A/N: ^^ Decided to continue this after all, next two chapters focus on a case so technically the genre is probably now Romance/mystery/crime but won't let me add another genre, apologies. :) Hope the case isn't too obvious/boring for you, dear reader, apologies if it is, it's my first time writing a mystery.
March 28th 9:00am
Wright & co Law Office
Nick hummed a little tune to himself as he made his way down the hallway to his company's offices. God, things were going well lately. Spectacularly well, in fact. He was engaged to the man he had loved since fourth grade, his company was doing well for a change, he'd managed to make breakfast without burning it, in two days he'd be moving into that awesome penthouse suite with Miles, he'd even begun to consider bringing in another lawyer for the firm, give him more time to spend with his wonderful husband-to-be…
Life was good.
He lifted his hand to the door handle and smiled as his ring caught the light and sparkled.
"Picked a date yet?" Maya squeaked as her boss entered the office. He nearly leapt out of his skin as she did so, she'd been in a state of total over-excitement for the entirety of the two weeks since Nick and Miles had got engaged.
It was his own fault, Nick supposed, for asking Maya if she wanted to be his 'best man' (much to Larry's disappointment) she'd leapt at the chance and had decided that part of her duties included nagging Nick and Miles every moment of every day to start planning the actual wedding.
Truth be told, they hadn't really discussed the actual event, beyond joking about who'd be the 'bride' and picking their best men. Even that was a difficult task, while Nick had instantly known only Maya could stand up for him at the wedding, Miles was currently involved in a three-way tug of war between Gumshoe, Franziska and Larry, all of whom where insisting that they were Miles' best friend.
"No Maya," Nick groaned, "We've not picked a date yet. We only just got engaged!"
Maya pouted, about to voice complaint and probably list a number of reasons why the couple needed to pick a date now, when a voice, rich and dark as chocolate, cut into the conversation.
"Hah, I heard you finally decided to make an honest man out of the pretty boy."
Nick turned towards the source of the familiar voice, and smiled weakly.
On the office sofa, sitting with Pearly at his side giving him a look of adoration and a mug of coffee in his hand was Prosecutor Godot. He raised the mug and grinned, "Congrats to you and the missus." One side of the laser-mask flickered slightly, Phoenix wondered if the man was winking.
The blue-clad lawyer smiled back and held out his hand, "Thanks. I take it you made parole?"
Godot shrugged and sipped his coffee, "Nah, I tunnelled out using my mask as a shovel."
Pearl's eyes widened, "Oh wow! Really? Are you on the run?"
Godot sniggered and patted the little girl's head, "Nah, I'm messing with you kiddo."
Laughing a little at Pearl's expression of disappointment that they weren't harbouring a criminal, Nick placed his briefcase on his desk and turned back to the older lawyer, "So, why are you here, angling for an invite to the wedding?"
Godot shook his head, his pearl-white locks ruffling slightly, "Mixing business with pleasure, Wright, Maya makes a great espresso." He lifted the mug he was holding and without warning, started to chug the lot.
Nick sighed, leaning on his desk and waiting for the man to finish. "And the business part of your visit?"
The mug lowered and the red lights flickered a little, "Murder."
Maya and Pearl instantly squealed, leaping between the two men, Maya babbling, "You can't kill Nick! Then I'll never get to be a Best man!"
"Yeah! Besides you owe him for uncovering the truth!" Pearl added, dancing between the two of them anxiously.
Nick smirked, rubbing his head before interrupting with, "Girls, I don't think Mr. Armando intends on killing me." He paused and glanced at the older man, "Do you?"
Godot laughed hard, lowering his now empty mug to the coffee table before explaining, "No, no, if I wanted to kill you I could do it much easier than coming to your office, Trite." He chuckled a little in a way that made Nick wonder if he ought to get some better security in his apartment. "Nah, I'm sorta a suspect."
Nick blinked, "Eh?"
"…It's like this," Godot began, his voice a little lower than usual.
'I got out of prison a few weeks back, been rebuilding what little there is left of my life. One thing I wanted to do was go speak to… a woman I used to know, she's in prison now, doesn't deserve to be, poor kid. I went to visit her, y'see, in her own little slice of hell. While I was waiting in the visitor's room with a guard he… was murdered."
Nick blinked. "He was murdered? In front of you?"
Godot nodded, "Yeah. He just… started bleeding from his stomach, right here." He paused and pointed at his own torso. "Like he'd been stabbed. He hit the ground and before I knew what was happening I was bein' read my rights." He sighed, "Brought back some memories, I can tell ya. Since it was only me and the guard in the visitors room, they've only got me as a suspect."
Nick winced, "…And you want me to represent you?"
"Can't represent myself anymore." Godot replied, nodding to Nick's lapel-pin, "They took mine away. I was lucky I had enough pull to get myself bailed out and come here, really."
Maya blinked sadly, "You didn't tell us that's why you came here…"
"Sorry kitten, figured you'd be upset."
Nick sighed deeply, closing his eyes and thinking this over. Any other day he might have refused, or offered the man the name of a different lawyer, but honestly, he could see how that would go. Who'd represent someone already convicted of murder in a locked-room mystery like this? And the courts wouldn't go easy on Godot as they had before. The weak, blind old man act wouldn't hold any sway the second time around.
"Take off your mask." Nick said suddenly.
Amid puzzled stares from the two mystics, Godot did as he was asked, probably sensing Nick was being serious. Nick winced slightly at the sight of the scar that covered one of the man's eyes, the man's face was a mask of Dahlia Hawthorne's cruelty. His eyes stared sightlessly ahead.
"Did you do it?" Nick asked, staring at the eyes.
"What do you think?" Godot replied evenly.
Nick examined the man's expression. No guilt there, there was a tingle of fear, but no guilt. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine what Mia would tell him to do.
Defend him, Nick. You know I'd never be able to love a man who could kill someone in cold blood.
"…all right, I'll take the case." Nick replied, "First off, who's the prosecutor?"
Godot smiled weakly, replacing his mask. "Heh, that's the other thing I meant to tell ya before you agreed…"
And it had started out such a great day.
March 28th 10:14 am
Prosecutor's Building
High Prosecutor's Office
"He's done what!"
Gumshoe jumped at the snap from his boss' desk, "Uh… the… the suspect's hired Mister Wright as his attorney, sir!"
Nick and Miles had been aware of the main problem that would arise from their involvement together, that being that if they met in court against one another it would put a considerable strain on the trial and their relationship. It had been the first thing they agreed upon when they got together, whenever it looked like they were going to meet in court, one or the other would recuse themselves. It had worked well so far.
Miles glared at the photo of Nick on his desk, "I'm not excusing myself from this, it's an open and shut case." He growled, as if his fiancé might hear it from clear across town. "What the hell is Nick thinking?"
This case? Miles wanted it; it was so bloody simple after all. Man already convicted of Murder once before goes to visit a friend in prison, while waiting in the locked visitation room, the guard on duty is stabbed three times in the stomach. The only person in the room with the guard was Godot. It didn't take a genius of Miles' level to see what happened.
"Nick will have to drop the case." He snapped, reaching for his phone.
Gumshoe gulped hard, "Uh… I already mentioned that when he came to the station to uh… gather evidence… he said he can't." The bulky detective rubbed the back of his head anxiously. "Something to do with making up for the past."
Miles snorted, "Sentimental, how very like him." He scowled and folded his arms, "Well fine, he wants to take this to court, it's his win record that'll be damaged. Have you brought me the autopsy report?"
Gumshoe allowed himself a small smile, sensing a way to make up for being the bearer of bad news. "Sure did sir! It's right-" he patted his huge trench coat pockets. A look of slight surprise crossed his face.
Miles scowled and counted the minutes it took for the detective's brain to come up with an excuse.
He knew he shouldn't be this annoyed with Wright. He'd known what the man was like long before they got together. If there was an emotional tie to the case, Wright would take it and hold onto it like a dog with a bone. And honestly, Miles didn't need this one that badly, yes the idea of an ex-prosecutor being a murderer bothered him intensely, as all criminal activities did, but he'd grown enough over the years to accept that you couldn't catch every criminal.
It was just…
Just that it felt like lately, Nick was getting too tangled up in Miles' life. He knew that was stupid, of course the man was in his life, they were getting married after all, and Miles was delighted with that.
It was just that the other day, he'd opened one of his dresser drawers and found a pile of Nicks' shirts. And when he'd gone into the bathroom his shampoo had been moved along to make room for Nick's shower gel. And Pess' food bowl was full of some off-brand dog food Miles would never have brought his precious puppy.
Nick was moving in properly in two days, and that thought scared the hell out of Miles. His orderly apartment would be thrown into disarray. Nick would want to put all his stuff all over the place. Miles recalled the man's problem with tidying up and shuddered at the thought of his own home being turned into a messy hovel.
"Gumshoe." Miles said quietly, "Have you lost that autopsy report?"
Gumshoe looked like he wanted the ground to eat him alive. "Uhm… Now ya mention it, sir… well, Miss Maya asked what killed the guy and I didn't think-"
Miles groaned and slammed his head against his desk.
March 28th 11:00am
Maximum Security Women's Prison
Visitor's room
"Ok, so the door locks automatically when it closes." Nick said calmly, examining the door. "Makes sense, we're in the prison for the worst female criminals."
Maya frowned to herself, staring around at the pure white room, furnished only with a table and two chairs. "They could brighten this place up a little, couldn't they?"
Her eyes drifted to the blood-stains and the taped-off outline of a body and she paled.
Nick shook his head to himself, "The guard explained that, the lack of colour makes it easier to see signs of contraband."
"Why would visitors be bringing in bands?" Maya asked, blinking. "You mean to play music to the ladies?"
Nick bit his lip and made a mental note to explain all this later. He turned his attention back to the lock.
It locked itself automatically every time it shut. It could only be opened by scanning a guard's key-card over the scanner by the door. The red eye of the scanner glared out at him accusingly.
"Doesn't look good for Godot." Phoenix commented in a worried voice. "There's only one way in or out of this room and it's through that door, the door which only a guard could open. Sort of rules out the chance of a third person in the room."
"That's right sir." Chimed in the guard who had lead the pair into the room. He was a handsome looking young man, dark brown hair neatly trimmed around his head and with bright, honest green eyes. Nick thought the boy looked just the sort of kid any girl would be glad to take home to their mother. "It's a shame the camera didn't catch anything."
Nick blinked, his brain coming to life, "Camera?"
The boy blinked, "Of course, all the visitor's rooms have security cameras installed in the card-scanner, it means even if the guard misses something we have back-up if a visitor tries anything." The boy smiled weakly. "But we already checked the footage of the time of the murder. There's nothing useful on it."
"All the same…" Maya muttered, "Could we have a look?"
The Boy winced, "Ah, I'm sorry miss, it's more than my job's worth to show you. I'd love to, anything to sort this mess out." He glanced towards the blood-stained corner. "Poor Officer Peirce."
"You were close to the victim?" Phoenix tried, wondering if he made conversation the boy could be persuaded to show the footage. In the meantime, he kept looking around the room, trying to work out any way another person could have got in.
The young man nodded, "We both started working here around the same time. Took care of each other, yanno? We always worked the same shifts."
Phoenix nodded slowly, taking this information in and filing it under 'might be useful later'. "Since you knew the victim so well, would you be willing to testify about him? It could be relevant."
The young man blinked, but nodded, "Of course. Just call and ask for Officer Trey Torres, I'll tell you anything you want about Officer Peirce."
Nodding in thanks, Nick took one more look around the room, "Ok, I don't think there's much more we can do here, Maya. Let's go."
As the pair made their way down the corridor, Maya felt the urge to try and lighten the mood, it was awful that all this should be happening just when Mister Wright seemed to be settling in with a happy life. She tried to smile, "So, this is special, this could be the last time you and Mister Edgeworth meet in court."
Nick nodded, smiling a little, "…True, I'm surprised he didn't excuse himself, you know how much of a stickler he is for protocol."
"Well, maybe he's feeling sentimental, you two never have cases against each other anymore." Maya pointed out, then wrinkled her nose, "Phew! What smells?"
Nick blinked, sniffing the air then pulling a face as he noticed the scent of gym socks in the air. He glanced around them and saw the reason for it. "We're outside the guard's locker room, Maya." He pointed out, scurrying on ahead to get away from the smell. "Guess it must be right next door to the visitors room."
"Yuck, as if Prison isn't bad enough without the reek of pants…" Maya muttered, scurrying after her boss.
"Hey, they've got to change somewhere." Nick commented, "Anyway come on, court'll be starting soon."
March 28th, 1:00pm
District Court Building
Miles hadn't really anticipated how odd it would be to be standing in court facing down Nick once again, it hadn't happened in such a long time. But it was happening, there was Nick, standing across at the defence table, looking slightly nervous and with that weird little mystic beside him.
The familiar feeling of superiority came flowing back, Wright had a lot of lucky breaks, that was all. But this case was so open and shut, Miles almost thought he could get Nick into trouble for wasting the court's time just by showing up.
The gavel fell and the people observing fell silent.
"Court is called today to hear the case against Diego Armando, AKA Godot, charged with murdering Officer Grant Peirce." The judge bellowed, glaring down at the two lawyers as he always did at the start of a trial, "Are you ready, councillors?"
Miles smiled, flicking his fringe from his eyes, "The prosecution is ready, your honour."
Phoenix couldn't disguise the blush, he always blushed when Miles did that thing with his hair. The ass, already deliberately trying to wind up his opposition and compromise Nick's ability to think…
He realised everyone was looking at him.
"Ah! The defence is ready, your honour!" he blurted, blushing even darker.
The Judge rolled his eyes, "Do try and pay attention, Mr. Wright." He paused and took a long hard stare at the defendant's chair. "Excuse me, the defendant will not drink coffee during the trial!"
"Dare you to come down here and take it." Godot replied with a grin. Phoenix groaned inwardly, copping attitude with the judge wasn't going to help an already wobbly case.
"Ahem!" Miles snapped, narrowing his eyes slightly, "The prosecution intends to prove that Mister Armando, while visiting a friend in prison, viciously stabbed Officer Peirce!" he reached and lifted one of the evidence bags on the table before him, "Presenting exhibit A, the murder weapon, found wrapped in a cloth at the crime scene."
There was an eight-inch knife in the evidence bag, still stained with blood, wrapped around the handle of it was a shred of red cloth. Certainly it looked a pretty cruel weapon, in the observers galleries people were muttering and staring at Godot.
Phoenix blinked, "Objection! The defence hasn't had a chance to examine this!"
"Objection!" Miles snapped back, "It's been examined by the police, surely you don't doubt their processing?" he didn't wait for comment, he could see Phoenix already going into terror-sweat mode. "The prosecution theorises that the knife was held with the cloth around the handle in order to prevent fingerprints being found."
Nick bit his lip. He'd forgotten what Miles was like once he got into a courtroom, he didn't give his opponents time to object, his arguments were iron-clad, suppositions perfectly logical. There just wasn't room to argue.
"The murder took place in the locked visitor's room of the maximum security women's prison, your honour. It is completely impossible for anyone other than the victim and the defendant to have been in the room when the murder took place."
The judge looked intrigued. "Oh-hoh, why is that?"
Here's my chance. Nick thought, knowing it would take Miles a good few minutes to explain a concept like 'electric card scanner' to a man like the Judge, who appeared to be under the impression that electricity was 'magic'.
"Maya…" Nick hissed, "any ideas?"
"Umh… um… well, we know Mister Godot didn't do it…" she whimpered. "Don't we?"
No help there then. Phoenix closed his eyes.
Think like Mia. Don't try and prove your theory, prove his theory incorrect and try to fill in the blanks.
Ok. That means either Godot and Peirce weren't the only ones in the room. Is it possible for someone else to have got in?
"Objection!"
Miles and the Judge turned their faces back to Nick, gesturing wildly into the air as he was.
Nick smirked and lifted his list of notes. "I invite the prosecution to prove it's impossible for anyone else to have got into the room." He said calmly, tapping the paper with one hand.
Miles visibly flinched, grasping the table, "It's impossible because the door needs a key card to be opened!"
"Objection! Every guard in that facility has such a card!" Phoenix replied, feeling his heart start to race, god he'd missed matching wits with someone like Miles, it was always so intense with him.
Miles' eyes narrowed further, "The camera footage clearly shows-!"
"Ah!" Nick quipped, before Miles could finish, "Where is this footage, the defence has yet to have opportunity to examine it!" he tilted his head, hands on his hips, "Really Miles, it's suspicious when you don't present evidence right away."
He'd intended it as a jovial jab, something to rile Miles up a little and nothing more. It was so easy to forget the events that brought them back together after all, the rumours that had haunted Miles from the start of his career.
The air in the room turned to ice.
In the defendant's chair, Godot sipped his coffee. "Ahh, don't poke the sleeping tiger, Trite."
"…The defence can examine all the evidence he likes." Miles voice was neutral, but his expression could have killed at close range. "Exhibit B, the security footage taken from the visitor's room."
The Baliff obediently pushed the trolley with the t.v. at ready into the centre of the room, pushing play on the machine.
The court watched in silence. The camera was pointed right at the two chairs and table in the visitor's room. After a moment a shape that was recognisable as Godot only through the striped waistcoat walked on, heading for the chairs and settling into one of them.
Then the screen went white, a second or two later and the image of Godot reappeared, heading towards the camera looking concerned.
Then the footage cut out.
Miles folded his arms. "As the court witnessed, the footage showing the actual murder appears to be missing." He raised an eyebrow, "Very convenient, don't you think?"
Nick frowned, "I'm sure my client doesn't think so." He muttered, then in a more normal tone spoke; "Your honour, may I examine the footage again?"
Maybe by looking again I'll be able to work out what's happened to the footage.
Miles huffed to himself, not bothering himself with watching it again, let Phoenix flail about as he always did, it was a locked room mystery containing only two people, even Phoenix 'Pull it out of his ass' Wright couldn't prove anything with incomplete footage.
"Hold it!"
Miles' head shot up so fast he wrenched his neck, wincing slightly, he snapped, "What?"
"This footage isn't incomplete!" Nick declared, "The camera is positioned right next to the card scanner, the moments of video where the camera appears to cut out in fact shows…" Nick dug into his briefcase and withdrew a guard pass from the facility, "One of these!"
Miles flinched. How had he not thought of that? He was inclined to blame Gumshoe. He grit his teeth, "…Granted, but that proves nothing, only that the victim scanned his card once inside the room and was attacked as he did so."
Nick shook his head, "It proves the possibility that someone else entered the room! Think about it; why would Officer Peirce scan his card a second time once he's in the room? We know he didn't leave the room, so the only conclusion we can draw is that he was letting someone in!"
Edgeworth bent over his table, eyes darkening.
Damn you Wright.
March 28th 4:00pm
Outside District Court Building
"Hehe, you did pretty well in there today Trite." Godot commented to the younger attourney. "Brought me another day anyway."
Nick blushed, trying to appear humble, "It was nothing. Anyway now we have a lead, someone else came into the room and killed Pierce… you're sure you didn't see anything?"
Godot tensed slightly. "…No. I know that sounds impossible but…"
Maya shook her head, jumping in between the two, "No, don't be sorry mister Godot! You can't help it, if you didn't see someone then you didn't see them, maybe it was uh… a spirit!"
Nick and Godot exchanged looks.
"Well anyway, we'll get to the bottom of this," Nick declared, shaking his client's hand. "Don't worry about it."
Godot smirked and nodded, "Will do kid. Don't you sweat it too much either… I think you've got other stuff to worry about."
Phoenix looked momentarily puzzled, then followed Godot's line of sight, over his shoulder to…
Ah. To where Edgeworth was arguing with Gumshoe. Nick hadn't seen him so angry for some time. He gave his client and Maya a weak smile. "I… um… I better go talk to…"
"Your kitten?" Godot suggested with a grin. "I'd recommend some flowers and candy too, that remark about evidence hit a nerve."
Phoenix winced, he'd regretted that comment the second he made it. He supposed that he'd picked up some of Miles' own tricks, seeking out the weakness in his opponent and exploiting it. He nodded his goodbyes to Godot and Maya, and edged slowly towards his fiancé.
"Uh, Miles?"
Miles turned, stopping his berating of Gumshoe (who took the chance to flee the building) and glaring daggers at Nick.
"It um… got pretty rough in there, huh?" Nick asked nervously.
Miles didn't reply, just folding his arms.
"…I'm sorry for the comment about the evidence, you know how it is Miles, I have to do whatever I can for my client and-"
"Your client is a murderer, that's not speculation, he's been to prison for doing so-"
"Because he was protecting Maya, Miles I explained this, you were there!" Nick protested defensively about the man who had protected Maya in her time of greatest need, as well as one of his last few links with Mia herself.
"Yes, a lot of claptrap about channelling, as I recall." Miles replied sharply, brushing his fringe from his eyes and picking up his briefcase.
"…Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it's not true. Anyway let's not forget I've defended people on trumped-up murder charges before, one of them was you."
The air between the two men crackled as their eyes met.
"...You know what Nick, don't bother coming to my place tonight." Miles sniped, his knuckles white on the handle of his briefcase.
Phoenix flinched, but the red mist was descending in his mind as well, folding his arms he replied, "Oh, mature response, Miles. I say something you disagree with so you go hide in your room?"
"Well as you find me such immature company, you won't mind me reconsidering our whole engagement!"
Miles didn't wait to see the response, just turned and hurried for the stairs to the car park, knowing Nick wouldn't be able to follow him there. He raced down the steps two at a time and to his shame, ran across the parking lot to his own car without a care for his appearance.
He fell into the driver's seat with a sigh and rested his head on the top of the wheel.
Had he really said that? That he was reconsidering marrying Nick altogether? Had he really run out of the lobby like a moody teenage girl? How embarrassing.
He ought to go back, apologise for his reaction and try to explain how the stress of the case was getting to him. Maybe they could go and catch an early dinner or something?
Except Miles knew his pride would never allow him to do that. Besides, Nick had done plenty of wrongs as well, and really…
Really, had they looked like a couple that should be together? Like the sort of pair who should try and build a home and start living happily ever after? It was hardly a good sign that he genuinely didn't like the thought of Nick in his living space, and after all this…
Despite his word-perfect knowledge of the legal system, Miles found himself at a loss. Mixed up in misery and confusion, he turned the key in the ignition and drove out into the LA afternoon sun.
