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~Dreamer~
Main Points:
Ace Attorney AU
Chapter IV of Turnabout In Law
Summary: Edgeworth and Wright visit the Eerie Mansion (aka the Lemures Mansion) and do some investigating.
First case of Edgeworth & Wright!
Word Count: 1982
Rating: T
Investigation Day 1
October 13
Outside the Lemures Mansion
“Comparing him to a loyal dog would be unfavorable,” Miles grumbles under his breath. It’s clear the comment isn’t meant for him, but Nick can’t help but respond anyway.“What does that mean, exactly?” he whispers. It’s not exactly the least noticeable, but Gumshoe is in the other room and has the observational skills of a blind fish out of water.
“…I feel sorry for the poor fellow,” Edgeworth finally answers, after several moments of coming to terms with the fact that he’d been overheard.
Wright isn’t given the chance to respond. There’s a scream from downstairs, and instantly Miles is on his feet, rushing for the sound. Officer Janey is on the floor, staring into a now open closet Phoenix hadn’t seen when they’d come this way earlier. The light inside is open. Janey probably turned it on and glanced inside, and that’s when she found the body. Edgeworth heads straight for the door, wary now, leaving his colleague to comfort the hysterical officer.
“What is it?” he asks her, but that only prompts a wave of fresh tears.
It’s Edgeworth who answers. “It’s a literal skeleton in a closet. That of a young child, if the size is any indication.”
“Don’t touch it, pal!” Gumshoe bellowed, trampling down the staircase.
Miles sniffs. “I don’t need to touch it to investigate. I don’t want to contaminate the evidence, and in any case, I can use my eyes—and nose.” He bites his lip, thinking, which Nick still isn’t completely used to. “The bones have been well-cleaned, perhaps professionally, as there’s only the faintest odor of death, and there’s no obvious decay or breaks as would occur if an amateur tried to clean the bones. Someone in this house had to know about this, though, as the dress looks relatively fresh.”
Janey had convinced him that hysterics were only bound to get worse if she couldn’t collect herself on her own, so he joins Miles by the door. He starts to lean a hand on the door frame, but is met by a sharp glare and realizes it’s better not to get his fingerprints everywhere, since access to this place is probably important. “Someone…was dressing up a kid’s skeleton in the closet,” Phoenix says with a grimace, trying to place this within his list of weird cases.
“And sometime when they were not likely to be disturbed. Clearly someone who had to have known the household. This isn’t a closet in someone’s room, which makes finding exactly who the culprit was slightly more difficult. We’ll see with the results from fingerprinting, but I am not optimistic. If they’ve managed to hide a corpse for this long, they are clearly a planner.” Miles cranes his neck up and stares at the ceiling. “It appears completely empty, aside from those three hangers. We’ll have to ask the various family members if any of them have used this closet or know what was stored here.”
“One of them might react guiltily, which will be a clue,” Nick adds, then frowns. “But it might be better saved for the courtroom, since it won’t be on record otherwise and the last time I tried asking questions like that I got knocked out.”
Edgeworth frowns and straightens. “That is a bad habit you should really get out of, Wright.” He produces a handkerchief with a flourish from one of his pockets.
“What’s that for?” Nick asks and gets a roll of the eyes.
“I’ve found they’re highly useful for not destroying evidence at the crime scene, so I’ve made it a habit to always carry one.” Given that explanation, maybe Nick should start carrying around one too. “Don’t worry, Gumshoe, I’m not going to touch the remains personally. I’m just checking one thing. It’s difficult to see with this lighting.”
He places the handkerchief over the remains and kneels down further, tilting his head to the side to get a better angle.
The old Edgeworth would have complained endlessly about how undignified this is. The new Edgeworth likely feels the same way, but doesn’t say anything. He’s practical, so maybe he doesn’t care as much about his appearance in pursuit of the truth.
“I’ll certainly wait until forensic analysis confirms this, but it appears like there’s some kind of trauma on the bones around the throat.”
Phoenix gags. This might be one of his more gruesome cases, but at least those were bones. Still, someone killed a kid? “Someone slit her throat?”
Miles stands, grimacing himself. “I would think that would be more dramatic, but then, most of the human remains I’ve seen have been…fresher, for lack of a better term. They look partially crushed, so I’m thinking, as a preliminary hypothesis, that cause of death was strangulation, but I’ll remain largely noncommittal until forensics gets here.” He glances at Gumshoe and sighs. “You did remember to call forensics, didn’t you?”
The detective jumps guiltily, jolted out of his vulture stare. “I…no. Sorry.”
Phoenix glances at Miles, who’s rubbing his temples now. “Are you all right?”
“Headache,” he confides, before snapping his fingers. “Officer Law, what perfume do you wear?”
“Are you allergic?” she asks, looking up and wiping away her tears with a sleeve. He offers her the handkerchief, but she waves it off.
“I’m…sensitive, I suppose is the term, but that doesn’t matter right now. Officer Law, your perfume.”
She stares, bewildered. “A lavender one my mother-in-law gave me, but I’ve been thinking about switching to an organic vanilla one I saw the other day…”
“Commendable, but unimportant at the moment. That dress had the distinct smell of rose.” Edgeworth’s magnificent when he’s on a roll and I don’t have to deal with the consequences. He looks elated, headache forgotten. “Two corpses, two potential accidents, in the same household. It’ll be informative to look at the crime scene photographs. I’m curious whether that body showed signs of being staged as well.”
“Staged?” Phoenix asks. His mood is sinking fast—they’re being given clues, but there’s almost like there are too many and they don’t tell a coherent story. Then again, since when have they ever had an easy case?
“What else would you call someone who’s taken the time and care to dress a skeleton in a dress, use perfume, and pose her as if she’s sleeping?” He pauses. “Then there’s more questions. Was this an accident or another homicide? Why did no one notice the skeleton in this closet? Was this done by a guilty party, or merely a reverent one?” He pauses again, deflating a little, and Phoenix isn’t imagining the pain in his eyes this time.
“If you want, I can look at the crime scene by myself,” he offers, but Miles waves it off, gratitude still in his eyes.
He’s still formal when he speaks, but it’s not like Phoenix expects anything else. “No, that’s all right, thank you, Wright. I’ll be fine; just need to not overexert myself.”
And then Nick realizes. “It's a migraine, isn't it?" At the half-glare, he quickly adds, "Maya mentioned it."
“I may be reckless with my own health, but I’m not stupid. I won’t foolishly endanger myself for the sake of pride.” The words are almost more to himself, which is why Nick believes them. “So, the body was found on the second floor.”
“By your client, pal!” Gumshoe adds, returning to them while closing away a cell phone.
“…He has money for that?” Phoenix realizes he’s spoken aloud when Gumshoe gives him a big grin and a thumb’s up.
“Actually, it’s a departmental phone, pal.” He nods at them all. “So you want to look at the crime scene. Well, Prosecutor Faraday gave it the a’ok, so you’re good to go. And I’m going to go with you, just to make sure you don’t get lost again.”
Janey starts protesting—looks like she’s got a crush on Edgey, too—while Edgeworth says nothing. In defense of himself, anyway. “Not that I need to remind you of this, Detective, but we maintain that finding the body was all our client did.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re going to lose,” Gumshoe insists with a huge grin.
“I’m sure we can’t ask about what the prosecution’s case is on our client, or why they suspect our client,” Wright adds.
The detective pauses while leading them. “Well, she was the last one to see the body, and there was the stuff about the bloo—and that’s a nice try, pal, but you’re not a prosecutor anymore.” He pauses, then adds, “And if I may say so, sir, that’s weird.”
“I think I understand what he’s talking about when he mentions the blood,” Miles whispers, staring at the carpet, and Nick follows where he’s looking and sees them.
Bloody footprints in the shape of high heels leading away from the scene of the crime, clear by the giant pool of blood at the base of the stairs and crime tape around. Judging by the length of the stride, the woman was running.
“When did he die?” Phoenix asks, and Edgeworth visibly reminds himself that he hadn’t been at the detention center for that.
“In the middle of the night. According to our client, she went to go get a glass of milk. Wearing heels wouldn’t be conducive to sleeping I shouldn’t think.”
“What are the two of you whispering about over there, pal?” Gumshoe asks.
Miles smiles and shakes a finger. “Now, now, Detective, you’re not sharing your side of the case with us, so it’s hardly fair to ask us about our privileged relationship with our client.”
It’s enough to get the detective to back off. “Oh, right—I didn’t even think about that. Sorry, Edgeworth.”
“This type of carpeting soaks up liquids easily and is difficult to clean. Did the police department find any sign of milk around?” Miles asks absent-mindedly, crouching and staring at the scene. Maybe that’s why he didn’t wear the full suit, too—easier to clean.
“What was that, pal? Milk? Why?” Gumshoe looks bewildered.
“Oh, you never know what might be important.” Miles stands and cranes his head, looking at the stairs. “We’ll want a map of the house plans, of course.”
“Good luck with that.” The detective is unsympathetic.
“Hey, we can’t do our job without all the information!” Wright points out, unnecessarily loud, and this time Edgeworth winces and massages the back of his neck. He’s sorry about it, but he’s not going to apologize for helping their case either.
“Neither can we,” Gumshoe agrees glumly. “Look, if you can get a map out of that Uncle Moss guy, share it with us, but so far he’s refused.”
“Isn’t that…obstruction?” Miles asks mildly.
He doesn’t like this Moss character, but then again there’s probably something about how he’s the best possible suspect.
“Yeah. But he also is a big supporter of the police department, so we’re trying to decide what to do about it,” the detective responds, before clapping his hands over his own face. “Look, pal, you gotta stop doing that! I can’t afford another pay cut!”
“I didn’t mean to cause you any distress, Detective,” Edgeworth continues smoothly, going over and sitting on the stairs. It’s hard to tell whether he’s just thinking has a headache or is trying to look from a different angle at the scene.
“At least you’re nice about it. Thanks, Edgey.”
Nick hears the grinding of teeth, but Miles doesn’t directly comment. “I’m surprised. He’s been characterized as a stingy type, one who hates to spend his money on anything.”
“Oh, it’s not his money. Not directly. It’s money from the theme parks. He invested in us.” He doesn’t seem to have realized that he let something slip again, so Phoenix quickly goes to investigate the crime scene—from a safe distance outside the tape, so as to not cause the detective a heart attack.