Chapter Five: Strange Locks
Seventeen cups of black coffee was the secret to May's burst of energy. She needed the caffeine to keep herself awake after staying up for most of the night. May had spent most of her night on YouTube watching music videos and listening to interviews related to music generated from Tohma's record label. May found herself listening to the entire discography of Nittle Grasper, Bad Luck and A.S.K. She had hoped that hidden in their music would be clues and evidence that would lead to the true culprits behind the triple murder. May drifted off to sleep as her head rested against the side of her laptop at 4:35AM. When May opened her eyes it was 8:00AM.
At first, she didn't understand why Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper's music sounded so similar, but then once she found out that Shuichi had idolized Ryuichi Sakuma, the lead singer of Nittle Grasper in every aspect possible, it made sense to her. They had the same staff and same producer. Ryuichi and Shuichi were fierce music rivals at one point, but now they were very close friends, almost like lovers according to comments by fan girls.
For J-Pop, she thought the music was decent. The music wasn't bad for generic pop, but after spending hours listening to the music, she yearned for classic rock acts like Queen, Nirvana and Iron Maiden. May decided to check her emails to see if she had any new messages other than random notifications and she found that she had an email from Detective Gary Oak.
May clicked on Gary's email and waited for it to load. "Come on computer," May muttered to herself. "Good thing I'm not in a hurry." When the message finally loaded, May noticed that there was a lot of attachments in the email. From the small colourful logos, she could tell they were images.
Hi May,
Sorry to send you this so early in the morning. I didn't get much sleep last night so I decided to gather up I have so far and send the information I should have sent yesterday. I've got some photos of the crime scene attached, along with the profiles of all the victims. The prosecution wants believes the deaths of the members of A.S.K are related to the deaths of siblings, Yuki and Yoshiki Kitazawa. I thought it might help you to get prepared for tomorrow's trial.
Hope this all helps.
Best regards,
Detective Gary Oak
"Thank you Gary," May whispered at the screen. She downloaded all of the pictures and finds a message from Gary, containing photos of the crime and important details. May printed them and added them to the court record. May opened the PDF file first and carefully skimmed through the pages until she could find the important information that stood out for her.
She then downloaded the crime photos and could see that the three young men had all been shot directly in the heart. The murder weapon was believed to be a magnum revolver as the bullets in the crime scene all had 357 Magnum engraved around them. The very same gun that killed Yuki and Yoshika Kitazawa. May was amazed at how quickly the old cases were linked together. May printed them all out and put them in her bag.
May didn't notice when Phoenix walked through the door until he spoke.
"Have you been up in the office all night?" Phoenix asked. "How's the case getting along?"
"I know one thing for sure," May responded. "Eiri Uesugi is 100% innocent."
"Perhaps there will be more clues in N-G Records," Phoenix suggested. "I would talk to the people who work there, especially the ones that know Mr. Shindou and Mr. Uesugi. "
"Okay," May nodded.
"I don't think N-G Studios is far from here. I think it's four blocks away from the big hotel.
"Thanks for your help, Mr. Wright. I'll be going now." May left the office, flew down the stairs and then took her bike and cycled to N-G Studios. She could have used one of her Pokémon like Venusaur to ride her down. In the end, she decided not to as traffic wardens would not appreciate huge Pokémon riding in the middle of a busy street.
When May entered N-G Records she parked her bike outside and approached the receptionist by the counter.
"Good morning," The receptionist smiled. "Welcome to N-G Records. What can I do to help you?"
"I'd like to speak to Tohma Seguichi please."
"May I ask who you are?"
"I'm May Maple. Eiri's lawyer."
"Okay, one moment please." The receptionist dialled a few numbers and after a few seconds, she got a response. "Mr. Seguchi, Eiri's Lawyer is here... Okay, I'll send her in. Thank you." The receptionist placed the phone down and smiled at May as two doors swung open. "You can go on through Miss Maple."
"Thank you." May ran straight into the doors as Tohma Seguchi greeted her from the staircase.
"How did you get here so early?" Tohma asked.
"Oh I used my bike."
"I could have picked you up," Tohma said with a warm smile on his face. "So what brings you here to N-G Studios?"
"Well, I was hoping to talk to some of the guys who work here, especially Shuichi. I think the true killer could be somewhere in this building."
"In that case, you have my full permission to investigate wherever you want in the studios."
"That's great," May exclaimed. "Thank you, Mr. Seguchi."
May went up the stairs and followed the stairs up to the first floor. It was one of the many studios in the company building. Once she stood inside she saw Detective Gary Oak interrogating a man with pink hair and red lips. May knew that it was Eiri's boyfriend, Shuichi. She could hear Gary threatening to arrest Shuichi if he failed to co-operate. It must have been the final straw for Shuichi as May could see his cheeks turn into a beetroot red as he stormed off with full speed. His shoulder bashed against May and he slammed the door shut.
"Dammit!" Gary hissed. "If only he could co-operate."
"I wouldn't worry about it," One of the guitarists said. "He's always crying."
May spotted something twinkling bouncing towards her. When it clashed by her shoe, May picked it up and discovered it was a ring. "Does this belong to anybody." They all shook their head. May brought the ring closer to her face and admired the rainbow hues and sparkling diamonds. May placed the ring back in her pocket. She had concluded that the ring had belonged to Shuichi Shindou.
"Hey May," Gary strutted along towards her. "Did you get my email?"
"I did," May replied. "Very helpful. Thanks."
In the room, there were two men with blonde hair. One was much taller than the other but they both had guitars strapped around them light proud knights with their swords. Gary rested against the table and began to talk again. "This is Klavier and Matt. They're members of Shuichi's band, Bad Luck. Klavier is also the one prosecuting the case."
"Really?" May gasped. "Well, it's nice to meet you both."
"You're Frau Maple?" Klavier asked as he hunched down to May's height. "Herr Forehead has told me all about you."
"Herr Forehead?" May honestly had no idea who Klavier was on about.
Matt chuckles and put his hands on his feet. "You mean your boyfriend, Apollo?"
"Apollo Justice?"
"Ja!"
May still didn't get it. "I'm curious, why did you take the case knowing you would be accusing your bandmate's partner of murder? Wouldn't that hurt Shuichi?"
"I didn't have a choice," Klavier explained. "The case was assigned to me."
"Do you think that Eiri Uesugi really committed those murders?"
Klavier's mind had wondered for a few moments. After standing up tall again, he put his hands in his pockets and said, "We'll have to wait and see."
In other words: He didn't have a clue.
"Would it be alright to ask you both some questions?" May requested.
Both guys nodded.
"So I've heard that Shuichi Shindou is very difficult to work with, can any of you confirm this?"
"He can sure be a nightmare to work with," Matt admitted. "I would hate to live with him. Sometimes on tours, he's absolutely insane. Though he is a great guy with a big heart. Somehow he always manages to get through his deadlines."
"With our help of course," Klavier added.
May's next question was, "What do you guys know about his relationship with Eiri Uesugi?"
"From what I can gather," Klavier stated in a thick German accent. "There's nothing wrong in that department."
"That department?" May raised her eyebrow.
"We know too much," Matt moaned. "He always talks about Yuki. Yuki this! Yuki that!"
"Did Shuichi ever mention Riku?"
"Huh?" Matt commented. "Who the hell is Riku?"
"The guy from Kingdom Hearts?" Klavier guessed.
"That's strange," May confessed. "Shuichi always talks about his dearly beloved Yuki, but never told you that he had adopted a boy named Riku."
"You're the first person to tell us this!" Klavier stated.
"I don't know how you don't know," said May. "After all, Riku is Yuki Kitazawa's biological son. A man that Eiri Yuki was accused of murdering a few years back."
"Shuichi never mentioned a kid," Matt declared. "Shuichi is a big kid himself; he wouldn't have a clue how to raise one. He's probably the reason why the others left."
"Hang on Matt," May cried out. She sat down next to Gary who had been listening to the chat the whole time. "What do you mean when you say the others?"
"Hiro and Suguru," Matt replied. "They left the band before Klavier and I joined."
"Do you know why they left the band?"
"I think it's pretty obvious that they had enough of Shuichi's shit," Matt hissed with his hands in his pocket.
"Hiro said he left to spend more time with his wife and kids," Klavier confirmed. "Last time I heard from him, he was a doctor. Suguru left to pursue a solo career and to do other projects."
"I think Suguru left because he hated Shuichi," Matt stuck on to his theory. "He had enough of him."
"Have you ever met the previous bandmates of Bad Luck?"
"Nope," Matt replied. "Never met them in my life."
"What about the victims?" May asked. "The members of A.S.K: have either of you had any dealings with them?"
Matt and Klavier shrugged their shoulders. Matt closed his eyes and placed his feet out on the table as Klavier said, "I know some of their popular hits, but I never knew them personally."
"I see," May said. "I wonder if I should have a look around in the studio."
"There's nothing really important in here," Gary whispered to May. "I think we should move along. I'm going to go the smoking room."
"I guess I gotta go and find Shuichi," May announced. "Thanks for your help guys."
"No problem," Klavier said. "I hope you are ready to rock tomorrow?"
"You bet I will be!" May cried out as she gave Klavier a thumbs up, and then she went into the next studio. At first it seemed to be an empty meeting room until she lowered her head and found Shuichi was hiding under the table like a pussy cat. He shivered causing the top of the table to shake and the chairs around him to rumble. May gulped and closed her eyes.
She tiptoed towards the table and then crouched down to her knees and said, "Hi Shuichi!"
Shuichi gasped and crawled to the back of the room.
"Hey!" May roared. "I'm just a defence attorney; I'm not going to bite." She folded her arms and asked, "What were you doing under the table anyway."
"DETECTIVE GARY OAK IS SO MEAN!" Shuichi cried out. "HE HAS NO RIGHT TO ARREST ME OR YUKI!"
May felt so uncomfortable as she had never seen a man cry so hard before. In fact, she had seen babies cry softer than him. She knew that Shuichi is upset, but something told her that these are crocodile tears. Perhaps he was seeking attention or that he was simply barking mad. May believed that the latter was a more logical answer.
"So I was wondering what you were doing on the night the killings took place?"
"I was playing on my Gameboy," Shuichi announced. "I was at home with Yuki."
"What game were you playing? And what was Yuki doing at the time?"
"Tomodachi Life!" Shuichi shrugged his shoulders and stared at May. He must have been lying. Had he have been truthful, he would have known Yuki's exact actions. Besides, Tomodachi Life is a game for the Nintendo 3DS: the franchise never existed when the gameboy was about.
"Well a witness saw you dining alone in a restaurant after an argument with Yuki," May confronted him. She peered over to Shuichi and crawled under the table with him. "What was the argument about?"
"Don't know what you're talking about." Shuichi hopped out from under the table and sat against the corner with his back facing May.
"You've dedicated your whole life to Yuki and Bad Luck," May commented as she stood up and sat down on one of the chairs. She folded her legs and kicked Shuichi's back. "But you never told your bandmates that you and Eiri adopted a son. The son of a man he supposedly killed. Shuichi... How come your bandmates had no idea who Riku was when I mentioned him?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Shuichi yelled. Suddenly May jumped as the room became engulfed by pitch darkness. She sees the room become covered in chains and three red boxes around Shuichi's heart. Each box had a keylock.
"What are these chains and locks all about?" May asked.
Shuichi refused to look at May. "What are you talking about? I don't see any locks or chains," Shuichi faced the wall as he shrugged his shoulders. "It's all the lawyer weed you've been smoking."
"I don't smoke or take drugs," May made it known that it was not true. As the darkness slowly faded along with the locks and chains, the room returned to normal. May realized that only she could see locks around his heart. She didn't understand why she could see them or if it was wise to open them. She wondered if she would ask her boss, Phoenix, but the last thing she needed, was her mentor to think she was crazy too. He says he can't see any locks, chains or blackness and that she must be going crazy.
May wondered if she should continue to interrogate Shuichi or come back later when he had calmed down. May turned around and marched to the door she came in. There was no way Shuichi was going to give her any information in his current state of mind. A tall man in a black suit approached her as soon as she stepped outside the door. He introduced himself as Mr. Sakano.
"Mr. Seguchi would like to speak with you now," Mr. Sakano told May. "Please follow me."
May followed the man into the lift and took May onto the top view. As soon as the elevators opened, Mr. Sakano opened the door for May and she was quickly greeted by a large office with huge windows showing the amazing views of Tokyo. Tohma was sitting patiently by his desk.
"Morning Miss Maple," Tohma said. "How is the investigation going?"
"It could be better," May struggled to get the words right. She didn't know how to describe Shuichi to Tohma.
"Is Mr. Shindou giving you grief?" Tohma asked. "As I expected, he's been very challenging, especially when it comes to Eiri." He looked over to Mr. Sakano. "Please advise Shuichi to co-operate."
"Right!" Mr. Sakano bowed and left the room.
"What's your opinion on Shuichi Shindou?" May questioned Tohma.
Tohma smiled as he removed his coat. "I don't really have an opinion on him."
Like before, Tohma's office became shrouded with darkness as the room as chains decorated the room. There was a lonely lock against his heart. Tohma didn't seem to be fazed, so May knew that only she would see them. May wondered why does Tohma only have one instead of three? May had a feeling she might be able to break Tohma's lock.
"Is something the matter?" Tohma asked. "You seem to be looking quite... Pale."
"Tohma..." May spoke as she bit her lip. "I don't think you hold a very high opinion of Shuichi."
Tohma seemed to be surprised. He folded his arms and smiled. "What makes you say that?"
"Every person I've spoken to today, including you has mentioned how challenging Shuichi's behaviour can be," May confronted him. "As president of N-G Records, you demand nothing but absolute perfection from your artists."
Tohma nodded. "We cannot afford to have poor music being churned from our label."
"Let's be honest," May persisted. She got out three sheets of paper from her folder and slapped them on Tohma's desk. "Shuichi's song writing is rather poor compared to your other artists." Tohma had been presented with lyrics from Nittle Grasper, Bad Luck and A.S.K. "You can tell who wrote what based on the handwriting alone. So which one is the odd one out?"
Tohma had the choice between the following lyrics; Dare To Dream by his own band, Nittle Grasper; Italy Loves Pasta by Shuichi's band, Bad Luck; or Let's Fight Love by the deceased A.S.K. Tohma quickly selected the piece of paper that had his own lyrics on. "This one," he replied. "The other two songs never recorded."
"Trust you to pick your own song," May giggled. "That wasn't what I was thinking of though. I would say that Shuichi's lyrics are the odd one out because of how crappy the lyrics are. The reason you failed to drop Bad Luck is because of their sales. I believe that they generate... 30% of N-G Records profits. If you were ever to drop them, that 30% would be a disastrous loss to your company."
"There are some things that are more important than profit," Tohma argued.
"That's true," May added. "When Bad Luck first joined your label, you felt that they needed an extra member. That's why you hired Suguru, your cousin. From what I've heard, Shuichi was quickly envious of Suguru's talent. Klavier told me that Hiro's reason to leave was to spend more time with his family and then he began to work as a doctor. Whilst Suguru left because he couldn't handle Shuichi's behaviour anymore."
"I know who you mean," Tohma said. "We used to be very close."
"Used to be..." May thought. The lock and chains were swaying but they weren't ready to break. "You have a lot of reasons to hate Shuichi: from putting your own company at risk from turning your cousin against you. BUT... There is one reason why you despise him."
"I wouldn't go that far," Tohma noted.
"Tohma... You've been in love with Eiri for a long long time," May explained. "You and Eiri have been friends since childhood, and you've been with him through the thick and thin. You were even there to support him when his first novel became an instant bestseller. And then some guy comes along and claims Eiri for himself... You wanted to add more workload to Shuichi to keep him and Eiri apart. You wanted to keep Eiri... To yourself."
"You've got me." Tohma gasped. The red box shattered into little pieces and the chains flew away. May had found herself back in reality and back in Tohma's office. May thought if she could break Tohma's locks, then maybe she can unlock Shuichi's too.
"Sorry to bust into your secret like that," May apologized. "But I needed to get closer to the truth."
"I understand," Tohma didn't seem to be the slightest fazed.
"Can you tell me what you know about the previous bandmates in Bad Luck?" May asked. "What were their personalities like?"
"Hiro was sometimes a calming influence on Shuichi," Tohma whispered. "They were best friends from school. When I hired Suguru to join the band there were tensions at first, but together their music was wonderful. When Hiro and Suguru left the band's music had dropped in quality, but I still couldn't drop them."
"Are you still in contact with them?"
Tohma shook his head. "Hiro has gone on his own path, and Suguru never responds to my messages anymore."
"Do you think that Shuichi is responsible?"
Tohma froze on the spot. "It wouldn't surprise me."
"Thank you, Tohma," May said. "I think I've finished with the questioning."
"Before you go," Tohma said. "I have something to give you. I went to Eiri's house earlier this morning and got these. They're Riku's adoption papers, I thought they might help with your case."
"Thank you," May said with a smile on her face. She flicked through the papers and realized that Riku's adoption files could be very important evidence. She could only see Eiri's name on the adoption papers, but they are signed by Yoshiki, Riku's deceased aunt. May found it strange that Shuichi's name was not mentioned on any of Riku's paperwork. "Tohma, you don't need to feel guilty, these papers are proof that Eiri didn't kill anybody."
"You better catch the one that did it then," Tohma demanded with a grin on his face and a tear running down his cheek.
May went through nearly every room in the company building until she found Shuichi in the men's bathroom, covering himself in toilet paper. May was dreading stepping into the men's bathroom. May had enough of Shuichi's antics and marched into the men's bathroom. May was alerted by a piece of paper with writing. She leaned over and picked the paper up. May was mortified when she read it: A receipt for a ring sold for five hundred million yen.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE MEN'S BATHROOM?" Shuichi yelled.
"To find your secrets," May pushed him.
"I have nothing to say to you," Shuichi responded with his tongue out.
The three locks around his heart said otherwise.
"So Shuichi," May folded her arms and tapped her feet. "It seems you have a couple of big secrets."
"Why should I tell you my secrets?"
"Well your boyfriend has been arrested for murders he didn't commit," May reminded him. "I wonder why you haven't visited him in prison?"
"Because I've been working," Shuichi snapped.
"Tohma and Mika have been working too," May responded. "But they still have time to visit Eiri. Were you seeing other people? And another thing? How come your name isn't on Riku's adoption certificate? You and Eiri are a couple after all."
"Shut up!" Was all that Shuichi could say.
"On the night of the crime you and Eiri had an argument," May reminded him again. "You were meant to be going out on a date, but you ended up eating alone." May noticed that Shuichi looked extra sad. With the receipt and ring in her hand, eveything suddenly made sense. "Shuichi... Did you by any chance try to propose to Eiri? But Eiri declined? I don't know why he declined, maybe he wasn't ready or he had a lot on his mind. That's why he had the argument and that's why you dined alone?"
May broke Shuichi's locks and he succumbs on the floor. "Yuki wouldn't hurt a fly!" Shuichi whimpered. "I lost the engagement ring. I was going to return it just like Yuki asked me to."
"Is this the ring you're looking for?" May asked as she opened out her hand.
"WHERE WAS IT?" Shuichi exhaled. "Did you steal it!"
"Of course I didn't," May snapped. "You dropped it when you ran away from Detective Oak. I don't think you had any intention of returning the ring to the store. It's worth a lot of money. You still wanted Yuki to have it. It gives me the impression that you and Yuki have split up."
"That's blasphemy!" Shuichi snorted. "Me and Yuki are still together!"
"So, why don't you visit Eiri in prison? And why do you never mention Riku?" May asked. Shuichi glared at her. "It's okay," May said. "You can take your time. Tell me everything you need to know."
"Me and Riku don't get on very well," Shuichi admitted. "When we was younger we used to be really close. He used to call me mummy. Then Eiri became really fond of the kid, I guess I got... Jealous."
"Why are you not mentioned on your son's adoption certificate?"
"Riku's no son of mine!" Shuichi snapped. "Anyway, the law would consider Eiri a single parent. Even if we did get married, Riku would never be my son."
"What has Riku done to upset you? He's just a kid. I think there's something much deeper than that. You miss your old bandmates don't you?"
Shuichi simply nodded and stood back up.
"Eiri's trial is tomorrow," May told Shuichi. "Eiri needs all the support he can get. He needs you now more than ever. Now isn't the time to be moping around."
"They all deserved it!" Shuichi snapped. A serious and much more evil face was engraved on Shuichi's face. "They hurt me and tried to hurt Yuki... THEY DESERVED IT!"
May dreaded to know what Shuichi meant by that, but she had a feeling he was on about the victims. "Do you think Hiro and Suguru would help us with our investigation?"
Shuichi shrugged his shoulders. He gave May a business card with an address to a clinic written in the middle. "Is this where Hiro works?"
Shuichi nodded and then ran off.
"Wait!" May cried out. "Shuichi what about your ring?"
It was too late, he was gone.
"Doctor Nakano, Miss Maple is here to see you."
"Send her in!"
May recognised his voice from when he used to be on the television. She thought the rock-star to doctor transformation was incredible. What was even more fascinating was that he had barely aged since his school days. Doctor Hiroshi Nakano was in his late forties, but could still pass for eighteen. Behind the doctor was a much shorter bloke with green hair. The other guy had his back towards May, and his arms were fiddling as if they were doing something.
"Well, Miss Maple," Hiroshi said. "I'm sorry that I was unable to attend Miss Haruno's trial. Had I have been allowed to attend the trial would have been a lot shorter."
"It's fine." May nodded politely. "I understand that you had a lot of patients to see. And I'm grateful that you agreed to meet me at short notice."
"Shuichi brought you here?" Hiroshi asked. "I do worry about him. He always seems to get involved with the wrong crowds."
May gasped. "Doctor Nakano..."
"Please, call me Hiro," Hiro requested.
"Hiro, what do you mean by that?"
"I only want Shuichi to be happy," Hiro admitted as he swirled around the table. He frowned and drifted his eyes to the floor. "He's been in love with Eiri Yuki for so long. If only I knew the truth... if only I stepped in before..." Quickly he shook his head and smiled. "But then I wouldn't have my wonderful wife and kids, would I?"
"I guess. Anyway, what do you mean when you say Shuichi was mixing with the wrong crowd?"
"Naruto Uzumaki for instance," Hiro started. "Have you heard about all the chaos he used to cause as a kid? You wouldn't believe it. Doesn't surprise me that he was a cheat."
"Have you met Mrs. Uzumaki's husband?"
Hiro nodded. "Why yes! He once came into my clinic asking for viagra."
"...Really?" For some reason, it didn't surprise May one bit.
"Mrs. Uzumaki died of stomach cancer," Hiro stated. He sighed. "If Mr. Uzumaki doesn't reduce his salt intake, he'll be joining her. That ramen he likes is full of salt."
"I always wondered what Mrs. Uzumaki knew about her husband's affair," May admitted. She knew Hiro would know, he knew Hinata Uzumaki better than May ever would. "Come on, Hiro..." May pleaded as Hiro shook his head. "Mrs. Uzumaki trusted in you. You must have some idea. She visited your clinic the day she died."
"She was my favourite patient," Hiro admitted. His fingers swept his little tears away. "I know I shouldn't get emotional over patients, but she was a wonderful person. She deserved so much more. I gave her the best medication and sent her to the top cancer specialists in the available. I still don't understand why the treatment was unsuccessful. I had to tell her that there was nothing we could do for her. She seemed happy. She asked for all her medication to be stopped. She knew everything that was happening. She chose death, so Naruto could be with Sakura."
"Wow... You really should have been there for Miss Haruno's trial. And if it's okay with you, I would like to discuss Eiri Yuki's trial a bit more."
"Oh!" the man with green hair cried out. He flicked his back and gasped. It was at that moment when May realised that it was Suguru Fujisaki. Both of Shuichi's old bandmates were in the room the entire time. "So you're May Maple! Your mother always sends me lovely fan-mail."
"Yeah that's right!" May said.
Suguru jumped over to May and sat next to her. "And I bet your family are so proud of you. Well as the daughter of a Pokemon Gym Leader, I'd expect great things to come from you."
"Um...yeah! My family are delighted. Now about the trial..."
"The trial?" Suguru pondered. "Oh yes, the trial! Well it wouldn't surprise me if Shuichi did play a part in the crime."
"Suguru..." Hiro muttered. "Shuichi wouldn't even hurt a fly let alone a whole band."
"You're a doctor," Suguru snapped at Hiro. "You should know that you have to stick to the facts. You're too upset over that patient. It's time you faced up to the truth. Mrs. Uzumaki is dead and Shuichi is a monster. We were right to leave the band when we did."
"So Mr. Fujisaki..." May regretted coming to the clinic. All the people she met at NG Studios were all just as mad as each other. "I take it that you don't like Shuichi very much."
"That's an understatement," Suguru signed, folding his arms. "I hate him. He's a disgrace to the music industry."
"That's funny because Shuichi really seems to miss both of you when I spoke to him."
Both men dropped their jaws and stared at May. "I've listened to Bad Luck's entire discography. And it's clear that all three of you are talented and compliment each other. And it's the earlier records with both of in where Shuichi' really seems to shine the most. Whatever happened between you three before, leave it behind. Because Shuichi needs your support right now. It's what Mrs. Uzumaki would have wanted..."
Hiro's phone began to rang. "One moment please," he said.
"If it's Shuichi again, hang up!" Suguru ordered.
"Hello... oh hi Shuichi."
"HIRO PLEASE HELP ME!"
Hiro didn't have his phone on speaker, but it was loud and clear. Suguru sighed as he got back to what he was doing before.
"What's happened this time?"
"Some horrible lawyer stole Yuki's engagement ring!"
"What!" May gasped.
"Relax," Hiro laughed.
"How can I relax?" Shuichi roared through the telephone. "I went to Detective Oak about it and he said I dropped it."
"She's here in my office," Hiro assured Shuichi. "Don't worry, I'll get it back." As the telephone called contimued, May took the ring and receipt from her pocket and placed it on Hiro's desk. "It's alright Shuichi, I've got the ring and receipt here. I'll give it you tomorrow... Okay, bye now." Hiro smirked. "We'll be there. Guilty or not guilty, we'll be there to comfort Shuichi."
May returned to the Wright Anything Agency and found Trucy hugging a Piplup.
"Hi May," Trucy said with a smile on her face. "Look at Mr. Piplup! Isn't he cute?"
"Of course," May said. Mr. Piplup appeared to be enjoying himself.
"How is the investigation going?" Trucy asked. "The trials tomorrow, right?"
"Some strange things have been happening," May admitted.
"Such as?"
"Well it turns about that Shuichi's best friend was Mrs. Uzumaki's doctor."
Trucy gasped, covering her mouth. "Really? Wow, you're good. What else did you find out?"
"That's just the start of it. The most craziest thing was when I interviewed Tohma and Shuichi I saw lots of chains and red blocks near their hearts. I don't know what they're for but only I could see them."
Phoenix's heart jumped as soon as he heard the descriptions of Psyche-Locks. He knew exactly what they were. He was curious to why May could see them and why she was able to see them. There was only one person that could have answered his questions: Maya Fey.
"Those are called Psyche-Locks." Phoenix told May as he walked into the office. "They represent a secret in somebody's heart. It's strange, without a magatama, you shouldn't have been able to have seen the locks."
"So that's what they were," May said. "But how come Shuichi had three when he was hiding all that stuff, and why did Tohma only have one when he was hiding his love for Eiri?"
"One lock would normally mean a very small secret," Phoenix explained. "The more locks they have, the more the person has to hide."
"Come to think about it... Tohma made his love for Eiri very obvious."
"You've been working all day," Trucy told her as she patted her back. "You deserve a rest. Why don't you come out with me and my friends tonight."
"Sure," May said with a sigh of relief. "That actually sounds like a nice idea."
When May and Trucy left the room. Phoenix took his phone from his pocket and went on to ring his friend, Maya. He thought that perhaps she would know more about it then he did.
"Hey Nick!" Maya cried out through the phone. "How are you?"
"Hey Maya! I'm good thanks. I wanted to ask you something."
"Oh. Okay, what is it?"
"It's about the new lawyer that's joined my agency," Phoenix explained. "Her name is May Maple. She has some rather unusual powers."
"Unusual powers?" Maya retorted. "You mean like flying broomsticks and summoning demons under the ground?"
"Not quite," Phoenix chuckled. "She was able to see Psyche-Locks without a magatama."
"Really?" Maya gasped. "She must be a Fey! There's no other explanation for it."
"And during investigation, we saw a baby's grave with her name on it."
"Okay Nick," Maya said over the phone. "Now this is getting really creepy. I can try and contact my sister and see what she knows about it all."
"You will?" Phoenix said. "Thanks a lot Maya."
"What if..."Maya mumbled through the phone. She paused for a while and it made Phoenix nervous as he jumped out of his seat.
"Maya, are you alright?"
Maya giggled. "Yeah I'm fine. I'm just wondering if she's the one."
"What do you mean by that?" Phoenix asked raising an eyebrow.
"It's not something I can say over the phone. It's better to talk to you about it personally. I'm gonna get going and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Right, see you tomorrow, Maya."
Maya hung up on him, to channel his sister.
He knew that he would now be unable to attend May's 2nd trial, but he was happy that May and Trucy were getting along so well. Phoenix began to think about May and how many of her traits reminded him of people that he knew. She wore a black dress in her trials, a lot like the one that his mentor used to wear. Drinking seventeen cups of coffee before a trial, reminded him of Diego Armando. Her huge appetite also reminded him of his special friend, Maya Fey.
He kept his phone in his hand and saw that Trucy had changed her profile picture. The picture was in a public bathroom, but they were both in shiny dresses. Trucy was in blue and May was in pink. He typed into the comment box: my beautiful daughter and her pretty friend. In the end, he never posted it as he didn't want people to get the impression that he was hitting on May. He deleted the text and instead wrote: great picture girls. Have fun tonight.
He went through Trucy's pictures and saw hundreds of pictures of Trucy and May. They were all precious, every single of them.