Disclaimer: I do not own La Corda or Law and Order. If I did, I'd be too wealthy to do this stuff.
-Yunoki Kyoto Headquarters, 3:00 p.m.-
The detectives had been looking forward to this interview. They had just gotten word that Zaizen Yunoki returned to Japan the night before and was going about business as usual. The man they were going to question was in the presentation room and it was filled with assistants placing small flowers along a long branch resting in sand. Photographers were getting ready to snap a picture of this lovely flower arrangement. A man wearing a white dress shirt and a dark suit vest stood directing some of the photographers on what angles to capture. He was tall, broad shouldered with thick muscular forearms. He had long thick, dark hair. His face had chiseled features and a light scruff on his chin and he certainly didn't look anything over forty.
The detectives approached the man flashing their badges. He stared at them with keen golden eyes that could look right though you. He turned to his assistant and told him something and the man walked off.
Zaizen crossed his arms, "Can I help you?"
Detective Tomizawa spoke softly, "We need to talk about your sons' murders."
He looked around at his workers and kept his arms crossed, "We can talk here. What is it? Have you found anybody?"
"We're working on it. But we have some developments," Tomizawa answered.
"Mr. Yunoki, do you own a gun?" Kitsuma asked.
Yunoki gave a wry smirk, "That old thing? I bought it a long time ago. You know, back when I was paranoid."
"Have you used it all?" detective Kitsuma his questioning. Yunoki responded with a shake of his head.
"A waste of money. I forgot that we lived in a safe neighborhood, but I kept the gun away from the family."
"So, no one in your household knows about the gun?"
"No one but my wife. Why?"
Tomizawa rubbed his forehead, "Mr. Yunoki, your sons were ambushed and killed with your gun."
The man's jaw clenched, the chiseled muscles bulging as if he knew what that could mean.
"I was in London…"
"We cleared you and your wife."
The man ran his hand through his thick hair.
"I have trouble believing it. Of course I have trouble believing the whole thing. My sons may have had their fun, but they knew their responsibilities."
Just then his phone rang and Zaizen blindly reached into his pocket and flipped open his phone.
"Hi, honey, I'm in the subway," was all he said before closing the phone and returning it into his pocket as if nothing had happened.
"Do you have any suspects?" he asked even though who the likely culprits were.
"We are looking into a few people at the moment. But we have a few other questions about your possessions. You have other weapons in the house? Swords?"
Zaizen's assistant approached him apologizing but holding out a clipboard of pictures. Zaizen was staring at the pictures while answering Detective Kitsuma.
"Those were gifts from some of my VIP clients. Saudi princes and princesses. Believe it or not, but Saudi Arabian royalty is one of my biggest customers. They can't get enough of our stuff. I frequently send arrangements for weddings, births, or whatever."
Zaizen pointed to the photo he was most pleased with, "That one. We are an international business—o-oh my god."
Zaizen was interrupted when his phone rang, he gave a look of mild disbelief and answered walking away shouting, "What!"
His assistant smiled, "Must be his wife. It will only be a minute."
Tomizawa shook waved his hands, "Don't worry about it. I think we're finished."
"Oh well, let me let you out, officers," he said and the detectives followed the man.
"Truth be told officers, we can't believe anyone would do such a thing to Mr. Yunoki. He's always been a kind man."
"How close was he to his kids?" Kitsuma asked wondering if the real target was Zaizen and the sons were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"He's always good to his children—well, except for one…" the assistant's voice faded and he paused.
"Which one?"
"Zaizen always wanted two girls and two boys to keep the balance. But Azuma was born. Zaizen never took well to him. But I tell you Azuma is Zaizen's mother's favorite. If you ask me, the boy has more potential than all his siblings together. Incredibly smart, but nothing he has ever done impressed Zaizen. A shame."
"Did his siblings ever treat Azuma the same way?"
"No, they always liked their little brother, even if they weren't terribly close."
"But he's still the runt of the family," Tomizawa pointed out, "What is the hierarchy here."
The assistant pause, "Let's see…technically the head of the family is the older Mrs. Yunoki, then Mr. Yunoki, but he still has some control. The only ones who control him are his mother and his wife."
Tomizawa smirked.
"Aside from that, once he and his wife are gone the head goes to Masako. But when Mr. Yunoki relinquishes command of his industry it will go to Yukihiko. He's decided to be patriarchal. From Yukihiko it goes to Kazuya and from Kazuya to…"
"Azuma," Kitsuma answered giving a knowing glance to his partner.
-Classroom 3, Seisou Academy, 5:00 p.m.-
"Yunoki?" the scruffy purple haired man extinguished his cigarette and turned his gaze from the window he was looking out to the detectives.
"Yeah he's one of the music competitors. And a darn a good one too," Kanazawa passed the detectives and approached the music desk. "I never played an instrument but I believe that the flute is the oldest and hardest instrument to play. Anyone with fingers can play a string instrument if they practice enough. But you have to be able to whistle in order to play an instrument like that and not everyone can whistle."
Kanazawa pulled out a list from the desk, "Yeah, the last competition he placed third. It doesn't concern me much or him. He's an honor student otherwise and very popular around school."
"What about recently? Has he been acting odd in any way?"
The competition organizer shrugged, "Nothing that I didn't equate to the fact that his brothers were killed. But yeah, he seemed distant. Depressed maybe, but not overly so. He's been playing fine. He's ready for the competition this Friday."
"Has he been practicing after school hours here?"
"Yeah, all the music students do. Competition students all have collective practice here after regular school hours. Except Fridays. I give them the day off. Some of those kids could use a break. Especially the seniors."
"Wait," Tomizawa stopped him. "You mean that Yunoki wasn't here Friday afternoon?"
"I wasn't even here," Kanazawa confirmed. "No, Yunoki got picked up from school by his chauffeur as he usually does."
-Starbucks Café, 42nd and 9th Street, Noon-
"You have the right guy," the man in uniform said walking to the sleek black car carrying a latte, "I'm the chauffeur for the Yunokis."
"And you take the two youngest Yunoki children to and from school?" Kitsuma asked sipping his own coffee.
"Only Azuma," the chauffeur asked, "Thankfully Miyabi's school is fairly close to the house. I'd hate to see what would happen to Mr. Yunoki if anything happened to his little girl."
"Did you pick Azuma Yunoki after school last Friday afternoon?"
"Of course I did. And I dropped him off a home as I usually do then headed straight home. My wife was making Italian that night," the chauffeur added with a grin.
-Yunoki Household, 1132 Maple Leaf Drive, 10:03 a.m.-
Officers were strewn about the Yunoki residence turning the place upside down and inside out. They had presented the Yunoki aged matriarch with a warrant, but that didn't stop her from voicing her objections.
"What is this about? Why can't you let us in peace?" the old woman complained, upset with the home invasion.
"I assure you, madame, your son's intricate collection will remain in tact," Tomizawa mumbled while looking through some drawers.
Kitsuma popped his head out from a room, "Mrs. Yunoki, whose room is this?"
"Azuma's. Why?"
Kitsuma gave a wary look and motioned for Tomizawa, "Kenshiro, you should see this."
Tomizawa walked through the hall and entered the room Kitsuma was in.
Kitsuma led him to the closet and pulled out a dark blue kimono that was stuffed in the back. He unfolded it, revealing large dark bloodstains.
"Someone has a skeleton in his closet," Kitsuma murmured and Tomizawa turned seeing Mrs. Yunoki's horrified face.
-Orchestral Room A, Seisou Academy, 11:45 p.m.-
The detectives barged into the orchestral room, interrupting the competition meeting.
"Sorry to interrupt," Detective Tomizawa said halfheartedly, flashing his badge to Kanazawa.
A blue haired young man looked annoyed, "We're in the middle of practice."
The detectives stopped in by Yunoki's desk, "Well, we can whistle a tune downtown."
Tomizawa placed his hands on Yunoki's shoulders while Kitsuma went around behind him and placed handcuffs on his wrists.
"Azuma Yunoki, you are under arrest for the murders of your brothers Yukihiko Yunoki and Kazuya Yunoki…"
The room was silent in shock, the competitors gaping. The detectives escorted the long haired young man up the isle, reading his rights. A student with wild green hair stood, staring at his peer in disbelief, "Yunoki?
"Call my lawyer," Yunoki said flatly, his expression blank.
A/N: This is not the end. Some twists and turns ahead. Side note: I don't know what the penal system is like in Japan, so it maybe different. I'm using the US system. Please Review.