A Greatest Thieves Turnabout

Chapter Three: Recruiting a Ray of Hope

Jigen and Goemon practically tumbled into the car after quickly changing back into their usual clothes. By now there were multiple police cars and the, for some reason, happy Lupin had just been taken to the detention center to await his trial. Now was as good a time as ever to drive past the speed limit and look for a lawyer.
Jigen quickly started up the car, not even letting Goemon close the door before driving off. And while Jigen was grumbling about why the hell Lupin decided to let himself be caught, Goemon sat quietly in the back seat.
A few minutes went by and there was still no law office in sight. Jigen just sighed, tapping the steering wheel with annoyance.
"The hell? And here I was thinking that this place is infested with lawyers! Guess not."

Goemon crossed his arms.
"Jigen, do you even know how to hire a lawyer?"

Jigen shrugged.
"I've never had a reason to. But from what I heard they're the spawns of satan so I've steered clear of them."

"Oh."

Another minute or so, and still nothing. But suddenly, as Jigen was driving over a speed bump, something made a 'thump' noise in the trunk. He looked at Goemon through the rear view mirror.
"What the hell was that all about?"

Goemon didn't even seem to notice the thump.
"I believe it's my sword polishing kit."

Jigen stared at Goemon.
"Since when is a sword polishing kit so heavy that it makes an audible thump?!"

"Well my zantetsuken does require high maintenance."

"Oh."

A moment of silence went by. Goemon stared out the window.
"We just passed the, er... 'Wright Anything Agency'."

Confused, Jigen checked his rear view mirror. And of course, the sign was getting smaller and smaller as they drove further and further.
"Now you tell me! Oh goddammit. Welp, guess it's too late to turn back. Let's find a different one."

An unknown amount of time passed, when Goemon broke the arising silence.
"There's one up ahead. The sign says 'Edgeworth Law Offices'."

"Great."
Jigen swerved into the parking lot. There weren't exactly any cars there but the lights inside were on. Perhaps whoever worked there preferred using the train or bus as opposed to a car.
The samurai climbed out of the back seat, resting his sandals on the asphalt.
"And what if the attorney doesn't take on the case?"

Jigen loaded his gun, smirking.
"Well then, we use brute force."

***

It was about closing time. Defense attorney, Raymond Shields was packing up his things. He'd already reported everything about the day to Gregory and was now getting ready to leave. Today was rather uneventful. There haven't been any new cases recently so he could go home early. Well... it was around nine by then so maybe he wasn't going home "early early" but at least it was earlier than usual.

Raymond reached into his pocket in order to get the key so that he could lock the office up for the night but of course, no such luck. The attorney returned to his desk to see if maybe he left the key somewhere there.
He hummed a tune as he searched through the cabinets and looked on the floor.
Finally, he spotted something shiny underneath a stack of folders.
"There you are!"
He pulled the key out from the pile and twisted it in his hand. How in the world the object had gotten to where he found it, he had no idea.
Raymond then turned off the lights, allowing the office to only be illuminated by the pale light of the full moon. And just as he was about to push the key into the door, a knock erupted from the other side as well as some furious shuffling.
What the-? At this hour? Seriously?
The attorney checked his watch. It was already around 9:30 pm now. Most normal people would be getting to bed by now. And Ray wanted to be among those normal folks, so he called out a response.
"Sorry but I'm closed for today! Come back tomorrow and I'm sure I'll-!"