Rei Ryghts: Rookie Attorney
The Ten-Year Turnabout
By Derald Snyder
Investigation- Day 2
Court Record:
Crime Scene Photos
Crime Scene Diagram
Testimony Notes
Avalon Hotel Work Permit
March 28, 11:37 AM
Avalon Hotel
Manager's Office
"NO! Absolutely not!" cried the manager of the Avalon Hotel, a rotund NPC in a business suit. "There is no way in hell that I will allow you to tear up my hotel based on a ten-year-old hunch!"
"Not even to possibly clear an innocent man's name?" Millhouse said with arms crossed.
"Then you should've gotten it right the first time!" The manager shot back. "In case you stuffy government types haven't realized, I've got a bottom line to look after here! Not to mention getting ready for our tenth-anniversary celebration! And then YOU come wanting to tear up the place because you dropped the ball years ago? I don't think so!"
"...I see." Turning to the open doorway, he raised his voice, "Would you mind joining us, Miss Ryghts?" Rei promptly walked into the office, frowning. "This is Rei Ryghts, current counsel for the defense. Would you care to explain to her why you won't accommodate her client?"
"Rei Ryghts...?" The NPC took a long look at her, recognition swiftly dawning. "Waitaminute! Not THE Rei Ryghts the psycho goddess! What is SHE doing here?!"
"Guilty as charged," the former villain smirked sinisterly. "Pathetic worm, only concerned about money! Tell me, what good will your money be when your life is demanded of you?!"
"G-g-get awaaaayy!" the manager cried out in terror, backing up to the wall in his chair.
Rei walked right up to him, pushing a finger into his chest. "Now, are you going to grant permission to excavate the basement of your hotel, or do I have to get... violent?!"
"Agh! Go ahead, go ahead! Do whatever you want, just please don't kill me!" the shadow-man babbled.
Rei smirked as she straightened up and backed off slightly. "See, that wasn't so hard, now was it, worm? Well, if you'll excuse us..." She turned on her heel and marched out, causing the manager to heave a big sigh of relief.
"Thank you very much for your cooperation," Millhouse gave a slight bow. "And I promise we'll have everything put back in order in time for your tenth-anniversary celebration..." With that, he turned and followed Rei out of the office.
March 28, 12:21 PM
High Prosecutor's Office
Room 1307
"Ugh, I hope that's the last time I have to do that..." Rei sighed as she and Mike walked into the office.
"I didn't like having to do that anymore than you did," Millhouse concurred. "But in this business, being polite only gets you so far sometimes... If you'll excuse me for saying so, your notorious reputation might actually be a boon in some situations, like getting unwilling witnesses to cooperate, or the like..."
The bluenette pondered this for a moment, before shaking her head... "O-only if I h-have t-to. B-but anyway, why d-did you want me t-to c-come back here?"
"Because I need an outside perspective," the prosecutor answered. "It boggles the mind that Clarence Robarts would purge everything in the evidence file, save the ONE piece that completely unraveled Dean Schmucker's story. Why would he do that? It almost seems to suggest that he knew the truth from the beginning..."
Rei mused, "Well, wh-when I was t-talking with Paul Peterman in j-jail, he said th-that Robarts seemed sympathetic t-to his p-plight at first... b-but he c-completely changed wh-when the t-trial started..." She swallowed before continuing, "I-I really hate t-to say it, b-but... maybe he was b-blackmailed into m-making Mr. P-Peterman t-take the fall...?"
"Preposterous!" Mike slammed his fist on his desk. "I knew Clarence, he would never submit to blackmail! He loved his job as a prosecutor above all else! And he always prided himself on being fair, even to the accused!"
Rei pondered for a moment. "W-well, what if it w-was his law c-career th-that was th-threatened? I-if he loved th-that above all e-else..."
"But his career is spotless!" Millhouse counter-argued. "It doesn't make any sense...!"
"Wh-what about b-before he started in law?" the former goddess inquired. "M-maybe he had a s-skeleton in his c-closet or something, and Schmucker o-or his p-partner f-found out somehow...?"
"..." Mike was silent for a few moments. "You know, Clarence never really talked about his personal life- it was all business with him. But I remember something he told me when he was about to retire..."
("Michael, I know that you've thought very highly of me as an attorney. But the truth is, I am just a man... an imperfect being, who has made mistakes... some very large. Sometimes I look back and wonder whether I could have done things differently... But I suppose it's too late for regrets. My time is passed. But hopefully, Michael, you will avoid some of the pitfalls that I fell into...")
"...I didn't really understand what he meant at the time. But given what's happened with this case, I can't help but wonder, if this is one of those 'mistakes' he talked about..."
"I'm curious..." Rei spoke up. "W-was he the one who m-made the m-mock t-trial based on th-this c-case?"
Mike's brow furrowed at this. "Now that you mention it... it was one of the last things he did before he retired." He looked Rei in the eye. "Are you suggesting he did that in the hope that someone would point out the contradictions in the case, like you did?"
"N-not to mention he left th-the most important p-piece of evidence i-in the f-file after p-purging everything else..." The horned woman pointed out.
Millhouse closed his eyes in deep thought for a few moments, tapping one finger on his desk... then he opened them again with a heavy sigh. "Well, I suppose I could try looking into what he did before joining the Prosecutor's Office... in the meantime, I'd like you to look at Dean Schmucker's construction co-workers from ten years ago, and see if any of them were licensed to carry a firearm."
"I-I'm not even s-sure how t-to d-do th-that..." Rei stuttered uncertainly.
"I'll call Detective Pericles and tell him what to do," Mike said. "You can meet with him at the precinct..." he trailed off as something occurred to him. "Oh, but you might want to call Bart first and have him accompany you, so he can head off any potential... incidents."
Rei gulped and nodded vigorously in response. "U-understood," she said as she pulled out her cell phone...
March 28, 1:10 PM
Police Department
Criminal Affairs
"REI RYGHTS!" An officer shouted as the woman in question entered with Bartholomew, causing almost everyone there to stand and draw their guns.
"HOLD IT!" Bart shouted as he protectively stepped in front of Rei. "Miss Ryghts is with me! There is no cause for alarm, gentlemen!"
"Hold your fire!" the chief detective ordered as he walked up. "Mr. Samson, with all due respect, you should've known better than to bring a final boss right into the police precinct!"
"She's not a final boss anymore," Bartholomew insisted. "Anyway, we're here at Prosecutor Millhouse's request, to meet up with Detective Snorkel Pericles."
"He's right," another voice spoke up, belonging to a black-haired man with grey eyes, average height, and dressed in a gray-brown trench coat and hat. "I got the call from Mr. Millhouse a few minutes ago. I'm supposed to be helping them with investigating the background of a witness from some ten-year-old case..."
"...I see," the chief detective sighed. "Well then, she's your responsibility, Snooper." Turning to the rest of his subordinates, he ordered, "Stand down, everyone. False alarm!" The other detectives slowly returned to their normal business. "Anyway, might I suggest you take them to my office, Detective? The others might feel better if there's at least a wall between them and Rei Ryghts..."
March 28, 1:15 PM
Police Department
Chief Detective's Office
"I-I'm so very sorry for what happened," Rei apologized as the trio walked into the office.
"It's not your fault, Rei," Bartholomew assured her. "They're the ones who overreacted..."
"It's kinda police instinct to not take any chances with a criminal," Snooper muttered. "But y'know, now that I see you up close and personal, Miss Ryghts, I can tell the stories about you are way overblown."
"Th-thank you, Detective," Rei bowed her head in gratitude.
"Just Snooper's fine," the detective said as he sat down at the computer. "So, who were we looking at again?"
"Dean Schmucker," Bart explained. "More specifically, we're looking at his co-workers on the construction crew that worked on the Avalon Hotel ten years ago."
"Alrighty," Snooper nodded, typing a few commands into the computer. "Avalon Hotel... construction crew... OK, I got a list of names here. Here we go, Dean Schmucker. So what are we looking for, exactly?"
"S-see i-if any o-of th-them are licensed t-to c-carry a g-gun," Rei requested.
The detective bit his lip lightly. "Alright... I'll have to enter their names one-by-one into the database, so this'll take a while..." A few minutes later, they had whittled down the list of Schmucker's co-workers down to about ten or so.
"How many of them had permits issued ten years ago or earlier?" Bartholomew asked.
"Hmmm..." Snooper looked over the permits. "Only three of them, looks like..."
"Th-the murder weapon w-was a .38 c-caliber, i-if I remember right," Rei offered.
As luck would have it, only one of the three was permitted to carry that caliber of weapon. "Here's your guy," Pericles announced. "Donald Korsak, age 39." Bringing up his profile, the picture showed a man with short black hair, black eyes, and a small but bushy mustache.
"D-does it s-say how t-tall he is?" Rei asked.
"About 4' 7", it says," the detective replied.
"Same height as Peterman," Bart observed. "Well, this makes Mr. Korsak a definite person of interest in this case... Do you have his address?"
"Let's see..." Snooper hummed as he scrolled down. "Here it is... uh-oh."
"W-what's wrong?" Rei asked.
"This address isn't current," the detective shook his head. "I know this place, it got razed to the ground a few years back for a community garden." Turning in his chair, he stated, "It's gonna take me a while to run down his current address, so you guys may as well head back to your office. I'll give ya a call once I've got something..."
"Of course," Bart nodded. "But before we go, could you print ff a copy of the gun permit? It may be useful as evidence later..."
"Sure thing," Detective Pericles nodded, turning back to the computer to do just that...
*Korsak's Weapons Permit added to the Court Record.*
March 28, 2:17 PM
Samson & Co. Law Offices
"Well, it seems we're still at a bit of an impasse," Bartholomew noted. "The excavation of the Avalon Hotel's basement section most likely won't yield anything until tomorrow, and we don't know where to find Donald Korsak. The trial will most likely have to be delayed until the day after tomorrow..."
"W-well, th-that shouldn't b-be a p-problem, should it?" Rei asked uncertainly.
"Hopefully not," Bart said, "but as I'm sure I've told you, in Lowee's court system, all trials have to be wrapped up in three days or less, one way or the other. It was introduced a few years ago as a way to speed up the process due to massive amounts of case backlog..."
"What?!" Rei gasped. "B-but d-doesn't th-that make it almost impossible f-for any d-defendant t-to have a f-fair t-trial?!"
"Indeed," the senior attorney bowed his head. "It's part of the reason my father moved down here from Leanbox, in order to fight what he saw as a blatantly corrupt legal system. And now I follow in his footsteps..."
"Is... i-is he not around a-anymore?" Rei inquired hesitantly.
"Died of pneumonia a few years back," Bart confirmed. "As for my mother, she moved back to Leanbox after the funeral. I suppose they couldn't adapt to Lowee's colder climate very well... Mind you, Mother and I still remain in contact, I send her flowers from Iris Field every birthday and Mother's Day..."
"I see... th-that's nice of you, Mr. Samson..." Rei smiled. "I d-don't hope t-to be a replacement for y-your f-father, b-but I hope I c-can at least not b-be a hindrance t-to you..."
"You're already doing quite well, if you ask me," Bartholomew shook his head with a smile. "If I can boast about anything, it's that I'm an excellent judge of character... that's why I believe most of my clients are innocent. And even if they turn out to be guilty in the end, I can at least be assured they received a fair representation if nothing else." He put a hand on Rei's shoulder. "That's why I hired you to begin with... because I could tell that the stories about you were quite exaggerated... and when you told me about having no recollection of what you did as a CPU, I could tell you were being honest. It takes quite a clever and conniving person to pull the wool over my eyes..."
"...Th... Th-thank you, Mr. Samson," Rei sighed in gratitude, trying to hold back tears. "I j-just hope you're right about me... for P-Paul Peterman's sake."
*To be continued...*