She took him to his father's study, where his whole family had gathered to hear about his tragically untimely demise. Jonathan wished he could have been there to see it; to see their sobs of regret as they wished they could have appreciated him while he was alive... But now, more than three hours after they'd been told the news, his mother was the only one still crying. His brothers, on the other hand, looked far too okay for Jonathan's liking. Remy, his older brother, was standing with his back against one of the bookshelves and his hands stuck deep in his pockets, staring into space. His younger brother Will was murmuring quiet, soothing platitudes to their mother while she shook her head and refused to listen, sobbing too hard to do much of anything else. Jonathan was sorely disappointed that this was it – this was the extent of the drama generated by his death. And to make matters worse, he'd even missed the best part!

Ah, well... At least the fact that he was murdered would serve to keep things interesting for a while.

"I realize that this has been...a nightmare for you." It was interesting to see the detective anything less than perfectly composed. His eyebrows were drawn down in anger (which Jonathan had to assume was his default emotion), but there was also something rather...sad in the way he looked at Jonathan's family. "And I know the last thing you want is to have to relive your painful memories of the last few days. But if we want to bring Jonathan's murderer to justice, we're going to need your help."

For the first time, his mother looked up. Her face was red and blotchy, tear-stains streaking down her face like decade-old burn scars. She looked awful. Jonathan preened. "I don't – I don't – I'm so c-conf-f-fused..." she hiccuped.

The detective kneeled next to her, his voice going quiet and gentle. "It's hard even for us, who have been working in criminal justice for years, to understand why people kill."

"Miko..." Aki was glaring at the detective as if Gurski was the killer. He ignored her.

"I am going to interview you three individually. With your cooperation we will hopefully get all the information we need to wrap this case up quickly," Gurski continued.

"Uh, Miko," said Kangai. The detective started, and then turned and stared at him like he'd never seen Kangai before in his life. Aki and Naoki choked down giggles next to him. "Where is...Mr. Hade?"

Mrs. Hade's sobbing increased, if that was even possible. Miko sighed. "A very good question. One that I will remember to ask in the interviews." He paused, seeming to battle with himself about something. "And kid?"

"Yeah?" said Jonathan.

"Never call me that again. Got it?"

"What, Miko?" The detective twitched. Jonathan felt a familiar smirk spreading across his face. "But I like that name! It fits you. Don't you think, Aki?"

Wow, Jonathan had never seen anyone actually cry for laughing so hard. Aki wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and attempted to pull herself together. "I agree, Kan." Even Naoki was fighting back a smile. Li Mei, on the other hand, had her arms crossed tightly across her chest and her mouth flattened into a thin line. Geez, what a spoilsport.

When he looked back at his family, he realized that his mother was staring at him with wide, unfocused eyes. It was actually kind of creepy. "Umm... M... Mrs. Hade?"

She snapped out of it, seeming to draw into herself even more than before. Jonathan frowned. What was up with that? She couldn't possibly know it was him... could she?

"We're going to begin the interviews with... Jeremy Hade." Gurski read the name from his police file, nodding as Remy straightened and pushed off from the bookcase. "Is the kitchen all right with you?"

Remy shrugged. "Whatever's fine."

"Hey, Miko," he drawled, sticking his hands in his pockets. Miko twitched again. It was quite amusing. Jonathan wondered how long it would take before it stopped being so very entertaining. "Do I get to help?"

If Jonathan wasn't mistaken, there was a vein pulsing in the detective's forehead. "When I need your help, I'll beat it out of you."

Kangai blinked. "Is that a no?"

Aki made a strangled noise that seemed to be an aborted laugh. "That's a no."

"Aww..."

Gurski shook his head and began leading Remy out of the room. Jonathan sighed. Manipulating the interview sessions would have been epic, but he suspected he could wreak a good amount of havoc here as well.

Speaking of which... Jonathan quelled the urge to grin as he looked over at Aki, noticing that she was watching Gurski exit as well... but with a very different sort of frustration than Jonathan was feeling. It was almost too easy.

Once they had relocated to the living room to give Jonathan's family some space, he set the ball rolling. "Are you mad at him?" Kangai asked, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Haha..." She was definitely looking uncomfortable. "Not any more than usual."

Kangai nodded. "I guess you heard what he was saying about you earlier?"

She froze. After a moment of – frankly – rather terrifying stillness, she said in a deceptively calm voice, "Jog my memory."

"He, well," Kangai played with some frayed threads on his jeans, looking appropriately anxious. "...are you sure it's okay if I tell you?"

"Of course!" she said brightly, but just the tiniest bit too loudly. Jonathan winced against his headache's sudden flicker of pain at the noise. She noticed, of course. "Sorry," she apologized, this time in a whisper.

"No worries," he smiled slightly. "Miko was just saying that he understands that you have a very hard job, and sometimes clues can be hard to find, but he can't respect the means you use to get what you want. He thought you were kind of...immature."

It was quite an interesting effect. Aki's facial expressions seemed to have iced over. "Did he," she murmured.

"Yeah, but, um," Kangai did his best to look placating now, "I'm sure he didn't mean it like he said it! Okay, maybe he said that he thought you were manipulative and shallow, but I feel like you guys talk about each other like that all the time! I mean, that's part of your relationship, right?"

"Right," said Aki, flashing him a terrifyingly blank smile.

He allowed the fear to bleed through his mask. "D-did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's just..." she seemed to deflate, suddenly looking lonely and much more tired than she seemed before. "Never mind. I'm going to get something to drink, all right?"

Jonathan didn't bother to point out her mistake; in order to get something to drink she'd have to go into the kitchen, where Remy's interview was being held. "Okay..."

She hadn't even left the room when Jonathan was already searching for his next victim. Ooh, Aki's twin-dude. What was his name? Notaki?