May 30

Blocker Law Offices

1:45 PM

Victoria von Graye

I wasn't sure what I expected when we arrived at the scene of the crime, but I didn't think it would be this crowded. Somehow, it was even more cramped, and there were more people around than there had been the day before. I cringed at all the noise. I didn't like this at all. I mean, I hadn't been fond of how things were before, but it had somehow gotten even worse. I did my best to ignore it, but I didn't think I would be able to do such a thing. This elephant in the room was nearly suffocating.

"I didn't realize so many extra people would be showing up," Mr. Morix murmured. "But they don't all seem to be police officers..."

"No. It seems to me more like they're reporters," I realized, seeing the many people holding cameras. Others had microphones, and I knew they had to be from local news stations. "I guess the media decided this case was interesting enough to merit an intense investigation..."

"I guess they found out the victim died at the time she was murdered," Mr. Morix sighed. "I don't remember how much of a stir her disappearance caused in the first place, but I guess it had a lot of people wondering what could have happened. Now, that's all blowing up in our faces, and we're somehow going to have to keep our sanity as we press on with our investigation."

"If we can find Detective Erikson, we can take him outside and chat with him then," I suggested. I got onto the tips of my toes, looking around wildly to try and figure out where he could be. Not for the first time, I cursed my lack of verticality. If I was just a tad bit taller, I would have been able to find him more easily, but instead, I had to rely on Mr. Morix.

"There he is," Mr. Morix said, pointing nearby. I couldn't exactly see what he was pointing to, but I grabbed the edge of his sleeve and followed him as he wove in and out of the crowd. I nearly stumbled a few times, tripping over the feet of people I didn't know. I apologized what felt like constantly until we arrived at our destination. I was only a few feet away from Detective Erikson before I could take in his full appearance. I sighed. I didn't think it could get any worse, but the universe saw it fit to prove me horribly wrong.

The next two minutes or so consisted of me following the two taller men through the crowd once again. Detective Hayes stayed next to me, though I could tell he was not fond of this situation in the slightest. He glanced over at me nervously every once in a while, but that didn't do much to soothe the reporters all around us. I was just glad nobody recognized us as being heavily involved with the case. I wasn't exactly in the right head space for an interview that would be broadcasted all over local television, nor did I think I ever would be.

Mr. Morix gestured for us to follow him around to the backside of the building, away from the prominent entrances, and I let out a sigh of relief. I looked between the three men before me before gazing downwards with a sigh. "This is... This is exhausting," I murmured, unsure of how else to put it. I didn't know how Detective Erikson could handle it. I never would have lasted a full day in managing crowds like that. Detective Hayes, who seemed to be much closer to my behavior, still didn't seem to be able to take the situation all that well. I could tell the noise was overwhelming.

"At least we won't need to worry about it right now," Mr. Morix pointed out. "Now, Detective Erikson... We have a few questions for you, if you don't mind. We finally uncovered the time of death. Well, we at least found a concrete date thanks to the testimony of a witness."

"I heard about that, yes... The day the victim was deemed missing was actually the day she was killed. I can't say I'm particularly surprised, but we didn't have any evidence to officially declare it to be true up to this point, so all we could do was wait," Detective Erikson shrugged. "Either way, what is it you wish to start off by discussing?"

"Is there anything new you've found out relating to the case? You've been back here at the crime scene much longer than we have, so I figured you would have at least one extra thing for us," Mr. Morix began.

"I can't think of anything in particular that you weren't already aware of, but I'm sure something will come up sooner rather than later. The forensics team has officially given up on including a time of death on the autopsy report, so they're onto working on the report. It's going to have the cause of death and the date of death, but the time is going to have to remain out of our grasp. I wish this case had been discovered sooner, but there's nothing we can do about it now," Detective Erikson shrugged.

"Thank you for telling us this," I smiled, bowing my head to him gently. "Have you found out anything else relating to Marcus Moore? He seems to be our primary suspect at the moment, and a lot of people are curious as to what is going on with him. We assume at this point that he was heavily involved with illegal activity in the time he was away from the limelight, but we have no idea what that illegal activity could consist of. On top of that, we don't know where he is now, and if he was at the agency at the time of the victim's death, we have to consider him a suspect, especially since he doesn't have an alibi."

"He's a lot better at hiding himself than you would think originally. However, he's clearly been doing this for a long time, and he has more than enough experience to keep the public from figuring out where he is. I mean, we searched for him for ages, and we never even found a trace of him. As soon as the victim died, he vanished again. He went back under whatever rock he was using as cover for twelve years, and nobody knows where he is anymore," Detective Erikson frowned. "I have to wonder if there's a specific place he's been using to hide away. If we can figure out what that location is specifically, we'll be able to find him. However, that is much easier said than done, and we'll have to figure out where he could be with minimal evidence."

"Hm... If he wanted to work at a law agency, maybe he headed for another place that was hiring," I suggested. "That's the only explanation I can think of. If he took up an alias, perhaps he would be able to get hired without anyone asking any questions. That's my thought process, at least. I don't know for sure if that's accurate, but it's a starting point... We could look through local law agencies and try to see if any of them hired a man who fits the same description as him, and if they have, we can see if that's our guy."

"Sounds to me like that's something we could ask everybody back at the agency to help us with. We should see if they would be able to help us out. After all, we have a lot of people to talk to before our investigation is over, but they should have some time to talk to do more in-depth research," Mr. Morix told me. "After they finish checking out who Marcus Moore reminds them of, they should be able to find that."

"You know, assuming the person Marcus Moore reminds them of isn't the one we're looking for in this case as well... I highly doubt they're the same, but I can hope on that front. If they're the same person, then that's less research all around, which would give them and us more time to focus on other things," I said. "I want to know what the deal is with him, and until we can figure that out, I will not rest."

"What do you mean?" Detective Erikson asked. "Do you have a plan for what you will be doing in your investigation? I missed the latter portion of the trial, so I didn't exactly have the chance to hear about this."

"We got a picture of Marcus Moore from the prosecution, but everybody from our agency came to one common conclusion upon seeing it. We've seen him somewhere before, though none of us are sure where we saw him. The rest of our group is back at the agency trying to figure out where we could have seen him before. We aren't sure if this will help us out in the long run, but we don't exactly have any other leads at the moment, so we figured we might as well follow this path through to the end," I explained.

"Do you happen to have that picture with you? I didn't get the chance to see it either. Nobody really got to talk about the trial before it happened, so I'm afraid I don't have that evidence in my stock," Detective Erikson frowned.

"We could just take a picture of the photo, if that's alright... You probably don't have an extra, and a digital copy is better than nothing," Detective Hayes piped in.

Mr. Morix nodded and pulled out the picture. He held it up vertically for the others to see. "This is what he looks like. Do you know anybody with a similar appearance to this?" he asked.

Detective Hayes showed his phone before taking a quick photo of the image. When he was satisfied with the quality, he dropped the device back into his pocket. "Hm... Detective Erikson, what do you say? Is he familiar to you at all?" Detective Hayes questioned.

Detective Erikson slowly took the picture from Mr. Morix, and he examined it thoroughly. "I'm not sure... I certainly know what you mean when you say he has a sense of familiarity, but I don't know where it could come from. Whoever this reminds you of, chances are I have met them as well," he replied.

"That only makes me wonder more... Who in the world reminds us of Marcus Moore? That's another person who knows them, and that makes for seven. Is there somebody we all met in a common circumstance?" I asked. "I highly doubt we all met this person alone, as that would simply be too much of a coincidence. As for a time where we could have all met this person together... I can't think of anything. It's incredibly frustrating, and I don't know where it could have happened. I hope the others can come through for us and figure out what has us thinking we've met him before."

"I have faith that they'll be able to find the truth, though I do wonder what it is... I never would have expected this when we first started the case, and yet, I can't shake the feeling that it's important," Mr. Morix murmured. "I'm sure there's other evidence out there to point to it, but I wouldn't even know where to start in trying to find it."

"Hm... Well, all we can do is wait and hope that they find what we need. If we can figure out where we know him from... Maybe that's where he's been hiding all this time. Imagine it... Maybe he wasn't using a given place as a way to hide from the world, but rather, a given name," Detective Erikson suggested.

"A given name... I have to wonder if that's the case as well... If he was hiding using an alias rather than a specific location, then he would have had us all going down the wrong path from the start. I just wish I knew what that alias could be. If he is using a false identity, then what is it? It would be incredibly difficult to try to find one person from a crowd like that, especially when they don't even have a name in common. Plus, if he was involved in illegal activity, perhaps he changed it using his underground influences. We wouldn't want to get too heavily tied into that," Mr. Morix said softly. "Whatever the explanation is, we have to find it."

"Hm... I'm not sure where to start, but I have a sneaking suspicion you'll be able to find the truth. I have faith your coworkers know what they're doing, and they won't just let you down like this," Detective Erikson said. "All that you need now is a little bit of patience. After they find the truth, hopefully everything will click into place. From there, we can find Marcus Moore, force him to testify, and lay the victim's soul to rest."

"Would you mind catching us up on what happened near the end of the trial?" Detective Hayes spoke up. "We weren't around since we had to get back here, and it wouldn't hurt to get a bit of background information before we continue our search."

"Yeah, what he said. We only know that the date of death was discovered due to witness testimony, though we don't have any significant details further than that," Detective Erikson told us.

"We'd be happy to explain it," I told them with a small nod. "The short version is that the witness who figured it out was staying in the lobby of the crime scene. She saw the victim pass through at one point, but she never came back. She headed in the direction of the cellar. Originally, the witness assumed there was a door down there, but further investigation showed that there was no such door. On top of that, a man left the scene, and that man was determined to be Marcus Moore using the picture from twelve years ago we were given by the prosecution. The witness identified him easily. However, she never saw him go down into the cellar in the first place. He had to have already been there when she arrived."

"In other words, he was lying in wait for when the victim arrived. After she showed herself, he pounced and killed her. He shoved her body into the fridge, freezing it and throwing off the time of death. From there, he left through the lobby, not catching anyone's attention since the only one down there was the witness, and she didn't know that he wasn't supposed to be there since she wasn't familiar with the space," Mr. Morix finished. "Does that sum it up for you?"

"I would say so... I'm glad we had this witness to help us in finding the truth, though I do wish she had shown herself a bit sooner. There was no way for us to know that there was somebody who could help us in this way, but it is upsetting that she first appeared so late into yesterday's investigation. At least everyone involved with the case was given more time to look around by the judge. This case surely would have ended in disaster if not for that factor," Detective Erikson said.

"In that case, we can call that a blessing and move on with our lives... On the subject of Marcus Moore, I trust that you'll tell us if anything happens regarding him, yes? If he shows his face, is revealed to be anywhere notable, or anything else that could happen... Please tell us. At this point, he's the most suspicious person involved with the case. Now that everyone's over thinking that Polly did it, he's going to be our primary suspect," Mr. Morix told him with a frown.

"Of course. I don't know how much we'll find out given how secretive this man is, but it's something to think about. If I find anything, I'll be sure to figure out a way to tell you. Until then, I can't think of anything else for you to do around here... I know that's not really a good way to end this conversation, but..." Detective Erikson sighed and shook his head. "There's really not much around here that you would find notable. Nothing new has really popped up since the last time you were around here. If we had heard something new, I would have told you already. I'm sorry to say it, but your time might be spent better elsewhere."

"Dang... That's upsetting," I murmured. "I mean, I know there's nothing you can do to change the fact that the investigation isn't going perfectly well, but... It's still kind of saddening... I'm digging myself a hole, aren't I?"

"I know what you mean," Detective Hayes assured me, and I couldn't even begin to say how thankful I was for his consolation. I was too anxious for my own good, but that did something to calm my nerves before they could grow into a monster that tried to punch me in the face.

"What else are you planning on doing today?" Detective Erikson asked. "I do hope this wasn't the only thing you wanted to do over the course of this investigation period, because there's nothing left for you to find out."

"We have to go and talk to Polly first of all. We didn't get to talk to her in detail before the trial started, so we should ask her about if she figured anything out during the trial," Mr. Morix began. "After that, we wanted to find and talk to the members of the prosecution. It wouldn't hurt to ask them what they know about the case."

"Prosecutor Wood had a lot to tell us about Marcus Moore... She may not know the details of his criminal life, but what she was able to tell us was a great help. I wonder if she would be able to help us out further without even knowing it," I mused. "As for the illegal group he was involved with... I can't help but be curious as to who it was or what it could mean for him... You know? There's a lot to think about when it comes to Marcus Moore..."

"Marcus Moore... You know, I wouldn't say I know particularly much about him, but... There's a little something I haven't been telling you about him," Detective Erikson said after brief hesitation. He looked over Mr. Morix and me silently before sighing. "It really isn't a lot, but it might be able to help you a little bit."

"Any information is good for us. Go on and tell us everything you have in mind," I said eagerly. I found myself excited and prepared to listen to what he had to say, even though his somber tone and solemn expression would give most people the bad feeling that he was about to say something less than positive.

"This is just a guess, so you can't really consider this conclusive, but... I think I know the reason why Marcus Moore went missing twelve years ago. It lines up nearly perfectly with a murder case that took place involving his family," Detective Erikson began.

"There was a murder in his family?" I asked, my eyes widening in surprise. "And it just so happens to match up with the time he went missing? That's fishy for sure... What happened? Who passed away? Was the case ever solved?"

"The string of murders took place twelve years ago in October. For two weeks, some important legal figure or one of their relatives was killed each day. It came to be known as the 'Fortnight of Murder'. It was all over the news at the time, and people constantly lived in fear that they would be next. The final victim is the one who was related to Marcus Moore. Her name was Alianna Wood. She was Prosecutor Wood's mother. Alianna was stabbed to death, and the case was somewhat solved with her murder. The killers were members of the Emsthorpe crime ring. She was married to a high-ranking judge, and it cost Alianna her life," Detective Erikson continued.

"So... If Marcus Moore was Prosecutor Wood's uncle, then he was Alianna's brother-in-law," I murmured. "What happened next? Did he disappear just like that?"

"Pretty much. As soon as the members of the Emsthorpe crime ring were exposed to be the culprits behind the string of killings, they all disappeared. That included Marcus Moore. Of course, not everyone was entirely sure that he was involved with the killers. After all, his brother-in-law, Alianna's husband, was an important legal figure. He could have gone missing to defend himself from assassination attempts. It was hard to say for sure... However, given all that we learned during the trial today, I put the pieces together and determined that he had to have been involved with those killings. I don't know if he actually took any lives, but being tied into the Emsthorpe crime ring is enough to put one in danger of being arrested," Detective Erikson concluded.

"I see... If he truly was involved with the Emsthorpe group, then that explains why he went missing. Plus, they practically run the shadows of this area. If he was going to go missing, he would ask them for help. Plus, they would be able to help him falsify a degree in law if he needed one... He was sent to Blocker Law as a mole, and when things turned sour, he killed the person who refused to hire him," Mr. Morix declared.

"If he did go so far, then chances are the victim figured out the truth about him... He's a dangerous man. I don't know the full extent of what he's capable of, but I don't think he's someone we should even think about taking lightly. We'll have to be careful in our search for him... Or maybe we should just leave it to others who are used to danger. I wouldn't say I'm the best person to go out as part of a search party to figure out where a disappeared man, a disappeared killer, ran off to," I said, rubbing at the back of my neck.

"I wouldn't worry about how good you would be as part of the search group. I doubt you'll need to concern yourself with such anyways. If we find any clues as to where he could be hiding out, the police will take care of it. Besides, we don't want the case to be cut short by the attorneys getting hurt. As I'm sure you remember from the cases at the Prosecutor's Office, if another murder case pops up while another is being investigated, the first one gets sidelined, and it becomes a lot harder to solve since interest in it dwindles so much," Detective Erikson told me.

"Phew... That's a relief," I said. I paused upon realizing what I had said. "Well, not the second murder blocking the first one from being solved. I mean the part about me not being part of the search group. Granted, you probably already figured that out based on my tone, so I don't know why I'm still rambling on at this point. I think I'll stop talking now." My cheeks flushed pink as soon as I finished speaking, and I wished I had some strong tape to shut my mouth for a few minutes. I would certainly feel less awkward with tape over my mouth when compared to the regular anxiety I felt when I just opened my mouth in a way that earned me negative attention. It was something I didn't expect to think about, but there we were.

Detective Erikson chuckled to himself. "Oh, I understand. No need to worry... Anyways, is there anything else you need from us before you head back to the detention center or to find Chief Prosecutor Bespoke?" he asked.

"Have you seen Ghastly?" Mr. Morix asked. "I mean, on the subject of the prosecution... We have to talk to them, like we mentioned before, but I didn't see them when we first arrived."

"I don't know if they're here already. I can go and look around to see if they've arrived or not, and if they have, I would be happy to send them your way. If we don't find them, I'll come back and say that you're safe to move on. Does that sound alright?" Detective Erikson questioned.

"You can stay here and wait for us to give you updates on the situation," Detective Hayes said. "That way, not all of us are going into the chaos. The less people that go into that mess, the better..."

"That would be great, as a matter of fact. Thank you for the offer, Detective Erikson," Mr. Morix smiled, nodding his thanks to the detective. "In case we don't see you again, I hope that your investigation goes well. We'll be sure to stay in contact with you. If we find anything that could help you, we'll say so as soon as possible, and I trust that you'll do the same in return for us."

"Of course. I hope you enjoy the rest of your days," Detective Erikson replied with a firm nod. He turned on one heel and started to walk away, Detective Hayes following after him. They disappeared once they rounded the nearby corner, and I knew they were off into the chaos once again. I felt bad for them, but I also knew that I did not want to follow them in by any means. I had dealt with that crowd enough to last a lifetime, even if it had only been an issue for about five minutes. That was still five minutes too many no matter how you looked at it.

Mr. Morix turned to face me once they were gone. "Alright. We seem to have a plan of what to do next, which I'm considering a win for the time being. Plus, we learned a bit more about Marcus Moore... Our suspicions about Marcus Moore being involved with illegal activity helped us out significantly since they allowed Detective Erikson to tell us what he had been suspecting for a while. With all that we've heard, I can come to one conclusion about him firmly: he is not the sort of person we want to be dealing with if we can avoid it. We want him to be caught, but we also know that he's dangerous and was likely involved with assassins... As for if he still is, I can't say for sure, but I'm glad we haven't encountered him up to this point," he said.

"I agree... Just thinking about the things he's done makes me feel sick. Imagine how many people he's hurt in the past... I'm just glad nobody involved with this case has been hurt yet... I think that would be a bit too much for my little heart to handle," I told him. "Hopefully, the police will be able to catch him before he can cause any other issues for us. The sooner he's locked up in jail, the better... I can't think of anyone else who would have killed the victim."

"We don't exactly have a reason to suspect Ms. Quell. We can easily get confirmation regarding if she had met the victim before the murder took place. Since there don't seem to be any signs of them interacting up to that point, I feel like we can cross her off the list. Besides, she wouldn't come back to testify if she had done it. Her lack of motive and lack of knowledge about the victim point to her being innocent, meaning Marcus Moore is our only suspect," Mr. Morix went on. "I want to know more about him and who sent him to Blocker Law, but I get the feeling such answers are rooted in danger and bloodshed. The Emsthorpe crime ring is far from peaceful, and I somehow doubt they would give up such important secrets easily. If they've gotten away with everything for this long, they're incredible at hiding from law enforcement, and I don't want to test them if we have the option to avoid it."

"That's a good idea. For now, I guess all we can really do is hang around here and wait until either Chief Prosecutor Bespoke shows up with Mr. Burke and Prosecutor Wood or Detective Erikson comes back to say they haven't arrived yet. I personally hope the former happens, as I don't want to be sent on a wild goose chase where we never run into them in between the other things we need to get done today," I told him.

"I feel the same, but we won't know what Detective Erikson and Detective Hayes found until somebody rounds the corner, so patience will be our dearest companion in the meantime," Mr. Morix said. He leaned up against the wall of the building and crossed his arms, letting his eyes shut slowly. "Enjoy the peace while it lasts, because we won't have a lot of it until after we're finished looking around for the day."

I nodded my understanding, even if he couldn't see such an action. I leaned up against the building wall as well, shutting my eyes. Part of my body longed to nod off and rest, but I refused to let sleep take me. After all, there was a lot of work yet to be done, and I couldn't exactly be productive if I was sleepwalking everywhere. Even if a sleepwalking lawyer did sound interesting, I didn't want to get a reputation as 'that girl'.

Sorry this is late guys I felt really sick yesterday and didn't want to post this my apologies

-Digital