VOICE ✍ 005

[inseine]

[It is mid-morning, approaching the afternoon, when Javert makes this mysterious announcement. There is no context, no emotional inflection in his cold and indifferent voice, and no further explanation offered.

It is also interesting to note for his superiors that he has not come into police headquarters today. All he has done is sent a simple, succinct message to his administrative coordinater: Inspector Javert will not be in today.]

Doctor Naomi Hunter's [--and that he says with a strange emphasis--] laboratory and clinic are closed to the public. All of you patients must have received referrals from her recently. It is suggested that you use them indefinitely.

Comments

[prosecutes]

It sounds as though your wife has fallen ill.

[It may be good to hear that Javert himself is doing well, but it's the way he's dodging the question that worries Edgeworth. Hearing a serious statement from the Inspector is one thing, but the grave undertones of the announcement are worrisome. The finer details of whatever may be occurring now are none of the prosecutor's business, but if it is something he should be aware of, he will listen.]

Will you be requesting more time off? It remains an option if necessary.

[chose-death.livejournal.com]

No. [Javert's voice is extremely tense and tight, and he takes a breath to retain that careful control for which he is well-known.] No. I will be in. I must come in, Monsieur.

The only time I will need is on Tuesday.

[prosecutes]

[That's it, then. Even though he has a hunch that this is more serious than he had initially estimated, Edgeworth presses no further. He trusts that Inspector Javert will let him know of anything that he truly must know.]

Very well, I'll see to it that the necessary arrangements are made for your absence on Tuesday.

[chose-death.livejournal.com]

[Well, if Edgeworth hasn't received the news yet, it is sure to make its way through the department swiftly enough. Inspector Javert had to call the doctor, the hospital, the mortician, a funeral director... all of this word will get back to the police somehow. That is the job of the police, isn't it, to pick up on the whispers and grim news in darkened alleyways?]

... Good, [says Javert with an unnatural stillness. He adds in French, in an almost indistinct murmur,] God help me if I am not kept busy.

[prosecutes]

[The news may very well have already reached the police department, whether as fact or idle gossip, but Edgeworth remains among the uninformed. Word of a death brought about by natural causes does not travel as quickly as that of a homicide.

That doesn't stop him from hearing what is spoken in his presence. It's not the most clearly-uttered phrase, but the prosecutor does hear a part of Javert's murmured answer in French.]

Is there anything else I can do for you, Inspector?

[chose-death.livejournal.com]

[Huff! Javert says dryly,] I can't imagine there is anything left to be done. No, thank you.