Ace Attorney: Mask of Deceit

Chapter 23: The Defensive Turnabout - Investigation 2 ~ Part 1

May 3 11:00am

Prosecutor's Office ~ Niamh Wood's POV

"James?" I called out to my friend. He was leaning against the wall, eyes looking distant. Distant... and red.

"Have... Have you been crying?" I asked, gasping slightly. "Was it the trial today? What happened?"

"I... I can't say," James responded, his voice barely a whisper. "I... haven't told anyone..."

"Well, you can tell me." I assured him, gently pushing him down onto the couch. "Please, James... I want to help..."

James paused, rubbing his before nodding slowly. "It was... six years ago... My father, Richard Devine, disappeared. Nobody knows how or where to, he just vanished. They called it the HL-3 Incident."

I became tense upon hearing that name. I hate talking about 'incident' cases; they were pathetic.

"My mother... died of the grief." James continued. "I... also had a big brother, Albert... he left home to look for our father... I haven't seen him since, either... He was only 15 at the time..."

"So... you were left with your grandparents?" I concluded. "I'm so sorry..."

"At the trial earlier today... he showed up." James sniffed.

"He?" I repeated.

"The Masked Gentleman."

I gasped, my eyes widening. "Th-The Masked Gentleman appeared in court?! What did he do?!"

"I saw him come flying towards me... He must have drugged me or something because I passed out... When I woke up, I was sat in a chair with him opposite me. He showed me a picture of my father and said that... that... he and Albert were..."

I gulped, the answer already clear in my mind. I shook my head. "Say no more... say no more..."

James bit his lip, more tears forming in his eyes. "Who...? Who did this...?"

I felt something on my hand, gripping it tightly. I didn't need to look to see what was holding my hand so tightly. I squeezed his hand, letting him know that I was there for him and was still listening if he wanted to say any more.

"I'm sorry about this..." James muttered. "Making you listen to my sob stories..."

"It's fine...!" I exclaimed, maybe a bit too loud. "I'll be here if you need anything at all!"

"I-I'm going to go back to the crime scene soon." James decided. "I want to help Mr. Kenway as much as I can. He was my father's boss, after all... I think it's what he would want me to do..."

"I think so, too." I smiled. "I would go with you, but..."

"It's okay, I know." James laughed dryly. "You won't have to fight with Prosecutor Bloom today."

I sighed in relief. I'd never freely admit it to anyone, but Ms. Bloom scares the living heck out of me... More so upon becoming her stress reliever. (And by that, I mean having to live with thousands of bruises everywhere every day.)

"I'd better get going, then." James announced, standing from his seat. "It's going to take a lot of work to persuade the prosecution to let me help, after all."

As James began to walk away, his hand slowly began to slip out of mine. Without thinking, I leant forward and pressed my lips against his cheek, feeling the sudden heat rush to his face. I leant out after a few seconds, thoroughly embarrassed. "U-Um... s-see you later!" I exclaimed, turning on my heels and practically running away.

Why did I do that...?!

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May 3 11:30am

Kenway Law Offices ~ Niamh Tenniswood's POV

"It sounds like '32 years ago' is a really big deal with this office." Yuri commented.

"The only problem is that it sounded like two things happened at that time." I pointed out. "We'll have to first find some way to determine which case the culprit and the victim were talking about. That might help us come up with a motive."

"Wait! I remember!" Yuri suddenly exclaimed, bouncing on her feet. "There were a lot of papers scattered around the victim, right? Maybe that has something to do with it!"

We entered the agency to find the prosecution already investigating there, but this time joined by someone else: a boy of Yuri's age. "James...?!" I called out. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to help with the investigation!" James announced. "This case is... somewhat personal to me, so I have to get to the bottom of this!"

Prosecutor Bloom sighed in agitation. "I won't allow a random kid to interfere with the investigation!"

"I'm not a 'random kid'!" James shot back. "I know this place! I've been here many times before! I'm not going to let it crumble to dust now!"

Prosecutor Bloom was about to argue with him, but Anton placed a hand on his arm to stop her. "L-let's l-let him h-help us," he stuttered. "I-It's not nice t-to d-deny him... i-if he wants t-to help, th-then we'll l-let him..."

Prosecutor Bloom paused a moment before sighing again. "Fine. You can stay."

James turned to Anton with a smile. "Thanks so much... uh..."

"A-Anton." the older boy said. "M-My name is A-Anton."

"James." James returned. "Thanks for letting me do this. It really means a lot to me."

Anton smiled and wrapped his arms around the younger boy in a hug, wrapping them completely in the blanket that was around Anton's shoulders. James seemed to hesitate before patting Anton's head lightly.

"Kawaii!" Yuri cried, pointing at the two boys. I exchanged a confused glance with Prosecutor Bloom; we appeared to be the only two who had no idea what was going on. Then again, that was usually normal.

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I don't even know if I intended for this to turn into Niames but I guess it did so yeah that's great

Although a certain TopHat did want some Janton in here somewhere so

Janton

In other news next time we maybe probably find the killer

Hey I'm not talking in caps for once what an achievement-

Also Polly stop being mean to mY CINNAMON BUN HISSS

AceAttorneyFan over and out!