Ace Attorney: Fading Bloodlines

Turnabout From the Sky, Part 10 (Yuri)

Despite Auralyn's odd warning, we decided to stick around the crime scene for a little while longer. I was holding onto the bunny plush, so I decided to look over it. "You know, I never would have suspected this to be such a huge piece of evidence," I admitted. "It looks like your typical childhood toy."

"Wait... Childhood toy..." Niamh whispered. "That gives me an idea."

"What is it?" Victoria asked.

"Well... The victim from sixteen years ago wasn't identified by the police, correct? Their fingerprints weren't in the system owned by the police for whatever reason, and since Mr. Morix refused to reveal their identity... What if that could lead us to the truth?" Niamh suggested.

"I don't get it," I frowned. "What do fingerprints have to do with a hidden identity?"

"Let's assume for a second that the victim was, in fact, a small child. That explains why the rabbit toy was found at the crime scene. It would also make sense that their fingerprints weren't known by the police. A little kid wouldn't have their fingerprints in an official legal system," Niamh explained.

"You're saying that the victim was a little kid because that would explain the rabbit toy? And why their identity was kept hidden for so long? It's not like you can do that with a grown person, after all," I said.

"Funny story there... I actually stumbled upon your agency because of a case where a grown person's identity was hidden. PX-6, was it?" Victoria piped in.

"Wait... What? You found the agency because of that nightmare?!" I yelled. "I can't believe this!!"

"Moving on," Niamh told me, noticing my unease. "If the victim was a child, they would still need to be rather young to not give their name to the police once they woke up."

"The gullible child range has always been three to eight, if you ask me," Victoria said. "I would guess it was someone in there, though somebody older would work if..."

"If what?" I asked.

"Let's say that the victim really trusted Mr. Morix at the time. If he told them to keep quiet, wouldn't they have listened?" Victoria suggested.

"In that case, then it could be anybody that was under eighteen. Just perfect," I muttered.

"Not exactly," Niamh declared. "A child from ages one to four probably wouldn't listen if Mr. Morix told them not to reveal their name. And it's not likely that an eighteen year old would carry around a stuffed rabbit, so I suspect somebody between ages five and eight."

"I bet that nine is where the stuffed animal dependency wears off," I agreed. "I didn't stop carrying around my favorite stuffed bear until I turned nine."

"It was ten for me," Victoria admitted. "But I agree that the victim would have to be in that small age range."

"Then who could it even be? If you ask me, it could be any kid. Virtually anybody could have been attacked by the victim," I sighed.

"But why would the victim attack just anyone?" Victoria frowned.

"He was prone to getting drunk and things like that at a bar. Multiple times, he has been in fights that the police had to break up," Niamh reminded her. "If he was drunk at the time, he could have lashed out at anybody who spoke to him."

"That does make sense," I agreed. "I mean, Mr. Morix has been crossed off of our list and Chrysalis was most likely with the victim. He wanted an alibi, and even a six year old could provide that for him, and she wouldn't ask any questions about it."

"Now we just need to know what sort of people lived nearby. Maybe that could give us our answer," Niamh announced.

"But how can we figure that out? The crime was sixteen years ago. It's not like anyone has lived in that neighborhood for that long and still knows all the little kids that lived nearby on the specific date of October 17, 2016. That's flat out ridiculous," I sighed. "This is impossible. We'll never find the victim. We'll never find them. The killer will just get away because we couldn't find the victim."

"I do think that it will be hard, but if we can prove our point in court tomorrow, I'm positive that we can get some more investigation time to look into these things," Niamh said. "Time is what we need to solve this case. That I can assure you."

"But how can we do that in just a day if we're still maintaining mental and physical health?" I asked. "This is all crazy. If only the answer would just pop up to us out of nowhere... Life would be so easy."

"If things came along, why would lawyers be around to make crimes clear?" Victoria reminded me. "But I'm sure that we'll find the victim. If we can find the victim, then they're most likely the killer here. Somebody must have pushed him from that roof, and the victim seems pretty probable."

"Unless... No. This can't be," Niamh whispered.

"What?" I asked.

"Mr. Morix was... He was involved in the case and doesn't have an alibi since he went missing two months ago," Niamh muttered. "But there's no way that he would kill anyone, right...?"

"That one time at Happy House, you suspected him. Is this time replaying itself as some sort of cruel joke?" I asked. "For now, we can't suspect our friends. We need to stay focused on the task at hand."

"You're right," Niamh agreed. "It was a ridiculous thought, anyways."

"Maybe we should split up for the day. We can meet up tomorrow before the trial and figure out what our strategy for getting more time is," Victoria announced.

I nodded and started to walk away. But as I walked away, I could hear Niamh muttering under her breath...

"Twenty two minus sixteen... Equals six..." she whispered. "Definitely makes her a suspect..."

I frowned and kept walking away. I didn't really know what she meant, but it had to be something important. It's not like Niamh would just do something ridiculous.

I heard one last thing before I was out of earshot: "Looks like we'll be drawing out our victim after all..."

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