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The scene: a local park. At about 6:00 that morning, a jogger had found a body stuffed under one of the benches around the wooden gazebo. The dead guy – a man in his late twenties – had been holding a threatening letter, signed by his girlfriend... Maggey Byrde.
Thus, by 10:00, Phoenix found himself nosing around the park with Maya and Pearl in tow.
As usual, the people working the scene of the crime were being, in a word, uncooperative. He'd talked to a few of them, but they were universally unhelpful, even outright rude. He scanned the park, hoping to find a bulky guy in a shabby green coat – Detective Gumshoe, a sure source of information if there ever was one – but he was nowhere to be seen.
Odd. Especially since Maggey was involved.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen the guy for quite a while, actually. Weeks, at least. Not since.... the trial of that taxi driver, probably? Maybe he's finally gotten sacked, Phoenix thought, frowning. He hoped not. The guy was a bit of a screw-up, but he was a goofy, decent kind of screw-up.
Oh, well. He'd had terrible luck getting information from the new detectives so far, but it was worth a shot. He just had to find the person in charge of the investigation.
He scanned the park, wandering closer to the gazebo. It was weird to be stuck in a park that was all taped off – no kids, just police officers poking around the swing sets, hoping to find something useful. His thoughts were interrupted by a soft tug at his pant leg.
“Mr. Nick, do you think we could play on the slide if we asked?”
Phoenix frowned down at Pearl, who was looking around the park with wide eyes. “Don't think so, Pearls. The place seems to be pretty much shut down right now.” Her face fell, and he tried not to feel guilty about his realistic assessment. “You recognize anybody?” he asked Maya.
“Nope.” She crossed her arms. “Is there even a detective here? I don't see one.”
Phoenix didn't, either. “Maybe they're taking a break or something.”
A wide smile spread across Maya's face. “So you can push me and Pearly on the merry-go-round, then, until they get back!” Both girls beamed up at him.
“Er... probably not.”
He started walking around the gazebo, hoping that, maybe, the detective in charge was on the other side of it.
“Hey, is that Edgeworth?” Maya asked.
Phoenix looked up and – sure enough – there he was, arms crossed, examining something hidden in a patch of tall grass. A couple officers bustled around him. Funny – for some reason, Phoenix had thought he was back in Europe. Switzerland, or somewhere. Probably studying yet another legal system. But clearly he'd been mistaken, because there the prosecutor was, in all his magenta-clad glory.
“Hey, Edgeworth!”
The man glanced up, frowning. The frown deepened slightly as his eyes met Phoenix's, but nevertheless, he straightened up, exchanged a few words with one of the officers, and walked over to greet them. “Hello, Wright. Honestly, you are quite a bit later than I'd expected.”
Phoenix chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah.... we, er, had some issues with the phone, today. It took Maggey quite a while to get through to us.... bad luck, I guess?”
Edgeworth's stern expression didn't change. “I suppose.”
“So... you're back from Europe already? Switzerland, was it?”
Edgeworth nodded, and a strange expression washed over his face. Almost... relief? Something like that, anyway. “Yes. There wasn't any need to spend too long away, after all.” Guess he wasn't too impressed with their legal system.
“Hope you had a good time, anyway.”
“Yes. It was quite pleasant.”
After a bit of a silence, Phoenix started, “So.... you're gonna be prosecuting this case?”
“No.” Edgeworth gave a weary sigh. “Officially, I don't start working again until next week. But a certain detective was very ill today, and insisted I come and take notes for him.” He gestured down to a small, neat handbook he was holding. “So he could take it up tomorrow.”
“Detective Gumshoe?”
“Who else?” Edgeworth groused.
“Oh, okay!” Maya piped up, smiling. “I was wondering why he wasn't here, since Maggey's in trouble again and all.”
A quick flash of irritation crossed Edgeworth's face, but was gone in an instant. “Yes. Well. That's why I'm here. To make sure it all gets taken care of.”
“Awww. So he can swoop in to the rescue tomorrow!” She leaned over to whisper to Pearl, who was looking rather confused. “Detective Gumshoe's got a gigantic crush on Maggey.” Pearl's face immediately lit up.
Edgeworth frowned. “They're just good friends.”
But Pearl paid him no mind, smiling up at her cousin. “So he loves her the same way Mr. Nick loves you, Mystic Maya?”
Phoenix coughed. He turned to Edgeworth, shaking his head. “We're not... er, Maya and I, y'know..?”
“...I gathered,” Edgeworth said, his voice betraying just a hint of mirth despite his ever-stony expression.
Desperate to change the subject, Phoenix looked around at the police officers poking around the crime scene. “They're all okay with you standing in for Gumshoe?”
Edgeworth shrugged. “They all seemed happy enough to do him a favor.”
“Alright, then. So...” He shot Edgeworth his most winsome smile. “...don't suppose you want to fill us in on the details of the murder?”
Edgeworth gave a bit of a sour look, but glanced down at his notes. “Dick was rather insistent that I tell you everything. Which, I suppose, he'd do if he were here. So... fine.”
Welcome news. “Okay! So what are we dealing with?”
A small, tight smile crossed Edgeworth's face. “Oh, a hopeless case by all accounts. But you seem to thrive on those. Anyway, the body of Clement O'Morry was found this morning, stuffed under a park bench. Closer examination revealed several stab wounds to the chest and back.” He turned a page. “Specifically, two in the back and four in the chest. He seems to have been initially attacked from behind.”
“Okay. They have a murder weapon?”
“Perhaps. There was a knife found over there – ” he gestured to where he had been standing a few minutes ago, “– in the grass. It seems to have blood on it, though it needs to be tested before we can officially tie it to this case.”
“For fingerprints?” Maya asked.
“Yes. Among other things. We can't be sure it's the knife that killed O'Morry, after all.”
“Anything else?”
“Well, yes. He was carrying a letter that told him to meet Byrde here, signed by her. Witnesses saw her here in this park last night, seemingly waiting.”
“Yeah... Maggey mentioned that to us. But she said she'd been told to meet him here! She never wrote that letter!”
Edgeworth shut his notebook. “Regardless, it looks rather bad for her. They're doing work on the handwriting, but early tests show it to be hers.” He shrugged. “I'm sure you'll have fun with it, later.” He pulled a folded paper out of his notebook. “This is a photocopy of the letter. Don't show it to anyone, and please don't tell anyone I gave you a copy.”
Phoenix took it, slipping it into a pocket. “Thanks! You're being awfully thorough.”
He waved a hand, clearly irritated. “As I said... it's simply what Detective Gumshoe would do.”
“And he's just sick, you said?”
“Indeed. The stomach flu.”
“That's good, then!” Phoenix smiled, before quickly amending, “-not that he's sick. I mean, it's good that he'll be back! I was starting to think he'd been fired or something.” Edgeworth gave a soft scoff. “Well, he hasn't been around for a while, you know? Er... has he been sick all this time?”
A look of mild confusion crossed Edgeworth's face. “What? No... he was on vacation.” He gave a look, as if Phoenix was supposed to be piecing something together. He wasn't. “In Switzerland.”
“Funny he should go there the same time as... oh, wait, you took him to Switzerland? That was nice of you.”
Edgeworth just gave him a blank look. “I was sure that you...” he closed his eyes with an irritated sigh, and lifted a hand to massage one of his temples. His left hand, Phoenix realized, suddenly noticing a simple banded ring on his fourth finger.
“Huh?” Maya's eyes were wide with curiosity.
Edgeworth cleared his throat and straightened up slightly. “Dick and I were married, a few weeks ago.” He paused a moment, as if waiting for a reaction. “I figured you knew already, since you asked about the trip to Europe.”
It was the strangest thing. Edgeworth's face was completely serious, but... it had always been very difficult to tell whether or not he was joking about something. Occasionally he said ridiculous, ludicrous things, with a face just as severe as the one he wore now. And him marrying Gumshoe, of all people, so suddenly... it almost could be funny. Phoenix knew they were friends, sort of, but couldn't think of two people more completely different from each other. Is that something that Edgeworth would find funny? He had always been able to get away with not reacting, before. But now, it wasn't really an option.
Luckily, Pearl spared him, if only for a moment. “But... I thought Mr. Detective Dick loved Miss Maggey?” She looked up at Maya in confusion.
Edgeworth glanced away, eyes shifting nervously around the park. “As I said... they are good friends.”
Noticing his friend's distress, Phoenix instantly made a decision. If Edgeworth was joking, and he took it seriously, it would just be awkward. If Edgeworth was serious, and he laughed it off... well, that'd be a bit worse than awkward.
“Well... that's great! A bit of a surprise, but great! Congratulations!”
“Thank you.” was the stiff reply.
“No, I'm serious! Especially about the surprise part! Er... you guys been seeing each other for very long?”
Edgeworth finally glanced back. “Long enough, I suppose.”
“Er... clearly! Wow. Married. So... how is that?”
“Very nice.”
An awkward silence stretched out as Phoenix tried to find something to say that wasn't just 'congratulations!' again. He knew he was laying it on pretty thick, but he desperately wanted to be supportive... even though he was still having trouble getting his head around this. Gumshoe and Edgeworth. Married. You'd think he would have noticed something between them, having known them both for as long as he had. He couldn't believe that he'd missed such a dramatic shift in their relationship.
“Never really saw you as the eloping type, Mr. Edgeworth!” Maya finally said. “It's kinda romantic, really!”
“What is eloping?” Pearl asked, brow knit slightly.
“It's when two people run off and get married secretly, just like Mr. Edgeworth did!”
Edgeworth sputtered a bit. “I – we – there was no eloping!” He scowled. “It wasn't a secret.”
Phoenix shrugged. “I certainly didn't know about it. Or, you know, that you were even dating. N-not that that's a problem, keep as private as you like!” He quickly amended as Edgeworth frowned. “Again... er, congrats!”
“Perhaps we... didn't do all that we could have....” Edgeworth muttered. “But we didn't elope! We simply decided to have a small, private wedding. Abroad. And didn't bother to announce it.”
“Or....” Maya pressed, grinning, “...you eloped. C'mon.”
Edgeworth sniffed. “I suppose it's all a matter of definition.”
“But if your wedding was a secret, who brought the cake? And who caught the bouquet?” Pearl looked up at Edgeworth, serious look on her small face.
“Once again, and for the last time, it wasn't a secret! And we didn't have a reception.” Pearl gasped in shock, but Edgeworth just pressed on. “...And why is this even a topic of discussion? Honestly. If you have any questions relating to the case, please ask. Otherwise, I have more important things I could be doing.”
The case. Phoenix could talk about the case. “Er.... did the stabbing actually happen by the bench?”
Edgeworth seemed to relax a degree. “We don't know, yet. There was a lot of blood, but it's not conclusive.”
Phoenix nodded. “Can we look around a bit? It shouldn't take long.”
Edgeworth nodded wearily, before walking back to where the officers were standing.
Married. Gee.
Okay, back to the case. But before he could start his own investigation, he was interrupted by an insistent tugging at his pant leg.
“Mr. Nick! We have to go home and bake a cake for Detective Dick and Mr. Edgeworth! It's just too sad!” Her eyes shone brightly. “I don't like eloping. It sounds so lonely, and there isn't any cake!”
“Er... we have to concentrate on the murder right now, Pearls. Gotta help Maggey out, right? Besides, I think they're both probably happy enough, don't you?” And seem to not want the attention, he didn't add.
Pearl nodded sadly. “But can't we help Miss Maggey and make a cake?” Her eyes suddenly lit up with inspiration, and she clapped her hands together. “I'll go home and make it by myself!”
Maya frowned. “Er... wasn't Gumshoe sick today, anyway? But we'll make one later, don't worry Pearly.” She grinned up at Phoenix. “We are definitely throwing them a reception. They deserve it, for running off like that.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I wonder if Larry'd be willing to help? I bet he would.”
Phoenix groaned. “Look, let's just get back to investigating the case, alright? Leave poor Edgeworth in peace.”
Pearl stared at the ground, glum, and Maya pouted a bit, before finally sighing, “Fine.” She waited a beat or two, before a small smile crept back to her face. “For now.”
The rest of the investigation around the park went... better. It never was completely smooth for their team, of course, but they eventually found some interesting things: O'Morry's bloodied scarf on the other side of the park, a newspaper dated a week ago in his coat pocket, the scribbled address of a loan company. Not a lot... but it was a start.
But now it was time to dig up stuff somewhere else.
As they were about to leave the park, he noticed Edgeworth standing nearby. “Hey!” he called, getting the man's attention. “Tell your husband 'get well soon,' for us, okay? And, just a heads up – I think these two are going to throw you guys a party. So try not to run away on us again!”
“Oh, for the love of....” Edgeworth trailed off, shaking his head... but he was smiling, a small, exasperated smile. “Good luck in court tomorrow, Wright.”
“Thanks. See you around, Edgeworth!”
It was strange, for sure, and he still couldn't quite see the two of them being together - the stony organization of Edgeworth clashing in his mind with the chaotic, affable Gumshoe. But... it was nice. Differences aside, they were two of the best guys Phoenix knew.
Heaven help them all if Maya got Larry to help plan that party, though.