Chapter Text
Two men sat in the basement of a dingy bar playing poker. The man on the left placed down a hand of cards, followed by the man on the right. They both stare at each other for a moment.
“You lost,” Said the man on the right.
“I did,” The man on the left replied, a tired sigh coming out of his mouth.
The man on the right pulled something from under his chair without breaking eye contact with the person on the left. He stood from his chair and grabbed the other man by the elbow, pulling him up from the chair. The man on the left stumbled a bit, having not had the chance to find his balance, but quickly maintained a practiced slouched standing position.
“Your hands, please,” The man on the right said, holding the object up to where the other man had his hands in his pocket. The object was a pair of handcuffs and they snapped shut around the man on the left’s wrists. Then the man on the right stuffed his hands into the other man’s hoodie pockets, seemingly looking for something. When he came up with nothing he unzipped the other man’s hoodie and felt the lining of the fabric, he searched the pockets of his sweatpants, and finally, he lifted a neon blue beanie off his head. “I’m disappointed, I thought you would at least have the forethought to record me.”
The man on the left shook his head, “even if I did I know you would have searched me anyways, I know you too well to think that would work. Plus, they always make us drop off our phones before playing a game, they don’t want anyone to try recording us and shutting down the place for illegal gambling.”
The man on the right simply nodded as he pulled off the cork of a bottle and poured its contents into a glass, his fingers slipping upwards on the neck of the glass due to his hands being gloved. He then took a vile from his pocket and put a few drops of the liquid in the glass. The man on the left’s eyes widened a little and he unconsciously took a step back. The man on the right kept his sickly sweet grin. “Do not worry, I am not going to poison you. This is simply to put your mind and body at ease so you will not try to run away or attack me. I have experienced a broken nose before and I do not wish to do so again.”
The man on the left was still nervous, as was clear from him not assuming his normal relaxed stance. “B-but, isn’t it bad to mix drugs with alcohol? I could get overdosed!”
“Smell the bottle, my dear,” The man on the right said, lifting the lip of the bottle up to the other man’s nose, “it is not alcoholic. I have already stated that my intention is not to harm you, now come, take a sip.”
“Wait!” The man on the left said, in a more forceful and confident tone than his previous sentence, “before I go, please give Trucy a message. Tell her…
Daddy loves her. ”
November 3, 4:50 PM
Wright Talent Agency
Apartment
Trucy Wright
Trucy’s daddy hadn’t been at home when she woke up in the morning. Well, that was nothing strange. Trucy knew that her daddy worked long nights and would also occasionally disappear for his ‘secret mission’. Still, she couldn’t help but be disappointed to wake up without the sight of her father making breakfast or sleeping on the couch.
When she came home from school and he still wasn’t there, without even leaving a note to tell her where he was going, she texted him.
Daddy
Trucy: Hey daddy! I didn’t see you at home today and was wondering where you went. I’m not worried so don’t feel guilty, I know you have lots of important stuff to do.
4:51 PM
Trucy: Also, make sure you’re taking care of yourself! Eat food and drink water. Remember, you are a human and need those things to live. Love you!
4:51 PM
When 5:30 rolled around and she got no answer she decided to pull up her daddy’s number and call.
Ring
Ring
Ring
Ring
Hello, this is Phoenix Wright. I am currently not accepting inquiries for business or interviews. If this call is personal please leave your name and your reason for calling.
It was the voicemail message her daddy had set shortly after her other daddy’s trial, he had been forced to learn how to set one after near-constant calls from news outlets asking for his perspective on his fall from grace. She hated this message, not because it was badly worded but because she had heard it too often, and it always caused a feeling of hopelessness to swirl in her chest.
Okay, calm down, this didn’t mean anything bad had happened. Her daddy was very prone to crazy situations but always came out of them on top, and she also knew for a fact that the Borscht Bowl made its guests drop off their phones before entering the Hydeout.
Hi Daddy! I sent you a text but I know your dinosaur of a phone sometimes eats texts so I figured I’d send you a voice message too. I was just wondering where you went or when you will be home. Don’t worry about me, I’ve eaten and everything. Just please call back when you get this message, okay? Love you!
What was the next step?
Well, the last place her father had told her he was going was to work, so maybe he was there. At least someone could tell her where he went. She slipped on her shoes and grabbed her wallet. The bus driver knew her face due to her giving him a piece of chocolate when she had one more than she could possibly eat. He gave her a small smile as she scanned her bus pass and she gave him her performer's smile in return.
November 3, 7:04 PM
Borscht Bowl
Employees Entrance
Trucy Wright
No other 13-year-old kid would have been allowed into the Borscht Bowl but Trucy was an exception. She knocked on the employees' entrance and was greeted and let in by the manager. “Hello, Trucy dear!”
“Hello! Is my daddy around?”
“I’m afraid not, I haven’t seen him all day.”
“Well, did he say where he was going?”
[Perception]
The manager made the familiar tick of putting her hands in her pockets, which usually meant that she was hiding something about the business. “No, last I saw him he was going into the Hydeout to treat a guest to a game of poker.” Sadly, Trucy’s perceptiveness wasn’t good enough to see which part of the sentence the manager was lying about so she made a guess.
“Did anything about the guest concern you?”
“No.” No tick. Either it was a new tick that was well hidden or she was telling the truth. Trucy heard someone from the bar calling the manager's name and she called back a quick confirmation that she would be over to help. “I’m sorry dear, I need to help clean up a broken glass. Please let me know if you hear from your father, he didn’t let me know he wasn’t coming in today.”
“Okay,” Trucy said, a flash of worry crossing her face which was quickly hidden by her performer's smile. The door closed and Trucy walked out of the little alleyway that led to it.
[Unfocus]
So, her daddy wasn’t answering his messages or his phone, and no one had seen him all day.
The street around her started to darken so she made the short walk back to the bus stop. Her daddy had told her many times to never go walking down the street alone at night. Plus, walking helped her think. She couldn’t avoid the worry that had moved from her chest to her stomach, causing her to feel like weights were dropping and dragging her down over and over again. Daddy had never pulled a disappearing act like this before. Even when his phone was lost, or he was stuck in a difficult situation, or he had to suddenly leave on a whim, he would still always leave a message saying where he was going as soon as he could.
May 5th, 2019, 12:04 PM
Wright Talent Agency
Apartment
Trucy Wright
She recalled one of the first nights she had stayed at her house after being adopted. She had woken up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat after having a nightmare about her first daddy leaving. She was calling out “Daddy! Daddy!” Desperately, hoping that would bring him back, she was instead greeted by her new daddy, who bundled her up in his arms and rocked her back and forth until her breathing had calmed down to a heavy, melodic pace.
“I-I had a m-memory of my daddy leaving,” She explained between hiccups, “He-He didn’t tell me why he was leaving or where he was going. He just said ‘Trucy, do you think you could put on a show with Mr. Hat?’ and then darted down the hall.” She looked up at the man holding her in his arms, “Are you going to leave me too?”
Phoenix had a look of panic flash by his eyes and his grip on her tightened, “Trucy no, I won’t leave you. Even if I have to leave for a little bit I’ll always tell you where I’m going, okay? And you can do the same. We’ll look out for each other.” He ended his sentence with a small, reassuring smile, but Trucy still wasn’t convinced.
“I-It’s just that. You have been so nice to me Daddy. Nicer than anyone’s ever been to me before. I can’t,” She swallowed back another wave of tears, “I can’t lose you too.”
Her new daddy took a deep breath and continued rocking her back and forth as he did before. “Trucy, I can’t promise that nothing bad will ever happen, but I can tell you that I will always try my best to be there for you.” He removed one hand from Trucy’s back to rub at his chin thoughtfully, then he suddenly got up and walked over to Trucy’s desk and pulled a sticky note from a stack. He quickly wrote something and turned on the bedside lamp to show Trucy what was written on it. There was a name followed by a number. “And if anything happens, you can call this number. It belongs to my best friend Miles Edgeworth, he’s a bit of a jerk but he’ll always be there when you need him. Plus, he’ll probably know what to do better than I would if something were to happen. He can boss around a bunch of people to make sure whatever needs to happen, happens.” Trucy nodded and put the note on the bedside table. Her daddy had said the perfect thing; She could be reassured that he would never disappear or that nothing bad would happen and it would never quite help. Instead, he had given her something that she could do . Something she could depend on.
November 3, 8:30 PM
Wright Talent Agency
Apartment
Trucy Wright
Trucy came out of her memory to find herself in front of the Wright Talent Agency doors. She grabbed the key out of her tophat and unlocked the door, then made her way upstairs to the attached apartment. She didn’t bother turning on the lights and instead made her way to her bedroom in the way that only a person who had lived there for years could do in the dark. When she got there she turned her desk lamp on and opened one of the drawers. She dug her way under the notebooks filled with magic trick ideas and a diary that she kept for about a month before she forgot about it. Under a stack of homework that she had forgotten to turn in well over a year ago she spotted the pink-colored sticky note and pulled it out, then she dialed the number on it and held her phone up to her ear.
Ring
Ring
BEEP
Hello, Miles Edgeworth speaking.
She almost dropped her phone out of surprise, she didn’t expect the number to still work and had kind of dialed it as a haze-like result of her daydream.
Hello? Who is this?
She quickly brought the phone back up to her ear and replied.
Hello Mr. Edgeworth! This is Trucy Wright.
Trucy… Wright?
The voice replied, saying her last name in a soft voice, like it was forbidden.
Yes, I’m a magician and Phoenix Wright’s daughter!
DAUGHTER?!
The man on the other end then went silent for a couple of seconds, so Trucy spoke again to remind him that she was there.
Mr. Edgeworth?
The voice came back after a short clearing of the throat, it was posh with a hint of a British accent that leaned more towards an American Trans-Atlantic accent and was very level and calm. With the exception of the previous outburst.
I apologize, I was just not aware that Wright had a daughter. What is it that you would like to talk about?
My daddy…
Her voice hitched in her throat at what she was about to say out loud but she continued.
My daddy hasn’t been home since yesterday evening, he hasn’t left a note and he won’t respond to my texts or calls. And no one at his work has seen him either. I can’t- I can’t find him.
Before the man on the other end could answer she continued, the words spilling out of her mouth like beans from a ripped bean bag.
He told me that if he ever got in trouble I should call you so… here I am.
He said that? When?
A couple of days after he adopted me, so about 5 years ago.
Ah… I see.
There was a twinge of sadness in that last statement that Trucy would have definitely asked about if she had a clearer mind.
Well, Wri- your father, has a tendency to get into dangerous situations but he is also an extremely resilient person. However, I understand your cause for concern. Given that it has been 24 hours since he was last seen I will file a missing person report and personally make sure that my best men are put onto the case.
Okay.
There was another stretch of silence after that (something that seemed to be a pattern with this man) before he spoke again.
Wright-
Trucy.
Yes, Trucy, I apologize. Where are you right now? Are you somewhere safe?
Yeah, I’m at home. It’s a Friday though so we’re running a bit low on groceries, I have enough money to order takeout for a couple of days though!
No need, I will send an associate of mine to gather groceries for you. Where do you live, if you are comfortable with me asking?
It’s okay! I live at the Wright Talent Agency, 415 Truth St. Thank you for offering to get groceries but you don’t need to, I can take care of mysel-
Nonsense, there is no reason for me to leave a young girl to fend for herself when I am perfectly capable to lend my aid. My associate should be there with groceries by 3:30 tomorrow. Would you like to provide me with a list of items that he should get?
Trucy spent the next 10 minutes or so wandering around her kitchen and saying what they were out of to the man, whose name she had confirmed as Edgeworth by looking down at the pink sticky note. He occasionally replied with confirmations or questions about which stores certain brands could be found at. When Trucy had asked for a few too many surgery things he interjected and told her that he would write down strawberries instead. He said that they were his favorite fruit and would always taste better than anything with fructose corn syrup could. After Trucy had gone through everything she could think of she sat down on the couch in the living room with a small huff.
Is there anything else you need?
She thought for a moment then shook her head, then remembered that she was on the phone and replied with a no.
Very well then. Please make sure that you lock all of your doors and windows tonight. Feel free to call me if you need anything at all. I will save your number in case I need to do the same.
Okay, I will, thank you.
Another pause.
I know tonight will be a difficult one for you, but please try to get some sleep and get to school on time in the morning. Please, take care of yourself.
It reminded her of how she would always tell her daddy to take care of himself after a rough day of work or how she would march into the agency when he was still pouring over documents late at night and tell him to go to bed.
Mr. Edgeworth, I think my daddy was right when he told me to call you all those years ago. You did know exactly what to do, and you do have a bunch of people to boss around who will help you find my daddy. You even have an associate who is willing to go out and buy groceries for me. And you were here for me when I needed you.
An affirming tone came from the speaker.
But I think he was wrong when he said you were kind of a jerk. I think you’re just straightforward in the way you deal with things.
Your father …
He paused, most likely to gather his thoughts.
Your father has his reasons for saying that, and I cannot say that he is wrong. But, I am glad that I could be of help to you.
Well, I would still like to thank you for everything you did to help me! Have a good night Mr. Edgeworth!
… Goodnight, Trucy.
November 4, 3:29 PM
Wright Talent Agency
Entrance
Trucy Wright
When Trucy rounded the corner on her walk home from the bus stop she found herself looking at a tall and brawny man wearing an old, dirty trench coat. He carried around 7 grocery bags in his hands which must have been incredibly heavy but he didn’t seem fazed at all. He just grinned at her and introduced himself.
“Hello ma’am! My name is Detective Dick Gumshoe, homicide detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. But today I’m just delivering some groceries to you for Mr. Edgeworth!” His hand twitched and raised slightly a few times during his introduction but it seemed the bags were too heavy for him to perform the gesture he wanted.
Trucy tipped up her hat and gave him a bright smile. “Hello, Detective Gumshoe! I’m Trucy Wright, a magician. Thank you for doing this for me, it’s really nice of you! Those bags look heavy, let me take some from you,” She said as she pulled the house key from her hat and opened the door. Gumshoe ignored her offer and walked into the hallway where one door led to the agency and a set of stairs leading to the attached apartment on the second floor.
He immediately walked up the stairs, so he clearly knew where he was going. “Ah, it’s no problem at all pal! Mr. Wright has done so much to help Mr. Edgeworth, it’s the least I can do to buy some groceries for his daughter.”
“Really, what did my daddy do to help Mr. Edgeworth?” She prompted as she followed the detective up the stairs.
“Well, a long while ago he proved Mr. Edgeworth was innocent of committing murder. Not only that but he also figured out how Mr. Edgeworth’s father was killed and got the killer put in jail for it. He saved Mr. Edgeworth pal, and I will always be indebted to him for that.” He set the grocery bags on the kitchen counter and Trucy moved to start putting the groceries away.
“Wow! I never knew. He did all of that to help Mr. Edgeworth, were they really close or something?” She couldn’t picture her daddy blindly having faith and helping someone for no reason like that.
“They were actually courtroom rivals. Mr. Edgeworth is a genius prosecutor, the only person who could win against him was Mr. Wright. You should have seen them back in the day, it was so intense and close between the two but your father somehow always managed to come out on top.”
“They were rivals?! But my daddy said they were best friends!”
“They may have been rivals but they respected each other a lot. They would always help each other whenever they could. I think your father was right to call him a friend, although I also think Mr. Edgeworth would deny it if you ever tried to call him Mr. Wright’s best friend. That’s just because he’s shy though.”
Trucy had finished putting away all of the non-perishable and was now putting the strawberries in the fridge. “He’s shy … is that why my daddy never talked about him even though they were such good friends?”
She glanced at the detective and was surprised to see a frown on his face, she’d only just met him but he seemed like a guy who was always in good spirits based on the number of smile lines he had. “Come to think of it, Mr. Edgeworth hasn’t mentioned Mr. Wright recently either. He moved to Europe around 5 years ago and I guess they must have lost touch. He’s only in LA temporarily to help with a case on request of the chief prosecutor.”
They fell into silence for a minute until Detective Gumshoe grinned again. “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. They’ve lost contact before but they’ve still always been there for each other. I mean, I’m here right now because Mr. Edgeworth is helping you!”
“Yeah…” she plastered on her performer’s smile, “Yeah! Please tell Mr. Edgeworth thank you again. He’s been really nice to me since my daddy…” She took a deep breath, she wasn’t prepared to utter the words that her daddy was really missing.
Gumshoe jumped in to save her from anguish, “Will do! And don’t worry about your dad, he’s been in tight spots before but he always overcomes them. He’ll be fine.” He reached into his pocket for a notepad and pulled out the pencil from behind his ear. Then he tore off the page and handed it to her. “Here’s my number pal. Call me if you ever need me, I’ll keep you updated on the investigation and let you know as soon as we find him.”
( If you find him .) Her brain unhelpfully supplied. She took the paper and tossed it in her tophat. “Will do, talk to you later Detective!”
Gumshoe saluted her and walked down the stairs. Trucy’s smile fell and she collapsed onto the couch. What was she going to do?