Ahah! Finally updated! Again! This chapter's super long. 15 pages! And it also has less humor. Or more...drama stuff. Whatever.
Disclaimer: My friends are getting Phoenix Wright now! They like it! Yay!
November 16, 12:26
District Court
Defense Lobby No. 2
Being a defense attorney is a good way to kill time. It's not a nice way, but a good, efficient way. As long as you don't mind seeing dead bodies and sweat. A lot of sweat.
"Phew! That had me at the edge of my seat!" Maya sighed loudly. Unfortunately, Maya does not sit down, and neither do I. It's hard to slam your hands on the desk when you're sitting down anyways.
Seiya moped behind me, tugging her hat lower (which didn't seem possible) and fidgeting with her hands. I think she was looking away nervously, but I wasn't sure.
"Uh." She said. "Sorry…but…um…" She added. I tried to be supportive and welcoming of any comments from my client, by basically staring at her. "…If you're going to my apartment later, can…uh…" Seiya seemed to be forcing something out of her mouth and it was the hardest task she ever did. Maya, also trying to be supportive, also stared attentively. Seiya looked at a particularly interesting bench and sounded flustered, even though she wasn't even saying anything. "If…if you don't mind…can you put my bass back in the case?" Afterwards, she winced like she just violated a huge law, or maybe committed murder.
That wasn't a very tasteful joke.
Anyways, I replied, "Of course not." It wasn't that much trouble after all, right? Just a bass. I was going to head back there to look around, since I had a feeling I could bet my spiky hair that there was still something hidden in that apartment.
So, after watching Seiya being escorted away again to the Detention Center, I spun on my heels, raised my hand, and said loudly and clearly, "Hey Gumshoe!"
November 16, 12:30
Gatebridge College
Seiya's Apartment
"Alright!" Maya shouted and rubbed her hands in an eager and sinister way. "Let's get crackin'!"
"Don't forget about the bass…" I reminded her, in case she forgot, which she most likely did. Though she nodded her head (in a slightly spacey and occupied way…), I ended up putting the bass back all alone, which isn't all that hard, actually. The hardest part is lifting up the bag to actually put the swirly knob thingy at the top in it. When I was done with my task, I turned around and found Maya at the small TV again (minus the socks), picking up the sheath, with the sword in it of course.
"Maya." I warned, walking up behind her. "Seiyaku didn't want us touching that, right?"
"Oh relax. She's not here now, is she? It's just really cool and I really wanna touch it. Hey Nick, can I swing it around a bit?" Before I could say 'No' and swipe the dangerous weapon away from Maya, Seiyaku appeared out of nowhere (There wasn't a 'poof' sound or any smoke. One moment there was empty space, and then the next, she was right beside me.) and shouted 'Don't touch that!' while swiping the sword (still in the sheath of course) and simultaneously bonking my partner on the head as punishment.
"Owww…" Maya replied, rubbing the large bump that had grown next to her bun (the one she ties up on top of her head, not the other one).
"Now out! Get out!" Somehow, both Maya and I learned Seiyaku's teleporting trick, for we had both suddenly appeared outside the apartment door. I heard it slam behind me, then lock. There was another audible click of a second lock as well.
"Well, now what do we do?" Maya groaned, either still feeling pain from her recent injury or expressing her feelings of not being able to swing around the sword.
Before answering, I walked back up to the door and knocked on it. An irate female voice replied, "Leave. Don't make me poke you." There was a pause. For some reason, I had an urge to scratch something. The disembodied voice added, "With this sword." I hastily suggested to Maya that we leave.
"There's Andy, right?" I said, moving towards the far side of the hallway, lest Seiyaku suddenly kicks down the door again and jabs the sword at me. "Maybe he's ready to give us those articles."
"Ah, that's right!" Maya grinned, obviously happy at the prospect that we had something to do.
"He never told us where to meet him though." I added. Maya's face fell and she glared at me. With amazing telepathic skills, Maya told me I shouldn't be so pessimistic. She still insisted on trying to find the newspaper man, so we spent several long seconds wandering around the college. We found him in about five of these elongated seconds.
"Psst." A door said when we passed it. Our attention turned to it immediately. The door didn't do anything else. Maya, bored with it already, dragged me along our road of wanderingness. "Psst!" The door said again, only louder. "PSST!!!"
"Maya, I think that door's trying to get our attention." I hinted, looking back at the 'psst'ing door. So then she dragged me up to it and opened it.
Andy was inside. Well, I think it was Andy. The boy had his back turned to us the entire time, so the only thing we could see was the back of the black swivel chair he was sitting in. I had no idea what he was looking at, but judging from the décor, (an old black and white detective movie that has more monologue than dialogue) (By monologue, I mean a voice that nobody can hear besides the people watching the movie and possibly the detective. It usually consists of similes about women, usually pretty.) I think he was staring out a window. Too bad there wasn't a window in the room.
Maya coughed a bit due to the smoke (which wasn't coming from cigars. It smelled like a small fire in an ashtray. It actually was a small fire in an ashtray. Andy was taking this too far). Andy (or at least the boy I assumed to be him) said in another bad accent, "Whaddya want?" He attempted to sound masculine, but he wasn't exactly finished with puberty yet.
Maya, attempting to see through the dim light and thick smoke, replied, "Weren't you the one who 'psst' us? What do YOU want?" There was silence. Feeling that the possible-Andy was expecting something, I coughed and went with the non-feminine stereo-type of these sorts of movies.
"Do you have the 'goods'?" I said in an attempted gruff manner. (I succeeded as much as Andy) Maya looked at me, alarmed. I had no idea what she was thinking.
"Depends on what you're asking for." The chair replied nonchalantly. I coughed out smoke that was starting to build a culture in my throat.
"Well, if you don't have them, I'll just leave…" I started moving for the door, since I didn't even want to look at the stuff anyways. Besides, the dark room filled with smoke and bad accents was starting to annoy me.
"W-wait!" The boy who was possibly Andy cried out, in a not so husky voice I might add, and I heard shuffling of papers and the sound of what I thought to be stacks of them dropping on the desk. The desk groaned. It covered up my own.
When I turned around again to pick up the pile of papers, Andy (who might or might not be himself) had already scrambled back into the chair and turned to the wall/imaginary window, desperate to preserve the clichéd movie environment. Maya and I left before Andy (who quite possibly might not be) could say another word in a bad accent.
"Alright then!" Maya exclaimed right when I forced the door closed behind me, before any of the smoke got out. "Let's look at this stuff now, hm?" Knowing that she would never leave me alone until I actually looked at the files, I complied.
"First, there's the article, about the accident he said Seiya was in." I said, holding up a small article from Andy's newspaper. At the top, there was the name of the newspaper. 'Gatebridge Scandalmongers.' I deliberately ignored it. First skimming the article, I read out loud the parts I thought important, as Maya tried peeking at the article by standing right next to me. "'Just last night, a magnificent explosion occurred in a chemistry room of Gatebridge College…two people were in this room when it happened…one death…'" Maya interrupted me there.
"Woah, one death? Who died?"
"It wasn't Seiya."
"I know that!" My partner puffed her cheeks out angrily while I skimmed through the article again, looking for any sign of a name.
"Andy didn't write any names in here." I finally said. Maybe he thought that he felt the need for confidentiality. Maybe someone threatened him. Either way, we would have to ask around, though as I approached Seiya's apartment again, I didn't exactly feel the urge to knock on the door.
Luckily, Gumshoe was right in front of the door, providing me an excuse to not knock. His bandage was looking rather red. "Hey, Gumshoe." I said casually. He swiftly turned around, then winced and held his head.
"So, whacha doing?" Maya asked, grinning while the good detective recovered from his head pains.
"I was trying to get in, to maybe look around a bit more. Not that I would've found anything if I did…" He replied glumly.
"Seiyaku kept you out?" I asked, though the answer was obvious.
"She threatened to poke me." He sighed. "With her sword." He added quickly. "So, I haven't been able to find out anything. And there's still no sign of the murder weapon either, pal. All I found was another witness." Gumshoe sighed again, as if just finding another witness wasn't enough. It was enough for me. That meant one more person to tackle with. "And the other witness from before came back, though she said she didn't forget to tell me anything from before." He sighed again. I wondered whether he'd start asking for a beer next.
"Another witness?"
"Yeah, some weird enthusiastic guy. Just jumped in and said he saw something." I had a bad feeling.
"And 'other witness?' You mean the one who said she couldn't come to the trial today?" Maya inquired. Her question seemed to snap Gumshoe out of it.
"Yeah, that's right, pal, but don't think about going to her apartment!" He huffed, glaring at us. "I won't let you go in, pal!" He added for emphasis, shuffling to the door next to Seiya's apartment. We both stared at him for a long period of time.
It didn't work.
"Okay, but can I ask you something?" I tentatively asked, directing the question to Gumshoe of course. The scruffy detective turned towards me suspiciously, apparently turning back to the old 'Are you pulling a lawyer trick on me?' way of thinking. "…Can you give us a ride?"
November 16, 1:50
Detention Center
Visitors Room
Gumshoe grumbled how colleges were always far away from everything, except apartments of course. Maya and I left him to his dark mutterings and entered the building, where we promptly positioned ourselves in front of the glass wall. Seiya was ushered in. She immediately picked up conversation with the floor.
"Ah…you're back…" She mumbled. The floor showed no signs of answering. (It was probably thinking something along the lines of 'I'm always here!') "Did you…uh…" She started, grasping for the words that could describe what she was about to say.
"Put away your bass? Of course we did!" Maya nodded cheerfully, even though I was the only one who actually did anything with the large instrument.
"Ah…well…um…thanks…" Seiya mumbled, rather conversationally, to the wall. "I'll, um, I, thanks." She added. The guard by the door was looking rather amused. "I, um, that is," The girl obviously had no idea what to say next. She was at a complete loss. At least she didn't remind of a knife plunging into my chest now. Or any of the horror movies I foolishly let Larry force me to watch.
Maya tapped the glass wall again, making Seiya jump and stutter out 'Thanks' again. "Your sister's temperamental, huh? She got angry at me about that cool looking sword and kicked us out of your apartment."
"Ah…she can be like that…" Seiya replied, looking off to the side. She looked as if she were seriously contemplating something. "Ah…she does like white chocolate though…if you give her these, she might let you back in again, if you really need it." The girl held up a bag of white chocolates, then realized that she couldn't give us the bag through the glass and quietly asked the guard if he could give them the bag. He checked them (for what, I don't know) and nodded and quickly walked out to grant us usage of said bag.
"Thanks." I managed to grin at her, but she had already stared at something I couldn't see. "Um," I said realizing I should speak louder now, "Is there something special about that sword?" I probably spoke a little too loud, but if I did, Seiya didn't seem to mind this time.
"Hm…? Oh…well…our uncle gave it to us. The sheath wasn't properly made though, or carelessly made…it's too wide…too thick…too long…we stash our money in there since we thought that nobody would look…"
"So it's a gift from your uncle?" Maya asked besides me. "…Does he have another one?"
"Just wondering, do you remember anything that might have something to do with the case?" I asked hurriedly, avoiding a peeved glare from my partner.
"Um…I do remember…when my sister talked about my insomnia, I remember waking up in the middle of the night due to a loud noise…but it came from next door, so I just ignored it…"
"Really? Why did you ignore it then?"
"Well…next door…that's Yveri's room…lately, she's been…uh…" Seiya shifted uncomfortably, unwilling to share what she knew.
"Oh, that's okay, you don't need to tell us…" I waved my hand, hopefully in an assuring way. It must have worked, since she stopped moving around awkwardly and instead appeared to space out again.
"Oh yeah!" Maya suddenly shouted, bringing Seiya back to earth. "You had an accident last year, didn't you?" Not the best way of asking…though she didn't mean to be rude. Seiya didn't seem offended though.
"Yeah…last year…" She looked at the floor. "It was a chemistry thing…but something went wrong…" I couldn't tell with the hat, but I was pretty certain that her eyes started glazing over again. "I…I was helping…someone. Then…there was an explosion…and I was in the hospital next…" She shivered slightly, and looked up, as if waking up from a bad dream. (Rather poetic, but it worked for times like these, right?) "I mixed up the wrong chemicals…I killed someone…" Well, this reminded me of Kurain village, somewhat…
"Seiya, it was a mistake, you didn't mean to kill anyone." I said, trying to sound firm and believable. Seiya just looked down and didn't respond, even when Maya eventually rapped the glass. "C'mon, Maya. Let's go."
November 16, 2:55
Gatebridge College
Seiya's Apartment
Detective Gumshoe shifted in front of Yveri's door once again as he saw us approach. I nodded towards him, then knocked on the door. Gumshoe noticeably shifted away from me. I also noticed that Maya was behind me instead of beside. Seiyaku opened the door a crack, peered out, and glared.
"In case you can't see, I'm waving my sword in a threatening manner."
"Erm. I'll take your word for it." I replied, backing away slowly and staring at the door.
"Just so you know, I've stopped waving the sword."
"Good to hear." Very cautiously, I took out the bag of white chocolates. I think the crack in the door was staring at me, not glaring, just staring. Very intensely.
"What is that?" The door barked. (Haha. An unintentional pun…)
"What's what?" I asked, trying to look innocent.
"That bag! The one you're holding! It's right there, in your hand! It's white chocolate! Gimme that or I'll poke you!" I was about to walk over when Seiyaku stopped me. "With my sword." She added very threateningly.
"Right, right." I said, handing the door the bag. It snatched it rather quickly, closed for a few seconds, then opened again and we were greeted by a sugar-coated Seiyaku. Not literally.
"Why, if it isn't the lawyer!" She cooed, clapping her hands together in a 'what a pleasant surprise' fashion. "Come in! Come in!" Instead of letting us walk in, she dragged us inside. I saw Gumshoe's wide-eyed look of amazement before she shut the door. "Don'ttouchthesheath!" She barked towards Maya while still retaining the grin. Besides me, Maya looked surprised by the sudden outburst, and then puffed out her cheeks.
"Hey! I didn't even do anything yet! I didn't even look in that direction!" She protested angrily, only to be ignored.
Carefully ignoring my fuming partner besides me, Seiyaku asked, "Is there anything you want to know?"
"Oh, yeah!" Maya calmed down quickly, or at least got as calm as she could. "You know the accident Seiya was in? Do you know anything about that?"
"Of course I do, I'm her sister!" She was smiling, but it sounded weird. That was a comment to snap, not to be said with a grin. "When she came around afterwards, she felt really guilty…about Terry…"
"Terry…?" Maya repeated. "A friend?"
"They were the best of friends." Seiyaku sighed. "He asked for a favor, she said yes, and next thing you know, everything blows up in her face. Literally. They were really close too…and she didn't have to, but she told his brother, apologized, and everything. According to her, he took it well. Said it wasn't her fault, she couldn't help it…"
"Ah…and who is this brother exactly?" I asked, hoped that I wasn't going to get kicked out again for interrupting or something.
"Hm…his name…starts with a 'V'…"
I had a bad feeling about this… "Could it be…Vigor…?" I asked weakly.
"Hm. I think that's his name." She nodded, her braid bouncing up and down. "Yes, probably. It sounds familiar."
"…He's the victim in the murder…" I reminded her. "You were a witness…?" It was amazing, really. Seiyaku just seemed to either forget names easily, or just doesn't like remembering them, or refused to remember them.
"Ah, really? Well anyways…after the incident, Seiya changed. She was more reserved, she always seemed to be thinking about something, and as a result, got spacey and started not paying attention to anything around her. She got lost easily, bumped into things, woke up in the middle of the night…Terry's death really hit her hard. I followed her around, just in case…until I was sure that she didn't need my help all that often anymore."
"That's…really sad…" Maya looked downwards, while I stood there, silent.
"Oh, don't worry about it." Seiyaku said crossly. "Don't cry about it. That happened in the past, nothing to worry about now. Look, why don't you ask about something else? And if you cry, I'm gonna punch your lights out. I don't know what to do about crying people." I could tell.
"Well, about Yveri? Apparently, she's going to be a witness in the case." I said, involuntarily looking at the wall where her room should be.
"Ah, back then, everybody thought that she should go out with V…that guy. So they started dating, just like everybody expected them to. Everybody thought they were the perfect couple, right? In high school, I would have agreed, but now, the relationship seems weird somehow…"
"Hey, Nick!" Maya shouted in my ear. (I could still use it afterwards, if you were wondering.)
"Hm?" I replied, to show her I was listening.
"Andy gave you a file on Vigor, right?" I knew where this was going and took out the files that Andy gave me and opened one up randomly. Amazingly, it was Vigor's.
"Oh, he underlined and highlighted a few things." I noted, looked up at Seiyaku for a second (who started wandering towards the fridge) and started reading them out loud. "'The Perfect Couple: Having a Feud?!?!?'" I stopped. This sounded like some sort of scandal headlines. I also didn't see the point of so many '?'s and '!'s. I read on. The rest were normal notes. "'Death of Terry, V handling well.' 'V starts drinking' 'V a violent drunk' 'Always holds a small pistol'…" I stopped as the story unfolded in front of me.
"…What happened to the pistol?" Maya asked, speaking my thoughts out loud. Detective Gumshoe should have found the pistol if the victim really did carry it around (and I didn't doubt Andy's…sources…). He couldn't have overlooked it. And even if he did forget about it, something would have reminded him, back when he testified. Instead, he said there was absolutely no sign of a murder weapon…Gumshoe wouldn't lie about these things. Time to ask questions.
"Seiyaku? There's something else I'd like to ask…when you came in the room at the night of the murder, did you see anything…ah…pistol shaped?" I asked, then thinking ahead of time, slipped my hand into my pocket. (No, it didn't teleport magically into my pocket…I obviously went back to the office to grab it quickly.)
Her eyes glared at me sharply, and I had an instinct to grimace immediately. "No, I didn't. I would have said something if I did, right?" Two red locks immediately crashed down in front of her chest. "What, you don't believe me?" The girl said haughtily at that time, which I found ironic and hard to stifle a snicker, sort of. Well, time to get cracking.
"Seiyaku…you did see a pistol, didn't you?"
"Feh. I just said I didn't see any weapon of any sort." Seiyaku sat there, tight-lipped, in the midst of darkness and two locks.
"Oh really? Well, take that!"
Seiyaku blinked, confused. "…A glowing stone?"
I made a show of coughing loudly. "Ah, no, just forget it. Anyways, you say that you didn't see a weapon at all, right? I wonder…"
"What? Wonder what? Do you doubt what I saw?" She growled angrily. I ignored any instinct to run away.
"I'm very certain that you did see a pistol."
"Hah, why would he be carrying a pistol with him, eh? You can't prove that he was carrying a pistol when he walked into my room, right?" I let myself smirk, which worried Seiyaku. "No, you can't prove it." She assured herself.
"I'm afraid I can. Take that!" I hefted out the recently read Vigor file. "I believe you are familiar with someone called Andy Monger?"
"Oh that weirdo? Yeah, he's crazy, but he knows a lot about the news and current events apparently.
"Well, he made a few notes about the victim. And one in particular caught my eye. 'Always holds a small pistol'…" Seiyaku noticeably whitened, but only slightly. "He might've not brought it with him to your apartment. That's what you're about to say, right? But Andy is a newspaper reporter. He wouldn't write down something unless he thought that it was true. So he noticed that the victim carried around a pistol constantly. So why would he not bring the pistol with him to your apartment?" Seiyaku opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again as if she was going to say something, then settled for giving me a look that promised me that she would kill me later. But I paid no heed to that, for one of the locks shattered into pieces and I was doing a happy dance in my head.
"Okay, so maybe he brought a pistol in. Maybe I saw it. What happened to it then?"
"You hid it." I said in a matter-of-factly way. She gave me a feral grin, which meant that she was about to metaphorically stop me in my metaphorical tracks by, metaphorically, kicking me right where it hurts.
"Oh really? Who's to say that stupid detective picked up the stupid thing and just forgot all about it? Why would I want to take a pistol?" She smirked at me, confident that I would be unable to answer that one. "That'd be tampering with the crime scene, right?" (Though I acutely remembered her tampering with the crime scene before…with a hamburger…)
"You would want to take the pistol because…of your sister." The girl stiffened noticeably. "You probably didn't want to take any chances. You don't believe that Seiya actually did it, of course, but you're afraid that her fingerprints might be on the weapon."
"Hah. Why would her fingerprints be on the pistol? Why would I think that?"
"Because you have a good idea who the real murderer is, and you know that the real murderer wouldn't be that stupid as to leave their own fingerprints." It was a long shot, but apparently, I was right. Seiyaku shivered in front of me, but the last lock didn't shatter yet.
"Oh yeah? Then where is the pistol now, smartass?" She sounded pissed, but a little scared too. And her voice rose throughout the sentence, like she was drunk. Or maybe felt like she was being hunted. I didn't think that she would attack me, but I was scared. A bit.
"Uh…where is the pistol?" I glanced down to the sword that was still in her hand before answering. "It's the one place you thought nobody would look in, and never allowed anybody near. The sword sheath." The last lock broke just as Seiyaku's face fell, and the first time ever since I met her, she looked truly miserable. Dejected, she turned around and threw the sword in a random direction (thankfully not at a head, though it did hit the wall point first and stuck there.) and walked slowly to the empty sword sheath on the television and turn it upside-down to take out the pistol. Then she slowly walked back, and finally showed the effect of Seiya's accusation. I finally noticed the worry lines and how tired she looked.
"Wright…you will save my sister…right? You believe my sister's innocent?" She asked…pleaded.
"Yes." I replied, and Seiyaku collapsed with relief and composed herself once again, all in one move.
"Fine, I was hiding the pistol. You caught me. Here." She grumbled gruffly and tossed the small firearm at me, which I fumbled with before I actually held it right. "You better get my sister out of jail, Phoenix Wright. I'll kill you if you don't. She wouldn't kill anybody."
"Will do." I smiled at her, but then stopped when she glared at me. She really didn't want any reassuring. I tried to look busy recording the pistol in the Court Record, then went out of the apartment again, where Gumshoe was waiting for me, surprised I wasn't horribly mutilated.
He recovered from his amazement quickly and greeted me with a "Hey, Wright," before looking at me closely again. "I'm still not gonna let you in, y'know."
"Yeah, I know. But I just wanted you to know…" I wondered if I should show him the pistol I found, the murder weapon, came to a decision, and said, "I need a ride…"
November 16, 3:41
Detention Center
Visitors Room
"Hey, Seiya." I said, trying to sound cheerful, even though she made no effort to act as so. Though she did seem oddly determined.
"Mr. Wright!" She shouted suddenly, making me jump. The guard didn't do anything, amazingly, but it scared me, and Maya made a 'hrnk!' sound besides me too. "Mr. Wright." She repeated, but a fight softer. "I believe that I haven't been very helpful. I'm really sorry…is there anything I can tell you, anything at all? I'll tell you everything this time, for sure!" I squeezed the Magatama tightly. The locks were still there and showed no sign of breaking.
"Really? Great!" Maya chirped and set her hands together joyfully. "Then can you tell us about Terry?"
"Terry…" I almost thought that Seiya was going to retreat back to her old reserved self, but she looked up again. "He was with me during the accident…he's…dead…" I thought she was going to cry, but she appeared to pull herself together. Shows what I know. "He was a very good friend of mine. He was also Vigor's brother."
"Speaking of which, you were lying when you said you didn't know Vigor that well, right?" I asked, remembering that she had made the same mistake as Seiyaku.
"It was sort of a lie. I didn't know Vigor all that well, I didn't hang around with him, but as a friend of his brother, I sort of knew him. He was nice, and athletic, and pretty much all the girls loved him. All the boys wished they were him." I was uncomfortable talking to Seiya like this, as I expected her to '…' in every sentence. There was also something else. Even though she was looking at me, I had a feeling that she was looking past me as well. Looking at something behind me.
"What about Yveri? You said that she's been doing something lately. Can you tell us?"
"Well, I've been waking up and hearing noises next door…I think Yveri and Vigor are…were…fighting. It usually starts with Vigor, I think…It's hard to tell. And then there's glass breaking and shouting." Seiya looked down again. "I think it's my fault…if I hadn't made that mistake, I don't think Vigor would have started being violent. And Yveri would be happy again." I couldn't help but note the 'glass breaking' part and remember the glass shards I found in front of Seiya's door.
"Happy? What do you mean?"
"After Terry was killed…Yveri used to be happy and she laughed…but now, she's cold. I think it's because Vigor started fighting with her after Terry's death. I want to tell her I'm sorry…but she started avoiding me as well…"
"It's not your fault…" I said, though it probably wasn't much assurance to her. Seiyaku must have told her repeatedly back then. 'It's not your fault.' I thought I should leave, but Seiya suddenly started talking again halfway when I turned around.
"…I lied to you about that other thing." She said. I stayed, to let her finish. "…When you asked if anybody would want revenge on me or Vigor, I immediately thought of Yveri…but I didn't think she could be the one. She was too nice…and happy…" I grasped the Magatama, just in time to see the locks explode, and smiled.
"Thanks for telling me that." I told her and walked towards an annoyed Gumshoe.
November 16, 4:19
Gatebridge College
Hallway
Gumshoe followed us in and then shifted to his new station, but I now knew how to get past him and question the mysterious Yveri.
"Hey, Gumshoe!" He looked at me suspiciously, maybe because that was too loud and cheerful to be me. I should have let Maya do it, but too late. Besides, she seemed depressed after our trip to Seiya.
"'S Detective Gumshoe to you…" He mumbled halfheartedly.
"I thought I should show you what I found recently…" That certainly got his attention. "I found…a pistol. I think it could be the murder weapon you couldn't find." I took it out. (Don't ask where.) He suddenly eyed me like a hungry puppy. A very scruffy one too.
"That's it! That's the murder weapon, pal! That must be it! You gotta give it to me, pal! We've gotta run some tests on it!"
"You know I can't say no to you, detective." I said, still in the suspiciously cheerful tone, and handed the pistol over. Gumshoe was thrilled.
"Thanks pal! I gotta go to the precinct! Gotta run the tests!" He ran off in a hurry. He even forgot to warn me not to go in the room. Not that I would have listened to him if he did…but…
"C'mon, Nick! Let's go in!" Maya grinned, suddenly animated. "This is the only person we haven't questioned…" I complied and went through the door.
"Hn? Who is it?" A tall girl peered at me. She had short brown hair and wore a tank top and a short skirt. (In the cold weather? I was freezing from going in and out so many times!) "Oh, you're not the police, are you? The detective guy wouldn't want me talking to you, defense attorney."
"I'm Phoenix Wright." It didn't feel nice being called a defense attorney, even if I really was one. There was just a feeling I got when someone is talking to me and they just call me defense attorney. Lawyer is fine. Defense attorney just seems…weird.
"I'm Maya Fey!"
"And I'm Yveri. Though you probably already knew that. You have a very strange taste of clothes, girl." Maya definitely didn't like being called 'girl' either. It probably didn't help that she just introduced herself too. "Anyways, you probably want to ask me questions, right? I can't promise you any answers…" She seemed to not noticed how Maya puffed up her cheeks.
"Where were you during today's trial?" She practically shouted. Yveri didn't seem alarmed.
"You sound angry, girl. I was at the graveyard." She stopped there. There was a long silence.
"Uh…why?" I suggested, hoping this wasn't one of those questions she couldn't answer.
"I was visiting a grave, of course." She said nothing else. There was another long silence.
"Um…whose?" Maya volunteered.
"Terry Vous. He was…a friend." She sighed. "And today is the anniversary of his death. I merely wanted to pay respects. Vigor's dead, Seiya cannot leave custody, and her sister was too violent and antisocial to know him. Frankly, I felt it was my duty."
"Where were you when the murder happened?"
"At the party of course. Vigor was there too. He went back to the apartment after a while, to get something I think, but he never came back."
"And you weren't worried?" I asked incredulously. Andy and Seiya were right. The two's relationship was very shaky.
"Vigor's a tough guy. I thought he could handle himself. But looks like I was wrong. He was shot by a weak girl…with his own gun…" Wait a minute…
"How did you know it was Vigor's gun." It wasn't a question, to be honest. Yveri was getting more and more suspicious by the second.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that." She smiled at me grimly, even though she knew that she had slipped. Yveri definitely had something to do with the murder. I needed to get information out of her.
"How close were you with Terry?" Maya had caught on as well, I could tell.
"Ah, he was my boyfriend's brother. How could I not be close with him? He was around everyday…he was a nice boy. Shame what happened to him. The hospital couldn't save him. I think he tried to protect Seiya during the explosion." She smiled at me, in a strangely seductive way. (Not the way April May did. Her's was more subtle. And I wasn't seduced either! She's a college student for heaven's sake!)
"I see. Is that a picture of him right there?" I indicated the picture of a brown, messy haired boy. He was smiling.
"Yes. You have great observational skills, defense attorney." She smiled again when I cringed. Now the way she said it, it seemed venomous…
"Who's bed is it by?" I asked.
"Vigor's, of course. I haven't had the heart to get rid of his stuff…" The smile stayed plastered on her face.
"Why does Vigor's bed…" Maya said slowly. "…why does it have lacey pillows? It's your bed, isn't it?" The smile vanished. "And why are your beds so far apart?"
"That's another question I cannot answer." She almost hissed, giving herself more suspicious points. "I think you should leave now." She started pushing us out the door, when I said something that I probably shouldn't have.
"You don't love Vigor, do you." Again, it wasn't a question. She stopped shoving us, then wore an expression that could compete with Seiyaku's, and shoved us out the door.
"Of course I do. We were a perfect match. I will never find another man like him." She hissed, before slamming the door. Maya and I turned around and stared at the closed door, which stayed closed. Yveri was cold, just like Seiya said. Andy was definitely on to something about their relationship. I would be able to get the information in court tomorrow. She couldn't refuse to answer questions then.
"Come on, Maya. Let's take a long walk home."
Sudden character chaannnggeee...ooooooohhhhhhhh...waggly finnggeerrrss...
Seiyaku's a crazy sister. And Andy's a crazy...person.
And I would like y'all to review, please and thank you.