Chapter Text
I never wanted it to turn out like this… But you left me no choice. You’re mine, do you understand me? MINE!
—
November 16th, 9:00 AM
Fey and Co. Law Offices
“Wow! I can’t believe it… This place looks great!”
“It’s barely furnished…” muttered Mia, watching her enthusiastic protégé walk around the room, taking in the cream coloured walls and half-filled metal bookshelves.
Fey and Co. Law Offices were officially open for business. It had taken Mia a little while to find a suitable place to set up, but with the money she’d earned from her last job, she was able to find someplace rather nice.
The offices contained several rooms, one of which Mia had set up with her new desk. It held most of the paraphernalia that had lain upon her old desk, plus a desktop computer and a telephone. There was also a television set in the corner, which had apparently belonged to the previous owners. Mia considered it a little bonus, though she had yet to test if it actually worked or not.
“You’re like, a real, full-fledged, totally independent lawyer!” Phoenix squealed happily, “This could be the next Grossberg Law Offices!”
Mia frowned at Phoenix, “Alright, simmer down, you. Help me hook up the TV.”
Phoenix bounded over like a cheery golden retriever and hoisted the television set onto a table. Mia knelt behind it and began fiddling with the wires. She sighed, quietly. She still didn’t want to think about Mr. Grossberg, for the moment. The shock was still stinging from her recent revelation. Fey and Co. Law Offices was in part a reason to get away from him, though there was something to be said for the feeling of having one’s own office.
“Alright,” she muttered, absentmindedly, “That should do it…”
She straightened up and brushed off her knees, and Phoenix pressed the button on the bottom of the screen. The television hummed to life, showing the daily news.
“…exclusive interview with the newest member of the Troupe Gramarye!” came the sonorous voice of an anchor on-screen. His co-host smiled brilliantly.
“That’s right up next! Unfortunately, we have some less enjoyable entertainment news to turn to right now. Tragedy struck the Sunshine Coliseum just yesterday during famous idol singer Jelly❀Baby’s latest concert–“
Mia flinched as Phoenix leapt towards the television, his eyes wide as saucers.
“W-what?! S-something happened to Jelly❀Baby?!” he cried in dismay.
“Hush! Or you’ll miss it,” Mia chided.
“––a body was found backstage. The body has been identified as Tadao Takahashi, a senior chem Student at Ivy University.”
Phoenix winced, looking ashen. Mia gave him a concerned look.
“Did you know him..?”
“Nah… Just…”
He shook his head. Mia understood. Chem students didn’t seem to live long at Ivy U.
“The suspect is one Stanford Bigby, who was taken into police custody yesterday night after being caught at the scene of the murder. Bigby, who goes by TidePoolPrince online, proclaims himself Jelly❀Baby’s ‘biggest fan’, and is quite vocal about it on social media. The police…”
Phoenix turned the television off.
“Hey! Wh––“
“We’ve no time to lose,” said Phoenix, determination evident in his expression, “We’ve got to go to the detention centre right now!”
“What?!”
“To defend Mr. Bigby! Don’t you understand? He’s been framed!”
Mia stared, dumbfounded.
“Are you kidding me? We know next to nothing about him! By the sound of the report, he’s just some crazy super-fan who got a little too into the concert.”
Phoenix shook his head vehemently.
“No way. No fan of Jelly❀Baby’s would ever commit murder.”
Mia tried not to roll her eyes.
“What makes you so sure? And who is Jelly Baby, anyway?”
“It’s Jelly❀Baby,” Phoenix corrected, “And she’s just the absolute best idol singer ever!”
Oh no. Mia knew that look. The way his eyes sparkled, and the way his smile brightened.
“…Let me guess. You’re a big fan of hers, too.”
“Oh, the biggest!” cooed Phoenix. He ushered Mia over to her desk and tried to switch on her desktop.
“Hmm…” he said, tapping the spacebar, “Why isn’t it..?”
“It’s shut down,” sighed Mia. She pressed the on switch, and the computer booted with a loud sigh.
“Ah! Haha… Sorry, Chief. I’m not so good with computers…”
Once inside, Phoenix clumsily typed something into the search bar, which lead them to a video. Phoenix motioned at the screen excitedly, and Mia leaned in.
The video showed an animated beach that looked something like a cross between a neon sign and a black velvet painting. A striking electronic beat followed by cheerful poppy synths began to thump out of the speakers. As Mia watched, a swirl of colours formed into a girl, who thrust her hand in the air and let out a scream. Mia jumped, slightly, not expecting the wild yell, which seemed like a jarring non sequitur next to the chipper-looking girl who had begun to dance to the tune in the cutesy, bobbing way most idols do.
The girl resembled an anime character, with big, shiny pink eyes and a rather impossible figure. She had long, wavy white hair and wore a strangely shaped white dress hung with gauze and streamers. The entire effect gave her the look of a much-cuter-than-normal jellyfish.
“Hope you brought some bait, gonna ready steady getty gonna getcha!
Neck your parasol gonna ready steady getty gonna go!
So there, so there we laugh and go to sea, get in salt water~”
“~Gonna reach you out there, get really ready blue blew to there, where, red and yellow there,” sang Phoenix, his so-so voice mixing with the perfectly pitched tones of the animated songstress.
Mia watched, baffled. She could barely understand the nonsensical lyrics, and the bright colours against the black backdrop hurt her eyes.
( ‘I’m twenty four and I’m old,’ ) she thought, miserably.
“I don’t get it… She’s not even a real person,” said Mia, watching Jelly❀Baby bop around the virtual stage, “How can she have a live concert?”
“They have this amazing thing where you can make animated characters look like they’re really up on stage!” gushed Phoenix, pausing the video, “I don’t know how it works, but it’s really cool.”
“So… People are fans of a completely made-up singer? That’s… That seems kind of crazy,” murmured Mia, perturbedly.
“No! She’s not completely made up; that’s just her avatar,” said Phoenix, insistently, “The real Jelly❀Baby is an actual girl called Eri Dorunii. And her story is really inspiring!”
Mia watched as Phoenix cupped his cheeks in his hands, beaming. He was really into this, wasn’t he.
“Ms. Dorunii wanted to be an idol ever since she was a little girl, but one day she got into a horrible car accident! Her face was pretty much destroyed, and that meant she could never become an idol singer, because, I mean, how many ugly idols do you know of?!”
Mia winced slightly; it seemed rather cruel the way he put it, but Mia knew Phoenix was prone to being a little tactless, even if he didn’t intend to be.
“But she never gave up hope!” he cried, “She learned how to use computers really well, and created an animated avatar. Jelly❀Baby dances on stage, and Ms. Dorunii sings the songs into a special microphone backstage! Cause even though her face was destroyed, her vocal chords were totally fine, and she has a killer voice!”
Phoenix sighed and sunk back in the chair, dreamily.
“Cute voice plus cute face makes for the best idol! And I think she’s just amazing! I mean, she never gave up on her dream, even when it seemed impossible! She’s a bit of an inspiration to me, you know. I don’t have all her albums but…”
He continued to ramble on, and Mia looked back at the blank television screen. Should she agree to Phoenix’s request? Defend this man she knew nothing about? She had done so with her previous client, but things were different, then. She was part of Grossberg Law Offices then. It wasn’t the same, now.
“…anyway, we have to go, Chief! They might be assigning that guy a state-appointed lawyer as we speak!”
Mia jolted out of her dreary reflection and glanced at Phoenix, who was still looking determined.
( ‘Believe in your client no matter what,’ ) she thought to herself, ( ‘That’s your maxim, isn’t it? Everyone deserves that, at least.’ )
“…Right! Get your things, Phoenix, we’ve got a job to do.”
Phoenix gave a little hop of excitement as he went to grab his stuff. Mia smiled to herself as she collected her briefcase. This was what she needed: a new case. Something to take her mind off recent events.
Straightening her shoulders, she took a look around the office. It was hers. A mark of how far she’d come. She began to feel more heartened by the second. She was making headway on her own personal quest, and she had a job to do today! Life was good.
Feeling much better than she had in some time, Mia marched to the doorway, followed by a beaming Phoenix, and went out.
November 16th, 9:36 AM
Detention Centre
Visitor’s Room
When Mia and Phoenix arrived at the detention centre visitor’s room, the two sat in silence in front of the window, waiting for their client to be ushered in.
“Boy… I remember when I was on that side of the glass,” murmured Phoenix, breaking the silence, “I was scared out of my wits. I thought I wouldn’t be able to even talk past all the tears.”
( ‘You certainly tried,’ ) thought Mia, ruefully, remembering the unintelligible gibberish he’d spewed for the first five minutes of their very first meeting.
Phoenix paused, before continuing, “But you really made me feel at ease, Chief. I thought for sure I was going to get the chair, until you told me I’d be okay. I believed you, even when it seemed like nothing could get me out of there. You… You have that effect on people, you know?”
Mia tapped her fingers on the table.
“Thanks for the pep talk, Phoenix,” she said, cooly, letting her hair fall over the side of her face to conceal the small smile that appeared there.
It was then that the guard opened the door on the other side of the glass and lead a man inside. Mia straightened up and tucked her hair behind her ear again. Phoenix, meanwhile, ran a hand over the middle of his hair, trying to make it lie flat.
Their client was a scrawny young man with ginger hair and a patchy ginger goatee. His hazel eyes appeared to loom large from behind glasses that seemed too small for his face. He was sporting a black T-shirt with the Jelly❀Baby logo emblazoned on the front, above a cartoonish picture of a blushing jellyfish.
“I didn’t do it!” were the first words out of his mouth, “I swear to god it wasn’t me! I’m Jelly❀Baby’s biggest fan! Why would I even ruin her concert like that? It’s crazy! It makes no sense!”
“Mr. Bigby––“ said Mia, holding up her hands, “Mr. Bigby, please calm down–“
“Besides, I wasn’t even trespassing! I was allowed backstage! I wasn’t doing anything wrong!” he continued furiously, his cheeks turning blotchily pink as he continued to shout.
Mia tried fruitlessly to calm her client down, but he just got angrier and angrier, as well as pinker and pinker. Just as he was beginning to look like a furious ginger wad of bubblegum, and Mia was about ready to pop, Phoenix stood up and made a strange movement.
A sort of upwards wiggle, ending in a finger pointed skyward, and then a little bob. Bigby shut up immediately, and Mia nearly forgot to stop shouting.
“Ah. I see you two are sympathetic. My apologies,” croaked Bigby, pushing his glasses up his sweaty nose.
Mia looked dumbfoundedly between him and Phoenix.
“W-– What was that?” she spluttered.
“The JellyHush, of course!” said Phoenix and Bigby in unison.
Mia pursed her lips and tried not to chew them both out.
“…I see.”
“It’s a special signal Jelly❀Baby does to let the crowd know she wants to say something extra special,” explained Phoenix, helpfully, “So everyone knows to quiet down when they see it!”
“It’s basic Jelly etiquette,” added Bigby, sniffing.
“…Right,” muttered Mia.
She endeavoured to compose herself and sat back down in her chair, brushing away her fringe a little more violently than she’d meant to.
“Mr. Bigby. My name is Mia Fey. I work at Gro–– Fey and Co. Law Offices, and I’d like to represent you in your upcoming trial.”
“So you’re a lawyer, huh?” said Bigby, who seemed to have relaxed quite a bit, now.
“Yes..?”
Bigby looked her up and down, then nodded, slowly.
“You know, you’re not bad. But the lawyers in Legal Angel Panic are a titch cuter.”
Mia was speechless. Phoenix wasn’t.
“Hey! You take that back,” he shouted, “Ms. Fey is just as cute as any TV lawyer, animated or otherwise, and you show her some respect and say so!!”
“Boys, boys,” said Mia, waving her hands and trying not to swat both of them over the top of the head (even if she couldn’t reach Bigby), “You’re both creeping me out. Now, Mr. Bigby. Please tell me about what you were doing on the night of the murder.”
Phoenix pouted, upset that his attempt to defend his boss’ honour had fallen flat, and Bigby crossed his arms.
“I wasn’t doing anything,” he grumped.
Mia inhaled bracingly through her nostrils, “Nothing illegal, I know. But what, other than the murder we deeply believe you did not commit, were you doing at the time?”
Bigby uncrossed his arms and placed them on the table.
“I was at Jelly❀Baby’s concert, obviously!” he said, contemptuously, then continued smugly, “I went backstage because I’d gotten my hands on a special VIP pass! I was just exploring the backstage area until the concert was over. It was the last song, anyway. I was trying to find the place where I was supposed to go to meet Jelly❀Baby in person! But I got a little lost… the directions weren’t very clear… Anyway, before I knew it, something was going wrong, and then that idiot manager just came out of nowhere and grabbed me!”
Bigby seemed supremely upset by the memory, “He grabbed me and started hollering that he’d ‘got him’, or whatever, and then all these security guys showed up and I got hauled off for a murder I didn’t commit! It’s bullshit! I didn’t even see the body!”
Mia was saved from having a mental breakdown by Phoenix performing the ‘JellyHush’ again to stop Bigby rambling on about his discontent.
“So, as you say, you were just minding your own business when you were mistaken for the murderer?” asked Mia, hoping her wording might save her another rant.
“Yes,” Bigby scowled deeply.
“And you didn’t have anything that might have made it look like you were involved in any sort of struggle? Were your clothes askew, was there anything on your person that might be mistaken for blood?”
Bigby hit the cill with his fists, “No! I was wearing what I’m wearing today! They won’t let me change into anything else…”
Mia looked him over, but couldn’t find anything that might suggest he had taken part in any sort of illegal activity. She thought back over the rest of his story.
“…Tell me more about your VIP pass,” she said, slowly, “Were you the only one with one of those passes?”
Bigby’s face fell, and suddenly his outraged demeanour faded into what could be described as the air of a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar.
“…Um… I dunno,” he mumbled, not meeting her eyes.
“You don’t know if you were the only one with a VIP pass?”
“Well, I dunno! There could have been others,” he said, angrily, some of his bravado coming back, “I just went backstage a little early, is all!”
Mia wasn’t having it.
“Where did you get this pass, exactly?”
“I… O-online… I just ordered it! That’s all!”
Mia gritted her teeth as the detention centre was plunged into darkness. A blast of icy wind and the sound of rattling chains assaulted her senses.
( ‘Damn it! Bigby, you moron!’ ) she thought, furiously. He was lying. But why? Had he stolen the pass? Had there even been a pass?
But Mia had no ammo, no evidence to help her force the truth out of him.
“…Alright,” she said, pretending she hadn’t noticed his infuriating fib, “I think that’s all for now, Mr. Bigby.”
“W-what? Y-you’re just going to leave me?! B-but you’re my lawyers! You can’t!” shouted Bigby, suddenly looking properly terrified.
“Not if you don’t sign a request form,” said Mia, but quickly produced one for him to prevent another freak out, “We do definitely believe you are innocent, though.”
Bigby snatched the paper from under the tiny slit in the window and scribbled on it feverishly.
“Great! Good! J-just get me out of here! I-I don’t want to go to jail! T-t-they’ll kill a guy like me!!”
Mia sighed quietly and took the form back.
“We’ll do our best, Mr. Bigby.”
She left before Bigby could finish shouting terrified questions about what ‘Our Best’ meant, exactly.
Outside, Mia leaned against the wall and let out a deep sigh.
“Good god, what a child!” she groaned, “Even you weren’t that bad in court!”
To Mia’s surprise, rather than being offended, Phoenix seemed to take a little pride in being compared favourably (if backhandedly so) to their client. Mia felt rather badly; one had to feel pretty lowly to be happy about surpassing a whiny man-child.
“A-are you sure you believe in him, Chief? He seemed pretty fishy to me…”
“You were the one who said he couldn’t have done it!” cried Mia, disbelievingly.
Phoenix blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, well, I was thinking, someone like me who loves Jelly❀Baby would never cause any trouble at her concert! But…”
“You realized you don’t want to be associated with him at all, even by shared interests,” said Mia, raising an eyebrow.
Phoenix’s cheeks turned even pinker, “Um…”
Mia couldn’t help but swallow a laugh. He may seem like a naive goofball on the outside, but Mia seemed to be privy to a lot of his more cynical moments. But despite their shared annoyances with their curmudgeonly client, Mia was already preparing herself to believe in him with all her heart. That’s what a defence attorney did, no matter how they really felt about the person they were defending. Believe in your client above all else! It was the only way to see justice served.
Mia slipped Bigby’s signed defence request form into her briefcase and snapped it shut.
“Well, come on then,” she sighed to Phoenix, “We’ve got a coliseum to investigate. Chin up and be ready for the police.”
November 16th, 10:48 AM
Sunshine Coliseum
Mia and Phoenix arrived outside their fantastical-looking destination, gazing up at the strange, criss-crossing roof held up by its many tilted columns. There was snow dusting the grounds outside, and the parking lot was filled with police cars.
“Well, here we go again,” sighed Mia, walking directly towards the officer guarding the entrance.
“Excuse me, ma’am, you––“
Mia interrupted him by shoving her defence request form in his face.
“Ah. I see. L-let me just hand you off to officer Walker,” he said, hastily.
A few moments later, she and Phoenix were out of the wintery air and inside the halls of the Sunshine Coliseum, being lead deeper in by Officer Walker.
“Detective Badd is investigating the crime scene at this time, so you’ll have to wait around until he does or does not give you the all-clear,” said Walker, seriously, coming to a stop in the middle of the hallway and indicating that they should wait there.
Once Walker had left, Mia looked around, trying to spot any traces of where Detective Badd might be at the moment without moving from their designated waiting spot.
“Where do you think the crime scene is?” she asked, absentmindedly, as she glanced about.
“Dunno,” said Phoenix, also peering around, “But I’m sure they’ll take us there eventually.”
“Or not,” said Mia, ruefully, “You heard what he said. ‘The all clear or not’. Detective Badd might not even let us in.”
“That’s not fair!” Phoenix piped.
“We should just have a look around,” said Mia, “And if we stumble onto the crime scene, we won’t go in.”
Phoenix nodded, looking pleased by this idea. They began to wander around, looking from one big fancy room to the next. Unfortunately, nothing suspicious seemed to surface. Though that was mainly because they wouldd quickly shy away from any security guards or policemen they saw, for fear of being reported.
“Damn,” grumbled Mia, as she and Phoenix returned to their post, “That was useless.”
“A-at least we tried,” said Phoenix, as if the situation called for some kind of consolation.
It was just as they were rounding the corner back to their hallway that they nearly bumped into a man coming the opposite way. Both Mia and the man jumped as they nearly crashed into each other, stumbling back in surprise. Phoenix caught Mia by the shoulders and steadied her, and the luckless man across from them flung out his arms and grabbed hold of the wall.
“Ah, I-I’m sorry–“ cried Mia, “I didn’t see you!”
The man straightened up, shaking his head and smiling.
“Oh, no! It’s my fault as well, I wasn’t watching where I was walking.”
He held out his hand, “Thierry Topsiz. It’s nice to meet you.”
Mr. Topsiz was a middle-aged man with wavy, greying hair and pale white skin. His face was rather narrow and angular, and his nose was long and pointed. The austereness of these features was offset, however, by his big grey eyes, which stared kindly out from behind a pair of large, tortoiseshell spectacles.
Mia was momentarily taken aback by the cordiality, but shook his hand anyway. Phoenix shook after, giving the man a friendly smile in return for his own.
“Are you two police officers?” he asked, though it was obvious he knew the contrary already.
“No, we’re–– Well, I-I’m a lawyer,” said Mia, “This is my assistant. We’re here to investigate the case on behalf of our client.”
“Ah! Lawyers! I see!” said Mr. Topsiz, genially, “A dirty job, but someone’s got to do it! Well, I’m sure you’ll do your best to see justice served on this grave occasion.”
Mia pursed her lips. Even comparatively positive reactions to her profession were rather insulting.
“Who are you?” asked Phoenix, suddenly.
Mia winced a little at his directness, but Mr. Topsiz didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m Jelly❀Baby’s manager. I’ve just been in questioning for the past hour,” he gave a weary chuckle, “They had a lot to ask me, since I was the one who intercepted the perp.”
( ‘Then this is the man who grabbed that crybaby,’ ) thought Mia. She wondered what he’d seen to make him apprehend Bigby.
“Mr. Topsy,” said Mia, “I know you’ve just been through a lot of questioning, but––“
She was interrupted by an annoying electronic jingle, which turned out to come from Mr. Topsiz’ phone. Mr. Topsiz gave her an apologetic smile and quickly drew it out.
“I have to take this,” he said, pressing the phone to his ear.
Mia and Phoenix waited patiently as Mr. Topsiz conversed airily to his caller.
“Hello? Yes, of course! Everything is going well, no need to worry… We’ll be on tour again the moment all this is cleared up… Yes… Absolutely… Hah! Yes, yes…”
When he was finally finished, he returned his phone to the pocket of his grey suit and turned back to them.
“I’m sorry! Where were we..?”
“I-I was going to ask if you’d consent to speaking to us on the matter of the case,” said Mia, awkwardly.
Mr. Topsiz’s face fell.
“Ah… I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he said, apologetically, “I’m to be a witness in tomorrow’s trial, so I can’t speak to anyone about the case until then.”
Mia cursed, mentally, but quickly put on her own big smile and waved her hands.
“Oh, no, it’s perfectly fine! I understand.”
“Ah, but I do feel bad about it… Maybe––“
The electronic jingle sounded again, and Mr. Topsiz winced. He had to ‘take this’ once again, and turned away to listen to his newest caller.
Phoenix leaned towards Mia slightly to whisper, “Boy, he’s a popular guy.”
“It’s probably all business calls,” said Mia, “He is the manager of an apparently super-famous popstar, after all. A super famous popstar who was just in the vicinity of a murder.”
Mr. Topsiz put away his phone again and shook his head, sighing.
“Deeply sorry, my friends,” he said, “but as you can see, things are a little busy today. In any case, I was just about to say that I feel I should make it up to you two…”
He dug in his pocket again, this time not for his phone but for a pair of shiny golden tickets. He handed these to Mia and Phoenix, the latter of who’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“These are raffle tickets for an upcoming contest,” explained Mr. Topsiz, “Enter to win one of the first of our latest unreleased set of Jelly❀Baby merchandise!”
The tickets showed a tiny model of Jelly❀Baby, emblazoned with the title ‘Jelly❀Baby Secret Figure!’ followed by some small, colourful text.
‘Get a chance to get your tentacles on this brand new figurine! Does it seem extra heavy? That’s because this figurine holds a super special secret function… Win to find out!’
“W-wow! Thanks!” cried Phoenix, stuffing the ticket into his bag and grinning at Mr. Topsiz, who smiled back.
“No need to thank me! I––“
His phone rang yet again, and Mia wondered how much sleep this man could possibly get. Mr. Topsiz was just putting it away again when Phoenix spoke up.
“Say, Mr. Topsiz, that’s a really neat phone! What model is it?”
“Ah, the newest from the Japandroid corporation!” Mr. Topsiz replied, genially.
“It’s really cool-looking! A lot better than my ol’ hunk of junk. Though I probably wouldn’t be able to work one of those, even if I could afford it– I’m terrible with technology.”
“Ohoh, I understand one-hundred percent,” said Mr. Topsiz, warmly, “I’m no great shakes at machines either. But Jelly showed me how to use its basic functions. She even showed me how to set a password and everything so that I can keep my phone safe! Isn’t that wonderful? She’s such a considerate girl…”
Phoenix smiled, and was about to speak again when Mr. Topsiz got yet another call. Phoenix was just about to continue his unsaid thought after Mr. Topsiz hung up, but the man began to turn away.
“I’m terribly sorry, my friends, but I must dash– That was Jelly. She’s feeling a little lonely and I must go keep her company. Good luck with your investigation!”
And with that, he was gone in a whirl of grey cloth.
Phoenix pouted and snapped his fingers.
“Rats. I was trying to get him to open up about the case,” he grumbled.
Mia couldn’t help but be a little impressed; she hadn’t suspected an ulterior motive to his interest at all. Phoenix’s gormless manner seemed to have at least a few advantages to it; not that it had done them any good this time, however. Perhaps in future…
“Well, thanks for trying,” said Mia, gently, “What do you say we have another walk around? Some of the police might have moved by now.”
Phoenix thought this was a capitol idea, so the two of them went wandering around again. This time, however, they managed to find their way deeper into the building, and eventually ended up in smallish concrete corridor with a door at the end.
“Well, there’s nobody down here,” said Mia, looking around doubtfully.
“I wonder where that goes?” said Phoenix, curiously, heading towards the door.
Mia was just inspecting the remains of a fire-safety manual affixed to the wall when she heard the sound of the door opening, a crunch, and a shriek. She whirled around to see the door half open, with a man in a black uniform standing halfway through it, and Phoenix staggering back with his hands over his face.
“Phoenix?!”
“Oh god–– I’m sorry!”
The man behind the door quickly edged inside and rushed towards Phoenix. It was obvious now that he was a security guard, as his vest had his vocation printed clearly across it in white font. He was a gentle-looking fellow with black, close-cropped curly hair and a burly figure.
Phoenix, who was whimpering, gingerly took his hands away from his face. A smear of red was immediately revealed; a sight which caused the security guard to turn pale and turn away.
“I-I’m so sorry, here–“
The man rummaged in his pockets, still not looking at Phoenix. Mia quickly withdraw a pack of tissues from her jacket and pressed it into Phoenix’s hands. He took it gratefully and mopped up his bleeding nose, before plugging it with a scrap of tissue.
“Id’s okay,” he said, nasally, “I’b fide! Id was ad accidun.”
The security guard peeked at them, then turned to face them, sheepishly.
“I-I’m really sorry. I had no idea anyone would be in this corridor, much less right behind the door. S-see I don’t usually use this corridor, but I lost my keys to get into this place so I had to use a company one and it only works through here, and––“
“Sir, it’s really alright,” interrupted Mia, gently, “My paralegal is perfectly fine, as you can see.”
Phoenix nodded, and pushed the scrap of tissue a little more securely into his bruised nostrils.
“Hang on, did you say paralegal?” asked the guard, looking surprised.
“Yes,” said Mia, “We’re– Well, I’m a lawyer. I’m here on behalf of my client.”
“…You wouldn’t happen to be, um, that kid’s lawyers, would you?”
“If by ‘that kid’ you mean Stanford Bigby, then yes,” replied Mia, “I’m Mia Fey, and this is Phoenix Wright.”
The guard shook his head, sadly.
“Oh boy. You guys have your work cut out for you. I was there, you know? I saw it all go down.”
Mia blinked.
“You did?”
“Yeah, I…” he trailed off, looking uncertain, “Um…”
“Would you mind telling us about what you saw?” asked Mia, quickly, stepping forwards.
The security guard looked anxious, his eyes flicking from left to right.
“Well, I––“
“Please, sir,” piped up Phoenix, “Id’d be a real big help! Like, sorda ad apology for hidding me inda dose!”
Mia glanced at Phoenix’s innocent, bright-eyed face.
( ‘Here’s try number two, I see…’ )
And this time, it worked. The security guard folded his hands nervously, rubbing his thumbs together.
“Ah… Yeah… I-I’m really sorry about that. My name’s Axel Dence. I work at KB security, and me and my team were hired to take care of the Jellyfish concert…”
“Jelly❀Baby,” Phoenix half-whispered, before Mia nudged him in the side.
“Anyway, I was one of the first guards on the scene when Mr. Topsiz caught that kid. Er, your client.”
Mia nodded, “Can you tell me anything about the state of my client at that point?”
“Er, well…” Mr. Dence looked uncomfortable, “He was… Angry, I guess. Shouting. He was like ‘I’ve got a VIP pass! I’ve got a VIP pass!’ and all.”
“Did he in fact have a pass?”
“Yeah, he did,” said Mr. Dence, “Actually, I… I was the one who let him in in the first place. His VIP ticket scanned and I just… let him in.”
Mr. Dence looked rather forlorn.
“Hey, you were jusd doig your job,” said Phoenix, reassuringly, “Besides, Mr. Bigby didn’ do id, so dode of dis is your fauld.”
Mr. Dence smiled slightly, but there was still a hint of something in his eyes. Mia pounced on it.
“And you didn’t see anything else… unusual, while you were here?”
“I… N-no. N-nothing!”
For a second time that day, the world became shrouded in darkness, and the sound of metal clinking upon metal deafened Mia’s ears. She cursed under her breath. He was lying! He had seen something! And yet again, Mia had nothing to prove it with. She gritted her teeth and tried not to look too frustrated.
“Chief? Y-you okay?” asked Phoenix, snapping her out of her trance.
“I-I’m fine,” said Mia, fingering the glassy stone at her throat, “I-I’m just… feeling a little hungry, that’s all.”
“Ah, be too,” said Phoenix, patting his tummy regretfully, “I hope de police led us in, sood, so we can fidish up.”
“Let’s go back to that hallway,” said Mia. She turned to Mr. Dence, who was still looking nervous, “Thank you very much for your time, sir.”
“Er, n-no problem,” he said.
Phoenix beamed, “Yeah, thanks!”, and accidentally dislodged the tissues stuck in his nose.
Mr. Dence turned pale at the sight of the red stain and quickly made to leave.
“G-gotta get back to work, then,” he said, “G-good luck with your case.”
And with that, he’d pushed past them and disappeared down the corridor. Mia watched him go, frowning.
“Poor guy,” said Phoenix, prodding gingerly at his nose, “He seebed preddy tord up aboud hidding me.”
“Yeah…” murmured Mia, not really listening.
Back in the main corridor, Detective Badd was just coming to collect them. Mia quickly pretended that she’d just been pacing to hide their sudden arrival, and Phoenix followed suit.
“You two… You can come in, now…” he said, in his usual gruff, ponderous manner.
He lead them down another hallway and through a door to a room full of policemen. A pair of forensic scientists were just packing up their things, and a few officers were muttering to each other in quiet tones.
“I hade thad we have to have de police’s lefdovers,” mumbled Phoenix. Mia couldn’t help but agree, but she didn’t say anything.
The room appeared to be a staff break-room of some sort. The walls were white, and the furniture was black and upholstered in shiny leather. There was a sofa, some chairs, and a few little tables, one of which had an empty coffee cup on it.
The outline of the body was placed on the white tiled floor in black tape. It showed a figure outstretched, lying across the ground. At the very top, there was a bloodstain on the floor, which was turning brown.
Mia walked over to inspect it.
“Looks like he was hit over the head…” muttered Mia, absentmindedly.
“Ya think?” called one of the lab boys, snickering. Mia shot him a look, and she saw Phoenix puff up like an indignant blue blowfish. She shot him a look too, and he quickly deflated.
Mia knelt to look at the bloodstain, frowning. There was something off about it; it seemed to be round, like most pools of blood. Except for a small section, which was smudged. Mia could make out four little smudge marks, next to each other. Almost like… fingers? But from the tape outline, Mr. Takahashi’s hands had been far away from his head, and besides, his hands would never have been able to contort into that position.
It might have been a fluke, or a trick of the light, but Mia decided to file that evidence away in her mental folder of suspicious things. Getting up, she found Phoenix laying on his stomach, one hand reaching far under a nearby sofa.
“Phoenix! What are you doing?”
“Tryig do–– Ged dis–– Thing, Chief!”
Detective Badd approached, then, looking tired.
“Get out of there, kid,” he muttered, and once Phoenix had timidly complied, he moved the sofa. Underneath was a little dirty. Dust bunnies and old bits of food scattered the empty square patch where the sofa had been. But Phoenix quickly leapt down and snatched up his prize; a keyring with a little figurine of cartoon panda on the end.
“Ahah!” he cried, excitedly, “God id!”
“What’s that?” asked Badd, making to take the item from Phoenix. Phoenix quickly jammed it into his pocket.
“B-by keyrig! I drobbed id. Thanks for helbing me ged id back!”
Badd was taken aback, then annoyed. He popped his lollipop (purple today) out of his mouth and waved it at Phoenix.
“What happened to your nose..?”
Phoenix swallowed, nervously.
“Walked indo a door, sir.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, per se.
Badd was silent for a few moments before putting his sweet back into his mouth.
“…Be more careful in future…”
Phoenix gave him a humble nod, before hastily going back to investigate. Mia watched him, frowning, before going back to work herself.
Unfortunately, there was nothing to find. Anything of interest had already been looked at by the police, and was therefor confidential information. Even the empty coffee cup had already been thoroughly tested by the lab boys. Eventually, Mia finally gave up and told Detective Badd that she’d found all she could find.
“Mm, good,” he said, before escorting her and Phoenix outside.
Mia let out a deep sigh.
“This isn’t looking good,” she muttered.
“Yeah…” said Phoenix, morosely, “Ad all I could do was snag dat keyrig…”
Mia blinked.
“Keyring?”
Phoenix pulled the keyring out of his pocket and smiled, mischievously.
“Id’s nod mide. I just didn’ wan the detective impounding id as evidence before we could ged a look ad id.”
“Phoenix!” cried Mia, “That’s illegal!”
Phoenix quickly turned shameful, hanging his head.
“S-should I give id back?”
Mia back-pedalled, hastily, “Well… You’ve already taken it… and I don’t want you getting in trouble… L-let’s just go back to the office and discuss our plan for tomorrow.”
November 16th, 10:20 PM
Mia Fey’s Apartment
After their fruitless day of investigation, Mia was feeling a little nervous about the coming trial. They didn’t have much of anything to go on, and what little information they had gleaned pointed to their client being nothing short of very suspicious.
Mia picked up the little keyring that Phoenix had managed to pilfer for them and let it dangle in front of her face. It had four keys on it, but none of them were labelled. One was a car key, one seemed to be a house key, and the last two looked sort of official, judging by their oddly shaped teeth.
It could just be some random object, lost ages ago in that fateful room for completely unrelated reasons… But something nagged at Mia. It felt more important than that. It felt like it might just help their case, if Mia could figure out how to implement it properly.
She put it back into its little baggy and tucked it into her briefcase. Time to settle down and get some sleep. She would need as much energy as she could muster… especially to deal with her client tomorrow.