SO this has been (somewhat) rewritten with added detail and side stuff~ If you haven't reread the story please do so; you'll thank me.

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Arthur immediately dropped the suitcases and stomped down the hallway, leaving Matthew in the entry-room.

Francis did not just…!

He stormed into the kitchen and found the French culprit. He ran up to Francis and began to strangle him with the Frenchman's neckerchief.

"What the hell are you doing here, Frog? How did you get in?" Arthur yelled at Francis.

"Third floor. I like the new wardrobe you bought." Francis replied, seemingly unaffected by the strangling.

"You came in through my bedroom!? Explain yourself!" Arthur just remembered that he might have left a certain drawer open full of embarrassing items and paused. "You didn't see anything, did you?"

Francis ignored the last question. "I only wanted to welcome your younger cousin~! You've been the youngest until now so I don't see why I should not!"

"That's because he's my cousin!"

"Would you like some crepes?" Francis held out a platter full of beautifully decorated crepes.

"No! I'm not eating that!" Arthur shouted.

"We both know that my cooking is better~ Come on! Have some!" Francis wrapped an arm around Arthur's midsection.

"No! Unhand me!" No, this isn't proper! The handsome lech is hugging me- NO! He's not handsome! He's just a stupid Frenchman with a sexy voice- AUGH!

"Admit my cooking is better!" His hand was trailing down Arthur's back.

"Never!"

CRASH!

There was a loud metal crash right outside the kitchen's second door, which led outside. The two stopped and looked at said door.

There was a small pause of silence and then something scratched the door.

The men released each other and Arthur walked toward the door. It could be the neighbor's raccoon or a stray dog. Arthur thought as he grabbed the oven's poker tool; just in case the animal attacked or tried sneak inside. The noise might have scared it off.

There was no window on the door, so Arthur knelt down, leaned close to the door, and listened for any other sounds.

The animal kept scratching on the door.

"Ow… ow… Kumakichi. Warn me next time!" Arthur heard Matthew moan from the other side of the door.

Arthur stood, opened the door a crack, and peeked outside. Matthew's bear sat on the stone steps and stared right at him. Matthew was stumbling on the grass to pick up the bear.

Arthur opened the door all the way. "Matthew? What are you doing outside?"

The boy jumped. "M-my bear was curious about the house and decided to explore. I chased him upstairs to bring him back down," he explained, "but a huge man entered the hallway and chased us into a room!"

"Was his hair slicked back?" Arthur asked.

"Yes! I was looking for a place to hide because he started to shout and pound on the door! I found a secret passage and fell through it!" The teen pointed at a spot next to the steps. "I fell out of it through here."

Ludwig tended to accidentally scare those smaller than hi- a secret passage? This was news to Arthur; he had lived in this house for years and knew every corner of the place.

Apparently this escaped his eye.

He walked down the steps and knelt in front of the spot Matthew pointed at. Thanks to the slightly overgrown grass, a chunk of it was trapped underneath what looked to be a small door that blended in with the wall of the house. No wonder he never saw it before.

With some effort, he pulled the flap open and peered inside. The passage was a steep slope large enough for a young adult to squeeze in, and the floor of it was metal. He studied the flap and found squares of what he assumed to be magnets on the inside. There was also a dent near the center.

"Did you fall head-first?"

"Um, yes…"

He must have ht his head.

Arthur stood and helped Matthew sit down. "There's a chance that you hit your head a little too hard." He muttered as he examined the boy's head. "There aren't any bumps… are you nauseous?"

"No."

"Dizzy?"

"No."

"Do you have a headache?"

"No."

"Is the back of your head sore from the impact?"

"...Yes."

"You're fine, then. Let us go back inside. Ignore the frog that's in the room." Arthur helped Matthew to his feet. Kumajiro stayed by Matthew as close as he could without tripping the teen.

"I like frogs-."

"Not that kind."

"It's a Frenchman, right?" Matthew deadpanned.

"Y-yes." Arthur stumbled as he led the teen inside. Of course, Matthew came from a place where both English and French cultures were present.

"… Matthew, this is Frog. He is nothing of interest. Here is the kitchen. We dine in here at that table in the corner for breakfast and lunch, which are at seven in the morning and noon. Supper is at six in the evening. For that-."

"How mean of you, Cher." Francis complained, feigning a hurt-filled pout.

"Hello Francis!" Matthew waved.

There was a moment of silence as Arthur stared at Matthew as Francis offered the teen a crepe and Matthew accepted with a small 'yes, please' and took one of the saucers off the platter.

"Would you like one, Cousin?" Matthew gestured to the other crepes.

"I introduced myself while you talked. I hope you do not mind, Cher." Francis said smoothly as he held out the platter to Arthur, who glared and nearly growled. "Won't you please take one? Surely you are hungry from skipping breakfast."

"I must decli-." Arthur began, but a loud growl of his stomach said otherwise.

There was a short awkward silence and Arthur picked up a crepe off the platter.

"W-we-well, since you made them, I believe there's no other choice. Let me show Matthew to the dining room while we eat these. This way." He opened a third doorway with double doors and led Matthew into the mute-red dining room.

He glanced back at Francis, who stayed in the kitchen. "Is there a problem?"

Francis smiled back. "I plan to make lunch for the other guests then leave; I have to leave for work in an hour.

"I see. I hope you don't poison your customers."

"I love you too~. Au revoir, Arthur, Matthew!"

"Goodbye." Matthew said.

Francis closed the doors behind the two. Arthur quietly grumbled about what a pervert Francis is and Matthew nearly failed to hold in a laugh.

"You may sit wherever you like, since this is a special occasion." Arthur gestured to the long dark-wooded table and sat at the head. Matthew sat on the seat at the corner of the table and both began to eat their crepes.

They made small talk about the weather and such while they ate. Eventually the conversation led to talking about what each others' parents were like. Arthur's parents both worked in factories so he stayed at his grandmother's; who, he added, owned many sheep and taught him magic. Matthew's parents had sold firewood and different kinds of syrup at the town's market. It was a little sad for both of them but there was a pleasant atmosphere from remembering good memories.

"… and my mother's name was Alice." Matthew continued. "She told me that she was named after our grandmother."

"That is very true, Matthew." Arthur confirmed as he finished his crepe.

When Matthew finished as well, the two went back into the kitchen to put the dishes neatly in a sink that was filled with soapy water.

"Mr. Kirkland, who is this young man?" a loud, deep voice boomed that surprised Arthur enough to jump and scared Matthew enough to reach for the pots and pans that hung on a rack above one of the counters.

"Oh, good afternoon, Mr. Beilschmidt." Arthur turned to the scowling man and pointed toward a small cabinet at the top of the large shelf. The taller man nodded gratefully, walked to the shelf, and pulled out two small bottles from the cabinet. "This is my younger cousin, Matthew." Arthur then gestured to Matthew, who was as still and tense as a rabbit. "Matthew, this is Mr. Ludwig Beilschmidt. He is the detective from Germany."

Mr. Beilschmidt put down the bottles and held out a hand to Matthew. "It is a pleasure to meet you." He said in a (slightly) quieter tone. "I apologize for scaring you earlier. I had thought you were someone else."

Matthew relaxed a little and shook his hand.

"Let me show you around the house and introduce you to the other residents." Arthur led Matthew out of the kitchen and into one of the hallways.

"What did he pull out of the cabinet?" Matthew asked as soon as the two were out of earshot from Ludwig

"It was medicine for hangovers. We dared him to chug ten pints of beer."

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As Arthur showed Matthew the first floor (dining, tea room, library, and a few doors that led to some guest rooms), a young man of 20 years softly trotted down the stairs from the guest bedrooms and down the hall.

He began to list all the things he needed to do. Today, he was going to examine the files of the victims other than the financial trouble their families had - everyone seemed to be having this problem these days. He needed to see if there was a pattern of age groups. He needed to copy the names of the cities of all 573 abduction sites onto a separate piece of paper so that Mr. Honda could mark the sites on the map. He also needed to write down numbers for multiple disappearances in the same city. Then there's the sorting and graphing and more copying and-

"Mr. Lorinaitis!" Toris looked up to see Arthur and a teenager - presumably the cousin he raved about for the past two weeks - leaving the piano room.

"Oh, good afternoon, Mr. Kirkland." He replied.

"Mr. Lorinaitis, this is Matthew Williams, my cousin from Canada. Matthew, this is Toris Lorinaitis, the detective from Lithuania."

As the two shook hands with a small "How do you do", Toris thought that name sounded familiar. There was also that small yet strange smile Matthew has-

"I am showing him the house. Would you like to come with us?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, no, I can't. I need to organize the files with the dates of the cases. Thank you for the invitation." Toris replied.

"Alright then. We will see you at dinner, Mr. Lorinaitis." Arthur said as he led Matthew down the hall and up the stairs.

When the cousins left to go upstairs, Toris continued down the hall and into the shared study. He found the box full of dividers and files of the cases and searched through the files for a similar name that he might have seen before.

Sanders...

Solomon…

Thompson…

Trane…

Turner…

Umali…

Washington…

Williams-

Here it is. Toris pulled out the 'Williams' file out and observed the victim's profile:

Williams, Matthew. Male, Blonde hair, and violet eyes.

Disappearances began in 3887, at the age of five.

The average amount of days he is missing is between three and six days at a time.

The frequency is at least twice a month.

Update: As of July 1st, 3898, he is sixteen years old.

No wonder Matthew had that smile. He knows what case they're trying to solve.

Toris made note of the present tense in the file about the frequency; as he put it back in its appropriate spot when he saw another familiar name in the files.

Honda, Kiku

And another,

Dulmes, Belle

And another, though slightly different.

Kirkland, Peter

One after another, Toris found files of nearly all of the detectives living under this roof; even one with his name on it.

He doesn't remember being kidnapped from his home at all. Why would he? He was never kidnapped! "Why am I in here?"

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Please tell me what you think of the new details. I'd love to hear some feedback~