Identity V: Doctor

Chapter 13: Dead Ends

''Seriously? Again?''

''I told you, it has to be true! We have to scoop out those old newspapers!''

''Yea sure, scooping up newspapers from the 1800s, as if you can find it on the internet. Besides, do they even have newspapers invented back then?''

3 heavily disturbed lawyers and a police chief wrecked their brains in Wright and Co. lawsuit services.

It has hardly been 3 weeks, with the lawyers scratching their head at the ordeal that they have faced no long ago.

''Yo bro, ya' saw this?'' Gumshoe slammed an article on a recently reported story about mass killings in the countryside.

''You bet, those heartless people, thank god that case has been solved.''

''Huh? It says here that the bodies were found near an abadoned manor-''

Wright spent no time is snatching the paper over.

''Isn't this... the manor that we visited..?''

''Funny, now that you mentioned it...'' Edgeworth strode over briskly.

''Well, I did some research, like I mentioned, it was first built in 1796, by some man called Oletus, and he stayed there with his wife. After their mysterious passing, it was said that the manor was bought by the government, who turned the manor into an arms factory to aid production of wartime materials. But it was said after the war, the manor was abandoned and the manor became haunted.'' Maya droned.

''But something still seems out of place.'' Wright insisted.

''I have to agree with you. It does not mention about this diary entries that we have found at the manor.'' Edgeworth pointed at the stack of battered and aged diary entries on the coffee table.

''But either way it does say something about a game or some sort.'' Gumshoe pointed out, taking a sip from his americano.

A silence, not so amusing, fell across the 4.

''Could you pass me the diary by Hollins?''

Maya flung the book across the room.

''I might have got the main idea...'' Wright mumbled, fumbling through the pages of squiggly handwriting, until he found a badly crumpled piece of paper stowed away in between the crisp, yellow pages.

''Look at this, it is probably all propaganda until you see these.''

''It looks like Caesar's cipher to me.''

''Exactly, and it was mentioned that the game involved a lot of decoding processes, but did not mentioned anything about coding. And this appeared to be some sort of secret message, hastily done.'' Wright pointed out to the unusual messy handwriting.

''And I found a morse code in a diary entry that I found recently.'' Edgeworth cut in, holding on to a detached piece of paper inside another diary entry by another survivor, Cathy. "In any way, the not-so-secret messages both lead to the same message, which is: All that were mentioned above were never real."

"Hey did any of you see this on the net?" Maya exclaimed.

"Please don't tell me it's one of those special ramen offers again." Gumshoe groaned.

"Nono, this time it's about the building of the manor and its history in detail. Back in 1796 blah blah, just as what I have mentioned.. and apparently, there is a fire that broke out shortly after the death of Mr and Mrs Oletus. And it mentioned that after the manor was abandoned, suspicious activities took place there, rituals markings and burns were often reported whenever skies cleared and the gate was wide opened. At night, paranormal activity, such as machinery sounds and whispers were heard throughout a five mile radius of the manor.''

''Who was the one who reported all this sightings and made this article?''

''Willian J. Honchesen.''

''Care to search that up?''

''You bet. Apparently, he is a famous and renowned paranormal investigator in the 20 century. He is retired and is currently residing in his family house in Pennsylvania. However, he continues investigating with his finding of 'the manor in the hills'.''

''Alright folks, ya hear that, leggo!''

And the 4 of them sprung into action, for once in the past 3 weeks, they were getting somewhere, or at least they think they are?