Phoedgeworth #2 ~ Turnabout Trust

Inquiry

"Hi! Hello!" I dashed up to the front desk, panting and extremely out of breath. ".... Good afternoon." I was greeted by someone different to the sour woman who'd been at the desk before. It was a man with a stern face. "Please could I see someone out of Lorenzo's gang...?!"
"Excuse me..?"
"Lorenzo. He was one of your prisoners..." I panted.
"Unfortunately, his death warrant was carried out earlier. You'll have to look elsewhere."
"I KNOW! That's why I'm asking to see one of his gang..." I sighed.
"His... 'Gang.' I suppose you mean the others who were arrested with him? Yeah, well, only one of them's alive now. The rest had their death warrants carried out as well."
"Please could I see the one that's alive, then..." I groaned.

'Which one is the one that's still alive? WHY are they still alive?'

"Hmm. You can't be too long. The only reason they're still alive is the fact that there was a delay with their warrant." He narrowed his eyes. "Of course! I'll only be... An hour at most?"
"I think that's suitable. The guard outside the door will unlock it for you."
"Thank you..." I turned and swiftly walked to the cell door. "Good afternoon, offi-" I widened my eyes. It was a very familiar face. The same guard that had been outside MY cell when I was framed for murder in Lorenzo's case. "Ah! Phoenix Wright! Good afternoon. You're looking well."
"Heh. Well... Thanks. You are too."
"So what brings you back here? Want to be cooped up as a criminal again?" He laughed airily. "Nah, I'm good, thanks. I need to see the guy in there." I nodded to the door and the guard rolled his eyes; "Of course you do. I'm warning you, though... He's not exactly talkative." I raised my eyebrow but didn't question. He unlocked the door and I confidently strode in, hearing the door click shut behind me. A young man who looked like he was 19 or 20 years old sat in the middle of the room, facing the door (though technically, when I walked in he was facing my legs.) He had silky, straight brown hair, pale skin and light grey eyes. He didn't look up when I walked in. I recognised him instantly. When I was hurt by Lorenzo and tortured, he'd been standing at the back each time, not breathing a word. Lorenzo had told me to call him 'Silence' because he didn't talk anymore. I grimaced. How was I supposed to get information out of this guy?! "Good afternoon..." I crouched down so he could look at me directly. He stared blankly into the distance.

'What the heck do I do?!'

"I'm Phoenix Wright. Remember me?" He just continued to blank me.

'Was it something I said...?'

"Uh.. Well, um.. I was wondering if I could ask you a few things?" I gritted my teeth. "Are you called Silence..?" When I said Silence, he looked up at me properly. He didn't say anything and it felt like he was shooting bullets through his eyes. I shifted uncomfortably. "I'll take that as a yes.." I mumbled. "Silence, do you recognise... This?" I held the locket in the palm of my hand and opened it. Silence took some small interest in it, tentatively reaching out and looking up at me before touching it, asking me if he could. When I gave a small nod, he tenderly lifted the locket out of my hand and held it. Once he'd looked at it, he gave it back. He then continued to say nothing, though he wouldn't meet my eyes now.

'Oh come ON!'

"Silence.. Say, do you know Lorenzo?" Silence looked up at me again and sighed. "... Ok, don't answer that, but could you try to tell me or even, DRAW OUT why you don't speak?" Silence made a small 'gng' sound. "Uh.. Is there anything I can do to make you talk?" I thought back for a moment. I needed something that would break him. Something that would emotionally tear him apart. I wasn't a fan of using this technique in this kind of situation, but I didn't have long to get him to talk. "Lorenzo's dead, Silence. This girl went missing. They were together, weren't they? Well, I think I saw her with another man recently and I need your help..." Silence raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to speak, before shutting it instantly and stopping himself. He needed one more little push. "Silence, you're going to die today! This is your last chance to tell me the truth!" He gritted his teeth and opened his mouth; "Itookthatpicture." He spoke so quickly, one sentence became one WORD. He obviously hadn't had much practice at speaking. "Oh?! Well, why don't you speak...? We can come back to the picture in a moment." He reluctantly nodded;
"LaterthatdayhesawmewithherLorenzohadsentmetowalkwithherandtalkoversomething." I took a moment to process what he had said. Due to the lack of punctuation and spaces to breath, it was very hard to interpret it correctly. "Uh, right. What does this have to do with you not speaking...?" Silence gritted his teeth and went silent again. "Silence..?" He shook his head and acted drawing on his hand with his finger. "You want to... Draw...?" Silence nodded. "Ok.." I searched my blazer pockets and produced a biro and a small notepad. Silence readily accepted them and began to write:
I didn't feel comfortable talking. What I was trying to say was that on the day I took the photo, Lorenzo told me to talk to the girl about something. The other guy saw me with her.
"Huh...? Who saw you...?"
Griffin.
"Oh." I had no IDEA who Griffin was, so I just blankly mumbled and pretended to know. "What happened next?"
Griffin - he tried to shoot me! He told me horrible things and... Now I don't talk.
"So you're... Traumatised?" It was an explanation I was not expecting. "Why would he try to shoot you?!"
He... Liked the girl I think. He thought I was flirting or... Something.

'ANOTHER man with eyes for this girl?!'

"Mhmm. She must've been popular. Did you actually have a crush on her...?" I licked my parched lips.
No! I would NEVER betray Lorenzo!
"I see. Were Lorenzo and her a couple..?"
... I... That's the thing. Lorenzo asked me to talk to her about it. He asked me to ask her about their relationship.
"So they weren't officially together...? Interesting. What was her name?"
Violetta Greye. I know she changed her 'identity' several times after the incident though, using fake names.
"Huh. Well, Silence. This has helped considerably. Thank you." Silence dropped the biro on the page and nodded. His eyes seemed to be watering.

'Is he CRYING?'

I quickly stuffed the biro and notepad in my blazer pocket and stood. "It's nice to know you, Silence." He took no attention. He was just staring blankly at the door again, his mind somewhere else. I opened the door and left the police station, hearing the door click shut behind me.