Day 53: Sun Room, Morning

[scarefaux]

With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he

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[gargantuanlaugh]

Gant was only mildly surprised to hear the Yatagarasu had been a team rather than a single perpetrator. Really, it made sense given one person's mistakes could be taken care of by another if there was at least one other team memeber. But three, that was a magic number. You had not only one extra pair of eyes to scan the details, but two. No wonder the thief had never been caught... until now, it seemed.

So one of them had been Faraday. Gant could have told Badd that before, since little Kay had already supplied that information to him a few nights ago. But then the defense attorney that was suspected of the murder (and never brought to justice after, if Gant remembered right) was also a part of the team. And then, well, Badd made it sound like he was the one that had been the detective behind the Yatagarasu, but that couldn't be true. It had to be someone else. Badd wasn't one who would ever take up that kind of double-agent job...

"You're kidding, right? You..." Oh. But Badd was the highest detective chosen to work the Yatagarasu cases. He had every opportunity imaginable to screw with the evidence and fix the crime scenes without anyone else the wiser. Why, Gant had held that privilege a few times himself in his day, and he certainly had worked it to his advantage.

Gant couldn't stand it. He threw back his head and laughed, unabashed. A few of the patients around them stopped and stared, but then moved a few paces further away rather than tried to listen in. That suited Gant just fine. Badd's tale, it was like some cruel joke that just ended up being true, and how cruel it was. "Ho ho ho, oh, Baddo, you certainly know how to tell a good story. I have to admit, I'm impressed."

[tasteoftruth]

Badd had to chuckle along with him. He wasn't sure whether to be pleased or offended that such a...capable manipulator of the justice system was impressed by his ten years of flawless cover-ups.

"Faraday and Yew committed the thefts and I made sure to become the head detective for the case so I could destroy our tracks before anyone else got to the scene of the crime. It was just doing what you were doing, but in the name of a good cause instead of grabbing power and stepping on your friends and comrades to get there."

What Gant did was unthinkable, despicable. What Badd had done he'd done for justice that couldn't be gained in court. If there's been any other way he'd have taken it, even someone as honest and idealistic as Gumshoe could understand why they'd taken the path of the Yatagarasu. But his eventual arrest was justice too...not for the thefts, Badd had to admit to himself, he had no desire to be punished for a little B&E. It was his failure of duty and living on while better men were cut down that he considered his greatest crimes.

...maybe he did need to get a little therapy.

Badd's tone turned derogatory and he glared at Gant in disgust. "And I didn't have to kill anyone to get away with it." Put a gun to Prosecutor Edgeworth's back, maybe, but he'd gotten over it. "Were they even all guilty, those men you put away? Or are you as bad as von Karma?"

[gargantuanlaugh]

Badd certainly was in a confessing mood today. Maybe being arrested made them all become loose lipped and resigned. Gant had definitely been the same after Wright had caught him, though being locked up here had made him rethink going too quietly if there was a chance for escape. Why deny the world the chance to bring back one of the best crime-solving minds available? All he needed was a new start.

Gant didn't much like how the old detective was insinuating he only cared about power and justice be damned. Well, Gant wasn't going to argue with him. He'd already let loose some steam on Dent about that at breakfast. He could handle those kinds of remarks again for a time. It wasn't like he really cared what Badd thought, anyway.

The ex-chief fought a roll of his eyes and merely gave Badd a gentle smile before answering the man's accusative questions. "Now, now, you don't honestly think I would put away just anyone, do you? I may have... bent the rules now and then, and yes, I had to take out a roadblock or two on the way. But I wholeheartedly believe that every man or woman I brought to justice was guilty of their crimes."

And that was the haunting, chilling truth.

[tasteoftruth]

Entirely possible he was lying, but Badd didn't sense he was. He could easily believe that Gant considered Goodman and Marshall collateral damage in the pursuit of fighting crime, people had reconciled worse ideological dissonance. "Except for the crimes you committed, of course" he pointed out. That serial killer guy (Badd couldn't recall the name off the top of his head) certainly deserved the noose, but Lana hadn't. Badd couldn't bring himself to accuse someone who'd done for her sister what he'd do for his 'niece'.

It was hard not to make the comparison between himself and Gant, both officers of the law who'd broken their oath and thought it was the right thing to do. Gant probably felt no remorse over his deeds and regret hung over Badd's head like a dark shroud every day of his life, but a criminal's tender feelings never had anything to do with their guilt. Badd consoled himself with thinking that at least he'd stayed true to his principles, if not his duty.

"You know, I always did want to see the look on your face when you found out what I'd been up to," he mused, idly stroking the stubble of his cheek with his thumb. "Too bad you beat me to the handcuffs."

[gargantuanlaugh]

Badd seemed to accept that he wasn't lying. That was nice. Not necessary, but nice. Still, he seemed adamant that Gant was in the wrong with what he had done. Well... maybe Gant had been a bad boy at times. He regretted Marshall's and Goodman's deaths to an extent. They were necessary at the time, though, so he couldn't rightly say he would never have done it given the chance to do things again. He merely shrugged. What was done was done.

"Still got to see it though, didn't you?" Gant grinned widely again, chuckling. "Satisfied, Baddo? Can't say I'm altogether thrilled to know you're not quite the same virtuous crime-fighter I'd thought you were. But... I guess I have no reason to complain." Badd had always done his work well. Other than the Yatagarasu cases, at least as far as Gant could remember, Badd was always on top of things and doing his best to make sure they got their man. Still, always sad to see someone sink to the level of criminals.

"Speaking of handcuffs, when was the last date you remember, Baddo? Remember your trial, by any chance?" Gant was actually more concerned about the date than anything. He just wanted to get a feel for Badd's time. Was he caught shortly after Gant had been, or had it been years after? It was hard to tell given the circumstances. Still, Badd looked relatively unchanged since their last run-in before Lana's trial. Those grizzled old detectives never changed much.

[tasteoftruth]

"My trial was a few weeks ago. March 2019, if you're still playing the amnesia card at me. They slammed the entire thing through in a matter of weeks, from the ring boss on down." Probably skittish of the same divine intervention that had saved them during KG-8. Badd hadn't relaxed until the gavel went down for the last time.

Badd's sharp gaze flickered across the room, looking over the patients who seemed so resigned to their existence and the nurses distractedly keeping a watch over them. "So why anyone would want me out of the way, when all the shouting's over and I've given every shred of testimony I can, is anyone's guess." Motive, motive, there always needed to be a motive no matter what that idiot Zheng Fa kid seemed to think. Any means were possible with enough resources and the ring was huge, but revenge wasn't enough reason for an operation of this magnitude.

He wondered what the outside world was thinking about him. Was he marked as an escaped convict or had the car gone off a tragic and convenient bridge?

[gargantuanlaugh]

So he still believed Gant was lying about the passage of time. As irritating as that was, it was a normal reaction. Gant had been the same himself before he'd gotten to know some of the fine patients a bit better. But there was no doubt in Gant's mind that Badd wouldn't last that way for long. Yes, it was just a matter of time.

"March 2019, huh? Two years..." More than two years since the conclusion of Lana's trial, actually. He knew the court system was fast in their day, but sentence execution could still take years, especially if there were any appeals involved. Gant didn't think he would have appealed were he found guilty in his own trial, he doubted he would even have pleaded innocent after being so thoroughly routed by Wright, but it was definitely a possibility he was still rotting in jail in Badd's time.

Pulling his mind away from that depressing topic, Gant instead focused on Badd's musings. He chuckled, feeling just as in the dark as the ex-detective. "Who knows, really? Why would they want a washed-up Chief of Police that was arrested for an alleged murder or two? Don't you think it would have been simpler if they'd just left me in chains?"

He shook his head then picked at the snow white bangs that fell into his face. "We're all in the same boat here, Baddo. Don't think for a minute you're anything special, just because you happened to know a bit about covering up evidence or thieving for justice or what have you."

The intercom came on then, announcing lunch. Funny how it always felt like so much of their day was planned around eating. Gant wasn't going to complain though. Standint, he stretched out his arms until he heard his joints crack, then glanced once more at Badd. "This place is bigger than any one crime ring, Baddo. Don't limit yourself thinking otherwise." Gant had made that mistake at first, thinking this was just a private operation or the results of mixed-up paperwork. But after being here long enough, it was obvious there was more to it than met the eye.