A/N: Last time, we stumbled into a murder, as you do. This time, we are going to learn more, including meeting the one accused of the crime. Enjoy, my readers!

May 6th, 2029

O'Conner and Law Offices

10:00 a.m.

"That is not at all how I thought our day off yesterday would end," Juniper said, nervously tugging at the brim of her hat.

"No kidding." After seeing the dead body, the police had been very unhappy with Hugh and his friends. It took Robin yelling at everyone to calm down for a full minute before the situation did calm down. While Hugh and the others had avoided trouble, they had also been forbidden from entering the crime scene again if they didn't have proper authorization.

"It looks like whatever else happens in this case, we'll have to wait to hear about it after the fact," Hugh said. "We won't be allowed to enter the carnival again."

"I suppose so… oh, but Robin is going to be leading the investigation," Juniper said, smiling. "So we can at least trust her to guide things properly."

Still, I don't like just sitting around doing nothing. Yet I have no power of investigation. I hate that being a defense attorney means that I'm so helpless.

"Since we're here anyways, I wanted to talk to you about something important," Juniper said. "It's about Bailey."

"Oh? What do you want to say about her?" Hugh asked curiously.

"Ever since I saw Bailey's face, I've been thinking that there is something familiar about her face," Juniper said. "And it's been bothering me so much, I even have trouble sleeping! But I can't help but feel that I should know who she really is!"

"Juniper, we already know who Bailey is. She's a bailiff that's Robin's friend and way too fond of being vague," Hugh said dryly.

"I still think that there's more to it than that. I know I can't have met her before my first case," Juniper said, scratching her head. "So why do I feel like I've seen her before?"

"This kind of stress won't help us, Juniper. For now, we will wait until Robin can tell us more," Hugh said, patting her on the shoulder.

There was a knocking on the door. "Come in," Hugh called out, getting into position to greet them.

Entering the room was a small girl of about ten. She had dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a blue shirt with a cute cat on it, with a pair of denim shorts.

"Who are you, little one?" Juniper asked, bending her knees so she could be face level with the girl.

"My name is Sheila. I came here all by myself," Sheila said, poking her fingers together.

"By yourself? Where are your parents?" Hugh asked, setting a chair for her to sit on.

Shelly sat in the chair, then continued, "Don't have any. I do have my older sister!"

"You don't have parents?" Juniper face was pale. "Is your big sister taking care of you, then?"

"She was, but…" Sheila's lip trembled. "She's in detention right now."

"Detention? I suppose that means your sister has been arrested." Hugh could feel a smirk spread across his face. "Well, Juniper. It looks like we have our way into this case after all."

"I'll stay here with the young Sheila! You go and meet-"

Juniper was interrupted by Sheila saying, "No, I want to go too! I want to see Carny."

Hugh almost made a comment about that name, but didn't. Instead, he says, "Let's get going then. I'll see what I can do to help."

May 6th, 2029

Detention Center, Visitor's Room

11:00 a.m.

As always, Hugh mentally prepared himself to meet his potential new client. On the other side of the glass, there was a young woman. The woman had mostly brown hair with some blond streaks, which she kept tied up in a red bandana. The woman also had blue eyes, and wore a short-sleeved, white t-shirt covered in oil stains, and wearing yellow sweatpants.

"Hello there, Sheila! Who have you brought with you?" The woman asked.

"My name is Hugh O'Conner, attorney at law," Hugh said, bowing. "And this is my junior partner and fellow attorney, Juniper Woods."

"Nice to meet you!" Juniper added in a friendly tone.

"Oh! Now I recognize you!" The woman exclaimed. "My name is Carnila Winters. You've met my little sister already. But I already know who you are!"

Carnila flexed her right arm. "Mr. O'Conner, you're the defense attorney that defended the famous Starlight Moon! And Miss Woods, you're the one that took down the Edward Iraman!"

"I couldn't have done that without a lot of help," Juniper said, bashfully pulling her hat over her face.

"I see our reputation precedes us. I assume this means that you require our help for something," Hugh said. "So don't be afraid to tell us your story."

Carnila folded her hands in her lap. "Right now, the 'Starry Night' carnival is in town. I'm a mechanic that works there, maintaining the upkeep of the rides."

Hugh decided it wasn't necessary to explain that he'd been to the carnival yesterday.

"Yesterday, the owner of the carnival was found dead in one of the rides. The police arrested me for her murder," Carnila said. She twisted the hem of her shirt. "And I can't go to jail! If I do, there won't be anyone to take care of Sheila."

"If it's okay, do you want to tell me how this happened?" Juniper asked gently. "How you came to take care of your sister, I mean."

It was Sheila that answered. "My parents went away when I was little. Since then, I've lived with Carny!"

Carnila leaned into the mic and whispered, "They died in a car accident. I've been working my job at the carnival to support us since then."

While Hugh did his best to keep up an impassive expression, internally he was sweating buckets. Already, if Hugh didn't successfully defend Carnila, an entire family would be torn apart.

"I know how that is. I also grew up without my parents," Juniper said, equally quietly. "I've been raised by my grandmother most of my life."

Outside the visitor's room, there was a loud noise. "Ah, what was that?" Juniper asked, turning towards it.

So you're here? I wonder if that means you have business with us. Out loud, Hugh said, "If I had to guess, one of the guards making their rounds tripped."

Outside of the room, the person that fell got back up, and left to go somewhere else. Once the footsteps were out of earshot, Hugh said, "I didn't know about your parents, Juniper."

"It's not something I like talking about," Juniper said, tearing her eyes away from him. "They… were park rangers. And they died during the course of their job, or at least that's what my Grandma told me."

Hugh considered his relationship with his own parents, or at least the lack thereof. Ever since he discovered they were giving bribes for his good grades, Hugh refused to talk to them.

There would be time to resolve that situation later. Right now, Hugh had a client that was relying on him.

"Tell us how you came to be arrested, Miss Winters," Hugh said carefully. "That is the important first step to a good defense."

"The day before yesterday, I was called to the carnival as part of a critical work assignment," Carnila explained. "In the center, there is a ride known as the Comet Shuffle. One of its arms is broken, so I needed to fix it. But I didn't have enough time, so I wanted to finish the job another day."

"I don't see how this would lead to anyone suspecting you. Further details would be appreciated," Hugh said.

"It's because the owner was found dead the very next morning," Carnila said, clutching her arms. "Since I was there too, her death is now being pinned on me."

"In other words, the standard case the prosecution brings to the table," Hugh said, wearing a reassuring grin. Then, Hubert looked Carnila in the eyes. "Of course, I need to ask something. Did you kill the owner of the carnival?"

For a moment, Carnila held Hugh's gaze. Then she said, "While I'm here, I won't be able to look after Sheila. So I'm counting on you to free me, Mr. O'Conner."

"Then I ask that you trust in me to do both. I will look after your sister, and I will defend you with everything I have." Hugh said. "So rest easy."

"I will, Mr. O'Conner! Oh, but is there anything you need from me?" Carnila asked.

"Now that you mention it, I should probably get a letter of request from you." Hugh handed Carnila a piece of paper and a pen. She wrote a letter asking for Hugh and Juniper to be let into the crime scene, signed it, and handed it back to Hugh.

Letter of Request added to the Court Record

"Time to head out, Juniper. Our new case awaits us," Hugh said, standing up to leave.

"Alright, but I need to make sure of something." Juniper looked at Sheila. "Are you going to come with us?"

"You want me to come? Do you need help in saving my sister?" Shelly asked curiously.

"Um, it's more that…" Juniper leaned in to whisper to Carnila. "I don't want your sister to see anything too inappropriate at a crime scene. But at the same time, would it be okay to leave Shelly in this detention center all day?"

"I see what you mean. You aren't a well-respected attorney for nothing!" Juniper, who wasn't expecting the sudden compliment, started blushing. Carnila continued, "Take Shelly with you, then, and keep her distracted from anything too… intense."

"Understood. We will carry out your request to the best of our ability," Hugh said, bowing.

"So hang in there, Miss Winters! We'll do our best for you!" Juniper added.

"Yay, we're leaving to save Carny!" Sheila exclaimed.

May 6th, 2029

Starry Skies Carnival

12:00 p.m.

As soon as Ema saw Hugh and Juniper, she pursed her lips. "Here I was thinking that my day wasn't difficult enough, and wouldn't you know it, here comes the defense."

"Your sense of sarcasm is as well developed as always, Detective Skye," Hugh said, deadpan.

"Okay, look. I'm sure you still remember how things turned out last week," Ema said, looking away. "You might still be mad at me, given how much trouble your client was in."

"No, we're not still mad at you. In the end, you still did your job," Juniper said gently. "And because of your hard work, we were able to find the truth. So thank you!"

"You're way too forgiving, you know that?!" Ema exclaimed, clapping her hand to her cheek

"You don't know the half of it," Hugh said, thinking about how easily Juniper had welcomed Myriam after everything she'd done. Personally, it had taken Hugh a while to forgive Myriam, though in fairness she had maimed his hand with a trap.

"Still, I can't let you onto the crime scene if you don't have any business there," Ema said. "Sorry about it, but those are the rules."

"We do in fact have important business," Hugh said smugly.

Letter of Request given to Detective Skye

"That would do it. I'll let you onto the crime scene, but not touching anything without my permission," Ema said firmly. Then she said, "Of course, I don't envy you for ending up defending this client."

"I'm guessing that means that you and Robin are confident in your case against Miss Winters," Hugh said. "Anything you can share right now?"

"Just that it looks as if the defendant is the only one with both the motive and the means to commit the crime," Ema said, studying something on her phone. "Opportunity is the one area in which we're unsure of, so I'm here on a second investigation."

In other words, opportunity is where I'll likely find a weak point in Robin's case, so I should attack it at the first chance. Out loud, Hugh said, "Can you at least give us the autopsy report? I assume that's ready."

"You assume correctly." Ema took out the report from her carrier back and handed it to Hugh.

"The victim is Adelie Illusa, a woman in her forties," Hugh read out loud. The headshot provided showed that Adelie had gray hair done in curls that fell to her shoulders, and wore a magician's hat on her head. Adelie also had light yellow eyes, age lines under them, and pouty lips. "Her time of death was May 4th, between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Cause of death: Blunt force trauma across the entire body, from a 40 foot drop."

Illusa's Autopsy Report added to the Court Record

Immediately, Hugh noticed something that didn't add up. "So as a reminder, it was Miss Illusa's body that was found in the star-shaped teacup ride, right?"

"I know what you are going to say next. How did the body get transported from where it fell to where it was found? Needless to say, I am looking into that," Ema said, smirking. "And you'll find out what we learn when it comes time for us to go to court."

"Of course." Hugh said wearily.

"But I'm feeling generous, so I'll share this with you." Ema gave Hugh a picture. It depicted Miss Illusa's corpse, stuffed rather uncomfortably into the giant teacup. The clothes that Miss Illusa wore was a black tailcoat with a white button-up shirt underneath. On the white shirt, there was a very visible black soot covering it.

Photo of victim added to the Crime Record

"I'm sure that you have noticed a few details about the victim's body," Ema said. "I'll leave you to chew on those details in your head."

"So, is Robin also investigating the crime scene right now?" Juniper asked.

"No, she's not. However…" Ema shot Juniper a coy look. "If you want to see Prosecutor Newman, she is in her office. Mr. O'Conner can investigate the carnival while you visit her."

"W-well, th-that's…" Juniper stammered, flustered by Ema's tone.

"So we're going to split up? Then I'll go with O'Conner to find clues!" Sheila exclaimed.

"Woah! Where did you come from, little girl?" Ema asked, looking down at Sheila in surprise.

"This is my client's little sister. We're taking care of her at their behest," Hugh explained. "I hope that there is no problem if we bring her with us."

"I did do a background check on the defendant, so I know her family's circumstances," Ema said, her expression filled with concern. She addressed Sheila: "Tell you what, Sheila. Take this bottle of luminol. You can use this for help."

"Thank you, pretty detective!" Shelly said, taking the spray bottle.

Something that Ema said earlier did stand out to Hugh. "So if Robin isn't investigating this crime, then her attention is focused elsewhere. Is it related to the other case that you were looking into yesterday?"

"That is definitely information that I can't give up, at least not if I want to keep my job!" Ema said quickly. She took out a Snackoo, and flicked it at Hugh.

*Katonk* "Ow! I thought Athena's complaints about your snack throwing was her being overly insensitive. I see that I was wrong to think that." Hugh said, rubbing his forehead.

"Complain all you want. My lips are sealed. If Prosecutor Newman wants to tell you herself, that's up to her," Ema said. "I'm going to investigate the crime scene now. You can follow me, or you can do something else. It's all the same to me."

"Do something else, huh? Reading between the lines, I think Detective Skye is saying that there are other areas of interest in this case," Hugh said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "There may even be witnesses for us to question."

"It would be good for us to visit Robin in her office at some point," Juniper added. "Because we need to know about this other case she was looking into. It sounds like it's related to this one."

"Then we have a busy investigation ahead of us!"

To be continued.

A/N: With a client depending on them, Hugh and Juniper leave to find as many clues as they can! Be sure to join them and do you best to figure out what's happening. See you next time! Please review.