[RL 33: Absence; Edgeworth]

((OOC: Taking place late this afternoon, after Edgeworth left work. All the details of Phoenix's apartment are Idgie's. Sorry if I got anything wrong, Babeh. ^_^;;))



By the fifth visit, the manager almost seemed to be expecting him. She gave a little wave as he stood in the door, beckoning him over, her other hand outstretched. The look she threw at him as he lifted the key from her hand was sympathetic, pitying, but she quickly returned her attention to the overblown acting splashed across the screen in front of her, sparing him from both the look and the rambling commentary that might otherwise have followed. He left the office hurriedly, taking the stairs outside two at a time, and didn’t slow his pace until he was standing in the entryway of the darkened apartment, the door closed behind him.

Somehow the emptiness he’d noted on the first visit, when the apartment had likely been unoccupied for weeks, had only deepened with the arrival and departure of a handful of police officers. The small rooms felt profoundly hollow, almost cavernous in spite of their size. For several moments he stared into the living room, assessing, planning.

( Over a minute later, when he was suddenly struck with the realization that he’d looked the entire apartment over dozens of times, that there was nowhere left to look... )