May 11, 1:23 P.M. District Court, Accident Scene

Detective Gumshoe had been placed on the case. He was sure that the derailment was an accident, and that he would easily pinpoint who had caused the accident. Phoenix watched as he examined the scene. Gumshoe immediately spotted a clue.

He said, "Dark marks on the tracks... That shows that the engineer attempted to stop before he hit the District Court."

There was a 15-foot tall hole straight through the wall of the courtroom, and Phoenix could tell that it has been damaged beyond repair, and that they would have to demolish the courtroom and rebuild it from scratch.

He asked, "Detective, how much would it cost to rebuild the courtroom?"

"I would estimate a total demolition and rebuilding to cost around 3.4 million dollars."

Maya gasped, "3.4 million?! The Wright and Co. Law Offices have only made 890,000 dollars in its entire existence, if you include when it was belonged to my sister! 3.4 millions dollars is a lot of money."

Suddenly, Detective Gumshoe's pager sounded. He felt for the bottom left pocket in his trenchcoat, and answered it.

It read: MEET OTHER OFFICERS AT CARROL RD. WE WILL GIVE YOU FURTHER DETAILS UPON YOUR ARRIVAL.

Gumshoe said, "I'll be back shortly. In the meantime, why don't you two do some investigating yourself?"

Pearl screamed, "That's a GREAT idea, Detective Dick! We'll help you find the culprit!"

Maya sighed, "It was simply a horrific train crash, Pearly. I doubt someone would intentionally crash a train into the District Court. It would be impossible to make it all line up."

Phoenix held up his phone and entered the Radio function.

Maya asked him, "What are you going to tune to?"

The lawyer replied, "Amtrak control."

He tuned the frequency to VHF. A computerized voice announced, "You are listening to Amtrak control serving the Los Angeles area, transmitting on 135.66 megahertz."

He heard a conversation occurring.

He heard a voice say, "Mr. Klein, could you enter my office for a moment?"

Phoenix heard the door shut and another man talk.

"Mr. Klein, you were on duty earlier today from 4:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. Is that correct, sir?"

"Yes, Director."

"Did you know that one of our special bullet trains crashed today?"

"Director, I was unaware of that. Could you please describe the crash?"

"It was a derailment of Train #6667S. It brutally crashed into the District Court's 5th courtroom. Do you know when it crashed into the courtroom?"

"No, sir. I don't."

"It crashed while you were on duty and were supposed to be running the track switches!"

"Sir!"

"Don't 'sir' me, Randall! You caused the deaths of hundreds!"

"I didn't intend to!"

"Do you think that I would allow a mass murderer to run my trains, full of passengers, across routes on my railway?"

"Director, it's not your..."

"It is my railway, you blithering idiot! You are causing mass confusion and delay! You are disposing of my customers, and of my money!"

"Like the saying goes, 'money makes the world go 'round."

"No shit! And do you believe that I would allow you to remain a part of my company?"

"Uh..."

"No! Guess what, Randall? You just can't be a part of my company no more! Guess why."

"Because I can't run my lines responsibly."

"BINGO! And you know what that means, Randall?"

"What?"

"YOU'RE FUCKING FIRED! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE, AND DON'T DARE STAND IN THIS BUILDING, AT MY FRONT DOOR, OR EVEN DARE TO RIDE ON MY RAILWAY AGAIN!"

Phoenix shut his phone off. Maya asked, "Nick, what's the long face about?"

He guessed, "I don't know. I bet it's just because of this incident."

But secretly, Maya knew that her boyfriend was obviously holding his feelings back. She knew that it would only be a short time before his thoughts would be revealed...