"I don't want to have to ask you about this more than once. Tell me where I can find those files."
"Y-You can't just walk in here and act like you own the place! This is a school, and I can't just let you take anything you so please!"
"I told you that I only wanted to ask once... But fine. If you really don't want to help me, then I suppose I'll simply have to resort to more... Desperate measures."
"You... Just who are you?! Why are you here, and what is it that you want?!"
"I think I already made myself clear about what I want. Where do I find the files?"
"I... I can't..."
"If you can't tell me, then you're of no use to me. We're finished here... Goodbye."
"N-No, wait-"
"...You should have just complied. It certainly would have made things easier on yourself."
May 3
Morix Law Offices
3:00 PM
Lily Shield
The agency was quiet around me as I concentrated on the book pressed between my fingertips. Many of the other members of the agency were out on other business or otherwise busy in their offices throughout the building, so the main lounging room was just holding me, Yuri, Chrysalis, and Mr. Morix. The room was silent aside from the occasional shuffling of papers as Chrysalis and Mr. Morix sifted through a few case files. Yuri had taken to hanging dramatically off the side of a chair, her hair touching the ground below. She was scrolling through some social media platform or another, though I couldn't exactly identify which one it was, not that it mattered. That was her business, and I wasn't going to get involved with it.
Today was my day off, and it had been a while since I was given the chance to truly relax this way. There was always some matter or another that required my attention either at work or at home, so even when I had a day to myself, I usually wound up busy in some way or another, which meant I had been too busy to read the romance novel that Chrysalis and Yuri had recommended to me. They had apparently really liked it and were hoping that I would try it out too, and I was already hooked. However, I needed somewhere to stretch my legs after a few hours of reading, so I ultimately settled on sitting on the agency's common space while reading. It was a way for me to get out of my house, and I was certainly focusing much better now that I had gotten into the zone. With most of the agency busy, the air was silent and light, and that was exactly what I needed.
After consuming yet another page of content at rapid paces, I flicked to the next page, my eyes alight with excitement. The climax of the story was getting closer, and I was surprised with just how much I had fallen in love with it. No wonder Chrysalis and Yuri had enjoyed it so much. I just had to know how the story ended, and if that meant sitting there for the rest of the day, then so be it.
The silence was broken when Yuri let out a gasp and righted herself from where she sat on the couch. "No way," she murmured. Her expression contorted with intensity as she continued to scroll, her eyes narrowing all the while. Nobody else immediately responded to her though, instead focusing their attention elsewhere. I didn't look up either, too focused on my own reading to bother.
After a few more moments of silence, Yuri gasped again, louder this time. "No way!" she repeated. She glanced over to the rest of us, tapping her foot excitedly against the ground. "There was another murder, and it's all over the news."
Mr. Morix put down the case file he was reading through, a light frown on his face. "What happened?" he questioned. Chrysalis remained focused on her work, though I could tell that she was listening based on the way the gleam in her eyes shifted ever so slightly.
"It was at a private boarding school near the city," Yuri answered. "A teacher was found dead in one of the classrooms, and everybody is scrambling to figure out who did it. Apparently, the semester was just about to end, and he was killed on one of the last days off before the term was over."
"A private boarding school?" Mr. Morix echoed. "Is there anything else you can tell us about it? If there really is a case to be found here, it would help for us to hear as much as we possibly can."
"Hm... Apparently, it's a place where a bunch of talented and gifted young students live and take classes together. It's super advanced, and it's really hard to get in," Yuri replied. "It's called... Ashbrook Academy."
"Well, you all can have fun with that," Chrysalis announced as she pushed herself to her feet, leaving her case files where they were on the table. "If you want to take the case, go ahead. I think Pieter wanted to see me anyways." Before anybody had the chance to ask where she was going, she had already left. I looked up from my book briefly to watch her go before turning my attention back down to the story before me.
"What about the suspect?" Mr. Morix questioned, though something about his tone had shifted as well. "If it's really such an exclusive boarding school, then I imagine that there would have to be an ongoing investigation to figure out what happened, and that no doubt includes somebody for us to defend."
Yuri hummed before shrugging. "It says that somebody has been arrested, but nobody's willing to give out details yet," she remarked. "Something about the suspect not technically being an adult yet... I guess that we're going to have yet another kid to defend."
"Given this legal system, I'm hardly surprised," Mr. Morix muttered with a heavy sigh. "The fact that it's a boarding school should have tipped me off too. The older students are all probably getting ready to graduate and the like."
Yuri opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off by the sound of a phone buzzing. Mr. Morix winced apologetically before reaching his hand into his pocket and pulling his phone out. He answered it swiftly, pressing the device to his ear while holding up a finger to hold off Yuri's response a short while longer. "Hey, Sora... What do you need?" he asked. For a long time, he was quiet, but his expression shifted to shock before he had the chance to respond. "I see... In that case, we'll meet you there. I'll leave as soon as I can." He tucked his phone away soon afterwards, rising to his feet with a frown heavy on his features. "Yuri was right. We do have a case."
"What's going on?" Yuri asked. She had to crane her neck to look up at him, but she barely seemed to mind at all. "The call that you just got was related to the murder at that school, wasn't it?"
"As a matter of fact, it was," Mr. Morix confirmed with a stern nod. "Sora wants us to go down to the detention center and talk to her... It was Prosecutor Wood who was arrested for the crime."
"What was she doing at that school?" Yuri questioned, her expression shifting to surprise before she shrugged and shook her head. "I guess we can ask her that when we actually get down there... Alright. We might as well get going, though we should probably get somebody else with us. Chrysalis already said no, Deirdre's out today, Pieter and Victoria are reviewing case files, Sky said he had a headache, and Felicity's not here either. So that means..."
Yuri looked over to me slowly, and it took me about five seconds to shift my gaze to her over the top of my book before we met eyes. I blinked a few times, and I could tell that she was pleading with me in the silence. I sighed before letting my book fall down to my lap again. "It's my day off," I countered. "You said that you wanted me to check out this book, and I'm loving it. I don't know if I want to get up and take on another case when I'm supposed to have the day to myself. That's kind of what a day off means, Yuri."
"You don't have to come with us if you don't want to," Yuri pointed out, drawing out each word as deliberately as possible. "But we do need to do something to help our dear friend who has been arrested for murder... It wouldn't be right for us to just abandon her after all the years that we've been working together, would it?"
"You don't have to come with us, Lily," Mr. Morix assured me. "I'm sure that we would be able to convince one of the others to join us on this investigation. If you want to stay here-and I think you should since it's your day off-you're more than welcome to do so."
I thought about it for a long moment before glancing down to my book. As much as I wanted to keep reading it, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to go back to it after all that I had just heard. If Prosecutor Wood needed help, then I was going to have to do something to help her. If I stayed here, I was just going to spend the rest of my day regretting it, and that was the last thing I wanted. I could keep reading after the case was over. For the time being, other people needed me, and I wasn't going to be the one to shrivel away from the call to action.
"Alright," I agreed as I got to my feet. I put my bookmark down on the page that I had left off on before looking up to Mr. Morix and Yuri. "Let's go do this."
"I knew you would agree to it," Yuri grinned as she started off towards the door, Mr. Morix and I in hot pursuit all the while. "Before you know it, we'll have everything figured out, and we'll be ready to come right back here with a victory in our hearts and pockets. This is going to be great!"
I let out a small sigh that eventually turned into laughter as I shook my head and kept following Yuri. No matter the circumstances, she was just as chipper as ever, and I would have been lying if I said that I didn't find it charming.
May 3
Detention Center
3:30 PM
Lily Shield
Prosecutor Lin and Chief Prosecutor Bespoke were already there by the time that we arrived at the detention center. The former was pacing the length of the visitors' room with a heavy frown on her features while the latter sat in one of the chairs near the wall staring down at his hands. I could tell that he was lost in thought about all that was happening,
Prosecutor Wood hadn't yet arrived on the other side of the glass, but I was sure that she would be there soon enough. I did my best to not be too loud on the way into the room though, not wanting to stress out either one of her adoptive parents more than I absolutely had to. They were under more than enough pressure as it was because of what had already happened, and I wasn't about to do anything to make that any worse.
"Sora, Ghastly," Mr. Morix greeted carefully as he looked to them both. They glanced over to him at the sound of his voice, and Prosecutor Lin finally stopped pacing. "I'm sorry it took us so long to get here. Are we going to be able to talk to her soon?"
"Give it two minutes," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke answered. "I told the guards that I'm the chief prosecutor, and they're going to have her here soon enough... If they want to keep their jobs, that is." Something about him was intense in a way that I had never seen from him before, like a new fire had sparked behind his eyes. He was beyond enraged about how all of this had turned out, and he was making sure that everybody knew it.
"I hope that she can tell us about what's going on here," Yuri frowned. "I don't know what she was doing at a boarding school all the way out there, but that's already not going to be a great foundation for our case."
The door opened on the other side of the glass, and Prosecutor Wood shuffled out a moment later. Everything about her seemed anxious, but she was doing her best to hide it. She practically collapsed into the chair set out for her, rubbing at her eyes along the way. She had tried her best to hide it, but I could tell that she had been crying. As soon as she rubbed at her eyes from beneath her glasses, tears started to fall again, but she furiously swiped them away for the sake of saving face.
"Um... Thanks for coming," Prosecutor Wood said softly. She clearly wanted to continue, but she couldn't bring herself to, instead simply swallowing dryly and staring down at the table that spanned both sides of the glass.
"You don't need to thank us for anything," Prosecutor Lin countered. "We're here because we love you, and we're going to do everything we can to figure out what happened too. Could you tell us what's going on?" I could tell that she was just barely hiding her rage at the fact that Prosecutor Wood had been arrested, no doubt for the sake of keeping her calm. I hadn't seen Prosecutor Lin mad much before now, and I didn't want to see what she was like when she was upset either. Something told me that it would be absolutely terrifying.
Prosecutor Wood nodded slowly before sighing. "I was out at Ashbrook because I wanted to visit a few old friends who go there. I told you that before I left the house this morning," she began to explain, giving a brief glance to Prosecutor Lin and Chief Prosecutor Bespoke before continuing. "While I was there, I wound up deciding to look around a little bit since my friends have been getting ready for their graduation coming up soon. I was walking around the school, and... I found somebody dead in one of the computer labs. It was a teacher. I-I just froze, and I knocked something over, and... Somebody heard me, and as soon as others came into the room, they thought I was the killer and had me arrested."
"I see..." Mr. Morix murmured with a light nod. "Did you happen to see or hear anything suspicious at the time that you were there?"
Prosecutor Wood shook her head. "No... It was just the same old school as always," she replied. "Everything was fine, and I thought that it was just going to be a normal day. I guess I got a bit unlucky with all of that though... I stumbled into that disaster, and now, I'm here."
"It's alright," Prosecutor Lin assured her. "My brother is a very capable lawyer, and Yuri and Ms. Shield know what they're doing too. We're going to show that you didn't do it and have you out of there in no time. You don't need to worry at all." The smile that spread across her lips was incredibly motherly, and I couldn't help but feel reassured myself even though she hadn't been speaking to me to begin with.
"I-I know... It's just a lot to take in," Prosecutor Wood murmured. "I didn't think today was going to end this way. All I wanted was to see my friends before they left the school. It's been ages since I was last there, and... I guess I just..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, instead shaking her head and sighing as she looked down to the ground below.
"I don't get it," Yuri interjected with a light frown. "What do you have to do with this school at all? I thought that you lived around here for most of your life."
"I didn't come out here until I was about thirteen or so," Prosecutor Wood confessed. "Afterwards, I started studying to be a prosecutor. I used to attend classes at Ashbrook, and that's how I met all of my friends there. We were pretty close back in the day, but... I wound up leaving to come here and pursue a career in law. I-I know that I don't get to actually stand in court on my own yet, but... It's still something, and this is what I've wanted to do for a long time."
I couldn't say for sure what it was about her tone that told me we should drop the subject, but something about the look in Prosecutor Wood's eyes made me certain that we should get going. I turned to Yuri and Mr. Morix at that, a light frown on my face. "I guess it's time for us to go to this Ashbrook Academy and see what we can find there," I suggested.
"We're going to head back to the Prosecutor's Office to set ourselves up on the case," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke declared. "Nobody's been put on the job yet, and I'm not going to let just some random prosecutor take it over. As long as Niamh is involved, Sora and I will be handling things as much as we can."
"We'll see you later then... And if it's not later today, then tomorrow," Mr. Morix said with a conclusive nod. The chief prosecutor returned the gesture before leaving with Prosecutor Lin waving to her daughter before she trailed after him. Mr. Morix turned to me and Yuri again a moment later, his expression intense as could be. "Without further ado... Let's get to it."
May 3
Ashbrook Academy
4:15 PM
Lily Shield
The first thing that hit me when we arrived at Ashbrook Academy was just how massive it was.
The building towered high into the skies, and the surrounding space was covered with carefully planted flowerbeds that flourished in the spring sunlight. The academy itself was pristine and perfect, looking more like a castle of some kind than an actual school even though I knew better than to be sucked into that illusion. There were many students milling about in conversation, no doubt gossiping about the murder. In fact, the sight would have been perfect if not for the police officers that were speaking to one another throughout the grounds, and I couldn't help wincing at the sight. Just another day in paradise.
"We should probably try to find the witnesses so that we can hear what they know," Yuri remarked as she started towards the building. She paused after a few steps though, her eyes shifting into a nearby crowd. "Though it might be a good idea for us to talk to the detectives first."
I barely had the chance to register what Yuri was doing before she dashed off towards a familiar pair of figures. Detective Erikson was standing with Mukuro in the middle of the crowd, and both of them appeared to be deep in conversation. I could already guess what they were talking about without needing to ask. What else would be on their minds but the murder?
"Hey, you two," Yuri greeted with a smile. "Let me guess. You're the detectives working on this case, aren't you?"
"As a matter of fact, we are," Mukuro replied with a firm nod and a small frown. "I still don't like that this is happening at all though. Niamh wouldn't do this, and we all know it... But as long as we're here, I guess we're just going to have to prove that."
"Luckily, you can leave that to us," I beamed. "We're the defense team on this case, and it sounds like the chief prosecutor is going to be heading up the prosecution to make sure that there's no funny business going on."
"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest," Detective Erikson commented with a loose chuckle. "He's always been overprotective, and I didn't think that would change with time... But I don't think we have much time to talk. The trial is still happening tomorrow morning, and that means that we have to get on with the investigation."
"Tomorrow?" Yuri echoed, her eyes going wide. "We're just now getting started with the search for new information in the middle of the afternoon! It doesn't make any sense! We should at least have one extra day before we have to get ready for the trial to kick off, right?"
"Just because that's how it should be doesn't mean that's how it's going to actually be, unfortunately," Mukuro sighed. "But as long as this is the hand we've been dealt, we're going to have to roll with it. That being said... You guys want to hear about this case, don't you?"
I nodded. "Is there anything you'd be willing to tell us about the murder?" I questioned.
"For one, the victim was Ursa Thompson. She was a teacher here who had been at Ashbrook for quite a few years. She was found dead in one of the computer labs after being hit in the head," Detective Erikson replied. "The murder weapon in question appears to be a small speaker connected to some of the computers, and she died instantly from the blow. That's what we think right now, at the very least. The autopsy won't be finished for another day, so we're just going off what we think is the case for the time being."
"Yet another reason for the trial to be held off, but I suppose we can't help it now," Mr. Morix muttered. "Do you know of any motive that could have spurred on the murder?"
"Not really. She was just a teacher who looked after her students, that's all," Mukuro answered with a loose shrug. "She was apparently heavily involved with secretary work at the school too though. That wasn't always the case, but as far as I can tell, she wound up with that job over the last few years on top of teaching."
"Doesn't that seem a bit strange?" I questioned, letting one hand come up to cup my chin. "I mean, a teacher would probably have their hands full with teaching, and I don't see how she could have handled secretary work on top of her regular job as a teacher."
"As impressive as this school is, it seems to be a bit short staffed these days," Detective Erikson replied. "There are many great teachers who work here for incredible pay, but at the same time, there are more than a few open teaching positions... Some seem to believe that the school is cursed, and that's the reason that people don't want anything to do with it."
"That's ridiculous," I frowned. "I don't think a school could be cursed to the point that people don't want to work there. How bad could it really be? It's just a school, isn't it?"
"I mean, the agency is haunted too if Chrysalis is to be believed," Yuri pointed out. "Whether you find that to be the truth or not is up to you, but... Whatever, that's not the point. Why do people think this place is cursed?"
"There was some type of wild accident that took place with a few students around five years ago, but nobody seems to want to talk about it," Mukuro replied with a shrug. "It's going to be kind of hard to force the students to open up about it as far as I can tell, but I guess that doesn't matter much. The point is that all of these weird rumors meant that the victim was both a teacher and a secretary at the school since there weren't all that many people to fill in the secretarial work."
"Interesting..." Mr. Morix murmured. "There's no good motive for murder, and the victim seems to have just been yet another person. It makes you wonder just what could have caused this incident to begin with."
"Yeah, it does," Detective Erikson nodded. "Most of the people who live here are students. The students of Ashbrook live in dorms, and they've all been on campus as is to be expected. I don't know what could have happened when the victim was killed, but most of the people here are still under eighteen. As a matter of fact, so is Niamh, albeit only barely."
"That's why her name wasn't revealed on the news then," Yuri concluded. "She doesn't turn eighteen until next month, right? I guess that makes a lot of sense... Still, I don't get why she would have wanted the victim dead. She said before that she hasn't been back here in ages."
"She used to attend classes here, but we don't know much more than that," Detective Erikson remarked with a shrug. "She left to pursue a career as a prosecutor, but the details are a bit foggy beyond all of that. Either way, I suppose there's not much we can do to uncover the truth so far. There are a lot of students that need to be questioned today, and that means we're going to have a lot of information to sift through and very little time to do it."
"Bad idea to rush the trial this soon," I sighed to myself. "Do you think you could point us to the scene of the crime then? It might be a good idea for us to look around there and see what we can learn there. If you've got so much on your plate, then we shouldn't stick around here and drag you down any longer than we absolutely have to."
Detective Erikson nodded. "It's in the computer lab on the second floor. The dorms are in the east wing, so you're going to be heading to the classrooms in the west half of the school," he explained. "There are a few people who are supposed to be there too... Witnesses, that is. As far as our investigation has revealed, there were four people who met with Niamh earlier today, and the police gathered them in the area near the scene of the crime for the sake of easy questioning. We haven't been able to talk to them, but you might have a bit more luck."
"You've probably been too busy keeping all of this under control," Yuri commented as she gestured to the surrounding courtyard. "I don't know how anybody could find a way to keep the peace in a place like this. All of the students are freaking out because of the murder."
"The victim was a beloved teacher here, so many people are grieving her death," Mukuro frowned as she looked down to the ground below. "A lot of students even thought of her as a motherly figure of sorts... She did a lot for the students here, and her death is hitting everyone really hard."
"We're going to have to address the witnesses with care when we talk to them then," Mr. Morix concluded. "It's unfortunate that they're being put in a situation like this to begin with... I hope that we can find the truth as soon as possible and put their minds at ease."
"I'm hoping for that too," Detective Erikson agreed. "But we don't have all that much time to start preparing for the trial since it's still set for tomorrow, and I don't know if we would be able to hold it off. I'll try and contact Chief Prosecutor Bespoke to ask what he can do. If he really is the one in charge of this case, then he should be able to try and push things back at least a little bit. He hasn't been by the scene of the crime yet, and the clock is already ticking."
"But assuming that we can't get more time, we have to be ready," I finished for him, and he nodded his confirmation. I glanced back to Mr. Morix and Yuri at that. "Well, I guess we should get right into the thick of it. We don't have a moment to lose."
Both of them nodded their agreement as we started to weave through the crowds and get closer to the academy building itself. Hopefully, we would be able to ask somebody who was on guard duty where we could find the scene of the crime specifically. I didn't want to have to search through a place like this for any longer than we absolutely had to because of how big it was. Besides, that would only waste our time, and that was the last thing we could afford right now.
"I don't get it," Yuri muttered once we had arrived in the entrance hall of the school. She stared up at the ceiling before setting her attention on an impressive staircase leading up to the second floor. "Why would Prosecutor Wood want to leave a place like this? I mean, I get that she had a career and dream to go after, but... I don't get it. This is amazing, right? Surely coming to a school like this would make it a lot easier for her to further her career later on, right?"
"There has to be some reason," I said with a small frown. "I don't understand it either, but we can ask about that another time when the pressure isn't quite so intense."
"Every bright light has its dark shadows... And something tells me that this place has a lot more darkness than anybody wants to admit it," Mr. Morix murmured. He took the lead as we made our way up the stairs, and I fell in behind him. He was right; even if we didn't want to admit it, he had a point. Something about this school had to have been wrong for somebody to wind up dead this way.
We could only hope that whatever secret was lurking in the darkness wasn't going to destroy our case too much.
welcome to: important lore case
-Digital