Here J and Jaden arrive at Seadra Lake and begin their own investigation
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this
DM77's Ace Attorney Chapter 26
Investigating Seadra Lake
December 25, Seadra Lake Park, Entrance
They soon arrived right at the entrance to Seadra Lake home of the Seadray sighting but also the scene of the crime Hunter was accused of.
"This is where it happened?" Jaden said looking determined.
"Yeah." J said nodding "Seadra Lake is in the middle of this park."
"I can see some police troopers walking around in there." Jaden said looking inside.
"Questioning people, probably." J guessed thinking
"Hey! Isn't that Detective N over there?" Jaden asked pointing.
"Well buddy?!" N is heard yelling seeming more motivated than before. "There's enough of us here! Anyone found anything?"
"S-sorry sir…Nothing." A police trooper said clearly not used to see N like this.
"Idiot!" N said "I mean not to be rude but the trial's tomorrow! We need clues, on the double!"
"B-but, sir…." The same Police Trooper said "There weren't any clues….That's why we arrested that attorney, Mr. Deamonne! It's clear sir. He's the one who…"
"Be quiet!" N yelled out at him "Just you try saying that again! I'll….I'll…I'll make you sorry if you do! So just….just, get out of my face, buddy!"
"Y-yes, sir!" The police trooper said really not used to seeing N like this and gets back to searching.
"Detective N's kind of scary today!" Jaden said a bit unnerved.
"Recruits...peh!" N said shaking his head and then looks up to sees J and Jaden "Aah!"
"Eek!" Jaden said nervous.
"Hey, you're that Terry guy! Terry Wheeler!" N said looking at J sternly.
"J! Serial Designation J!" J said face screening 'Will he ever learn my name?!'
"And just what are you doing here, buddy? Investigating?!" N asked looking firm.
"Huh? Um, well yes. I guess." J said shrugging
"Well, I'm here to help!" N said smiling happily "Ash me anything you want! Bring it!"
"He seems different than usual. I wonder what's up?" Jaden said surprised and then said to N. "Ummm…Mr. Deamonne hasn't actually asked us to defend him yet…"
"Huh?!" N said his smile dropping and looks sad "Oh? Y-you don't say…"
"Detective N?" J said looking at him "Do you know what happened here?"
"Huh? You don't know, buddy?" N asked her.
"No…the news report didn't go into detail and if it did I missed it." J said thinking.
"Wow, okay, Miss. Head-in-the-fluffy-pink-clouds Lawyer." N said shrugging.
"Head-in-the…huh?" J said confused.
"Never mind, I'll tell you. And sorry it's a stressful situation." N said "It happened last night, about 15 minutes after midnight. There was a boat out on Seadra Lake. In that boat were two men. One of those men shot the other with a pistol."
"And…the shooter was Mr. Deamonne?" Jaden asked.
"A trooper who arrived on the scene arrested him." N states.
"How did they get there so fast?" Jaden asked him.
"Well…There was a witness." N said looking down. "When the report came in, we raced to the lake."
"A witness?" J asked him thinking.
"You don't think Mr. Deamonne is a…. murderer, do you?!" Jaden asked N.
"Absolutely not! It's possible!" N said firmly "I don't care if there's a witness either! I don't believe a lick of it!"
"R-right! Who cares what the witness says!" Jaden said smiling.
'I care!' J thinks
Jaden thinks and says to N smiling "You really believe in him, don't you, Detective?"
"Course I do!" N said smiling but looks down sad "But…the police troopers are pretty sure he's the killer. Nobody's even really taking this investigation that seriously."
"Oh no!" Jaden said worried.
"After all the help Mr. Deamonne has been to us…" N said sighing "Hard to imagine that no one's standing up to take his side."
"Well, at least you are, Detective. At least you are." Jaden said sadly.
"Who was this witness?" J asked N.
"Er, sorry, buddy. That's confidential." N said sighing. "Anyway, the witness saw everything, apparently. I'm sure they'll turn up at the trial tomorrow."
"Was there only that one witness?" J asked.
"Yep. It was pretty cold out on the lake last night." N said thinking on it. "And, it was Christmas Eve after all. Still, we're being thorough. You never know when you're going to turn up another witness. That's why we're here today, checking things out." He looks down "So far, we're coming up empty…"
"Oh! It's Christmas today! I'd forgotten." Jaden said thinking and smiles looking at J "What are you getting me for Christmas, J?"
"Talk to Santa." J told him.
Jaden looks at N sadly and asked "I-is it true? No one will take Mr. Deamone's case?"
"Yeah…" N said sighing. "He's a bit of a celebrity. If you defended him, and lost, your reputation would be sure to suffer. What's more…" He looks down "The case against him is….well, it's pretty solid."
'I suppose it would be if they have a witness' J thinks.
"Hey! Buddy!" N said looking at J firmly "Don't tell my you're going to turn your back on him too?! Remember the White Ranger case?! Mr. Deamonne helped you get your client declared innocent!"
"I…I know." J said taken aback at that. "I went to Hunter. I tried. He really doesn't want us to represent him. Especially not us, he said."
"What?!" N said in shock "W-well, that doesn't make any sense, buddy! You should have heard him talking about you after that trial! He kept saying, 'J, J, J,' over and over."
Jaden looks wide eyed and said "J? I'm not sure that's a good sign."
"Neither am I…" J said also wide eyed.
"Why wouldn't he want your help?" N asked sadly. "I don't get it."
"Detective N, sir!" A Police Trooper said going up to them.
"What? Find something?!" N asked turning to him.
"Um, no, sir. Not yet." The trooper said. "But there was a call from the precinct. They want to hold an investigation briefing."
"A briefing?" N said thinking. "Right! I'm off!" He then looks to J and Jaden "Oh…Sorry, buddy. I guess you heard. I got to go. Any last things you want to ask me about before I head back?"
J thinks, she wants to ask about the Autopsy report but given the length of time it's been, it may not be ready yet so asked "You're not coming back, Detective?"
"Erm…probably no, buddy." N said thinking.
"So, what should we do if we have something to talk to you about…?" J asked concerned.
"Ah, right." N said thinking "Here, I'll show you how to get to the precinct. Come down and see me anytime." He then sends J though wireless Drone network directions to the police trooper station before walking off.
"Oh hey! Detective N!" J calls out before he leaves
"W-what?!" N asked looking back.
Um, we'd like to take a look around in the park." J said to him. "Can we walk around?"
"Yeah! No problem, buddy. You got my permission." N said nodding and leaves.
"You know, J." Jaden said smiling "I think there's something to be said for talking to people when they're busy."
"Yeah. They don't have time to think about no giving you information…" J said nodding.
"Right! Now, let's get investigating!" Jaden said smiling.
The two then begin to walk into the park.
December 25, Seadra Lake, Public Beach
They walk into the area and see the lake which had some vacant food stands.
"Cool! This is 'Seadra Lake'?" Jaden said smiling.
"Yup." J said nodding. "I'm not sure it warrants a 'cool,' though."
"Hmmm. Probably not." Jaden said nodding "But hey, look at that snack stand!"
J looks at the stand Jaden was pointing at with its name on a banner "'Ranger Dogs'…?"
"I want a Ranger Dog! Please!" Jaden said looking at J. "I bet they're great!"
"With a name like Ranger Dog, how could they not be?" J said shrugging.
"They're a little behind the times, though." Jaden said thinking "The kids are all into 'The Red Samurai' now. I mean like, you know?!"
'Nope. But technically the Red Samurai is a ranger too still so not completely out of the times.' J then looks around and sees something on the benches.
"Huh. Someone left some poppers here. You know, you pull the string…" Jaden said looking at them.
"…And it goes 'pop.' Yeah, I know the ones." J said nodding "You see them a lot around New Year's."
"Hey, J! They might be a clue!" Jaden said grinning "Let's take them."
"Come on, admit it. You just want to pop them, right?" J asked hands on her hips.
"Was it that obvious?" Jaden said laughing.
'Poppers…hmm' J thinks but decides to take them "I suppose it couldn't hurt." Sees them gone "Huh? Where'd they go?"
"Into my pocket." Jaden said grinning. J sighs and puts them in the Court Record temporarily, she doubts they'd be useful in court but just a good reminder.
With nothing else here the duo head to the woods of the park.
December 25, Seadra Lake, Woods
They arrived at an area closer to the water of the lake and look around the area. It seemed someone was camped here.
"I like it here, J." Jaden said smiling. "Look…someone's camping!"
"They've got guts, camping at the scene of a murder." J said nodding.
"Hey, hey, J!" Jaden said smiling "If they were camping here last night, they might know something about the murder!"
'That's true…' J thinking and nods "Good call, Jaden. Let's go talk to them." She doesn't see the owner but sees a sign by the campers SUV "The sign says: 'No Camping.' Funny place to pick to pitch your tent."
"Wait, what if the sign said 'No Setting Tents on Fire'?" Jaden asked her.
J looks at Jaden deadpan and said, "I don't think they have signs like that."
"Oh…" Jaden said thinking.
J then looks at the camera set up by the lake with a microphone. She said "This camera has a mic and some sort of attachment. It must take pictures when triggered by a noise."
"Wow! Cool! Let's try it out!" Jaden said smiling and coughs a bit "Hi, I'm J!" Nothing happened "Maybe I'm not saying it loud enough." He yells "HEY! I'M J!" Again nothing happened "Huh." He then yells "JJJJJJJJJJJ…."
"Will you stop that?" J said sighing.
"Maybe it's broken?" Jaden said annoyed and kicking it.
"D-don't kick it!" J told him. "Maybe it isn't set to respond to voices?"
"Well, what then? These things?" Jaden said pulling out the poppers.
"The party poppers…?" J asked.
Jaden pulls the poppers string setting them off and the camera begins to rapidly take photos until eventually it stops, no doubt after all the film was used up.
Jaden looks stunned and said "Well. It responded."
"Heyyyyyyy!" A male voice called out and out came a brown haired young man with a red long sleeved shirt, blue sleeveless vest jacket, blue pants and black fingerless gloves and brown hiking shoes, he also had a breen back the hung on his shoulder. "Hey, you! Get your hands of that!"
"Eek!" Jaden said jumping
"What in the Sam Hill…?!" The man said looking at the camera and looks down. He then glares at Jaden "Look what you've done now! There goes a whole roll of film!"
"Ah? Wha…huh? S-sorry!" Jaden said to that.
"Sorry's nice but it don't pay my bills!" The man yells at him "You know how much a roll of that film costs these days?!"
"I-I'll pay you back!" Jaden said looking down sadly.
"What were you thinking setting off a party-popper in a place like this?" The man ranted.
"Uh….well…" Jaden said thinking
"What!" The man said to him. "Don't try to play stupid with me just because you think I'm some countryside kid! Yeah, I know how all you city people think! 'I say, those country folks don't know how better it is in the city, they must be dumb!' Well let me tell you, just because I might be a little dumb don't mean we all are!"
"J…help me." Jaden said getting upset.
"And who are you, now? His servant bot?" The man said looking at J.
"Yeah, uh, no, rather, uh…We're sort of…friends?" J said unsure what to say.
"Just figure out what you all are going to say and say it for Arceus' sake!" The man said sighing, "Geez, I'd rather sit through one of Oak's lessons than listen to you stutter all day."
'Oh boy…' J thinks looks like she's met another werido what is it about Circuit City and attracting eccentrics 'I guess we should pay him for the film…'
"Watch it!" The man said looking at J.
"Yes sir." J said nodding 'On second thought, I'll pay later…'
"I'm really sorry!" Jaden said to the man.
"Umm…" J said to try and ask the man something.
"What?!" the man said glaring as he works on his camera "Can't you see I'm changing the film on my camera here! Someone I'm not naming any names but someone used up a WHOLE ROLL."
"Sorry…" Jaden said looking down.
'That didn't work…' J thinks and decides to show him, her Attorney Badge "I, er, this is my badge."
"Huh? Aren't badges supposed to be all shiny and impressive?" The man asked looking at it unimpressed "You a cop or something?"
"Ummm…I'm a lawyer." J told him.
"Wh-what?!" The man said surprised. "You all going to try and pull one of them lawsuits on me over that film now? Because I'll have you know I'm a fighter and I dealt with meaner looking things then you!"
"N-no, that's not it at all." J told him. "We're here investigating a murder that took place here, on the lake."
"A murder…?" The man said thinking and smiles "Sounds cool! Why didn't you all say that in the first place! Go ahead, ask me anything you like!"
'Finally! Some cooperation!' J thinks.
"You too." The man called out to Jaden who gone to hiding somewhere "You can come out of hiding now. I won't bite. Hard."
'Come to think of it, where did Jaden get to?' J thinks looking around.
"S-sorry…" Jaden said sadly coming from where he went hiding. "I-I was feeling a little overwhelmed. The culture gap and all…"
"Never you mind, pal. I can sound more city for you if…ahem…if it pleases you?" The man said smiling.
"Th-thanks. I think I'll be okay." Jaden said cheering up.
"Great then!" The man said smiling and said "I'm Todd. Todd Snap, but you all can call me Todd! I'm here photographing meteor showers for a research project. Mighty please to meet you!" He then asked, "Oh yeah, when was that murder, anyway? I ain't seen much television lately."
"It happened late in the night on Christmas Eve." J told him.
"That so? Christmas Eve?" Todd said thinking.
"A man on a boat was shot…" J added and asked, "Did you see anything?"
"Well, let me see." Todd said thinking "A boat, you say? I think I might have seen one…Not sure though." He smiles rubbing his head and said "You all have to remember I've been watching this here lake for a good three days now. I seen enough boats to choke a Tauros. Kind of hard to remember which I seen when."
"That's quite a camera you have there." Jaden said smiling pointing to it.
"You all better know it! It's Kalos-made. A genuine Xernias brand!" Todd said smiling.
'Isn't that where they make knives…?' J thinks.
"Umm…" Jaden said and asked "So, what's that device you have stuck to the camera?"
"Huh? Device?" Todd said looking.
"Your camera went off all by itself when I fired my party popper…" Jaden explained.
"Oh that? That mic triggers the shutter whenever it detects certain sounds." Todd said rubbing his head. "It's programmed to pick up loud noises right now."
"A programmable camera! Neat!" Jaden said amazed. J decided to add Todd's Camera to the Court Record replacing the Party Poppers with it. He then asked "So, what is it you do, Todd?"
"Huh? Me?" Todd asked "Hah, hah. You all don't really want to know that, do you? Actually, I'm a research student at Kobukan Academy, right in the heart of Kobukan Region."
"Wow! Neat!" Jaden said amazed "J! He's a research student at an academy! Kobukan Academy!"
"Uh…so I hear." J said to that.
"So, when did you come up here?" Jaden asked Todd. "This is a way off from Kobukan."
"Hmmm, let me see…I guess it was about three days ago." Todd said thinking.
"What are you photographing?" J asked him.
"D-didn't I tell you that already?" Todd said to that. "Meteors! Yep, meteor showers!"
'Falling stars…?' J thinks she found that odd. She then presents Todd's camera and asked "Todd?"
"Yeah?" Todd asked.
"So, your camera…it triggers on loud explosion noises?" J asked him.
"That's right." Todd said nodding.
"Actually, the victim in the case we're researching he was shot with a pistol." J explained to him.
"A pistol…?" Todd asked in thought.
"Right. Now wouldn't a gunshot make a similar noise to our party popper…?" J asked.
"I guess it would." Todd said thinking.
"Your camera…didn't get a picture of the murder, did it?" J asked him.
Todd thinks and smiles saying "Hey! You all are pretty bright!"
"Huh?" J said confused.
"I see what you're saying…" Todd said nodding. "Tell you what, I'll have a look see at my film."
"It would have been a photo taken late last night…" J tells him.
"I checked them once, don't remember if there was anything on them though." Todd said thinking "But what if I got something! I could be witness to a genuine murder! Oh yeah! I'll go check that film. You all come back now, you hear?" He then goes to the SUV.
"He went inside his SUV." Jaden said stating the obvious. "I guess we should come back later…"
J nods and decides to check in with N at the Police trooper station.
December 25, Police Trooper Department, Criminal Affairs
They look around and see the station mostly deserted but the chief of detectives here and a few others were working. J noticed on a windowsill by the chief was a blue furball creature with hands and feet and yellow eyes. Apparently it's called the Blue Kuriboh and it was the chief of the detectives of this precinct' idea for a department mascot
"I guess Detective N is still in that meeting." Jaden said.
"Hey!" N is heard calling out and approaching the two smiling "Thanks for coming down, buddy!"
"Detective N!" Jaden said smiling.
N looks down said and said "We just finished the meeting. For better or for worse…"
'I get the feeling we're in for some bad news…' J thinks and asked "Do you know anything about the victim yet?"
"No, no…Still can't I.D. him." N said sighing.
"Has Mr. Deamonne said anything?" Jaden asked N.
"Not a word." N said shaking his head.
"So, how did the meeting go?" J asked.
"I can't tell you, buddy! You're a lawyer!" N said shaking his head.
"T-true…" J said understanding.
N thinks and said "You know…I don't know what to believe anymore. Sure, Mr. Deamonne's human unlike you or me. Still...I get the feeling that if he'd done something wrong, he wouldn't go hiding it. That's just the kind of guy he is. Why can't anyone else see that?"
"So, they think that Mr. Deamone did it…?" Jaden asked sadly.
"Well, the trial's starting tomorrow, as scheduled." N said sighing.
"I see…" Jaden said sadly.
"Umm…hey, in the end you did tell us about the meeting!" J points out.
N realizing said "Please don't go telling anyone else, buddy."
"S-sure, sir!" J said nodding.
"And…do me a favor!" N told her. "Stand by Mr. Deamonne! He needs help, and you're the ones to help him! I'm sure he's got some reason why he won't talk to us."
"Thanks, Detective N." Jaden said getting teary eyed. He then asked "Detective N…How come you trust Mr. Deamonne so much?"
"Well, I'd think that was obvious." N told them "We got a strong working relationship, us two. We trust each other, and that's how it works."
"A 'working relationship'?" Jaden asked.
"See, Mr. Deamonne always gets his defendants declared 'guilty' every time." N explained "Yeah, his methods might be a little extreme at times. But…there's a reason! He trusts our investigation, you, see? He trusts us to get the right man! That's why I work extra hard, buddy. We've got to earn that trust he places in us."
"I see…" Jaden said smiling a bit.
"Mr. Deamonne is a man you can trust…" N told them. "And you have my word on that!"
"I was wondering, did you ever get that autopsy report?" J asked him.
"Oh, that? Yeah, I made a copy for you." N said nodding and hands J the copy of the Autopsy Report and J logs it in her Court Record. Seems cause of death was one gunshot wound in the heart.
"Thank you." J said nodding.
"…J?" Jaden said concered.
"Huh?" J said looking at him.
"Can you show me that photo of the victim?" Jaden asked her smiling and J nods showing the photo of a man with short black with grey hair on the side hairs "That face…!"
"Someone you know?" J asked her.
"I…I don't know." Jaden said thinking. "I just have this feeling that I met him somewhere a long time ago." He thinks more.
J figured it will come back to Jaden later and leaves back to check in with Todd Snap.
December 25, Seadra Lake, Woods
They arrive back and they see Todd standing waiting at his campsite and smiles seeing them and approaches them.
"Hey all!" Todd said smiling.
"Todd!" Jaden said smiling.
"Wait up a sec! We got bingo!" Todd said with a smile.
"Bingo…?" Jaden asked confused.
"My automatic camera took two pictures last night!" Todd explained.
"Hey!" Jaden said smiling.
"This is them." Todd said pulling out the photos "Take a look!"
They look at the first, it showed two a boat on the river with two people one is pointing a gun at the other but couldn't tell who they were.
"Wait…!" J said looking at it.
"See? See? He's shooting him with that pistol!" Todd said smiling.
"I-it looks like that, yes." J said nodding.
"But you can't really tell who that is shooting." Jaden points out.
"Yeah, well there was enough fog out there last night to strangle a Toxicroak." Todd said thinking "But, you know…Seeing these photos reminded me of something."
"What…?" Jaden asked.
"I saw the murder happen." Todd said grinning "I'm a witness!"
"Whaaaaaa?!" Jaden said in shock.
"A-are you serious?!" J asked also in shock.
"Course!" Todd said nodding.
'How do you forget…Never mind.' J thinks shaking her head.
"You all reckon I should tell the troopers?" Todd asked
"I…reckon so!" J said shrugging.
"What's that?" Todd asked glaring. "Now don't you all go trying to mock country language! I'm a sensitive guy! Hey, so, I'm off to talk to the troopers." He smiles and hands them the photo "You all can have this photo. Later." He quickly runs off.
"W-w-wait! Todd!" J calls out.
"What? Can't you see I'm kind of busy?" Todd asked coming back.
"T-tell us what you saw, too! Please?" J asked him.
"Nice try, bot, but I wasn't born yesterday." Todd told her. "I'm a witness, and that means I'm on the side of justice, and that means the troopers! I'd sooner eat south side of a north facing Skuntank than tell you!"
"T-Todd!" Jaden said sadly.
"Don't let it get you all bogged down. Friends today, enemies tomorrow!" Todd said smiling "Or was that the other way round? No matter. I'm gone! Hey! Maybe they'll let me do some testifying! Hot darn!" He leaves again.
"He left…" Jaden said sadly. "Well, that's one more witness. What do we do now, J?"
'Well, if he saw something, there's not much we can do about it.' J thinks on it 'The question is; what exactly did he see…? I guess we'll find out in the trial tomorrow.'
J added the Lake Photo to the Court Record and they head back to the Beach area.
Well things seem hopeless, the only thing left to do is for J to keep on investigating but a familiar face next chapter shows up but will it be a helpful face or not.
Please Read, Review and Suggest. Thank you.