Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter for you all to read. It took me a while to make this chapter because I was not overly sure as to how I wanted to progress with the upcoming events. To be perfectly honest, I'm still not entirely sure how I want to introduce the upcoming events to you all, but this chapter doesn't really go either way with what I have in mind. Therefore, I deem this chapter safe to be published without having accidentally dug myself into an already bigger hole.
Anyway, let me just go ahead and warn you all that the next few chapters will most definitely not be mainly concentrating on Shadow's current murder trial. In fact, it'll mainly be concentrating on what I've been teasing you all with occasional mentions here and there about it. And yes, I'm planning to tie in these two events together, so just bare with me on this. And besides, I felt it was time to let you all in on just exactly what happened during the LK-9 Incident. Now I'll let you get acquainted with the first part of it and give you all a better understanding as to why I titled this case as "An Ironic Twist of Fate and Truth".
Please don't forget to leave me a review telling me how you thought I did with this chapter before you move onto the next thing that you want to read. Especially since I'm now introducing to you what I consider to be the main plot of this story, the meaning behind LK-9, your reviews will be helpful in seeing what if anything I've done wrong and how I can improve with the overall introduction of this case. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories everybody!
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. 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.
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.
Blood: Blood found on the lighthouse balcony railing with the forensics report brought by Knuckles. It shows that the blood belonged to Ms. Mae and proving that she was at the lighthouse the moment she was murdered.
Fake Murder Weapon: An idea conjured up by Tails while exploring the lighthouse. After hearing Charmy's testimony, the thought of a fake weapon being in play is now a reality. A fake gun was found by the bee inside a clock and bears Shadow's fingerprints. Being that Shadow never entered the lighthouse before, this is proof that this was the gun seen at the docks the moment after the 'murder' witnessed by Amy Rose.
Max's Testimony: Testimony that has been memorized and recorded by Tails. According to Max, he was alone in the lighthouse on the morning of the murder. A phone call had interrupted his morning rituals, but he does not remember the contents of the call except that it was supposedly an older man speaking.
Bullet Casing: A casing found on the lighthouse balcony and brought by Knuckles from the forensics department. The ballistic markings on it matched exactly with the bullet that was extracted from Ms. Mae. It also proves that the gun found on the docks was actually used and moved from the lighthouse.
Doctor Reports: Paperwork found in the lighthouse living room and brought by Knuckles from the forensics department. They prove that Mr. Pryce visits the doctor every week for his condition. They also seem to indicate that he lives with a caretaker because of the fact that such complicated reports were sent to his house.
Letter: A piece of mail found in the lighthouse basement and brought by Knuckles from the forensics department. The contents seem to indicate that Mr. Pryce had some prior knowledge of the fake murder taking place on the Mobius Docks. While a handwriting analysis could not be done on the contents because of the lack of a reasonably suspicious person to compare it to, Mr. Pryce's fingerprints were found all over it.
Firecracker: The Red Paper found stuck on the side of the Mobius Docks and brought by Knuckles from the forensics department. Tests prove that it was once a Firecracker before it had exploded, and the black mark on it was from the explosion. The tape that is still on it has some burned fibers that belonged to a rope.
Picture: a photograph given to Sonic by Knuckles who had received it from Salemand Eres. It shows a picture of a white-furred lion with occasional blue spots on all fours like a wild animal and looking at the camera and smiling. Amazingly, his face looks almost child-like despite his rather strong-looking body. It's clear that he has the rare genetic disorder Feralisis Syndrome.
Fingerprints: Prints found in the lighthouse by Charmy Bee. They were on a cup shoved all the way towards the back of a kitchen cupboard as if in a haste with a cup of tea still in it. This proves that it was used recently. They belong to the victim in the case, Ms. Flora Mae, but Vector recognized the prints from the LK-9 Incident and realized they actually belonged to Ms. Lois Pryce. This proves that these two people are actually one.
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.
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 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.
Flora Mae: The victim in this case who was a prosecutor at the local prosecutor's office. She was proven to have been at the lighthouse at the moment of her death. Because of her fingerprints found in the lighthouse, it has been proven that she is in actuality Ms. Lois Pryce, Max's sister who has been thought to have been killed in the LK-9 Incident.
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.
Maxwell Pryce: A forty-year-old man who seems to have a mental problem and trapped with a seven-year-old mind. Through excellent execution of evidence, Sonic and Tails have thrown doubt on the thought that he is actually mentally challenged and is just as capable as any other man his age.
Mephiles: A sixty-five year old veteran prosecutor whose ruthlessness is well known both inside and out of the courtroom. If not trying to leave a strong impression in all his cases, he expects nothing but obedience and cooperation from the officers and detectives overlooking the collection of evidence in the cases he's working on. He's known to get any officer or detective who dared to defy his direct orders in trouble with the Precinct.
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.
Charmy Bee: a young eight-year-old bee who happens to be employed with the Chaotix Detective Agency. Apparently, he was sent to investigate the lighthouse by a third party who had employed the agency to do so. As such, he has arrived at the courthouse in order to testify about this matter at the very last minute.
Chapter 23: An Ironic Twist of Fate and Truth Pt. 9
"Well, I can't exactly say that was the smoothest of defenses I've ever seen," Shadow said to Sonic from his side of the room in the detention center. It had been half an hour since the trial was suspended after the two dropped what was considered a bombshell to the entire court, and both parties felt it necessary to talk to each other immediately. "I must admit, however, that I was quite surprised at how you two managed to fend for yourselves pretty well at the end of the proceedings. You both might be just rookies in your own accord, but you both know how to help each other out and come up with a provable truth.
"I'm sure by now that Mephiles is feeling more than just a bit worried about you two now that he's forced to go into the final day of proceedings," he continued on without showing any signs of stopping. He might not have been one to showcase his emotions very often, but the fact that he went on one of his rare rants meant he was truly appreciative of Sonic and Tails's tenacity at keeping him out of trouble. "Never in his career has he ever had to use all three days in order to get his coveted guilty verdict. I have a feeling that he'll be almost out of ammo for his attack since he seemed to have been struggling somewhat today, but I wouldn't put it past him to come up with something damning even in the face of defeat."
"Wow, thanks for the ever so wonderful pep talk, Shadow," Sonic said sarcastically after hearing the last part of the ebon hedgehog's rant. "That really makes me feel a whole lot more confident in taking down that crazy old man tomorrow."
"I'm just stating the truth," the prosecutor simply responded back with a shrug of his shoulders. "If you want to avoid any kind of unpleasant surprises from the other end of the courtroom, I suggest that you spend all of today getting as much evidence as you could possibly get your hands on. And speaking of which, shouldn't you be outside investigating wherever it is you find suspicious rather than wasting your time talking to me?"
"Before we do that, we have a couple of questions that we've been meaning to ask you since after the court's recess," Tails quickly spoke up before they were unwillingly chased out by their client. "If anything, it's important to us if you can answer them. You don't mind us 'wasting' our time with this, do you?"
"Well, I suppose it depends on what it is you want to ask me. I highly doubt that they aren't anywhere near important to you being that you really don't have a lot of time to be asking silly questions. It's already four in the afternoon."
"Then why don't we start with one that I'm sure is nowhere near being silly?" the two tailed fox asked as he seemed to have already had a question in mind. "During court today, we established that there were two guns in play, one of them being the Pistol used to kill Ms. Lois Pryce and the other the Fake Murder Weapon. The fake was found in the lighthouse courtesy of Charmy hidden within a clock with a removable face. Except for the obvious from when we were kidnapped and brought to the lighthouse five years ago, was there ever a time you were in that place?"
"Do you really have to ask something like that?" Shadow deadpanned before rolling his eyes at the question. "I may act like a tough guy most of the time, but I harbor dark shadows of my past just like you and Sonic. I doubt that either of you were willing to be in that place when you went looking for evidence."
"In terms of Shadow's language, I'm pretty sure that means no," the cobalt hedgehog responded with a small snicker at the pun that was just made. He then continued on after calming down, "But then how do you explain the fact that your fingerprints were on both sets of guns? I'm sure that crazy old prosecutor is going to try and jump on that tomorrow as his source of a conviction."
"To be perfectly honest, I don't know," the ebon furred hedgehog said as he carefully considered the question. "The only time I ever touched an actual gun was five years ago during the kidnapping incident involving all of us. However, I highly doubt that this is the same gun in this case since that one is right now in the Precinct's evidence room."
"But your prints couldn't have just magically appeared on the real murder weapon," the defense attorney responded as his lips gave a small frown at the situation. "Are you sure that there was no other time that you had your bare hands on a gun except for the LK-9 Incident? Did you ever go to a gun store or anything like that?"
"Do you know how ridiculous your proposition is starting to sound, Sonic? You may consider my overall attitude to be a little rougher than other people, but I would never go so far as to actually purchase a gun for any purpose. You of all people should already know that much about me. And even if I were to have gone to a gun store and actually laid my hands on one, someone would have to have stalked me to know exactly which gun I touched. I promise you that I would've noticed anybody following me around all day, especially when inside a store that's relatively small like a gun shop."
"Yeah, I suppose you would," Tails admitted with a nod of his head in agreement. "Unless you were somehow really distracted like you were when you picked up the Fake Murder Weapon on the docks, you're usually on top of everything. I guess we're just going to have to figure out the answer to this the hard way, although I can't see how we'll be able to do it if we literally have nothing to go on with this.
"In the meantime, let me ask you something else," he continued on without any hesitation. "I'm sure you've already noticed this, but don't you find it odd that at almost every single turn we manage to figure out some kind of connection to the LK-9 Incident? I find it pretty hard to pass this off as just a simple coincidence."
"It's almost as if all of these connections are being intentionally set out for us," Sonic admitted with a nod of his head. "The first thing that we noticed was the lighthouse itself. If Silver hadn't brought it up while we were investigating the place, I really wouldn't have noticed it. Tails, Knuckles, and I must've tried so hard to forget all this time about that day that we didn't immediately make the connection. It's pretty strange how we were all brought back to the very place that brought us to where we are now."
"And then there was Mr. Maxwell Pryce who was at the least indirectly involved with the Incident being that it was his lighthouse that was used as the kidnappers' hideout," the two tailed fox replied. "But what really made him directly involved was the death of his sister, Ms. Lois Pryce, which caused him to have the mindset of a child. However, it already seems quite improbable that he does in fact have this supposed mental illness since there was a Letter that was most likely meant for him."
"But then you proved today in court that this was most likely not the case," Shadow reminded them. "You managed to prove that the victim in this case, Ms. Flora Mae, and the victim of the LK-9 Incident were in fact the same person. If anything, this raises the question as to why she was considered legally dead when she was in fact very much alive. And since you made it seem more reasonable than not that she was caring for her supposedly mentally ill brother, I find it hard to believe that she's not connected to that case five years ago. If her dear brother is involved as you have just suggested in court through a Letter most likely addressed to him, then so is she by the very fact she's under the same roof as him. With all these convenient coincidences in play, I find it hard to believe that there isn't any kind of connection between the two cases, especially with Mephiles as the prosecution for the current case."
"What do you mean by that, Shadow?" the cobalt hedgehog asked with his eyebrows raised at the last statement as his little brother performed the same action. "What does that crazy old man have to do with the incident from five years ago?"
"Did you ever read the file on the case that led up to the events of the LK-9 Incident?" the ebon furred hedgehog asked with slight disbelief in his tone. "I'd have thought you'd at least done that once you got your Attorney's Badge. You were pretty fired up in wanting to solve that case before I decided to leave Mobius for a change of scenery."
"Well, excuse me for actually being busy doing my job and trying to protect all my friends from accusations for murders they never committed," the attorney replied sarcastically while rolling his eyes. "My original plan after obtaining my badge was to look over the case file and see if I can do anything about it, but in between Tails and Knuckles' trials along with me being framed by Espio for murder; I hardly had any time to do that! And now that I have your case to contend to while avoiding being killed in the courtroom by a crazy prosecutor, reading that case file is the last thing on my mind now."
"…I suppose that's as good an excuse as any when it's coming from you," the prosecutor admitted somewhat reluctantly with a shrug of his shoulders. "You really should get to that sometime tonight if and when you get a chance. At least you weren't being lazy about trying to get to the report this time around."
"Watch it, Shadow. You might want to be careful with what you say around me. Don't forget that I'm voluntarily taking your case. I can just as easily volunteer myself out of it if and when I want to."
"As if you would even consider ditching one of your best friends and let them fend against all accusations by themselves, Sonic. Even when you're angry, it's hardly in your nature to abandon a friend in need. Now that I think about it, it's because of that kind of attitude that you usually found yourself in trouble in high school."
"But what's stopping me from saying that I might've changed a bit from the last time we really had a chance to hang out together? You don't know whether or not I've stopped sticking my nose into other people's business. It's not like you to be so quick to jump the gun there, pun not intended."
"If you really did stop sticking your nose in other people's troubles, then why were you so eager to be my defense attorney when you figured out I was in here?"
"Guys, can we please get back on topic here?" Tails quickly butted in. If he knew the two hedgehogs as well as he thought he did, he knew that this could quickly lead to a heated argument if left unchecked. "Now really isn't the time to be arguing over something like this. And besides, I think I found another connection to the LK-9 Incident here. However, it doesn't solely revolve around this case."
"What do you mean, Tails?" Sonic asked as he quickly changed from his argumentative attitude to an inquisitive one while turning his full attention to his little brother. "How can there be another connection to that incident if it doesn't have anything to do with this case? We really can't afford to get sidetracked any more than we are right now."
"Actually, it involves all of the cases that you've worked on thus far including this one," the two tailed fox replied as he tried to find a way to easily explain what was on his mind. "Like Sonic just said, all of us had been framed for murder at one point. And if you think of us all in terms of the incident, we're all connected to it whether we like it or not. In fact, we're probably the best witnesses for that case should it ever be brought up later today or tomorrow on the final day it can be brought to trial."
"Are you suggesting that one of the people who kidnapped us is trying to get us put in jail forever so that our story about what we remembered then can't be told anymore?" Shadow asked with raised eyebrows as he suddenly realized where the other was going with his logic. "When you put it like that, I suppose it seems more than likely that we're all being targeted simply because we were unfortunate enough to have been kidnapping victims. But if that's true, then that would mean that everybody you've convicted of murder were either one of the kidnappers or simply acting on command from one of them!"
"Uh, you kind of lost me here guys," the cobalt hedgehog spoke up sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I honestly have no idea what you're going with all this. Think you can bring me up to speed?"
"…You're not serious, are you?" the ebon furred hedgehog deadpanned as he glared daggers at the other hedgehog. "I'm not always going to be around to get you up to speed with things, so you better start paying more attention. Do you remember all the people that you convicted for murdering the victims in their respective cases? What Tails and I are getting at here is that those convicted suspects might actually be people involved in or in league with those with ties to the LK-9 Incident!"
"What?! Are you telling me that I've been unknowingly and indirectly working on the LK-9 Incident this entire time? I mean, that does explain why all of us ended up being framed for murder at one point or another, but that's just crazy! Did they all literally kill three people just so we could be put away for murder? How desperate can a guy get just to ensure that they'll never be caught?"
"Apparently, this man is very desperate. And I can see why they didn't just go and kill us all off. They were probably afraid that some smart detective like Silver would figure out the connection should we all be killed off like that. Then again, I can hardly blame them being that the main reason for that incident ever having taken place could be considered a lot worse than just killing off three people."
"What could be worse than having others kill three people in your stead?" Tails asked with clear disbelief in his tone as his eyes widened in surprise. "There can't be anything worse than that, Shadow."
"I guess it kind of depends on your definition of worse. Do you remember a senior detective called Ace Sleuth who you helped get convicted of murdering his fiancée? The guy who tried to frame Knuckles for the murder?"
"He's kind of a hard guy to forget about," Sonic responded after he managed to somewhat regain his composure. "I mean, you did kind of run out of the courtroom with him in tow right after the case was over. Now that we're on that subject, do you mind telling us what that was all about?"
"I really don't know if this has anything to do with my murder trial," Shadow responded with some hesitancy. "We've been talking for half an hour already. Do you really want to know the details about this?"
"If it has something to do with LK-9, then yes," the cobalt hedgehog answered. "As we've said, it's most likely that Maxwell Pryce is involved with that case, so we might be able to get some rather damaging information to use against him. That and I really want to know why we had to be the ones who were kidnapped."
"…Alright, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to at least give you the cliff-notes of what I've learned," the ebon furred hedgehog admitted before letting out a small sigh. "I really doubt that it'll help you out with this case, though.
"Let me start off by saying that Ace Sleuth is right now under house arrest at a secure location known only by both me and Vector," he started off. "When I had dragged him out of the courtroom, I immediately brought him to Vector's office. It was there that he agreed to be our witness if and when LK-9 ever came around to being taken to court. It wasn't easy to get him to do that, but we managed to agree to a lifetime of constant surveillance while in house arrest instead of being in prison on death row."
"Wow, sounds like he's gotten a pretty good trade-off considering all the trouble he's in," Tails replied with a low whistle escaping his lips. "Are you even sure that he knows anything about that time five years ago? It'd be a waste of time and legal muscle if he just ends up being an informational dud."
"Remember how he said something about the life of both him and his family was in danger should he have announced his true motive to murder his fiancée? I find it hard to believe for a man like him to just spontaneously decide to kill her over the fact that she called every single suspicious phone number in his cell. And when he said that they were in fact other numbers that he was too afraid to say who they belonged to, I just had a hunch. It turned out my hunch was right and those numbers were somehow involved with LK-9."
"Well, did you manage to get anything off of those numbers?" Sonic asked as he seemed too hopeful for a break in the two-year-old case. "If so, then that'll definitely get us one step closer to solving that incident."
"Surprisingly enough, I got nothing from them," the prosecutor replied with a disappointed shake of his head. "I had all those numbers inspected the moment Ace had been convicted of murder. It wasn't even four hours later that all of the numbers were mysteriously disconnected with their cell phone waves all leading to the city dump. The only way for such a fast and organized disposal of cell phones could happen like that even with the only person who theoretically called all of them is for someone who was watching the trial unfold act as a messenger for the others."
"So you're thinking that it might've been somebody from the gallery watching who tipped every number on that phone about a potential leak on their operations?" the cobalt hedgehog asked with raised eyebrows as he was trying hard to keep up with all the information. "That would mean the LK-9 guys were keeping tabs on the case the entire time."
"No, it was too fast for a person in the gallery to have been the tipster. I'm sure they were keeping tabs on the case, but it had to have been somebody who's not a member of the general public. In order to prevent details from the trial leaking out to the press prematurely, every gallery member is required to relinquish their cell phones upon entering the courthouse. And even if a cell phone were somehow smuggled into the building, there is a signal jammer that's in place for all phones that aren't registered to either an attorney like you and me or those who work in the building like a judge or bailiff."
"Wait a minute; how did Charmy manage to get cell reception during the trial today if he isn't an attorney or a courthouse worker?" the two tailed fox quickly spoke up as he became slightly confused. "The only reason he was able to give us details about the evidence he found at the lighthouse was because Vector texted him the forensics results."
"My guess there is that Vector probably managed to get his phone registered under the guise that he had two cell phones. Either way, that's not the point I'm trying to get at. What I'm trying to say here is that the only person who could've tipped off all the numbers on Ace's phone has to be someone whose line of work constantly revolves around the courthouse and thus have a cell phone registered with the building."
"Whoa, you're not saying that someone who's supposed to be working for the law is actually conducting illegal activity, are you?" the defense attorney questioned with a look of disbelief on his face. "Do you know how crazy that idea sounds? I mean, I know that Ace was a detective and all that, but he was coerced into killing. I doubt that the person you say tipped his contacts off is also riding on the same boat."
"Believe me when I say that I tried to come up with other possibilities as to how all those cell phones just ended up at the city dump. None of them even come close to being a possible truth with or without evidence. So now the only lead we literally have to go on now is the testimony of Ace Sleuth, but he claims to not know much being that he was pretty low on the chain of command and was considered an expendable."
"And what exactly is it that he said to you?" Tails asked as his older brother was still busy recovering from his earlier outburst.
"Sorry, but Vector was the one who ultimately interrogated him," Shadow admitted as his face suddenly changed as if he remembered something. "…However, Espio was helping with the interrogation, so I doubt whatever he had said then was anywhere near helpful. We didn't know at the time that the chameleon was actually in league with those responsible for causing the LK-9 Incident to exist. If he was where Ace could see him during the entire interrogation, then I doubt the former senior detective would dare say anything truthful if anything at all in fear of retaliation against his family."
"In other words, we're going to have to question him again now that Espio is out of the picture," the two tailed fox quickly suggested. "Now that all the people who has any ties to those responsible for LK-9, he shouldn't have to fear telling the truth now. We just need to make sure that Vector is the only one to listen to what he has to say."
"Boy, does that sound very promising for us," Sonic sarcastically responded as he stole a quick glance at a nearby clock hanging on the wall. "Guess we'll have to ask that crocodile a huge favor soon. After all, we're going to need to hear what he has to say if we're planning on bringing the incident to trial tomorrow. By the way, you never really did say who you believed to have been the one who was keeping tabs on the trial involving me and Ace."
"First, let me say that it's highly unlikely the incident will see the light of day in court tomorrow," the ebon furred hedgehog replied doubt clear in his voice. "And even if it did, I doubt one day is enough to adequately resolve everything beyond reasonable doubt. It's just a hopeless pipe dream now. Secondly, the search for the one responsible in sabotaging whatever worth there was in Ace's cell phone ended up like trying to find a needle in a haystack. In designated parts of the courthouse, there is a rather large lounge area where fellow attorneys can sit and watch televised court proceedings taking place. And yes Sonic, your actions in court that day were carefully being scrutinized by your fellow peers.
"Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that this particular case was being watched by most of the attorneys who happened to have been in the lounge that day," he continued on while disregarding the look of shock on the other hedgehog's face. "That's not surprising since I'm sure word spread pretty quickly of a rookie attorney actually indicting a well-trusted detective of murder. That means that whoever was watching also heard my outburst at the end of the proceedings. If my hunch is correct, then somebody called the numbers that were on Ace's phone right after I requested him to be placed in protective custody. Unfortunately, that person also abandoned his cell phone since it was traced from the courthouse going straight to the dump, but I can at least try to narrow down the possible suspects on who tipped those people off and is thus one of the people involved with LK-9!"
"And did you at least manage to get somewhere with that line of logic?" the cobalt hedgehog asked as he was getting tired of hearing all of Shadow's leads were nothing but dead ends. "You won't know how angry I'm going to be if I hear that you got into another informational road block."
"Unfortunately, most of the attorneys I talked to said that they were nowhere near the courthouse on that particular day," the prosecutor admitted with a small sigh while seemingly undeterred by the harsh glare he was receiving from the other. "Apparently, it was an unusually slow day in terms of how many court proceedings were taking place at the courthouse. I was still in the process of asking other attorneys before I ended up getting caught up in this mess, and so I have yet to finish asking every attorney that I know of."
"So you can't say for sure that it's a complete dead end," Tails quickly said before his older brother had a chance to become aggravated again. "We'll just go ahead and pick up where you left off once we're done here. How's that sound, Shadow?"
"Normally, I'd say no and just tell you to concentrate on my case, but I have a feeling that you're going to just waste your entire evening pestering me to tell you where I left off. That and I'm sure the person I'll have you ask will be of some help to you in getting me acquitted of this crazy murder charge. It's Vector."
"Oh, then we can just go ahead and kill two birds with one stone here!" the defense attorney announced happily as his face gave off a smile as if he finally heard a piece of great news. "To be perfectly honest, we were already planning on visiting Vector for something else, so we can just ask him for you if he was at the courthouse that day. If he wasn't there that day, then I promise to stop wasting my time with anything that has to do with the LK-9 Incident and fully concentrate on your case.
"And speaking of Vector," the hedgehog continued on without pausing, "there's one more thing that I'd like to ask you that I was also planning on discussing with that crocodile. Right before our recess today ended, we mentioned the name Salemand Eres in front of you. By the way you reacted, it seems like you know something about this mysterious guy. Care to explain to us what you know about him, because he already strikes me as a pretty suspicious fellow after coming to my office being all secretive and asking to use Knuckles' cell phone just so he could call Vector."
"So that's how you two know of him," Shadow simply replied as if he were just hearing news that he already knew about. "Well, I really would like to tell you more about him, but we've already been talking for an hour. You can't waste any more time talking to me about anything if you hope to get any kind of last-minute investigation done. However, I promise you that Vector knows just as much about him as I do, so just tell him that I'm allowing you to get information on Salemand."
"And why do we need your permission just to get some information on this one guy?" Tails asked with raised eyebrows at this strange procedure that the ebon furred hedgehog was making them go through. "That seems a little bit extreme. Does the guy have a criminal background or something like that we should know about?"
"You'll see when you get there," the prosecutor simply said in a somewhat mysterious fashion before getting up from his chair and readying to leave. "You better hurry up and get to Vector's office while you can. It's already a bit past five and he tends to take his meal breaks at around six. It'll be hard to get a hold of him while he's eating, so best get to him before he eats. And if you are going to continue to pursue the LK-9 Incident, then you'll need his help on obtaining some key files regarding it."
"Obtaining key files?" Sonic repeated with a raised eyebrow before seeing his friend leave the visitor's center with a guard following closely behind. "Is he talking about the case summary or something like that?"
"Well, there's nothing else that would make that much sense," the two tailed fox said with a shrug of his shoulders as he turned around in order leave the Detention Center. "I suppose we need permission from someone at the Precinct in order to look over those files. Vector's definitely the best person to be asking for that."
"If I'm planning on trying to figure out the real answers to that case by tomorrow, then I'll definitely need to see what I can dig up from those case reports," the cobalt hedgehog suggested as he followed his little brother out of the room. "I know that Shadow's most likely right in saying that the case might not go to trial tomorrow, but I at least want to see if I can figure out what happened before everything that's related to the case gets sealed away because of the statute of limitations running out. I really doubt that I can find anything more to help me with Shadow's case, so I'll just concentrate with the LK-9 for now."
"Well, I'm sure that tomorrow's trial is going to mainly revolve around what Mr. Pryce has to say about him not being the murderer, so there really isn't much we can investigate on in terms of him," the other explained as he tried to recap on what their main objective was. "Everything that we have in terms of his medical records points to him mentally being a seven-year-old man with no recollection of the day the LK-9 Incident was born. But if we could somehow prove that he does have a connection with that case, then that will prove that he isn't mentally unstable and thus was more than capable of killing his sister!"
"We'll cross that bridge once we get to it," the attorney said as they both exited into the street and were greeted with a warm summer breeze. "For now, let's just concentrate on getting as much information as we can about that incident five years ago! And while we're at the Precinct, maybe we could ask Silver for more details since he once said he's been working a lot on that case. And who knows? Maybe we'll end up being lucky enough to have actually learned more than enough to merit the thought of having it go on trial tomorrow!"
Tails simply rolled his eyes at his brother's childish optimism just as they managed to hail a cab that would take them to the Precinct. Hopefully, they would be able to make it in time before Vector went on his meal break and then become very hard to find for god only knows how long.
New Profile:
Ace Sleuth: A former senior detective from the local Precinct who is now behind bars for having murdered his fiancée. Since his conviction, Shadow has had the man living at an undisclosed location and under witness protection because of the potential importance he might have in solving the LK-9 Case.
To be perfectly honest with you, I had completely forgotten about Ace Sleuth until I started writing this chapter. When I had set it up during the end of Sonic's second case so that Shadow spontaneously requested him to be put on witness protection, this was the reason why I did that. It's because he felt that he was going to be an important witness for the LK-9 Incident. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case now that it's been realized that when Vector interrogated him, Espio was most likely in the room 'helping' with the procedure. With the case going to be officially closed by the end of tomorrow, just how useful is Ace's testimony going to be now, especially when the numbers that were on his phone and going to be served as crucial evidence suddenly literally leads to the dumps?
I've just noticed something here. I have an unusual and unintentional knack of making things hard on myself whenever I write something that has to deal with heavy logic such as this story. Then again, that's practically what I've done to myself from the moment I started writing this story. If I could get myself out of those messes, then I'm sure I can get out of this. The only thing that makes this hard for me is that I honestly don't know what's going to happen next. Oh, there are certainly times when writing habits like that really make it hard for me to continue on in a suitable and sensible way.
Anyway, that's enough of my rants that I'm sure none of you are anywhere remotely near wanting to hear about. Before I leave you all alone, let me just say that there really is no new evidence to post up for this chapter. Then again, the current evidence list is already pretty long and hard to keep track of in terms of their overall importance. There's like fifteen pieces of evidence; that's almost exactly two full screens of evidence in a Phoenix Wright game! Then again, I was aiming on trying to make a lot of evidence so as to confuse those of you who are also playing along with the mystery rather than just reading it over on what can really make the case go along.
Don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. They are always very helpful to me, especially when I'm admittedly trying something a bit new here as in trying to meld both the LK-9 Incident and the current case into one. And even if they are just mere words of encouragement, they are more than welcome and always help give me the motivation to bring this story to the ending that it deserves. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories on this site everybody!