Ace Attorney: Council of Crime

Part 43 (Drew)

//February 25, 2030. Interpol Headquarters, 9:01 AM//

Interpol was in an uproar the morning of the 25th. Everybody was freaking out over who was going to see who at the bridge I forgot the name of. Arguments were breaking out. People were panicking when it came to the hostages as well. I considered myself lucky that Maia and Raegan hadn't been taken, but I was still afraid.

After issuing orders to nearly everybody in Interpol, I took a seat in my office. I flopped down tiredly and rubbed my eyes. I had barely gotten any sleep all night, which wasn't good for a huge day like this one.

I closed my eyes and let the feeling of relaxation flood me. Why was I so tired? I had stayed up countless times on Interpol business, so why is today any different? Maybe its because I haven't seen Joe in a while. He started talking to people a while ago before disappearing into the crowd. I admit that I was starting to worry slightly.

D entered the room with F not far behind. "F, T, J, L, and I are going to search for the hostages," she said.

"What about X? Is he leaving you alone yet?" I asked. All I had heard the night before was X yelling for a girl named Clarith.

"No," F sighed. "I don't know why, but he hasn't said anything else. Maybe he's in love with her or something." F rolled her eyes and walked from the room.

"Would you be okay with taking X with you to look for the hostages? I need a little bit of quiet," I sighed, rubbing my temples. When I didn't get enough sleep, the headaches always came, and today was no exception.

"Alright," D agreed. She turned on her (extremely high) heel and left the room, most likely going to find the panicking X.

I closed my eyes and focused on banishing the headache from my head. It didn't seem to be working, which I hated. My earpiece buzzed after a few minutes of silence. I pressed the mute button to turn it off of the silent setting and listened.

D's voice soon reached my ears. "We have X. F, T, J, L, X, and I are leaving now. We'll get in contact with you if we need backup or if we find the hostages," she said.

"I got it," I told D, hoping that she would leave me alone so that I could search the messy office for some aspirin. D didn't answer, so I guess that she had heard my uninviting tone.

I looked around for at least seven minutes before I heard something fall over. I frowned. It sounded like a vase or something like that. But why would a vase fall over here of all places? I'm not sure if there's even a vase in this building...

I forgot about searching for aspirin and stood. I walked from the office and locked the door behind me. I looked around the hallway, expecting to see at least one person. Nobody was there. I guess it was because everybody was working on the Kuranin case in some way.

I walked to the enormous office Q and all of his underlings shared. Even that place was empty for the most part. That was unusual, let me tell you. Most of the time, the place was swarming with anybody and everybody.

Today, only Q was in there. He was typing away at his computer, not paying any mind to me. It looked as if he didn't know I was there. I figured that since he never got up from his desk unless he absolutely had to, he wasn't the one who knocked over the unidentified object.

I crept out of the room and continued to search HQ. I heard another echoing crash, which made me stop dead in my tracks. I could hear my head pounding in sync with my heart. My breathing went heavy, so I knew that fearful adrenaline was coming my way.

"Hello?" I asked the empty air. Nobody answered, which sent a shiver dancing up and down my spine. I shrugged it off as nothing, well, at least I tried to, but it wasn't working. What if somebody was in danger?! You never know until you see for yourself!

I spent the next twenty minutes searching every square inch of the main floor. I gulped when I realized that there was nothing going on. Maybe I had just imagined all the commotion.

Yeah. That had to be it.

Another sound, this one a scream, made me think otherwise.

I gasped and ran into the basement. I hadn't been down there in years, but there wasn't any other choice as of now. I glanced into every room that I came across, hoping to find somebody inside. I didn't know how well I'd fare against them, but at least I would have found the criminal.

I had gone through every room except for one when I passed somebody. A man with dark hair sprinted by me. I attempted to give chase, but they disappeared upstairs. My legs weren't in the condition to run, so I saw no choice other than to let them go for now.

A foul smell hit my nose full on, making me flinch. What in the world would smell so rotten? It was like blood, roses, and rotten eggs had a baby.

Wait...

Blood?!

I ran to the final room I had left to check and threw the door open.

I couldn't believe what I saw.

A glass vase was on the floor, a few trampled roses nearby. A table was overturned and missing a leg.

That wasn't even the worst part.

Slumped over in the corner, was Joe, a knife sticking out of his abdomen.

I let out a shrill scream. It felt like I was screeching in terror for hours before my knees buckled and I passed out, D's voice calling out to me from the other side of the earpiece.

I was unconscious before I hit the floor.

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DREW I CAN'T BELIEVE IT GREAT GO ON JUST FIND A CRIME SCENE THAT'S F INE

ALSO JOE HOW DARE YOU LET YOURSELF GET STABBED

-Digital