So, this story idea was originally an original story idea, like, a non fanfic one. I dubbed it 'Magical Girl Detective' and it was essentially a detective story set in a world with magical girls and a buncha worldbuilding I made up. I've taken plenty of ideas from it and I'm going to essentially do a 'test drive' for it. BTW, that's kind of what happened with Meandering Arc as well, it's basically the same idea as an original one of mine (Nomad character wanders frontier and encounters various magical things). I think there's a pattern.

Westin Winchester, former councilor, currently a consultant to Shund Manufacturing company as well as one of the few people who could afford to live lavishly in the suburbs of Vale. He had truly struck it gold in his life. Born to House Winchester, he turned the relatively modest family (at least in comparison to other names in the kingdom walls) into a true power. Life was looking good for him. Sure, he no longer sat on the council, but his time on it was practically golden.

So many laws passed, so many regulations put down, and so much lobbying money pulled in. Something that irked him was that his son was going to Beacon to become a hunter. He must've listened to too many delusional tales from his grandfather, or else he would've known that becoming a hunter was a foolish endeavor, something for the suicidal and childish to do. Oh well, it wasn't like he had a business to pass onto his son, only an estate and a fortune. But even that little thing wasn't enough to ruin Westin Winchester's mood, as he'd just finished absolutely destroying some animals who thought they could speak against him with a litany of lawsuits. Now, his detractors were all quaking in their boots lest his lawyers get any iddeas.

And, in celebration, he decided to host a party. It was a small little get together in the suburbs with a few others who lived in this quaint part of town, where the constant noise of the city was but an echo in the wind.

He didn't get why people lived in the cities. Too crowded, too noisy, and definitely not as charming as a nice countryside villa. Or even the small suburban mansion he used as his main home.

Ding Dong!

Oh! That must be one of them. He walked over to the door, passing by the empty room that used to belong to his wife, and opened to see just who he wanted to see.

"Fransisco! How are you?" Westin opened his arms and embraced his long time friend Fransisco Adel, owner of several malls and clothing stores, and also a joy to party with. Fransisco carried with him a bottle of his finest champagne and a wide smile.

"Westin! I'm doing well. Of course, I'd be doing better if I had some of this in me." Fransisco got a slap on the back from his lovely wife, who Westin made to greet.

"And Marie! It's nice to see you once more, still keeping your husband sober?"

"Yes, but I've found that it's become harder to keep him sober than to keep him faithful." Marie rolled her eyes. The couple have had a few spats over cheating, though in the end they actually managed to come to an accord, given that the affairs happened mostly out of convenience and not out of any distance between the two. It was just that, as they were both business owners, were often away from each other. Since that incident when they both caught each other cheating at the same time, they've resolved to actually fix their marriage.

And honestly, Westin could respect the fact that they took the effort to do that. It was the mark of adulthood when they could have an honest chat with each other instead of blowing up and making the ensuing argument everyone else's business.

Oh and now he was thinking of the divorce, which he really shouldn't have. So, he quickly got to fully welcoming in his guests, taking their gift and putting it on the living room table. For an hour or so, the guests slowly trickled in. Members of the community walked in wearing semi-formal clothes, all bearing gifts and contributions to the party. And then, his father walked in. The man was old, had wrinkled skin, and was bent over, cane in hand. But Westin Winchester knew better than anyone that this man was a Huntsman, one who had survived to have grey hair, one who had survived to have grandchildren.

And, as much as Westin hated his father, he had to admit the man didn't grow so old by retiring early. No, he was the reason why his son became a Huntsman. The Great War vetran walked in, old eyes staring through bushy eye brows. Even though he was diminutive, what with leaning over the cane, Westin felt as if his father was looking down on him.

"What are you doing here, father? I thought I gave you an estate to muddle about in." And he definitely didn't invite the man.

"Heard about the party, boy. Thought I'd come by to see what my son has degenerated into." Westin sighed, far too used to the disapproval by now. And wasn't that a sad thought? For all of his distaste for his son's choice in career, he definitely wasn't going to be as abrasive. He funded the kid's tuition and even greased a few palms in his and his friends' favor. Westin was not his father, who actively spoke out against him during his early political career.

"I do not know what you mean, father." Westin's grip on the door was tight. No matter how numb he was, it still stung. But it was but another wound upon a wound, not much to do about it.

"All of this! A fancy house, empty words. You have no spine, boy. If the people liked apples better than oranges, you'd prance about declaring your love of apples. But the second grapes become more favored, apples are suddenly out of season, and grapes are more to your liking." The rather childish metaphor did have its intended affect on Westin, who merely let out a sigh as walked back into his home.

"Come in if you wish, father. Have a drink. But do not raise a fuss, I tell you." And so, Slayen Winchester hobbled into his son's home. He was filled with fury and disappointment over the life of his son, who took the proud Winchester name and hollowed it out to store gold. At least his grandson was willing to do what his father was not. As he walked, a new weight was cast on his mind. As much as he disliked his son, he was still his son, but he'd gotten some reports from friends. Reports of shady dealings his son had engaged in.

And being a proud Valean huntsman, though retired, he could not abide by that. If he had to shed blood in order to save his son's soul before he corrupted himself any further, he'd do it. And so, he walked into the party room where all of his son's plastic friends were. He knew of all of them. Businessmen, politicians, and those lucky few who got to live in the suburbs. Such decadence was reserved for those who truly did things in his youth, but now? Money was thrown at mere empty words. It saddened Slayen immensely at how the world had fallen.

His son, still reeling from the anger that his father's words brought him, tried calming himself down. He took deep breaths, to no avail. So, like before, they took a glass of wine, and downed it in an instant. Slowly, the wine bottles brought to the party were emptied by the guests as they made meaningless chatter on meaningless subjects and made meaningless promises to do meaningless things. And soon, his son was drunk. Drunker than a hunter who nearly died and came back, still wondering if it was a dream.

"I-I-i-I'maaah. Go-hic! Up!" His son stumbled out of the room, carrying his full glass of wine with him, spilling drops as he swayed. It was at that moment that Slayen, who was in the shadows for a moment, got up. He had been making some small talk with some of the partygoers, people who wished to court the family of the influential Westin. People who thought he held any sway over his son. People who thought they reconciled after the debacle that was his first election.

"I'm going to retrieve some wine from the cellars." The guests nodded and so Slayen Winchester waded through the small crowd of elites and passed into the empty dining room. Slayen walked through it in order to enter the empty kitchen. They then walked downstairs to the cellar, grabbed whatever was the oldest, and walked out. He hopped out of the kitchen window into the backyard, ruffling through some bushes. They walked around the house, avoiding the living room windows, and then looked upwards to see the wooden handrail of the balcony of one of the bedrooms. The other balcony overlooked the house's pool, that balcony was for Westin's room. So, Slayen, using all the aura-boosted muscles in his leg, jumped as high as he could. When he fell a bit short, he unsheathed the rapier in his cane and used his semblance, Grip, in order to pull himself up. His semblance left little auric burns in the handrail.

He walked through the second floor, following the trail of wine on the floor until he found that it lead to the bathroom. The lock on the door unlatched and it opened. And before his son could speak, he was run through in the heart with his unsheathed canesword. He stabbed him in such a way so that no blood spurted onto his clothes. And so, he dragged the body of his son to his room and laid it on the balcony. After raiding his son's closet, he changed his clothes to be only swimming trunks.

Then, he unceremoniously threw his son into the pool. He hit the shallow end, bonking his head on the pool floor before drifting through the waters. The music and chatter would negate the noise made. While he threw his son, he had taken his sword out of the body and sheathed it. Now, he had to clean up. The carpetless bedroom was easy, he simply wiped it up and kept the handkerchief on him to dispose of later, as he would do with the clothes Westin was wearing. For the small bloodstains he created in the carpets of the hall, he took the bottle of wine that he had brought with him, which was of the same type, red, and began making small spills wherever blood was spilled.

And with that, he went back to the balcony he ascended from, leapt down and broke his fall with the bushes, and traced back to the kitchen window. Unfortunately, someone was cooking something, and it didn't look like they would be finished anytime soon. So, Slayen simply went back to the dining room window and entered from there. And from there, he walked in, bottle of wine in hand, and cane in another.

And no one was none the wiser as to the dead body in the pool.

Ruby was so excited! Sure, she may not be in Beacon like Yang, but Signal was still cool! And there was this neat 'secondary occupation internship' thing that she was doing. It wasn't as cool as fighting Grimm or experimenting with Crescent Rose, but it was still cool! And while there were some really lame jobs like baker and librarian (no disrespect to those who did that, she just wasn't into it) but there also really cool ones! Like blacksmith! Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get that internship on time, so she instead had to take the role as intern detective.

But that was cool as well! Those old noir films Qrow loved so much were all so dramatic and epic. She couldn't wait to use her smarts in order to outwit all of the criminals!

"And all them ne'er do-wells will fear the name Ruby Rose! For both her gun, and her mind!" Ruby spoke dramatically to herself as she waited for her pickup. She was told to meet the person she'd be working under at some random mall near the suburbs. She didn't know why, but she went along with it.

"Uh, you ok?" Suddenly, she realized she was in a public place and maybe had just made a fool of herself. She turned to greet the new face and realized it was someone her age! Maybe, ok he was a bit older. Ruby definitely wasn't short for her age, no siree! He had scraggly blonde hair, boyish features, and a relaxed posture. The wore jeans, sneakers, a pumpkin pete hoodie and a messy yellow coat over it. Their face was set to a naturally amicable smile. "Sorry, just saw a little girl talking to themselves and thought they needed help."

"Hey! I'm not little!" She spoke, even though this stranger was definitely at least a head taller. "Sorry, just waiting for someone." The stranger laughed at it, as if enjoying their own private joke.

"Oh yea, same actually. Well, not exactly. Looking for someone."

"Oh! Neat! Maybe you can-uh, tell me who you are looking forbutonlyifyouneedmyhelp!" Ruby forced out her words as the stranger just chuckled at the antics. Ruby squirmed a bit under the attention.

"Don't worry about getting nervous, I have a little sister just your age, a little bit older actually, she's my age. But anyways, she gets so shy sometimes that I have to speak for her when we go out. But she's a devil, hear me? Don't go mistaking her for demure." The weird man laughed once more. "Anyways, I'm looking for this girl, right? I hear she's a really nice girl, a huntress in training as well! Did you know it was once my dream to be a hunter? Ah, grew out of it. But I still admire the craft, can't help but pay my respects for the people who keep the Grimm at bay. Anyways, she's supposed to be this genius and all. I was supposed to meet her here. I think her name's Ruby Rose? Anyways, do you know whoever that is?" Upon realizing that this was the detective she was supposed to be interning for, she actually felt a bit proud at the praise he offered.

"Oh! That's me actually!" The oddly young officer actually was genuinely surprised at the fact, putting their hand on their forehead and shaping their lips to form an 'o.'

"Wow! Not only are you planning to be a hero, but you're really cute as well!" The weird man she was now working for smiled as he scruffed her hair, making it go wild for a bit. While Yang would've broken the spine of anyone who tried that, Ruby was less protective over her hair. But she pouted at the treatment. "Sorry, just a habit. 7 sisters will do that to you. The younger ones, I swear. Oh, but where are my manners? I'm Detective Jaune Arc, of the Vale Police Department. My field's technically homicide, but with the shortage of good detectives, I'm pretty much everywhere, as will you! I guess I'll be your boss for these next few, weeks? Months? Eh, until you get bored. And I tell ya, you will get bored."

"Uh, ok?" Ruby was a bit offput by Jaune. He was just so cheery! She expected some well put together logician or disgruntled alcoholic (sorry not sorry Qrow), not someone like this! He laughed, talked about his family, and didn't seem to be the type of person to solve crimes. Well, she wasn't about to say that, but there was something she could comment on. "Uh, why are you so young?" Fuck, abort, abort. "Sorrydidntmeantooffendpleasedontfi-"

Jaune chuckled once more, causing her to stop stammering in embarrassment over the rude question. "Ah, it's no problem, Ruby. You see, I did some detective work for my village. I eventually made it here. I'm not that good at my job though, it's just because of the rampant crime waves, you know? Dust robberies, increasing tensions, all that jazz! Why, I think I fail to solve half of my cases." Jaune laughed a bit at the fact before shrugging. "Well, anyways, how about you introduce yourself, Ruby?"

"Oh! Uhm, sure!" She then realized she had absolutely no clue about how to introduce herself. "So, uh, I got this thing!" She took out and fully unleashed her baby, then realized she was in a public place and making some people nervous, and cringed. But, nonetheless, Jaune looked at it with stars in his eyes.

"Jeez! That's a beauty. You know, I've seen plenty of hunters and this is by far the best weapon. So, I guess you use the sniper rifle and momentum while spinning to make up for a lack of strength and small frame?" Ruby blinked, that was a pretty good analysis for her tactical reasons over using the combination.

"Yea, actually."

"Well, anyways, we've got some stuff to do. Pack that up and follow me, we've got a case already!" Jaune turned around and began to walk to his car while Ruby hurriedly retracted Crescent Rose.

"Already!?" Well, at least her first day on the job wasn't going to be boring.

After Jaune insisted he explore the perimeter of the house, he actually got to looking at the body. Upon which, he acted like any sane person would.

"Blegghhhhh!" Jaune vomitted into a provided trashcan while Ruby sympathetically patted his back. After a while, his stomach was empty, and his face morphed into an embarrassed wince. "Sorry, Ruby. You'd think that as a homicide detective, I'd be used to corpses. But lookie here! Faced with a body, I'm unable to keep it in. I really should've skipped breakfast."

"There there." Ruby was actually pretty disturbed by the body as well. Because of its time in the pool, it had, for lack of a better word, bloated. Due to some problems, it had stuck around the crime scene for an entire night before it was able to be carted off for an autopsy. And before that happened, Jaune and Ruby got a good look at it. Jaune wore some black leather gloves and handed Ruby a pair of white silk ones. They were quite nice and fancy, which was odd, considering how poorly Jaune generally dressed.

He poked around the body as he listened to the autopsy.

"Stab wound through the chest, cleanly severing a majory artery."

"Neopolitan murders?"

"Negative, from what I saw, the MO doesn't match up. No Neopolitan triple scoop, no marks of torture. And the blade that created the wound is too thick." Jaune nodded, letting the man continue to rattle off details. Ruby forced herself to watch as Jaune poked at the dead stiff clenched fists of the dead body of Westin Winchester.

"Neopolitan murders?" Ruby asked after the initial report was delivered.

"Oh, just a series of killings that are happening. Whoever did it? She puts Neopolitan to shame with her actions. At the crime scene, Neopolitan ice cream is always left. Culprit hasn't been caught, hell, the force has no clue who it is." Ruby nodded, filing the detail away for later. "Ah, that reminds me, after we solve this case, I'll get ya a treat! Real good place called Trice, they serve the best neopolitan ice cream." Ruby sallivated at the thought of going there. She'd heard of the place, but it was very expensive. She always used her allowance on gun parts and clothes (like any hunter, she gave a lot of care as to how she dressed).

"Alright!"

"Alright Ruby, now, tell me, what do you think about the case?"

"Eh!?"

"I mean, the reason you're here is so that, if you no longer are able to be a huntress, you can have something to fall back on. So, tell me Junior Detective Rose, what's your read on the case so far?" Ruby scrambled a bit before recalling the details of both the autopsy and the (mostly) untouched scene before her.

"Well, it looks like the victim was going swimming when they were attacked? And after being stabbed, they were thrown into the pool?" Jaune thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, that's a pretty easy hypothesis to make. But, you know, there's a few things that bother me. First of all, why are the victim's fists clenched? I mean, if they were swimming, wouldn't they be loose? Or even extended?" And that was when Ruby got a little hint as to why Jaune was a detective. He was extremely observant. She noticed it when he was able to analyze her fighting style and faults with just her weapon, but now she had confirmation. She hadn't even thought about the fists. Well, she wasn't about to disappoint her mentor! Even if he was a bit silly.

"Hmmm, maybe it was when they were attacked? I mean, wouldn't you try and punch your attackers? And the wound was from the front, so it wasn't like they could be surprised."

"Hmmm, alright, alright. That's fine for now. We've looked at the pool enough, we still need to search the rest of the house." Ruby nodded and followed Jaune as he walked (got lost) in the small suburban mansion. It was only a few moments until he found the living room, where a few people were being questioned. As Jaune walked into the room, he tripped on the cane of an old man, causing the walking implement to spin around a bit before clattering onto the floor. Jaune let out an audible 'oomph!' while the old man quickly readjusted themself to walk fine without it.

"Sorry! He's a bit clumsy." Ruby grabbed the cane and handed it to the old man, who said something vaguely insulting as he walked away. Jaune got up and scratched the back of his head as Ruby pouted at him. "Aren't you supposed to be, like, super cool? You're a detective! Where are those super cool and tense interrogation scenes where you yell at people!?"

"Research proves interrogation techniques like those on the movies lead to false convictions. Also, I don't like yelling." Jaune shrugged and yawned. "Well, I guess these are our suspects."

"Really?" There were three people being talked to by police. One was a middle aged man, another was a young woman, and another was a man with greying hair.

"Yea, these are probably the people who, according to their testimonies, had the opportunity to commit the murder. And by that, I mean, they left this room during the time of the murder." From what Jaune had told her about the case, the victim was hosting a house party, left the room to go to the bathroom while drunk, and then didn't come back. Around half an hour later, a guest found Westin Winchester's body in the pool and the police were called. "Jeez, look at all the fancy clothes." Jaune looked down to his own attire, which was remarkably messy.

"Yea, I kind expected you to dress a little better, no offense." Ruby chuckled as Jaune pouted at the jab.

"It's not my fault my pay gets eaten up. I tell ya, it's like I have a black hole in my pocket, the stuff just disappears!" Jaune chuckled a bit before listening to the testimonies of the three suspects, though the old man also had left the room as well, according to the officers. He just went to take a smoke break. Ruby and Jaune listened intently as they eached spoke of why they left the room. One had accidentally spilled some wine on themselves and went to the first floor bathroom to clean up a bit. They said while they walked, they heard the pool splash, but thought nothing of it. The second went into the kitchen and had been cooking until they came back. And the third had went out of the room for some reason they forgot when they saw the blood in the water and screamed.

And through it all, Jaune held a stumped look on his face, definitely parsing the new information he was getting. He asked a few questions, like dates, reasons they were there, how they knew the victim, and even what clothes the victim was wearing beforehand.

"And the old man? What's he got to do with this?" Jaune was speaking to the officer who was in charge of the suspects.

"Oh? Oh, that guy. Well, he's the father of the victim. Said that he went down to get some wine, had some trouble in the dark, and came back up after finding something good." Jaune nodded and walked into the wine cellar, Ruby right behind.

"Uh, what are you doing?" He was now reading through a small notebook filled with scribbles.

"Eh, checking the wine. Did you know that I helped out at a winery for a while? Yea, fun days, could practically get drunk off the smell alone at times." After turning on the lights in the cellar, Jaune began looking through the racks and racks of vintage wines before finding the one that was missing and noting it down in his own personal notebook. "Alright, let's go."

"Eh, ok?" Ruby didn't understand his line of reasoning, but there must've been one! And she really was too nervous to ask.

And so, Jaune brought them upstairs, where the victim had apparently went to use the restroom and change.

"Hmmmm, hey, could you get all of these wine stains tested?" Jaune looked over to a police officer, who raised an eyebrow.

"You want us to cut out pieces of the carpet and test the wine stains?" They looked very unamused, but Jaune simply kept on a smile.

"No, I want to test for fleas." He rolled his eyes. "But yea, if it's no trouble." The officer shrugged.

"Alright, runt." The officer went off and would come back with some others to help collect pieces of the carpet that were stained with wine. Jaune then began to search the entire place thoroughly, looking at a wooden handrail with a nick on it, looking through the bathroom, and even through the victim's closet.

"Uh, Jaune?" Ok, this was the breaking point, what was he doing?

"Hmmm?" Jaune looked out from the closet, curiosity in his eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, just looking for some clothes."

"Eh?"

"The clothes the victim wore." She still looked confused. "The victim changed from his normal clothes, business pants and a very nice polo shirt, into his swimming trunks. Now, if that's true, then there should be some worn business pants and a polo shirtin here. Or somewhere." And then, Ruby realized his reasoning. After a while, he pulled out. "And there's nothing. Alright, I'll have the boys sweep the entire house for it. But I bet they'll find nothing. Anyways, we found the crime scene."

"Huh?"

"Well, a few things didn't add up. The head trauma for one. Even if they were stabbed and shoved into the pool, it wouldn't give them enough momentum to hit the floor with enough force. And they didn't hit the pool deck either, no traces of blood were found on it." She remembered all of those details given by the doctor, but hadn't thought anything of those details until now. "And now? The missing clothes, it's odd. He was drunk, but there's a point where its hard to write it off as being caused by that. So, my guess, he was murdered on this floor, changed into swimming trunks, and thrown off the balcony into the pool. Because he landed in the shallow end, he suffered head trauma. Add that with the marks on the handrail and we know how they got up."

"Huh." Once more, Ruby was reminded why she was interning under Jaune. "Alright! I should probably help, hone those super cool detective skills!" She pantomimed looking through a magnifying glass as she walked out and looked through the hallway. "Ah! Wine stains!" And they smelled like it as well!

"Oh, those are probably blood." And Ruby recoiled in shock at the casual admittal of the red blotch's macabre nature. Jaune actually chuckled a bit, the jerk. Jaune walked to the balcony and noticed that the pool, which was absolutely stained with blood (the filtration system was turned off for the night and kept off to preserve the scene) was being filtered once more. In a move that made Ruby panic, he then jumped off of the balcony and to the pool deck.

"WAIT!" She ran over to try and hold onto her boss, who had just jumped quite a height to a very hard floor. She was used to civilians being fragile, but found that Jaune simply landed with a slight burst of light from his legs. "Huh?"

"Oh,' Jaune looked up at Ruby's shocked face and chuckled a bit. "Ah, sorry. I know you're not used to us officers having it, but I got my aura unlocked. Still no training, though. It's just cause I almost got shot, that's all. It's actually kinda a buzzkill to have, cause of the paperwork. I mean, do you know how many hours I spent filling out forms and taking courses to legally get a license to have it?" Jaune chuckled a bit. "Man that wasn't a fun few weeks."

"Brothers, you had me worried." Ruby hopped down as well, aura flashing as her feet made contact with the floor. Jaune, now being closer to the pool, got a good look at it before diving in. At this point, Ruby wasn't even surprised. Jaune made it out soon after, his scraggly blonde hair flat from the pool water, with a device in his hands. "What's that?"

Jaune let go of his fist to reveal a collapsed scroll. "This! I think it's the victim's. I'll get it searched later. Anyways, let's head back to the station. I have an ideas as to who the killer is and I need them to come by for some questioning."

"Huh? Already?"

Slayen Winchester was not an easy man to make scared. He had looked death in the eye countless times. He had singlehandedly slaughtered hordes of Grimm. And he wasn't nervous about being called in for questioning. After all, the decisive evidence was burned and nobody saw him commit the crime. He wasn't even arrested, just requested to head to the station. His worries were calmed even further when he was lead into a room where a young man and woman were sitting. He leaned his cane against the table and took a seat.

"Ah, children in the police. Vale never ceases to amaze." And they were dressed so oddly as well! One looked like they had never cleaned up before and the other looked more like a huntress. That was explained when she said she was a huntress in training, which raised his opinion of her. The other, who Slayen thought looked like a pencil pusher intern boy for the real cops, spoke with a relaxed smile.

"Hello, Mr. Winchester, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about the murder? It's just some simple stuff, you know? Stuff that bothers me." The boy, who introduced himself as Detective Arc, carried himself loosely. He wasn't a fighter, that was for sure.

"Of course, how may I be of help?"

"Well, about what you said, sir. It's just kind of weird, how you went to get some wine."

"I have a bad back, it's normal for my age."

"Well, yes. The time isn't what I'm questioning. It's just that after you left to go into the cellar, you got a bottle of 95 Rosa, and then made it into the living room from the same door which you left from, correct?" Slayen nodded, thinking the wording a bit odd. "But then, after that, Mr. Adel, who was cooking something, came in with his dish. Now, Mr. Adel swears that he didn't hear you walk past him. I was just wondering how you managed to go from the cellar to the dining room to the living room without passing by Mr. Adel?" And the boy was sharp, that much Winchester could tell. But he couldn't get flustered here.

"I am told that I am rather quiet and unassuming. He probably didn't notice me."

"Ah, makes sense. Alright then." Jaune chuckled a bit. "Funny coincidence, you know?"

"Hmm?"

"That bottle of 95 Rosa? Same brand as some of the stains on the carpeting."

"My son was drinking it."

"Well, no, he wasn't. He was drinking Carna Wine, not Rosa. But, it's probably nothing." Was that the game he was trying to play? Well, he wasn't going to be taking it lightly.

"What are you insinuating, detective?" Jaune blinked at the bluntness of the Winchester and shrugged.

"Eh, you know, I think you killed your son. You got some wine, went out the window, that's why the bushes were disturbed, jumped up to the balcony, killed him, changed his clothes, tossed him into the pool, covered the stains with wine, burnt his stabbed clothes and then went down to the party. The head trauma, lack of clothes, and traces of blood found in the carpet confirm he was killed up there." And he did his homework! Well, the second Slayen got out, he was definitely going to flee with the help of some old friends.

"And your proof? All you've spoken about is the circumstances regarding his death, not the killer."

"Proof? Oh, I don't have any."

"As I tho-"

"Now I do." Jaune simply took Winchester's cane and unsheathed it, revealling a bloodstained blade. "You see, it was an accident, but when I bumped into your cane and it hit the floor? I realized it was heavier than a wooden cane should be. I thought and thought about it until I put the clues together. That was the first clue, everything else just fit into place."

And Slayen's thoughts halted, he supposed it was over. Oh well.

AN: Ok, so, as a writer, I know my limits. First of all, I know that the killer's plan had stupid amounts of problems. I know this kind of sucked. This more of a proof of concept than anything. So, what was the plan for the story? Well, that'll be the next chapter I suppose. If you want to keep from spoiling yourself on the potential plot which might be written by someone, feel free.

This is just a theoretical first chapter, a 'pilot' if you will of what this story could be. And because I know my limits, I won't be writing it. I have written a lot of detective works and I had been able to write about 6k each month. And, as a writer, I tend to just go off the seat of my pants. Almost nothing in a Meandering Arc was planned. And for that reason, I was able to upload a lot. For something I'd have to plan like this? I can't.

So, instead of releasing chapters in a slow bog that'll slow my other story down, I'll just leave it off as something any writer who thinks they can do it better can take.

Also, yes, this is very obviously based on Columbo. And yes, I know Jaune kind of is acting less like himself and more like Columbo.