“But sir, you have to let me keep reporting this one!” Maggie could hear her voice rising in desperation and tried to keep herself under control. “Please, I know I can write a great article on this!”
In truth, she was flummoxed by what had just taken place. A murder at the theater, and in the middle of the show to boot. It’d be all too easy to sensationalize the story, paint Trucy Wright as a deviant from her adopted father’s pursuit of justice. But the look on the young magician’s face when the man’s body tumbled out of the coffin (rather gruesome, if Maggie was to be quite honest), something about it convinced her the girl wasn’t to blame. She’d seemed so happy and alive earlier when Maggie had tried to interview her (admittedly without authorization) in the intermission, before she’d been kicked out by security. There was no way this bright magical girl had committed any kind of crime, even just manslaughter. As a reporter, she knew that trusting her instincts was imperative to doing her job and she was absolutely determined to investigate. All she had to do was convincer her editor…
“Please sir, I’m literally begging here. Let me stay on the story! I promise I’ll make you proud, sir!” She heard the sigh from her editor.
“Maggie, we’ve talked about this. You’re not on the crime team. You’re a culture writer.”
“Boss, I’ll make you a deal. Let me get an interview with Miss Wright. I’ll write up something and if you like it, I keep the story.” When there was no immediate agreement, Maggie tried again. “I won’t let you down, I promise.”
One more second of silence. Maggie was barely breathing. “It had better be a damn good interview, Zene.”
Maggie pumped her fists in the air silently, grinning broadly. “I promise it’ll be a good one, sir. You won’t regret this!” Hanging up her cell, Maggie jumped up and down, trying not to squeal aloud. She was finally getting the chance to prove herself and maybe, just maybe, this article would be the one that convinced the crime section she was worth having. Turning around, Maggie confidently pushed open the doors to the detention center. She’d been standing outside it the whole time, waiting for the green light that she knew her persistence would eventually bring her.
After she stated her business with the officer at the front desk, Maggie followed the guard down a narrow hallway, clutching her notebook and her sketchbook to her chest. She was trying to pump herself up – this was the single most important interview of her life and she couldn’t risk messing this one up. Roused from her thoughts by voices coming down the hallway in the opposite direction, she turned sideways to allow a man in a bright red suit and an… interesting hairdo and a red-headed girl in a cute yellow blazer and skirt to pass her. They looked very familiar, but in her haze, Maggie just couldn’t place them at the moment.
“Come on, Apollo! We need to get back to the theater!” The girl was egging the man on down the hallway, practically dragging him.
“Athena, calm down, I’m going as fast as I can.” A sharper tug from the girl on the man’s arm caused him to stumble right into Maggie. Her notebooks fell to the floor, but the man managed to catch her arm and steady her before Maggie followed suit. “Are you okay?! I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“No, you’re okay. Don’t worry about it,” Maggie assured him. Upon closer inspection, he was pretty cute, with wide brown eyes and brown hair that stuck up in the front and… what was that glinting on his lapel? An attorney’s badge? Suddenly, it all fell into place. These people were Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes from the Wright Anything Agency, where Trucy worked as well. They must be defending her in court tomorrow. “You’re Apollo Justice, aren’t you?”
The man looked surprised, but nodded. “That’s me. How did you know who I am?”
Maggie smiled. “I’m a reporter. It’s my job to know all the major players in a story I’m working on. You’re Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes, defense attorneys at the Wright Anything Agency with Trucy Wright. I assume you’ll be defending her, correct?” Maggie had already flipped open her notebook, ready to take down his answer.
“Of course we will! She didn’t do it, after all,” Athena butted in, a brilliant grin on her face.
“And do you plan on accepting the manslaughter charge or will you fight for complete acquittal?”
“Trucy didn’t do it,” Apollo countered firmly. “She’s not guilty.”
“And you’re on your way to investigate the crime scene now?”
“Yeah, we are! If this guy will hurry up, that is,” Athena answered, rolling her eyes. ‘He’s such a slowpoke. Always like this, that one.’ Maggie started as the necklace around Athena’s neck piped up suddenly. “Shh, Widget!” Athena scolded, covering the necklace with her hand.
“Well, I won’t keep you then. Thank you for talking to me. Good luck investigating.” Maggie nodded to them, smiling.
“Hey, wait, you never told us your name,” Apollo said quickly. “I mean, that’s only fair, right?”
“Oh, that was rude of me, huh? I’m Maggie. Nice to meet you.” Maggie closed her notebook while talking, starting to walk away down the hall behind the guard. “Maybe I’ll see you again soon.”
At least she hoped she would. She was going to need to investigate, too, so it was inevitable that if she got permission (or was sneaky enough), she’d run into the lawyers again.