****Disclaimer: I don't own Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright) or any of its characters~!****
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Chapter Three: Investigations
I led Maya to my car, a reasonable silver sedan outside the station. She gave a small cry, quickly regaining her composure—most unlike my once-rambunctious companion.
"Nick?" she cried. "You drive now?"
"Trucy thought it was appropriate for my comeback to law," I responded offhandedly, opening the door and watching her slip inside bewilderedly. I slipped into the driver's side, turning the key in the ignition. The car started with a purr and I pulled easily out of the lot, heading for the detention center. Maya seemed a little unnerved, so I took it slow.
"So w-what do you know about the case?" the medium asked, pressing her sleeve to her top lip to mask her nauseous expression. I suppressed a smile, turning my attention to the task at hand.
"Our client is Maggey Byrde," I began, rolling to a stop at a red light. "The victim is Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. The murder took place in his office around eleven-thirty last night. Ms. Byrde is the only suspect, being the only visitor to his office that night between seven PM and the time of the murder. According to what Detective Gumshoe got out of her last night, Miles had called her there for a meeting."
I stopped talking as I pulled into the detention center's lot. Maya placed a hand on my knee as I cut the engine.
"Why were you and the detective there?" she asked quietly.
"Miles had asked us to meet with him, too," I explained, sighing. "It was weird. He called me at ten-fifteen last night asking me to come up to the prosecutor's office right away. I showed up and he was busy, and Gumshoe was also there with a claim of being summoned."
"What does it all mean, Phoenix?" Maya asked, brow furrowed. I gave her a hard look, thinking that I had a pretty good idea of what it might have meant.
"I have no idea, Maya," I answered shortly. "Come on, let's go talk to Maggey."
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When we reached the visitor's room, Detective Gumshoe was already there, talking to Maggey.
"Mags, I don't know what to believe," he was saying, his gruff voice tight with emotion.
"Believe me, Dick," Maggey answered, arms folded over her chest, obscuring the Blue Badger emblem on her shirt. "It wasn't me!"
"I saw you!" Gumshoe roared. "You were holding the gun! Covered in his blood!"
"Dick, I--"
"NO!" Gumshoe stood suddenly, upending his chair. He stormed past us, the look on his face utterly terrifying. I don't even think he saw us there. Maya looked at me, hand pressed to her chest. I nodded to her with a flash of a smile. For the first time since I'd picked her up, Maya smiled back, albeit nervously. I gently caught her fingers in mine and led her to the chairs across from Maggey. It was the first time I'd seen her since the previous night. It looked as though she had been afforded a change of clothes, but not a shower. Her face was still specked with my old friend's blood, and her hair was stiff and ruddy with the stuff. I swallowed hard, clenching my fists in my lap. I would avenge him--by the courts.
"Good morning, Ms. Byrde," I said gently, taking note of the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry about all that. He was very close to Mr. Edgeworth. I'd have a hard time believing that he was speaking out of anything other than raw emotion there."
Maggey sniffed, looking up at me with a watery smile. "Thanks, Mr. Wright," she murmured. "You've always been good with words when it counted. You'd just think, after two years of dating, that Dick would believe me."
"Well, Ms. Byrde, once we get your acquittal, there won't be much to disbelieve," I responded pointedly, looking at Maya. I was ready to get to work and antsy to start my investigation. Maya reached down and pulled a large, ornate fan from her belt and opened it, using it to hide her face.
"Maggey, can you tell us what happened last night?" she asked, right back to her old self. Always asking the questions for me! I smiled at her, still amazed that she'd come back.
"O-Of course," Maggey answered, looking a little shell-shocked. "Mr. Edgeworth called me at about ten o'clock. He asked me to come down to his office at my discretion--something about an old case that he wanted to clear up. I got to his office at about ten-twenty. He seemed a little frazzled when I got there, like he was trying to find something."
"Trying to find something?" Maya interrupted.
"Well, I don't know," Maggey retorted, flustered. "Maybe that wasn't it. But he was definitely upset about something. Anyway, he sat me down and we talked about Dick for a long time—maybe an hour. After that, suddenly, the lights went out. I heard the window slide open and heard a brief scuffle. The felt the two brush by me, and then someone was thrown into me. I moved away, holding my hands out to steady the person, and then I heard the gunshot. I was shocked, and I tried to feel around for the light switch. Then I heard a second gunshot. It was just a moment after that I found the light switch. When I flicked on the lights, I barely caught sight of the boot of the person who'd come in. They left through the window. Then I looked down and saw Miles on the floor, and I screamed. That was when you and Dick came in."
"Okay," I said, nodding, "but Maggey, why were you holding the gun? And why were you covered in Miles's blood?"
"I…. I don't know," she said, looking a little upset. "I found the gun by my feet when I turned on the lights, and picked it up to look at it. I was in such shock…. I didn't really know what I was doing."
"Did the forensics guys take a sample of the blood on you to make sure it was Miles's?" Maya asked suddenly, surprising me. Maggey looked a little upended, too.
"Well, no," she answered shakily. "Should they have?"
"Phoenix, it was dark when the two gunshots rang out," Maya said to me seriously. I was in awe of her brilliance and seriousness. "We don't know which hit Edgeworth, or who was by Maggey when she heard the first one. It stands to reason that she got covered in blood during the first gunshot, not the second. We should ask forensics to take a sample of the dried blood in her hair and run an ID match."
"That's a good idea, Maya," I answered, standing up to run to the phone. "Don't worry, Maggey. I believe you. We just have to find this other criminal."
Maggey sighed. "Thanks, Phoenix."
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"Can you believe it?" Maya asked, flipping through the autopsy report. We were walking out of the criminal affairs building, heading for the prosecutor's offices. "The blood on Maggey wasn't Miles's at all! But they don't know whose it was…. So we aren't much further than we were before."
"I disagree," I answered, getting into the car with a wicked grin. "Clearly, if there was that much blood, this person was pretty substantially injured. There must be some blood at the crime scene. And that means clues. We're on a good track here. Thanks for thinking of it, Maya."
Maya afforded me a brief smile. "Let's just get there, Nick."
"Hey," I said, turning to look at her. "It's been eight years, Maya. I missed you. Don't you have anything to say about that?"
"Do you?" she asked acerbically. "Listen, Phoenix Wright, it HAS been eight years. Not once have I heard from you. You've never come to visit Pearly and me and you've never written. I wake up one night to find that you've got a daughter writing to me about a 'case I can't refuse?' What am I supposed to have to say?"
"Hey! Listen, you don't know all the facts!"
"Nick, I don't care. I came because I thought you were in trouble. I'm helping you with this case and then I'm going back to Pearl and Kurain Village—where I belong." She looked at me, and I gulped. I hadn't realized just how startlingly beautiful she'd become. It was a little scary. Or maybe a lot scary.
"Trucy's not—"
"I DON'T CARE!" The stony glare Maya was throwing at me looked almost exactly like the one her sister, Mia, used to give me when I was on the wrong track in court. "Just drive, Nick. Just….drive."
I did.
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Miles's office was all lit up, crime scene investigators still wrapping up their paperwork in the lobby. The tape outline of Miles on the floor was grotesque; I couldn't look for long. But they'd left the piece of paper that was in his hand on the floor, which was good for me. I walked as close as I dared to go and examined the piece of paper—it was blank.
So much for a lead, I thought, sighing. Leave it to Miles to hold onto something immaterial and mean—even at the scene of his own murder. I examined the office, noting the signs of a struggle that seemed to mirror Maggey's testimony of a scuffle, and scuff marks on the window sill that seemed to indicate that someone had both opened it and gone through rather carelessly. The fire escape on the other side looked untouched, and the ladder was extended all the way down to the pavement.
Maya was sulking in the corner, watching my investigation in a furious, disinterested silence. I flinched every time I looked at her. I didn't realize she had been so affected by my lack of communication, but I knew one thing: bothering her now would do nothing for me.
I continued my investigation for a while, finding nothing more of particular use. I sighed, ripping off one of my gloves and turning to Maya to tell her we should leave, when I caught a glint of white under Miles's desk. My breath caught in my throat, and I coughed up a lung as I crawled under the desk to retrieve it. What I came up with (still coughing a little after having choked on my own saliva) looked like a business card. It was torn diagonally in half, and on it was printed what looked like half a circle with three spikes coming from the bottom. I frowned and added it to my record.
Where's the other half….?
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AN: Uh oh! Looks like Phoenix was in the doghouse and he didn't even know it. And what's with this mysterious intruder? Where's the other half of the business card? Looking ahead: Trial Day One and some more familiar faces!
I'd really like to thank Professor Snaglefoompus and PurpleKyu for your reviews, and Wolfareen for adding it as a Favorite. I think I'll continue this story and try to have more frequent updates, but only if I keep getting readers! I'm glad that it's not too stagnant (hopefully especially not now). This story will have some really sweet undertones. I can't wait for it to get reallllly good!
Rate and review until next time,
muteSOUL