July 3rd, 1:17pm
Dye Young Hospital
Second Floor Waiting Area
Franziska resisted the urge to hide her face as she, Gumshoe, and Kay made their way from the blonde attorney. Her pride may be strong, but it had also taken a beating recently. They needed to mentally regroup after the ridiculous blunder Franziska had made.
Her logic had been solid for what she'd known, but she hadn't investigated carefully enough before attempting an arrest. After all the cases she'd taken in this country, she really should have known better than to trust witnesses to speak in their own self-interest. The last case she'd had a part in before joining Interpol featured a woman so dedicated to her role as an accomplice that she nearly allowed herself to take the blame for the whole murder. Truly, Franziska had acted foolishly.
Still. Gavin had no place in her investigation. Why had he been invited to the hospital? Was he just that much of an opportunist, or was there something darker to his motives? Unlike the blue attorney Franziska had grown used to dealing with over the years, Kristoph Gavin embodied all the worst stereotypes the prosecutor knew about defense lawyers. He did so with no remorse, and his teen brother was equally insufferable. And not just because of his conduct in his first trial, either. If one wished to speak German, the least they could do was learn the proper grammar structure, lest they butcher her native language!
Stalled in the waiting area, Franziska whipped out her cell phone. She flipped to the number of a certain contact, finger wavering over the call button. Should she?
No, she would not call Agent Lang. He had yet to tie up loose ends in his home country, not to mention he hadn't even been assigned to Franziska's current case. As of now, her presence here was still very informal. Despite the circumstances, it felt odd to not be investigating with the wolfish man. Franziska had grown rather used to his assistance over the past few months. Together, they were rarely humiliated so.
Kay did her best to break Franziska out of her thoughts. "You know... we could try talking to people around the hospital. There are a lot of people here. I bet somebody else saw something." Kay wasn't sure if the prosecutor was going to go with her idea or not, but it was the best she could do.
Gumshoe hopped on the bandwagon. "Yeah, that's right, sir! I'll bet we can find our own witness, someone better than that nurse back there."
Are they trying to cheer me up? The thought was ridiculous, but Franziska still took the time to consider what they'd said. It was true that the possibility of other witnesses remained distinct. As both had pointed out, plenty of nurses, doctors, patients, and visitors were milling about the second floor at the time of the murder. Perhaps it would be worth her while to question one of them.
"...Come," Franziska commanded the two of them, leading them back to the area surrounding the victim's hospital room.
July 3rd, 1:20pm
Dye Young Hospital
Second Floor Hallway
By the time they got back, Gavin and his female companion had left and Washington's body was being hauled off to the mortician in a different section of the hospital. Sims was still there, floundering as before. The prosecutor saw no point in questioning her further at this time.
Beyond that, Franziska wasn't sure who to approach first. She tried the young, long-haired brunette at the nurse's station, only to discover he was an intern in high school who had just arrived. The whole interaction was fruitless.
Before she did anything else, the guard assigned to Washington's protection detail returned from his lunch break. "Prosecutor, si-ma'am! What are you doing here? Did you want to talk to your witness?"
Now here's a foolish fool in desperate need of a whipping. First, I approach the deserving target, then I press the "Whip" button when it appears next to "Talk". Franziska did not hesitate. She released her whip the second she was in range.
"Ow!"
"You ignorant, incompetent excuse for a human being. What kind of idiot leaves his witness unguarded for any period of time, let alone an hour?"
"I-I was just eating lunch. Why, what's going on?" The guard looked around, finally noticing the other police officers on the hospital floor.
Franziska wasn't willing to explain the situation, so Gumshoe had to step up. His eyes were wide and teeth bared. "While you were gone, someone snuck into your witness's hospital room and murdered her! What were you thinking, pal?! Why didn't you call for a replacement?"
"What?" The guard squeaked, hands pulled up to his chest as he leaned back. "N-no way… I was only assigned here as a precaution!"
"A precaution you should have taken seriously." Franziska's voice was coldly calm, belying the anger she felt inside. "I made a personal promise to this witness that she would be kept safe. Thanks to you, a woman is dead and my honor as a Von Karma has been sullied. You!" She whipped him once more for good measure. "What is your name?"
"E-ergic, Gerald. Reporting back for duty… ma'am." Ergic's voice was so small, Franziska barely understood what he was saying.
"Well, Gerald Ergic. I look forward to your next employment review."
Gumshoe found that comment odd. "Wait, sir. Don't you mean his salary review?"
"No."
Both officers winced. Lucky for them, Franziska let the matter go fairly quickly after that. Police in this country were incompetent. It was nothing new for her.
She switched gears. "...Gerald Ergic. Who here might have witnessed the murder in your absence?"
Ergic thought about it for a minute, hand on his sweaty forehead. "Well… There is this one guy. The patient across the hall from Miss Washington usually asks that his door be kept open. He's pretty hurt. He can't move or walk, so all he does is look at things. I think his door was still open when I left for lunch."
Franziska didn't bother to thank him for his information. Instead, she walked right over to the door across the victim's. It was closed now, so she rapped on it sharply.
A deep, raspy voice came from within. "Who is it now? I'm trying to sleep."
"I am Franziska Von Karma, a prosecutor. I'm investigating a case that occurred recently. I would like to speak with you to inquire if you know anything in connection with the crime that has transpired." She was sure to enunciate clearly as she spoke through the door.
"...Police types? Go away!"
Franziska didn't honor the man's request, instead choosing to bust through the door as soon as she realized it was unlocked. Civility could wait for after Washington's murderer was arrested.
July 3rd, 1:29pm
Dye Young Hospital
Patient Room 4201
This hospital room looked just like the one the victim had stayed in, minus signs of a struggle. The man occupying the bed was half obscured by casts, appearing to have broken both arms and one leg. His other leg had a deep, straight wound below the knee, as indicated by stitches. Bruising obscured his facial features, and his black, buzz-cut did nothing to hide his red scalp. Upon making these observations, Franziska couldn't help but ask. "What could possibly be the cause of such grievous injury?"
"I thought I told you to leave off, lady! I'm nappin' in here!"
"I am afraid I cannot observe your request. Murder does not wait for one to finish their afternoon nap."
"Like I care about any murder! I can't even get out of bed, let alone go to court for anything."
This man was in the room directly across from Cassandra Washington's when she died. He must have something to tell us. But considering his injuries, I hesitate to whip him immediately. Franziska had to consider how best to approach this.
"What were doing and what did you see from 12:00 to 12:30?"
The witness's face joined his scalp in redness. "None of your business, lady! Now turn the lights out, will you?"
Franziska scoffed at his brutish reply. She had another idea for how to get information out of this witness.
"Scruffy! Begin searching this room for evidence."
Gumshoe saluted. "Yes, sir!"
-Begin Investigation-
"Hey, what are you doing? What exactly do you think you're gonna find in here, huh?"
Franziska wasn't sure of that herself. But she had trouble believing this man had been sitting across the hall from the scene of the crime and neither saw nor heard anything. Perhaps there was something in this room that would get him to talk.
The first place Franziska checked was the whiteboard across from the witness's hospital bed. Just as it was in Washington's room, there was a packet of papers with medical information on the patient. According to the papers, the witness's name was Bruce Hertz, and his nurse on duty was one Karin Jenson. Also included were the details of his injuries, though Franziska didn't examine that part very closely.
-"Hertz's Medical Papers" summarized in Organizer-
"Interesting… I wonder," Franziska murmured to herself, then turned. "When did you last call for your nurse?"
The patient scoffed. "I haven't seen that lady in hours. I can't reach the call button with how I am, so I have to trigger the patient alarm to get anything around here. Then someone from the nurse's station outside hears it, they check on me, and then they go to get that bimbo in here."
So the patient alarm is connected to the nurse's station in the hallway… An idea was beginning to form in Franziska's mind. An unpleasant one, at that. "And how often do you feel the need to do this?"
"Whenever I want something. Several times a day. What do you care?" The defensiveness from before was back.
So anyone who was on the second floor when Hertz pulled this stunt would have known how the patient alarm worked. Franziska did a quick check of the machines running next to Hertz's bed. His weren't all the same as the victim's had been, but a patient alarm was a common feature across both. Sure enough, his was functioning properly.
-Alarm's Functions added to Logic-
But if someone had seen Hertz's demonstration and learned the secrets of the hospital's technology that way, that forced Franziska to reconsider a previous piece of evidence in a new light. A light that vastly expanded her list of suspects.
The patient alarm functions by alerting the individuals on this very floor. Were that to happen while the victim was dying off, the culprit would have been caught too close to the scene to have escaped the way they did... which is why the alarm was switched off! The connection was obvious to anyone with a brain. "Ach!"
"What is it, sir?"
Some of these facts confirmed what the prosecutor had already suspected, but back when she'd been suspicious of Sims, she'd simply assumed that the nurse had also been the one to disable the patient's alarm. She was a nurse, after all, and would have known about the switch ahead of time. But if this witness truly behaved as atrociously as he claimed, anyone present when he threw a tantrum would know exactly what they needed to avoid. Which meant she needed to re-examine one critical piece of evidence from the crime scene.
"Scruffy! Send a member of forensics to check for fingerprints on the patient alarm system in the victim's room."
"Yes, sir!" Gumshoe ran off, leaving Franziska and Kay with the witness.
Kay had been silent for a while, but broke it when she asked, "what about me? Anything I can do for the investigation?"
"Keep searching this room. I'm convinced we haven't found everything we need to see just yet."
"What do you think I'm hiding in here? A bloody surgical knife? I had nothing to do with any crime, and you have no reason to think otherwise."
"Oh, really?" Maybe this was the German's chance to try again. "Then what were you up to during the time I specified, Mr. Bruce Hertz?"
His response could not have been more deadpan. "Fighting Smokey the Bear. Seriously, Prosecutor Lady? Look at me! Look at the state I'm i- wait. How do you know my name?"
Franziska could have been honest, but she rather liked the uncomfortable gleam settling into the witness's eyes. She thought it might persuade him to tell her something. "Don't worry about such an insignificant detail. I just want to ask you some questions. First of all-"
"Wait, I see something!" Kay interrupted, diving under the patient's hospital bed with an arm out. "Uh- unnngh!" The teen stretched and struggled, but finally managed to grab onto something that had been kicked around on the floor. When she jumped back up, Franziska was the first to see it when Kay presented… a cell phone?
"Did you drop your phone, sir?" Kay asked, holding it out for him to take back. She realized her mistake almost immediately after. "Did someone leave it in here?"
Hertz sat frozen. "That is not mine."
"Hand that to me." Franziska accepted the item from Kay, then flipped it open. She searched the phone for information about the owner, only to find nothing. "How odd."
-"Mysterious Cell Phone" added to Organizer-
"What's odd about it?" Kay, having stepped away from the prosecutor, did not have a clear view of the phone's screen.
"This phone is devoid of personal information." She pressed a few more buttons. "Contacts and messages as well."
"Is it a new phone?" Kay didn't catch on right away.
"I don't think so…" Franziska turned to the call log, only to find several received calls from the same number… with one outgoing. The timestamp of the last, outgoing call? 12:17pm. Someone had used this phone to call somebody else two minutes after the murder!
"Miss Kay Faraday, when I see phones like this. I always think of one thing. Do you know what a burner phone is?"
Kay crossed her arms. "Why would you burn your phone? That makes no sense."
"It doesn't mean it's flammable!" Franziska snapped. "It's a disposable phone criminals use to communicate without the police's knowing."
"No!" Hertz protested. "You two planted that. You cannot be serious."
Now Kay was even more confused. "What? No we didn't. I found it under your hospital bed."
"Don't be a fool Bruce Hertz, of course I didn't plant it! I'm a prosecutor, I wouldn't stoop so low as to plant evidence on someone, even if I did think they were guilty." Franziska wasn't pleased with this turn of events. "What do you think this phone has on it that could possibly connect you to the crime across the hall?"
"Wait… across the hall?" Hertz looked like he was about to pop a vein. Considering how mangled his body already was, that would most certainly not be good. "That's what this is about? It's not- it's just about what happened earlier today?"
Should his answer concern Franziska? Probably. But she was more interested in getting testimony about her current case to worry much about it. "Yes, earlier today. Across the hall, there was a woman who was murdered. Was your door open in the minutes following noon?"
Hertz was considerably more cooperative after her clarification. "Yes. I didn't ask for it closed until the police showed up."
"And what did you see before that?"
-Witness Testimony-
"What I Saw"
"While I was sitting up in my hospital bed, I saw a man enter the room across the hall. The one you're obsessed with.
"I didn't really get a good look at him. But he was holding something…
"Oh, I know what it was! Guy had a sandwich on a plate."
That was an extremely vague testimony. Had Franziska really spent all that time digging just to come up with this?
She remembered what her brother had instructed her to do. He had encouraged her to vet witness testimony as thoroughly as possible even before preparing for court, all to ensure the correct suspect was arrested in the initial investigation. Before Miles Edgeworth (and later, herself) had adopted this method, the only people at the scene questioned to such a degree before trial were the suspects. Now, Edgeworth was encouraging prosecutors to do it to everyone.
"Mr. Bruce Hertz… I believe you saw more than that."
"Well, I heard some banging around after the guy went in, and then he slammed the door in a hurry. Until the police showed, I thought the lady was just mad at him."
That didn't tell Franziska anything she didn't already know. "Fine. I suppose I will simply have to question you." The German brandished her whip, though she had no intent of striking.
-Cross-Examination-
"What I Saw"
"While I was sitting up in my hospital bed, I saw a man enter the room across the hall. The one you're obsessed with.
"I didn't really get a good look at him-"
"HOLD IT! Why are you unable to describe this man to me?"
"Because I didn't get a good look at him," Hertz repeated. "He never looked at me. It's not like I saw his face."
"Very well… what else do you remember about him? Did he have a hat? Odd clothing?"
"No hat. And… I didn't get a good view of his clothes either."
"And why not? Franziska was starting to get impatient by this point.
"My door wasn't open the whole way. I saw this guy for a split second through the crack in the door my nurse left for me." He snorted. "She didn't leave it wide enough, but that hag didn't care."
It seemed that was all she was going to get out of him on this point. "Continue."
"Oh, I know what it was! Guy had a sandwich on a plate."
"HOLD IT! How is it you remember nothing about the man, but you noticed details about the sandwich?"
"I was hungry!" Hertz admitted. "I wanted that sandwich for myself. But I eat on the nurse's schedule because I have to get other people to feed me."
"Fair point," Kay conceded. "I didn't to eat lunch myself before I came here."
Neither did Franziska, but you didn't hear her complaining about it. "Fine. I think I've heard all I need to hear from you for now. I will investigate your claims in the meantime."
"Great. That means you're leaving." Before either woman could fit in a reply, Hertz threw his head back, ready to sleep the investigation away.
-Investigation Complete-
"Should we leave him alone now?" Kay asked.
"I suppose so." Once Franziska said that, Kay was careful to turn the lights off on their way out. And to shut the door behind them as quietly as she could.
July 3rd, 1:52pm
Dye Young Hospital
Second Floor Hallway
The phone was still a strange piece of evidence, but how did it connect to the case at hand? Did it have any connection at all? For all that the timing of that last call seemed important, Franziska had to acknowledge that it could just as easily be a coincidence.
He may not have gotten a look at the man's face because of the door, but he clearly saw someone. If he was telling the truth, then that brought even more questions to the table.
It was possible that whoever Hertz saw entering the room was the murderer himself. But with so little to go on, Franziska was going to have to work very hard to find the man the witness had seen. If that person was even still around.
As she was thinking, Gumshoe ran back up to the group. "Prosecutor Von Karma, sir! I got the fingerprint test you requested."
"And?" Perhaps this would prove more promising.
He slumped. "All the prints on the alarm got smeared by somebody, sir. There are prints, but not a single one that forensics can lift. That's why it took so long to get back to you. We tried each and every single one of them."
-"Patient Alarm" updated in Organizer-
So much for that. This was why Franziska never had high expectations for the scruffy detective. She couldn't begin to comprehend how her brother was able to work with him so often. "I see. Now I have another errand for you."
"What is it, sir?"
If Franziska was to discern the identity of the delivery man and connect it to the crime of murder, she first had to strike out the most obvious possibility. "Go down to the hospital cafeteria and ask about sandwiches delivered to this building on this floor. Find out who brought up what food and at what time."
"Yes, sir!" Gumshoe dashed away again.
"You don't really think the murderer was someone in the cafeteria, do you?" Kay wondered aloud. "Why would the hospital agree to even make a delivery like that? Why would they send peanut butter to an allergic patient?"
"Perhaps the delivery went to the wrong room, or the hospital staff was incompetent." Truly, American hospitals were terrible. Franziska had only seen one of their clinics once, and it had been one of the worst experiences of her life. "In the meantime, we are going to question more people in the hospital on this matter." Franziska steeled her resolve, readying herself for a long, long series of frustration.
She was not disappointed.
July 3rd, 2:43pm
Dye Young Hospital
Second Floor Hallway
"Are you certain that you cannot tell me anything?"
"No, ma'am. And please don't whip anyone else on this floor! Any wounds you cause could contaminate the hallways. Please understand what a chore it is to clean blood out of white surfaces."
The doctor walked away, leaving Franziska wound tense as a cuckoo clock. What. A. Waste. Of. Time.
Franziska had questioned every individual on Washington's hospital floor, to no avail. Some of them didn't even know a murder happened, let alone who had gone into Washington's room at what time. A few had tried to tell her about Ergic, but he was just her guard. As a protected witness, Washington had not been authorized to receive any visitors, so naturally, her visitor log was blank. Franziska had even sent Kay down to check earlier.
I talked to every individual on this floor and none of them knew a thing about the case. How can that be?! Franziska took her anger out the wall that she was standing beside, hitting it with her whip over and over again. The cracking sound echoed through the hallway. She stopped whipping the wall when she saw Gumshoe and Kay, who had finished their errand quite some time ago, approaching her. How long had they been watching?
Kay was the only one with the gall to speak. "No leads?"
"Scruffy, do you have the information I asked for?" Franziska was hoping the answer to the question would be something useful.
"Sir… I'm sorry, sir! But the cafeteria hasn't made any peanut butter sandwiches today for anyone, let alone delivered to this floor. I didn't find anything." Gumshoe gave his answer expecting a whipping. But before Franziska could react, Kay spoke up.
"Wait, that isn't what you told me! We did learn one thing."
Franziska stretched the leather of her whip, restraining herself from lashing out. Each word had to fight through gritted teeth to come out. "What. Did. You. Find?"
"Well… if the sandwich didn't come from the cafeteria, it had to have been brought in from outside, right? We just have to find out who could have brought the food to this floor."
Franziska let loose a few German swearwords before replying directly. "Would anyone else like to state the obvious in this investigation?"
"Franziska… are you okay?" Bold of Kay to use her first name, but Franziska didn't correct her. Not this time.
"Of course I'm okay, Miss Kay Faraday. This isn't my first difficult investigation." And that was true, even if it had been a while. Franziska just had to think it through one more time. Keep a clear head. Find out what wasn't adding up, and what to do about it.
Whoever had come to Washington's door had brought the murder weapon with them. It wasn't a weapon people would normally consider dangerous, so it would have been easy to smuggle in. The murderer could have claimed it was his own lunch, had anyone asked.
What Bruce Hertz had told her could well be true, but why had no one confirmed it? What were the odds that no one else had seen the killer besides this witness? Even if Franziska considered the possibility that the witness was lying… why? What did that man get out of sending her on a wild goose chase?
Right as Franziska was about to say something, Ergic approached them once again. Quite bashfully, she might add. "I'm back."
"Huh? Where were you?" Gumshoe wondered, waggling his eyebrows.
"My boss found out about today and called me to the entrance. I'm to serve this investigation in whatever capacity the prosecutor wants me, then turn in my badge." Ergic turned to Franziska, his eyes downturned. "So you don't have to get me fired. It's already happening."
"Good. You deserve it, Gerald Ergic." Franziska showed the man no sympathy. Had it not been for him, Cassandra Washington would still be alive. "Now tell me what you know about the patient across the hall."
"The guy who trips his alarm all the time?" Ergic raised his eyebrow, confused as to why Franziska would be asking him about such a thing. "Nothing, really. Just that he's loud and annoying. Did he tell you anything useful?"
Funny. That was all Franziska knew about him, too. "Hmph. Well, Mr. Bruce Hertz is claiming that while you were gone-"
"Wait, what did you say?" Ergic stopped in his tracks, eyes widening. "What did you say that guy's name was?"
What was going on here? "Bruce Hertz. Is the name significant to you?"
He let out a slow, shuddering breath. "This is my first time guarding witnesses. Before I was assigned to witness protection, I used to be a patrolman. Every night, I wandered the streets, watching for gang activity. Until one night a couple days ago, there was an attempted hit on the Cavaderinis. It happened right after midnight. We didn't show up in time to see what happened, and no one died, but… the main suspect? The one we never found, no matter where we looked?
"Bruce Hertz."
Organizer:
Profiles:
Franziska von Karma
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Description: The Prosecuting Prodigy, also known as myself. Need this file contain any more information?
Detective Gumshoe
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Description: The scruffy detective who is always in need of a whipping. Why I must always work with him while in this country, I'll never understand.
Kay Faraday
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Description: My little brother's assistant whom he acquired a few months ago. Her obsession with thievery makes them an odd pair. Now she wishes to work with me.
Karin Jenson
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Description: A nurse for Dye Young. I encountered her on a case a few months ago. Asked for me personally when the victim was found dead.
Cassandra Washington
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Description: Head financial advisor for Hakari Inc.. A key witness in the current investigation. She fainted during interrogation, then died in the hospital the next day. Foul play is suspected.
Maddy Sims
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Description: The nurse in charge of the victim's care at her time of death. Was meeting with her boyfriend while her patient lay dying.
Kristoph Gavin
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Description: An obnoxious defense attorney I've encountered more than once now. Outside of court, this is very unusual.
Klana Dharless
Age: ?
Gender: Female
Description: Some rich local woman who wants to protect the hospital from bearing any blame. I don't know who she is.
Gerald Ergic
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Description: An incompetent police guard who was assigned to guard the victim. Unfortunately, he was too busy getting lunch when the murder happened.
Bruce Hertz
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Description: The patient located across the hall from the victim. His injuries are critical, and his temper worse. Gerald Ergic is claiming he is a hitman of some kind.
Evidence:
Prosecutor's Badge
Type: Other
Description: The token of my noble profession. It is to be safely stored away in my pocket at all times.
Time of Death
Type: Evidence
Description: The heart monitor says the victim's heart stopped at exactly 12:15pm. It has not been touched since.
Patient Alarm
Type: Evidence
Description: Meant to alert the hospital if their patients experience any difficulties. However, it was turned off at the time of the murder, possibly by the killer themselves.
Update: Though fingerprints were found on the device, none were clear enough to be lifted.
Peanut Butter Sandwich
Type: Evidence
Description: Left on the victim's side table by an unknown party. Residue on the body indicates the victim touched it, causing the fatal reaction.
Care Provider List
Type: Evidence
Description: The nurse in charge of the victim at her time of death was Maddy Sims. Sims had no other patients at the time.
Sims's Outing
Type: Evidence
Description: This foolish nurse was visiting her boyfriend for twenty-two minutes while the murder was in progress, from noon to 12:22. She did not discover the body until after that.
Hertz's Medical Papers
Type: Evidence
Description: Describe the patient in the room across the hall from the victim. His name is Bruce Hertz, and his nurse Karen Jenson.
Mysterious Cell Phone
Type: Evidence
Description: By all appearances, a burner phone. There is no identification regarding who the owner is, and only one number is included in the call log.
A/N's: PTV and RJ worked together to bring you this chapter. Both authors would like to leave notes.
RJ: Happy early Thanksgiving to our readers! I am thankful for all of you for taking the time to read and review this collaboration project. Also want to thank you, PTV, for giving this rookie writer a chance to be a part of this AAI3 project, and for all of the tips that you have given me along the way in the world of writing. Franziska Von Karma, we are having too much fun writing for her, but that poor prosecutor. Things will better for her. :)
It's always awesome being able to introduce new characters to the story, hope you all enjoyed Gerald Ergic and Bruce Hertz. When I read what PTV did for the ending of this chapter, if this was in an AAI anime (if there was one) I could just picture Ergic saying, "Bruce Hertz" with a mysterious/suspenseful tune playing before the credits kicked in. I'm going to pass the keyboard back to PTV, now.
PTV: Agreed about the chapter ending. It is a bit anime-esque, but AA is also an anime now, so what of it? I hope our readers are having as much fun with the characters (new and old) as we are. I like writing from Franziska's point of view because she has such a strong personality and passion that she brings to every action she takes.
As for early Thanksgiving, I too am thankful to all you readers out there, and to RJ for being a wonderful partner in this project. She and I are able to work so well together while having fun doing it. I would also like to add Ajani to the list, who I hope is taking care of himself and seeing all the progress we're making. Fingers crossed he's back on the project for the finale. The Scollard is working on NaNoWriMo right now, but I am eternally grateful for all the beta work he does on not just this project, but Miracle as well (which I am ALSO updating in the next week). I'm thankful to Emmy who, even if she isn't helping us any more, was critical to getting this project off the ground and helping us work through our early days.
Ah! I'm sure I'll write a more in-depth acknowledgements note when this project is over. In the meantime, I'm just going to appreciate everyone here for being such genuine and wonderful people. I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving (or other holidays, for the non-Americans out there) and doesn't forget to review, and I'll see you on the far side!