April 12

Umber Manor

12:00 PM

Lily Shield

When we arrived at the crime scene, I was overwhelmed with emotion, and the best word I could use to describe how I was feeling was shocked.

I knew that Deirdre told us this place was big. She said as much when we were visiting her at the detention center. However, she didn't come anywhere close to telling us just how big this place was, and all I could do was stare up at it in shock from the outside once we arrived. I knew that we would have to head inside eventually, but until that time came, I was content with just staring at it in awe.

Felicity and Sky seemed to be just as surprised as I was. "It looks like the victim was richer than we thought," Felicity whispered. She took the first step toward the building and gestured for me and Sky to follow after her, something I did without objecting. If the outside of the manor was this incredible, the inside had to be even better.

Felicity opened the door for us, and I nodded my thanks to her as we stepped inside. A gasp left my room as soon as I saw how huge the place was. Was it somehow bigger on the inside? It certainly looked that way. The entryway alone seemed to stretch up to the sky, and when I sighed in wonder, the sound echoed before coming back to my ears. Judging by the wide eyes Sky and Felicity had on their faces, they were just as surprised as I was.

Sky was the first one to snap out of his trance when he saw an officer walking by. He gestured for us to follow his lead as he walked up to the police force member. "Excuse me... We're here to investigate the case. We're defense attorneys," he began to explain, fidgeting with his badge as he spoke.

"We would like to know where the crime scene is located," I said next, seeing that Sky was starting to get nervous.

The police officer examined us with an eye of judgement before pointing down the hallway that he had just come from. He continued to glare at us as we walked past, and I resisted he urge to roll my eyes. The last thing we needed was for someone to get mad at us when we had just arrived at the scene of the crime, so I held back, but I got the feeling that Felicity and Sky were able to sense exactly what my sarcastic brain was thinking.

I followed the directions of the officer and led Felicity and Sky to the area where the crime took place. I could hear distant chatter, and I knew that we were getting closer. I strained my ears to try and pick up some familiar voices above the general noise, but I found that I was unable to make out any specific words in the din, and I gave up on trying to find out more information until we got there.

An open door rested at the end of the hallway, and I looked to Felicity and Sky before walking inside. Just like the entryway, this room was huge. I could tell how rich the victim was just at a first glance, and I found my jaw dropping. I felt oddly underdressed despite wearing what I did to work every single day, something that was fancy enough as it was. I bit my lip as I glanced around, trying to take in all the details that I could about the scene of the crime before I was forced to address the elephant in the room. However, I found myself unable to avoid it, and I let out a small sigh before letting my gaze drop to the body.

Surprisingly enough, it was still there, but there was an outline of tape around it as well. The victim was a middle-aged woman with short hair, and she had been stabbed once in the chest. There was blood all over the ground around her, and I cringed at the sight of crimson staining the lovely decorations of the room. I felt immediate sympathy for her, even if I had never met her before, and decided internally that I was going to figure out a way to find out who the culprit was. They weren't going to be getting away with such a horrific crime so long as I was on the job, and that was a promise.

"You must be the defense on this case."

I turned upon hearing a voice over my shoulder. I found myself gasping when I saw a pair of familiar figures. "Ah, hello!" I exclaimed. Aidan Hayes and Mukuro Erikson looked back at me, and relief flooded my body at the realization that we weren't going to be dealing with the case on our own. We were going to be able to ally ourselves with the detectives. Thank goodness.

"Hey!" Mukuro grinned, waving excessively. "I suppose it was just a matter of time before somebody from your agency showed up... But I do have to wonder... Who are these two?"

I looked over to Felicity and Sky. "Ah, they're new lawyers. They're pretty new to the group, so it doesn't surprise me that you weren't aware. In fact, I wasn't aware of such up until earlier today," I explained. "Meet Felicity and Sky Amaya. They're helping me out with this case, and I'm going to show them how we handle things at Morix Law Offices."

"That's nice," Mukuro smiled. "I'm going to be working on this case alongside Aidan here. Detective Wattson decided that it was time we work on a case together, and while my dad was a bit unsure at first, he eventually gave into it. Plus, we're going to be able to cooperate with the prosecution on this one..."

"You just got here, so I guess you don't know who the prosecutors are on this case..." Detective Hayes murmured, fidgeting nervously on the spot. "I shouldn't be too surprised by that, but... Let's just say that this case is causing a bit of an uproar."

"What sort of uproar?" Sky questioned, nervousness appearing in his eyes. He began glancing around the room to try and figure out who the prosecutors were on this case, but I could tell that he wasn't finding much success.

"The chief prosecutor is involved with this case," Mukuro explained.

A gasp left my lips. "Are you serious? Chief Prosecutor Bespoke is working on this case?" I asked, unable to hold back my shock.

Detective Hayes nodded. "Yeah, it's him, Prosecutor Vito Cruz, and another prosecutor I don't think you know... He's the victim's son, Anthony Umber," he replied. "While she was alive, the victim was a pretty important figure down at the Prosecutor's Office. She was working there for quite a while up until her death, and her suddenly being murdered has caused a huge stir."

"I can see why..." Felicity murmured, playing with the edge of her hair with a small frown. "I didn't expect the chief prosecutor to be involved with this case though. You would think that he has better things to do, but I suppose that something like this is a bit of a big deal. He would want to find out the truth if one of his star prosecutors suddenly was killed under suspicious circumstances..."

"But he can't really think Deirdre did it," I cut in with a deep frown. "He knows Deirdre. He's been working with her on cases for ages now, ever since she joined our agency. He can't possibly be convinced that she was the one who committed this crime."

"I don't think he is either... He seems more focused on finding the truth. The arrest had already been carried out by the time that he arrived here at the scene of the crime, so he didn't really have much of a say in it. It was another case of people jumping to conclusions, but... In this situation, it's somewhat special," Mukuro began to explain. "I don't really know how else to describe it for now, but you'll know exactly what I'm talking about as soon as you get the chance to dig deeper."

"Why don't you tell us all that you know about the case from start to end? We can use all the information that you could possibly share with us, so you don't need to hold back at all," Sky said, finally seeming to calm down from the initial anxiety of being forced onto the crime scene.

Detective Hayes shared a small glance with Mukuro before the latter shrugged. "Alright. The defendant was arrested because she was found with the body. The person who found her was the daughter of the victim. Her name is Abilene Umber, and she's the twin sister of the prosecutor on this case I mentioned to be related to the victim from before," Mukuro told us. "Deirdre Brigit was arrested because she was found at the scene of the crime, and she was standing over the body at the time."

"What about the weapon?" Felicity questioned. "I don't see a knife in the chest of the victim, so it must have been removed after she was stabbed to death."

"The knife was taken in by the forensics team. Speaking of, we have the autopsy report finished. I suggest asking Chief Prosecutor Bespoke for it. He wound up taking an extra on accident, and we had to give our last copy away to a grumpy police officer who asked for it," Detective Hayes said next.

"That must be the person who we passed on the way here," I sighed with a shake of my head. "Was this grumpy officer generally rude and looked at you like you didn't matter?"

"That's the one," Mukuro said, her eyes wide that I was able to figure it out so quickly. "I see that you've been doing some research on the matter... Well, either that or you got lucky in the hallway."

"I think it could very easily be argued that we didn't get lucky," Felicity joked with a small snicker. She shook her head to change the subject shortly afterwards. "Well, there has to be something else for us to talk about. Are there any other important details that we should know about the case? What exactly is the special situation that had the defendant getting arrested?"

"The daughter of the victim is a homicide detective at the local precinct. As soon as she arrived on the scene, she believed that the defendant had committed the crime. Prosecutor Umber arrived soon after and decided to help her look around, and he came to a similar conclusion. Chief Prosecutor Bespoke doesn't seem as convinced of her guilt, and the same applies to Prosecutor Cruz, but Prosecutor Umber isn't going to budge an inch. You know how stubborn some prosecutors can be," Mukuro went on.

I let out a playful sigh and shook my head. "Oh, you have no idea," I remarked, thinking about my brother. If he wasn't proof of how stubborn prosecutors could be, I didn't know who was. It was incredible how firm he could be when he got caught up in his own ways even in the face of opposition.

"Why don't you start looking around and talking to the people here? I think that it's pretty important that you get the chance to finish your investigation before the day ends given that the trial is tomorrow. You really don't have all that much time to prepare for cases like this," Detective Hayes told us.

I looked to Felicity and Sky before nodding. "Well, it seems that we have our work cut out for us. Why don't we start looking around? We can begin by talking to the victim's daughter since I bet we'll have to see her during the trial tomorrow," I suggested. The other two nodded, and we waved Mukuro and Detective Hayes farewell before stepping away.

I could see a woman nearby that I didn't recognize, and I suspected that she was the Abilene Umber person that we were meant to be looking for. I walked up to her, a small smile plastered on my face. "Greetings," I began simply.

The woman looked up to me, and I was able to fully take in her appearance. She had brown hair reaching her waist that faded out to blue and purple at the edges. On her head was a large black hat that seemed to be larger than her head itself. She wore a black jacket reaching her knees over a purple shirt with dark trousers. Her shoes were blue in color and rather dressy while still maintaining a casual look. She had blue fingerless gloves on as well. Her left eye was blue while her right was purple.

"Um... Who might you be?" the woman questioned, and I noticed that her eyes were slightly puffy, and I instantly came to the conclusion that she had been crying. That didn't surprise me in the least given that the victim of this case had been her mother. I would be just as upset, if not more so, had I been in her shoes.

"My name is Lily Shield. These two are Felicity and Sky Amaya. We're part of the defense team for this case," I began, bowing my head in her direction. "If it's alright with you, we were hoping that you would be willing to answer a few questions for us."

The woman stared at us for a moment, and disdain crept into her eyes before she quickly covered it up with a passive expression that I couldn't quite place anywhere. "It's nice to meet you," she told us, but I could tell instantly that such a statement was fabricated. I doubted that she was going to open up and tell us the truth, so I didn't bother pushing it given the fact that we didn't know her at all. I didn't want to bother her too much given that she was going to be our key to finding out the truth behind the case.

"It's nice to meet you too," Felicity said with a smile. I couldn't tell if she was unaware of how passive aggressive the woman was behaving, but if she was, she hid it masterfully. "What's your name?"

The woman took in a small breath before speaking once again. "I'm Abilene Umber. I'm a homicide detective, but... You probably know of me since I'm the daughter of the victim and a witness to this incident," she replied.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Sky told her with a small frown. "I understand that this must be hard for you, and you have our deepest sympathies."

Detective Umber shrugged. "It's alright... You don't need to worry about me. What is it you want to know?" she asked. "You must have come over here to ask me something, right?"

"Tell us everything that you know about the crime. What led you to suspect the defendant?" Felicity questioned first.

"I saw her standing over the body. I figured that she had committed the crime, so I immediately grabbed my handcuffs and restrained her to ensure that she didn't cause any other problems. I held her in the room until the police arrived, and my brother agreed that she was suspicious and had her arrested. From there, it's pretty much history. I'm sure you know the rest decently well," Detective Umber replied.

"Can you tell us about the lead-up to the crime? Did anything happen that struck you as odd?" I inquired next. I hoped that she would be able to tell us more outside of merely what she had told us about suspecting Deirdre, because we knew that already. If we were going to win this case, we would need some new information that could turn all of this around in our favor.

"Hm... My mom said that she was going to be inviting somebody over to talk to her about something she had been investigating for a while, but she didn't tell us who it was. I suppose it never came up. I wasn't home at the time the murder took place. I was at work, but I arrived back here shortly before I found the defendant standing over the body. That was when I arrested her and all that fun stuff," Detective Umber went on.

"Can you offer us more details about what your mother was investigating?" Sky asked. I got the feeling he wasn't asking about the person who the victim asked to come visit since he knew just as well as I did that the person in question was Deirdre. Why bother asking about it when we're already fully aware of the truth? We had bigger fish to fry in that moment, after all.

Detective Umber looked at us for a moment before shaking her head. "No, sorry. I'm afraid that it's confidential, and I'm not supposed to be talking about it to anybody. I don't think it will help you to figure out more about the case, and I'm not going to violate her privacy," she finally replied.

Felicity looked flabbergasted. "What? But we're trying to help you solve the truth behind who killed her. We're going to need all the information we can get, and you can't hold back on us now. We're not going to let the culprit get away with this, but we need you to talk to us if we're going to find the full truth," she said firmly.

Detective Umber shook her head. "Listen, I really can't tell you this. It's not something that you're going to want to hear, and it's just going to cause more problems than it solves. I'm not going to put my neck on the line over something like this. If you want information, you're going to have to find it elsewhere," she told us.

I looked to Sky and Felicity, unable to keep the frown off my face, before turning my attention back to Detective Umber. "You sound like you think you're in danger... Did something happen to make you believe that somebody was after you? If that's the case, then that truly isn't acceptable, and we'll do what we can in order to help you out as much as we can," I insisted.

Detective Umber still seemed hesitant. "It's a long story, and I would rather not go into it right now. If you want to ask me about the case, talk to me about something else. I don't think I can trust you with that information until we get to know each other better, and we don't have time to do that before this case goes to court," she went on. "Just change the subject, okay?"

I made a mental note to bring this up with Sky and Felicity as soon as Detective Umber had walked away, but until then, I cleared my throat and tried to think of something else that we needed to hear about. "Um... Did you see anybody suspicious the day of the crime? Are there any other witnesses who might have been wrapped up in all of this?" I questioned.

She seemed to relax at the change of topic, and the tension in her shoulders mostly disappeared as she placed her chin in one of her hands. "Hm... There was one person I ran into," Detective Umber finally replied.

"Who was it?" Felicity asked eagerly, leaning forward in anticipation. I found myself smiling lightly at the idea of this being our first lead. We were finally going to be able to find out something new that could possibly lead us to the truth.

"It was a man wearing all black... I think I saw him wandering around here wearing a police uniform, so I guess that he's investigating this case. I don't know his name though, so I'm sorry about that, but I hear that he's been particularly grumpy. He speaks with a southern accent as well, if that means anything to you," Detective Umber replied. "That's about all I know though. If you want other details, you're going to have to ask other people investigating the case."

"Will you be testifying tomorrow at the trial?" I questioned, though I was sure that I already knew the answer. I highly doubted somebody so heavily involved with this case was going to be able to back away from testifying once the time came to figure out who committed the crime.

Detective Umber nodded. "Yes... Now, I have some other business to take care of, so I'll see you later," she said. A few seconds later, she walked away, but I could sense her nervous energy. There was clearly still something bothering her, but I wasn't going to push it and risk getting her upset with us.

"I wonder what was bothering her," Sky murmured. "She seemed to believe that she was in danger if she spoke about whatever her mother was looking into, but I don't know why some research would put her at so much risk. Maybe somebody else around here will be aware of the truth."

"And if nobody will tell us, then we can just eavesdrop," Felicity said. When my jaw dropped as I looked in her direction, she laughed. "I'm just kidding. Eavesdropping would be a breach of privacy... But if anybody happened to say something helpful while we were in the area, then... Well, that wouldn't be eavesdropping, would it? It would merely a happy coincidence that we happened to stumble upon!"

"I want to know what was bothering her when the conversation started to... She seemed to have some built-up hostility towards us, but I don't understand why. After all, we've never met her, and I doubt that you have either. She would have said something about recognizing you if you had run into her before now," remarked Sky. He shook his head. "I just don't understand it... What could be putting her in so much danger that she won't tell us about what her mother was investigating? Why did she get so tense when we first introduced ourselves?"

"If she isn't going to answer our questions herself, then I see only one option for us... We'll have to do some snooping of our own," I declared. "We can ask the other people involved with the case for details. If they don't have anything for us, then... We'll just have to wait for the trial tomorrow. The pressure of a courtroom can do a lot to a person, to put it nicely. It's very easy to get somebody to crumble in that sort of environment."

"Here's to hoping that works when the time comes, but until then, how about we go and visit the prosecution? I remember that the detectives mentioned how the prosecution had a copy of the autopsy report for us, so we can go and pick that up from them. I believe that's a natural next step for us," Felicity suggested.

"Maybe they're elsewhere in the mansion," Sky said. "I don't see anyone who looks like the chief prosecutor in here... He's pretty easy to spot in a crowd, so if he was here, we would already be aware of such."

I nodded. "In that case, let's go and try to find him and the rest of his team," I told the other two. They didn't object, instead nodding their agreement before following me away from the room. I gave it one final glance before walking out into the hallway.

Something about Detective Umber was still striking me as odd. I didn't know how to describe it, but there was something about her that was strange. Maybe it was because she seemed hostile to us during the start of our conversation. I wasn't sure, but I was going to do my best to figure out whatever it was and what it could mean for our case.

I saw Chief Prosecutor Bespoke out in the hallway, and a gasp left my lips. I pointed to him, getting Sky and Felicity's attention in the process. I gestured for them to follow me, and they did so without any objections. All thoughts about Detective Umber faded away as soon as we set our sights on him.

Chief Prosecutor Bespoke was standing with Prosecutor Cruz as expected, but there was somebody else with him that I hadn't seen before, and I assumed that he was the Prosecutor Umber person that we had heard about prior to this. He had blonde hair that faded to blue and purple at the edges. His left eye was blue while the right one was purple. He wore a black jacket over a purple shirt with black trousers. His shoes were a deep navy color, and he completed the look with blue gloves. The hair that gave way to purple and blue was my main clue that he was related to Detective Umber, and I was sure of it without needing to ask.

"Prosecutor Cruz!" I exclaimed, waving before walking over to where the three men were standing. They turned upon hearing my voice.

"I should have expected people from your agency to show up and take care of this," Prosecutor Cruz murmured. "After all, with Brigit as the defendant, it was only a matter of time... So, who are the newbies?"

"Meet Sky and Felicity Amaya. They're the newest members of our team at Morix Law Offices, and they're going to be helping me out on this case," I replied before turning my attention to the man who I assumed was Prosecutor Umber. "Who might you be?"

"Prosecutor Anthony Umber," he answered bluntly. I waited for him to follow up on that and say something else, but when he was silent, I figured it might be best to move onto a different subject that would progress the conversation.

"We were wondering if there's anything that you might be able to tell us about the case," Felicity said, a sweet smile plastered on her face. "Plus, we heard that you had the autopsy report for the victim, and we were hoping that you would be willing to lend us a copy."

Chief Prosecutor Bespoke nodded before handing us an envelope that had been tucked under his arm. "I figured you would want it," he told us. Something about the few words he spoke was far more intimidating than any speech he could have given about how tragic the situation was. There was an unspoken intensity to him that I didn't know quite how to describe.

"Could you tell us about the victim in a bit more detail?" Sky questioned. He accepted the autopsy report and held tightly to it, deciding quietly that we were going to look at it after this conversation with the prosecution had drawn to a close.

Chief Prosecutor Bespoke sighed before speaking once again. "Callie Umber... She's been working in the Prosecutor's Office for as long as any of us can remember. Her track record is incredible, and she's been assigned to many high-profile cases. She was offered the position of chief prosecutor on multiple occasions, but she turned it down since she believed that she could do more in the courtroom rather than in the office focusing on paperwork. She was an inspiration to many a young prosecutor, and she could mentor just about anyone into becoming an agent of the truth that anyone else would admire. It was incredible what she could do," he replied.

"And yet, she still found herself as the victim of this horrible crime..." Felicity murmured. "Do you know of anyone who would have a grudge against her? Maybe they killed her because of some history that we aren't aware of at the moment..."

"I doubt that there was anybody who hated her. She simply wasn't the type to make enemies, and I'm sure that these two can back that up," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke said. He looked to Prosecutor Cruz first, and while he didn't respond openly, it was clear that he agreed. Next, Chief Prosecutor Bespoke turned his attention to Prosecutor Umber, and the latter nodded his confirmation.

"There must have been a motive behind this... If we can figure it out, then we should be able to track down the person who killed her. Do you have any ideas right now?" I questioned, a small frown starting to spread across my face. If they didn't know anything about who would possibly have a grudge against the victim, then how were we supposed to find the person who actually killed her and get Deirdre out of jail?

Chief Prosecutor Bespoke looked to Prosecutor Umber. "Well? How about you tell them? You knew her better than any of us," he suggested.

Prosecutor Umber seemed unsure at first. He looked to me, Sky, and Felicity, a frown on his face. He glared at us for a moment, studying us with a gaze that shook me to my core. I wound up looking away to keep from breaking under the scrutiny in his eyes.

Prosecutor Umber let out a sigh once he was done visually interrogating us, and he shook his head. "If you think that it would be best for me to tell them, then I suppose it wouldn't hurt," he eventually answered. "Don't come whining to me when this disappoints you though."

I looked to Felicity and Sky, unable to keep the smile off my face. There was a possibility he was going to be able to help us. I didn't like the way that he had looked at us at first, but maybe things were turning around for the better. If he explained everything that he knew to us, then we would be able to find a lead at long last.

"By all means, continue," I said, ignoring everything that my head was screaming. "We're listening."

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