Hello everybody! Allow me to say that this is not only an update. This is also an addition to the current nineteenth chapter that I felt could be blended in with the twentieth chapter. I had originally decided to keep the two chapters separate, but that chapter had somehow managed to merge itself into this chapter. That was when I decided to put these two together. Just so that you won't have to end up having to reread the whole thing just to get to the new section, I'll give you the sentence where the new addition starts out at. You can just use your computer's search function to look for it and make it easier on yourself instead of just blindly searching and continuously passing it.
"After spending a couple of minutes walking down the stairs in rather contemplative silence, they both finally found their feet resting on the first floor of the lighthouse where they had first started their investigation." I know it's a pretty long sentence, but you should be able to get to it once you type in the first few words on it. Hope you enjoy the new addition.
Anyway, the reason why I had added Amy in the last chapter was because of two reasons. The first one was because there were a few people who left me private messages asking for her appearance along with one lone reviewer. The second reason is simply because I noticed I never placed her in the story and wanted to. It's as simple as that. And for those of you with some kind of speculation, she is not related to the victim from the last case, Ms. Kuro Rose. That part is just great coincidence that I never noticed at that time. I'm just lazy to be making a note of that in this story.
Well, I noticed that I've been giving you all a bit of the runaround concerning the LK-9 Incident for a little while. I'm sure most of you are really wondering what the heck does that case have to do with this story. If it'll make you all feel better, I've decided that I'll give out a little bit more detail regarding that case in this chapter. Mind you that it's not going to be the amount that would make a general case summation, but it should leave you with a few more new unanswered questions that I'm sure you're all already tired of trying to have figured out.
Let me go ahead and place the evidence and profiles that we have thus far so you can review them if you're actually playing along instead of just reading through like any other story.
Evidence:
Attorney's Badge: Sonic's badge proving that he's a genuine defense attorney. Ever since getting tied into a murder because of him losing it, he's since taken precautions to make sure that it stays secured within the inside of his gloves.
Shadow's Testimony: Testimony given by Shadow and memorized by Tails. The Prosecutor said that he was quite shocked upon hearing two gunshots coming from in front of his path followed by a splashing sound ten seconds later. He remembered picking up the gun with his bare hands before the witness's screams shook him out of his state of mind.
Ms. Mae's Autopsy Report: A report detailing how Ms. Mae died. She was killed between six-thirty and seven in the morning on 6/23. She was shot once in the chest, but the bullet merely caused her to faint. The real cause of death was from drowning after being thrown into the Mobius River. A horizontal bruise on her waist most likely from being pushed hard onto the harbor railing is proof of this.
Weather Report: A report on the weather on the day of the murder submitted by Detective Silver. It shows that it was a very foggy morning then with the fog at its densest between six and seven-thirty. Visibility was less than ten feet at the dock area without the aid of car headlights.
Pistol: The weapon that was recovered at the Mobius Dock. The ballistic markings on the bullet extracted from Ms. Mae's body matches to the gun. Signs show that it was fired twice. It also bears Shadow's fingerprints.
Photograph: A picture that was taken by Amy Rose. While it does show the scene of the crime before the police arrived, it also seems to show another incident in the background just underneath the bright lighthouse light. It looks almost like the same exact scene that had unfolded and led to the death of Prosecutor Flora Mae. As such, it has brought about an investigation of the lighthouse in order to figure out some answers.
Profiles:
Sonic Hedgehog: A seventeen year old blue furred male hedgehog. He works in Dr. Robotnik's Law Firm office and is currently on track on becoming a full-fledged attorney and escape from fledgling status.
Miles Prower: Best known by his nickname Tails. He's a twelve-year-old yellow-orange furred fox with two tails. After his performance in the previous case at the local Precinct, Dr. Robotnik has taken him in as the firm's local on-scene detective.
Knuckles Echidna: He is an eighteen-year-old red furred echidna detective who works at the local precinct and is good friends with Sonic and Tails.
Salemand Eres: A twenty-two year old black cat with unusually bright red eyes. He came to Dr. Robotnik's Law Firm in order to employ the help of Vector to find his little brother. However, his actions make him seem rather suspicious.
Shadow Hedgehog: An eighteen-year-old prosecutor who doesn't like nonsense and is childhood friends with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. He's currently being held by the police under suspicion of murdering one of his coworkers at the Mobius Docks.
Silver Hedgehog: An eighteen-year-old Senior Detective down at the Local Precinct. He was the first detective to have received the call about a disturbance at the Mobius Docks and has thus assumed leadership over the initial investigation.
Flora Mae: A prosecutor from the Prosecutor's Office. She was Shadow's coworker and was discovered to have been murdered only after Shadow heard the sound of gunshots at the dock and quickly went to investigate it.
Amy Rose: A sixteen-year-old pink furred hedgehog who attends Mobius High as a Junior and is a proud photographer of her school's newspaper. She heard the crime taking place while taking her daily summer morning walk and stumbled upon Shadow with a gun in his hands.
Mephiles: An old hedgehog of sixty-five with over thirty years worth of experience in the court of law as a prosecutor. His ruthlessness in the courtroom are well-known by all who work within the courtroom. There are rumors that he forges evidence and fixes witnesses' testimonies so cases will go his way because of his impossibly no-lose record, but all are unfounded.
Well, that's it for the review on the evidence and profiles discussed thus far. Please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. They are always helpful in keeping me writing these mysteries for all of you, and I take them seriously if there are any suggestions or constructive criticism that you might give out.
Until the next update on this or any of my other stories everybody!
Chapter 19: An Ironic Twist of Fate and Truth Pt. 5
"And do you honestly think that you'll be able to discover the answer you're looking for by investigating a building that theoretically doesn't have anything to do with any of this if not for the picture that Amy girl took showing some kind of incident happening?" Knuckles asked as he sat behind the wheel of his Precinct-issued car with Sonic sitting next to him and Tails in the back. They had left straight from the courthouse after the trial was suspended by some work of a miracle on the hedgehog's part. "As much as I would like to help you two with this, I kind of have better things to do than to act as a personal chauffer and a personal detective for choice investigations. Unlike Silver, I'm not at a high enough position at the Precinct to be picking and choosing what cases I want to work on."
"But you were the only person I could think of asking to bring us down here without the thought of being turned down," the cobalt hedgehog responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "And I did think about asking Silver for help on this being that he's in charge with the investigation, but he had already left the courthouse by the time I finished packing up my stuff. I don't know where he went, but there was no way I could ask him for permission to see the lighthouse then. Not many detectives really know or trust me enough to be at a crime scene other than you two, so I kind of had my hands tied in trying to get some much needed answers. I'm sure he'd let us do some investigating if he's at the lighthouse, but we at least need to get there before we can ask."
"If you don't mind me asking, Knuckles, what are these other things that you have to do?" Tails asked as he tried to change the conversation. He had been listening to the mini-argument for the past five minutes and was starting to get tired of it. "I can't imagine you being busy about something other than Shadow's case right now."
"I can't really concern myself on that because I haven't been assigned to the case," the echidna explained as they were nearing the Mobius Docks where the murder allegedly took place. "And I can't really go about asking Silver for a role in it because I'm right now swamped in paperwork. And on top of that, I still haven't gotten around to asking Vector just what that black cat yesterday wanted to talk to him about."
"What black cat?" the defense attorney asked with a hint of confusion in his voice that quickly changed into that of realization. "Oh, you're talking about that Salemand Eres guy from yesterday, aren't you? I completely forgot about him! Vector still hasn't said anything to you about him yet, huh?"
"I just said I haven't had a chance to talk to him about it! Don't you ever listen to a word I say, Sonic? I swear; you do things like this just to annoy the hell out of me!"
"Jeez, sorry about that, Knux. You're not the only one with things on your mind right now, you know? I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to be handling myself against that Mephiles guy when I see him in court tomorrow. I'm telling you, he was worse than ruthless when I faced off with him today. Just imagine how he's going to be tomorrow when he has more ammunition up his sleeve to work against me."
"I've only heard stories about him through other detectives in the Precinct saying how unbelievably ruthless he is. Now that I'm hearing it from you, I guess I can't really say now that everybody was just exaggerating. Oh well, all I can do is wish you luck tomorrow and hope you end up surviving the legal slaughter fest."
"It might as well have been an actual slaughter fest today with the way he kept shooting down everything we threw at him!" the two tailed fox responded with a frustrated sigh escaping from his lips. "Even I had a hard time just trying to get something plausible through him! That's really saying something there, you know?"
"I think that Shadow believed that you two would end up pulling through, though," Knuckles responded as they neared the lighthouse and started slowing down. "If you weren't doing much of a job at defending him, I'm sure he probably would've suddenly called for your dismissal and try his hand at defending himself. You know how impatient he tends to be when he's forced to rely on someone temporarily to get good results and they're not doing much of a job working at it."
"Yeah, he practically kicked me off of a science project we were partnered on once when we were in junior high," Sonic recalled as he gave off a small chuckle just as the car passed by some parked police cars that were surrounding the area where the crime was first discovered. "He'd probably have done the same thing here if I were doing a bad job."
"From what I've heard Shadow tell me once, you almost ended up making a small chemical bomb before he stopped you," Tails stated as he thought back to when he first heard the junior high story. "He managed to cover for your mistake and correct it, but he made sure that you were nowhere near the chemicals again."
"O-Oh, I…kind of forgot about that part," the cobalt hedgehog responded sheepishly while Knuckles shook his head in amusement before stopping the car in front of the lighthouse. "At least the teacher didn't catch and expel us for creating a potentially lethal weapon or something like that."
"How about you guys get out of my car before you scare my transmission so much with your explosion stories that you really make it go up in flames?" the echidna said in a teasing tone as he unlocked the doors for the other two to get out. "Unless I was just seeing things, I think we passed Silver's car back from the main investigating area. You better ask him for permission to look around the lighthouse while you still have the chance."
"Thanks for the ride, Knuckles!" the two tailed fox thanked the other as he exited the car. Sonic chanced one harsh glare at the other for the comment about explosions before getting out himself.
"About time you guys got here," Silver's voice suddenly cut in from seemingly out of nowhere. All three turned their heads towards the lighthouse and saw Silver walking out of the building through a door that had just opened. "And don't even think about trying to drive back to the Precinct, Knuckles."
"Silver, you know that I have other things I need to take care of," Knuckles responded as the senior detective walked up to the door that Sonic had left open after stepping aside. "The guys at the Precinct aren't letting me do anything else until I finish up the stupid report defending my decision from when I decided to keep the police away when we found you beaten to a pulp and Ms. Rose dead."
"I've already taken care of that with your boss," the silver furred hedgehog bluntly responded as he lightly leaned against the door so that it could not be closed. "I've allowed him to let you assist me with investigating this lighthouse. I would've let you take a look around by yourself, but I don't think he would've agreed to let you off paperwork duty unless I told him that you were the only detective left I could assign as an assistant."
"…Are you trying to make me become behind in my work and get me fired?" the red echidna asked before letting out an annoyed sigh and turning off his car engine. He knew better than to argue with Silver on things like this, especially when it has already been done. "I honestly don't have the time to be doing investigations right now. I could care less whether or not you enlisted me as your assistant detective; I really need to finish all of the paperwork that's piling up on my desk!"
"I promise to help you out with them once we're done with this, but I felt it important that you be here along with Sonic and Tails," the senior detective explained as he closed the car door as the other detective exited and locked it before putting the keys in his vest pocket. "I have a feeling you'll all be more than interested in taking a look at this lighthouse."
"Have you been here ever since I persuaded the Judge in posting a suspension because of what Amy's Photograph showed in the background?" Sonic asked as Silver took the lead and led them all towards the lighthouse. "I couldn't find you when I wanted to ask you for permission to search this place?"
"I've actually been here ever since you announced that something happened here. I'm not sure if any of you remember this, but this lighthouse is pretty important to you all. I guess it's also important to me being that it was the first place I worked at as an intern detective two years ago. I'd say it's also pretty important to Shadow, too."
"How is this place important to us all?" Tails asked as the door was opened and the senior detective ushered them inside before him. "I really don't think that any of us have been here before with the exception of you."
"It's where we all met for the first time, although I rather it had been in better conditions than they were then."
"…Oh, no," the cobalt hedgehog groaned out as he suddenly realized something and stopped in his tracks. Both Tails and Knuckles almost ran into him because of the sudden stop. "You're not talking about what I think you're talking about, are you?"
"Wait a minute," the two tailed fox wondered thoughtfully as he quickly recovered and took a look at the lighthouse. "Some of the stuff here kind of looks familiar. It's almost as if I've been here before."
"…You were here before!" Knuckles announced as he finally got a good look at the room and took in a deep breath from shock. "You, Sonic, Shadow, and I were held captive here in the events that led to the existence of the LK-9 Incident!"
"I was just as surprised as you when I heard about this place being a crime scene once again," Silver stated with a sigh as he turned on a switch that was on the wall that allowed the lights to turn on. "Don't forget that I've been working on trying to solve the LK-9 Incident during every moment of working free time I could get. I'm pretty familiar with a good portion of the key details in those files, and I know better than most on the detective force about things concerning the details. I immediately recognized this place when Sonic first introduced it in court earlier this afternoon."
"I never thought I'd be back here again," the defense attorney responded with another low groan as he forced himself to take a look around. It looked pretty much like a regular house's living room with couches and tables placed in a neat and organized fashion. Towards the back was a door that was currently open and clearly led lower into the lighthouse, a part of the building he remembered all too clearly. "Please tell me we're not going to go checking the basement area. I already don't feel comfortable enough being here."
"Don't worry; I was thinking of checking things out down there myself," the silver furred hedgehog explained with an understanding wave of his hand as he headed towards the door in the back. "You and Tails just bother with checking the top of the lighthouse where you said something happened. I would like Knuckles to examine things on this floor for anything that might pertain to your case or the LK-9 Incident. After all, he has helped me more than a few times on that, so he's more than qualified to be looking for things regarding that incident. That okay with you, Knuckles?"
"I'll be more than happy to search this place once you tell me who owns this damned lighthouse and how you managed to get in here," the echidna responded as he was the first in the group of three to regain his composure. "I'm quite amazed that you managed to get a warrant to search this place so quickly."
"I called and asked Vector to get them in order when I left the courthouse, and they were ready by the time I got here," the senior detective stated as he stopped in front of the door and turned around to face the other three. "Anyway, the names of the owners of this lighthouse are Maxwell and Lois Pryce; the man prefers to be called Max as noted on a letter I found addressed to him on the desk. They were once well known entrepreneurs in the seafood business, but they quit when their business was bought out from underneath them by their partner and changed into a shipping goods business. They both have been living here and keeping the lighthouse in order ever since. I'm still looking into who this third business partner is, but I doubt that the person really has anything to do with the case. But still, he might come up as a witness in case we end up charging this Max guy for accessory to murder."
"Why charge Mr. Pryce but not his wife?" Tails asked as he saw a set of stairs leading upward and moved towards it before stopping short from the first step. "I would think that they both have an equal opportunity of having a hand at whatever happened up here two days ago. Or are you telling me that she already has an established alibi?"
"First of all, they were brother and sister living under the same roof in a seemingly good familial relationship. Secondly, believe me when I say her alibi couldn't be any more concrete. The starting reports on the LK-9 Incident have recorded that she died at the hands of the people who chose to use this place as their holding cell for you three. Unless she somehow came back from the dead, I really don't think she had anything to do with this particular incident we're looking into. That only leaves Mr. Pryce as our suspect."
"So this Max guy wasn't involved in our kidnapping?" Sonic asked as he could not help but let his eyes wander and soak in the view of the room that was kept in neat order. "Where was he on the day that this all happened?"
"The reports say that he had a strong alibi in that he was visiting his parents at the hospital that day. Mrs. Pryce had returned home early so as to prepare for the foggy night that was coming that day."
"As much as I would like to relive the ever so wonderful details of that day," Knuckles interrupted in a sarcastic tone, "can we please get back to Shadow's case? Where is Mr. Pryce right now?"
"I had him taken down to the Precinct for further questioning the moment I got here," Silver simply explained. "The police were already here still taking a look at the scene outside, so it was a simple matter at getting him out of here. We pretty much have full reign of this place for the time being, so don't hesitate in looking at whatever you think might be suspicious. That reminds me, do you and Tails have gloves on, Sonic?"
"You know we're both in a habit of wearing them," said cobalt hedgehog responded as he held up his hands to show the senior detective his covered hands as his little brother did the same. "Now how about we hurry up and start searching this place before we waste all our time talking about something that has nothing to do with the current case?"
"Then you two go search the upper sections of the lighthouse while Knuckles hangs out down here on the first floor," the senior detective quickly recapped as he turned around and made his way down to the basement. "I'll be down here if any of you guys need me! And don't let anybody else in here except for the police, Knuckles!"
"As if I had any intention to let regular people in," the detective said with a sigh before putting on a pair of black gloves he kept in his vest pocket. He then said as he began to examine the area, "You two hurry up and see if you can find anything to help Shadow's case up there. I'll take care of things down here."
"Way ahead of you there!" Tails yelled out as he was already halfway up the set of spiraling stairs with Sonic quietly trailing behind him.
"This is definitely going to be more than interesting," Knuckles murmured under his breath as he was now left alone to search the living room area that he noted was also connected to both a kitchen and a small study area. "Not only are we looking for something related to Shadow's case; we're also looking for anything that might have been from the LK-9 Incident almost three years ago. Maybe we can finally dig up something new. I just hope we can make it work before the statute of limitations runs out in two days."
"Sonic, are you alright?" Tails asked once both he and his older brother made it to the top of the long spiral staircase that took almost a minute to walk up. "You've been quiet ever since we've started climbing up the lighthouse."
"I'm fine as I can be considering what I've just learned about this place," Sonic responded with a shrug of his shoulders as he began to look around and noticed a lot of stuff laying against the glass wall that had to deal with the large lighthouse light sitting in the center of the otherwise barren room. "I never thought I'd be back to the place that made me into the person I am now. I'm kind of hoping you don't remember what happened three years ago."
"Have you ever heard of me forgetting something both traumatic and important in my life?" the two tailed fox responded as he turned around and looked at the hedgehog straight in the eyes with his arms crossed. It was clear from even a mile that he was being completely serious. "And even if I had a choice on whether or not I wanted to forget about the fact I was kidnapped along with you, Knuckles, and Shadow, I wouldn't consider it. Even though it's a pretty bad memory that might stick with me for the rest of my life, it's what makes me who I am today. I've always liked learning about new things, but I probably wouldn't have had the drive like I do today if it weren't for that incident. Besides, I think you should be more worried about yourself than for me. After all, you lost a lot that day."
"…I'd like to think that we all lost something that day," the cobalt hedgehog stated in a sort of morbid tone before he started to look around the room. "Shadow and I just ended up getting the worst end of the stick. I guess Knuckles also did, too, considering how Shadow's dad was the one who taught him everything about detective work."
"…I think we better start concentrating on our work here," the fox said after a moment's silence as he joined in on the search for some key evidence. "We can delve into our past some other time."
For the next few minutes, both guys silently scoped out the room with careful hands and eyes in search of anything suspicious. It was unfortunately quite tedious work being that there was nothing interesting except for the normal things that were to be expected in the upkeep of a lighthouse. They had soon explored every single spot that they could and still failed to unearth anything new.
"So much for that idea," the defense attorney stated with a despondent sigh after uncovering nothing helpful to their case. "We failed to find anything that shows any indication that something happened here during the time Amy saw Shadow with a gun in his hands. I am so going to be the laughingstock of the courtroom tomorrow when Mephiles catches wind of how I utterly failed at this."
"Hey, it's too soon to start thinking about that," Tails reassured his big brother before pointing to an open glass door that both had noticed a long time ago. "We still haven't even checked outside on the lighthouse balcony yet. We might end up finding something there that'll help make our case. After all, the Photograph did show something happening outside since someone fell over the side."
"And if we don't have anything here, then we're probably going to have to summon that Mr. Pryce guy who owns this place as a witness. I doubt he'd be much help since Mephiles is probably going to pull another stunt like he did today. I'm seriously going to die if I have to work that hard for information again."
"Stop whining like a little kid and start looking for something that will help us!" the two tailed fox simply stated with a roll of his eyes as he took Sonic by the wrist and dragged him out to the lighthouse balcony. "You'll be able to whine as much as you want once we searched every single spot we can."
Once outside, they saw that the balcony almost extended around the whole exterior of the lighthouse. It had stopped short towards the river section and probably looked almost like a horseshoe shape if looked from above. The Lighthouse Railing that protected people from falling over extended up to an adult's waist with lots of threaded wiring extending to the balcony floor and kept so close together that not even a fly could fly through it.
"Hmm, looks like we already have one similarity between here and the victim," Sonic mused as he seemed to have quickly broken out of his semi-depressed slump. "If Ms. Mae really were pushed hard into the water after being shot, then this railing is the same height as the one on the docks. We're going to need more than this, however, if we plan on convincing the courts that this lighthouse is the right place."
"Hey, I can see the police all the way from here!" Tails exclaimed happily as he looked over the railing that was at his upper chest level. Sonic had no worries that he might accidentally fall over and to the ground or water being that he had to actually climb over the railing for that to be possible. "I doubt, though, that we could see them were this a foggy morning like when this all happened because of the lack of any bright light like this. This should be the spot where Amy's Photograph barely managed to capture whatever happened. We should concentrate our search around here."
"Way ahead of you, little brother," the cobalt hedgehog responded happily as he crouched down and began to inspect the ground area. "If a gun really was fired, then there might be a bullet casing around here provided that the perpetrator was too in-the-moment or just plain stupid. I think the Photograph showed the person falling into the water at the end of the railing path over here, so why don't you check over there?"
"My turn to be way ahead of you," the two tailed fox announced in a sort of playful fashion as he was already searching the railing where they assumed whoever died up here fell over. It was not even five seconds later before he let out a breath of surprise. "Well, it looks like I managed to find something potentially useful here. Want to guess what I found? Come on; try to guess."
"I doubt that it's the ultimate answer to every single question this case keeps on digging up. Why don't you just tell me instead of making me play 20 Questions? I'm not really up to it right now."
"I'm seeing a small spot of dried Blood on the other side of this Lighthouse Railing," the other responded. "If this ends up being Ms. Mae's blood, then we've got a pretty big break in our case."
"And if that doesn't work, then this might open up a small hole," the defense attorney added as he got up with his right hand in a fist as if he had something in it. "But let me see the Blood first. Do you honestly think that it's possible for our victim's Blood to be on the railing? She was pushed into the water right after being shot."
"But she was probably still standing on this balcony for maybe a couple of seconds at most. It probably takes about three seconds after the button that takes pictures on a camera is pressed before it's actually created. When the Photograph was ready to become what it is now, our victim was already over the railing and falling to the water. With that in mind, it's my guess that she probably brought a hand to her wound for a split second before feeling her waist hitting the railing and grabbing it. That was when she was shoved hard enough for there to be a bruise on her lower waist."
"That's a pretty good idea, but we still need to know if it belongs to Ms. Mae before we can say that's the truth. Let's go downstairs and ask Silver or Knuckles to get someone up here to get some tests done on it."
"Hold on a moment, Sonic," Tails said before Sonic could leave the balcony. "You still haven't told me what you managed to figure out yet."
"Oh yeah, I managed to find a single Bullet Casing about three or so feet from where you found the Blood," Sonic explained as he remembered what was in his fist and showed it to the two tailed fox. "I'm guessing they were already out here talking since there aren't any broken windows caused from a bullet flying through it. If this casing matches the bullet that murdered Ms. Mae, then this will prove that she was killed up here and that the scene on the dock was nothing but a set-up!"
"And if we can prove that what we both found are connected to our case, then we'd probably need to figure out next just what was it that both Shadow and Amy heard falling into the river then," the young fox responded with a thoughtful look on his face. "I'm pretty sure that Mephiles is going to jump on us with that if we don't explain what it was they heard on the docks."
"Then I guess that's the next place we have to search for evidence before we go back to court tomorrow," the cobalt hedgehog announced as he went back into the lighthouse with his little brother close behind and was heading down the stairs. "Even if what we found proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ms. Mae was murdered up here, there's nothing speaking against the thought that Shadow probably murdered somebody else at the docks instead and that they failed to drag up the body. We believe that he didn't kill anybody, so the only other explanation is that there was something heavy dropped into the river right after both of them heard some kind of gunshot."
"Wait a minute!" the fox exclaimed as he stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the stairs. His older brother also stopped and turned around to face him. "If that Bullet Casing proves that she was shot here, then there's something very wrong here. How the heck did the gun that murdered her manage to both find its way to the docks and have Shadow's fingerprints all over it? There's only one murder weapon on this case, but the data we've got now seems to indicate a Fake Murder Weapon!"
"But that's impossible being that there's only one gunshot wound on Ms. Mae's body! That and it matches with the gun we have as evidence right now. If she was killed here at the same time the set-up was taking place at the docks, then that would mean the gun the police took in from the dock as evidence was the Fake Murder Weapon… Oh, please don't tell me someone on the force ended up switching the evidence or something like that."
"That would be the most reasonable answer if not for the fact that there's one thing completely impossible about it," Tails responded while rubbing at his forehead as if trying to stave off an oncoming headache stemming from all the complicated thinking. "Shadow's fingerprints are on the gun. If they wanted to make a successful switch, they would also need to find a way to get his prints on it. This is one argument we definitely can't be presenting to the court since there's nothing to even back it up."
"Hmm, looks like it's a job we'll need one of our detective friends to look into," Sonic stated with a thoughtful hum emanating from his throat. He then said as he turned around and continue down the stairs, "We'll let one of them take care of that while we concentrate on doing what we can."
"Let's just hope that they can get some good answers for us before the case is over," the two tailed fox responded with a sigh before following his brother down the stairs and back to the first floor where Knuckles was no doubt still searching for evidence. "It isn't going to be worth much to us if they figure things out after everything's over and ending in the prosecution's favor."
After spending a couple of minutes walking down the stairs in rather contemplative silence, they both finally found their feet resting on the first floor of the lighthouse where they had first started their investigation. However, they did not see Knuckles anywhere and wondered just where he wandered off to. After all, he was supposed to be investigating the first floor.
"Well, that was a surprisingly quick examination of the upper area of the lighthouse," Knuckles suddenly responded in light surprise once the two were back on the first floor. They saw the other looking towards them from his position behind the kitchen counter. "I was figuring that you'd both take a bit longer considering this was the chance you fought so hard for in court. You either found a lot of evidence pertaining to your case, or you found nothing and just decided to give up. Which is it?"
"Do you really think that we'd give up that easily?" Sonic asked with a slight roll of his eyes as he approached the echidna with the Bullet Casing still in his gloved hand and showing it to him. "Shadow's counting on us to find some evidence here and get him out of jail. It'd be a disservice to him if we gave up without knowing whether or not that we've gone as far as we can. We only came back down because we found a couple of things that we thought you might be interested in looking at."
"Is that a Bullet Casing?" the echidna asked as he dropped what he was doing and walked over to the living room where the other two had stopped. He then asked while taking the casing, "I can't believe there's something like this here. This might sound like a stupid question, but where did you find it?"
"On the lighthouse's balcony," Tails explained as he looked around and saw that Silver was still down in the basement. "And that wasn't the only out-of-place thing we found. There was also a small spot of Blood on the balcony railing, but we need some test results done on it. If our hunch is right, both of these things have some kind of relation to Ms. Mae, and that would tie this place in with her murder."
"A stray Bullet Casing and a spot of Blood on a lighthouse balcony railing," the detective murmured under his breath in thought. "These are things you don't usually associate with a place like this unless it holds some kind of connection to a crime. You both sure did a whole lot better than me down here. I only managed to find trash and other normal stuff. I did manage to find some Paperwork that mentions him occasionally going to the doctor, but they don't really specify the reason for doing so nor the times he went."
"Then maybe you could get someone to go to his doctor and figure out his reasons for visiting there," the two tailed fox suggested as he decided to take a seat on the sofa after checking that there was nothing important on there that he might accidentally disturb. "Perhaps you might discover a suitable alibi protecting him from suspicion on the day of the murder. I'm not sure whether or not he's involved with this murder, but his lighthouse home is a scene of something rather suspicious. In the meantime, Sonic and I will be trying to gather some more information at the docks."
"So you really are going with that argument in court tomorrow that this was the actual scene of Ms. Mae's murder, are you? Well, I suppose it could be more than doable if these two things you found on the balcony clearly pertain to her murder. Just give me some time to run some tests on these in order to see if they are even related to this case. They aren't going to be much use to you as they are right now."
"We were hoping that you'd be able to do that," the cobalt hedgehog responded with a thankful smile approaching his lips. "Of course, that's provided if you're allowed to go back to the Precinct right now. I don't really want to pull you away from here if you found something new or important to the LK-9 Incident."
"Well, it kind of depends whether or not Silver still needs me here," Knuckles responded with an unsure shrug of his shoulders tagged with his answer. "To be perfectly honest, I want to stay here and see if there's anything around that pertains to the LK-9 Incident. However, Shadow's case takes priority right now. I just wish that both of these cases didn't have to reach its court date limit on the same day."
"Even if we had more time to look into that case from three years ago, I really doubt that we'd be able to learn more than the other detectives who looked into this case did," the two tailed fox stated with a shrug of his shoulders. "I mean, we're all pretty much rookies in what we do. The only person with probably a lot of experience is Silver, and he's only been a Senior Detective for about a year at most."
"But he's the only one out of us all who knows the most details regarding the incident," Knuckles explained as he went back to the kitchen and began searching the drawers before pulling out something that looked like a sandwich bag and put the Bullet Casing in it. "In fact, he's the only detective I've seen at the Precinct who even bothers looking at the case at every chance he has. It's like everybody else either forgot about it or just don't care. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one who knew the most up-to-date information regarding it. Only he could have a chance at moving it along now."
"And I believe the time for me to bet on that chance is right now," Silver suddenly spoke up as the other three turned to see the Senior Detective climbing up from the basement area. "After all, it isn't every day that one has the chance to examine the scene of a crime committed long ago on another unrelated case."
"Did you manage to find anything good on the LK-9 Incident down there, Silver?" Sonic asked in an obviously eager tone. "I'll even settle for you just finding something related with Shadow's case."
"I'm sorry to tell you that I didn't find anything pertaining to either of the cases that are really of great importance," the silver furred hedgehog simply responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "Apparently, this wasn't as simple to garner evidence in the basement as I thought it was going to be. Then again, I suppose I got a little overexcited when I heard that I'd be examining a place that was directly related to the LK-9 Incident. Sorry if I ended up getting any of your hopes up."
"…If you were any other detective, I'd say that you were just playing with us on this and risk my job by punching you right in the nose," the echidna responded with a hard scowl appearing on his face upon hearing this. "I should've known that it wasn't going to be that simple to solve that stupid case. I can't believe I let you drag me into this case and forsake the other stuff I have waiting to be finished back at my desk."
"If it makes you feel any better, I did manage to find something strange down there that seems pretty random yet equally important in regards to something else," the silver furred hedgehog quickly added in his defense as he pulled out from his coat pocket a neatly folded piece of paper that looked suspiciously like a letter. "It doesn't really talk about anything with either of the cases, but I think Sonic and Tails would be more than interested in taking a look at it since I think it might involve them."
"What is it?" Tails asked with raised eyebrows as he approached the senior detective and took the letter from his hands. He then unfolded it and started to read the contents to himself for about a minute or so.
"Well, what does it say?" the cobalt hedgehog asked in an impatient tone with his arms crossed. Knuckles had since gone back to exploring the kitchen for any clues he might have missed while Silver walked over to the living room and took a seat on the sofa. "It doesn't take that long to read a simple letter, does it?"
"It does if you end up having to do a double-take just to make sure you read everything correctly," the fox responded without taking his eyes off of the letter. "Where exactly did you find this, Silver?"
"The basement kind of had the look of a small office area where Mr. Pryce most likely conducted his private business," the senior detective explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "It was resting on top of a desk and looked as though it had just been read. Perhaps he was looking through it before we took him in for questioning."
"That's it; I'm going to read it myself!" the attorney growled out as he snatched the letter out of his little brother's hands and began reading it over. "I bet you're just keeping it to yourself on purpose!"
"…I'm not even going to say anything about that," Knuckles responded with clear sarcasm in his tone while rolling his eyes. "Since you're now reading it, why don't you tell me what it says?"
"To whomever it may concern," Sonic started to read out loud the computer-printed words before pausing momentarily to make a snarky comment. "Who the hell even writes that formally nowadays, using the full name along with a formal title of Mister? Whoever wrote this must be an old guy. As mentioned in the previous letter we sent you that we hope you disposed of as instructed, you're connected to this blasted old case whether you like it or not. I trust I need not remind you why that is being that the memory of it should still be fresh in your mind. One false step in the wrong direction can easily be motive enough for us to have you erased.
"With that in mind, we have a small favor to ask of you," he continued to read as the Letter moved on to the main topic. "Like it was all those years ago where your life was permanently changed, we have use for your wonderful abode. I shall not divulge on the details here if by some miraculous nightmare this ends up in the wrong hands. However, this is something we feel that you should take part of. And do not forget that you cannot refuse. After all, our wonderful colleague who runs the defense attorney agency where our annoyingly lucky rookie attorney works at is always keeping tabs on you. I'll be the first to know whether or not you try to take one step out of your intended role.
"Until the day when we meet again, Mr. Pryce. Please try to stay both free and alive until then. After all, it would be unfortunate to lose such a wonderful asset to our operations such as you. That and I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss such a 'killer' performance on the docks that's to take place in the early morning after the eve of our visit."
"…Why do I get the feeling I know who this colleague the writer of this Letter is talking about is?" Sonic groaned out after he finished reading said Letter and folded it back up before tossing it back to Silver who had a slightly hard time catching the floating piece of paper. "And I'm not even going to mention how this seems to also talk about the case I'm currently working on right now."
"That's probably because you really do know who it's referring to," the silver furred hedgehog responded with a shrug of his shoulders and a small sigh that shared the cobalt hedgehog's sentiments while carefully pocketing the Letter for safe keeping. "I mean, there's really only one defense attorney in this town that would fit the bill as an 'annoyingly lucky rookie attorney' the Letter spoke of. As such, the colleague of the writer of this Letter who seems to be coercing Mr. Pryce is your boss, Dr. Ivo Robotnik."
"But there isn't any evidence supporting your idea except for this Letter!" Tails quickly countered as he tried to make sense of what he just read and heard. "It's possible that whoever wrote this was simply trying to scare Mr. Pryce into cooperating with him. After all, Sonic is already well-known for discovering the hidden truth in court proceedings; and Dr. Robotnik is known to be quite a successful defense attorney with a reputable name. It could be that his name is the only thing being used here by the author of this Letter. It doesn't mean that he's involved in this coercing business in any way!"
"I was just bringing it up as one of many plausible explanations, Tails!" the senior detective quickly responded as he brought his hands up in a defending manner. "Just as you are entitled to your opinions based on the evidence in front of you, I'm also allowed the same rights. And besides, I never said anything along the lines that this Letter was concrete evidence in that Dr. Robotnik is involved in something potentially illegal. I was merely alluding to the thought that this was all a bit too strange for my liking. This also seems to make short mention about the murder at the docks at the end, but it's too vague to even stand against scrutiny court if that's what it really refers to."
"Whatever it may be referring to, we don't really have enough information to make any kind of educated assumption," Knuckles responded with a frown as he crossed his arms in thought. "The only thing we can say is that the good doctor is somehow involved with whatever this Letter is talking about whether physically or only in name only. I'll try to look into it later when I have the time and see if I can dig up anything useful. However, I have a feeling that I'll have to bug Vector for his help with all this. I really need to ask him about what he talked about with that Salemand Eres guy, anyway."
"I guess we can only leave that part up to you," the cobalt hedgehog agreed with a nod of his head. "Tails and I will try and concentrate our efforts on Shadow's case and try to figure out what we can from here.
"Speaking of which," he continued on as he suddenly remembered why he came back down from the top of the lighthouse, "do you think you can give us permission to examine the dock area where this all supposedly started, Silver? Tails and I want to see if there's anything funny that might help prove that it wasn't the real murder scene or anything like that. That and you're the only guy who could give us permission to be there being that you're the one who's in charge of the whole investigation."
"If you feel that it's necessary, then I guess I can't say no to the suggestion," the silver furred detective easily agreed with a nod of his head. "Not to mention that I have my doubts about the supposed murder scene, as well. There has to be something suspicious there that I must've missed on my first search. I'll make sure that the police know that you have my permission to be there."
"Wait a minute; who's going to be keeping watch over this lighthouse if we're all gone doing our own thing?" the echidna asked with raised eyebrows just as everybody was starting to make their way outside to the docks. "I'm sure it'd be more than bad if someone decided to help themselves in and mess with a potential crime scene."
"I'll ask a couple of the policemen on staff here to watch over the entrance while we're gone. I'm sure that they can spare some of their men what with the amount of people already investigating that small area at the docks. Do you mind making sure everything stays as normal is it can here until then?"
"Do I really have a choice since I'm the only one here not planning on investigating the docks? Just make sure you don't make me wait too long and miss whatever chance I have at talking to Vector later. It's starting to get dark, and that crocodile has a tendency to answer to nobody in the time after dinner and before he clocks out. Trust me when I say that it's hard to get in touch with him when he's like that."
"Don't worry about that; he doesn't go on his dinner break until around a quarter before seven, and it's only a quarter before six," the senior detective explained as he got to the door first and opened it for Tails and Sonic. "Even in this evening traffic, you'll be able to get there in fifteen minutes and still have more than half an hour to spare. And if that doesn't make you feel better, then I promise to hurry up."
"Oh, I almost forgot to ask you for something important, Knuckles!" the two tailed fox exclaimed as he stopped short of following his brother out the door and turned around. "Could you ask Vector to look into something for me while you're meeting with him? It'd really be a big help in making Sonic's case tomorrow."
"Boy, I'm really starting to feel like a pest at having to bug the poor guy with things that take away from his current work. If it doesn't take too much effort on his part, then I'll see what I can do. I can't really promise, however, that he'll be able to work on it being that I'm about to ask him a lot already."
"While I was upstairs, I had an idea that I can't really prove unless there's some kind of hard evidence backing it. If it's true that Ms. Mae was killed here instead of at the docks, then there's something that's bothering me. If the Bullet Casing matches the bullet that killed her, then that would mean she was killed by a gun here. However, the gun that was found at the docks was tested and proved to be the murder weapon because of the ballistic markings. How can the real murder weapon be at two places at the same time? The only thing I can say that can solve this contradiction is that the weapon initially found at the docks was nothing but a Fake Murder Weapon."
"If this Bullet Casing does end up matching to the bullet that killed the good prosecutor, then I'm sure your argument there will be able to hold a lot of water," Knuckles surmised after hearing Tails's explanation about the possibility of two guns revolving around this case with the one found at the docks being a complete fake. "But I'm guessing that you want Vector to investigate just how the real murder weapon was documented to be at the docks when it was clear she was most likely killed here with the same gun. I'll make sure to have him take a look at it and get back to you as soon as possible."
"Thanks, Knuckles!" Tails thanked the detective before heading out the door in order to catch up to his brother who had stopped and looked back with an impatient look on his face. It was clear that he did not want to be kept waiting, especially when his friend's life was right now on the line. He then shouted back before he was out of earshot, "Tell Vector I said thanks and sorry for bugging him with this!"
"Knowing him, he'd probably be pissed that I'm bringing him so many things to work on that don't really pertain to what he's supposed to be doing right now," the echidna murmured under his breath as he seemingly failed to notice that Silver was still there with him until the door had closed. "Oh, I didn't know you were still here. You still have something that you want me to relay to Vector or something?"
"Actually, I just wanted to make sure that you weren't being overworked what with having to play the messenger boy along with helping me with my investigations," the silver furred hedgehog responded with an innocent shrug of his shoulders while speaking in a tone that reflected slight concern. "Put that on top with the paperwork that you have piling up on your desk and I'd say that'd be a recipe for a nervous breakdown sometime in the near future. You can't blame me for being a bit concerned for you."
"Well, I am going to be holding you partially responsible if I do end up becoming a nervous wreck and sent to the hospital to become sedated," the red furred detective responded with a serious tone but a teasing look in his eyes. "I'm sure I'll be able to manage somehow, though. Just make sure you don't try to swamp me with anymore things. I'm already having a hard time keeping track of everything I have to do right now. Otherwise, you'll be responsible for half of my hospital bill."
"And I promise to not give you anything else to do unless I absolutely have to if only to just avoid a potentially expensive bill digging a hole in my personal account. Until then, just keep on guarding this lighthouse until the police get here. I'll tell them to come in and relieve you of this so you can get to Vector. Make sure you tell him everything that you have to tell him. He's one of the greatest freelance detectives I've known, and I'm sure he'll be able to get answers that I wouldn't normally be able to get being that I'm bound by the law working in conjunction with the police."
"Why don't you hurry up and catch up to Sonic and Tails before they manage to get themselves arrested by the police for attempting to disturb the crime scene? You're the only one who can grant them permission to do so. It's best not to keep them waiting, especially when you know how short-tempered Sonic can be."
"Just let me ask you one more thing before I leave you alone," Silver responded with a small sigh as he opened the door once more and saw Sonic and Tails waiting a few yards away for him to come out. The cobalt hedgehog was visibly becoming impatient what with his arms crossed and his right foot tapping away at the ground while the two tailed fox was speaking to him in what seemed to be an attempt to relax him. "Do you really think that the Letter I found in the basement is really referring to some kind of illegal activity that involves Sonic and Tails's boss, Dr. Robotnik?"
I'm just as sure on that as I am on that the Paperwork I found on Mr. Pryce's doctor visit will provide him with a solid alibi," Knuckles answered before letting a tired sigh escape his lips. "In other words, I'm not sure on anything right now. All we can do right now is just ask Vector and hope that he'll be able to get some much needed answers for us. And hopefully, he'll be able to get them before Shadow's case is over and before the statute of limitations runs out on the LK-9 Incident."
"I really hope you're right about that," the silver furred detective said with a slightly worried tone in his tone. "There are just too many things we don't know about these two cases, and you and I can only go so far being that we work directly for the police. Just make sure to tell them that they can do whatever they have to do in order to get their information so long as it doesn't go so far as murder."
"As if he'd ever consider doing something like that and risk sacrificing his own beliefs!" the red echidna exclaimed as the senior detective finally exited the lighthouse and closed the door behind him. He then added to himself, "Honestly, just what kind of guy do you think that crazy crocodile is that you'd think he'd consider murder just to get some information? Then again, I'm probably just tired and taking this all too seriously when you're really just joking around. Boy, I better petition for some vacation time when this is all over with. God only knows how much I really need it right now."
New Evidence:
Blood: A small spot of blood found on the railing of the lighthouse at the Mobius Docks. Tests are required in order to determine just who it belongs to, although it is speculated to have belonged to the victim, Prosecutor Flora Mae.
Bullet Casing: A gold-colored casing that was discovered on the floor of the lighthouse balcony. Tests are required in order to determine which bullet it belongs to, although it is speculated to belong to the bullet that killed Prosecutor Flora Mae.
Fake Murder Weapon: A proposal brought about by Tails that the weapon the police took from the scene at the docks was not the real murder weapon. It's believed that there might have been a change sometime between the moment it was filed and before the case officially made it into court. It's currently just speculation and needs more evidence in order to be considered a stable possibility.
Paperwork: Papers showing Mr. Pryce going to the doctor's office occasionally. There are no dates on this particular document, so some investigating is required in order to see how recently he went to the doctor. Perhaps it might even lead to an indisputable alibi for him on the day of the murder should the lighthouse prove to be the real scene of the crime.
Letter: Found in the basement area of the lighthouse by Silver and is addressed to Mr. Pryce. It seems to indicate that Mr. Pryce in involved in something illegal against his own will. It also alludes to the murder of Ms. Mae on the docks. The last thing it alludes to is that Sonic and Tails's boss, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, is somehow involved in some illegal activity whether physically or in name only.
Updated Evidence:
Pistol: The weapon that was recovered at the Mobius Dock. The ballistic markings on the bullet extracted from Ms. Mae's body matches to the gun. Signs show that it was fired twice. It also bears Shadow's fingerprints. However, Tails seems to think that this gun was used at the lighthouse rather than at the docks and was swapped out at some point with the Fake Murder Weapon.
Lost Evidence:
Bullet Casing: A gold-colored casing that was discovered on the floor of the lighthouse balcony. It has been taken by Knuckles in order to have tests done on it to see if it belongs to the bullet that killed Ms. Mae.
Paperwork: Papers showing Mr. Pryce going to the doctor's office occasionally. Knuckles has taken them with him so as to give them to Vector to look into how recently the lighthouse keeper was at the doctor's.
Letter: Found in the basement area of the lighthouse by Silver and is addressed to Mr. Pryce. The senior detective took back the letter so as to look into it and gain more information about it's mysterious contents.
New Profiles:
Maxwell Pryce: A forty-year-old man who keeps watch over the lighthouse. He prefers to be called Max. He used to be a very successful entrepreneur in the seafood business along with his sister Lois before it was bought out from them by his partner and transformed into a shipping goods business.
Lois Pryce: The sister of Max Pryce who had died in the events that led up to the events of the lighthouse being used as a base for the start of the LK-9 Incident. She used to be business partners with her brother in a seafood business before it was bought out from their third partner and transformed into an shipping goods business.
Dr. Ivo Robotnik: The owner of the Robotnik Law Firm were both Sonic and Tails work at. Strangely enough, he is mentioned in the Letter that was discovered in the lighthouse basement by Silver regardless not being mentioned by name but through description.
Vector Crocodile: A local prosecutor who is friends with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. He has decided to continue with his work as a freelance detective along with Charmy Bee despite the conviction of his friend and partner Espio that caused shadows about the integrity of his work that soon quickly dissipated.
Updated Profiles:
Sonic Hedgehog: He's a seventeen-year-old cobalt hedgehog currently assigned to defend Shadow from a grave murder charge. It seems that he was a victim of a kidnapping that revolves around the LK-9 Incident.
Miles Prower: A twelve-year-old two tailed fox who likes to go by his nickname "Tails" and is now working at the Robotnik Law Firm as their local detective. It seems that he was a victim of a kidnapping that revolves around the LK-9 Incident.
Knuckles Echidna: An eighteen-year-old red echidna who is a detective at the local Precinct and now assigned to the Shadow's case thanks to the efforts of Senior Detective Silver. It seems that he was a victim of a kidnapping that revolves around the LK-9 Incident.
Shadow Hedgehog: An eighteen-year-old ebon furred hedgehog who became a prosecutor at sixteen in a country that allowed bar exams at younger ages. He's currently the suspect in this case. It seems that he was a victim of a kidnapping that revolves around the LK-9 Incident.
Silver Hedgehog: An eighteen-year-old silver furred hedgehog who is the country's youngest Senior Detective. He has taken charge of the initial investigation. He seems to have made it his personal mission to solve the mysteries behind the LK-9 Incident that he was involved in during his time as an intern.
Well, that's it for all these new evidence and updates. I know that the last part of most of the character updates are pretty much the same thing, but I just wanted to make it official, so don't bash me about it in the reviews. Other than that, that's it.
You know, I might be able to update a little bit more frequently than I thought I'd be able to. I'm right now taking a class that's called the History or Rock and Roll, and some of the songs I've heard on today's first class are pretty inspirational to my imagination. Hopefully, it'll be enough to help me finish this story that's getting close to it's ending.
And yep, there are a couple of new pieces of evidence that I posted here. They do not really look very important even to me, but I'm sure I'll be able to make something work with it. After all, I don't even know how this whole case is going to end, so it's as much a mystery to me as it is to all of you. Then again, that just makes it all the more enjoyable for me to write out for you all.
Anyway, that's enough with my ranting. Let me let you all go to the next story that you want to read. Just please don't forget to leave a review on this story before you move on. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories everybody!