Disclaimer: I don't own the ace attorney characters
Chapter 27
Date: 9th July 2026, 20:30
Location: Emma Wright and Liam Masen's "Apartment", California
Apollo and Trucy were outside the door of Emma and Liam's apartment. Apollo knocked twice on the door.
"Come in!" Emma shouted. Trucy opened the door and the two stepped in. The so called "apartment" was huge and more like a penthouse. They walked pass a fancy kitchen that was black and white in colour. It had new shiny work surfaces, littered with takeout boxes. After the kitchen was a dining and living area. The dining area had a large glass table with 8 chairs around it. The table had pile of papers on it. In the living area was a huge couch with two smaller versions either side. They were facing in to a glass coffee table that was littered with more paper and serval mugs. Emma and Liam were sitting on one couch, with Phoenix and Miles on another. They seemed to be in a deep discussion. Trucy waltzed in and sat down on the free couch.
"Hey Daddy, Papa, Uncle Liam and Auntie Emma. How are you?" She asked. Emma looked up and smiled tiredly at the two.
"Hi guys. Our day has been slightly stressful but okay in general. How did your investigation go?" She asked, nodding her head, in direction of the couch Trucy was sitting on, at Apollo, who sat down. She gave Liam the papers she was holding and grabbed a mug of coffee of the coffee table. The men started to clear up and take the papers to the dining room table and the empty mugs to the kitchen. Emma took a sip of her coffee and grimaced. "Ah coffee's gone cold." She got up to fix herself another one. "Oh by the way, there's some pasta here for the both of you, it's ham and cheese ravioli, hope that's okay." She said. Apollo nodded his head.
"That's okay, thank you Emma." He said. Emma smiled and quickly made up a coffee for her and turning to the others in the apartment.
"Anyone else want a drink." She asked. Miles requested a cup of tea while Liam and Phoenix asked for coffee. Emma looked at Apollo and Trucy with a raised eyebrow. "And you two?" Apollo answered first.
"Just a glass of water please." Emma nodded and looked at Trucy.
"Can I have some water as well please?" Emma nodded once again and quickly made everyone's drinks. She passed them out before grabbing a couple of takeaway boxes along with a couple of forks and her coffee and sitting back down on the couch.
"Here's some food for the both of you." She passed the boxes and forks to them. "So what did you get out of the investigation then?" She asked. Apollo took a couple of bites of his pasta before speaking.
"Well, we first went to the detention centre to check on Machi." Emma nodded and sipped at her coffee.
"Ah yes, how was he?"
"He seemed okay but when I was talking to him my bracelet tightened." Apollo frowned slightly. Emma tilted her head to the side.
"Hmmmm. I wonder…" She trailed off and had a distant look in her eyes as she took another sip of her coffee. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Apollo cleared his throat and continued.
"Yes well, we then went to the Coliseum and went back stage where we found Lamiroir." Trucy then interrupted.
"Yeah and even though she's blind, she knew who we were by our footsteps!" She said with excitement in her voice. Emma smiled.
"Yes well it's been scientifically proven that if a person loses one sense, their other senses are heightened, so I can understand hearing your footsteps but being able to recognise who you were as well," Emma tilted her head to the side. "That's impressive." Apollo nodded and finished the piece of pasta in his mouth before continuing.
"We talked to her about what she heard and she said it was sure that it was Daryan and LeTouse. We also talked about Machi and Mr LeTouse and she explained how Machi helps her get around and that she didn't know that Mr LeTouse was an agent for Interpol." He explained. Emma nodded her head.
"Well he was working undercover after all so I suppose that is not that big of a shock." She said. "Anything else?" Trucy spoke up once more.
"Well apparently Lamiroir can't remember who she was before she became blind! She was worried that Mr LeTouse was watching her due to something she did in her past life but I told her that it was unlikely." Trucy smiled. Emma returned said smile but with a slight hesitation. Apollo noticed this and focused on her. Emma spoke up.
"I agree with you there Truce. I highly doubt that he was following her specifically. Her past is unknown to all of us I believe" While she was talking, Apollo looked at her but she was just sat normally. He was about to ask her about it but she spoke up once more. "Anyway let's continue on what else you found out." Over her shoulder she felt 3 sets of eyes piercing into the back of her head. Apollo sighed and nodded before continuing.
"Just before we head to the wings of the stage, Lamiroir tells us about stumbling over a device on the floor. We found a head set on the floor and she told us that they were used for communication between performers and staff members and they had a limited range of about 30 feet." Emma nodded. "When we got to the wings of the stage we met Valant Gramarye." At this Emma froze slightly but Apollo carried on. "He told us that he planned the disappearing trick as Klav– I-I-I mean Prosecutor Gavin requested it." Apollo flushed slightly and Emma and Trucy giggled.
"Okay, so Rocky asked for him to perform the disappearing act, so why was he still there?" Emma asked with a mischievous look in her eye. Apollo coughed and look at the floor with bright red cheeks before answering.
"Well he was there at the performance to see how the trick went." Trucy then butted in.
"He also said about bringing back Troupe Gramarye one day too!" She said excitedly. Emma choked on her sip of coffee and started coughing. The men at the table looked up in concern.
"Are you okay Emma?" Phoenix asked. Emma managed to stop coughing and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine thanks." She said smiling slightly. Emma then looked at her watch and frowned. "It's getting late, you should head home Apollo." Apollo nodded and took his takeout box to the kitchen. Emma followed him to the door. "If you need any more help just give me a call okay?" She said Apollo nodded.
"Thanks Emma. If you're in court tomorrow you can look through what we have." Emma nodded and smiled before letting Apollo out the door. Once he had left she closed the door and sighed. Trucy came up to her.
"Auntie Emma, are Daddy, Papa and I staying over tonight?" She asked sweetly. Emma smiled.
"Yes, all the bedrooms are set up so they are usable so you can stay in my room, your Dad and Papa will stay in the guest room while I'll be with Liam in his room." Trucy grinned. "And with that being said you should get ready to sleep Missy, I have a long sleeping t-shirt you can sleep in." Trucy frowned but nodded and went down the short hallway. "My room's the last door on the left!" Emma shouted after her niece. She then walked over to the table and sat next to Liam. "So, how are we doing so far?" She asked. Phoenix looked over at her and sighed. Before he could say anything Emma held up a hand. "You know what, let's not worry about it for now Nicki. We have more important things on hand." Emma sighed. "And I believe I will be need to be on hand tomorrow for court by the sounds of it." Phoenix nodded and sighed himself. There was a moment of silence before Miles cleared his throat.
"Well, if no one minds, I will be retiring to the guest room." He looked at Emma and Liam. "Thank you for accommodating us." He said Emma smiled.
"No problem." Liam then yawned and got up as well.
"I'm going to turn in to. See you in a bit." He smiled at Emma who returned it. With that he and Miles headed towards the bedrooms. Now it was just Emma and Phoenix sat at the table, which was still covered in papers. Phoenix looked of at Emma with a smirk on his face.
"Sooo…" He started, Emma rose an eyebrow. "You're sharing a bed with Liam then?" He asked. Emma blushed and kicked her brother under the table.
"Shut up Nicki." She muttered, not looking in his direction. Phoenix grinned.
"You give me my hat, I won't comment." He said. Emma looked up at him and nodded before taking the beanie off and tossing it at his face. She then got up from the table. Phoenix followed suit and walked round to be in front of her. "Night Emma." He said and gave her a hug. Emma hugged him back.
"Night." She said and with that Phoenix headed off to the guest room. Emma sighed once more and walked over to the glass wall that lead onto a balcony and looked out over the city. Tomorrow's going to be a long day…
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