Emil began compiling a list of murder suspects, which so far only included Ivan Braginsky. "What about friends? Exes? Anyone, er, jealous of you?" he asked Gilbert.

"I think my roommate was jealous of my good looks, but he and I were besties," replied the ghost, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration. "Besides, he was way too much of a wimp to hurt me."

"What was his name?"

"Roderich Edelstein."

Emil typed the name into Facebook while Gil watched intently over his shoulder, and he found the man rather easily. Roderich was a concert pianist, so Emil figured Gil was right about him being a wimp. That meant Ivan was still the top suspect…

"What the hell?!" exclaimed the ghost suddenly. "He married Erzsy? He married Erzsy?" He stared in horror at the relationship status, which proudly proclaimed "married to Erzsébet Edelstein."

"Who's that?" Emil asked, bewildered at the outburst.

"My girlfriend," Gilbert muttered. "Put that bastard on the suspect list." With that, the ghost left the room.

"Murdering your best friend to steal his girlfriend," Lukas mused. "Sounds a bit Shakespearian."

"I doubt that's what really happened," Emil responded, but he wrote them both down anyway.

"If he died by falling down the stairs, wouldn't the security camera have picked it up?"

Emil turned to gape at his boyfriend. "I hadn't even thought of that. Is there a security camera in the stairwell?"

"I don't think you're cut out to be a detective." Lukas shook his head, smirking. "It's a good thing you're cute."

Emil glared at him as his face heated up. "But if there was some magical video showing the murder, why would the police have ruled it as an accident?"

"Probably because he wasn't really murdered."

"I wonder if the police will talk to me about the case…"

"Why are you so willing to believe that guy? This whole murder investigation is so obviously a cry for attention from a lonely ghost."

The temperature in the room dropped, bringing Emil's attention back to his spectral boyfriend.

"Are you…jealous?" he asked carefully. Lukas fixed him with a cold glare, but that didn't faze him anymore. He let out a laugh. "You're being ridiculous."

"I'm being ridiculous?" Lukas sneered quietly. "You're the one chasing an imaginary murderer."

"I'm trying to help Gilbert move on, so you and I can be left in peace! And I'm trying to find a way to bring you back, and you think I'm going to lose interest in you the moment another ghost walks by?"

"I'm just concerned for you, Emil. You barely pay attention in your classes; you're not making any friends. All you do is investigate some murder that most likely never happened and study old books about ghosts. Have you done any homework for your classes?" Emil flinched. He was way behind in all of his classes, as a matter of fact.

"I never wanted to be here; my parents told me I needed a degree. Christ, I'm not even good at school!"

"Just be grateful you get to go to college."

"And whose fault is it that you didn't get to?"

He didn't mean to say it, but it came out and hung heavily in the air between them. He watched his boyfriend shut down, his face going blank, then he slipped out of the room silently. The temperature went noticeably up, but Emil shivered. Shit.

As he was wont to do lately, he threw himself into his work. Afterall, Tino's Aunt Paula had told him the best time to practice meditating was when you were upset. So he sat on his bed, closed his eyes, and tried to empty his thoughts. Deep breaths. He shouldn't have said that, he really crossed a line. No, don't think, just breathe. In, out. How could he say something like that to someone he cared about so deeply? Breathing, breathing.

He was finally able to empty his head to two thoughts: inhale, exhale. Slowly, he reached out with his mind, trying to sense any nearby spirits. Maybe he would find Lukas.

Concentration broken, back to breathing. In, out. In...out. It was dark, but he could see a faint light down the hall. He couldn't tell what color it was, but he could feel Gilbert's energy. Now, he pictured a bubble of energy around himself, and he stretched it out. Out into the hall, effortless and strenuous at once. But the farther he stretched the bubble, the weaker it got, and even though a thin wall stood in front of the ghost, he passed through it with very little resistance. But there was resistance. Inhale, exhale. Reshape the bubble into one wall. A little more resistance, but still permeable. Inhale, exhale. Concentrate harder. Send more energy. Visualize.

The door opened, breaking his concentration. "Oh, sorry!" said Matthew, entering the room. "Were you sleeping?"

"No, just meditating," Emil replied. His meditation interrupted, all of his emotions came flooding back, and he sighed heavily.

"Are you okay?" asked his roommate.

"Lukas and I had a fight, and I said something awful."

"Is…is he here right now?" Matthew looked around nervously, and Emil sighed again. Two years later, and his best friend was still uncomfortable with the fact that ghosts existed and tended to hang around Emil. He used to wear Lukas's spectral glasses to be able to see him, but they had been lost at some point. Lukas hadn't minded the loss, but Emil was still annoyed about it.

"No, he's not." The other boy visibly relaxed, but at least he had the grace to try to play it off.

"Hey, why don't you come get pizza with us tonight? You could use a break from all the work you've been doing."

Out of habit, Emil began to say "Sorry, I'm too busy," but then he remembered what Lukas had said about not making any friends. Well, the spirit probably wanted some space anyway. "Okay, I'll come."

"Really?" Matthew asked incredulously. "Great! Awesome! You can finally meet everyone!"

"Mattie, do you think I'm doing all this wrong?"

"All what?"

"All…this." He gestured around the room. "College, training, murder investigations."

"Well…I think you could socialize more. You barely hung out with our friends over the summer, and sometimes I think I would never see you at all if we weren't roommates."

"It's just that…" Emil took a steadying breath. "I feel guilty leaving Lukas alone. It's not like he can hang out with us. Especially with the…breakup, I don't want him to be lonely."

"Can't he make friends with the ghost here?" Matthew asked gently.

"They don't get along. At all."

"But you need time away from him. and he probably needs his space, too. And from what you've told me, he was never very social anyway."

"I know, but still. I feel bad enjoying my life when he can't."

With a sudden slight change in temperature, Emil realized there had been a ghost listening at the door. Some medium he was. He couldn't tell whether it was Lukas or Gilbert without going back into a trance, and it was probably better that way. He wasn't sure which option would be worse.

"Let's just go," he grumbled.

"Okay! You can finally try that macaroni and cheese pizza I've been telling you about!"

Emil was drunk. Despite the parties he had been to with Mathias in high school and the drinks his parents had let him have occasionally with them at home, Emil had never really been drunk before. After pizza, they had all snuck in the back door of a bar and got upperclassmen to buy them drinks. Now, as he stumbled out of the noisy bar, he was starting to regret that second slice of mac and cheese pizza. He wasn't sure where anyone in his group had gone; even Matthew had disappeared in the crowd.

Emil glanced around, trying to get his bearings. Which way was his dorm? Everyone that passed by seemed to glow in their own unique ways, and it was all very distracting. Wait, wasn't this what he was supposed to concentrate hard to see? Was he actually a better spirit medium when drunk? He giggled to himself. The tipsy medium, they would call him.

"Well, this is surprising." Lukas was suddenly next to him, faintly glowing in his own way.

"I can see your aura," Emil slurred. "Isn't that cool?"

"It's probably best not to talk to me in public, especially when you're drunk." The ghost grabbed his hand, sending a shiver up his arm that made him giggle. "Come on, let's get you back to the dorm."

It only took half a block for Lukas to give up on leading his boyfriend, and he turned his focus to keeping him upright. Emil leaned against him when he wrapped a steadying arm around his waist.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," he said pitifully. "It was really mean of me."

"It's okay, Emil," Lukas answered quietly. "You're right anyway. It's my fault I didn't get to go to college. And I appreciate the work you're doing for my sake. I want you to live your life however makes you happy."

Emil woke up the next morning in his dorm room with a headache and only a vague memory of how he got there. He looked around blearily and saw that Matthew had also somehow made it back. There was also a glass of water and two pills next to his bed, and he took them gratefully. His boyfriend, however, was nowhere to be seen. He downed the water and went back to sleep.

He and Matthew got up two hours later, and, after finding some heavy, greasy food, both felt almost completely better.

Emil discovered an email from the city police office, marked as a reply. Memories rushed back of speaking to a journalism major about the article he was supposedly writing and getting advice on how to interview the police. He was delighted to discover that his own email had been written well, despite the alcohol. Too well in fact, he must not have written it himself. Anyway, the reply offered a very short meeting with the officer who had investigated Gilbert's death. He wrote a not quite so elegant reply confirming the meeting then got ready to head to the Väinämöinens' for training. He was really going to be put through the paces for showing up late.

"So, I hear you want to talk about an old case," began the detective on Monday during their meeting.

"Yes, sir, about the death of Gilbert Beilschmidt," Emil answered nervously.

"There isn't much to tell. The case was pretty cut-and-dry. The kid died at 2:51 am on the 21st from injuries sustained from the fall. He had a broken neck, so it's likely he died upon impact. The body was found at 8:13 am the same day."

"Why did you rule it as an accident?" Emil asked, trying his best to sound confident. He squeezed his notepad, wondering what would happen if the detective discovered he was lying about the article.

"It was pretty clear from his blood-alcohol-level and witness accounts that he had been drinking. Plus, we had the security footage from the stairwell. That's how we were able to determine the time of death so exactly."

Emil sat forward in his chair. If that footage really showed that Gilbert's death was an accident, maybe showing it to him would help him move on.

"Is there any chance I could see this video?"

"No, we returned the tape to the dorm once the case was closed. I'm not sure why you're so interested in this matter. He fell, and that's that; there's no conspiracy here."

It was best not to press him on this matter, Emil decided. "How did it take so long for the body to be discovered? Especially with the security camera."

The detective sighed heavily. "That was the saddest part. None of his friends realized he was missing, and the RA in charge of watching the security cameras that night had also joined the party. It was just one tragic, drunken college party. You don't drink, do you Mr. Steilsson?"

"No, sir," Emil answered quickly. "But what about Gilbert's roommate or his girlfriend? Neither of them noticed he was gone?"

"Er, no, it seems not." The detective pulled on his collar nervously. "As I recall from their statements, they were, um, otherwise occupied that night."

Emil nodded, hoping his face didn't betray his shock, as he made a note to give them some extra suspicion points.

"But don't go writing that in your article, alright? That's a private matter that doesn't need to be dug up. Both those kids were so damned distraught over the whole thing. I think the girlfriend dropped out of school, and the roommate had to take a semester off."

Emil didn't learn much more from the detective, just that everyone mourned Gil properly, and nothing seemed to be out of order. He decided Roderich and Erszébet Edelstein were not that suspicious after all. When he got back to his dorm, he decided to look into Ivan Braginsky some more. It took a while to find him, because Emil kept spelling the name wrong. He finally found Gil lurking in the common room and nodded for the spirit to follow him back to his room. The ghost helped him find Ivan online, while peppering him with questions about the police interview, which Emil ignored. He figured telling Gil his former best friend and roommate had been having an affair with his girlfriend before he died wasn't a piece of information that would help him move on.

He looked over Ivan's Facebook page, but it didn't tell him much. He had played professionally for a couple of seasons after college, but a major concussion had taken him out of the game forever. He had married a model, though, and they seemed happy enough.

"Of course that asshole ended up with a perfect life," Gil grumbled. "That should've been my life. That's my hot model wife."

"That's your recurring health problems from past injuries?" Emil asked drily.

"I wouldn't have let myself get injured," Gil replied confidently.

"No, you just let yourself get murdered," Emil mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

But Emil found an article just then about a high-scoring game Ivan had helped his team win in college. On the morning of Gil's death. Three states away.

"Well, I guess that gives him an alibi," Emil said, crossing the man's name off his list. That just left the Edelsteins, but he crossed them off, too. From what he had learned of Gilbert, he really couldn't imagine anyone having a good enough reason to murder him. "Did you take drugs?"

"What? Why would you ask me that?"

"Maybe your dealer came after you for money or something, I don't know."

"We were drug tested for the football team," Gil huffed. "I was always clean."

"Alright, well I'm running out of leads here. Are you absolutely sure you were pushed?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Fine, fine." Emil rubbed his face. Lukas was right, he shouldn't be chasing imaginary murderers. He wasn't cut out for detective work.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Gil interrupted his thoughts. Emil hummed his assent. "Do you and the newbie…?"

"Do we what?" Emil looked up at the ghost, knowing already he was going to regret asking.

"You know…" Gil smirked at him mischievously, making a lude gesture. "Do it."

"Excuse me?"

"You know what I mean, do you guys have sex?"

Emil gaped at him. "That's none of your business."

"Hey, I'm just wondering how it works," Gil said, holding his hands up. "I mean, you know, I hear some things sometimes, and it got me curious…"

"You…! You listen in on us?" Emil screeched. His face burned, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to disappear or make Gil disappear. If he weren't already dead, he would have pushed him down the stairs himself.

"I don't mean to! Well, not really, at least, but you're not always that quiet, and I really don't have much around for entertainment."

"Get out," Emil commanded.

"Look, I'm not judging. Everyone has their own kinks, and I guess yours is necro—"

"Get! Out!"

He imagined shoving Gilbert as hard as he could, and suddenly the ghost disappeared backwards out of the room. Emil stared at the door in silent shock. He couldn't manage to hinder the ghost while in deep meditation, but a moment of pure anger apparently was all it took to fend him off.

"Is everything alright?" asked Lukas as he rushed into the room. "I could hear you from upstairs."

"We need to get rid of Gilbert as soon as possible," Emil replied. "What were you doing upstairs?"

"I…" Lukas looked slightly ashamed of himself, which quickly distracted Emil from the other ghost. Lukas rarely had any shame, what had he been doing? "Well, don't look at me like that," he huffed. "It wasn't anything perverse. I was just copying your classmate's English notes."

"You what?"

"Well, you took such atrocious notes the other day, and I have no desire to read Othello for you…"

Emil laughed and hugged his boyfriend tightly. "I thought you were supposed to be a genius."

"I am, but I prefer math and science to Elizabethan homoeroticism. So what happened with that idiot? I also want him gone immediately, but what prompted the outburst?"

Emil looked down at his feet, wanting to disappear again. He really didn't want to tell his boyfriend that the other ghost had heard them…together. "You don't want to know."

"Has he been flirting with you again? While I don't blame him, I'm not sharing you with him."

"I told you, I'm not interested in him!"

"I know you're into ghosts and thruples, but I have to draw the line somewhere."

"Maybe I should tell you, then you two can just tear each other apart and leave me in peace."

Lukas flicked him on the nose, the hint of a smile dancing in his eyes. "Then who would do your English homework for you?" Emil rolled his eyes and sat down at his desk. Lukas hugged him from behind, draping himself over his shoulders. "So how do we get rid of him? Have you made any progress on the murder case?"

"I'm starting to think that you're right, and he really did make up the whole murder thing."

"How do you get him to move on then? Can you do it by force?"

"I would need Tino's aunt to help me exorcise him." Emil thought for a minute. "The detective said that the dorm should still have the security tape from that night. Maybe if I show it to Gil, he'll realize it was just an accident and move on."

"And how are you going to procure the footage?"

"Well, I was hoping you could help me with that."

Lukas groaned. "Why can't that loud-mouthed ghost do it? It's his death on the tape anyway."

"He's not smart enough to take it undetected."

"You've got a point there, but I still don't want to do it. This whole situation is ridiculous, and I still don't think you should be getting involved in a stranger's death. Are you sure you can't just exorcise him? Or use one of those wards you're always scribbling?"

"Those work on all ghosts at once, not one specifically. Please, Lukas?"

"What will you do for me if I do this for you?" the ghost purred in his ear.

Emil jumped in his seat, thinking of Gilbert listening in on them, but his boyfriend misinterpreted his reaction. "Sheesh, fine, I'll do it," he said, rolling his eyes, letting go of Emil. "What exactly am I looking for?"

"March 15th, 2007, around 1 or 2 in the morning."

"Fine, I'll go see what I can find."