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Logic-and-Trickster — Chapter 5-1: The Scene of the Crime
#crossover #fanfiction #joker #persona #aceattorney #mayafey #phoenixwright #phantomthieves #maskdemasque #persona5 #akirakurusu #yuukimishima #saeniijima #renamamiya
Published: 2019-06-12 15:50:45 +0000 UTC; Views: 2957; Favourites: 2; Downloads: 0
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April 12th, 8:57 am
Sniffsonian Museum Entrance
---Music: Investigation ~ Core 2002 ---
Well... here we are again. Standing outside of the Sniffsonian Museum after what has happened has given the entire building a slightly different feeling. Needing to obtain the Orb of Heart was one thing, sure, but visiting a crime scene to investigate a murder... well, that's a sensation I'm a bit more familiar with. This is the kind of tension Maya and I are used to. The two of us have our game faces on as we prepare to enter the front lobby and head towards the atrium.
I feel a vibration in my pocket and notice that I've gotten a text.
Alibaba: Did you receive the new phone? I wanted to make sure Sae Niijima was able to deliver it to you last night.
Phoenix: I did, thanks!
Alibaba: I hope it is to your liking.
Phoenix: It will take some getting used to, but I certainly appreciate you going to the lengths of getting me a new one.
Alibaba: You're welcome. It's the least we can do for you, given you are going to be defending Akira.
Phoenix: Well, now that I'm on a first name basis with your leader, when do I get to meet the rest of you?
Alibaba: We will certainly be sitting in the gallery at the trial. Once this situation is dealt with, I believe it will be an appropriate time for formal introductions and getting back to the Orb situation.
Phoenix: Alright. Sounds like a plan.
Maya's voice wrangles my attention back from my phone screen. "Hey, Nick, here comes Miss Niijima!" she tells me
Sure enough, I can see her cross under the police tape which has been set up along the perimeter of the establishment. She shows her attorney badge to an officer, who allows her to enter the area, and she approaches us with a smile which exudes a "good morning" greeting.
"So, Mr. Wright, Miss Fey, I do have some information to share with you two," she starts, getting right to the point, "I did some research to find out more about the victim of this murder."
"The more information, the better!" Maya nods, "We still don't have a clue what actually happened here last night!"
"I understand the basics of it," Sae explains, "What is known so far is that Austin Translation, an American politician, was murdered here last night. The remains of a statue are all around him and he has wounds all over, so the most likely explanation is that the statue was pushed onto him by the murderer."
"And what was this gentleman doing here after closing in the first place?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.
Sae shakes her head. "No one is sure at this moment in time."
"Just one more thing on the list of many mysteries that need solving if we want to win this case," Maya sighs.
I chuckle. "Well, at the very least, your timing is good, Miss Niijima. The police look like they are finishing up, so now's our chance to check the scene for ourselves."
---(Music End)---
April 12th, 9:06 am
Sniffsonian Museum Atrium
The area is cleared out now that local law enforcement have done their thing. We even catch Detective Ritsu on his way out. "Good morning, Niijima-san! And good morning to you as well, Mr. Wright and Miss Maya!"
I return the greeting. "It's good to see you again, detective."
"So, which one of you took Kurusu-san's case?" he asks, "One of you must have, if you're here to once-over the crime scene."
"I did," I reply back, "Though Niijima-san will be assisting me as co-counsel."
"I have to say, you've made quite an impression on me, Mr. Wright," Ritsu compliments, "I thought you were on vacation here, but you've been doing nothing but working on cases and investigations these last few days. You sure are dedicated."
"I thought it was a vacation, too," Maya snickers, "But as we've found out, crime doesn't take days off so we can't either."
"By the by," Ritsu continues, "I've been thinking a lot about everything going on lately. And there are just a few too many uncanny connections for it to all be a coincidence."
---Music: Ray ~ A Beam of Light ---
"Er... what do you mean?" I ask innocuously.
"That hard drive we found at Akechi-san's place really started connecting the dots for me. The interest in personal changes, doing research into the Metaverse... and now, here you are again, and this time you're standing up in court for the former leader of the Phantom Thieves..."
Uh oh. I don't like where this is going. What's he trying to get at? I'm getting a cold shiver as he narrows his eyes slightly while staring at me.
---(Music End)---
One of his narrowed eyes turns into a friendly wink. "... But I know how to keep a secret, at least. So, even if you guys are, hypothetically, Phantom Thieves yourselves, you can trust that I won't bring it up again. I recognize that now's not the time or the place, anyway."
---Music: Investigation ~ Middle 2002 ---
Whoa... that was weird. For a moment there, I feel like all three of us froze in panic in response to detective Ritsu. This guy may not look all that out of the ordinary, but he's sharp. Though, I suppose with how much we've been through lately, it would be hard not to start asking questions and doing digging.
We're still a little speechless, so the detective just continues on. "That being said... I feel a bit involved at this point. Once this trial situation is wrapped up..." he begins, turning his head both ways as if he's cautious of being overheard, "... Would you mind filling me in on what's actually going on with all of this Metaverse stuff? I want to help, too."
Maya's eyes are popping out of her head, a sight I see through my own eyes which are also popping out of MY head. She tries to collect herself but still maintains a high level of energy as she speaks. "Detective Ritsu, you want to help us?! Even knowing what we're looking into is dangerous?!"
Ritsu nods his head as if holding back excitement. "When we explored Akechi-san's apartment the other day, it felt like we were all in some sort of noir suspense movie! Braving perplexing puzzles and uncovering hidden secrets leading to the discovery of shocking truths... this thrill is the reason I became a detective! I've always dreamed of solving larger than life mysteries."
Sae seems rather composed now, as she thinks quietly with her eyes closed. "I've known you for quite a while now... and I feel like I somehow expected to hear something like this out of you eventually."
"I'll take that as a compliment?" Ritsu blinks, a little unsure of himself.
Well, apparently there is a lot more to detective Ritsu than meets the eye. This is an interesting development, and the state of this entire investigation may have just changed. But, he's right that it's neither the time nor the place. We have more immediate matters to deal with. "Detective, we'll definitely have a talk after this trial is over. But, for now, we need to get headed over to where the murder took place."
"I totally understand," he replies as he points his finger to the side, "You're going to want to check over there to that corner of the room."
Sure enough, I can see where he's pointing at, and can make out the taped outline of a body on the ground.
Maya speaks up. "Hey, detective Ritsu, if you like solving mysteries, why not stick around and lending us a hand?"
"Sure, I'd be happy to," he smiles, "Let me start by giving you a few things to help you out."
The first things detective Ritsu hands me are two Crime Scene Photographs.
---Music: Strange People (Gyakuten Kenji 2) ---
Maya recognizes the person in the photo as quickly as I do. "Hey, Nick, isn't that...?"
"That'd definitely the Mysterious Man we ran into," I agree, "The one who was looking for the curator!"
"His name is Austin Translation," Ritsu clarifies, "He's from the United States, like you two. He's in Japan as an ambassador. Or, was, rather."
"Uh oh... that sounds important," Maya responds, her voice sounding unsettled.
"Gossip is spreading around the station," Ritsu adds, "And there's rumors that they are getting American officials involved. They may be sending over a professional team to investigate. Though, I'm not sure what good it would do, the trial is tomorrow morning."
"Well, everything falls on us to check out the crime scene then!" Maya says with energy as she pumps her fists, though her display of passion gives way to a brief laugh. "Though, what else is new?"
I update the profile in my records. We now know that the mysterious individual from yesterday is in fact the man who was murdered, Austin Translation.
Well, now it's time to analyze the pictures themselves. The first photo displays the body and the scene of the murder as the police first saw it. I make sure and inspect the photograph carefully to notice all of the important details.
---Music: Trance Logic ---
Austin is laying flat on his stomach with his arms and legs stretched out in strange ways. It's impossible to miss the fact that chunks of stone of various shapes and sizes are all around him, some of which have been damaged so much it's like they were crushed into dust. A statue definitely fell on this man, and the extent of the damage to the statue leaves it unclear what it must have originally been. What is clear is that his legs in particular have been crushed completely. From the positioning of the shards, it seems like the statue fell horizontally and onto his lower body, specifically. There's a large platform with wheels overturned on it's side near the base of what would have been the statue. I assume that platform was used to move the statue since it was, evidently, extremely heavy.
"How is it so much of the stone from the statue is flat out disintegrated?" I ask, "I can see that some of the chunks are still intact, but some have been ground down to literal powder."
"We're thinking foul play on that one," Ritsu considers, "The only real explanation is that someone tampered with some parts of the statue. Could have been for any reason, my bet's on to not leave any fingerprints. Either way, it's clear someone took a hammer to some of these chunks and didn't leave much after they were finished."
"So we know it was a stone statue that dropped on top of him," Maya reiterates, "But why are there chunks and splinters of wood?"
Sure enough, wood is shattered around the crime scene.
Ritsu scratches his chin. "We think there may have been a struggle, because those shards are what's left of an easel which had been displaying a painting. Either Austin or the killer must have broken it at some point while fighting. And that easel is pretty important, too... just check the second photograph I gave you."
*!*
---Music: Investigation ~ Core 2002 ---
The second photo is more gruesome than the first. It's a picture of Austin's body on a stretcher, laying on his back. His legs are mangled beyond repair, and the coat and shirt around the middle of his body are dyed red with blood. "Yikes..." I gasp, "Is all that blood from being crushed?"
Ritsu shakes his head. "I'll just go ahead and let you take a look at the autopsy report."
I put away the Crime Scene Photographs in my evidence, and take the Autopsy Report.
Time of Death: Between 9:10 pm and 9:20 pm
Cause of Death: Uncertain.
-Severe trauma to the head; skull was fractured
-Large puncture wound to the abdomen; a sharp piece of wood was found
-Intense body-wide blunt trauma; front of body was bruised and both legs were completely crushed
"Yeesh..." Maya comments, clearly squeamish, "It's awful that he died, but I sure hope whatever killed him at least made it quick. I can't imagine what kind of pain surviving ANY of those things would be like..."
"This is... strange, for sure," Sae speaks with concentration, "Usually the analysts are pretty spot on with exact cause of death."
Ritsu cringes as if he himself were in pain. "I guess we have to assume most if not all of these injuries happened at around the same time. If you ask me, personally... my theory would be that since one of the easels was broken, he was in some kind of fight last night, and either accidentally or intentionally got stabbed by one of the wooden shards from the broken easel."
"Wait," I interject, "Wouldn't it make more sense that both he and the statue just fell on top of the easel and one of the pieces of wood stabbed him while it broke?"
"Well, the painting that was originally on the easel was found a little bit away from the location of the murder. It isn't clear if the easel was moved from somewhere else or what, but there are shards of it scattered all around the area. We truthfully don't know WHERE the easel was at the time."
Something about that seems off to me, but I can't really figure out what.
"At some point after that, the statue was pushed over, clonked him on the head and did him in, and then landed on top of the corpse," Ritsu sighs depressingly. "Man, what a way to go..."
I add the Autopsy Report to my evidence as well. I know I'll be needing it in court, later.
---(Music End)---
Time to move on to the next subject of concern. "I had a question, detective. Where is the curator in all of this?"
"You mean Hibiki-san?" Ritsu clarifies, "We found him at the museum as well, the security guard claims to have called the curator to the scene upon witnessing what happened. We're trying to figure out what he was doing that night, and if he has any relationship to the victim at all."
Maya and I look at each other uneasily. Austin Translation was specifically looking for Hebi Hibiki... that can't be a coincidence. "Where is he now?" I ask.
"He's being questioned right now down at the station," Ritsu explains.
That's good. If he isn't around, then no one will be in the office and we're free to investigate up there, as well. "Alright. I was just curious. Thanks for that info."
There's a short moment of pause, and Ritsu seems to recognize we're nearing the end of this conversation. "There's one last thing we found," Ritsu adds, sounding like he's ready to wrap up, "Translation-san had a phone on him last night. He was keeping it in his breast pocket. It's smashed really badly, but... well, we have what's left of it."
He holds up a plastic bag with pieces of what used to be a smart phone inside of it.
"A phone, eh?" Maya speaks inquisitively, "I bet that would have call records, or stored text messages, or maybe calendar alerts? It might tell us even a little bit about why he was here at the museum after closing last night."
"Hmm..." Sae hums, "Would you mind if I keep that evidence for a while? I actually know a friend who is very savvy with technology and she may be able to repair this. Or at least get the data out from it."
Ritsu shrugs amicably. "If you allow me to accompany you to that friend so I can supervise it and make sure it isn't being tampered with, I don't see a problem with that," he allows, before holding his fist up to his mouth and chuckling under his breath, "I was looking for an excuse to not have to go back to the station for paperwork, anyway."
Ritsu hands Sae the Broken Phone.
"Well, I'll leave the crime scene to you two, then," Sae announces, "I'll let you know if we make any progress on finding out what's stored on this phone."
---Music: Investigation ~ Middle 2004 ---
"Good luck," I smile and wave as Sae and the detective make their leave. "Well, Maya, let's get down to business."
Out of the corner of my eye I see that she's holding some kind of small booklet. "They had these little guide books near the entrance of the atrium, I have a feeling the information inside may help us out. It's pretty long, though. Quite a few pages. How about I read through it while you do some inspecting? We'll keep each other updated."
"That works for me," I agree. While I do the physical investigating, Maya will be reading through the Atrium Exhibit Guide. I'll add it to my inventory later, if it becomes pertinent enough.
The area where the crime took place is near the edge of a large, roped off area that has a bunch of painter's easels which are holding various artwork. They are spaced evenly, and the taped outline of Austin Translation's body lays right on top of an area where, if my hunch is correct, an easel would have been. I think that because, though there are shards of wood everywhere, the bulk of it is right around where the body was. There are a lot of shattered and crushed remains of that easel, as well as the statue that killed the victim.
A distance away from the body outline, I see a piece of artwork... or, rather, "pieces" of artwork, as it is broken. It must be the painting originally on the easel. It's split diagonally, but I can easily piece together what it originally was. It's a very impressive piece of work, with very robust colors such as blacks, reds, and blues. The saturation of the dark colors give the viewer the impression of depth and meaning. However, the colors have been somewhat smeared and slightly faded.
I add Destroyed Painting to my evidence collection. It's near the crime scene, and we know that it was destroyed in the scuffle, so I have a feeling it could be important later.
"So, Maya, I can tell this area is for displaying a bunch of paintings. But what in particular is this area?" I ask.
Maya nods her head in response to me, and her eyes are still stuck on the pamphlet in front of her. "Page 1 is all about the ground floor, and it mentions this area is specific. It's a display for all of the former pupils of some guy named Madarame. 'Come see a brand new gallery of pieces from the honest and genuine talent behind the works Ichiryusai Madarame plagiarized! With the identities of the true artists made clear, some of the most famous works of our time have had their honor restored!'"
Hmm... well that doesn't seem right. Let's think about this for a moment. "Maya, does the book say anything about any of the artists in this display having submitted statues to the exhibit?"
"Hmm!" Maya hums as if I'm on to something, "It explicitly says that all of the pieces in this area are supposed to be paintings."
I think back to the wheeled platform in the picture, which I now see laying on its side in person. "Maya, any ideas on why this statue would have even been in this area in the first place?"
She takes a moment to observe our surroundings as well. "I don't know. I don't even know how they could have rolled it over into this area at all, the whole place is chained off and it would have blocked the statue from entering."
Hmm... where else could it have come from? I mean, it's not like it just fell out of the sky.
... Or did it?
I look up and get a look at the balconies above. Maybe...
"Hey, Maya, check it out. If you look at the area where the statue fell, it's not actually too far of a distance from the balcony railing up above."
She walks over to me and squints her eyes to look up herself. "Hey, you're right!" she nods with pep in her voice. "That metal guardrail looks really sturdy. If there was a statue up against it and you pushed hard enough... it would pivot right over the rail and fall right down!"
Bingo! "I think we're on to something here, Maya. The place where it landed fits perfectly with that theory! Does your book say what exhibits are on the other floors of the atrium balconies?"
Maya is already back into the booklet. "Well, we're on the ground floor, and page 2 has the first. The first floor iiisssss..."
---Music: My Homie ---
"Oh. The first floor is a statue gallery," she speaks with palpable embarrassment.
The two of us are quiet for a moment.
"'Take a walk through the finest sculpting in history in our statue gallery, spanning the entire first floor balcony!' is what it says," Maya elaborates.
"Well," I blink, "When you put it that way it's pretty obvious that the statue came from up above, huh."
"That makes things easy for us at least," Maya laughs, "Let's head up there, then!"
---(Music End)---
April 12th, 9:15 am
Sniffsonian Museum Atrium First and Second Floor Balconies
---Music: Investigation ~ Middle 2004 ---
This is the same path we took to the curator's office originally. Back then, I wasn't paying attention to the exhibits or the layout. Now, however, I'm analyzing both with incredible detail.
Whoever drew the blueprints to this place clearly didn't do it with ergonomic efficiency in mind. Normally, stairs are all contained in relatively the same area--like a stairwell, or even just a continual path from the top floor to the ground floor. However, each staircase to each floor is separate, and in different areas. They aren't SUPER far apart, but... well, from the point where the stairs reach the first floor, there's a good twenty or thirty foot walk across the balcony to get to the base of the next staircase heading to the second floor.
Maya recognizes the impracticality of this as well. "Why couldn't they put the stairs all in one place?" she gripes.
I scratch my chin and try to find an answer myself. "Even the surrounding building has felt like that, not just he atrium. I guess the idea is that, this way, people have to pass by the exhibits and can't just rush through the museum."
"Or maybe whoever designed the place was a jerk and liked to mess with people..." Maya sighs with her shoulders and her facial expression equally slumped with fatigue.
Well, regardless, back to that matter at hand. "There are a ton of statues here," I recognize, "Easily dozens..."
"They practically line the entire balcony up here!" Maya adds, "And a lot of them are on top of platforms with wheels like the one below! I wonder why?"
"Hmm... I suppose the positions of the displays haven't been finalized yet?" I ponder, but then another thought hits me. "Actually, Maya... maybe the reason they are on easily movable platforms is so he can sell them off from his midnight market more easily."
With her palm against her chin she looks diagonally upward. "Y'know, I could see that being the case. But anyway! It's very clear the statue down there on the ground floor must have fallen from up here."
"And if it fell from up here... then someone had to have been up here to push it over the railing," I confirm gravely.
"But wasn't there a struggle down on the ground floor?" Maya reminds me, "What, do you think there might have been a third party?"
Now that's a route we haven't considered yet. "It's hard to say. That is one possibility," I consider, shaking my head while holding my forehead. "Sheesh... there's still so much about this crime we don't understand."
Maya sticks out her tongue with a pensive expression. "There's a lot of statues here... I guess we could start by looking for empty gaps where statues look like they might have been?"
"Well, before we touch anything," I call to her, taking out my phone, but she interjects to make a quick point.
"Well, we really shouldn't touch anything, anyway..." Maya mentions in response, "The tenth page of the Exhibit Guide has a bunch of rules on what not to do. 'Turn off flash photography, please,' 'Only museum staff may touch the art with specialized gloves,' and stuff like that."
"Hmm. Noted," I nod my head, "The destroyed painting we took we'll have to make an exception for. We'll be careful not to mess with anything else while we're investigating. Either way, I'm going to take a picture of this area, just in case."
Maya shoots me a thumbs up, and begins scampering out of my line of sight so as to get out of the way of the picture. "Good call. Go for it!"
I snap as clear a photo as I can manage, framing the entire area directly above where the crime happened down below. With this first photo, I'll start a collection of Balcony Photographs to help keep track of the various other locations that may become relevant, which I'll be keeping in my evidence.
"So, the first issue to address here..." Maya starts us off, "Is there anything that could tell us which statue was pushed? Or, where that statue could have been?"
"You're right, the position would be important," I agree, "Say, if it were over against the wall and a long way from the edge of the balcony, it would have taken some serious time--and not to mention, uninterrupted effort--to move."
"I think this booklet has a list of all of the art pieces in the atrium!" Maya announces triumphantly.
Now there's some good news. "Does it list where each statue would be located, or show any maps or floor layouts?" I ask, expecting a favorable answer to my question, but it looks like Maya seems disappointed now. "What's wrong?"
"There's a list, yeah..." Maya speaks with a downtrodden disposition, "But it's all in alphabetical order. It doesn't say anything about where they are, or in this case where the smashed statue would have been..."
That makes this a bit tougher. "Are there at least pictures of the statues and what they look like?" I ask.
"Yes, I see a ton of photographs. Of each one, actually," Maya explains, "It looks kinda like a high school year book. Each name has a picture and a description."
"Well, it may take a while," I groan, "But we can just match the pictures with the statues we see in person. We'll use process of elimination to see which one is missing."
"Sounds like a plan. Let's get started!"
---(Music End)---
April 12th, 9:28 am
Sniffsonian Museum Atrium First and Second Floor Balconies
It was more of a mental exercise, but it was some physical footwork as well. Maya and I have worked up a bit of a sweat. "Well, we've counted all the ones here. Which one is missing?"
Maya looks puzzled. "Well, there are actually a few missing!" she announces to me, "The booklet I'm reading is actually dated for next month, it looks like. They might be listing a few pieces which haven't actually arrived yet."
"Well, there's a thought," I agree, "Either way, narrowing it down to even a small handful of possibilities will help us."
---Music: Logic Trinity ---
"Alright, here it goes!" Maya cheers, "I'll make sure and mark the ones in the book as I go along."
Everything she is about to say, I'll be sure to keep a record of. I'll likely be using this Atrium Exhibit Guide as reference in court, after all.
- David, a painstakingly accurate recreation of one of the most legendary statues in history, originally crafted by the famous artist Michelangelo.
- Jeanne d’Arc Vaillante, a stylized depiction of the world-renown French saint Joan of Arc holding her sword in the air triumphantly for her faith and country.
- Perseo Trionfante, the hero from Greek Mythology who used his wits, the reflection of his shield, and his sword, to defeat Medusa the snake monster, holding her severed head.
"Nice work, Maya," I grin, "Four statues is much less than forty or fifty! This will help us immensely."
---(Music End)---
"Should we check the other floors, too?" Maya suggests, "With how big this place is, some of these missing pieces may just be around on a different level, somewhere."
"That's not a bad idea," I concur, "We may as well give things a look and take some more pictures."
---Music: Investigation ~ Middle 2004 ---
So, it's up to the second floor balcony next. "So, what does the pamphlet say about this level?" I ask Maya.
She seems to have the exact page pulled up already, and she even uses a funny voice as she quotes the writing as if she were a carnival announcer. "'Witness the most talented and unforgettable works of art from the greatest minds in history, and artifacts from a time long past! From Ancient Greece and Rome to modern day, please, enjoy our Western Art section!'"
Hmm... this section looks a lot less like a marble gallery and much more like a traditional museum. There are lots of podiums protected with glass housing various oddities, and a few larger objects are out in the open such as pottery, some sort of metal shield, and some ancient weaponry. There are some paintings lining the walls, and there are other various sculptures and such.
"There doesn't seem to be much here that would be relevant to the case," Maya reasons.
"I'll snap a photo of this floor as well, just in case," I say. Just like before, I'm careful to frame the entire area above the crime scene within the shot. I take a photo and add it to my growing collection of Balcony Photographs.
"So, the third floor, next?" Maya asks.
"Yep. Let's keep moving."
---(Music End)---
April 12th, 9:35 am
Sniffsonian Museum Atrium Third Floor
Here we are again, this is where all of the craziness started yesterday. The third floor doesn't have nearly as many pieces on display, and is pretty bare-bones. There are a few doors, including the one to the office we sat in yesterday--the office with the sealed door which previously hid the Orb we were seeking. "Does your booklet have a description of this floor?"
"It seems this area is mostly for navigation," Maya begins explaining, "Most of these doors and paths lead backwards into various tour routes. The idea is that no matter which tour path you take, you end up entering the atrium. So there are some miscellaneous things like a wax museum on the side opposite of the curator's office, and some other things. But those areas aren't even part of the atrium, they lead back into the other buildings of the museum."
"If that's the case, I doubt they'd be relevant to what we're looking into," I consider, "And it would be way too much ground to cover, anyway."
"Should we at least take a picture of this floor?" Maya asks.
"I'm a bit hesitant to do that," I admit, "It's likely Akira did go through this area and into the office, and I don't want to accidentally find anything incriminating..."
Maya looks to the side in thought. "Man. Who'd have thought that trying to hide the truth would be so complicated? The prosecutors you fight in court make it look so easy!"
The point she makes is decidedly poignant. "That aside, we should check out the office itself, next. "This is the last area we really need to inspect as far as this whole debacle is concerned."
"Yeah, definitely," Maya nods, "But how come there's no police tape or anything?"
"I don't think the police even searched this area," I infer, "I doubt Hebi would have mentioned anything about the Orb, or his personal collection, lest he bring suspicion on himself and his moonlight dealings."
"Well why the heck are they charging Akira with theft!?" Maya argues.
"I'm not sure," I admit, "I don't know what else would have been reported as stolen."
"I see," Maya speaks as she moves right along to the next topic, "Well, Akira said he left the office unlocked last night."
Sure enough, Maya jiggles the doorknob and the door creaks right open.
"Alright, then," I smile, "Let's get in there and see if there's anything else we need to know about before tomorrow's trial."
April 12th, 9:38 am
Sniffsonian Museum Curator's Office
It's the same office as before, and it seems as if nothing has changed since we were last in here. Assuming Mask☆DeMasque and Akira went in here last night, they both must be equally skilled at infiltration. I can't see any signs of entry at a glance.
Maya recalls a request from earlier. "I think Akira asked us to look through the drawers of the desk for some documents, didn't he?"
I nod and get right to it. I shuffle through the various compartments on the desk, but none of them have anything in them. "Hmm. That's odd. Was he certain there was something in here?"
"I'm not really sure," Maya replies softly, "He just wanted us to check. Maybe it was just an assumption there'd be something. Or maybe the curator took out whatever was in there already."
"Nothing I can find, at least," I return, unfortunately. I close the drawers back up and walk towards the door at the corner of the room with the number pad in front of it. "So, there's just one last place to check..."
"Ooo! Let me do it! Akira gave us the passcode to unlock the inner stash. Still, I think we would have guessed it anyway... I can't believe it's just, '1, 2, 3,' of all things!"
She taps the buttons for those three numbers, in that order, and the keypad blinks with a green light and I can hear the lock mechanism release.
We walk into a room that is... quite a bit larger than I expected. I was imaging something like a walk-in-closet-sized area, but it's more of a second room adjacent to the main office. It's about the same size, though the walls on two sides are covered with what look like library shelves. Those are probably where he keeps his treasures. There's also a small table at the back of the room with a briefcase in it.
I think for a moment on what our objectives are before moving forward. "So, we know that the Orb was in this room. I bet we'll find a calling card in its place, though."
The two of us approach the table with the briefcase, since that seems like the most obvious place to check. Sure enough, inside of the case, we find Mask☆DeMasque's Calling Card just as expected. He always leaves one of these green little slips with his emblem on them whenever he steals something. I add it to my evidence, since Ron's actions will inevitably be important in the trial tomorrow.
"The real question," I further, "Is if there's anything else important we can glean from in here."
"I'm curious if this door we just unlocked is the only way into this room," Maya tells me, "Because you would think Ron and Akira would have run right into each other at some point."
"That's a good question," I agree, "We could give it a quick check."
Maybe it's all of the phantom thievery, but my first inclination is to look for any kind of ventilation shafts big enough to climb through. Those always get used in movies and such, right?
---Music: Logic Construct ---
Maya draws my attention with a call. "Hey, Nick, there's a vent on the ceiling over there. Think that may be what Ron used to get inside?"
Looks like she had the same idea. The vent is over by the corner of the room, and I approach it to stand directly under it and look straight up. "Hmm... it's a little on the narrow side. It'd be a really tight fit for a person..."
"Well, this IS Mask☆DeMasque we're talking about," Maya reminds me, "The guy is skilled enough to make himself look like he's flying! Or, maybe he actually IS flying! He's never let things like reality or physics stop him before!"
I can't even really argue with that. No one really knows how he does what he does but he, himself. Not to mention, the grate covering the vent entrance has had its screws loosened as if it was put back on in a hurry. I can pull it off with little more than a tug, and see directly up the empty tunnel. "Ok then, let's just assume he somehow made it through here. The question then is, where does it lead to? It's goes pretty high up, from what I can see."
Maya comes to stand where I was and takes a look herself. "You're right about that. would it lead back into the regular ventilation system?"
"There's no telling which direction it goes," I admit, "I just see the same silver metal from the top so it doesn't lead directly into the roof, it has to change direction somewhere."
"Well, only one way to find out! Nick, give me a boost!" Maya requests.
I blink a few times. "Wait, what?"
"Ron's kinda small, he's about the same size as me! Just lift me up and I'll see if I can climb up and find out where the path leads!"
She climbs onto my shoulders before I can even protest. "Please, please don't fall, Maya," I caution.
From this vantage point, her upper body reaches into the vent shaft. From here, she alternates between putting pressure on her arms and her legs while wiggling and slightly pulling herself up with each movement, almost like an inchworm or something. It certainly DOES go a long way up, probably a good ten or fifteen feet. "Nick! I reached the top! Do me a favor and go back out to the balcony really quick, I think the path might lead there!"
Well, let's see where the path takes her.
April 12th, 9:42 am
Sniffsonian Museum Atrium Third Floor
Upon walking on the balcony again, I realize that because the atrium's glass ceiling is so high up, the walls of the building itself actually go fairly high up as well to support it. I even notice... a vent! Right near the top of the wall where it meets the glass! Sure enough, the vent cover jostles and pops off, and I see Maya's head wiggle out from inside. "Looks like we found how Ron got in here!"
"That's pretty wild," I call out so she can hear me from down below, "I would have never seen a vent all the way up there!"
"Maybe... maybe Ron saw it while he was flying?" Maya suggests.
I hadn't really considered how Ron could have entered the atrium in the first place... "Now that I think about it, using a rope to enter through the glass ceiling would be a very flamboyant, phantom-thief-y way to enter without setting off an alarm. And from that height, he could have noticed the vent, definitely."
"Well... that answers that question," Maya nods with content, "The next question is... how do I get down?"
It takes a bit of effort, stacking a chair atop of a table, a drop of faith, and a precariously risky catch... but we're eventually able to get Maya back to the ground. She makes sure to return all of the vent grates to the way they were so as to make it look as if it was never tampered with. Considering we're supposed to be allying with both of the two suspects in this theft, we may not even end up bringing this little passageway to the court's attention at all. Just in case, I make sure to take my third and final of the Balcony Photographs to add to my evidence. There isn't much to frame in the shot other than the hard-to-notice vent high atop the wall.
I am aware that I'm really going to be twisting things in court in order to try and protect Akira, and it's not something I'm at all comfortable with. But, there is a bigger picture here, and the words of Maya and Arsene both still ring in my ears. I shouldn't be worrying about this, however. What I should be worrying about is trying to figure out what happened on the ground floor so we can find out who really committed murder last night. I know for fact that it wasn't Ron and it wasn't Akira.
Solving one mystery while attempting to divert attention from another... this will be tricky, but it's our only option now.
To be continued...
---(Music End)---
---Music: Jingle ~ That's All For Today ---
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