May 15, 12:34 P.M. Remnants of the Los Angeles Police Department
Maya and Pearl exited decontamination, somewhat shaken. Phoenix immediately spotted them, and walked over. He asked, "How did it go?"
Maya sighed, "They made us take showers, but the shower heads sprayed out dry ingredients instead of water. It doesn't feel refreshing at all. It was almost painful."
Phoenix thought, "That's a rather unconventional method of cleaning..."
Gumshoe interrupted, "Hey, pal! Take a look at this!"
A sheet, white in color, was in his right hand, which waved in the air. The attorney grasped the sheet, and looked at it. Gumshoe explained, "They went over to your law office in HAZMAT suits and examined the debris that was lying on the ground."
Phoenix sighed, "And what did they find?"
Gumshoe replied, "An unusually high level of trinitrolutein."
He groaned, "In other words?!"
"A chemical that speeds up the explosion, and makes it more powerful. Another officer told me about it when that 'surgeon' confessed about removing 1/16 of Pearl's thyroid."
Phoenix thought, "Great! We're all screwed! Now that the Mad Bomber is making those bombs, how long will it be before Los Angeles is completely destroyed?!" The man he had seen earlier approached him with a photograph. He handed it to Phoenix upside-down, so that the image was on the other side.
"Sep. 1, 2000" was written on it in permanent marker.
He held his breath and thought, "Before I turn this picture over, there are probably three things that this picture is of. For one, it could indicate that this man is the father of Dahlia, Iris, and Valerie Hawthorne, but I remember reading the newspaper one day and seeing that Nathaniel Hawthorne had killed himself by jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge.
It could also indicate that this man is Pearl's father, which is quite possible. It could also indicate that this man is Maya's father, but did he die before she was born? But if he is indeed her father, and if the DNA tests prove it, then I'd say that she was lied to about her father in the first place."
Phoenix's hands were trembling violently as he flipped the picture over. He focused on one particular person in the image. Although slightly grainy, the image was preserved. In the image, it showed a young girl, around a few years old, who had black hair, was wearing a kimono, and had purple sandals on was smiling and laughing as she tried to walk.
A shock was sent deep into his core. His eyes opened wide and he shook with fear. Phoenix thought, "That guy has to be Maya's father! There is no one else on Earth who wears a kimono, purple sandals, and has black hair like that!" He walked over sluggishly to Maya.
She asked, "Nick? Why are you so shaken?" Phoenix said slowly, "There's a guy who wants to speak with you..." Maya and Pearl walked over to where the man was. His arms was outstretched, and in his hand was a DNA test. Phoenix handed it to Detective Gumshoe, who took it and placed it into a machine.
After reading the paper, Gumshoe explained, "This machine keeps a record of all of the DNA samples that come in to us." Phoenix asked, "Could you compare that DNA to that of Maya's? That guy could be her father." Gumshoe soon found to screen and compared the DNA.
Gumshoe sighed, "Yep. Maya's got a similar DNA structure as that man. He is her father, pal."
Maya asked the man, "Who are you, sir? What brings you here?"
The man said, "To put it bluntly, I have come here to make an... apology."
Pearl asked, "An uh-pol-uh-gee? What for, Mister?"
The man continued, "I am very sorry for not being part of your life."
Maya's eyes shot open. "What do you mean by that?"
The man took a deep breath and resumed. "Maya... I am your father."
She gasped, "W-WHAT?! But my father died before I was even born!"
"That was what your sister told you, Maya. In fact, I did not leave the household until early 2002. In April 2002, due to your mother being called a 'fraud' by both the national government and the local population, I moved away in order to prevent embarrassing myself. After all, who would want to be around the spouse of a supposed fraud?"
Maya interrupted, "And you told both my mother and sister to lie to me in order to prevent me from thinking I had a father?"
"Yes. I thought that if they told you that I had moved away, you would become upset and would run away to find me." Maya's face swelled up and her eyes filled with tears.
"Dad... please don't get murdered! I've lost too many people to greedy businessmen and corrupt politicians! Don't be the next one!"
Phoenix wrapped his arms around Maya. She asked, "What, Nick?" Tears were still dripping from her eyes.
Phoenix whispered, "Maya, don't worry. Your father isn't going to get murdered. Your mother and sister were murdered by chance. I doubt anyone else in your family is going to get murdered."
She sniffed and as her slightly reddened eyes opened, the attorney reminded her, "Maya, I love you. Your father loves you. You're going to be all right."
Maya brought her lips close to Phoenix's. "Nick, I... I love you, too."
They embraced and locked their lips together in a kiss, not caring that her father, Detective Gumshoe, and Pearl were all staring at them as they did so.