A/N: After a lot of planning, I am now publishing new chapters of this story! From here on, it will be a straight shot to the end of this story. I know how I want this plot to unravel. It's just a matter of getting there. Enjoy, my readers!

June 6th, 2029

Detention Center, Visitor's Room

1:00 p.m.

"I honestly didn't expect for the trial to take the direction that it did," Juniper admitted, feeling thoroughly exhausted.

Even Bailey, now back in detention, seemed more rattled than ever before. "To think that Detective Smokes took his own life. If I had not given him that chocolate… perhaps I do deserve to be imprisoned."

Athena, who reunited with Juniper as soon as possible, frowned. "You feel survivor's guilt. It's not an irrational feeling."

"Even now, I cannot say why he would do it," Bailey said, blinking away tears. "I truly do not know why."

"Junie, could I get a moment with you?" Athena pulled her best friend out of Bailey's earshot. "I understand that it would be hard for her to talk right now. But there is something we need to know about."

"You mean the case file, Thena?" Even after the long court session, they were no closer to finding out what was in the case file that Mrs. Newman had presented as a motive.

Athena nods. "I could use Widget, if it will help. It's not healthy for Bailey to blame herself for Detective Smokes' death."

"Then I'll let you handle the questioning, for now." Juniper still felt like she needed time to catch her breath.

They returned to Bailey, with Athena wearing her best smile. "Bailey, if you can, could you tell me about what Tony Smokes was working on before he died? If you can't, that's understandable!"

Bailey crossed her arms, deep in thought. "He did not talk much about his work, in the past week, but he was certainly busy. He was on the phone a lot, talking with someone."

"I think it would be related to Mrs. Newman's upcoming visit to his house," Athena said, as she looked at the Mood Matrix's interface. "She did claim to be a close friend of his."

"Of course I would not eavesdrop on Mr. Smokes' personal calls, so unfortunately I cannot tell you any more details," Bailey said. "However, it did also concern the case file that was brought up in court."

"The file that Mrs. Newman presented in court." Speaking it out loud, a problem occurred to Juniper. "But wait, if that file is so important, isn't it really bad that she had it? I don't imagine she'd give it to us by asking nicely."

"Are you sure about that, Junie? I'm sure with my analytical psychology, I could take a crack at her!" Athena said, grinning.

"Which is precisely why Mrs. Newman is not allowing you anywhere near her," Bailey said. "She knows that if you get close, you could find a weakness."

"All the more reason why I need to find a way to get closer to her," Athena said, grinning wider. "So that woman won't know what hit her!"

"We can certainly plan for that, Thena. But we also need to figure out how to advance Bailey's case." To the girl in question, Juniper continued, "Might you have an idea of what we should do next?"

"Getting the case file from Mrs. Newman should be on the list, but only when there is a chance to do it without being caught." Bailey took out a planner, and a feather pen. "More immediate, I suggest that you investigate the east side of the house."

Wait, where did she get that feather pen and planner? Out loud, Juniper asked, "Why the east side of the house? I thought no one there could be involved."

"You proved in court that someone was in Detective Smokes' room before me. Yet, I have no idea how they slipped in there without my knowledge." Bailey scribbled in the planner. "As such, I think you should expand the scope of your search."

Bailey ripped out a paper from the planner, and gave it to Juniper. The paper read, "I, Bailey Courte, give permission to my defense to enter my abode, and use my keys as they wish."

Bailey's Permission Note added to the Court Record

"Thanks for this, Bailey." Juniper, however, was not done with the questioning yet. "There is one thing I've been wondering for a while. Before Robin vanished, she was seen talking with a bailiff. Was that you?"

"Now you are asking the right questions. Yes, that was me," Bailey admitted. "At the time, I had been given the task of passing a message, from Mrs. Newman to Robin. That message was simple: 'it is time to leave'."

"Wait, then Robin willingly went to Khura'in?" Athena asked incredulously. "No wonder no one could find her!"

"That's not the only reason. Apollo lied on the behalf of Mrs. Newman as well," Juniper said, remembering when she learned this. "He told anyone that came asking that her family was not in Khura'in."

"And Mrs. Newman currently has the backing of the Khura'in royal family." Athena's eyes widened. "Mein Gott! How did she get so many connections?"

"That's certainly something to investigate when we meet her again. What I'd like to know is…" Juniper looked Bailey in the eyes. "Why did you go along with this?"

"Because I will always do whatever needs to be done to fulfill my purpose," Bailey answered. "That being Robin's safety and happiness."

Athena had studied the Mood Matrix the entire time. "You truly do believe in what you're saying, Miss Courte. At least, You are being honest to us."

Bailey had good intentions in her actions. But the same can't be said for Mrs. Newman. Why is she behind such an elaborate scheme to hide the truth behind her time to Khura'in?

June 6th, 2029

O'Conner and Co. Law Offices

1:20 p.m.

Before beginning the investigation, Juniper decided to return to the office to talk with Athena, and see if Hugh was there to catch him up on the case. Hugh did turn out to be there, but so was Sheila Winters.

"Hello there, Sheila. Are you here to visit us?" Juniper asked sweetly.

"I'm here to help with the investigation!" Sheila declared proudly.

"Your grandmother didn't have the energy to do another day of babysitting," Hugh explained. "I was hoping to find someone else willing to watch her."

"Come to think of it, Thena might still be barred from the Smokes residence." Juniper turned towards Athena. "What do you think? Could you entertain Sheila here in the office?"

"I haven't spent much time around the charming Miss Winters, but I'd certainly be happy to get to know her!" Athena said, grinning.

With that settled, Juniper told Hugh everything he missed since dealing with Carnila's sentencing trial.

"Mrs. Newman put a lot of effort into throwing people off her scent," Hugh said, rubbing his chin. "I think the question is: who was she trying to hide from?"

"It would have to be someone with a lot of power. Someone that would give her a reason to not want to be found, even if it meant fleeing to an entire other country," Juniper speculated. "Do you think… this person might have something to do with the current case?"

Athena looked down at Sheila, then delicately said, "Hey, did you want to go get ice cream somewhere?"

"Yay, ice cream! I want pecan and fudge!" Sheila followed Athena out of the office.

As soon as Sheila was out of earshot, Hugh said, "In court, you uncovered the fact that Tony Smokes committed suicide. However, it was also revealed that someone stabbed a knife into the body after the fact. For the life of me, I don't understand why someone would want to do that."

"But if we don't figure it out, Bailey is still going to be convicted," Juniper said, troubled. "So we aren't solving a murder. We're trying to solve the mystery of why someone wanted to make this look like a murder."

"Then our first destination is definitely the Smokes residence. I'm also thinking about Bailey's suggestion to look into the side of the house we didn't investigate. What do you think she's expecting for us to find there?"

"I don't know. But since we are basically starting this case again from scratch, it wouldn't hurt to gather as much evidence as we can," Juniper said. "At least, I'd like to ask more questions to anyone that's at the house."

"Then let's not delay any further." Hugh and Juniper exited the office, to get into the former's car. Outside, they spotted Athena, who had a cone of ice cream.

"Hey, guys! Me and Sheila had a lot of fun eating ice cream together," Athena said cheerfully. "Bailey said she wanted to get more ice cream, so I'm waiting for her."

"You two have fun, Thena," Juniper said, smiling fondly at her friend.

June 6th, 2029

Smokes Residence, Entrance Hall

1:40 p.m.

"Ahh, if it isn't two fine Frauleins and one handsome Herr," Klavier said, spotting Juniper and Hugh.

"Wait, 'two" Frauleins? There's only Juniper here," Hugh pointed out.

"Then what about the young one that's right behind you?" When Juniper and Hugh turned around, they saw none other than Sheila.

Juniper gasped. "How did you get here?!"

"I stowed away in the trunk of Mr. O' Conner's car when Miss Cykes wasn't looking!" Sheila declared proudly. "Breaking into the trunk isn't the problem with everything that Carny has taught me!"

"First of all, please don't break into my car, for any reason," Hugh said. "Second, does this mean that Athena is waiting for you even though you aren't coming back?"

"Oh, I should probably tell Thena to not wait for Sheila, then!"

As Juniper talked with Athena on the phone, Hugh addressed Sheila again. "What do you think you'll be able to do, now that you're here?"

"I already told you, I have a lot of skills with machines thanks to my sister," Sheila said. "I want to help, because maybe if I try hard enough I can stop what happened to my sister from happening to other people!"

Juniper, hearing this, felt her heart break on the inside. But nothing could have prevented that verdict. After all, it was the correct verdict.

Perhaps for the same reason, Hugh immediately changed the subject. "I suppose it would waste precious time to take you back to the office. But do exactly what we say, alright?"

Sheila nodded enthusiastically, as Juniper got off the phone with Athena. Juniper said, "What are you going to do, Prosecutor Gavin?"

"I will definitely look more into this case file that seems to have become the golden apple that everyone desires," Prosecutor Gavin said. "I should hopefully need to only tug at a few strings."

"If you're already tugging at strings, could you look into Mrs. Newman's credentials?" Hugh asked. "There is definitely something wrong with how she swooped in and took control of the entire case."

"I agree with you there, Herr O' Conner. Mrs. Newman is as dangerous as she is good-looking," Klavier said, his tone light and teasing. "Makes me wonder if she wears the pants of the household as opposed to Herr Newman."

"I know Bailey told us to investigate the eastern side of the house, but I want to stop by the crime scene real quick, to double check," Juniper said. "Do you know if Detective Skye is there?"

"She is, but Fraulein Skye took one look at me and shooed me from the crime scene," Klavier said, flipping his hair. "So she you might have unfortunate luck as well."

"It might be best for us to split up. I will follow Prosecutor Gavin in his investigation into Mrs. Newman and the case file," Hugh said. "This is your case, Juniper. Can I count on you to find clues with Sheila?"

"I will try my best, Hugh!" Juniper said, fighting off the familiar tightness in her chest. "I think I'll look into how someone could have escaped the crime scene and framed Bailey. That will be the main question in court tomorrow."

"Parting is such sweet sorrow. But I'm sure we'll see each other again," Klavier said dramatically. "Auf Wiedersehen, my friends."

June 6th, 2029

Smokes Residence, Smokes' Room

Just as Klavier said, Ema was already at the crime scene, who was investigating the bed. When she saw Juniper, a relieved expression crossed her face.

"Oh thank goodness, it's not the glimmerous fop again. So what brings you here, Juniper?"

"I want to know if you've found out anything new, now that we know how the victim really died," Juniper said.

The smile fell off of Ema's face. She rummaged around her carrier bag, and took out a Rubik's Cube, before she handed it to Sheila. "Could you leave the room and solve this for me?"

After Sheila left, Ema continued, "I've only worked on one other suicide case. When I think about it, I wonder if Detective Smokes had taken his own life for a similar reason."

Juniper was torn between being curious about this case and not wanting to hear the gory details. Ema read the expression on Juniper's face.

"That previous case had a priest take his own life to protect his wife and unborn child," Ema explained. "I don't think I'll ever forget it."

Could Detective Smokes have done this for a similar reason? To protect someone?

The very idea made tears form in Juniper's eyes. She'd only met him a couple days ago, but she also knew that there were people that had known the detective for much longer.

"I know, Juniper. But you'll have to pull yourself together, because there are much more pressing matters," Ema said, sniffling. "Like why someone felt the need to stab the body after."

Ema tried to shift back into her professional persona. "I haven't been able to learn anything new so far. The biggest sticking point is that."

She pointed to the wardrobe that sat against the back wall. "I really want to crack that open, if only to confirm the prosecution's theories about what could be inside. But I don't have the authority to force it open."

"Who would have that authority? Detective Smokes is dead and Bailey's arrested," Juniper said.

"That's what Mrs. Newman told me. I can only open the wardrobe if I find the key," Ema said, annoyed. "To also prove who could have accessed it on the day of the crime."

"Okay, then is there anything else that you can tell me?" Juniper asked. "About this crime scene?"

"I did inspect the desk, after all the discussion about the call button," Ema said. "I didn't find anything on the button itself. But I did find something else I didn't expect. There were traces of ink on the desk."

This is the first I've heard of this. But I have a feeling I have evidence that's connected to this…

"When we investigated the day before, there was something weird at the bottom of the trash can," Juniper said. "Some kind of rectangle imprint. Do you think it's related?"

"I did see that too, but I'm not sure how anything rectangle-shaped could be related to ink," Ema said, swaying from side to side. "Unless it's a letter, maybe?"

Ema kept swaying for a bit, until she stopped abruptly. "Wait, that makes perfect sense! It's possible that Detective Smokes wrote a letter before he died. It may have even been his suicide note!"

"That's concerning, then. Because all that's left is the imprint," Juniper said, pursing her lips. "I think that means that someone could have taken the letter with them."

"It wasn't on the defendant, that's for sure," Ema said, getting more serious. "I am definitely going to go looking for this letter, if it does exist."

Trash Can updated in the Court Record

The door to the crime scene opened, admitting Sheila inside, who was holding a completed Rubik's Cube. "I'm done, pretty detective!"

"Wow, you did that impressively fast," Ema said, taking back the cube. To Juniper, Ema said, "So where are you going next? I'll probably still be here, at least until I can get another officer to watch over this scene."

"I'm going to investigate the east wing of this manor," Juniper explained. "Do you have any recommendations for what I should do?"

"Well, I haven't been there for very long, but I did learn something." Ema took a file out of her carrier bag. "According to this house's blueprints, the breaker is in the east wing. Check that out, to see if you can figure out what caused the blackout."

Ema gave the file to Juniper. "As for the blackout itself, here's all the information about it. It began at around nine-thirty in the morning, and lasted until nine-forty. So ten minutes, at most."

Blackout Report added to the Court Record

Okay, at least I have some direction of where to take the investigation. But there are so many people I need to talk to as well. So I have a feeling that this investigation is going to be a long one.

To be continued.

A/N: This kicks off the final investigation. I have laid out the set of mysteries at hand. Now, what kind of answers do you imagine? Because now that this chapter is out, I am determined to have more consistent uploads. See you next time! Please review.