Ace Attorney Investigations: Haunting Memories

Chapter Twelve

February 29 1:55pm

Ledwell Apartments - Apartment No. 20 ~ Julia Kirigiri's POV

"Hey, guys! It's been a while, huh?"

I resisted the urge to groan externally as a certain aqua-haired boy approached the three of us, his regular goofy grin on his face. "Wow, even Sebastian decided to crawl out from the undergrowth into the sunlight!" he joked. Q frowned, clearly somewhat offended at the comment.

I was tempted to slap the boy and yell at him about how he had no right to abandon his job like he did in the last murder, but I controlled myself for Kotoko's sake. I didn't want to lose my temper while she was watching this scene unfold.

"Where have you been, Fee-Fee?" Kotoko asked. "You weren't at the last crime scene! The one at the science center?"

Griffin paused, his eye twitching for a moment. "Uh... I had other work to do." he replied. "B-But no worries! It's not important and I'm back now!"

I frowned, clearly able to tell that he was lying no matter how much he wanted to hide it. I gripped his wrist tightly to stop him from escaping my questioning. "Griffin," I whispered once the other two were out of earshot. "You're not fooling me. Where have you been recently? I know it hasn't been work-related."

"I don't want to talk about it." he replied. "Besides, I doubt you care..."

After some hesitation, I released his wrist from my grip, watching as he hobbled away towards the crime scene. He was right; I didn't care on a personal level. But I've seen what Griffin is like. He's extremely passionate about his work, even if he does get a little too obsessed sometimes. He would never miss an opportunity unless there was an enormous set-back, something he couldn't avoid.

I felt a tugging on my jacket sleeve. I looked down into Kotoko's worried yellow eyes. "Is something wrong, Miss Detective...?" she asked.

"... No. I'm fine." I replied with a faint smile. I stepped into the crime scene, expecting to find the same thing we'd seen twice before: victim, scythe, blood. And I was right. The body of a blonde woman lay in the center of the room, the carpet around her stained with blood. The scythe was lying next to her, also dripping with crimson.

"Why would someone do this to this lady...?" Kotoko questioned, turning her eyes away from the corpse. "It's too cruel..."

"Q, did the victim have any children?" I asked, turning to him.

"'The victim' has a name, you know... Riko Neekon..." Griffin muttered, crossing his arms with a huff.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." Q responded to my question, ignoring Griffin entirely. "One, male, just barely a year old. The child is currently staying with a relative, though, so we don't have to deal with any crying... apart from Griffin."

"Hey!!" Griffin cried before flinching, most likely at the sound of his own voice. "Ow..."

"So the pattern continues..." I said. "Do the files about Nightfall specify any theories about a reason why they target parents for murder?"

"Nothing too detailed," Q replied. "They just say that it's likely the suspect suffered child abuse or neglect which led to a hatred of adults, pushing them to commit murder."

"That would certainly explain it," I agreed. "We need to find out if anyone was seen around here at the time of the victim's death. We also need to uncover why Nightfall would commit a crime in broad daylight. That breaks the modius operandi."

"Yeah. Now all kinds of kids have been left as orphans." Griffin sighed. "Believe me, it's not a nice predicament to find yourself in..."

"Isn't there anyone who can take care of them?" Kotoko asked. "Surely the police wouldn't leave the children on their own..."

"Of course they wouldn't." I replied, shaking my head. "Now, we need to continue the investigation."

Griffin wandered off into what looked like the victim's bedroom. "Bit of a mess in here," he commented. "It looks like Ms. Neekon was planning on leaving."

I followed him and found a large suitcase on the bed, stuffed with clothes of every variety. "She didn't even pack things for her baby..." Kotoko muttered, twirling a strand of her pink hair. "Does that mean she was planning on leaving him behind...? What kind of mommy leaves her baby...?"

"If she was fearful for her own life." I deduced. "Something or someone frightened her so much that she decided to leave her old life behind."

"Could have just been packing for a holiday, you know." Griffin shrugged. The three of us stared at him. "What?" he said, holding up his hands defensively. "It could be true. I mean, what could she have been afraid of, a killer?"

I paused, that last word lingering on my mind. "That's it," I nodded. "She was afraid of being targeted by Nightfall."

"Seriously?!" Griffin gasped. "You mean... I helped you figure something out?!"

"I'm sure she would have deduced it anyway..." Q rolled his eyes.

"But what would make her think that she would become a victim...?" I wondered, beginning to pace the room. "Q, did the victim have a history with criminals? A criminal record?"

Q paused to type on his laptop before shaking his head. "No criminal record, and no connection to any criminal activity. It appears that she was killed simply for being a parent."

"That matches with the MO, right?" Griffin asked. "I mean, Nightfall killings have three things in common: the victim is a parent, they take place at night, and the murder weapon is always a scythe."

"Four." I corrected. "Four things in common. The children of the victims were always between the ages of ten and fifteen. This killing breaks that chain, as well as the time the murder took place."

"This killer is pretty specific in how they do things, huh?" Griffin smiled. "Makes me like them just a little bit more..."

"Are you sure you don't need to have that head of yours checked?" Q questioned, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"Um... would this help you guys in the investigation?"

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Yes I am back with this story I shall revive it somehow don't worry

AceAttorneyFan over and out!