Part 75: Case 5 - Rise From the Ashes - Investigation (Day 2) - Part 1

Case 5 - Rise From the Ashes
Investigation (Day 2) - Part 1





: Uh... um, Mr. Wright! So...
: What's going on with the case, anyway!?
: I... I'm a little confused.
: Huh!? W-well, um... let's see. (What is going on?)



: He died in the Prosecutor's parking lot... and the Police Department's evidence room.
: What's this "and the evidence room" part!?
: The Prosecutor's Office and the Police Department are 30 minutes apart by car.
: ... Well... that's what we're going to find out. (Or try to, at least...)
: ...
: Alright! Let's do it!
: (Glad she's in good spirits, but I'm not sure she's going to be much help with this...)
: Don't be so sure, Mr. Wright.
: Huh?
: Would you mind coming with me?
: I'll prove that these thick-rimmed glasses of mine aren't just for show!
: Let's go! Science awaits us!

And we are immediately jumped to...



: You know, I really don't think we should worry about the Police Department murder!



: (Of course it was our victim who was killed at the Department...)
: And my sister would never do such a thing! I know it...

Sudden flashback!



: The oil drum kicked over by the Chief Prosecutor...
: was brimming with water!



: (Even though she says they don't get along, Ema really likes her sister...)
: That's not it at all!
: It's just...
: We're both professionals at what we do... and I trust her!
: (Big words for a high school student.) Well, whether there was blood stains or not... The water in that oil drum washed it all away.
: He he heh. Ignore the strength of my science at your own peril, Mr. Wright!
: Huh? What's that grin for?



: L-luminol?
: Blood is sticky stuff, you know. You can't just wash it away with a little water.
: Even if you can't see it, it's still there...
: But wouldn't the police have already done those tests?
: Never trust anyone's eyes but your own, Mr. Wright!
: Just give it a try!
: M-me? Why do I have to do it!?
: I'm a minor! I can't even drink yet!
: (We're testing blood stains with this stuff, not drinking it...)
: Here, look, I'll lend you these glasses.
: Huh? You had an extra pair of those things?





Luminol testing takes place on the bottom screen, like examining.

: To test for a blood reaction, just spray the luminol on it.



: Touch the screen to spray it on.
: Okay! Let's find us some bloodstains!



Once a bloodstain has been identified this way, you have to tap it.



: So, this is a bloodstain?
: Uhhhh... It's so... ugh!
: Ema, you're shaking.
: It's just... this is my first time seeing real blood!
: (Scientific investigation in action...)
: O-okay, well, we definitely know this is a bloodstain.
: But, doesn't something strike you as odd? Scientifically speaking, of course?
: (What's odd about this... scientificallly?)





: Why, the blood stain's location is odd! Elementary!



: I mean, I would think that if there was a fight, you'd expect some bloodstains here.
: ... I suppose you might think that.
: C'mon, Mr. Wright! We're all counting on you!
: (There is something odd about this bloodstain... But if it's not the location of the blood, then maybe...) Maybe it's the amount of blood that's odd?

Or...



: The perpetrator and Detective Goodman fought here, right? Don't you think there'd be a little more blood?

Convergence.





: I mean...



: (It's strange! If they fought here, there'd have to be more bloodstains than this.)
: Uh, h-hey, Mr. Wright!



: See... I'm pretty handy to have around, right?



: I saved up my allowance to buy this!

The Luminol is added to our evidence list. I forget to actually look at it for a bit, though.

: We can't be sure that the police will reveal all their evidence in court.
: Sometimes they fail to mention evidence that doesn't fit with their view of the case.
: And we'll drag that "hidden evidence" out into the light of day!
: Yeah!
: It feels like we're really investigating a crime now, doesn't it?
: (This luminol stuff is going to come in handy.)
: Hah!



: Ms. Starr!



: You only trust your own eyes, hm?
: Not bad, you two...



: Sorry, it's just, that kind of lead in doesn't really get my mouth watering.

And now we can look around or talk to Angel.



: So that's where Ms. Starr saw the incident from.
: You can probably see quite a lot from up there. (Hmm...)



: Where's the security guard, anyway?
: Well, this is just something I heard...
: But apparently he went out to buy coffee for Ms. Starr.
: (That woman is a force to be reckoned with...)



: So, this is the famous oil drum.
: Well, no time like the present! I'll try to kick it over myself!
: Hii-yah!
: ......
: Th-that's okay. Don't cry. (That Lana Skye must be a powerful woman...)

So let's talk to Angel now.



: You certainly put me in a tight spot today.
: My apologies Ms. Starr, but...
: No, no, it's okay. It was my fault.
: Oh, we know.
: I witnessed everything from that security room right there. But...I was afraid that wouldn't sound convincing enough, you see...
: I was wrong to think that. I'm sorry.
: Sorry? You lied on the witness stand! That's unforgivable!
: ...



: Little girl, don't forget what's important here. Even if the place I witnessed the events from was different, I still saw what I saw.



: Ah...
: I swear it on my honor as a detective!
: She stabbed Goodman!
: ...!





: So... you were a detective, weren't you, Ms. Starr?
: Yes... It was a long time ago.
: Well, two years ago. No matter how hardened the criminal, when they faced me...



: They coughed it up.
: Coughed it... up?
: They confessed.
: They babbled like babies.



: I wouldn't doubt it.
: Every day, I dragged the dirt out of the mouths of suspect after suspect...
: And before long, they called me...



: The Cough-up Queen!
: Oh, and here I thought someone had gotten food poisoning from your lunches.
: And... you were "let go"? Er... fired?



: And if these prim and proper prosecutors hadn't let me go, I'd still be one today.



: Ess... el..? (Wait! She doesn't mean...!)

If we present her photo...



: But... even I get flustered sometimes.
: So, you went straight to the scene of the crime?
: And climbed the chain link fence in an effort to stop the murder?



: In other words... five minutes after the crime?
: Those five minutes are the whole problem...
: The hole in my testimony, as it were.
: The five minutes weren't the problem, Ms. Starr, you lying was the problem!
: Listen, little girl.
: I've had my testimony "disregarded" before... And I wasn't going to have it disregarded again! Just like that time...
: (That time...?)

If we present either the SL-9 note or the SL-9 knife...

: Um... What do you think about this?





: Goodman...
: Goodman was the head detective on that case, you know.
: Really?
: That knife was evidence from that case... the murder weapon. It was due for transferal the very day that Goodman was killed.



: As I suspected... SL-9 isn't over! Not yet!
: Do you think you could tell us more about the SL-9 Incident?



: That's when I learned the truth.
: We're nothing to them. Disposable.
: Disposable?
: Two years ago... it was the biggest case I'd ever handled.





: So... they didn't solve it?
: On the contrary. It was solved quite cleanly. The criminal was caught and executed.
: (E-executed...?)
: Yes, the criminal got what was coming to him. It doesn't get any cleaner than that. The only problem was...
: they never did find decisive evidence. Not even a little.
: What!? But the criminal was executed, right?
: Evidence... of a sort. Made up evidence.
: Wh-what?
: You mean they executed someone with fabricated evidence!?
: ...
: The best part came several months after the trial. Every detective involved with the case was dealt with.
: Some were demoted to patrolmen, others found themselves out of a job...
: And... you were one of those?
: Myself, and one other person you know well.
: (Wait, could it be...?)



: Exactly. Officer Jake Marshall. He's on security detail in the Police Department, isn't he?



: As professional detectives, we investigated that case from every angle.



: And then... it was over. And he was demoted.
: However...
: He hasn't forgotten. And neither have I!
: You haven't forgotten SL-9?
: There was another side to that case, a hidden side. That's what we're after now.
: And no one up in their fancy offices can stop us.
: Wait! Th-those lunches you sell...
: There is only one reason I come to sell lunches in this accursed office.
: I come here to meet old friends... boyfriends that can help me investigate.
: (Ms. Starr's old boyfriends... How many does she have, anyway? Just when the detectives on the case have disappeared, we find new evidence...)
: There has to be a connection!
: So, Rookie...
: Wh-what!
: It seems like you're serious about investigating this case...
: Yes.





: I know a certain guy who might help you if you tempt him with this treat...

And it goes into the inventory.





: I can almost hear the sound of steak frying on the grill!
: No doubt it's all cold and tough by now.
: No, I'm sure it's delicious!
: Ms. Starr poured her heart into making this!
: So long as she didn't put any other organs in there...



: She must mean "beef." She probably just wrote it generically.
: Uh... yeah. Let's hope so.
: Of course, as a scientist I have to check what additives she used.
: Go to town.
: Huh? It says here... "Hours of sweat and labor."
: So that's why the sauce is so salty...

Anyway...

: Um, Ms. Starr...?
: Officer Marshall... is he your... uh, are you his...?
: Are you g-g-g-going out!?
: Why do you want to know?
: I was just wondering what happened to him?
: A long time ago, when he was helping my sister do cases, he was so nice. He got along so well with my sister, it made me jealous. And... he was nice to me too, back then.
: (This would be when Officer Marshall was a detective.)
: But now...
: now he's so cold!
: ...
: Jake and I are merely cooperating on this investigation. We're putting the past to rest, as it were.
: Nothing more than that.
: I... I see.
: Thank you.
: (Officer Jake Marshall... Hmm...)

Next time: Getting out of this damn parking lot.