Videl's car was bathed in the shadows made by the looming Westingham Manor. Looking out the passenger side window, Goten could feel him become intimidated by the huge place. Why Gohan had wanted to come here of all places to tell his story was beyond him, though that wasn't the thought at the forefront of his mind. How Gohan had access to such a wealthy building was what threw him for a loop.

"Alright, we're here," Videl announced from the driver's seat. That had been the first words spoken since the three of them had gotten in the car. Gohan had told his skeptical lawyer to drive to this place just as they arrived at the car. To say that Goten had been startled by such a destination would be an understatement. Videl had merely stared at him for a moment before grumbling and climbed into the car.

The sound of a car door opening shook Goten from his reverie. Gohan was getting out of the vehicle with Videl following his lead. Hurriedly, Goten got out of the car too, slamming the door shut behind him as he followed his brother's tail up to the large, wooden doors.

However, before any of them could knock on the door to announce their presence, it was swung open, revealing an old man with glasses staring at them—sunglasses Goten noted. Why the heck was this guy even wearing sunglasses at night? "You come at a late hour Detective Son," the man remarked.

"Is Mr. Westingham in?" Gohan asked as he walked into the house. Uneasily, Goten followed behind him, the wealth of this place thoroughly shocking his system. Being surrounded by things that would cost his family their house was a very new experience for him. Videl didn't seem to have as much of a problem as he had though, the woman striding in like she owned the place. The younger Son couldn't help but notice the lawyer giving a chilling glare at the old butler. Had they met before?

"He is," the butler answered, shutting the door behind them. "He and the Lady were about to head out for the evening. Shall I inform them of your arrival?"

"You can. And tell Westingham that I'm going to have to break my silence."

A white eyebrow rose. "Are you sure you have to?"

"Well, it's either that or I'm going to be the latest guy on Death Row. I rather not have my lawyer and my brother thinking I'm guilty as sin."

"I'm not sure if that's a wise course of action," the man acknowledged. "But I will inform the Master of your predicament. I leave you to do as you wish."

Gohan nodded. "We'll be in the sitting room."

"Which one?"

Goten stared at the butler with wide eyes. This place had sitting rooms? As in plural, multiple, several even? Why? Why would anyone need more than one? And where would you put them all? Seriously, these rich people made no sense to him.

Gohan didn't seem as taken back as he was. "The one Mr. Westingham takes me every time he has a job for me."

Whoa, hold the phone. Gohan worked for this guy before? How had he landed that kind of job? To say that Goten was impressed was…well, you get the idea. Who knew his brother was rubbing shoulders with wealthy men?

As the three left the butler to his duties, Gohan led them into a hallway, taking them all the way to the end of the corridor and taking a right. His brother passed a couple doors before opening one on the right, revealing a sitting room. When the lights turned on, they revealed a floor covered in a rich blue carpet with a few chairs situated near a large oak desk. There were a few crystal liquor bottles on the desk along with a few crystal glasses, a desk lamp and a telephone. In a corner of the room was a small dresser with more bottles of liquor situated on it. Moving to the desk, Gohan turned to face them once he reached it, leaning back against it as he rested his hands on the wooden surface. "Take a seat, please."

Following the request, Goten and Videl sat in the chairs in front of him, looking up at his face. For a moment, Goten could have sworn his brother's face had aged years right in front of him. His eyes were shut, his face twisted into a pained expression, and wrinkles covered his brow. In all of his years, the young Son boy had never seen him like this.

The sight didn't seem to bother the lawyer woman, something that bothered Goten greatly. "Alright, enough stalling. It's time you started talking."

Gohan's face twitched. Opening his eyes, he looked to the Satan woman and asked "What do you want to know?"

Videl was about to start her inquiry when Goten jumped in. He wasn't feeling too courteous at the moment. "Why did you bring us here? Why wasn't the apartment good enough?"

"Didn't know if Vegeta had that place bugged too. This is the only place I know that he wouldn't touch because no one messes with the Westinghams, being the wealthiest family in the city and all. What I have to tell you is something I don't want him hearing about."

"Does this Westingham guy know anything about this?"

A small smile appeared on Gohan's face. "Actually, you can say he's the reason why I'm in this mess to begin with."

"Now hold on," Videl jumped in. "You're in this because you killed Erasa. What the hell do people like the Westinghams have to do with this?"

Gohan turned his attention to Videl. "You know the rumors about Vegeta, right? That he isn't the most ethical person around?"

"Your point?"

"Well, some people think his shadier side goes deeper than what some people whisper to each other. Some things that are considered illegal. Some people in the federal government began taking notice of this and asked Westingham to look into it."

That answer only seemed to annoy the lawyer woman more. "So the government has ties to a wealthy man. What does this have to do with anything at all?"

Gohan looked at her sternly. "If you want to hear this story, then be quiet." Waiting a couple seconds for the woman's response, he then continued. "When people think of Westingham, they see him as some rich guy married to a beautiful wife without a care in the world. Most don't know that he's involved with the government, specifically with the agencies that specialize in investigations. When the rumors reached those agencies, Westingham was authorized to form a taskforce with uncovering truth of these rumors."

"And Gohan is a part of that taskforce." Upon hearing the new voice, Goten nearly jumped out of his skin, jerking around to find a short man with a head full of dark hair. Considering the suit he was wearing, Goten was assuming this was the Westingham guy he had been hearing about so far. Huh, he had been expecting someone taller…

"So, mind telling me why you're revealing this to them?" Westingham asked as he walked further into the room. From what Goten could tell, he didn't seem very happy making that statement. "You've always been good at keeping your silence."

"The two of them were jumping to very bad conclusions," Gohan answered. "And since my office is bugged, I didn't need them giving Vegeta any more possible scenarios he could spin at trial. So do you mind if I tell them everything?"

The man looked to them and said "Your lawyer I suppose can know, but I don't know about this guy."

"I do have a name, ya know," Videl muttered.

"This is Goten, my little brother," Gohan answered Westingham. "He's been helping out with the investigation, though I think it's about time he knows just what he's getting involved with."

Westingham just stared at the two of them for awhile before looking back to Gohan. "I guess I'll have to trust your judgment on this one." There was a reluctant tone in his voice. "But before you go any further, they have to be sworn to secrecy. I will not allow them jeopardizing this entire thing like that reporter."

"Reporter?" Videl nearly leapt from her seat at that. "Erasa knew about this? How? When?" Then something else clicked in her head. "Does this mean you knew Erasa?" she direct to Gohan.

"As Krillen said, I can't tell you anymore without an oath that you won't repeat a word of this," Gohan replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I swear I won't say a word. Now spill!"

Gohan turned his attention to Goten. "And you Goten?"

By now a part of Goten was beginning to wonder what he had gotten himself into. Cloak and dagger games were always things from those spy books he liked to read. To see his brother involved in one was alarming. Very alarming. Still, he had come this far. "Yeah, I promise I won't say anything."

"Now tell us about Erasa," Videl demanded.

Gohan sighed. "Where do I start?" he said more to himself than to them. "The beginning would be a good place, right?" he directed his question to Krillen.

"Go ahead."

"Alright then. Krillen here recruited me and several other people for his taskforce to investigate Vegeta. We've spent the last year and a half on this thing, finding out all about his secret side business—black market dealing, smugglings, and stuff of that nature. He's been using his position as DA to make sure no one knows of his involvement in these ventures, checking to see if there's any investigations that may concern one of his fronts or even his men. It's the reason why the taskforce was even made to begin with because corruption is rampant in Police Department and City Council."

"What kind of corruption?" Goten asked.

"Bribery, intimidation, you name it. There isn't a thing that runs through those places that Vegeta doesn't know about. It's a big reason why the taskforce was set up."

"And you were involved with it, why?" Videl spoke up skeptically.

"Because I'm not affiliated with the PD in any way; I'm a free agent. That and I've done work for Krillen here."

"What kind of work?" Videl's responded, her eyes narrowing. "Considering how you've kept all of this quiet so far, I'm assuming that your original alibi was your cover story for this whole thing."

"Well, I guess it did become our cover story," Gohan acknowledged. "But that story's true. It's just that it took place four years ago when I was first starting out. Krillen was my lucky break, you could say."

"And I've been using him for all kinds of jobs ever since," Krillen added. "He does good work in case you haven't noticed."

"So who else would be involved in this?" Goten jumped in, trying to steer the conversation back.

"No one you would know about," Gohan told him. "But Videl's met a couple of them, Officers Shinhan and Yamcha."

"Wait, you've gone on about police corruption, yet you have a couple cops on your team?" Videl said incredulously. "Now I know you're making this all up."

"Then how do you explain where you're at?" Krillen countered. "Maybe you think Gohan here is lying, but I can tell you it's a hundred percent true."

"Those two are good guys also," Gohan interjected. "We still needed a presence in the PD to make sure our operation was largely unknown and to figure out how far the department was underneath Vegeta's thumb."

"And the others?"

"It's best you don't know about them," Krillen answered. "For your own good."

"Anyways," Gohan continued, "we've been doing this for about a year when Erasa caught wind of it." He chuckled at that. "I still don't know how she heard about it. But regardless, she began beating down the door here for answers. After a chance meeting with Roshi, she decided to change tactics and came to my place."

"And what did you tell her?" Videl pressed.

"That I had no idea what she was talking about and that she should leave. As you might imagine, she didn't believe me and kept hounding me. It wasn't until a few days before her murder that she…found something."

"And that something was?"

"It was sensitive to the investigation. Not something we wanted leaked out. Unfortunately, Erasa confronted me on it and said that she was going to have it printed by the end of the week. I managed to talk her out of it and agreed to tell her what was going on. We decided to make the meeting place somewhere public. That ended up being at your father's bar."

"Why the bar? Why not some place more private?"

"Erasa felt that if we were in public, the less likely someone would try something on us. She was getting edgy with every passing day."

Videl seemed troubled by this. "I don't like the sound of that. What could she have found out that would've stressed her out? I mean, I saw her the day before she was killed and she looked alright to me. Did something happen at the tavern or something?"

A wiry smile appeared on Gohan's face. "You could say that. That's when everything went to hell."

I have this gut feeling that I've enraged Ladylaide with this chapter. So before she decides to beat me to a pulp, sorry! And if that isn't enough...well, please be gentle. I'm very sensitive.

To Gabby: Well, you were right. Good guess. How was that for a twist?