Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Murder and a Music Box ❯ The Scholarly Attorney ( Chapter 5 )

Author's Notes: Thanks again Sailor Firestar for reviewing. I liked Relena, too. I was going for that. I hope I keep it up in this chapter. Sorry this took a little longer. I was having trouble with this chappy, but here it is!

Disclaimer: Duh, I don't own Gundam Wing. If I did I would have a lot more money.

Warning: Slight language and more shonen ai, but if you're reading this fic you already know that. I guess I should mention there is a little 2x4, he wishes, and past 5xR.

The Scholarly Attorney

"What?!" I didn't really mean to say that out loud. It just kinda shocked me. To picture the Chang Wu Fei I met engaged to this young lady was really weird. I mean, she was so perfect, right down to her French manicured fingers, and Chang was such a, well, asshole.

"Yes," she said. "We were engaged. Why?"

I recovered as quickly as I could. "I was just wondering. I spoke with Chang a few days ago and he didn't have the best attitude toward Mr. Winner."

"So you've seen him? How is he?" she asked slowly without a bit of harsh feelings behind her words, only sadness.

"He was," I could have said a number of things here, but I went for the truth, " a mess. What happened between you two?"

"We met a couple of years ago at a garden party thrown by Mr. Winner," she said and smiled as her eyes wandered over to a nearby window. "We hit it off and began dating. After a year he proposed and we were planning our wedding. . . ." Her voice trailed off and she took another deep breath. "And then six months ago he said he was going to quit. He worked very closely with Mr. Winner, did you know that?"

"Yeah," I said, "go on."

She nodded and continued. "Well, he said he wanted a fresh start. He was really moody, and I knew he was upset about something, but he just wouldn't say what it was. Then one day he said we shouldn't get married. He said I should find someone better. I tried to tell him that wasn't true, but he wouldn't listen. Then he left." She wasn't even trying to hide the tears that were running down her face by now. She just let them slip down her cheeks and drop onto her folded hands resting in her lap. "I tried to find him, but he moved and I couldn't."

I just nodded. Well, that confirmed it. Chang was an asshole. My first impression had been right on the money. I was silently pleased with myself, but I didn't show it. I just sat there and tried to look stunned. "Do you think that Chang could have had anything against Mr. Winner? Any vendetta or something?" I finally asked after she stopped crying.

"I don't know," she said and turned to me. "But I don't think he would do anything to harm him. If you think he was involved in Mr. Winner's death. Wu Fei wasn't like that. He was a good man."

I just nodded and felt a little sorry for the girl. After everything he put her through she was still sticking up for him. "Well, thanks for the info Ms. Peacecraft," I said and stood up.

"If you want to know more about Wu Fei and his work you can ask my brother. They used to speak about that a lot. His name is Millardo. He's a lawyer."

Well, I was gonna take any lead I could get on Chang so I asked for his number. "Thanks a lot. You've been a big help," I said after she gave me the number, and I shook her hand.

She nodded and stood up too. "Do you think I can call you some time, Detective Maxwell?"

"Sure," I said and gave her my office number. "If you remember anything. Or if you ever need a Private Investigator." And I tried to give her a cheesy smile, but it just came out strained.

She nodded, and I walked away. I was really starting to have enough of this six months thing. It was like that movie when the dying guy says "rosebud" and the reporter travels around to find out what it meant. Okay, not really. But that's a good movie.

I found Trowa on my way out talking to another cop. I paced back and forth behind him as patiently as I possibly could. I guess I shouldn't have had those extra two cups of coffee.

Finally he was finished and looked at me, slightly amused. "Didn't take your Ritilan today?"

I just glared at him but then smiled. "I've still got a favor to ask you Barton, so I'm holding my tongue."

"You didn't mentally scar Ms. Peacecraft, did you? We're going to need to speak with her again."

"Yeah, yeah," I said and waved my hand dismissivly.

"You not talking back it a landmark moment. I had to take advantage ot it," he said and smiled. "What do you want then, Duo?"

"I just wanted you to run a check on Wu Fei Chang. I don't think you'll find anything, but just to be sure."

He sighed. "Why is it that I always end up doing your work for you?"

Well, I was slightly offended by that. "You do not always end up doing my work for me. I'm just asking for a favor."

"And you don't think I have enough work to do on my own?" he asked and looked at me. He was trying to make me feel bad, and I knew it.

"Fine, don't do it," I said and walked away, annoyed. Stupid Trowa and his guilt trips.

He hurried to catch up with me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll do it," he said and smiled. "What was the name again?"

"Wu Fei Chang," I muttered and felt like a sulky child.

"I'll look into it and get back to you in a few days then."

"Thanks Trowa," I said, and he patted my back as I walked away.

* * *

I had to wait until Monday to get an appointment with Millardo Peacecraft. But hey, a hard working detective like me deserves a break now and then. I thought about going back to The Blue Angel on Sunday, but I didn't. It wouldn't be good for me to question someone while hung over. So, I just took Ignatius back to my apartment, and we watched a Queer Eye for the Straight Guy marathon on Bravo. I wished it was a Queer as Folk marathon, but like that old Stone's song says "you can't always get what you want." I guess I haven't tried very hard because I have yet to find what I need. Oh well.

Monday morning came around, and I gave Mr. Peacecraft a ring. I got his secretary, like usual. "This is Detective Maxwell, I was wondering if I could make an appointment with Mr. Peacecraft. I need to ask him a few questions."

"He's busy today. I don't think I can schedule you in until next Friday," she said in a nasal, high pitched voice.

I gave a good natured laugh but wondered why the detective part didn't intimidate her. "I really can't wait until next Friday miss."

"I'm sorry, sir, but that's the best I can do," she said and sounded really snotty.

"Fine," I said and hung up. I was annoyed, but I had other means of getting a meeting with that guy. I mean, that secretary hadn't seen me in person yet. And I can be pretty intimidating in person.

Well, I put on a suit and made sure I had my badge before leaving. His office was downtown in one of those high-rise buildings with different floors dedicated to different businesses. I had to pay five dollars just to park in the lot across the street, and I mumbled about it until I reached the seventh floor and the offices of Peacecraft and Kushrenada, Attorneys at Law.

I walked in like I owned the place and sauntered up to the secretary in front of Millardo Peacecraft's door. "I'm here to see Mr. Peacecraft. I'm a detective."

The woman looked me up and down. Her dark hair was pulled into such a tight bun that her eyes were pulled back as well. Or maybe it was just a botched facelift, who can tell? "Are you the detective I spoke to on the phone? I told you Mr. Peacecraft is busy until next Friday."

So, she obviously wasn't intimidated by my presence. It was time to try a new tactic. "Relena told me I should come and question her brother as soon as possible. It is in regards to the robbery of their parents house on Saturday."

She looked annoyed at that information. Obviously no one had told her that Peacecraft senior's house had been robbed, and she felt totally out of the loop. It was great. "Go right in then," she huffed and went back to her other work.

I smiled to myself and walked into Millardo Peacecraft's office. It looked like an oak tree threw up a desk, some bookshelves and tables in the room. In an extremely neat manner, of course.

Mr. Peacecraft looked up at me when I walked in. He had a pair of silver wire frame glasses balanced on his nose and hair that rivaled mine in length. Except his was straight and silvery blond while mine is a wavy chestnut brown. Plus, his was hanging loose and mine was usually tied back in a braid, save the times I get drunk and take it down.

"How can I help you?" he asked and his pale blue eyes watched me over his glasses.

"I'm Detective Maxwell. I spoke with Relena on Saturday. She said you could answer some questions for me about Wu Fei Chang."

"Relena mentioned you'd come by. Please, have a seat," he said and motioned to the chair in front of his desk. It was big and leather. It probably cost more than my car.

I sat and pulled out my notepad, like usual. "How well did you know Chang?"

He took off his glasses and set them on his desk. "I almost considered him a friend, but not after what he did to Relena."

"Do you know why he quit working with Mr. Winner?"

A snakelike smiled appeared on his lips. "Yes. He made me swear never to tell Relena, and I stand by my word. You, however, are not my dear little sister."

I nodded. Finally I was getting somewhere. "Go on."

"It doesn't start when he quit working for Mr. Winner but when he began working for him. You see, Mr. Winner's company was having trouble. Basically, he hired Wu Fei to balance his books and clean up. After all, that's what he was good at," Mr. Peacecraft said as he walked over to a mini fridge and pulled out a bottled water. "From what Wu Fei told me Mr. Winner offered him a partnership after everything was running smoothly. Only, that's not what happened."

I scribbled all of this down. "What did happen?"

"Well," he said and took a sip of the water, "Mr. Winner didn't make him partner. He must have done something to get Wu Fei to quit like that. Only, I don't know what it was, he wouldn't tell me. And you know what happened after that."

I nodded. "Wu Fei dumped Relena and started Chang's Translation Services."

"Hmm," he said and looked a little annoyed. I guess it was the whole 'dumped Relena' comment.

"Do you think Wu Fei had anything to do with Mr. Winner's death?"

Mr. Peacecraft shrugged and smiled smugly. "I think he wanted to get revenge. He had a big thing about his honor and pride. He was totally destroyed after whatever Mr. Winner did to him. So, he very may well have had something to do with it."

I jotted all of that down and smiled. "Well, thanks for your time Mr. Peacecraft."

"Your welcome," he said and slipped his glasses back on his nose.

I let myself out. I almost felt like skipping because I was finally getting places with the whole Chang thing. All I needed to find out now was what Mr. Winner did to make Chang quit, and I had a feeling the only person that knew now was Chang himself. And I didn't think he'd wanna talk to me about it.

At that point I decided it was time for a good old fashion stakeout or maybe it was just plain stalking. I needed to follow Chang and find out what he did. See exactly how suspicious he was. Then maybe I could have another reason to question him. And no, I wasn't scared of him. I just didn't think questioning him at that point would do any good.

So, I shadowed him for the rest of the week. And let me tell you something, if you thought my life was boring you should meet Chang Wu Fei. He didn't do anything from Tuesday until Thursday except make a trip from his crappy apartment to his dingy office and sit inside all day. Then in the evening he'd make the trip back to his crappy apartment. I would've felt sorry for the guy if he wasn't such a jerk. He didn't even have a pet, at least as far as I could tell he didn't. I suppose he could've had some goldfish or something in his apartment.

Finally, on Friday it got interesting. In the evening instead of going home he headed in a different direction. I almost missed him, actually, because I was sleeping in my car. Hey, following him all week was getting really boring. Well, that's not important. What's important is that I didn't miss him. I followed him downtown. Which, by the way, is no easy feat with the way traffic is nowadays.

Like I was saying, I followed him downtown, and he parked outside of a restaurant and went inside. It was a pretty nice seafood place, he must have been saving up all week to eat there. Well, I got out of my car and followed him. It was pretty crowded, which was good. There was less chance of me being spotted that way. Not that he knew I was following him, but it's just better if they don't see you.

I sat at the bar and made sure I had a good view of him the whole time. He ordered the lobster and a salad and ate alone. I had a shirley temple, in case you were curious. I didn't want to impair myself in anyway while following him. But man, the bartender gave me a weird look.

After that he paid the check and left, so I dropped the bartender a five and followed him. I watched as he climbed into his car and was about to climb into mine when I noticed something. Walking into the restaurant we just left was a pale youth whose shock of blonde hair stood out like a beacon in the dull street lamps. Right beside him was a slightly taller man with chocolate brown hair that slightly obscured his brilliant blue eyes. Of course, I didn't see all that from a distance, but I knew who they were. Quatre Winner and Heero Yuy. And all I could do was stand there and stare while they kissed under the street lamp and walked inside.

* * *

More Author's Notes: So, what did everyone think? I suppose I should mention that I got the title of this chappy "The Scholarly Attorney" from the novel "All the King's Men." Also, the movie Duo is talking about in the beginning of the chapter is Citizen Kane.