Madoka and Sayaka wandered through downtown until they saw a burnt building. Madoka shuddered at the sight of the torched glass frame.
"Yikes… this is an ugly sight." Sayaka grimaced.
"Darn right it is! I haven't seen anything like this since the Dusky Bridge incident!" Gumshoe's voice boomed. Sayaka recognized it instantly.
"Oh! Hi, Gumshoe!" Sayaka waved. Gumshoe smiled and saluted to her.
"Good morning, Sayaka!" Gumshoe seemed to have his energy back. "Thanks for saving Maggey last week!" Gumshoe's voice indicated a sense of happiness, as did his gleaming smile.
"You're welcome, Gumshoe!" Sayaka responded, matching his energy. Madoka couldn't help but smile. "So what did you find so far?" Sayaka asked. Gumshoe shook his head.
"Not much, other than the outline of the body and the autopsy. The body was found a few steps behind me." Gumshoe handed Sayaka the autopsy report. Then Sayaka handed it to Madoka, who opened the report and read it out.
"Melissa Kauffman's Autopsy: Killed at 10:41pm via bullet to the head. Body covered in severe burns." Madoka recited the report. Gumshoe turned to her, then turned to Sayaka.
"Did you find a legal assistant?!" Gumshoe asked. Sayaka nodded.
"Oh, yes! Gumshoe, this is my new legal assistant, Madoka Kaname! Madoka, this is Detective Dick Gumshoe!" Sayaka introduced Madoka and Gumshoe to each other. Madoka smiled sweetly.
"I remember you! I saw you at the zoo during that case with the tiger!" Madoka spoke softly. Gumshoe wore a goofy smile. "I thought I remembered you from somewhere. You looked familiar. Nice to meet you, Kaname!" Gumshoe and Madoka shook hands. Sayaka smiled as a few police officers came in.
"Detective Gumshoe, sir! We have discovered evidence relating to the arson attack!" One of the officers reported her findings, showing the remains of a matchstick. Gumshoe nodded.
"Submit it to the court record! This is valuable evidence!" Gumshoe made note of the evidence before turning back to the girls. "Feel free to explore the rest of this building. If you find any good evidence, bring it here!" Gumshoe saluted, now with a thick cigarette stick in his mouth.
"Alright then! We'll catch up with you later, Gumshoe." Sayaka waved goodbye to Gumshoe as she walked into the burned remains of the building with Madoka.
"So… what's our next step?" Madoka asked.
"We have two goals from this point on. Gather evidence, and question witnesses. We need as much information as we can get for an accurate verdict." Sayaka explained the next step. Madoka looked around and found a person walking in the distance.
"Would she be a witness?" Madoka asked, pointing to the person she saw. Sayaka recognized her.
"No, that's Kyoko Sakura. She's a prosecutor." Sayaka walked towards Kyoko anyway, curious about why she was here. "Hey, Sakura." Sayaka called out. Kyoko turned to look at Sayaka.
"Oh. Hey, Miki. What brings you here?" Kyoko asked. "And who's the pink girl at your side?" Kyoko glared at Madoka, causing her legs to tremble.
"U-Ummm I'm Madoka Kaname… l-legal assistant." Madoka responded with a weak voice. Kyoko turned to Sayaka.
"What happened to Mami? Wasn't she your legal assistant?" Kyoko asked with a sharp tone.
"Mami was and still is my mentor. She trained me to be a good lawyer, and she helped train Madoka to be my legal assistant." Sayaka replied. Her tone was quite casual. Then she had a more determined stare on her face. "What leads you to believe that Mr. Tohr Rent is guilty, Kyoko?" Sayaka asked. Kyoko shook her head.
"That's what I'm trying to find out, Miki. Why do you think he's innocent?" Kyoko asked in a bold tone.
"I highly doubt a former fireman would have the motive or means to commit arson. It has me all kinds of suspicious about this case." Sayaka responded. Kyoko crossed her arms and took a deep breath.
"In that case, count yourself lucky that I'm your opponent and not the witch prosecutor. If she were here, this would have already been over." Kyoko gave Sayaka and Madoka a grim warning as she wandered deeper into the building, searching for evidence.
"Wow… she's scary." Madoka was still a little jittery. Sayaka shook her head.
"I'm starting to think that something I said got to her. I think she's trying to convince herself that Mr. Rent is guilty. The way she was talking, I think she wasn't entirely sure if he did it." Sayaka tried to calm Madoka, who was still slightly shaky.
"L-Let's just find evidence…" Madoka wanted to get her mind off of Kyoko for the time being.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Sayaka nodded as she led Madoka down the slowly improving hallways. The girls took a left and wandered into a kitchen with obvious burn marks, a torched stove, and a trail of soot, starting in the middle of the kitchen floor.
"Let's follow the trail. It might lead us somewhere." Sayaka motioned for Madoka to follow her. The girls followed the trail, which only grew wider the more the girls followed it, until it took up whole rooms. Sayaka then made a note in her notepad.
"So this fire couldn't have been a slow burning fire. Something tells me there was a long range fire starter in play. And I don't think it's oil. The floor isn't particularly slippery." Sayaka made an observation before turning to Madoka and giving her a second notepad. "Be sure to take notes on what we find. Take notes on what people say, too." Sayaka gave Madoka some advice. Madoka nodded and smiled, before writing down some notes. The girls left the trail behind and walked down another hallway before reaching the lobby. A person was standing there. He had dark skin, black hair braided in corn rows, and a rugged physique. He recognized the attorney's badge on Sayaka's suit.
"Ayo, y'all lawyers, right?" The man had a noticeable Brooklyn accent. "What y'all doin' here? Got business to take care of?" The man asked.
"I'm Sayaka Miki. I'm a lawyer. This is Madoka Kaname, my legal assistant.
"I'm Kareem! Kareem McDyess! The coolest boi around!" Kareem made a peace sign, smiling a sweet smile.
"Okay then, Mr. McDyess. Give us your account of what you saw last night." Sayaka responded. Kareem put on a rap beat, letting the beat accompany his words as he spoke.
"So listen up, yo. I was workin' the evenin' shift at the nearby EveryMart. I walk by this place after work, when I tryna get home. There was a buncha dudes fightin' at the front, dissin' each other an' just havin' a bad moment. I recognized a couple o' guys, the former fireman and a bro wit' big muscles. Thought nothin' of it until I heard about the fire on the news. It was one o' those dudes fo sho." Kareem's brooklyn accent made him a it difficult to understand, but Madoka and Sayaka wrote down what they heard.
"What was the big guy's name?" Sayaka asked. Kareem put on a pair of shades and smiled.
"That guy? That's Cha'various Zahair. Dude's a total beast. Definitely not a fire starter but bro's a loose cannon. Bud's got daddy issues." Kareem described one of the guys. "He works here and he left his favourite chain behind. Give it to him if ya see 'em." Kareem handed Sayaka a gold chain with a shiny golden dollar sign.
"I will if I see him. Thanks for your time, Mr. McDyess!" Sayaka waved goodbye.
"See ya 'round, lawyer girl!" Kareem waved back as the girls left. Sayaka and Madoka examined the chain as they walked down the hallways. It was quite heavy, and it looked expensive.
"Mr. Zahair must be quite a rich guy. This looks pricey." Sayaka noted.
"It reminds me of something I would see in movies about gangs." Madoka added. Sayaka nodded as she walked through the hallway and ran into an older lady with grey hair, a security outfit, and red lipstick.
"Oh, you stole Cha'various's chain!" The lady squealed. "Gimme that!" The lady then charged at the girls, prompting Sayaka to jump over her.
"W-Who are you?!" Sayaka shouted, slightly creeped out.
"I'm Wendy Oldbag! I work security! What are you girls doing with that chain?!" Wendy screeched, prompting Madoka to cover her ears.
"Lady, we're lawyers! We're handing this in as evidence to the detective!" Sayaka shouted.
"Lawyers? Like that gorgeous lady I saw earlier, dressed in red?" Wendy's tone suddenly changed to a softer tone. She smiled a sappy smile. Sayaka's eyebrow raised.
"Yes… how do you know Miss Sakura?" Sayaka asked.
"Oh, Sakura~" Wendy began. "Dressed in all red, always confident, and so smart too~ She reminds me of my Edgey-Poo~" Wendy began swooning. Sayaka and Madoka had looks of disgust on their faces.
"Edgey? Who's that?" Madoka innocently asked. This offended Wendy who got into Madoka's face and snarled.
"YOU DON'T KNOW THE AMAZING MILES EDGEWORTH?!" Wendy screamed, causing Madoka to cover her ears. Her legs quivered, a little frightened by the old lady.
"Back off, Oldbag! You're scaring my assistant!" Sayaka shouted, with a very frustrated look on her face. It seems Wendy did not listen, judging by the lovestruck expression on her face.
"Oh, Edgy-Poo~ He's so handsome, so brilliant, so… dashing~" Wendy swooned, with sparkles in her eyes. Sayaka groaned. "Oh, I could do anything for him~ My Edgey-Poo is just so dreamy~" Wendy continued for a solid four minutes, boring the girls to death. She kept on talking until her eyes diverted to a small silver canister on the table. Sayaka noticed Wendy's eyes and the canister sparked a question.
"Excuse me, but… what's that can for?" Sayaka asked.
"It was once full of napalm! It belonged to the defendant!" Wendy explained the can, sending Sayaka into a state of shock.
"Napalm?! That's a firestarter!" Sayaka shouted.
"It's a very flammable liquid! The defendant poured it all over the floor before lighting it with a match! That's how half the building burned down!" Wendy shouted. "Take the can if you want. It won't prove a damn thing!" Wendy growled. Sayaka took the can and handed it to Madoka.
"Thank you for your time, Ms. Oldbag." Sayaka groaned as she left to see Gumshoe.
"So what did you find?" Gumshoe asked.
"Three things. The remains of a match, a gold chain, and a can of napalm." Sayaka handed the evidence to Gumshoe.
"Good finds! Who did you talk to?" Gumshoe accepted the evidence.
"We ran into Sakura early on. She seems like she's trying to convince herself that Mr. Rent is guilty. It feels like she isn't entirely sure." Sayaka began.
"Then we saw a man named Kareem McDyess. He was rapping during his testimony and he told us about the owner of the gold chain, Mr. Cha'various Zahair." Madoka continued.
"Then we saw this creepy old lady named Oldbag. She just couldn't shut up about Miles Edgeworth." Sayaka finished. Gumshoe laughed.
"Oh, ya met Oldbag! Yeah, she's always been like that. Edgeworth is terrified of her." Gumshoe scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah… she's got all sorts of issues." Sayaka sighed.
"Thanks for the evidence and witnesses! You will surely see them in court tomorrow!" Gumshoe saluted with a smile. Sayaka and Madoka turned to leave.
"Thanks for the help, Gumshoe!" Sayaka waved goodbye as she and Madoka got on the bus, headed back to the office. They were going to report their findings to Mami before meeting the defendant. This trial was going to be intense.