Ace Attorney: Secrets beneath Secrets

Turnabout Below, Part 12

May 30

Blocker Law Offices

5:35 PM

Cotoli Morix

As much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to get sick of investigating by the time we arrived back at Blocker Law. My stomach was starting to rumble unhappily since I had neglected it nearly all day, and I placed one hand over my torso gently with hopes that I would be able to calm it sooner rather than later. I sighed and shook my head when I was sure Victoria wouldn't be able to see. I didn't want to bother her by bringing up how hungry I was. It would only distract us from the other business we had to take care of before we could stop for a snack break.

The first order of business after getting there was to figure out where Ms. Quell was. I didn't have the slightest clue as to where we should start looking. I didn't know her at all, so I would have to guess based on her behavior in the trial. Even so, I hadn't seen enough of her actions to reasonably guess what she would choose to do outside of the courtroom. In other words, we were going to have to rely on dumb luck.

Victoria didn't say anything after we got to Blocker Law. She started to look around the area, eventually settling her gaze on some people standing near the door. It was just as crowded as it had been before, and I was amazed that she had been able to see anything. I hadn't been so lucky leading up to this point, though maybe that was because I was too distracted by my upset stomach to try searching with all my concentration.

"There!" Victoria exclaimed. She pointed in through the doorway, and I took her hand before leading her into the building. It took a lot of weaving in and out of the countless people to get there, and I really hated how crowded it was. I knew we would be coming back to this, but that didn't make it any less of a supreme headache as we tried to figure out where Ms. Quell was hiding.

After we got inside of the building, I looked off to the right of the entrance. There she was. Ms. Quell was standing with her arms crossed as she looked around the lobby. She seemed antsy and distracted, though I couldn't blame her for that at all. It was so immensely crowded. I hated tight spaces like this, and I got the feeling she felt the same way. Even if one was alright with crowds, the noise was frustrating, to say the least. Who thought having this many people in one small lobby was a good idea?

"Ms. Quell!" Victoria exclaimed, looking over to the mint-haired girl. She waved one arm furiously above her head to try and get Ms. Quell's attention. I saw Ms. Quell perk up, but I realized soon after that Victoria's gesture was lost in the buzz of the crowd, and Ms. Quell couldn't see it at all.

I pulled Victoria through the crowd over to where Ms. Quell was located. It took a lot more worth than it probably should have, but we didn't exactly have any other options given how aggravating all the investigators were being with taking up all the available space and then some. Even so, we somehow managed to get over to where Ms. Quell was standing, prompting me to release a sigh of relief. This was already annoying me a lot more than it probably should have. This sure was an interesting investigation.

"Hello, Ms. Quell!" Victoria smiled. "It's nice to officially meet you. I'm Victoria von Graye, and this is my boss, Cotoli Morix. We're the lawyers on the case surrounding Ms. Fence's death. We spoke during the trial, but we didn't exactly have the chance to actually introduce ourselves, unfortunately. I guess that's what right now is for."

Ms. Quell looked Victoria over, a small frown on her face. In the end, she shook her head before looking down. "Alright... It's nice to meet you, I suppose. You have quite the case on your hands, don't you?" Ms. Quell scoffed, shaking her head. "It's not like it's really going in your favor right now, as much as I hate to say it. Good luck on figuring this one out. You're not going to get the answer easily."