AN: Hello guys! Hope you are all doing well! And I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!
Cranky Kong: For what Doom's shock animation as well as other expressions look like, I drew them and placed them on Photobucket. The link to those images can be found on my account page here. Hope that gives a clear picture for you and anyone else curious.
MadFox32: Oh, thank you so much! I'm glad you think I'm improving and I'm happy you are enjoying this story.
1234abcdcba4321: Thank you! I'm glad you find it interesting. As for how this story will be, it's anyone's guess at this point. I have an outline of what I want to happen, but I'm unsure of how many chapters it will take to execute it. I don't want to rush it- I've read many 'I've been inserted into this universe stories' that start and end far too quickly because of a lack of build up.
Tori Maya Potter: Thank you, glad you like it thus far! I'll be sure to keep writing haha ;)
OBSERVER01 : Glad you find it interesting, especially for your first AA fic you've read~
April 15th, 2:30 PM
Kum & Go
After leaving the courthouse, I hopped in my car and hit the nearest gas station to fix up my flattened tire I had got in my rush to get to court on time. I then drove back to terribly named supermarket. The number of police officers on scene had dwindled from yesterday, but there were still plenty around to investigate. Because of that, I figured Detective Gumshoe would be in here too. I wasn't in a rush to find him, though. I figured since this was a supermarket I should try to get something to eat first since my last meal consisted of Swiss rolls. I'd get nourishment before handling anymore drama. And speaking of drama, surprisingly Ray hadn't shown up yet, despite leaving the building at the same time as I did. However, it was probably for the best, the less time I spent with him, the better.
I hadn't noticed it before, but the store looked pretty nice, with it's white and green tiled floor and white walls. Well, it looked nice besides the cops roaming around everywhere. I looked up, viewing the color-coordinated signs hanging up dictating what isles the food was in, but that wasn't what I was looking for. I didn't want to eat stuff from a box—no, what I needed was hot food. It was then I eyed the glorious sight, a giant sign hanging on a wall towards the far left end of the store reading delicatessen. Amen. I dashed toward the end of the store and quickly scanned my options- there was a lot to choose from, but rather than be overwhelmed by my choices I made the quick decision to get some chicken wings. After getting half a pound of it, I grabbed a soda and stood in line for check out. I was expecting a simple procedure, to be in and out of line in no time, but of course it was my life, and it wasn't happening.
"You, whippersnapper!"
"GAH!" I jumped back into some candy bars located behind me. How the hell could I have gotten into this line without realizing who was at the register?
"You all ganged up on me in there! That was cruel and senseless! Back in my day law figures were far more mannered—"
OBJECTION!
"Don't point your fingers at me, whippersnapper! And there's no need to yell, I'd like to keep my hearing!"
"Urk…sorry." I said sheepishly adjusting my glasses.
(It really is a reflex…)
"It was your fault for not mentioning this guy in the first place!"
"I didn't think it was worth mentioning!" she fumed huffing and puffing.
"Well," I said passing her my chicken and soda. "It did turn out to be somewhat useful testimony by the end."
"Hmph, I knew it would be useful," she said scanning the barcodes on the items. "$13.65."
I opened up my wallet and passed her $20. "You can keep the change," I joked trying to lighten the mood.
"You know, the store could probably benefit from it. It's been having plenty of money problems as of late," she said opening up the register and counting.
"Really? But it seems like a nice well kept store…"
"You'd be surprised, a lot of money has been going missing from the registers. The store is losing its profit."
Oldbag handed back my money and I picked up my food beginning to leave the line. "But aren't there cameras or anything?"
"We do have cameras, but they haven't caught any suspicious behavior, so no one knows where the money's going." She waved her hand bemusedly.
(Hm, that's interesting.)
"Well, we'll get to the bottom of everything in court tomorrow." I said heading towards the exit to the store. "Thanks for the info."
"Oh, it's nothing. I may not have cared for that man, but he didn't deserve that." Oldbag said returning to cashiering.
(Now, to find a place to enjoy this food…)
"Ms. Doom, sir!" a loud voice called from behind.
I inhaled a sharp gasp of air. My heart had skipped a beat I was sure. I turned around to see where the voice came from, when I spotted a big man running down an isle and through a line of people to get to me. I didn't like yelling, and I certainly didn't like yelling when it broke me out of my train of thought and scared me shitless.
"Detective Gumshoe, use your inside voice, please."
He scratched the back of his head frowning a little bit. "Sorry, sir. I was just excited that you came back because we got him!"
"Oh, really? You mean you have the janitor in custody?"
"Yes, sir! After that testimony from today…" he sighed a heavy sigh. "It's not like we had any other choice."
(It seems that annoying witnesses make the police department's job harder as well.)
"Don't remind me," I said. "Where is our janitor being held?"
"Harry Butz is downstairs in the break room, sir. I bet he knows a thing or two about the murder!"
"I guess I'll be the judge of that," I said opening up my bottle of Pepsi, thank God name brands still existed. "Detective, before we start investigating I'm going to complete my lunch outside on the bench. Do you mind?"
"No, sir! Of course not!"
We walked out front through the automatic sliding doors. I picked the beat up bench closest to the door to have a seat on. The detective took a seat next to me.
"That's good, I have to wait for that annoying defense attorney anyway." I said ripping open my bag of chicken—God, the aroma was sickeningly sweet and so intoxicating. I started chowing down without hesitation.
"Huh? Why is that, Ms. Doom? I thought you guys hated each other," said Gumshoe.
"E fon't vant ro, tut wister edgeyvorth vants," I swallowed. "us to work together. It's a pain, but I don't want him mad at me."
"Ah, I know that feeling, Ms. Doom! It's never fun when Mr. Edgeworth's mad at me."
I nodded, eating my food noticing the lustful look of the detective. He couldn't keep his eyes off of my precious chicken. I thought about being an ass and just making him watch, but I reconsidered thinking about how he lived off of ramen noodles. Maybe the variety could be nice for him.
"You can quit staring at my food, and ask for a piece, you know."
"Ah! But Ms. Doom, sir! I couldn't…"
"Detective, just take the rest," I said shoving the bag in his face.
He scratched the back of his head and received the bag. "W-well, if you insist, sir! Thank you!" he said reaching in and pulling out what chicken wings were left.
"Wow! These are amazing, sir!" he said after attacking three wings.
"Yeah, isn't it? I'm surprised at the quality, it's pleasantly surprising though."
"I don't think it's surprising as watching someone like you eat like that…"
I looked up. Detective Gumshoe and I were so distracted that we didn't mark the arrival of Ray, who seemed a bit, grossed out by the display. I tended to eat like a slob when I was hungry, but I guess it must be weird considering prosecutors tended to be the more high class ones around here. And to be sharing with Gumshoe, whose eating manners were just as bad…yeah this must have been a sight for sore eyes.
"Ah! It's you!" exclaimed Gumshoe.
"Fancy meeting you here, we were finishing lunch before proceeding with the next investigation." I said.
"I can see that," Ray said hands up.
Gumshoe finished the rest of the food and tossed it in a trash bin near by. I took a swig of my soda. I supposed now it was time to get started. I stood up brushing away the crumbs that had landed on my lap.
"Let's get going then."
This time myself, Gumshoe and Ray entered the store together as a sort of unit. We decided to head down stairs into the break room area first.
April 15th, 2:45 PM
Break Room
The break room remained as dingy as it was yesterday, with not much changed except for the appearance of police keeping an eye on the one and only Larry Butz. Larry was in uniform like everyone else, with the minor exception of a very long green smock and yellow rubber gloves. He was pretty lean and tall. I wasn't sure how he somehow managed to have that gravity defying hair. Not to mention, he had that signature goatee going on. Ayup, I was looking at Larry Butz in the flesh. I had to admit, ignoring his ridiculous behavior and actions, he was a pretty cute guy in person. It was just too bad I knew we were all going to want to murder him the second we got to questioning him.
"So, that's our janitor." I commented blankly. "Mind if I question him myself, officers?"
The two cops watching Larry nodded and saluted at me, moving out of my way.
"Aww, I don't want to be questioned any longer—" he stopped upon eye contact with me. Not surprisingly, his voice and manner reminded me of Bill and Ted from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. He tilted his head and did that cocky smirk. "Why hello. Who might you be?"
I felt a warming sensation rising in my cheeks. Help.
"A-ahem. I'm Lyn Doom, a prosecutor. I came to question you about the murder," I said doing my best to ignoring the flirtatiousness.
"Heh. Heh. Heh. Anything for you, Ms. Doom," he said tilting his head with a mischievous glint in his eye.
(Oh God.)
"Oh, I remember you. You're one of Miles' friends…"
"Huh, oh yeah," Larry said scratching his head tongue sticking out. "You're that hat dude."
"You shouldn't make it a habit to show up on murder scenes, it's normally a bad sign," Ray shrugged.
"HEY! It's not my fault! It's like, things follow me, wherever I go! It's never my fault! I'm just a man bound by the dangly wires of fate!" Larry said eyes bulging with his fists clenched.
(I think those are strings. Specifically red ones if I recall. And isn't that for relationships?)
"Mr. Edgeworth, sure has weird friends," remarked Gumshoe.
"I wished he picked them better myself sometimes," I sighed.
"Huh? You know Edgey too, Lyny?"
(Aaaaaaaand I already have a nickname.)
"He's my mentor, so yes we are acquainted."
"What? He never mentioned that before! He's been holding out on me! Dammit! Him and Nick always steal all the cute girls! Maybe I should start doing this lawyer thing…"
"Hm? Uncle Ray never thought of using his job like that before, that's an idea…" he said thoughtfully clapping his hands.
(Oh, not you too! Lord forbid these two ever go out for drinks together.)
"Um," I was trying to get the terrible idea of those two playing wingmen together out of my mind. "ANYWAY, Let's talk about the murder."
"Oh, that." He began looking up towards the ceiling, folding his, thinking back. "I mean I don't know much about it. I've just been cleaning the whole time."
I snorted. "Do you think we're going to buy this?"
"Yeah, pal! Why isn't your name on the sign in sheet?"
"S-sign in sheet?" Larry started to sweat.
"You didn't know about it?" I asked.
"Well, um, my shift starts pretty early so I didn't know abut that…" he said unconvincingly.
"You expect us to believe that?" Ray said with his arms extended smirking. "Come on, now."
"Yes, I agree. It sounds like a load of bullcrap if you ask me."
"W-Well it's the truth! And that's how it happened!"
(It's clear he's lying, but I wonder why…? His name isn't on that sheet and he was here. There's no way he's the murderer…so why lie?)
Ray and Gumshoe were saying some more things to Larry, but I wasn't listening. I had been trying to come up with plausible ideas as to why Larry would lie when I noticed something odd. As I squinted at the man, I saw that his neck was red and splotchy as though someone had grabbed it.
"Larry," I began. "I notice you have some marks on your neck, care to explain where they came from?"
Larry jumped and began sweating again. "Uh, well, it's a private thing, you know? You don't have to be jealous, Lyny. You're cute, I'm sure you'll find a date!"
I recoiled. That was not the answer I had anticipated. Again, my face was feeling very, very warm. "W-what?! I-I have no issue with getting a date!"
"Yeah! Ms. Doom turns down everyone because she's holding out for something good! Mainly, Mr. Edgeworth!" grinned Gumshoe.
"Detective Gumshoe!" I snapped, increasingly growing more and more embarrassed by the second.
Gumshoe frowned and bowed his head slightly. "Sorry sir, it's just that a while ago you said-"
Did other me have a crush on Edgeworth? Even if I did, would I really confide in Gumshoe? I sincerely doubt it. SINCERELY.
"...We'll discuss this matter later. We're getting off topic." I coughed and turned back to Larry. I noticed Ray smirking at my awkwardness, the bastard. "That mark is not a result of, um, a date. You wouldn't hide it and try to explain it away otherwise. I believe you were in a fight."
"A fight? He doesn't look like he'd last very long in one of those," shrugged Ray.
"A very one sided fight, " I said smirking.
"Well, you don't have any proof! I know how this lawyer thing works! Court is made of evidence, you know!"
I repressed a laugh. Larry's backward speaking was even better in person. "Hm, I won't deny that."
(This is typical- Larry hiding a stupid mistake, thus impeding the investigation. I don't have any clues, nothing besides a hunch. I don't want to waste time, especially when I know he has the info I'd need. Perhaps I can trick him into giving me what I want. Though my option is one that is dismal and one I don't wanna do. But... )
"Um, well, Larry. Y-You seem like, quite the reliable man. I like those. I was thinking, that if you helped me out we could..." I felt my soul breaking, wondering if I could even complete this sentence. "...go out for a drink sometime."
(Goodbye dignity. I didn't think it could get worse after seeing my car, but this is a new low.)
At this notion Larry's froze and started to sweat. "Woah, like a date? With me?"
I felt every fiber of my being screaming no. Even if I didn't keep this promise, I just couldn't imagine how going on a d word with Larry would even play out. And I simply didn't want to think of it. I cringed. "Yes. But only if you give me the facts. Everything. The faster we get it done, the sooner...that can happen."
"Well, I…" he paused for a very long time staring up at the ceiling clearly in thought. "I got into an argument a few days ago. Cynthia kept trying to explain to her boyfriend that they were done! But he wouldn't listen and came after me! I had a bad black eye so I couldn't exactly show up to work like that…so I like…skipped for a few days."
"Wow. That's pretty irresponsible."
"And they got back together the next day too!" Larry said fuming. "We were great together, really! We would have made hot kids—"
"But it still doesn't explain how you didn't know about the sheet," said Ray.
"Oh, uh, well. I used the back entrance to the store to sneak in. I didn't want the boss to yell at me. He gets pretty mad. So I snuck in and checked in work without being seen. Heh. Heh."
"What? But that doesn't make sense, pal. The machine is broken, the manager said so himself."
"Huh? That's weird because it worked pretty well when I used it." Larry said scratching his head.
"What?!"
"If that's the case…then that manager was lying. The prints on that machine must belong to you," said Ray looking serious.
"Detective Gumshoe," I turned to him.
"I'm on it, sir! I'll get the lab boys to check the prints!" Gumshoe said running off through the giant swinging doors.
"Mr. Shields, I hope you aren't going to assert that if those prints are his that he's the true culprit."
"Worried about your case, Ms. Doomsday?"
"As if. I just want to point out that this man is totally incapable of committing murder—just look at him."
"I take that point," Ray paused. "But it's still suspicious and I know Charlie didn't do it."
"Fair enough." I conceded.
"I didn't do anything, I swear! It's just like she said, I could never do that type of thing! " Larry said giving a thumbs up sweating profusely.
"What time did you enter the room to check in? And did you see the crime scene? Anything suspicious?" I asked.
"Uh, around 1 AM yesterday morning. I didn't see anything in the room when I went in."
(Well, that makes sense, the murder didn't happen until later.)
"I didn't notice anything, it was normal. Except for some yelling."
"Yelling?" Ray and I perked up.
"Yeah, it was coming from the boss' room. "
"Is that right?"
"Yeah! He was angrier than normal. I figured he was firing someone or something because of it, but I couldn't make out what was said. I kinda had to make a run for it."
"Run for it?" Ray asked.
"Ah, yeah. I made a teensy weensy itty bitty mistake." He tried to shake it off nonchalantly.
"And what was this little mistake?"
"Heh, heh, heh. That's for me to know and for you to never find out!" Larry said folding his arms smirking.
"Didn't we agree that you tell me everything?" I said repressing a growl.
"B-but, Lyny! It's too embarrassing to share! It would ruin your impression of me!"
(I already have a bad impression of you, Larry. It is far too late for that. But no matter, we'll figure out what you're hiding. You are pretty transparent after all.)
I sighed. I had hoped the bribe would be enough, but it would be too easy. Larry was an impossible person. I knew that I would have to find evidence now and rip him to shreds with it.
Before we could probe around for anymore facts, Detective Gumshoe reentered the room rushing in.
"Ms. Doom! I had forensics compare prints and they belong to him," he said excitedly. "The machine was checked and it is working fine!"
"Thank you, detective."
"Oh, and it's confirmed that Harry signed in at 1:07 AM, here's print out of the log."
Gumshoe handed me the paper. It was as he said, those prints were a complete match to Larry's as the log noted the time of punch in for him. I passed it to Ray so he wouldn't have a fit, took it back and put it away in my pocket.
"Well, I think this means our manager is now a suspicious character too," Ray clapped.
"Perhaps, it is time to pay him a visit," I said.
Without further ado, the three of us sauntered off down the hall way, making a left in front of the manger's office door which was closed. Gumshoe did the honors of knocking a couple of times before the portly manager flung the door open in a hurry.
"What is it?" he barely breathed out. "I hope this won't take very long, I am a very busy man as you can see."
"Uh," I forgot what I was planning on saying as it was the first time I've ever seen this guy's office up close. The lights were turned off, the only light in the room was illuminating from some a few long candles sitting on what was assumed to be his work desk. The desk was cluttered with papers, phone, computer, and fax machine. Squinting I could see some pictures hanging on the wall above some filing cabinets, couldn't see what or who they were of though.
"We came to ask about the sign up sheet, as it seems that the punch in machine was actually working. I think that was contrary to what you said, right?" asked Ray, hands in pockets. I could feel the smugness emanating from his entire being. And, well, I couldn't exactly blame him.
Mr. Johnson jumped up, his stomach bouncing like a bowl of jelly.
"W-what? I-it was definitely broken when I checked it!" he said sweating profusely.
"Well, one of your employees managed to punch in through that method. Mr. Butz, specifically." I said.
"Well, it was a mistake! It was broken! That idiot... Maybe it just fixed itself. But it was broken before, that's why I had the sign up sheet on my the door to my office."
I wasn't sure if I bought that explanation, but we didn't have much to suggest otherwise, so I figured it would be best to drop that subject for now.
"Uh, hey pal, why is it so dark in here?"
"Hmph. I'm a very busy man, you know. I don't really have time for these stupid questions! Any idiot could see why." Johnson said folding his arms impatiently.
"I have to agree with him for once and ask why as well. Why a man would sit in a dark room with candles as opposed to a light switch is something I question as well," shrugged Ray.
I nodded in agreement. Johnson sighed defeated.
"Alright, because you clearly are too unrefined to understand, I will quickly explain it and then you will leave me alone. Got it? Good. Now, I have a sensitivity to very bright light, hurts my eyes. I like to stay in dark places with limited light, not only because of that reason, but because it reminds me of the olden days before all of this... new fangled technology. Candles are beautiful. More pretty than a light switch will ever be! It's why I even went as far to make my own line of Johnson candles!"
(Seems a bit dangerous with all those papers sprawled out on the desk and everywhere else in this room if you ask me.)
"Is...that right?"
"Yeah! It is right! Here take one of these!"
He gave each of us a candle unlighted from their holders- one blue for Ray, violet for me, and green for Gumshoe.
"One of a kind! And I'm giving it to you for free! They're all different fragrances, because a busy person should take the time out to enjoy his olfactory senses! Blue for blueberry, violet for lavender, and green for mint!"
We stood there dumbfounded. This was man devoted to his craft it seemed.
"Uh, thank you."
"Thanks, pal. I can use it if I can't pay the electricity bill on time!"
"Thanks," grinned Ray.
"Now, then you all need to lea-" Johnson was interrupted by a loud bang and crashing sound from down the hall in the break room.
"What the hell was that? It was probably that moron again!" Forgetting about us, Johnson bolted out of the room as fast as his stumpy legs could carry him.
Gumshoe raised his eyebrows up and down. "I wonder what that was."
"Don't know, but it doesn't matter right now, detective."
"Huh? Shouldn't we check it out?"
"Ms. Doomsday is saying we need to snoop around before he comes back, isn't that right?"
"Yes."
"Heh, showing off your dirty methods." he smirked shrugging his shoulders. "Well, I won't say I'm not curious about what it's in here. Let's see..."
I rolled my eyes. He began looking at the computer screen on the desk. Gumshoe was about to start looking, but I recommended he stay on the look out and give a signal if Johnson was coming back. I was worried he might knock something over, mainly one of those candles in here. I started peering through the papers on the desk- nothing but boring store related documents. Ray hadn't found anything of interest on the computer, nothing besides things he seemed somewhat embarrassed to mention, so I didn't press further. He moved on to the filing cabinets opening the drawers and looking through files. I walked away from the desk, but stopped in my tracks. It was so dark in the room I had failed to observe the waste bin under the desk. Didn't really feel like it, but I pulled it from under the desk and started digging through the trash. Wrappers, plastic, empty bottles...
(Hm? What's this paper?)
I opened the crumbled piece of paper:
Dear Woody,
I know we'll meet again soon enough. I'll be waiting.
Your beloved, Viola.
I cringed. I found an envelope underneath the paper, which seemed irrelevant until I saw how it read "Tender Lender". Then I knew for sure, Johnson needed money and was trying to get it for Tender Lender. The question was how did this play in with the murder? I knew whenever Tender Lender popped in these cases, someone committed a murder because of their need for cash. But why would Booke have to die? I didn't know that part yet. I turned around slightly to view Ray- he was still buried in that filing cabinet. I considered showing him what I found, but I wanted an edge in court tomorrow. Tomorrow would be the last day, I was certain, and despite what Edgeworth wanted, Ray was still my opponent in court. We'd work together, but not closely. Even if his client was innocent he wouldn't be getting off the hook so easily. I wanted to resolve everything on my terms.
Tender Lender notice hastily shoved into pocket.
I sat the waste basket back under the desk and stood up.
"Didja find anything interesting that you wanna show to, Uncle Ray?"
I shook my head. "Nope, nothing of interest. You find anything?"
"Nothing on my end," he said shoving his hands back into his pockets.
"Darned, I guess we might as well get out of here, then."
Ray nodded. "I wonder where he ran off to? Though, more like waddled off is a better way of saying it..."
It would be a good idea to see where he went. Nothing else to do, unless we wanted to try to figure out what Larry was hiding again. We walked out of the office. Gumshoe hadn't seen anyone coming, but just heard lots of noise from the break room. Together the three of us returned.
April 15th, 3:54 PM
Break Room
The room was in chaos. The police officers on the scene were trying to help clean, what appeared to be a large spill on the floor. It was one of the most disgusting and foul stenches I've ever smelled. It reminded of the streets of New York in the summer, not a place you'd really want to be in because over the over powering odor. It'd have been really great to use one of Johnson's candle scents here.
Of course, Larry was right there in the middle of the confusion with his mop and bucket being yelled at by Mr. Johnson.
"Larry! How the hell did this happen?! You'd better clean this up! This is stinkin' up not only this floor, but the elevator to where customers go! First you're spilling products everywhere and now this? I don't have time for your nonsense today, now fix it or you're fired!"
Larry was sweating. "A-alright, dude! Chill out! But I mean it! It wasn't me this time! I don't know why that pipe burst like it did!"
"I don't care, just clean it up now!" Johnson said hobbling off through the sewer like water.
"So, what happened here, pal? It reeks."
"Like, I seriously don't know! He already yelled at me for not using that sign in sheet, then this happens. I went to dump this mop water in the bathroom and the next thing I see is water rising and filling up this room. I checked one of the pipes in the next room behind those doors and I saw it was busted. I did my best to seal it up, now I have to clean this..."
"That sucks," I said holding my nose. "Oh, wait. What did he mean by 'spilling products everywhere'?"
Larry froze for a moment and once again began sweating, mouth twitching as he spoke. "I-It's nothing, really, you don't need to worry about, Lyny. You should just go back and leave, it really does smell bad..."
"Hey, pal don't change the subject! We know what you're trying to do!"
"Hmm...I wonder if this is what you meant by the mistake from early?" Ray shrugged raising his eyebrows.
"Y-You! You have no proof! Nada! Zero! Cero! Zilch! You can't prove at thing!"
"So, I'm right. Don't worry, I don't do anything without proof. I'll go find it right now." Ray cooly, or as cooly as one could in stinking water walked into the next room through the swinging doors.
I told Gumshoe we should go on and follow him as there was no use in staying in a smelly room with Larry. I guessed he was true to the phrase, 'If something smells, it's usually the Butz'. Out of the room, the smell lessened, but it was still prevalent. We spotted the defense attorney snooping around dollies across the hallway from the other huge swinging doors leading into the food preparation rooms.
"So...Mr. Lawyerpants did you find anything?" I decided to come up with a stupid nickname as well.
"Mr. Lawyerpants?"
"Did you find anything or what? I hate repeating myself."
"Well, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, princess," he said hands raised. "I did find some sugar in a trail and I'm trying to find where it leads back to."
"Huh, but it's a trail. That should be easy." said Gumshoe scratching his head.
"I think our janitor tried to hide his mistake, there are multiple trails," he said pointing to 6 different lines of sugar leading in different directions.
I suggested we split up try to find the source of the sugar trail. After a few minutes of searching, Gumshoe discovered what we had been looking for. A giant supply of sugar bags, ripped and torn open, grains of sugar sitting all over the floor in a massive pile. It was cleverly hidden behind some boxes of cereal with the hopes that no one would find them. Unfortunately for Larry, we did. After discovering the mess, we all returned to the break room still being cleaned by Larry. The other people helping him had bailed.
"Well, you failed, Larry."
"Lyny! That's so harsh!" he said waterfall tears streaming down his face.
"You tried to hide your mistake, but we found it. How could you be so careless to damage that many goods? No wonder, Johnson's pissed with you!"
"B-but! It was an accident! I didn't mean to!"
"But you did mean to hide it. There were plenty of trails of sugar in that hallway." said Ray.
"Huh? Trails? I didn't make trails. I tried to sweep it up into a big pile and push it under something. Shouldn't be a trail." Larry said scratching his head.
"But if you didn't make the trails, who did?" asked Gumshoe.
"Iunno. But it wasn't me! You got my word! All I did was crash into the sugar stock, which made it all fall over and spill everywhere. Then I tried to clean it up! But sugar's a strong opponent to beat! So I tried to hide it. You can say it! I'm a terrible person! I reek of failure! The world has never seen something screw up this bad!"
"If you just owned up to your errors instead hiding them, we wouldn't be here right now! Get it together, man!" I sighed. "But somehow your carelessness has provided new information..."
"R-really?!"
"Uh, yeah."
"Then I'll see you, Saturday night! Drinks on me!" Larry said giving me a thumbs up.
I cringed. I had almost forgotten that terrible deal I had made. No words would come out to respond to that statement, so I mustered a very weak nod.
"Well, I guess that covers it for me today." Ray said pressing his hat down on his head.
"Huh? Are you leaving?" asked Gumshoe.
"I think I found what I needed. Enough anyway. I need to get to the detention center to see Charlie before visiting hours are up. I guess I'll be seeing you in court tomorrow, Ms. Doomsday."
"Likewise, Mr. Lawyerpants." I said arms folded.
With that he strolled out just as cooly as he entered. Good, I was glad he was gone. Yet, watching him go made me really want to leave too. I was tired of investigating this stupid store. My plan would be to stay a little longer, go home, determine my new strategy based on the evidence we gathered today, and then get some rest.
I decided that we should leave Larry to clean up the mess in the room and head upstairs to the store floor. Most of the workers had been questioned by the police already and we didn't need to bother with Oldbag again. I thought by looking at some aisles we may find some new clues, so Gumshoe and I searched for about 20 minutes until I said fuck it. We walked to the front of the store nearby the service desk and were about to leave for the day when a man stopped us.
"Um, pardon me, but are you officers?" he asked in a quiet, gentle voice. He was a tall slender man, with soft green eyes and long wavy brown hair. He was wearing white shirt with a green tie and gray pants. His overall appearance was neat and tidy, something you'd see out of a Sears catalogue.
"I'm the lead detective on this case, Dick Gumshoe, sir."
"And I'm Lyn Doom, prosecutor for this case. If you don't me asking, who exactly are you?"
"Ah, how rude of me. I'm Joseph Inkos, though everyone calls me Jo Jo here haha."
(So, this is the elusive Inkos.)
"I just wanted to know how much longer the investigation would take. I was called over to another branch of the store after I came in, so I missed most of the happenings the other day. It's a terrible thing that's happened to Reed and it's worse that Charlie is taking the fall for it. Why would something like this happen here?" he frowned.
"You don't think Mr. Mann is the culprit?"
"Appearances can be deceiving, Ms. Doom. Charlie looks like a scary, intimidating person, but he has a very kind heart. He's made some bad decisions in his past, but he's making up for them now and it's a shame that this has happened to him. He must be worried sick about his daughter."
"Wait, that guy, has a daughter?"
"Oh, you didn't know? Charlie has a 5 year old daughter. Her name's Destiny, she's quite cute. Right now, his sister is looking after her until these matters are resolved."
"Well, everything will be cleared up in court tomorrow. And speaking of that, would you happen to know anything about the blackmailing Mr. Booke was allegedly doing to Mr. Mann?"
Inkos frowned and shook his head. "I don't know the details about that, but it must be something to really stop Charlie from talking about it. I've tried to question him myself about it, but he just tells me not to worry about it and to mind my own business."
"I see..." This was a pain in the butt. I seriously wanted the answers now.
"Sir, why not show him that piece of evidence from before. You know, the journal thing!" said Gumshoe.
"Oh! You're right. Good thinking, detective." I pulled out the little planner from my vest pockets. "This was Booke's daily planner. It had plans on meeting with you yesterday, but of course that never happened."
"Oh, my. Really? What could he have wanted?" mused Inkos. "We never really spoke much- he'd take most of his issues to Woody. I'm only the assistant manager after all. Reed and Woody were practically inseparable, on good terms, so I don't know why he'd want to see me if he could just talk to him."
"Hm, that's curious then."
I folded my arms and closed my eyes. I wasn't really suspicious of Mann anymore, and was onto Johnson, but there were still facts missing.
"I just hope that everything will turn out okay. Customers are afraid to come here now and we're losing even more business than we were before this incident took place," he sighed.
"Is that about the money? I heard that money's been going missing."
"Ah, yes, you are correct. I guess word gets out sooner or later. For the past 3 months, when we'd check for the amounts of money in registers, a sizable portion is missing, at least a 1/3 of what we earn vanishes. We've been looking into the matter trying to determine who is the thief among us, but we haven't turned up any answers. We've checked tapes, but we haven't come across any suspicious behavior."
"Hm, that's a problem. Actually, would you mind if we got to see these tapes from the past couple of days? I know the police checked it once, but I'd like to go through them again to see if there was anything we missed."
"Oh, of course. Anything that could help you. I really want to see this case be solved and for this store to flourish like it used to. Come with me. We need to head back to the security room to review tapes."
Gumshoe and I nodded and followed the assistant manager through a door next to the service desk. The back was smaller than I had expected, but it had four monitors with different areas of the store located on each screen. There was a control pad for pausing, playing, rewinding and forwarding. Inkos took a seat and began to flip through the tapes of the day of crime. Unfortunately, nothing jumped out to anyone as odd or out of place. Nothing besides people entering and coming to work, stocking things and working at registers. It wasn't what I had hoped for, but I took a copy of the tape to try to review again later.
We thanked Inkos and left the security room and store after that, Gumshoe to precinct and I to my apartment. Inkos said he'd be watching the trial to see the results. I wondered what results he was expecting, because even if Charlie Mann was innocent, this trial was going to be an uphill battle. And by uphill battle, it was not going to make any sense leaving my mind in shattered pieces because of the sheer insanity I knew I'd be walking into. But it's not like I really had a choice in the matter, did I?
Profiles:
Maya Fey: Age 19. It looks like we're good friends based on what I know.
Miles Edgeworth: Age 26. My mentor? Likes giving me lectures. It seems we're on good terms.
Detective Gumshoe: Age 33. Lead detective on this case. Help me.
Reed Booke: Age 45. The victim in this case. Deli employee. Sounds like a jerk.
Charlie Mann: Age 30. Butcher. Suspect in this case. Found fleeing the crime scene. Really strange.
Woody Johnson: Age 51. Store manager. First one to discover the body. Likes to sit in the dark...
Larry Butz: Age 25. Janitor. This guy is insane, how does he even exist?
Jo Jo Inkos: Age 35. Assistant manager. Very kind seems genuinely concerned about what's happening.
Raymond Shields: Age 35. The sassy defense attorney I'll be facing in court. Fuck.
Wendy Oldbag: Age ?. Cashier. (Unfortunately) a witness.
Judge: Age ?. Old timer judge. No one know his real name.
Evidence:
Fingerprint time clock: Was said to be broken since sometime early this morning, but was used. Mysterious prints belong to Larry.
Sign in sheet: List of names and times people came in/out for work.
Bloody name tag: Suspect's name is on it.
Planner: List of Booke's day to day chores.
Autopsy report: Time of death estimated between the hours of 8:00 AM to 11: 00 AM. Cause of death blunt force trauma to the head. Death was not immediate. Puncture wounds occurred after death.
Fingerprint analysis: One set of prints belong to Mann, other prints are Larry's.
Blood results: Victim's blood found on the time clock.
Meat Cleaver: Blade is clean, but handle is covered in blood.
Kum & Go building plans: Map outline of the building.
Candle: "Special" candle Mr. Johnson made.
Sugar spill: Mess Larry made due to clumsiness. Different trails of sugar moving in different directions.
Tender Lender Notice: Asking for money, found in Johnson's waste basket.
Security camera footage: From day of the murder and earlier, but nothing odd appears on them.