BlackHeart Biohazards

In Justice We Trust (95196 words) by thesavagesabretooth

With Simon Blackquill and Athena Cykes assigned as their psychologists, the Phantom and Fulbright must grapple with their identity, their deeds, their future, and their love for the twisted samurai whom they betrayed.

All the while, Edgeworth and Wright find their relationship tested as they walk the narrow path between pursuing real justice, and the dark age of the law.

–

December 25, 7:45 am

Gumshoe followed miserably along with the furious Apollo Justice as the lawyer slammed his way through the hotel, looking for Mr. Edgeworth.

“Hey, pal..” Gumshoe slumped along at top speed after Apollo, as fast as his worn out old boots could carry him. “I know you ain’t happy, but let’s try to breathe huh?”

“I’m breathing,” Apollo said– despite sounding quite breathless, and his face being quite red. “I’m very aware that I’m breathing right now, Detective Gumshoe. Where can I find the chief prosecutor?”

“I’m gonna be honest with you, pal. You lookin’ the way you do right now? I ain’t sure it’s the best idea to tell ya. You look like you’re two steps from a Third Degree Murder.”

Gumshoe didn’t like seeing the man this way. Apollo was a good kid, but worked up the way he was now, he was likely to hurt someone. Lash out, like that Aura woman had back at the space center with her hostages. Or like too many crimes he’d seen in the past.

“Would you want Trucy to see you like this, kid?” Sometimes you had to make an emotional bid to calm someone down. Remind them of something important, friends, family, loved ones. 

Apollo paused in his stride for a moment– but then kept marching. “No. Not that she hasn’t seen me angry. But sometimes anger is important, Gumshoe. I’m not going to hurt anyone. I would never do that– unlike some people.”

Maybe Gumshoe had gotten through to him at least a little bit– because his steps had slowed, and while the snap in his voice was still there, it was a bit less sharp.

“I get it, pal. Trust me. I’ve seen plenty done in anger…” He hurried up to put his hand on his shoulder with a sigh. “Just try not to say nothin’ you’ll regret in the mornin’.” 

Apollo stopped again, and he rubbed his shoulders as he stood there, rolling them under his hand. “Gumshoe– thanks for trying to look out for me. But… you really have no idea what I’m going through right now.”

“Yeah, that’s true pal. I mean, I dunno the specifics…and I dunno much, I ain’t a bright guy…but I can tell you’re still hurtin’ from losin’ someone.” He rubbed his neck. “I felt the same way when I thought Mr. Edgeworth had gone off an’ killed himself.” 

That seemed to throw Apollo for a loop. “What?”

Gumshoe’s rugged face flushed under the scruff of his beard, and he rubbed his chin with a sigh “…back after he an’ Phoenix Wright had their first clashes in court, and the truth came out about his mentor Manfred Von Karma…Mr. Edgeworth and I were…are…real close. Always have been since I was assigned to him and since. He’s…”

He trailed off… important to me. A lot like Maggey is. She knew how much him and Mr. Edgeworth had shared together. “He and I worked close together. But after that, he vanished. Left a suicide note or somethin’ that sounded just like it, and vanished into the night for long enough we almost declared him dead. Broke my fuckin’ heart, kid. I was fallin’ to pieces. Woulda, if it weren’t for Maggey.” 

Apollo was quiet for a moment. “Gumshoe– I’m sorry. I never knew about that. It uh, well I guess it explains some of the comments Phoenix has made about Miles before…”

He rubbed his chin. “But he wasn’t really gone though… how long did you think?”

“Too damn long.” Gumshoe murmured. “he wasn’t really gone, but for those months of searching, he may as well have been. I didn’t think I’d see him again. So…yeah. I dunno how you feel, kid. Not exactly. But I got some idea, okay?” 

“Maybe, but…” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Even when you thought Mr. Edgeworth was gone, you didn’t think he’d been murdered. You weren’t– you weren’t being asked to go to work with his killer, Gumshoe, and pretend nothing was wrong. Don’t you feel like that’s a bridge too far?”

“I dunno, pal.” Detective Gumshoe set his jaw.

“I’ve seen some things over the years. Every time I think ‘maybe this is a bridge too far’, I think to myself ‘but what’s on the other side’. I dunno why Mr. Edgeworth invited you on this knowin’ you’d have to face the guy…maybe he thought you’d be even angrier if you found out, and weren’t invited at all.” 

“I don’t know what the hell he was thinking,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Which is exactly why I want to find out. But– you’re a dependable kind of guy, Gumshoe. If you think I should wait to ask until later, I’ll do that.”

Gumshoe patted his shoulder “…If you wanna talk to him now, I can tell ya where he is. Just…try not to lose your cool. You ain’t gonna get answers if you barge in there seein’ red.” 

“You’re right.” He set his jaw. “You’ll see him today, right?”

“Of course. He’s supposed ta check in with me before heading out to give me instructions.” 

“Alright. Tell him I want to talk to him tonight. Tell him to come see me. You can tell him what it’s about, too.”

Gumshoe nodded. 

“you got it pal, I’ll pass it along to him nice an’ proper. Alright?” He patted his shoulder again, and Apollo put his hand on his for a moment. “Take care of yourself till then, alright?” 

“Yeah Gumshoe. I’m gonna try to do that.” He took a deep breath. “Thanks. Really.”

Gumshoe gave him his best chummy smile. “Any time, kid. You ever need anything, feel free to hit up your friendly neighborhood Gumshoe, eh?” 

December 25, 9:00 am

Simon stood back and assessed the scene after they’d finished their initial tour of the crime scene.

Two cars, the first of which had– apparently, according to the tire marks– swerved in front of the second car which then hit it. There was a second streak of tire marks from the second car where it had attempted, futilely, to brake at the last second. Both cars had burned so hot, and so long that they were destroyed and almost unrecognizable. There was a body in the front driver’s seat of each car, both of which were heavily destroyed by the same fire. 

Ema’s analysis had not turned up any finger prints– unsurprising, given the fire– but she had discovered traces of unburned gasoline leading up to the scene of the two cars. And an assessment with luminol had turned up the most surprising feature of the case yet– a few drops of blood on the pavement between the two cars, which someone had attempted to wipe away.

And now that they were certain there were no fingerprints to miss, Ema was assisting in opening the cars, and examining what was left of the bodies.

Athena had been logging the entire investigation into Widget’s note function, drawing lines and notes between photographs taken with the small device in a rather interesting expose on how she conducted her investigations for the defense. She’d seemed most interested in the blood, writing out theories on exactly what it might mean while Ema worked with Agent Kelso.

Ema wrenched the door open with the agent’s help, with Ema holding her arm out to stop Kelso from moving the body until she took a picture.

“There. Lay them out on the ground. I’ll begin the examination.” 

Halblicht stood to the side as Kelso moved the body out of the car under Ema’s instructions, and Simon noticed him watching the agent carefully. He’d noticed, in fact, that Halblicht had been watching both interpol agents carefully since the investigation had begun. He wondered what was on his mind– perhaps he was concerned that the agents might recognize him?

Whatever it was, it was of little consequence now, while they were investigating. Frankly as long as Halblicht didn’t try to flee, or to tamper with the evidence– both of which were seeming less and less likely– Simon didn’t care what he did.

He was loath to admit it, but he was almost enjoying the opportunity to work the case with the man, and with Athena.

Halblicht’s gaze flicked from Kelso to the burned remains, which were, admittedly, difficult to look at for Simon. The monstrous things that fire did to the human body.

“Uuuh, is anyone seeing what I’m seeing?” Bobby asked after a moment.

Kelso looked up as Ema began her examination, starting from the head and going down with a magnifying glass and tweezers to peel away what little remained of clothing and charred flesh when she needed to.

“Seeing what, Detective Halblicht? The dead man? Yeah, I do.” she’d taken to flipping the bullet again, the clicking of metal on metal ringing out adding a sort of background track to the proceedings.

“Mm…if you’re talking about the bullet wound to the face, yes. I’ll work on extracting the bullet when I’m done with my preliminary examination of the rest of the body, “ Ema murmured from her work.

Athena looked a bit sick to her stomach as she glanced at Halblicht. “I haven’t gotten close, what is it?” 

Halblicht snapped into his ridiculous Bobby Fulbright salute at Athena. “Ms. Cykes– there’s what appears to be a large bullet hole in the front of this man’s skull.”

“Not what one usually expects from a car wreck, admittedly,” Simon drawled.

“Not unless it was an execution.” Ema said casually. “You sometimes see it, someone gets close and fires through the windshield to eliminate the incapacitated target…except.”

She pointed with her tweezers to the bullet wound, “it’s not a close range shot. This was from a distance.”

Athena frowned. “…now that’s interesting, isn’t it? I wonder if we can find any other bullet holes? And I wonder if it ties into the blood that was wiped up.”

Kelso whistled low, and adjusted the sunglasses in her hair again. “yikes. I guess we knew it wasn’t gonna be a cut and dry crash, but…”

“Yikes is right!” Bobby agreed. “It’s too bad that all the windows were destroyed– they would have had something to say.”

“Wouldn’t they just?” Simon agreed. “The entry wound is in the front of the skull, yes?”

“Sure is, Prosecutor Blackquill!”

He touched his chin thoughtfully. “That tells us something in itself, doesn’t it. If he was shot while he was driving– perhaps that’s why the car swerved.”

“Yeah..” Kelso nodded as she knelt down to look at the body with Ema. “I think you’re right, Prosecutor Blackquill. The sudden shot to the head probably caused him to slump, turning the wheel sharply to the side and colliding with the barrier.”

Athena bit her lip. 

“So someone was in front of them? And fired the gun from the distance to kill him.” She looked back at the other car “then what about the second car? It collided with the first, right?”

Ema had gone quiet again, working with the tweezers and her small medical kit to extract the bullet from the dead agent’s skull. 

Halblicht crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes with a very cold expression in his face suddenly. “If that’s the case, then it’s likely the second car is unrelated to the case. A bystander casualty incurred due to the sudden wreck of the agents car.”

“An interesting theory, detective,” Simon said, considering it. “And a decent one– if not for one problem.”

“Sir?”

“If this car belongs to an unrelated bystander– where’s the second agent? There were two agents, and two agents are missing.”

“Ah. Then perhaps the agents were in two cars after all?

“They could have decided that going separately somehow lowered suspicion?” Kelso suggested, the bullet reappearing and flipping through her fingers once more. “and give the opportunity for, if one was shaken, the other to continue to monitor unsuspected?”

Athena’s nose wrinkled. 

“…I don’t know, Agent. I think I’d like to examine the second body and car first. Agent Ash says that it’s almost certain that they took one car. I can’t imagine they’d have the time or inclination to grab a second car if the target was already heading out…right?” She suddenly looked unsure “then again, I’m no espionage expert.”

“I’ve got the bullet.” Ema announced. 

"Espionage tactics aside, what can we observe about the bullet, Skye-dono?” Simon asked. He noticed that Halblicht had crossed his arms, and gone quiet again.

Ema held up the ruined slug in her tweezers. “It’s a pistol round. Typical handgun 9mm. Damaged from the heat and entry, but we might be able to make out rifling if we sent it in for testing.” 

“A pistol round, shot from a distance, in the front of the skull,” Simon nodded. “Interesting. Is there anything else significant about the remains at this time?”

“Not really. Fire did its job admirably,” Ema huffed with a frown as she stood. “he was shot by a pistol from the distance in the front of the skull, and then the body was all but destroyed in the fire.”

“Brutal.” Kelso murmured with a shake of her head.

“I think we should get looking at the second body..” Athena said “…especially given the blood on the scene. It’s outside, between the cars…which is interesting.” 

“It’s very interesting,” Simon agreed. “Let’s have a look at the second body, and see what conclusions we can draw from it.”

Halblicht turned, quietly, suddenly snapping into action again. “I’ll be happy to take the body out of the car then, if you’d like, Prosecutor Blackquill.”

Simon raised his eyebrows. Why was he offering that?

“I don’t see why not. Agent Kelso should only be required to get her shirt so dirty,” he drawled. He resolved to watch Halblicht carefully. Surely he wasn’t going to tamper with the evidence.

“Well I’m not gonna say no.” Kelso smiled. “…this shirt’s got enough tragedy smeared on it from the first one. If you want a hand, lemme know, sir.”

Athena’s head tilted up, and she seemed to listen very carefully as Halblicht spoke…she even paused in her note taking. 

Halblicht slipped his black gloves from his pocket, and onto his hands. “At least I’m in the appropriate color for being covered in ash, hm? Ms. Ema– would you please open the car?”

“You got it, Rob,” Ema nodded as she tightened her own gloves and grabbed the door handle. “On three. One…two…”

She wrenched the door open with the groan of charred and melted metal scraping together. 

Halblicht held back as the photo was taken of the car, and then he very carefully looked the body over. 

“There seems to be another gunshot wound in this one,” he said. “Possibly two. I’ll move it now.”

“Good, once you get it on the ground I’ll give it the in depth examination.” Ema said, seeming more alive than ever now that she was in her element.

Kelso stood back, flipping the bullet between her fingers again as she asked. “Want me to investigate the interior of the car while you work on that, ma’am?” 

As Halblicht gently removed the body, he looked over his shoulder and caught Simon’s eye. To his surprise, he noticed Halblicht shake his head very slightly, as if in answer to a question. 

Simon frowned, not knowing quite if he was making the right assumption, but–

“Why don’t we look together, Agent Kelso? Two heads, as they say, are better than one.” He stepped around toward the other side of the car.

“They say that!” Kelso laughed cheerfully, before waving her hand, the bullet vanishing down her sleeve. “If you asked Agent Ash, she’d probably say it’s at least better than just mine, anyway.” she lightly rapped her knuckles on the side of her head. “let’s take a peek.”

Athena tilted her head, and her brow furrowed as she listened to the conversation. She glanced back. “Actually, there was something I wanted to ask Agent Ash about the cars…” 

“What was that, Ms. Cykes?” Halblicht asked as he lay the body down on the pavement next to the other.

“I wanted to ask Agent Ash something about the cars.” She spoke up “…their procurement , specifically. And if there’s any way to track and ID cars used by Interpol agents. I think we can solve the ‘two bodies, two cars’ discrepancy that way.” 

As Simon busied himself looking in the car’s passenger seat, he thought that that was a very interesting question indeed.

December 25, 8:20 am

When Phoenix, Miles and Kay met up with Gumshoe and with the girls in the hotel dining room, the first thing that happened was a minor change of plans. Trucy invited Kay to go see Klavier and his commercial with them.

Miles looked at Kay with a raised eyebrow. “Well, Ms. Faraday– it’s up to you. Admittedly, I think I have enough backup for this investigation if you’d rather.”

Indeed, Miles had rarely felt as well backed up as he did with both Phoenix and Gumshoe there.

“If you’re sure, boss.” Kay had said, glancing between them. In the end, the siren call of bothering a rock star all day won out, and she’d agreed to go along with Trucy and Pearl…leaving the trio to do their work.

“I won’t lie, sir.” Gumshoe said, “I kinda appreciate havin’ something to do today.” 

“And I’ll appreciate having your… unique skills and way of looking at the world, Detective,” Miles drawled with amusement. “Enjoy the day, Kay. Make sure to get some pictures.”

“You got it, sir!” Kay snapped a salute. “I’ll steal you one of his guitars, alright?”

“Don’t…Don’t say that to us, Miss Kay.” Gumshoe pleaded “I don’t wanna have to testify in court.” 

With the pleasantries out of the way, and Phoenix securing multiple promises from Trucy and Pearl that they’d check in throughout the day, the prosecutor, the attorney, and the detective headed out toward the parking lot.

“Nostalgic, in a way, isn’t it?” Miles mused.

“Sure is, sir. Reminds me of all them times you and I solved mysteries overseas.” he chuckled richly. “Guess ya still get the itch now and again eh?” 

“Can’t keep Edgeworth away from a good mystery,” Phoenix chuckled.

“Or a bad one.” Miles smirked and shook his head. “You know, I’m not sure the three of us have all been on one investigation together like this.”

“Nah , every time we managed to get on one of these, Phoenix was off fuckin’ around, sir.” 

“Hey, that’s not true!” Phoenix complained. “I was not the one ‘fucking around’ off solving mysteries over seas. Besides, the three of us have been on plenty of investigations together– just not exactly on the same side.”

“And thus, not in the same room at the same time, Wright,” Miles tutted. “So this is a fairly novel experience.”

They strolled outside into the cold air where their breath came out in puffs, and Miles headed toward where he’d been told his rental car for the day would be parked.

Gumshoe laughed, clapping his hands together. “Two she, Phoenix. Ya got a good point.”

He had probably meant to say touche…but the word was very much lost in translation.

Miles was about to speak up to correct him, when he gave pause, looking at the car next to his own. The driver’s side window was wide open, and he immediately noticed that it wasn’t merely rolled down, but that there were specs of glass littered in the space where it would have rolled into.

“Oh dear. I think someone’s car’s been robbed.”

Gumshoe’s brow furrowed. 

“…That ain’t good. That ain’t good at all.” He leaned forward to inspect it with a rub of his chin. ‘We should report it, yeah? “ 

“Of course we should,” Miles said. And they should– but his curiosity was piqued.

Phoenix caught up. “Uh-oh, I know that tone.”

“Oh ho ho!” Gumshoe rubbed his hands together. “is it time to meddle, Mr. Edgeworth, sir??” 

Edgeworth flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well– as curious as I am to do so, we have more pressing business today. Let’s take down the license plate and give the information to the front desk. If something hasn’t been done about it by the time we get back…”

Phoenix slapped Edgeworth companionably on the shoulder. “Then we’ll indulge your meddling, Edgeworth.”

He made a noise and adjusted his cravat. “Quite.”