"Hey, Polly."

"Hello, Aden."

The atmosphere of the detention center was always immensely depressing. Apollo could feel the misery of all the unfortunate souls that had ever been held in it radiating from the drab walls themselves, closing in on him and making him feel rather suffocated. The unmoving guard in the corner of the room cast him a sharp eye when he entered, before looking back down at the floor. Apollo found it unnerving how that man could stand there all day and all night, looking like no more than a shell of a real human being as time passed on. The grayness consumed everything.

But it hadn't only gotten to Apollo. Aden's greeting this time was low and very quiet in comparison to his usual voice level. The man's vibrant energy had dulled, and there was no question as to why it had.

Aden hadn't started any conversation yet, which wasn't much of a surprise, but it was a different kind of silence compared to the more casual sort of indifference that usually happened between them. Apollo saw that the man's face was curved in a deep frown, and looked to be lacking in sleep. Aden was clearly extremely worried about this case.

Apollo cleared his throat, looking down at his evidence files. Well, there was enough to cheer Aden up from here. "You know, I got a lot of evidence that works in your favor. No one even knows why you're being put up on trial. It was some random police order."

Aden looked up, his eyes slightly more hopeful. It was a start. "Really? They said that?"

"None of the evidence points to you. I talked to one of the primary forensic detectives on the case." Apollo continued, imagining Ema's reaction at that description of her. She would either be extremely happy about it, or drown him in snackoos. "I looked around the crime scene, and everything about your involvement is based on speculation. There's really nothing to pin on you."

"Seriously?" Aden grabbed the bars, invigorated once more. The sad atmosphere enveloping him was driven away by his sudden brightness. "So I'm not even supposed to be here? They'll let me out soon, right? That's wonderful!"

"About that…you'll still have to go to the trial tomorrow." Aden's smile dimmed, and Apollo rushed to explain more. "But a lot of the evidence doesn't even relate to you…it all connects to some other guy entirely. You're not even in the picture."

Aden raised his eyebrows. "Other guy? So why did they call me? Do they think I'm affiliated with this dude?"

"We'll get to that one at a time," Apollo reassured. He looked at Aden purposefully. "I'm going to have to ask you about him, though. And please, please tell me the truth the entire time. Even if it's embarrassing. Because trust me, I will know. And it will only hurt you if you lie." Apollo took a deep breath, looking down at his court record. "What do you know about a person named Damien Nascent?"

"Damien Nascent, you said? Hey! Yeah, I know him!" Aden smiled. "Damien's my—" A sudden pause. Apollo looked at him expectantly, and Aden swallowed, his excitement fading. "Well, Damien…I guess now it's used to, isn't it? He used to be my friend." Aden stared at him, eyes sharp. "He's the one who has all the evidence on him, isn't he? Did he…really…"

"That's what it looks like for now." Apollo said, feeling a pang through his chest as he watched Aden's heart visibly sink at the mention of his friend falling into bad times. Don't think about any of that now. "Anyway, I'm going to need some additional information on him. We think he might be trying to frame you for the murder, so it's really important."

"Frame me?" Aden repeated, his eyes widening. "If…if that's how it is…ask me about him. But please, I don't think Damien meant to do it. Damien…he was a good person."

Apollo's bracelet tightened.

He glanced down at his wrist, furrowing his brow. What? That wasn't even a lie—that was an opinion! He glared at it for some time, wondering what was wrong, when Aden interrupted him.

"Polly, is something wrong?"

"Oh…actually…" Apollo coughed, working out how to phrase his doubt. "I don't think you were telling me the whole truth when you said you didn't think Damien meant to do it, and that he was a good person. Are you sure that's really what you think? You tapped your finger on the desk pretty nervously there."

Aden stared at him for a solid few seconds, before his mouth basically fell open. "Wow, you…you're really good." He lowered his eyes, shying away. "And—and yes, you were right that I lied. Damien was not—he had a very irritating personality. It was not good to me."

Apollo's bracelet didn't change this time. Aden was more inclined to tell the truth after that confrontation, it seemed. "All right, so tell me. What was so irritating about him? What was he like?"

"Well, to start off…" Aden made an uncomfortable face, as if the memories themselves were grating. "He considered me his friend, but I never really was his. He was annoying. That's probably because…he'd lose his temper a lot. He got angry very quickly. It was hard to deal with him during my work."

"He got angry quickly?" Apollo repeated, jotting that down in his court record. Aden nodded.

"Yes. On one occasion, he stormed at a secretary of an attorney just because the girl hadn't delivered the files to the company at the time he had told her to come. And she was only five minutes late." Aden bit his lip. "To be honest, I never liked him. He wouldn't shut up once he was angry, either, which was all the time…and he would have frequent bursts of fury in the middle, so it wasn't fun to hang around."

"So…he wasn't your real friend, then." Apollo clarified. "You just let him consider you as his." Aden hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"He wasn't someone I wanted to be friends with, you see? He was very negative."

"Negative how?" Apollo pressed. Aden rubbed the back of his head.

"He would always complain." Aden said, looking almost concerned for a second. "He was a very cynical person, probably because of some hardship…but it was still pretty aggravating." The concern was gone and replaced by a clenched hand around one of the cell bars—pure vexation. "He would complain about every small thing to me at work. It hindered my thought process."

Apollo took this information in for a moment. Aden watched him tap his pen on his notebook, then rest it on his chin. He tried to imagine the extent of Damien Nascent's flaws in accordance with his crime. "All right. So far you told me he's been prone to anger, that he complains a lot, and that he probably had a rough past. And you didn't want to be his friend. Is that right?"

"Yes. That's completely correct." Aden confirmed.

So that's all the signs of a typical criminal, Apollo thought to himself, filing away the suspect's personality profile. It matched perfectly. Let's see how that relates to the company itself.

"You said he would complain to you at work. Were his complaints about work, or did they vary more towards outside things?"

"Oh, he used to grumble about work all the time. That's all he ever talked about." Aden said, waving a hand. "He'd always whine about all the organization we had to do and how the company had no real future, even though he signed up for the job. He'd also criticize the boss a lot."

"Wait, the boss? Do you mean Victor Timon?" Apollo asked.

"Mr. Vic Timon? Yeah, that was our boss. Damien hated him. He'd say bad things behind his back all the time, and sometimes in front, too."

There's another consistency. Apollo noted. Hating the boss but being in a desperate situation…it makes sense. The stress and anger must have overwhelmed him. But murder? What drove him over the edge?

Apollo answered his own question in less than a second. Of course, the idea was valid. And it would be a perfect motive, too. "Aden, was Damien about to be fired by Mr. Timon before this incident? Or did something major happen between them?"

Aden's eyes darkened, and he looked away. His hands slid off the bars. The detention center seemed to cave in on the man at once, as if flocking to the presence of gloom. The secretary looked as anguished as he had been when Apollo had first stepped through the door, as if the memories had twisted him back to his former state.

Apollo paused, trying to see if he had asked something wrong. It was just a simple question…but perhaps it had many circumstances tied to it.

That case was long, wasn't it? What made you so sure it was Athena who murdered him? Were you getting desperate?

All simple questions, but with so many events linked to them that they were painful to answer. Just as Aden had made that mistake, it seemed he had been unintentionally insensitive as well. He decided to step back before this could get out of hand.

"I'm sorry. If you don't feel comfortable answering that, you don't need to." Apollo said, making his words as distinct as possible. "This is enough information for now. I'll just—"

"No…you're going to have to know. It's for the case." Aden interrupted, although his tone had grown quite melancholy. Apollo shook his head.

"It's perfectly all right, don't push yourself—"

"But I have to tell you. It—It'll only help me, I know. I don't like thinking about it." Aden licked his dry lips and took a shaky breath, as if hoping the words would materialize in his mouth by themselves. The very thought looked painful to him. "All right. A few days before I left the company, Damien and Mr. Timon got into…a really big fight. That same week, Damien had been mad at me as well, because of something he thought was offensive. But that part of the story isn't what I want to talk about." Aden took a deep breath, shaking his head. "All you need to know is that Damien was angry at me about some reason or the other. Anyway, Damien turned on the boss and began complaining to him about me. He said…that I was not a 'real' worker or something along those lines, and I was just tricking them all by acting like a good person."

"Acting?" Apollo repeated. "But…okay." He decided not to press that statement—it didn't seem like it would hold any information important to the trial, and would only make Aden feel worse about having to recount everything. He searched for a more significant topic in the summary. "This fight—it was just a few days before you left. And you said it was a major argument…and that Damien disliked the boss already."

"In my opinion, it wouldn't be beyond him." Aden said. Apollo ignored him, too absorbed in piecing everything together.

"If that's correct, then Nascent was probably fired right after you left, or at least threatened to be removed." he reasoned. It was all falling in place so smoothly. He had never had a case this predictable before. "But even if, through the slightest chance, none of that happened, the argument would have still left the both of them feeling very bitter towards each other. And for someone as negative and unpredictable as Damien…taking such extreme measures wouldn't be too much of a stretch."

And that's it. That's the motive behind it all.

He snapped his court records case and his notes shut, barely able to contain his excitement of it all. He actually had the upper hand this time! Aden stared at him when he smirked, looking understandably befuddled.

"What? Are you…smiling?"

"You should be smiling too, this time." Apollo said. He felt far more lighthearted than usual. "The trial tomorrow should last no more than two hours. Especially with the testimony you've given me."

However, rather than exclaiming how great that was, or even relaxing the slightest bit, Aden seemed much more unsure about Apollo's words. Catching on quickly, Apollo returned to his normal state, curious that Aden hadn't reacted positively. "What's the matter? Have you forgotten to tell me something?"

"It's not that." Aden said, but his expression didn't change. Apollo remained tense. "It's just that…during that time, the only witnesses were me, the boss, and Damien."

No witnesses?

Apollo didn't like the sound of that.

Not at all.

"If there's no one from outside the trial…how am I supposed to prove that that actually happened?" Apollo put two fingers to his forehead in agitation. And it was going so well, too! "The problem is…I doubt Damien Nascent will admit to getting in a fight with his boss. And since you're the suspect in this part of the case, you'll need stronger proof."

"You mean…they might not believe me?" Aden said, his voice trembling. "But…but I know what happened. I was there!"

"Both you and I understand that." Apollo assured, dropping his hand back to his lap. He bounced his knee instead, so Aden couldn't see how much it really worried him. "But to the judge and the jury, without an outside witness, it might seem like you're making something up on the spot. They don't know the difference between Nascent and you, and haven't met with anyone of you at great length either. So what I really need is some evidence."

Aden seemed to have zoned out at his words, looking at some place far behind him. Apollo traced his gaze, but upon finding nothing, realized that the man had slipped into deep thought. He felt nervous once more. "Um, Aden? What happened?"

"Evidence…" Aden put a hand on his chin before facing Apollo again. "Do you…I thought you said you needed witnesses."

"Witnesses would be good, but any hard evidence should work just as fine." Apollo urged on. Aden was in deep contemplation about something. "Do you have something in mind?"

Aden rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, casting him a small smile. "You know, I should have mentioned this earlier, then…I thought you only wanted witnesses." Apollo leaned closer in anticipation. "When they were fighting, I was keeping an account of what was happening. I dated it, too." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "It's in the top drawer of my former desk in the company building. The date is in the top right corner. I don't have the time, but…it says the basics of what happened."

Apollo was at a loss for words.

Aden shifted uncomfortably. "Is that…not good enough?"

Suddenly aware that he had been too caught up in Aden's statement, Apollo focused back on Aden. The man seemed genuinely, unbelievably, troubled that it wasn't sufficient. The mere fact that Aden was still anxious was almost enough to make Apollo confirm that everything he was experiencing was some variation of a dream.

If this is real, I swear…

"Apollo…that can't be used, can it?"

Aden remained uneasy at his lack of response. Finally, Apollo shook his head.

"No, Aden. You just gave me the last piece of evidence I needed in this case."

Aden stared at him in surprise. "What? Really? So that's…" He grabbed the bars, looking up at Apollo as the defense attorney stood up. "That's really it? You can help me with that?"

Apollo nodded.

This is the most convenient thing I've ever come across as a lawyer…

"I'll go and get that record you just told me about. And then we'll be set. So get some rest."

And this is the easiest case of my life, by far.

"You'll be fine, Aden. I'll get you out of here before you know it."