Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter that I've been working on for this whole week. I managed to get myself confused at some parts, but I got through them and made it all as understandable as I possibly could for you all. If there are any parts that are still confusing to you even after you've read through the whole chapter, feel free to leave me a review and I'll happily explain it to you all.
Also, I've made a small change to some of the past chapters. I promise you that it isn't anything big that would change the entire course of the story. For those of you who remember, I originally said that the LK-9 Incident took place two years ago. Feeling that it was nowhere near realistic for a case to only be two years old and already be so close to the end of the statute of limitations, I decided to change it a bit and say that it happened five years ago. In real life, five years is still not long enough to consider a murder investigation closed due to statute of limitations, but I don't care. This is my story, and this story's world says that the statute is going to end in five years which happens to be tomorrow for this story.
Anyway, that's enough of my ranting and all that. I hope that you all do enjoy this chapter as much as I had making it. Just like with the previous one, this chapter is solely going to be for the LK-9 Incident with maybe a couple tidbits concerning the current case here and there. I am planning on introducing the LK-9 Case to you all sometime in the future, but I felt it fair that you all have a bit of a better understanding of it before I just shoot you all into it. That and Sonic and Tails don't really have a good idea of what was going on with that case except for the moments that they were involved in.
Please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story that you want to read. They are always very helpful whether they are suggestions or just plain encouragement. That and I honestly do read them and see how well-received my stories are to you readers. Never a good idea to continue on with a story if the majority of readers just don't plain enjoy it, right? Anyway, 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: A nineteen-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 two years ago.
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 twenty-three-year old local prosecutor who is friends with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as well as Shadow's coworker. 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.
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.
Chapter 24: An Ironic Twist of Fate and Truth Pt. 10
"I hope Vector didn't spontaneously decided to take an early meal break today and make us come here for nothing," Sonic said as he and Tails entered the Precinct building, a place that he was honestly not hoping to come back to anytime soon. He had already paid the cab their fare and made sure neither of them left anything important behind. "According to Shadow, he should still be here for about another thirty minutes, but that's considering he's actually acting within his supposed preordained schedule."
"Between his current work and the job he's doing for the Chaotix Detective Agency, I'm pretty sure that dinner's the last thing on his mind right now," Tails said as made their way through the lobby and were mostly ignored by all they passed by. He was also not too happy at being back here but unlike his brother did his best to not show it. "I doubt that he's even sticking his nose in the LK-9 Incident like he said he's been doing with Silver this whole time what with his detective job most likely still one man short."
"Do you think he'd be willing to talk to us if he ends up being really busy?" the cobalt hedgehog asked just as they were about to reach the stairs that would take them to the floor where the crocodile's office was. Unfortunately, the Precinct had yet to fix the elevators since the time of the death of senatorial candidate Kuro Rose a few weeks ago, so the stairs was still the only way to travel between floors. "I'd really hate to put him behind work just so we could ask him some questions, especially when they don't really have anything to do with helping Shadow out with his murder case."
"If it makes you feel better, I don't particularly care what kind of questions you want to ask me," a familiarly deep voice spoke up from behind the two just as they were about to open the stairway doors. "I can always find time for you two."
"Vector!" the attorney exclaimed as he suddenly turned around and was face-to face with the aforementioned prosecutor's scaly green neck. He actually had to step off to the side a bit so he would have a better view of the other's face. "Geez, don't go sneaking up on us like that. Where the heck did you come from?"
"I actually just came back from the Precinct cafeteria," Vector explained while chuckling lightly at Sonic's startled reaction and backing up a bit so said hedgehog would have an easier time looking him in the eye. "I figured it'd be a good idea to get an early start at some dinner so I would have more time to look into some things I'm currently working on. Although, I think I was better off just skipping dinner altogether since the food they serve here seriously isn't all that great. I really don't know what some of my coworkers are thinking when they say that the crap they serve here is good. Last I checked, a terribly dry tuna sandwich and a supposed chicken soup without even a shred of chicken don't make a good dinner.
"However, I'm sure hearing me talk about my rather unappetizing dinner break was the reason why you came here," he continued on with a warm smile despite look of disgust from Sonic and an apologetic glance from Tails. "From what I've heard, it sounds like you two have something you want to ask me."
"Uh, is it okay if we asked you in your office rather than out here?" the two tailed fox asked as he quickly recovered from the slight startle. "What we want to ask you is kind of something we rather keep private."
"Ah, gotcha!" the crocodile said with an understanding nod of his head before walking past the two and holding open the stairway door. "Then let's not go wasting time standing around here. Go up to the fourth floor and into the first door on your right; that's where my office is. I need to make a quick stop by Silver's office and get something from there, so just go ahead and wait there for me."
"Alright, thanks for the head's-up," the young one said as he led the way up the stairs to the fourth floor. He then asked as a random thought, "Oh, how's everything going here ever since the murder of Ms. Kuro Rose was resolved? I can only imagine it's been anything but great for you guys."
"Well, it's a lot better than it was last week," the prosecutor replied with a small sigh as they reached the second floor. "Believe me when I say that this Precinct went through hell and back trying to clean up from both the lack of adequate security for such an important person and the fact that a murder actually happened inside this building. We were hardly in any shape to be handling any affairs outside of the building let alone inside."
"Yikes, sounds like it's been a pretty rough few weeks for you," Sonic spoke up once they reached the third floor. "And how have you been holding up ever since that incident? I'll bet that it's been extremely hard for you."
"We all have our difficult moments in life; what's really important is how we choose to move on from it. I don't think about it and just concentrate on what I can do; although I must admit there are times when I wonder how it was that I failed to see Espio's true colors until that day. I guess he really did earn his self-proclaimed title as a Ninja.
"Anyway, here we are at the fourth floor," Vector quickly said once they reached the designated floor while he slowly continued on up to the next floor. "Remember, my office is the first door on your right once you go in. Just wait in there patiently, and don't even think about answering the phone or anything like that. You'll get me in trouble if that happens. Just give me a few minutes with Silver and I'll be back."
"Yeesh, he's making it sound like he might get in trouble or something just for leaving us alone in his office," the cobalt hedgehog said in a low whisper so as to not let the crocodile hear before entering the fourth floor hallway.
"That's probably because he might," Tails simply replied as he took note that Vector's office was literally less than two yards away from the stairwell. "I'm sure that his office is home to a lot of case files, so to leave somebody alone in his office while he isn't there must not be a widely practiced method of safety."
"If that's the case, then why's he just leaving his office door open with so many supposed important case files in there?" the attorney countered back as he turned the door knob and effortlessly opened the door. "I would've imagined that he would've at least locked the door behind him before leaving."
"…I really don't have an answer for that," the two tailed fox replied with a shrug of his shoulders before entering the rather tidy office and closing the door behind him so nobody happening to pass by would see two strangers randomly hanging about in an office. "Guess that's something we can ask him before we get to the main reason for meeting him."
For the next few moments, both guys decided to just silently look around the room while waiting for Vector to come back. Inside the crocodile's office were the typical things that any attorney's office would need along with a few personal touches that clearly reflected its owner. Hanging along the walls on what was normally a hat rack were pairs of cordless headphones of the same size but differing colors and design styles. While most of them were green with various designs on them, there were a couple that held a sort of camouflage design on it. There were also two that clearly stood out from the rest. One was a pure ebon black with a blue lightning bolt decorating each side of the headset that looked the least scuffed and used. The other was also of the same black base color but with many streaks of red running across the connector between the two muffs in a striped fashion.
"Is it just me, or do these two headphones look like they're supposed to have some kind of resemblance to me and Shadow?" Sonic asked his little brother as he pointed to the two stand-out headphones. "I mean, all the others have some kind of green on them, but these two are the only ones that are clearly different. And it looks like he just recently bought the blue one since there aren't any scuff marks or anything like that. Is this his weird way of paying tribute to our attorney talents or something?"
"Maybe he was just playing around with a new color scheme," Tails suggested with a shrug of his shoulders as he was busy looking at some framed awards hanging proudly on the wall behind Vector's clean and well-polished cherry wood desk. "You can't really say he's paying tribute to you or anything. To be honest, I can't even see anybody in their right mind wanting to dedicate something of theirs to you.
"I'm actually more interested in these awards Vector has earned during his time as a prosecutor," he continued on while ignoring his older brother's clearly heated gaze at his previous comment. "Look at this one; he actually managed to get the "Best Rookie Prosecutor of the Year" award for his first year followed by a "Best Prosecutor of the Year" the year after that. Apparently, he started his career as a prosecutor two years ago when he was just twenty-years-old. I guess there's really more to him than just his gold chains and headphones if he's managed to nab these awards and have such a strong start."
"Well, he was a force to reckon with in the courtroom when he was prosecuting you for murder all those months ago," the cobalt hedgehog responded as he joined the other at examining the framed awards. He was still holding a bit of resentment from his little brother's comment and thus had a harsh look in his eyes. "He certainly wasn't making my job any easier with him getting in my way. And I can see why now what with all these things plastered up on his walls. And take a look at these over here; he's got two "First Place in Private Detective Agency Games" awards two years in a row. It looks like he started getting these the same year he started his career as a prosecutor. I guess they hold some kind of competition meant to pit rivaling private detective agencies against each other to see who the best is out of them all. Wonder how they played the game?"
"By digging up a case long since solved and actually recreating the scene for sake of the game," Vector suddenly said right after the sound of the office door opening was heard and earning him the attention of the two guys. He then continued to explain as he made his way towards his uncluttered desk with a somewhat thick file in his gloved hands, "The goal of these games is to see which private detective agency can find and gather the most evidence in a quick yet standard fashion. Once that round is over, they perform a mock court proceeding where the lead investigator of each team 'testifies' about what they saw and their recollection of what happened through the evidence they collected. Depending on how each question is competently answered, the trial will either continue on or end right where it is. Once that's done, they tally up the score for both the investigation courtroom scene. The one who ends up with the most points and is as accurate to how the case was actually taken care of by the detectives on that case ends up winning the competition."
"So it's basically meant to test out the skills of each detective agency and garner them bragging rights for the year until the next competition," the two tailed fox explained as the crocodile walked past him and took a seat on his comfy black computer chair and threw the file haphazardly on the table. "I would also imagine that it would give the police a chance to see which agency is the most competent should they ever be called upon as on-the-scene witnesses on a case."
"That's pretty much the whole thing in a nutshell," the prosecutor responded with a nod of his head. "However, things had to be a bit different in my team since I was already a prosecutor when I formed the Chaotix Detective Agency. In order to work around what could possibly be seen by others as an advantage, I simply had Charmy act as the head on-scene detective collecting the evidence with Espio supporting him while I simply just stood back and watched. I never said a thing during the two times we competed, and we still managed to win the competition twice in a row. So for the past two years, a lot of prosecutors have come to my office asking for my expertise on a case they're working from both a fellow coworker's and private detective's point of view."
"Wow, sounds like you never get any time to rest because of your popularity," Sonic said in a half-teasing tone as he tore his gaze away from the wall dedicated to awards. "I mean, you're also considered to be one of the best prosecutors that this Precinct has ever had the past couple of years. I find it hard to believe that I managed to take down the prosecutor of the year on my very first case."
"I'd like to say that it was just purely luck that you managed to take me down then, but I know I'd just be lying to myself," the croc said with an amused smile creeping onto his maw before he allowed his green headphones to rest along the back of his neck. "For a first time rookie at the time, you obviously knew what you were doing and was more prepared than your average rookie. And while those prosecutor awards I've received were based on my overall conviction ratings, the awards are just a bunch of empty words to me. I'm one of the few prosecutors around who feels that I've done my job right so long as the truth manages to make itself known by the time all the investigations and court hearings are done. Did you notice that it was only while I was chasing a false lead that you managed to come up to the truth of the matter during Tails' murder trial, Sonic? I'm sure you've also noticed the same thing happening when you were going up against Shadow during Knuckles' trial."
"…Now that you mention it, I have noticed things going like that," the cobalt hedgehog admitted with a nod of his head. "I guess the thought never really crossed my mind since I've only successfully defended two clients out of the two times I've been asked to be on the job. I'm not counting this one since it's not over yet. You really are different from what I've heard prosecutors are supposed to be back in high school when I was taking criminal justice classes. According to the class lectures, all prosecutors are supposed to be ruthless and not caring whether or not the defendant is innocent."
"Before you continue on with that line of thought, I've already told you that I only consider myself a success so long as I can get to the truth of the case. However, I do admit that the other prosecutors in this building are just as ruthless as you've been taught to think of them. The only ones who you see have any kind of sense of right and wrong during an entire court proceeding is me and Shadow."
"I really wonder sometimes how the judicial system is starting to crumble now that a majority of prosecutors just don't care for the truth," Tails said with a disappointed shake of his head at the explanation he just heard. He the then added with a change in tone, "Anyway, I think that's enough about talking about random things. I think we better get to the reason why Sonic and I came to meet you in the first place."
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Vector agreed before sneaking a look at a clock on his wall and seeing it was already half past five. "If you're going to try and squeeze in some more investigation time after talking with me, then you're going to have to make it quick. So what is it that you wanted to ask me about?"
"Well, the first question we have regards around your investigation of the lighthouse," the two tailed fox started as he finally decided to take a seat on one of the spare chairs in the room with Sonic quickly following suit. "I must admit that when Charmy burst into the courtroom right when I was about to lose the case, I was more than happy to have him at least stall for time. I was even happier when he said that he wanted to testify about what he found that had to do with our case! However, I must admit that it was news to me when he said that the Chaotix Detective Agency was under contract by a third party to have explored that place. I was wondering if you could give me more details as to why you were asked to investigate and why wait until this morning to do so."
Details about Client Request
I suppose it's fair to let you in on the loop since it's your case that's being directly affected here. I honestly never would've thought that your case and our job would end up being connected like this. I just need you to promise me that whatever I talk about stays between us. If you want, you can talk to Knuckles, Shadow, or Silver about it since I trust them with this. Apart from them, make sure nothing leaks out of this room. It's not that I don't trust people; it's because what I'm going to say is supposed to be confidential.
End Argument
"I'm sure we can handle that so long as you don't go and drop a humungous bombshell on us," the cobalt hedgehog answered with a nod of his head. "But if it's something that's supposed to be confidential, are you sure you should even be telling us about it in the first place? It kind of sounds a bit out of line."
"As I said earlier, both your case and mine are connected now whether we like it or not," Vector repeated with a curt nod of his head. "As such, I find that it's more than alright for you to know a bit about the job my detective agency was assigned to. And who knows? We might be able to make a couple of connections while we're at it."
"Well, so long as you're okay with it all," Tails replied as he simply shrugged off the concern as if it were nothing. "And I'm supposing you won't mind if I asked you questions along the way every now and then? I promise that most of my inquiries will revolve around the current topic at hand."
"Oh boy, I'm getting this feeling that you're going to do what you did when Sonic was being framed for murder a few weeks ago," the crocodile said in a sarcastically teasing voice that was spoken in good nature. "I hope you're not planning on pinning me for some unspeakable crime with your talent that's highly unusual for someone your age."
"I promise you that I'm not going to try pulling off something like that on you," the two tailed fox responded with a warm smile. "Of course, I can't make any guarantees if you end up making yourself sound guilty for no good reason."
"If I manage to do that here, then I can only say that I deserve it for my stupidity. Just make sure you don't get carried away or anything like that. I don't need you announcing another crime scene and tagging a murderer onto it."
"Uh, can we please just get on with the explanations?" Sonic quickly cut in as he started to become impatient. "I still have some things that I want to do before the day's out, but you two aren't really helping me save time here!"
"Oops, sorry about that," the young kit apologized as he winced a bit at his mistake. "If you don't mind Vector, can you start giving us the details about the current job the Chaotix Detective Agency has been employed with?"
Begin Rebuttal
"Well, let me go ahead and give you guys just the cliff notes since the whole story would be uneventful and take up too much time," Vector started after taking a moment to clear his throat. "I'm not sure if you already know this, but we were asked to investigate that lighthouse the day before your trial started. Naturally, I didn't think that the lighthouse would turn out to be the central point of your case. Then again, what were the chances of something like that ever happening in the first place?"
"I'd say it's pretty bad considering the careful planning that's needed if it were to have purposefully done that way to look like one amazing coincidence," Tails replied with a face that showed he did not believe what just came out of his own mouth to be the truth. "With that said, I'm pretty sure whoever staged the murder so that it would look like it took place at the harbor did not do a good job timing the entire scenario. Then again, to time a plan of such complexity to the exact minute is pretty hard to do regardless whether or not they originally planned for the lighthouse murder to be discovered. And if the lighthouse incident weren't supposed to have been discovered, then they would have gotten away with it were it not for Amy's Photograph capturing their one slip-up."
"Believe me when I say that almost all of the prosecutors here at the Precinct are talking about this particular case," the prosecutor stated as he nodded his head in agreement to the fox's explanation of things. "They're all amazed at how a rookie attorney like you could actually last so long against one of the best prosecutors in this district second only to the chief prosecutor. You should've seen the looks on everybody's faces when they heard that a case Mephiles was working on was actually extended to the final day of litigations. That's completely unheard of when it comes to that man."
"Boy, don't I feel special for making a case last longer than it should when in the hands of a man who's known to close them the minute he looks at it," Sonic sarcastically added with a roll of his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. "And while it's good to know that I got a lot of the prosecutors here wondering at my awe-inspiring abilities, can we please get back to answering the question as to why you decided to investigate the lighthouse this morning rather than the day after you received the job?"
"Oops, didn't mean to go off-topic there. Anyway, I really wanted to just get the job out of the way and suggested that we investigate the lighthouse the day after signing the contract. However, our client called us the morning after and insisted that we waited until this morning. He only said that he chanced on literally running into a girl at a photo development booth. He said he got a quick glance at the picture she had dropped and used it as the basis for his reasoning on making us wait until this morning. I guess it ended up being a good thing for you that he asked us to wait."
"So you're saying that it was under the direction of your client that you decided to not investigate the lighthouse on the day you were scheduled to which would be on the first day of Shadow's trial?" the two tailed fox asked as he tried to briefly summarize what he just heard. "And with that in mind, you both agreed to instead to investigate it this morning? I wonder why he wanted you to wait."
"If you want my opinion on this, I would say that he wanted to do a bit of investigating for himself before we got there," the crocodile suggested as he gave it some thought. "He's perfectly capable to do his own version of snooping around. That's the only reason I can think of him wanting us to wait. Then again, that was the place that caused him to ask for my help in the first place, so I guess he kind of panicked a bit when he ran into the girl and saw the picture she dropped. Anyway, that's everything that I can say concerning the job and the reason we were forced to delay the investigation by a day."
"That's really all you can say about it?" the cobalt hedgehog whined as he allowed a pout to approach his face. "I was kind of hoping that you'd be able to tell us a bit more about your job besides what we kind of already knew."
"Sorry, but anything more from what I've already disclosed is strictly between me and my client," the crocodile explained as he crossed his arms. "I'm not allowed to disclose anything that he had dubbed to be confidential. He did say that I could disclose it should certain circumstances arise, but that has yet to happen."
End Rebuttal
"Hmm, did he happen to mention what this girl looked like?" Tails asked as he changed the subject back to when Vector had said his client had ran into a girl. "I'm getting a sneaking suspicion as to who she was, but I can't be too sure right now."
"He only said that she was a young pink furred teenage hedgehog who happened to have been wearing a red summer dress that accentuated her fur," the crocodile explained with a shrug of his shoulders as he seemed apologetic at being unable to provide much information on the question. He then added as he thoughtfully fiddled with the gold chain around his neck, "He also said that she seemed to be in a rush since she barely registered she dropped her picture. He didn't tell me anything more than that."
"That sounds a lot like the witness we heard from on the first day of the trial," Sonic stated with an eyebrow raised in slight amusement at what was said. "I find it hard to believe that Amy and your client have any kind of connection whatsoever to each other. I mean, she demonstrated in court that she's a pretty outspoken girl while your client seems to love surrounding himself in all this secrecy. I'm probably guessing that what caused him to rethink having your agency investigating the lighthouse yesterday was when he saw the murder taking place there. That's the only reason that I can think of that makes sense with him having a change of heart after seeing Amy's Photograph."
"But then wouldn't that put Vector's client in trouble for having tried to keep a potential crime scene hidden from the authorities?" the young fox asked out loud as a random thought. "Assuming that your assumption is right, that would mean he knows what was going on that day the moment he saw the picture."
"You'd be right if these happened to be normal circumstances, Tails," Vector responded before shaking his head. "Any sane person would believe him to be somehow involved with your current case. However, because of whom the client is and what he does for a living, I can vouch for him that he has nothing to do with this murder."
"What you just said raises another question that we were thinking of asking you," the cobalt hedgehog quickly added while they were on the current subject. "What exactly is the name of your client, and just what exactly does he do for a living? He should have a pretty honest living if he is in fact an innocent person."
Instead of providing them an immediate answer, the crocodile stayed quiet for a few seconds as if he were contemplating what he should say next. It was almost as if he were hesitant on wanting to answer a seemingly simple question and now having a semi-defensive aura about him. Then again, the two were asking him to indulge them with information on a contract that most likely is meant to be kept private for legal purposes, so they were probably going to run into sensitive territory sooner or later.
Why Keep Client Name a Secret
…Unfortunately, I can't talk to you about my client's name and what he does for a living. That actually falls under the confidentiality portion of our contract. I can't go about telling anybody who doesn't know the first thing about him his name or even what he does for a living for that matter. I assure you that I'm one of his personal friends and know him quite well. Because of that, I promised him that I wouldn't reveal his name or talk about what he does under any circumstances. While discussing anything that's within a contract like his name is prohibited, I'm also doing this as a favor to him because of the job he's in. Unless you can supply me with a perfectly good reason why I should tell you about my client, I'm afraid this is one piece of information you're not going to be receiving anytime soon.
End Argument
"But what if we told you that we just so happen to know the name of your client and that he might actually be considered in our eyes to be a prime suspect in our case?" Tails asked in a sort of threatening manner that slightly took the other two off-guard. "If we were to tell you that as well as provide a suitable reason for his suspicions, then will you tell us what he does for a living? After all, I know that you're a truthful guy and whatever you say would definitely benefit to his overall innocence in this."
"…Had you framed your words differently and spoke them at a different time, I'd consider you to be blackmailing me right now," Vector lightly chuckled out after a moment of contemplative silence. "However, I'm down for your little guessing game. If you're right in both my client's name and provide reasonable suspicion for you thinking he might be a prime suspect in your case, I'll tell you about him. After all, he did allow for me to disclose whatever information I felt was necessary about him to the one with grave suspicions against him should he ever come into question. I'm guessing that this is one of those times. I never would've thought it'd be you questioning about him, however."
"Since I honestly have nothing to do with this potential blackmail scenario, I'm just going to keep my mouth shut on this," Sonic said as he scooted away from his brother's side as he started to feel a bit uncomfortable with the sudden change in attitude. "I honestly have no idea what you're doing now, Tails. I know this is Vector we're talking to, but don't you think you're putting too much force in your words right now? He's just trying not to break his part of the contract here!"
"Oh, you should know by now to trust me when it comes to things like this, Sonic," the fox stated in an overdramatic fashion before clearing his throat and speaking normally. "And it's not like I'm even trying to blackmail anybody here. I'm just trying to get us some information in the little time we have left. And if I can prove that he can disclose the information under that certain circumstance he mentioned earlier, then he won't be breaking his contract."
"Why is it that I'm having trouble believing you can pull something like that off?" the cobalt hedgehog asked with a groan escaping his lips. "With the gusto you put into centering Vector's client in the middle of our murder case, I wouldn't be surprised if you really were trying to blackmail him for more information right now."
Begin Rebuttal
"Anyway, before I get into what I believe your client's name to be, let me first start off by saying why I'm suspecting him of being a prime suspect in Shadow's case," Tails quickly announced so as to get off the topic of Sonic's current lack of confidence in him. "First off, considering that I have the right person in mind, your client has already shown himself to be a pretty suspicious person in the way he conducted his business with us a few days ago. When he came to the Robotnik Law Firm a few days ago, he was quite sketchy in some of his details. The way he described how he ended up finding us and what he wanted to discuss with us was also quite strange at best. From my point of view, that's already quite a bit against him personality and behavioral wise."
"If we really are talking about the same person, then I have to say that you have a pretty shaky basis for an argument," Vector replied as he leaned back in his chair a bit after closing the file he was looking at. "While I must admit that what you observed is condonable for something like this, it does not provide any concrete foundation to your current point. What you say about what you saw would only provide evidence of his behavior at the time. If I'm remembering correctly, the point you're trying to prove is whether or not my client can right now be considered a prime suspect in your case. After all, that is the only reason why you're seeking his name right now."
"…I suppose you're right about that," the two tailed fox admitted with a small nod of his head. "All I really did was state a good reason for having my suspicions. Even if this isn't a court of law, just presenting reason alone can hardly be considered as proof unless tied in with concrete evidence."
"And unless my suspicions are correct, you don't have any evidence on my client being that he's quite careful in that regard," the crocodile added with a smug look on his face as if he already knew he was correct. "He is quite careful as to not leave any kind of trail in the line of work he's in. I would suppose that's why he was being so suspicious in your eyes when you reportedly first met him at Sonic's office."
"We might not have any evidence, but you do have me and Sonic as witnesses to what we saw and remember. Since we're basically reiterating what we remembered seeing, you can't really say that we're producing hearsay. After all, you can pretty much look us right in the eye and see whether or not we're lying to you. And what might supposedly be useless information in proving our point might actually give us the proof we need."
"Hey, don't go dragging me into your blackmail scheme!" Sonic quickly exclaimed as he put his hands up in a defensive fashion. "I don't want anything to do with it, Tails. I'm not going to be sinking to your level. And besides, it's not like what I say can help you since you saw the same thing I did."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not trying to blackmail Vector here?" the young fox asked with an exasperated sigh escaping his lips followed with an annoyed roll of his eyes. "When are you going to get that ridiculous idea out of your head, Sonic? I'm just trying to get us some answers that we need."
"While I admit that I'm just as curious about this as you are, do you really think that this is something that's worth pursuing with the little time we have left to be investigating Shadow's case?" the cobalt hedgehog asked with clear doubt in his voice. "I really don't want to be chewed out by him tomorrow if we end up getting him a guilty verdict because we came up with nothing new to save him with."
"When this might actually have something to do with this case, then yes; I think that this is more than worth pursuing. Just try and bear with me a little bit longer, and try to keep out of your mind the fact that I'm trying to blackmail Vector here. And besides, I thought we already agreed before making our way here that we're most likely not going to come up with anything new if we tried looking more into Shadow's case? Tomorrow's outcome is solely revolving around Maxwell Pryce's testimony, and we can't really hear what he has to say about his innocence until then."
"While I must admit that watching you two fight like the brothers you are is pretty amusing, can we please get back to the main point here?" Vector simply butted in while shaking his head in amusement. "Like it is with you two, I don't have all night to be listening to a rather childish argument that sounds like it was already resolved before it started."
"S-sorry Vector," both guys apologized at the same time which ended up earning each other an annoyed gaze. Tails then said after regaining his composure, "I guess we kind of gotten a little carried away there. Anyway, do you know how you said earlier that we didn't have any concrete evidence that could show your client had any connection whatsoever to Shadow's murder trial?"
"And what about it?" Vector asked as he seemed curious by this rather bold statement. "Are you going to say next that you do have something to connect him to Shadow's case? If so, then I really can't wait to see what it's going to be."
"Well, I'll have you to thank for this information if it does end up being the thing that'll allow us to get some information on your client," the two tailed fox replied with a rather smug smile on his face. "If I remember correctly, you said earlier that your client had spontaneously decided to change when he wanted your detective agency to investigate the lighthouse. That is what you said, right?"
"And what exactly are you getting at here, Tails?" the crocodile asked before nodding his head in confirmation to the question. "I'm afraid that you're starting to lose me with your constant tangents."
"What I'm saying here is that you've already provided me with enough reason to believe that he might really be connected with this case and is thus a prime suspect. After all, you already provided us with an explanation on how he acted when he first ran into Amy at a photo development shop. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't you say that he told you that he had an immediate change of heart as to when you were to investigate the lighthouse right after he saw her Photograph?"
"…I see where you're going with this now," the prosecutor responded with a nod of his head and what looked to actually be a smile of amusement at the current situation. "It's because of what I said he did after that where you're now basing your claim that he might be involved in your case. I admit that I said that, and I also admit that your basis for suspecting him is now standing on a pretty firm foundation. Alright, you win; I'll go ahead and talk to you a bit about my client so as to get the cloud of suspicion away from him. After all, his reaction is more than sound enough to suspect him of at least playing some role in the execution of the murder Shadow's being accused of."
"That's exactly what I was thinking. And it's with this result that I claim that your client is most likely a prime suspect in the case Sonic and I are working on."
End Argument
"Now that we got that out of the way, let me go ahead and tell you who I believe the name of your client to be," Tails continued on as a triumphant smile adorned his face after proving within reason to Vector that his client is quite possibly connected to Sonic's murder case. "After listening to this exchange, I'm more than sure now that we're talking about the same person. That and Charmy already kind of confirmed it for us back in court when Sonic was busy cross-examining him. And before you ask, I wanted to hear your end on this subject before saying Salemand Eres's name!"
"Humph, I didn't know that you two already knew his identity all the way from this afternoon," Vector replied in slight shock before changing back to his neutral face and reopening the file that had been in front of him. "Then again, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised considering the many connections between my job and your case. That and the bee's big mouth gave it away for you."
"Actually, we only whispered the name into his ear since he had enough composure in his admittedly hyper mindset to not say Salemand's name out loud in court," Sonic responded. "So you're admitting that he's your client in the job he asked you to do?"
"Yes, he's the Chaotix Detective Agency's current client," the crocodile answered with a nod of his head and without taking his eyes off from the file. "He called me about three days ago in the afternoon asking for my services on a certain personal matter. He told me that he was calling from Knuckles's cell phone; I'm guessing that Knuckles happened to have been visiting your office that day. I'm also guessing that the black cat didn't say anything about who he called and what it was about."
"He pretty much kept the details of his call to himself and actually went through all the trouble to delete the call from Knuckles's call history," the two tailed fox said as he thought back to that very moment before Shadow's case ever reached them. "It was almost as if he didn't want us to see whatever tracks he might've left behind even after going through such a complicated procedure just to get to Sonic's office."
"I promise you that he has good reason to be acting all secretive," the other assured them both. "I don't know how much I should tell you about Salemand, but I suppose I should at least explain enough so as to say why he can't be a prime suspect in your case. And like you said earlier, you proved that I can tell you since his job is at risk at being compromised.
"You see, that black cat is not just your ordinary citizen walking through the streets of Mobius," the prosecutor began to explain. "In fact, him walking the streets of Mobius is a pretty risky thing for him to do considering the job he's currently working on. When he went to see you so he could find Knuckles, he was taking a pretty big risk on his part. You see, Salemand Eres is in actuality an undercover Interpol agent!"
"W-wait a minute!" the cobalt hedgehog explained as he almost fell off his chair upon hearing this information. "Did you just say that guy is a member of Interpol? He's one of those guys who are able to work on cases that span beyond the local countries legal boundaries, right? What's a guy like him doing asking a local detective agency for help in finding his brother? I would assume that he even has a little brother to look for considering how we now know why he has to be so secretive and all that!"
"Yes, he does have a younger brother, and I don't blame him for being concerned about him considering that he happens to have the debilitative Feralisis Syndrome. Actually, I've met his little brother a few times, and he hardly lets his genetic disease slow him down. He's even a member of Interpol himself and is often times paired up with Salemand on missions. But as much as he loves to deny it, even he has to admit that he relies on his older brother for a lot of things that you and I would normally take for granted."
"Would I be right in supposing that this is Salemand's little brother?" the young kit asked as he pulled out the Picture he had received from Knuckles before their recess in court was over and presented it to Vector. "We received this earlier today from Knuckles who said he ran into the black cat while bringing key evidence to us."
"…Yes, this is little Leon," Vector confirmed with a slow nod of his head as a gleam of familiarity came across his eyes. "It's been a while since I've last spoke to him let alone see him. Then again, it's also been a while since I've heard from Salemand before our most recent conversation. The fact that you have this Picture means that he told you he was looking for his little brother and at least asked for you to keep an eye out for him."
"Wait a minute; did you just call him 'Leon'?" the defense attorney asked as he raised an eyebrow in confusion at this. "When Knuckles gave us this Picture, he said that the guy's name was supposedly Leukis Kruger. However, he could not find any information on a person with such a name in the records."
"That's because the names Leukis Kruger and Salemand Eres are their chosen code names in case they ever get tied into a city's local police's criminal investigation," the prosecutor simply responded. "It's so that they can keep their cover since they honestly can't go about trusting people with sensitive information. I've already accidentally told you his little brother's real name; I'm not about to make that same mistake with him. I'm going to leave it to him as to whether or not he wants to tell his real name to you.
"Anyway, back to the main topic at hand. When Salemand called me, he asked for my help in finding his little brother because he did not have the time to be searching himself. All he knew was that he last saw him hanging around the lighthouse a couple of days before your case came to be. As I said earlier, he and I know each other pretty well; that's why he trusted me with this job despite not being a member of Interpol. While it might not be my place to do so, I apologize on his behalf for any trouble or suspicions he might've given you two when he visited you at the Robotnik Law Firm."
"Now that we know the reasoning behind his strange and rather incriminating behavior, I don't really think apologies are needed," Tails simply replied with a shake of his head. "It's still kind of hard to believe, however, that those two brothers are actually undercover Interpol agents! I seriously didn't see that one coming."
"One more question about the guy before I ask you something else," Sonic said as a moment of curiosity flashed by his mind. "What is Salemand currently working on right now? Did he ever tell you that when you talked to him? I'm sure he isn't here just because his brother happened to be missing."
"I know I said we were good friends, but he's not going to be that personal in information with me," Vector said with an amused chuckle. "For safety reasons, an Interpol agent's current mission is kept between those involved with it and the one who issued it for them. Since I'm neither of those two, I'm kept in the dark as to what he's doing. If you want to know more about him, I suggest talking to him yourself when you get the chance. Now that I've answered your question, why don't you go ahead with what else you want to know?"
"Well, you just kind of gave me another question to ask you, but I'll come back to that," the cobalt hedgehog replied with a small frown before crossing his arms. "Actually, this kind of transformed into a two-part question. First off, is Salemand somehow involved with the LK-9 Incident that landed me and Tails where we are today? And secondly, do you have any information that you can give us regarding the case?"
"If you mean whether or not he's one of the kidnappers who kidnapped you and your friends five years ago, I can say for certain that he isn't," the prosecutor answered as he leaned back a bit in his chair. "However, that's as far as I know in terms of that. If he is involved, then I'm sure it would've been most likely under the careful instructions of Interpol to act as their mole. Only he would know for sure, but I'd doubt that he'd tell you anything about it being that the case is still pending in our jurisdiction.
"And as to your second question, who do you think you're talking to?" he continued on in a rather proud fashion before turning the file in front of him so that it was facing Sonic and Tails. "Don't you remember me telling you long ago that I was working on the case alongside Knuckles and Silver? Knuckles and I have to do so during our spare time, so it's really Silver who's taking up the reigns in this personal investigation. However, each of our positions tends to only allow us access to certain portions of the case since none of us are officially taking over the case. As such, I only have the LK-9 Case File on me."
"Well, I suppose that's better than nothing right now," the two tailed fox said with a shrug of his shoulders as he brought the file closer to him and his older brother. "Just so I'm sure Vector, what's usually written in case summary files?"
"It just has the basic facts that any prosecutor or defense attorney should know if they plan on taking up the case. It details the victims, alive and dead, involved in the crime as well as any known suspects at the time followed up by an autopsy report of the dead. It also has a witness list as well as a brief summary of what happened from before, during, and after the start of the case. They're all separated into their respective subcategories; Case Summary, Victims List, Autopsy Reports, and Witness List."
"Wow; that's sounds like a pretty complicated case file," Sonic replied with a low whistle after hearing that explanation before deciding to look over his little brother's shoulder. "Then again, I've never seen a case file before. I'm too used to starting a case from scratch rather than picking up the pieces left behind by others."
"If you're planning on bringing the LK-9 Incident to court tomorrow, then you better get used to the format of this file. You're going to have to fall back on this for information gathered five years ago. Apart from this, you're going to need recorded witness testimonies and evidence procured from the beginning of this case. Knuckles has access to the witness accounts, but only Silver can have free access to the evidence locked in the second floor evidence room being that he's a senior detective. If Knuckles is anything like me in terms of this case, then I'm sure he made copies of each witness's testimonies. You should see him when you have the chance and ask him for it. Naturally, evidence cannot be copied, so you'll have to ask Silver for help in seeing the evidence. He'll have to accompany you, but I doubt you'll have any problems with that being that we're all friends doing each other favors."
"I don't think that'll be much of a problem," Tails replied without once taking his eyes off of the LK-9 Case File that was currently on the Case Summary section. "He's always more than willing to help us with whatever case we're on if he can." He then said after a couple more seconds, "Do you mind if we took this file home with us? I have a feeling it's going to take a while to get through this."
"No problem; I can always make myself another copy," the crocodile answered with a smile before getting out of his chair and heading towards his shelf full of files. "And while you're at it, I'd like you to also take the overall summary of the first trial I ever participated in. It's pretty much the details of what happened just before LK-9, so I'm sure that it'll at least provide you with more help."
"…Your first case happened to be my uncle's last?" the cobalt hedgehog asked as he seemed slightly taken aback by this. "So even you are connected to LK-9 if only through indirect means. It's really funny how all of us who were connected to that case are now getting sucked back into it close to the day the statute of limitations runs out. It's almost as if there's something out there begging us to get to the bottom of it.
"Anyway, thanks for all the information you gave us, Vector!" he quickly changed the subject in a more cheerful tone before closing the LK-9 Case File and carrying it in his arms despite Tails' clear protest at having not finished reading it yet. "If the LK-9 Incident ever does get the chance to be heard in court tomorrow, then all this is definitely going to be a lot of help. Oh, I almost forgot!" he exclaimed just as he was about to head towards the door. "We went to visit Shadow at the Detention Center earlier before coming to see you. He said that he had a question he wanted to ask you. He wanted to know where you were during Knuckles' murder trial on the day I was indicting Ace Sleuth."
"That's an easy one to answer. I was hanging out at the courthouse lounge area after finishing my case. I managed to catch wind that you were indicting one of the Precinct's well known detectives and just had to see how you were doing. I was honestly interested in how you were going to pull this off being that it was only the second case of your career. That and it isn't every day you hear of a police detective being accused of murder."
"Were you the only one in the lounge that day?" the two tailed fox asked as he seemingly forgotten about the question Shadow wanted them to ask the crocodile.
"Well, I must admit that it was a pretty slow day in terms of court cases being heard," Vector responded as he gave it some thought. "However, there were two other people in the lounge watching the case with me. One of them was some prosecutor who really isn't all that great if you ask me. In my opinion, I think he should be retiring soon since he's having a hard time getting any of his points across both in and out of court. I'm guessing his name is Payne, but I'm not really sure. He really doesn't stand out all that much."
"Yeesh, that's pretty apparent if you don't even know who he is," Sonic said with a raised eyebrow at what he heard. "Sounds like I'll have an easy time against him if we ever meet up in court. Anyway, who's the second person who was in there?"
"Oh, you should know him pretty well," the prosecutor simply responded. "After all, you've been challenging him in court these past two days already and are going for a final faceoff tomorrow."
"Are you telling me that Mephiles was watching the case that day?" the cobalt hedgehog asked as his eyes widened in surprise. "He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would care about how other attorneys are doing in their cases."
"I was just as surprised to see him there myself," the crocodile agreed with the other. "That Payne guy told me that he's been working as a prosecutor just as long as Mephiles has and never once saw him set foot in the lounge room until that day. And just like you said, I doubt he wanted to watch the outcome of the trial just because of the amazing rookie attorney holding up against young prosecutor prodigy. This is just a hunch on my part, but I think he had some ulterior motive to watch your case in the lounge that day."
"You might not be too far off with that thought, Vector," Tails replied in an undertone that was barely heard by the prosecutor. "Shadow wanted us to ask you that because he thinks someone working with the courthouse tampered with the numbers in Ace Sleuth's phone. On the same day Ace was convicted of murder, Shadow placed him under protective custody. He then took his cell phone and had all the numbers traced to their owners. Unfortunately, they were all just burner phones, and they all somehow managed to make their way to the city dumps. Not one phone that was listed on the detective's lead to a single person. And he had them all traced in less than a day!"
"And he's thinking that somebody who happened to watch the trial that day and was a worker for the courthouse tipped off the owner of those phones," Vector finished off as he nodded his head in understanding. "That's the only thing that would make sense under these conditions. If that's the case, then the timing in which Mephiles left the lounge is pretty strange. I wouldn't have thought much of it if you didn't bring this up."
"What are you talking about?" the defense attorney questioned with eyebrows raised in confusion. "Besides his obvious attitude problem, what did he do that day that you now consider strange after hearing this?"
"Well, I'm not saying that this is concrete evidence or anything; but Mephiles left the lounge room only after Shadow announced that he wanted to place Ace under protective custody and that he was an important witness in another case. At the time, I had just figured that he saw the end result of the trial and didn't want to see any more. However, now I'm not so sure on that. He was also reaching into his pocket by the time he left the room, but I can't say for certain he was reaching for his phone."
"…You're right; it doesn't say much about him except that he has some pretty coincidental timing," the two tailed fox replied as he mulled over the new details for a couple of seconds before taking a nearby pen and scratch paper to write down Vector's Account of that day. "I guess all we can do now is ask Ace ourselves about who those numbers belonged to."
"I think I'll go ahead and do that myself. I'm sure Shadow already told you, but I'm the only one besides him who knows where the ex-detective is being held. I honestly thought that he'd be a dead-end by now being that the LK-9 Incident's statute of limitations is almost up. All this proves how wrong I was on that.
"Anyway, why don't you hang out here for a while longer while I go ahead and call Salemand here?" Vector suggested as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out his cell phone. "After what we discussed earlier, I'm sure you two have some questions you want to ask him. That and I doubt that you're done with your work here seeing as how you're probably going to see Silver later about looking at the evidence surrounding LK-9 and then Knuckles for the witness testimonies after that."
"…Yeah, I guess that's a good idea," Sonic replied with a shrug of his shoulders before moving back to the chair he had occupied earlier and sitting on it once again. "Are you sure you can get him up here, though? I thought you said that it was dangerous for him to be out in the open for a long time."
"He knows that the Precinct building is the safest place there is since I'm one of his closest confidants in this city," the crocodile explained as he began to dial some numbers. "He did tell me once he had a contact here who can connect him with Interpol should something bad happen, but I have no idea who he is. Just sit tight here while I call him over. If you'll excuse me for a minute…" he added before getting out of his chair and heading out into the hallway where he could have some privacy.
"Oh, this is definitely going to one long night," the cobalt hedgehog groaned out as his little brother nodded his head in agreement. "I figured that we'd be spending a long time on this when we were talking to Shadow, but I didn't think it'd take this long."
"Just grin and bear it, Sonic," Tails suggested as he got up from his chair and began wandering around the office again. "At least you can't say that none of this has been informational. We're actually learning a lot more about the LK-9 Incident than we would have if we went digging up information ourselves."
Instead of supplying an answer, the defense attorney simply let out another groan before letting his head rest on top of Vector's desk. Even though he was curious as to the details of the case from five years ago, he was certainly not looking forward to having to go through this rather long and tedious process of gathering information. He was mentally hoping that all this torture was going to be worth it at the end of the day.
New Evidence:
LK-9 Case File: A case file summarizing all the information gathered by police and detectives at the height of the LK-9 Incident. A copy of the file was given to Sonic and Tails by Vector in hopes that it would help them obtain the answers they seek about the case. There are four sections in the case file that have yet to be reviewed by the two.
Vector's Account: Testimony recorded by Tails and detailing what Vector saw in the courthouse lounge on the day of Knuckles' acquittal. He said he saw Mephiles entering the lounge for the first time in his entire career and watching over Sonic's case. He then said the old prosecutor left the room after hearing Shadow exclaim that Ace be held in protective custody.
New Profile:
Leukis Kruger (luke-is crew-grr): Salemand's eighteen-year-old younger albino lion brother who has been afflicted with the rare genetic disorder Feralisis Syndrome. He is apparently a member of Interpol with his name simply a code name. According to Salemand, he has been missing for a few days. As accidentally revealed by Vector, his real name is actually Leon.
Updated Profile:
Salemand Eres: A twenty-two-year-old ebon black cat who's looking for his missing brother. As revealed by Vector, he is a member of Interpol currently on an assigned mission in Mobius and using his current name as an alias. His real name is unknown to all except Vector. It is suspected that he might know something concerning the LK-9 Incident.
Just one short side-note here. The name Leukis Kruger is derived from the scientific name of the rare albino lion that actually does exist in this world. I just changed it up a bit to make it sound a lot less scientific. And before any of you ask what the scientific term is, I don't remember. I came up with the name over three months ago when I first started creating this particular case.