Chapter 6

The Crime Scene

[August 23, 10:25 AM Caduceus O.R. #3]

Phoenix and Maya open the doors to the operating room and are immediately hit with the smell of antibacterial spray and blood. Quite the combination of smells, really. The room is the size of a standard operating room with the type of equipment you'd expect to find in an operating room. At the center, is the proverbial operating table complete with a giant overhead lamp. Surgeons have notoriously bad eyesight. Naturally, the rope outline of the victim lays on said operating table. Various police officers and forensic investigators are doing investigation-y type stuff. Phoenix looks over at Maya.

"You okay, Maya? You look a little pale…" he said. Phoenix himself wasn't feeling all that great about visiting a crime scene either.

"I know we've investigated a lot of crime scenes before… but I still haven't gotten used to it yet." Admitted Maya. Visiting a crime scene probably isn't something someone should ever get used to. By the operating table, a maroon clad gentleman was going over some paperwork. He turns around as he hears Phoenix and Maya's voices.

"If this is enough to make your stomach turn, perhaps you should consider another line of work, Wright." he smoothly said. Miles Edgeworth is the same age as Phoenix and has known him since childhood. His gorgeous grey eyes sparkled as his cravat fluttered in the wind.

"It wasn't me, Edgeworth. Maya here is the one with a weak stomach." Phoenix said, gesturing toward Maya.

"Hey, I don't have a weak stomach! I can eat 12 Happy Meals in less than 2 minutes! You think a girl with a weak stomach can do that and not puke?" asked Maya, pointing at her tummy. Edgeworth grimaces a little at the thought of Maya hawking down so much food.

"Be that as it may, I must ask what you two think you're doing here? Although I feel as though I already know…"he said, closing the folder of paperwork in his hand.

"I'm representing Derek Stiles and I was hoping to take a look around the crime scene," said Phoenix. Hopefully Edgeworth is in a good mood today and will permit him to have a quick peak.

Edgeworth furrows his brow a little and says, "Wright, you know I can't let you do that. Not until we wrap up the official investigation here." Edgeworth always was a stickler for the rules.

"Please Mr. Edgeworth," said Maya with her biggest puppy dog eyes, "Can we have just a quick look?"

"You know I'm the lead prosecutor for this case. I can't freely disclose information to the opposition." he said coldly.

Phoenix scratches the back of his head and says, "I know but I'm still kinda in the dark about the whole situation. I don't even know who the victim is…"

"Why am I not surprised," said Edgeworth shaking his head, "Taking on a case without a firm grasp of the facts or understanding of the circumstances is reckless and irresponsible. I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Wright." He gave Phoenix a soft grin.

Phoenix nervously laughs and says, "Yeah well, you know me." Is that really how he thinks of me, he thought.

Edgeworth mauls it over in his head for a moment and says, "I suppose I can share with you the most basic of facts about this case. But nothing more."

"Thank you, Edgeworth," said Phoenix, relieved.

"Woohoo! Way to go, Mr. Edgeworth!" said Maya and raised her arms up in the air. Edgeworth stares at her blankly. Perhaps a little confused.

"Yes… quite. Here, take a look at the autopsy report." He hands Phoenix the autopsy report.

"This is the most up to date one, right?" asks Phoenix. Edgeworth looks at him unamused.

"I have since grown past those childish tricks I used to pull. I assure you this is the most up to date version." Edgeworth has pulled a sneaky on Phoenix in the past by updating the autopsy report the morning before a trial. That was back when he was a ruthless prosecutor who would do anything for a guilty verdict. Edgeworth is chill now and less of a prick. Phoenix skims through the report.

"Let's see here… victim… victim… ah! Here we go. Her name is… Viola Cadaverini? Why does that name sound familiar…" The little rusted gears in Phoenix's brain begin turning trying to recall where he's heard that name before.

"She is no ordinary citizen, Wright. Which makes this investigation all the more important and potentially dangerous." said Edgeworth, looking at him seriously now.

"Dangerous? What's so dangerous about her?" asked Maya.

"That is something I am not at liberty to disclose. However, I heard she was involved in a case you worked on not too long ago, Wright." said Edgeworth, trying to nudge Phoenix in the right direction. Finally, the fat hamster in Phoenix's brain decided to get off its lazy ass and turn the wheel of thought. And Phoenix's heart sank a little as he recalled where he heard the name before.

"Wait a minute… I remember now! Viola Cadaverini was involved in that poisoning case last year." That was the case when someone impersonated Phoenix in court and got an innocent person a guilty verdict, tarnishing Phoenix's reputation.

"Poisoning case…?" said Maya trying to recall the event, "You mean when your doppelganger, Xin Eohp, impersonated you!?"

"Yeah! Well no, that wasn't his name," corrected Phoenix, "But more importantly, Viola Cadaverini is…"

"...The granddaughter of Bruto Cadaverini. One of the most powerful mob bosses in the country." Edgeworth finished the sentence for him.

"Someone actually had the balls to murder the granddaughter of a mob boss!?" said Maya, shocked.

"You see now why this case is so complicated," said Edgeworth. Phoenix reads further on in the autopsy report.

The victim, Viola Cadaverini, was pronounced dead at 7:45PM yesterday. A common operating scalpel was found stabbed through her heart. Bleeding was mostly internal. And that's about all the report said.

"Why is it so short?" asked Phoenix in regards to the criminally short report.

"That is but the preliminary report," answered Edgeworth, "The body is still currently being examined at the coroner's office."

"So they haven't actually determined how the victim was killed yet?" asked Phoenix. At a glance, it seems like the victim was killed by stabbing. But without an official report...

"I will not be discussing the finer details of this case with you, Wright. Only the basic facts," Edgeworth coldly reminded Phoenix, "A scalpel was found protruding from the victim's heart. Make of that what you will." It was clear that was all Edgeworth had to say on the matter.

Just then, the doors to the operating room burst open. A doctor with short, messy black hair came walking in with no regard to anyone in his way. He was carrying what looked like some kind of medical equipment.

"Outta my way," he said, shoving past an officer. Another doctor came in following after the first one. This doctor had long flowing blonde hair instead.

"C'mon Victor, just lemme borrow five bucks!" said the blonde doctor to the black haired one, who's name was presumably Victor. The blonde haired doctor shoved past the same officer Victor did, this time knocking him to the floor.

"This area is strictly off limits!" said Edgeworth, stepping in Victor's way. Victor replied by shoving Edgeworth aside, wrinkling his cravat. "Nghoooo! My cravat!"

"No matter how many times you ask, Tyler, the answer is still no!" said Victor, now examining a bloody scalpel on the operating table. Tyler comes up from behind Victor's shoulder.

"Aw, come on man! I gotta get me some Cheetos and Mountain Dew from the vending machine! Hook a brother up!" Tyler pleaded.

"I don't recall us being related. Especially not siblings! Thank God, I was born an only child…" said Victor as he repressed the urge to stab Tyler with the scalpel he held in his hand.

"Cheetos and Mountain Dew sound pretty good right about now…" said Maya, looking over at Phoenix. "Hey Nick-"

"I'm not buying you Cheetos and Mountain Dew, Maya." said Phoenix before Maya could finish her sentence. Edgeworth straightened out his cravat and regained some of his composure. He marched over to the two squabbling doctors, his face turning a shade of red. Not the embarrassed kind of red like you just farted in front of your high school crush and they totally know it was you so they start laughing and pointing at you. But the kind of red you would turn if some rude ass doctor just shoved his way past you and wrinkled up your magnificent cravat.

"Just who do you think you are?" Edgeworth asked Victor.

"Very busy is what I am. Now shoo." he said without looking up at Edgeworth.

"Ngh… Did you just shoo me!?" Edgeworth couldn't believe the nerve of this doctor.

"Hey, sorry about Victor man," said Tyler scratching his head, "He can be kind of a prick at times."

"Feh, you're one to talk." said Victor, now measuring some kind of liquid in a vial. It was unclear what kind of tests he was running but Edgeworth wasn't too pleased about it.

"This is a private police investigation! Civilians are not allowed entry!" said Edgeworth with his brow furrowed about far as it can furrow.

"In case you haven't noticed, Tissue Neck, I'm not just any civilian. I'm the head of Research and Development here. I intend to conduct my own investigation to determine what really happened." said Victor, looking up at Edgeworth only for a moment to throw that insult at him.

"T-tissue Neck!?" Edgeworth was fuming mad now. Maya couldn't help but laugh a little. Although she did feel kinda bad for Edgeworth getting picked on by a rude doctor. Who'd thought the day would come when Edgeworth had met his match.

"Whoa, whoa easy there man," said Tyler trying to deescalate the situation, "Let me properly introduce ourselves. I'm Dr. Tyler Chase, a surgeon here at Caduceus. And this is Dr. Victor Niguel, our resident hermit who rarely leaves his lab, hence the terrible people skills." Tyler extends his hand to Edgeworth who hesitates for a moment before shaking it. Victor continues analyzing without acknowledging Edgeworth or Tyler for that matter.

"It's one thing to be lacking in interpersonal skills, I can sympathize with that, but being out right rude is a different matter entirely!" said Edgeworth, folding his arms.

"Psst, hey Nick…" said Maya into Phoenix's ear, "While Mr. Edgeworth is distracted, maybe we can sneak a peek at the crime scene!" It wasn't a bad idea. Edgeworth did seem to have his hands full and probably wouldn't notice if they snooped around a little.

"Okay… I guess it wouldn't hurt." replied Nick. Phoenix and Maya sneak a little closer to the crime scene while Edgeworth is arguing with Tyler and Victor. Upon closer inspection, there isn't too much to see. Well, other than a heart monitor with some heavy blood splatter on the screen.

"Ewwww, is that blood?" asked Maya.

"Well I don't think it's ketchup," said Phoenix, jokingly.

"Well of course I can tell it's not ketchup! I always put ketchup on my burgers and this definitely doesn't look like what I squirt onto my burgers."

"Hmm, still this is quite a lot of blood splatter." said Phoenix as he examined the monitor a little closer. The blood covered almost the whole screen. A small pool of blood also has dripped onto the floor around the monitor. "Let's look around a bit more and see if we can find anything else." Phoenix takes a couple steps before he steps on something. He looks down under his foot to see what he stepped in. It looks like a clear wrapper of some kind.

"Find something, Nick?" asked Maya as Phoenix picked up the wrapper and looked at it.

"Of all the places to find litter, I'd expect a hospital to be cleaner than this!" said Phoenix, looking around for a trash can.

"That's a pretty big wrapper. Do you think it was a bag of candy? Or maybe chips?" Maya's mind always somehow relates everything back to food.

"There isn't a label on here that I can see. I'll just slip it into my pocket until we find a garbage can." said Phoenix, slipping the wrapper into his pocket.

"Well aren't you a good, upstanding citizen!" teased Maya. It looked like these were all the clues Phoenix was going to find for now. It's a bit difficult to properly investigate a crime scene when police officers are buzzing every which way.

"I insist the two of you evacuate the premises immediately!" said Edgeworth to Tyler and Victor.

"I'm gone as soon as I bump five bucks off of somebody!" said Tyler, with his hand outstretched in a 'gimme' fashion.

"I'm not going anywhere until I'm satisfied with the results of my investigation." insisted Victor. It doesn't look like Edgeworth has made much progress with our two eccentric doctors.

"Whelp, I guess we'll see you around Edgeworth!" said Phoenix as he and Maya made their way toward the door.

"Wait! Wright! Don't you dare leave me with these two quack doctors!" pleaded Edgeworth.

"Bye, Mr. Edgeworth!" said Maya waving her hand as she and Phoenix left Edgeworth with those two quack doctors.