Tino And Berwald

Vash did not agree with this tactic, but if this was what they wanted of him so as to not bother him with their accusations, so be it. Personally, he thought that as this was a small town and they were the ones making the official call so they should be in charge. They knew more about this Hearth than he did. Nevertheless, he would show them how an investigation was done.

He would interrogate everyone involved.

Roy laughed and Brian was hiding his mouth behind his hand.

"What?" Vash demanded.

"Ai'll get ye a list," Roy said.

If they thought this was going to dissuade him (or make him confess to something he had not done) then they were sorely mistaken. Vash knew he could handle whatever it was they were going to throw at him to prove himself.

The list was very long. Vash's eyebrow twitched. "Is this everyone?" he asked instead.

Brian whistled. "Let's jist stick with this first," he said.

The first people he went to see was the family which had a computer stolen. Apparently the both of them ran the general store in this small town. Which would make it rather unlikely that either of them were the culprit, but Vash was going to find all all he could from them anyway.

After glancing about the scene of the crime, he was invited to sit in the back of the store, where these two lived.

"Thank you for looking," the man named Tino said. "I hate to put you all through so much trouble!"

"Ye know it's nothin'," Roy shrugged. "Excep' our job, mind ye."

"When are you sure you last saw the stolen item?" Vash asked promptly. Tino replied, as his husband did not seem to want to open his mouth.

"Before we went to bed."

"When was that?"

"Oh... earlier than normal. Berwald and Matthias got into a fight."

"Who is this Matthias?" Vash asked, remembering that name was also on his list. Tino glanced over at Berwald as if waiting for him to say something, but replied nevertheless.

"Berwald's brother."

"What were they fighting about?" Vash continued.

Tino laughed, shrugging. "The usual. It's nothing new for them."

Berwald grunted, the first sound Vash heard him make.

"Where did Matthias go?" Vash decided to ask. It did not seem that Tino knew or really cared what they were arguing about. And, of course, Berwald was still a stoic mass.

"I called Mangus to take him home." Tino continued, graciously understanding what Vash was about to ask. "Mangus is their cousin. He is very good at dealing with Matthias. So we left them downstairs and went upstairs."

It sounded simple enough. Vash reviewed everything in his mind, certain he remembered all the relevant details. "Is there anything else?"

"We have a dog," Tino added. "Hanatamago."

Vash blinked, but knew that the weird name was irrelevant, as was Brian and Roy's snickering. "And?"

"He did not disturb us at all," Tino continued. "He would have done it if someone had broken in. He's done it before."

"Someone has broken in before?"

"Just some of the kids, back when they were kids. Wouldn't steal anything though! Those boys have grown up so much, haven't they Berwald?"

The glasses-wearing man nodded, the second sign Vash had that he was even paying attention. It was good to know he just was not staring at him without listening. Or glaring. Vash was not sure. This Berwald was slightly unnerving, but that was not important. He would not be cowed by how someone looked.

"Thank you," he said to Tino. "I will find your missing computer."

"Wait 'til ye get ta the rest o' the list," Roy corrected.

"Ignore them," Tino said. "They like messing around, but they're good at their job."

Vash had yet to see that.

But the rest of that list was looking a bit long.

Notes:

Brian and Roy will laugh a lot in this story. All at Vash's expense.