the Gavinner's dressing room. Liam just stared after the mysterious man before following them in. They spoke to Lamiroir about several things for a while. When they went back stage, Ema came up to Apollo, looking quite angry.

"Where were you!?" She shouted.

"Ack! Ema!" Apollo jumped back slightly. "…Is something wrong?"

"You bet something's wrong! The impossible's happened!" She scowled. "Arrgh! It's all your fault, you know!" Trucy then decided to speak.

"What do you mean by 'impossible'?" She asked.

"Well it's gone! Utterly gone!" Trucy had a confused look on her face.

"…What's gone?"

"The body, stupid! What else?" Liam then interrupted.

"Wait, you're telling us that Mr. LeTouse's body has disappeared!?" Ema nodded and motioned for them to follow her into Lamiroir's dressing room. Inside, Klavier and Daryan are talking to one another. They all talk about what happened and Daryan says his guitar 'Geeter' went missing as well. Liam, Apollo and Trucy decide to check out the stage once more. When they get there, the platform had been raised. Suddenly it came down. On it was Mr. LeTouse, holding a guitar, Machi and Emma. Emma was standing up holding a remote in a gloved hand. She looked over at the three standing in the wings, who had been joined by Klavier, Ema and Daryan. Daryan had paled slightly causing Emma to raise an eyebrow.

"When I said it would be ironic if a murder took place, I didn't actually mean for it to actually happen." She shook her head and crossed her arms. "Especially fitting in with the lyrics of a very good song."

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