Ace Attorney: Mask of Deceit

Chapter 20: The Defensive Turnabout - Investigation 1 ~ Part 3

May 2 1:35pm

Kenway Law Offices ~ Anton Burke's POV

Mrs. Rivera started talking about a case that happened 32 years ago, but I left to look for Polly instead of staying around. She had been gone for a while, so I was starting to get kind of worried about her. There's no way she was on the phone for too long, right...?

I crept into another room in the office to find that Polly was still yelling down the phone to someone. "No, Niamh cannot help with the investigation! ... Why?! She's a murderer! ... What do you mean 'it's not her fault'?! Of course it is! She just acts like it was the work of a split personality!"

I sighed: I felt a little sorry for Niamh sometimes.

Polly noticed I was there and hung up the call. "I'm sorry you had to see that..." she muttered, taking my hand. "Have any lawyers arrived yet?"

I nodded in response, drawing my blanket closer around me. "M-Ms. Tenniswood and Y-Yuri..."

Polly sighed, glancing away from me. I tilted my head slightly, confused. "I was kind of hoping Cotoli would be the lawyer on this case..." she muttered, a small blush rising in her cheeks. I smiled: Daddy always brought out Polly's soft side. "We'd better go and talk to them, then." Polly continued. "Let's go."

May 2 1:40pm

Kenway Law Offices ~ Niamh Tenniswood's POV

"... That's horrible..." Yuri gasped. "I'm so sorry..."

Mrs. Rivera had told us quite the interesting story: 32 years ago, there were five lawyers instead of just three. One such lawyer was the agency's boss of the time, Amelia Wattson. Ms. Wattson was murdered, with Mr. Xavier Thurman being the one who was accused of the murder. "It's possible that was the case that Ms. Aliste and her apprentice were investigating." Mrs. Rivera concluded.

Her eyes darted away from us and towards a nearby desk, specifically to a framed photograph. In the photo were five young adults, smiling at the camera. Mrs. Rivera and Mr. Kenway were present, but there were three other individuals who I didn't recognise. One was a woman with wavy brown hair and eyes of the same colour. I assumed this was Amelia Wattson. Next to her stood a man with black hair and blue eyes; this must be Mr. Thurman. The final lawyer was a young man with white-blonde hair and green eyes. He seemed very familiar for some reason...

"Who's that?" Yuri asked, pointing to the white-blonde haired man. Mrs. Rivera hesitated before replying. "That was Richard. Richard D-"

Before Mrs. Rivera could finish, Prosecutor Bloom entered with a blanket-wrapped Anton holding her arm. "It's been a long time, Tenniswood." she said, a hint of a victorious tone in her voice.

"Prosecutor Bloom." I responded. "It has indeed."

"Um, there's something I've just noticed..." Yuri began. "Where's the detective in charge of this case? Shouldn't they be here at the crime scene?"

"Y-You're right." Anton stammered. "Th-There hasn't b-been a s-single d-detective h-here today..."

(A case with no detective... That's peculiar. I don't think I've ever encountered that in a case before...)

"Are you talking about me?"

The five of us directed our attention to the doorway, where a cold and monotone voice spoke. A woman with lavender hair stood in the doorway, eyes avoiding our interrogative gazes.

"Where have you been all this time, Detective?!" Prosecutor Bloom yelled. "You're just as bad as Niamh when it comes to your tardiness! ... No, wait, Niamh is worse..."

"P-Polly...!" Anton pleaded, gripping the prosecutor's arm tighter. "G-Ghastly told y-you t-to stop p-picking on h-her...!"

"So, where have you been all this time, Detective...?" I trailed off, not actually knowing this woman's name. She gave off a mysterious aura, as if there was some kind of wall between her and us, as if we were on completely different levels.

"... You can just call me D." the detective muttered. "I cannot disclose my real name."

"Why?" Yuri asked, tilting her head. "Why can't you tell us your name?"

'D' reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a badge of some sort. It wasn't just any old badge, either. "You're with Interpol?!" I gasped. "Then what are you doing investigating an ordinary case like this?"

"... Operation 11037ET-3 is going nowhere." D informed us. "So, I decided I would look into this case to pass the time."

"Pass the time...?!" Yuri repeated. "An innocent man's life is at stake! He'll be in danger with that attitude!"

D hesitated before smirking slightly. "Solving cases like this is not my usual concern. Therefore..."

I frowned. "What is it that you usually do, then? What is this 'Operation 11037ET-3'?"

Again D hesitated. She considered her answer, observing us with her purple eyes before giving us a response. "The race against time to catch the Super High School Level Murderer."

"S-Super High S-School L-Level... M-Murderer?!" Anton repeated, violently stammering and beginning to shiver.

With no more words left to say, D simply turned around and left, arms crossed. Yuri looked rather confused. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"That woman..." Prosecutor Bloom sighed. "It appears that her job is to catch the one the public calls the 'Super High School Level Murderer'... Genocide Jack."

"G-Genocide... Jack...?" Yuri and Anton stuttered in sync, glancing at each other with terrified looks in their eyes just by thinking about it.

(This detective doesn't seem to care about this case at all, only having a paranoia of arresting Genocide Jack. As such, cross-examining her testimony tomorrow shouldn't be too much of a struggle...)

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WOW THE MISSION TO CATCH A SERIAL KILLER HAS A GREAT NAME

PROPS TO ONE Girlinatophat FOR COMING UP WITH IT DURING A RANDOM RP ONCE

YAY

AceAttorneyFan over and out!