'Apollo! I can't believe it! It really happened during the second act? A-And right in the middle of Lamiroir's performance!?'
'Why she was in that air vent... ...and that "switch" and the flaming guitar. When you link it all together, that's what you end up with'
apollo said, then suddenly, another voice in the distance spoke up
'smart-thinking, that's why i hired you'
both of their eyes widen when they saw the 31-year-old man approach them, dressed in his usual gothic badass style clothing, trucy grinned ear-to-ear as she ran right up to him
'Daddy!'
'hey magician'
he said as he patted her head affectionately, his expression softening up just a little before turning to apollo with his usual scowl
'Mr. Wright! You...you think I'm smart?!'
apollo said, very taken aback, phoenix gave him a look that said "no shit sherlock what else?!"
'i don't hire idiots apollo'
he said, apollo held back a blush as best as he could, trucy then looked up at him with a curious expression
'Where have you been lately, Daddy? I tried visiting you at the hospital, they said you weren't there!!'
phoenix patted her once on the head, ruffling up her hair a little, something he always did to show affection
'sorry about that magician, I've been working on something else, it's confidential '
'confidential? You mean like, you're undercover?'
she asked as if he were a spy and on a dangerous mission, though to be honest, apollo figured Mr wright had the skills to become a spy if he really wanted to be one, mysterious, sneaky, skilled fighter and someone you never wanted as an enemy, phoenix smirked as he joked back a little
'Like LeTouse, but more violent and dressed up like a gothic edge lord's
trucy's eyes widen in alarm, completely missing the joke
'Oh no! What if you're shot, too, Daddy!?'
phoenix rolled his eyes as if the idea of him getting shot was ridiculous
'relax magician, it takes more than bullets to scare me, especially since i always carry a knife with me, and i stole a taser from a cop who was pissing me off'
apollo hoped he was kidding about that last statement, judging by his tone though he seriously doubted that
"how does he even get away with stuff like this?!"
'anyways, i have to leave soon, but before i do, apollo'
he called out in his commanding tone, apollo shot up his head in surprise
'u-uh s-sir?'
phoenix then gave him a little grimace, that was the closest apollo had ever seen him smile since that one-time trucy and he visited at the hospital a few months ago
'you have things pretty much under control, You'll get Tobaye off the hook if you play smart enough'
Apollo blinked as he tried to get his words together
'Yeah, but...'
'But you're after that shitty detective, aren't you?'
he guessed, his tone made it clear that he wasn't mad by that at all, in fact, he sounded pleased apollo nodded
'Daryan Crescent...'
apollo noticed how his expression tightened into a harder scowl, and he swore he heard his boss speak in some sort of angry Italian under his breath before he spoke up
'...It won't be easy proving he did it, ..Especially not under the current bullshit court system'
'The current er- court system...?'
'What did rockstar say during the trial? Your case is based on one fragile assumption, that our "diva divine" is telling the truth or some dumb shit like that, the guy eats my fucking head sometimes'
he said, apollo felt a rock in his stomach from the true statement, but also a little glee at the fact he agreed that klavier was annoying sometimes
'But what about all the proof? The brooch... and the switch!'
trucy said phoenix patted her head
'A piece of jewelry, a lyrical blunder, and The flaming guitar, these things can be explained with anything, you lack the definitive evidence you need to prove your case'
'But...!'
trucy trailed off, she wanted to argue, but her father raised a very good point, phoenix waited for them to say anything more, then continued on
'If the bitch is lying, your case is basically done for'
'So what do I do!?'
'the most i can give you is advice, it will be impossible to prove his guilt by conventional methods, you have to strategize a plan'
he warned, but then went into his bag to grab something
'oh , and this is for scientist'
apollo blinked
'scientist?, Detective Skye!?'
phoenix pulled it out and tossed it to him, trucy raised her brow at her father, confused
'What are those, Daddy? They don't look like very good snacking material'
'They were found at the scene. Analysis of the fragments revealed traces of gunpowder'
'Gunpowder...!?'
'Probably a firecracker or something similar, either way, These fragments were found under the sofa at the scene of the crime'
'Under the sofa...'
apollo muttered, trucy then tugged at his sleeve
'Hey, Apollo! That's where we found that little device thingy!'
'Right... this'
"Well, finally, some evidence that makes sense..."
phoenix's voice cut him out of his thoughts
'use your brain and you'll be fine, See you after the verdict'
'Right...'
he nodded, though he wasn't that confidant
'oh, and punch that asshole daryan in the face for me would you?, i hate fuckers like him'
'uh-i don't think that's legal'
'neither is stealing from a safe but you did that in the last trial'
phoenix pointed out with a smug smirk tugging at his lips, apollo blushed a tinted pink at his true words, he patted trucy's head before he left, trucy crossed her arms as she looked back down at the burnt evidence they were just given
'hmm.., daddy is always mysterious when it comes to things like this...'
he nodded in agreement
'well, he said to use our brains and be alert, so let's try and figure this out
'I guess...'
Apollo patted her back in encouragement