Monday, June 2nd, 12:30 PM

Wright Anything Agency

“Well… That could have gone a lot worse than it did.”

Trucy flopped on her favorite couch and pulled off her boots. “That’s true. We could’ve lost.” She grinned. “Right, Chase? Athena?” The two of them filed into the office, clearly ignoring each other. Chase muttered his agreement and hurriedly slunk into the other room. Trucy sighed. So much for that plan.

Athena, on the other hand, grinned. “Yeah! And you know where to start with the investigation, too.” Widget was bright red, though, and as soon as Chase was out of earshot she said, “Pleeeeease, take me with you!” She was wearing her Save me! expression, and Trucy was pretty sure there were tears in her eyes. “I can’t take it anymore! The tension is unbearable, and every time I try to talk to him, he runs away! He sat in the broom closet so he didn’t have to look at me.” Apollo tried to get a word in and she said, “Broom closet.”

He sighed. “We’ve definitely got to figure out what’s up with that kid.”

Trucy frowned. She agreed that something was up… but brute force probably wasn’t the best option, here. Then again, he definitely needed to apologize to Athena; his behavior was clearly taking a toll on her. “I can try to talk to him tonight, if you’d like.”

The lawyer sighed. “I’d really like to get at him myself, with a therapy session, but that sounds great. Thanks, Trucy.”

Apollo nodded and sat down, just as there was a knock at the door. He groaned. “I got it yesterday. It's your turn.”

Athena sighed. “Fine.” It was a moment before they could hear her cheerfully saying, “Welcome to the Wright Anything Agency, where you’ve always come to the Wright place!”

Trucy grinned. “See, Polly? She says it right.” He flopped.

When Athena returned, she was leading none other than Candy Holly herself, and Trucy gasped. “When I saw you at the trial today, I thought you sounded familiar. But I didn’t realize you were part of his office!”

Trucy was still gaping as Apollo said, “Sorry, what?”

She grinned sheepishly and scratched her head. “ Ah, I prob’ly should have introduced myself first. My name is Russi Clover. Go ahead and call me Russi. And… Mr. Wright is the one who inspired me to become a detective.”

“Really? Daddy did that?”

“Heh, yeah. I used to get myself into a lot of trouble as a kid… I had a thing for the occult, and kept throwing myself headfirst into all these cults that just turned out to be frauds.” There was a pause, before she said, “...Also getting accused of murder. That happened a lot, too.” She chuckled and managed to look even more sheepish. “But I was lucky, because I met Mr. Wright and Mr. Edgeworth. They were there whenever I needed someone to help me out. So when I went on to Ivy U… I decided to study criminology and parapsychology. That way, I could help other people the same way they helped me.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize the Boss was that inspirational.”

Apollo smirked and said, “He can be, when he’s not cleaning the toilet.” There was laughter all around, and Athena and Russi joined the others on the couch.

Russi clasped her hands behind her back. “So, anyway, I just came by to offer any help I can give you… and maybe see if Mr. Wright was here.”

Last Trucy had seen him, he had stopped to give her a quick hug and then disappeared. “I’m not really sure where he went, but he’s probably on a date with Mr. Edgeworth or something.” It wouldn’t be unusual, especially between trials… Right! The trial! “Uh, sorry for accusing you, by the way.” She crossed her arms thoughtfully.

To her relief, Russi laughed and said, “Oh, that’s fine! I understand where you were coming from, and anyway, Mr. Foley managed to uncover the security footage, and Prosecutor Gavin says I’m cleared.”

“We’ll have to ask him about that, then.” Trucy smiled, and filed the thought away for later.

“So, do you have any questions?”

“Actually, yeah,” Apollo said. “Could you tell us a little more about what you saw?”

“Hmm…” Russi rubbed her chin as she thought. “Not really. I explained pretty much everything I knew during the trial.”

“I know you said Ms. Marshall came downstairs yelling. Do you maybe remember why she was upset?”

“Well, she was screaming something about ‘marriage’ and ‘rotten, cheating losers’, so maybe something was up with her husband? Plus, I know her wedding ring is currently missing, so…”

“That’s at least a place to start, along with the footage.” Athena said.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Thank you, Ms. Clover.” Apollo stood up and started getting ready to leave.

“Gee… When I decided to come over, I thought I was going to be more helpful. Sorry I can’t remember much.”

Trucy slipped her boots on and said, “No! You’ve been great! I think we’re about to leave, but if you want to wait for Daddy, I’m sure Athena would love some company.”

“I’ll probably do that. It was nice to meet you two.”

They shook hands, and Trucy squealed a little as she followed Apollo out the door.