AN: Sorry for the wait. Very busy and I got to make sure details are precise. Critical events incoming.
Forensics Lab
September 7 9:30 a.m.
"That darn… frilly… good for nothing… ugh! I'll show him!"
The detective angrily stomped towards her office. Ema broiled at the very thought of how Edgeworth whet her already traumatized experience with interpreting her monstrous taunter as a farce. Incredibly offended, she jabbed her hand over the knob. The door ajar, allowing a narrow crack to see her desk. She stopped. Remembering that horrible visage with daggers pointing at her, a chill rushed over. That horrible split mouth, the spiky tongue and dark bolted eyes that manifested despair, reflecting her utter terror right back at her as he pinned her against her own desk. She knew that wasn't a fake, it was real. The way it hissed, the way it presented itself, such a thing shouldn't exist, yet she was a one person audience, allowed front row seat to a creature that could've killed her with one swoop, but didn't. To which she came to wonder.
'Why didn't it?'
Her fingers retreated from the door knob, unwilling to return to the same office after that experience for a while. The detective gripped her bag tightly before turning.
"AAAAHH!"
"Detective Ema! I'm so sorry!"
One of the lab geeks who were in charge of analyzing the two crimes scenes shook in his shoes. He was about as terrified as Ema.
"Don't scare me like that!" Ema grunted furiously. "I'm going through enough as it is!"
"I'm sorry, Ema!" The geek covered himself with the lab file in his hands, still violently shaking.
Ema fixed herself properly, before composing a stern expression, though her inner struggle was quite apparent. "What is that?"
"Oh… this?" The geek peered over his protective barrier, the manilla folder. "These are the results from the two attacks…uh…" He fiddled along the slip and held the papers in his sweaty hands. "This one is on Septemberrrr… 3rd..." He flipped towards the next page. "And this one… September 5th…"
"Gimme those!" The detective ripped the pages from the geek, mustering a scowl.
"Eh!" He flinched as the files were stripped from his grasp.
Her eyes darted across both of the files. Analyzing both incidents thoroughly, she squinted from several strange details. Her brows further furrowed at September 5th's attack. Something didn't add up.
"Wait a minute…" Her mouth gaped. "This makes no sense…"
"I know, Ema… That's what I came to talk about." The geek stifled.
"September 3rd's attack had all traces of blood from one source, but… why is September 5th mixed…?" Ema was bewildered. September 5th's attack was composed of only a very tiny percentage of an unidentified person's blood, but majority had large quantities of protein, iron and blood substitutes.
"Hold on… that would probably mean that the victim of September 5th probably didn't die from blood loss, but September 3rd probably did, but we can't make any confirmed decisions on that yet." Her eyes went back and forth for any further differences.
"Do you think these cases may be related?"
"Perhaps… but where did all that protein and substitute come from? And where are the victims?"
The lab geek shrugged. He was just as informed as Ema. "According to recent calls, there are three people missing: Two from September 5th and one from September 3rd."
"W-wait! What?!" The detective dropped the papers from her view. "The samples only show two unidentified people. Where is the second from September 5th?! Is it the same person from either scenes?"
"No." He squeaked, "Completely different people apparently. Two in the night and two during broad daylight, except the only one that returned was Mrs. Maggey."
"I know… thank God she came back, but she had nothing on her." Ema sighed in relief, acknowledging someone returned unharmed gave a ray of hope to the detective. 'Maybe the others could be alive too…'
Her eyes glanced off the files and back at the sniffling blockhead, "did any of the samples come back positive for Maggey?" Ema remained blunt, but did hold sympathy for the situation Gumshoe's wife was in. She thought being kidnapped by such a horrible being would have probably caused post traumatic stress disorder on poor Lady Luckless. That very same fate would have been her situation, but she was only threatened to not slip a word, yet she is still breathing.
"Nope. All tests came back negative."
"Thank goodness. I just wanted to make sure. Poor Maggey…" Ema mumbled.
"I know right. Must've been scary to be kidnapped like that." The geek wiggled his fingers in a teasing manner to which Ema slowly grew offense to. "Gumshoe was talking about that crazy bird mask guy that took his wife."
'If only you knew…'
"Three more people are still missing...We sought to it." The lab tech placed his glasses on before turning towards Ema's direction. He pointed out the information on the next page of the reported missing people. "Apparently, one is a cab driver, another is part of a 'rehabilitating organization,' and the last is a deli worker. However, none have any connections at all."
By the way how this 'pattern' was going, there wasn't one at all. It made as much sense as the lab tech's clothing: everywhere and disproportionate.
"So, Ema." The geek spat.
"What?" She asked, puckering her lips unintrigued.
"What happened back in your office two days ago?" The lab wonky crept closer to the detective.
Ema husked a quick gasp. Small flashes of that horrid birdman came back to her. "Nothing…"
"Mmm...mmmm...mmmm…" The geek shook his head in disapproval. "I was in the the North Hall. I heard a scream and I know it was you. You further reinsured that when I came behind you, too."
"Nothing happened!" She argued, her arms stretched downward in angst.
"… I don't know, Ema." He pressed his fingers against his chin as one eye peered at the detective, studying her in exaggeration. "Doesn't seem like nothing."
"Just shut up." She folded her arms, twisting her view away from the instigating curious bumbler in front. "How are the rest of the geeks back in South Hall doing?"
"Hey!" He sniffled weakly. "We're not geeks!" He adjusted his oddly polka dotted tie as he snorted. "We are professional forensic scientists!"
Ema just stood quite, dumbfounded that the gangly white coated lab wonky was more concerned with his reputation that the well being of his coworkers.
"But! I'd say everyone is okay. They just don't remember what happened."
"Hmmm…Well that's good." Ema slurred softly as she headed back into her office. "Thanks. I'll check up on Frilly with the new info."
"Oh." The geek snorted a laugh. "You do that."
Ema gave a startled look towards her office door, almost knocking the papers right into the frame. The knob appeared almost too close, reminding her of those moments once more. She swallowed and inhaled subtly before going into her office. It was empty from a dark presence, to which she gladly accepted anytime to work. The papers met her desk before locking the door this time around.
She tried every angle to make sense. There was nothing really sticking out in the last whereabouts of these people before they went missing.
A sudden knock made her jolt from her seat, knocking her bag forth as well as the files. The sheer paranoia quickly got to her as she frantically trying to gain her composure. Another knock made her jolt to the side of the door. Her eye peeked by the corner of the window. At first she hesitated, fearing that birdman probably came back to finish his promise. Further inspection caused her to grunt in disgust. It was the glimmerous fop, Klavier.
