The next day, a bright red sports car pulled up outside the venue. The driver was none other than Miles Edgeworth. Next to him was his friend, kay Faraday.
"This is it, mr. Edgeworth! We finally got here!" said Kay. She could hardly contain her excitement. Edgeworth could tell she would be jumping up and down if she wasn't afraid of hitting her head on the ceiling.
"I hope this is worth it. I had to take the day off to accompany you to this concert. You know I don't like to take time off work."
"Are you kidding? It will be amazing! This concert is a legendary event. Some of America's greatest singers will be performing here. Like Simon Nicolas Atcher."
"Who?"
"How can you not know him? Everyone is talking about him. He is a great musician. When his hands are playing the guitar, it's like magic. Today, he'll be performing his newest single, the girl of my dreams, for the first time since the CD came out."
"Sounds like too much hassle. To be honest, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to enjoy myself."
"Come one, don't be such a buzzkill, It will be a blast!"
They got off the car and walked all the way to the venue. It was already crowded with people. There was a huge gathering of people in front of the stage. A man was on it. He was playing the guitar and singing at the same time. Kay let out a scream of excitement as soon as she saw him.
"That's him! That's Simon! Isn't he amazing?!"
"He certainly is good with the guitar. "And I can't deny that song is danceable."
"That's it? Danceable? The song rocks! Come on! We have to get closer!"
Kay grabbed Edgeworth by the arm and pulled him with her. Edgeworth wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of getting mixed with a crowd of what seemed to be hundreds of people. He tried to ignore it and have a good time. However, all those people dancing around him and constantly bumping into him was too much for him to bear. He was about to tell Kay that he would leave, but then the song ended and the audience calmed down. They all started clapping and cheering as Simon left the stage
"Thank God, it's over." thought Edgeworth. However, before he had time to be relieved, some other people walked onto the stage.
"W…who are they?!" he asked.
"The Flamethrowers! They are the most famous rock band around here." explained Kay. "See, that guy with the guitar: he is their lead singer, Kris Strings."
The band started playing their song. This time, the music proved to be too much for Edgeworth to bear. He walked away under the pretense that he was going to use the bathroom. As soon as he was far away enough, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why did I come here? This place is not for me. Kay is having the time of her life and I can't bring myself to ruin it for her. But my ears are not liking this."
As he stood there, contemplating his options, he realized he actually needed to use the bathroom. So, he stopped a passer-by.
"Excuse me, where is the bathroom?"
"There is no bathroom. You'll have to use the porta-potties, over there."
"Great! As if this place isn't filthy enough!" thought Edgeworth as he kept walking.
Eventually he arrived. There were four portable toilets. They were all occupied, so Edgeworth waited. While he waited, he noticed a woman on the next toilet who kept knocking on the door, but nobody responded. She seemed very annoyed. Eventually, a man came out of one of the other toilets and Edgeworth went in. After he was done, he came out. He noticed that same woman was still knocking on the door, more annoyed than before.
"Come on! Get out of there! There are others who need to pee!"
"Madam, please calm down." Edgeworth decided to intervene. "People take their time in the bathroom. Be patient."
"I have! Whoever is in there hasn't come out for the past 10 minutes!"
"What?!"
"I came here ten minutes ago. I knocked, nobody answered. I tried to open it, but it was locked. I waited and waited…nothing happens! I keep knocking and he won't even answer me."
"This is indeed concerning." said Edgeworth. He approached and said:
"Whoever is in there, please come out. It is not polite to occupy a toilet for so long when there are so many people here."
No reply.
"He's still ignoring us." said the woman.
"Maybe he's passed out. We'll need someone to jam this door open and…"
He was interrupted by a popping sound.
"W…what was that?!" asked the woman.
"It…sounded like…a gunshot!" said Edgeworth.
"ll the people nearby heard it and started panicking. Thankfully, a member of the staff was nearby.
"What is going on here?" he asked.
"You need to open that toilet right now!" said Edgeworth. "A sound like a gunshot just came from there.
The man didn't wait another second. He grabbed the door and started pulling it forcefully. He was able to open it. And as soon as he did, a man came out. He fell on the ground and wasn't moving. There was a pistol in his left hand.
"My God! I was hoping it wouldn't be like this!" said Edgeworth.
However, the woman seemed even more affected. As soon as she saw that man, she started panicking. She fell on her knees and tried to check his pulse.
"No…no, no, no! It can't be…you wouldn't…you wouldn't do this to me! To us! No!"
"Miss, I'm afraid I have to ask you to step away from the body." said Edgeworth.
The woman got up and walked a few steps back. She still seemed shaken. Right then, Kay arrived at the scene.
"Where have you been, Mr. Edgeworth. I got worried about you and…"
She paused as soon as she saw the body.
"A…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Calm down, Kay."
"W…what happened?"
"That toilet was locked. We heard a gunshot from inside. We forced the door open and…"
"I…I can't believe this. So...you will investigate?"
"Of course. But you don't have to do it with me. You will probably want to return to the concert."
"Are you kidding? The concert doesn't matter right now. There are more important matters! I will help you!"
"Okay. But first, we need to call the police."
He took out his cellphone and dialed 911.
"Hello? Is his detective Gumshoe?"
…
Half an hour later, the police had surrounded the area. They had placed police tape and were trying to keep the onlookers as far away as possible. Edgeworth was investigating the scene with Kay and Gumshoe.
"Sir this is really upsetting. As a cop, I have seen many things. But suicide always makes my stomach hurt."
"Understandable. But we need to investigate the scene. There could be important clues here."
"But if it's a suicide, what are you hoping to find?" asked Kaya.
"We can't be sure it's a suicide yet."
"But this guy was all alone in there, wasn't he?"
"I know. But let's not jump to conclusions."
Edgeworth first looked at the body. That man seemed young, at most 25 years old. He was handsome with long blonde hair. If he really killed himself, Edgeworth couldn't comprehend why he would take such a decision. There was a big hole on his head indicating he really had been shot. Whether it was by the gun he was holding would be determined by a ballistic examination.
"Detective, examine the body for any clues of his identity. I will search the inside of the toilet."
"Yes, sir!"
Edgeworth went inside the toilet. There wasn't much to look at. The toilet was very cramped. However, Edgeworth quickly noticed some green glass shards on the floor.
"Hmm. Could these be related to the crime. Or did they just happen to be there. In any case, I should take them with me."
Edgeworth took out a small plastic bag and put the glass shards inside.
Next, he noticed a black bandana lying on the floor next to the toilet. He examined it. It had a hole in it, which was surrounded by gunpowder burns.
"Hmm. Could the bullet have been fired through this banana? The gunpowder burns sure indicate so. But why would the victim do this?"
Edgeworth then looked at the door. It could only be locked from the inside, meaning if somebody had put the victim in there, he couldn't have locked the door and left at the same time. However he noticed something else. There was a small string tied to the lock.
"Hmm. Strange. Why would something like this be here?"
Edgeworth didn't see anything else of interest around, so he stepped outside.
"Mr. Edgeworth, sir!" said Gumshoe. "I didn't find any sort of id on him. But he had this photograph."
Edgeworth looked at it. It showed the victim together with a woman. Edgeworth immediately recognized her. It was the woman he had been speaking with earlier. The woman who was waiting outside the toilet. He looked around and noticed she was still around. He got out of the police tape and approached her, along with Gumshoe and Kay.
"Excuse me, miss?"
"The woman looked at him. Her eyes were red, meaning she had been crying.
"Y…yes?"
"I am sorry to upset you. It won't take long. I just need some clarifications.
"O…okay."
"We found a picture on the victim in which you two are together. Judging from this and your reaction when you saw his body, I'd say you were…close."
"Y…yes. He is…was…my boyfriend."
"I see. I'm sorry for your loss."
"Th…thank you."
"Forgive me. I forgot to ask: what is your name?"
"V…Vanessa. Vanessa Finalle."
"I am Edgeworth. MiIes Edgeworth."
"N…nice to meet you. I wish we could meet under better circumstances. He…"
"What was his name?"
"G…George. George Mike."
"Can you imagine why he would do something…like this?"
"I…I don't know what happened. We were so happy. I saw just last night. He gave me a ticket to the concert. He said he would love to see me there. I arrived here this morning, but he wasn't anywhere. I thought he was getting ready so I waited. I never imagined…he would…"
"Was he having any problems?"
"N…no. Not that I know of. He shared everything with me. If he had so serious issues, he…would have told me. I'm sure!"
"I see."
"Was he a nice person?" asked Kay.
"Yes. He was…great. Kind, generous, loving. He rarely got into fights with other people. I can't imagine why he would…"
Edgeworth didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell her that there was the possibility it wasn't suicide. However, he saw she was grief-stricken and couldn't bring himself to make such an accusation. Not without proof. As he thought that, he glanced at the photograph again. And he noticed something that had escaped him the first time. The victim was holding a microphone. In his right hand.
"Excuse me, miss Finalle." said Edgeworth.
"Y…yes?"
"I see in the photograph that he is holding a microphone."
"Y…yes. That was taken at his last concert. He invited me to the stage with him. We took many photographs. That was his favorite."
"Tell me, miss Finalle…was he right-handed?" asked Edgeworth.
"Yes. Yes, I think so."
"Why do you ask, sir?" asked Gumshoe.
"A person usually uses his dominant hand to fire a pistol, isn't that right?" asked Edgeworth.
"Yes, sir. That's why I always use my right hand."
"Exactly. So, which had was the pistol again."
"Oh, easy. You can see that it's in his…wait a minute."
"What is this?" asked Kay. "It's the wrong hand!"
"Wh...What is happening?" asked Vanessa.
"Mr. Mike, according to you, was right-handed. However, the pistol is in his left hand. Why would he use his non-dominant hand?"
"Well…" said Gumshoe.
"And furthermore, I found this inside."
He took out the bandana.
"What is that?" asked Kay.
"A bandana."
"I recognize it." said Vanessa. "It was George's signature black. Bandana. He would always wear it in every concert he gave. You can even see it in our picture."
"I can indeed see it. There is something else I'm having trouble with. This hole and the gunpowder burns indicate it was wrapped around the gun's barrel. Why would someone do this?"
Gumshoe realized where Edgeworth was going with this.
"People sometimes wrapped something around the gun's barrel….to muffle the noise."
"Correct. The victim himself had no reason to do that. The only reason someone would do that…"
"Is if he didn't want people to hear the gunshot." said Kay.
"W…what are you all suggesting? "asked Vanessa.
Edgeworth, instead of replying directly to her, turned to Gumshoe.
"Detective. Seal off the venue. Do not let anyone leave. Call forensics. This is officially a homicide investigation."
To be continued
