#zaomon

February 22 – District Prosecutor's Office, Underground Parking Lot

"(It seems that the investigation is still going...)" That's the first thing Alexia thinks about when she enters the parking lot.

Suddenly, they heard voices from somewhere.

"I have to be getting back to the shop..."

"I'm sorry... It looks like I'll be trapped in this pit ‘til the sun sleeps."

"Then I'll see you in my dreams tonight, honey."

Moments later, Angel Starr appears before them. "Oh! Still here?"

"We could say the same, Ms. Starr." Alexia says, crossing her arms.

"Oh? Didn't I mention it...? I have a boyfriend in Criminal Affairs." Angel says with a small smile.

"(What happened to the security guard! boyfriend?)" Alexia thinks disgusted.

"Hey!" It is heard before Marshall makes an appearance. "What's up, Bambinas? You’re looking like puppies who have lost their flock!"

"(Jake Marshall... A strange guy to put in charge of a crime scene.)" Alexia thinks, sighing tiredly. "(But I need to interact with him if we want to know anything about the case... So here we go...)"

"Would you mind reading this for me?" Alexia asks, taking out the letter of introduction.

Marshall looks at her intriguedly. "What is this? I warn you; my fans letters go straight to the spittoon!"

"It's a letter of introduction." Alexia says. "It's Detective Gumshoe's to be specific. Can we investigate?"

"Gumshoe...? Ah, that old cowdog?" Marshall murmurs, looking more closely at the letter, "Hmm... he is holding a birthday party or something?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Alexia says confused.

"Look here." Marshall says, pointing to the top of the paper.

The lawyer reads where they point out... and she was able to observe what the problem is. Where it should say "introduction" letter... it says "invitation". Alexia looks up, with an expression that screamed "I'm so sorry..."

"Don't worry. This proves that it's from Detective Gumshoe, better than any blood test could. I guess I'd better let you in." Marshall says nonchalantly.

"Thank you, Officer Marshall!" Ema thanks with a big smile.

"Well, folks." Marshall says gesturing around him. "The clues are calling! Welcome to our golden strike. Be like the settler! Set off for unknown lands! Manifest destiny! Let's have fun!"

As soon as he finishes saying that he runs away from there.

"This officer is really something else... and not in a good way." Alexia murmurs tiredly.

"Note to self: police investigations are like settling land." Ema murmurs as she writes in her booklet.

"(How useful are those notes, Kitten?)” Alexia thinks with a drop of sweat.

"Well, Miss Fey, now what?" Ema asks curiously.

"I'll say I won't need this anymore... yet, just in case of doubt, I will keep it..." Alexia mutters to herself, putting the letter back away. She looks up again to look around. "Where's the cowboy?"

“Did I hear my name, Bambina?" Says the aforementioned from behind her.

"AH!!" Alexia screams in fright. Before exclaiming, annoyed. "Don't appear like that out of nowhere!"

"Well? What do you need me for?" Marshall asks, intrigued.

"Could you tell us more about the victim?" Alexia asks, returning to her usual attitude.

Marshall begins to run a knife over his chin, as if he were shaving. “... Good men always die young. Remember that, Bambinas."

"Um... could you be a little more specific?" Ema asks confused.

"Bruce Goodman... He was a detective, right?" Alexia murmurs.

"Well, well, aren't you feisty puppies now?" Marshall says with a half-smile. "Detective Goodman was stabbed here at 17h15. ... The smiling Madonna told me the tale..."

“(I think he is referring to the witness, Mrs. Angel Starr.)” Alexia thinks, crossing her arms.

"A stab wound in the chest. A good job." Marshall adds, pulling out an envelope. "Here's the autopsy report."

Goodman's autopsy report was added to the court record.

"Was my sister involved with the victim in any way?" Ema asks fearfully.

Marshall shakes his head. "It's funny that you mention that, Bambina. Chief Prosecutor Skye and Detective Goodman... they had nothing in common."

"Nothing in common...?" Ema says surprised.

"They apparently worked together on a case a few years ago." Marshall comments.

"(So... there is no reason in sight...)” Alexia deduces with a small smile.

"Goodman was not a particularly talented detective. That's one of the reasons why he didn't work much with the Chief Prosecutor..." Marshall says playing with his knife.

Ema scratches her head with her pencil. "But Detective Gumshoe said my sister called the victim here on the day of the murder, right?" 

"Because that's what it looks like." The cowboy says. "Like calling an unarmed man to a shooting at noon."

"(God, I'm going to get lost in all this talk.)" Alexia thinks with a drop of sweat.

“I don't mean to offend, but... Officer Marshall, you're a patrolman, right?" Alexia says entering the conversation. "As far as I understand, only detectives and above are authorized to be here."

The man sighs heavily at that. "I was one of those detectives dressed in fancy shoes until two years ago, to tell you the truth."

Alexia is surprised by this new information. "Oh, really? (Now he tells me!)"

"But now you’re a patrolman. So how can you be in charge of a crime scene?" Ema questions.

"Nothing escapes you, right, Bambinas?" Marshall complements. "The truth is that there is no reason. We are short of hands at the moment. In the meantime, I'm keeping an eye out."

"That's strange. Detective Gumshoe said he had nothing to do... at least nothing important." Alexia says raising an eyebrow.

"He's just a sad old cowboy dog who can't find his tail. Maybe it's because he's hanging out with that Edgeworth, huh?" Marshall says before taking off his hat. "That cowboy dog was kicked out of this cattle run... by order of the Chief of Police. Just, he just doesn't realize it yet."

"(Detective Gumshoe, kicked out of the investigation!?)" Alexia thinks shocked.

"Well, bambinas. If those are all the questions you have for me, go inside the crime scene to see if you find something that we don't, although I doubt it very much." Marshall says, leaning to the side. "If you need me, I'll be on this side." And with that, the cowboy left, leaving the girls.

"Well, now that we have unlimited space, we need to look for some evidence around here." Alexia says with a half-smile.

"S-Sure!" Ema says determined.

Both girls spend a few seconds searching the right side of the parking lot to see if there's anything of value. As Alexia looks around, Ema finds an object just to the left of Edgeworth's car. It looks like someone's phone.

"Look, Miss Fey! I found this!" Ema says smiling, making Alexia turn to look at her.

Fey approaches and looks over Ema's shoulder at the device. "It looks like you found a cell phone."

"My scientific analysis concludes that this belonged to the victim! I can't think of anyone else it could belong to..." Ema says sure of her reasoning.

"That was not a conclusion drawn on the basis of a scientific analysis, but one drawn on the basis of the discarding of people..." Alexia murmurs with a drop of sweat. Ema ignores that comment.

"Should we check it out?" Ema asks, handing the cell phone to Alexia.

"Of course we should. As you yourself said, "Every object at the scene of the crime can become evidence," so it is better to do so." Alexia says, phone in hand.

The attorney gets serious and begins to examine the device. As far as she could see, there's no blood on this one, nor does it look like there's any fingerprint printed on this one. And with her external examination, she set out to see the content of it.

So, she presses a blue button that was on one of the sides of it, making the lid lift and able to see the screen. In which, a somewhat curious function is shown...

"It seems that the redial function is still active on the screen." Alexia mutters to herself. "Something that most recent mobile phones have to store incoming and outgoing calls."

"That's right, Ms. Fey. Simply press the blue loot to call back to the last number dialed." Ema says.

"I wonder who the owner of the phone called last..." Alexia murmurs thoughtfully.

"We can solve that mystery just by pressing the blue button." Ema says with a smile, taking the phone from Alexia’s hands and wanting to press the button.

"W-wait, Em-" Alexia tried to stop the scientist, but it was too late.

Suddenly, throughout the parking lot, something like a song was heard.

"Hey! I know that song!" Ema says surprised.

"Yes, but why did you press the redial button? And even more so here..." Alexia growls, patting her face.

"What's going on here?!" Marshall stomps over. "Did you just hit the redial button?"

"Yes... I'm sorry," Alexia says, throwing an annoyed look at Ema, who at least has the decency to look embarrassed.

"Whose phone is it? The victim’s?" asks Alexia, in an attempt to change the subject.

Marshall shakes his head. "No. That would be the sister of the youngest Bambina: Chief Prosecutor Skye."

"Wait, really?" Ema says surprised.

"(Don't you know what your sister's phone looks like?!)" Alexia thinks exasperated.

"Indeed. Apparently she dropped it when she was arrested, just after the crime." Marshall deduces approaching the girls. "Look... the last call was made just as the murder happened! It looks like she was about to call someone. Except, according to this, she only spoke for a few seconds."

"Who could she have called?" asks Ema intrigued.

"I have no idea. Sorry." Marshall replies before looking at Alexia. "Now I have a question for you. I heard a phone ring just now. Whose was it?"

Alexia had to start mumbling. "Oh, I'm sorry... it was mine."

That really surprises the cowboy. "What?! Your phone?!"

"Yes, it was a very strange thing! Someone called me just as we picked up the other phone. It was just a wrong number." Alexia bluffs.

The sheriff narrows his eyes. "You’d better not be lying... they shoot you for that in Texas, mate!"

"(Excellent. I've incited the anger of Trooper Lone Star.)" Alexia thinks, rolling her eyes. "(At least he didn't tell us to hand over the phone, so I'd better keep it.)"

"So, there's no connection between Detective Goodman and my sister!" Ema says with a small smile.

"Not so fast, bambina. There is still a goldmine of evidence against her. And tomorrow's prosecutor is none other than Edgeworth himself... I'm afraid your sister's fate is decided, Bambina. Many condolences." The man says as he takes off his hat.

Ema looks upset. "Officer Marshall, how can you say that? You and my sister, you were..."

Alexia raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what Ema said; "(What's that story?)", the lawyer wonders.

He puts his hat back on and sighs. "I apologize, bambina. Something must have affected me. Maybe it's that dry wind blowing in the Prospector's Office."

"(Dry wind or ill will, someone is up to something here... but who?)" Alexia wonders. But when she does not find an answer, she asks; "I have to assume that the one who causes that dryness in the wind is a prosecutor, specifically, Miles Edgeworth. Isn't it?"

Marshall nods in confirmation. "Suspicions about Mr. Edgeworth have been circulating for nearly two years."

"Falsified evidence and organization of testimony?" Alexia says, more with a confirmation than a question.

"That's right, bambina. He was unbeatable because he did everything necessary to win. Invincible, of course, until he met you and Phoenix Wright." Marshall replies.

"But the rumors are just... rumors, aren't they?" Ema asks. "You would think that prosecutors of all people would want to find evidence for all these claims!"

The cowboy shrugs. "If you follow the rumors about Edgeworth to their source, you'll find a person... but... they are off limits. Untouchable, you could say."

"A person? Who?" Ema asks intrigued.

"I hate to say this, kitten.." Alexia murmurs, causing Ema to turn to her. "But... most likely that person is your sister, Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye."

"What!? My sister...?!" Ema exclaims shocked. Marshall let out a small half-hearted laugh.

“For not looking much older than little Skye, you're pretty smart." Praise Marshall, to continue with; "Yes. Edgeworth couldn't steal all those cattle alone. Some people load their guns with bullets, others load them with "offers"."

"Are you saying that Mr. Edgeworth was making deals to win trials?" Ema murmurs listlessly.

"There is a saying that goes; "Where there's gunshots, there's bound to be bullets"." Marshall replies. "There's a big ol’ secret hidden around here somewhere. Everyone knows it."

"(I wish I didn't believe what he says, more for Phoenix than anything else. But it's something that shouldn't surprise me that it's true, considering who his mentor was...)” Alexia thinks, sighing dejectedly.

"Miss Fey?" Ema says.

"Yes, Kitten?" Alexia replies, looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Is that why they removed Detective Gumshoe from the case...? Did they attack him because he was the closest to Mr. Edgeworth?" Ema asks, her eyes downcast.

This question left Alexia paralyzed, because she didn't know what to answer that question... No... she did know what to answer, but she did not want to accept that that was the answer... Not when one of the people involved was close to Mia...

Marshall sighs, drawing attention to him. "Well, bambinas. I already told you, and I'll repeat them just in case. If those are all the questions you have for me, go inside the crime scene to see if you find something that we don't, although I doubt it very much."

Marshall begins to distance himself from them. "If you need me, I'll be on this side." And with that, the cowboy left, leaving the girls alone again.

Alexia sighs tiredly, covering her face with both hands. "Okay, okay, okay, okay... *sigh*... Let's investigate a little more, see if we find anything. And if not, we'll leave it for today. I think we both need a break after this..."

Ema nods in agreement.

A quick look through the trunk of Miles Edgeworth's car, Alexia noticed a piece of paper lying on the floor, not standing out much to the eye.

"What is this? It looks like a note of some kind." Alexia mutters to herself, before reading what she has written. "SL-9 02/21... What does that mean?"

"Ms. Fey... he has the paper upside down." Ema says from behind her. Alexia glances at her out of the corner of her eye before returning her gaze to the note, noticing that the header is at the bottom.

Alexia just turned the paper over and read it again; "6-7S 20/12"... It sounds even more incoherent than what I first read."

"There's a name printed on the paper above..." Ema comments. "He says... "Goodman."

"Maybe it fell out of his pocket when he was killed." Alexia suggests.

"Well? So? What does it mean, Ms. Fey?"

"I couldn't tell you for sure. But at least, to me, it sounds like what they would call a case. So, it's probably the name of a case that he was sent to transfer." Alexia deduces.

"Yes, that makes sense..." Ema murmurs.

Goodman's note added to court record.

"So, well, how are we, Ms. Fey?" Ema asks tiredly.

"I guess we have some valuable clues... We have an autopsy report, a note from the victim and a cell phone..." Alexia murmurs, recounting what they have at hand.

"Do you think we'll be okay?" Ema asks somewhat unsurely.

"Well, the only thing that still bothers me is that Lana is confessing to the crime. She says she did!" Alexia says, massaging her forehead.

"No problem! I can guarantee that she is not the criminal." Ema says with a smile.

"If you say so..." Alexia says, before remembering. "Oh, by the way, Kitten?"

"Yes?" Ema says still with the same smile.

Alexia sighs tiredly. "That song we just heard a few moments ago. That was your phone we heard... wasn't it?"

She stares at her. "What...?"

Alexia takes the phone from Ema's purse and presses to dial again. And as Fey predicted, the song begins to play from the aforementioned girl's bag. Making her turn pale.

"Your sister called you, didn't she, Ema?" Alexia says looking at Ema, and then looking sideways at the scene of the crime. "Immediately after the murder took place."

Alexia could see her trying to hold back tears as she says, "I'm sorry!"

"What did you talk about?" Alexia asked.

"We didn't... When I was about to answer, she hung up immediately." Ema says sadly.

"I see..." Alexia murmurs, massaging her hundred again, clearly annoyed. "I can't believe you hid information from me..."

Cell phone updated in the court record.

"I... I'm sorry." Ema says with small tears running down her cheeks.

"Kitten, I understand that you want to protect your sister, but the last thing you should do to your defense attorney is lie to them or ignore important details." Alexia says looking at her seriously. "Whether she is innocent or guilty, I am still her defense attorney and I am in charge of trying to defend her from the prosecution violating her rights. But I can't do that properly if you're going to keep me in the dark about the case."

"I’m… truly... s-sorry..." Ema sobs. Alexia softens her expression and hugs her.

"Don't worry, I know you didn't do it with bad intentions... just... don't do it again, okay?" Alexia whispers. Ema nods. "Okay, let's go back to the office."

With that, they both began to walk towards the exit. Fey could hear Ema dragging steps beside her. He sighed internally and prayed that the pay for this case will be good...

"Do you want me to buy you an ice cream?" Alexia asks with a small smile.

"Y-Yes... an ice cream so-sounds good..." Ema says wiping away her tears.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(A detective is murdered, and the suspect is the top district prosecutor. And what worries me most about all this is that I know for sure that I still don't know everything that happened here...)