A/N: Hello, and welcome back to Investigasians! It seems like there's a lot of positive responses to this Fic, so I'm happy it's got off to a good start! I've probably said this a million times over, but I've been so excited about getting this Fic into motion and sharing it with you all! It's going to be a lot of fun (and crime)!

Without further ado, here is the next chapter!

Chapter 1

Yao ensured everything in his office was looking perfect. He had hastily hidden all the messy scrap papers he kept on his desk, as well as sent Lei away to another room with that wretched laptop of his. He had opened the blinds to add some light into the room, and had gone to the great effort of sweeping the floor and hoovering the carpet to make it appear spotless. He had wiped his desk clean of any coffee stains, as well as rowed his books neatly on their shelf to make himself appear a learned and avid scholar. In a pretence, he'd plastered one wall with photos from old cases to make himself appear in demand and popular. He turned on a fan, because his office was usually stuffy and hot and cramped, but today, it would be like a professional's air conditioned establishment. Whilst there was nothing he could do about the Honda ramen shop below, he was sure Mr Edelstein would keep an open mind and still meet him at eleven. He had positioned Kasam at the reception table just before the office, with his pleasant smile and good natured behaviour. He could always trust Kasam to make a good impression on strangers.

He had even brushed himself up. Rather than wear the dark, dusty coat he always wore on missions, he wore the only clean cut suit jacket he owned with matching trousers. To make him seem serious, rather than pompous, Yao had gone for a casual shirt underneath and a lose tie. He wore his watch on his wrist for show. He had brushed and combed his hair, and had tied his hair back, rather than leave the ponytail slung to the side. He felt the refined man, ready to take on whatever case Edelstein had prepared for him. He had told Kasam to send him a message when the client-to-be was sent his way. So far, nothing, and it was already ten to.

There was only one thing he'd had to do to make his life just that little bit easier: get Yong Soo out of the vicinity. Although clumsily suitable to a be a sidekick, the youngest member of the Investigasians was not the best for presenting them as a good organisation that had earned significant wealth from their trade. He was loud, messy, a klutz and would only act inappropriately towards the client, as if he were interrogating them. Yao knew this because he had done it many times in the past. However, with someone such as Edelstein's status, he couldn't afford to allow Yong Soo threaten to lose this job. He needed the money; both Lei and Kiku had made that clear. It was only fortunate their youngest member had school during the week.

His phone buzzed, alerting him to the presence of his latest customer. Lifting his feet from the desk, as Yao thought that made him look arrogant, he sat up straight and pretended to be a little busy reading through a "case"- more like his rental bill. The door opened to reveal Kasam smiling into the room, two people standing behind him. For a moment, Yao was thrown. Two people? Were these even more clients? However, the clock recognised the time as eleven exactly, and he could clearly see that the man who entered his room was none other than Roderich Edelstein. He wasn't sure who the woman with him was, but assumed that, if the client had brought her to this room, then she was allowed to know about the case.

"Please, have a seat, aru," he gestured to the other side of his desk, and cringed to see there was only one chair there. "Um…"

"I'll go grab another chair," Kasam promised.

"It's fine," Roderich Edelstein glanced around the room uncomfortably. "I can stand."

"Are you sure, Sir?" Kasam looked hesitant.

"Honestly, I'm fine…" the Young Master was looking vacantly outside the window.

Yao wasn't sure what to have expected him to look like, but for some reason, he imagined him to appear like one of those great composers, with frazzled grey hair and skin that hadn't seen sun in decades. The young man standing in his room was not of that appearance – he had a thoughtful expression, stylish glasses balanced on his nose, and dressed in a unique manner that both expressed his wealth and fashion sense. He was both modern and traditional, and somehow, Yao respected him for that.

"You seem busy," Roderich commented, tapping his temple as he glanced between Yao and the board that had been purposefully set up.

At first, he wasn't sure if the Young Master was attempting Sign Language or Morse Code with him, but then Yao realised his client-to-be was referring to the stitching on his head. Smiling to himself, he proudly nodded and offered a nonchalant shrug.

"I've had many a client and case, aru," he gestured to the board. "As the pair of you are here today, it seems word about my agency has spread far and wide across the city."

"Well, ja… 'Investigasians' isn't a name so easily forgotten," he wasn't sure if there was a slight hint of disdain in the Young Master's voice. Either way, Yao was to efficiently ignore it, and instead nodded with a wide smile.

"What can I do for you two today, anyway?" Yao asked. "I have to say, the concert your father put on last Friday was rather impressive, Mr Edelstein."

With a little effortless research, Yao had been able to gather information that the Young Master's father had played a huge, musical concert recently. If he pretended he'd gone, then it would make the client-to-be feel in a more familiar, safer environment. The reaction received was not the one he'd expected. Rather than joyfully share his love for music, Roderich Edelstein raised a hand to his mouth and looked back out the window.

"I-I'm sorry, Detective Wang," the young woman smiled reassuringly at his client-to-be. "You see… we actually came here about Roderich's father."

"Oh?" Yao frowned. "What about, aru?"

"We've kept it low brow- as in, really low brow- so we want you to keep this case as confidential as you can," she said pointedly.

"May I ask your name, Ma'am?" he asked.

"Ah, my name is Elizabeta Hédeváry," she held out her hand to show a glittering ring on her finger, diamonds and all. "Roderich's fiancée."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, aru," he smiled. "So, what's happened?"

"Murder," Elizabeta answered.

"Murder?" he repeated, unsure. "As in, the murder of...?"

"Roderich's father," she nodded. "The police are currently looking into the scene, but we felt… well… they haven't gotten very far, and it's already been two days. Myself and Roderich are, naturally, getting anxious that it could become a cold case. We just want justice and to see what happened to our poor father."

"Of course, of course," Yao shrugged. "A case on murder? I'd be happy to take it, aru. Just one thing…"

"One grand," Roderich laid a stack of money on the desk. "Two fifty for taking it, and seven fifty for completing it."

Yao's eyes bugged out as he assessed the expensive wad presented before him. He took it in his hands, raised his head and saw the expressions of both husband and wife-to-be were serious.

"All this?" he gawked aloud.

"My father, Niklas Edelstein, was an important man in this society and his music has inspired many, brought laughter to others and reduced some to miserable wrecks of tears and sadness," Roderich said sharply. "He was a great man worth far beyond one thousand mere pounds, I can tell you that."

"I'm definitely doing this case, aru," Yao nodded, and dropped the money in his safe box where he stored his dwindling cash. "I'd like to ask a question before we do anything."

"Go ahead," Elizabeta shrugged.

"Was the late Mr Edelstein hated by many people?" Yao asked carefully.

Roderich glanced back out the window whilst Elizabeta paused for thought. "He was rich, but I'm not aware he had enemies. I'd say no – he was a good man."

"Alright, then," Yao said. "I'd like to have full access to his personal details, travels, cards, and so on. It's important I know everything about the victim in order to make links to potential suspects, aru."

"Understood," Elizabeta looked solemn. "Will you… require a house key?"

"No," Yao shook his head. "If I need to investigate around the house, I'll do so, aru. Or if I need to speak with one of you, I can arrange a meeting. Might I ask, first of all, where the crime scene occurred?"

"The music theatre," Roderich suddenly turned from the window to look at them both. "My father was murdered the night of his show, after it had finished. He never made it home."

"Oh, Roderich," Elizabeta had sympathy in her eyes. "Yes, it's true. Our father was… he was dead by the time his body was found Saturday morning."

"OK," Yao jotted that down in his little handbook of details. "Thank you very much. I will begin investigating this case."

"How long will it take for you to do this?" Roderich demanded. "I need to know when my justice will be found?"

"It really varies, depending on how elaborate a case is," Yao explained. "They usually take a week, sometimes a few days, and some cases take up to two weeks."

Then there are some that have taken me months, Yao thought, but held his silence concerning anything to do with the Target – his client had been extremely strict about that.

"Very well," Roderich said. "I expect to receive a result. I'm sure you do as well, as there won't be an additional seven hundred and fifty should no conclusion reach my doorstep."

Yao watched Roderich Edelstein stride out of the room with his head held high. He was usually disinclined to help rude customers, but the seven hundred and fifty promised pounds would be enough to keep his rent paid for at least ten months. Elizabeta stood awkwardly and offered Yao a shaky smile.

"He's just upset, that's all," she fretted. "He loved his father more than any of that man's friends and fans. Idolised him, even. Well, since we found out about his death, Roderich's been extremely quiet. I suggested we come see you, and he didn't even argue back. Thank you very much for taking this case, by the way."

"No problem, aru," Yao shook her hand and saw her to the door, closing it behind her and surveying his now neat office. "My Arumeter is telling me I made the right decision."

Yao left his office about a minute later and found his way to the back room, their base of operations, were Lei and Lien were sprawled across their sofas, one on her phone, the other his laptop. Both raised their heads upon his entrance.

"How did it go?" Lei asked.

"Good, I think," he shrugged. "We'll have everyone regroup here so we can discuss the case."

"And Kiku?" Lien lowered her eyes back to her phone.

"We'll relay the details to Kiku if we need his help, aru," Yao replied, sitting down in a chair. "For now, though, leave him to his job."

Their Base of Operations was a small, tightly packed room that Kiku had once used to keep his school equipment. As it had no longer been in use, the Honda family had allowed Yao to use it for his business, just as they'd allowed him to use their study when he needed to, and share a room with Kiku. For the meagre eighty-five pounds they asked from him per month, the Honda family truly did give him a good deal. At first, when he'd just moved back into the city as a finished student, he had stayed free with Kiku, but after his ten months of free stays had morphed into two years, Mr Honda had grown tired and set down the rent. Although it was low, Yao still only just about kept up with it. This room was now cluttered with several chairs and Lei's computer equipment used for handling digital information.

As it was a Monday, Yong Soo probably wouldn't get to hear about the briefing. He called reception, and Kasam was in the room before they knew it.

"The pair of them looked very distressed as they left," he noted. "What happened in there?"

"Murder," Yao explained, and watched his colleagues' eyes widen. "Not in my room. In the music theatre. That's what we've been hired for."

Lei looked suspicious. "We've been hired to solve a murder case. Are you sure?"

"Positive," Yao glowered at him. "My Arumeter is telling me this was never an accident. "

"How much are we getting for it?" the computer nerd asked.

"Well, we've already been given a small fraction of the money," Yao explained, doling out a sum of money to each of them.

"This is nearly forty," Lei commented. "We usually get less than fifteen quid. This is only a smaller fraction of the money?"

"If my calculations are right, each of you should receive one hundred and fifty each," Yao said smugly.

He watched Lei pause. "You're getting a grand for this?"

"Hey, it's a murder case," Yao protested. "Not just some run of the mill 'my boyfriend is cheating on me with three others' type of case, aru. This is some costly work. There is some cold blooded killer involved in this who could pose a threat to us."

"This won't turn into another masked man mystery flop, will it?" Lei asked wearily. "When do we receive this second payment?"

"Once we've solved the case," Yao explained, and watched them deflate. "Hey, don't look so disheartened. We'll be able to do this one."

"How do we know this wasn't a crime committed by the Target?" Kasam asked.

"Because it happened Friday night, which was, to be precise, the night I chased him across rooftops at God only knows what time," Yao countered.

"So… your enemy has an alibi…" Lei shook his head in disdain and disbelief.

"Shut up, aru. The two cases are completely unrelated, as far as I'm concerned. The Target has no direct connection to the death of Roderich Edelstein's father."

"We've never dealt with murder before," Lei said. "How do we tackle this?"

"We investigate the crime scene," Yao shrugged. "It happened at the music theatre, so our only choice is to head on over there, aru."

"I'll stay here should your career suddenly become successful," Kasam shrugged. "You never know when someone will call up or appear at the desk!"

Cheerfully, he walked away.

"I'm coming with," Lei pulled his hoodie on and set his laptop aside. "If I can get some photos of the crime scene, I can put them on digital analysis."

"I want to take a look at the corpse," Lien added.

"OK, well, obviously, Yong's at school, so we don't need to worry about him, aru," Yao said cheerfully. "It's just the three of us, then."

"He's almost finished, though," Lei warned. "His holidays will be on for about a month. You won't be able to get rid of him."

"I'll deal with that when it comes, aru," he replied.

The three of them went downstairs, Lei pulling up his hood to conceal his face as they went. Yao always wondered why the computer nerd was so secretive, but he guessed he didn't want to become a potential target for investigating the late Mr Edelstein's death. One after the other, they piled into his car, the trusty Old Honda Civic – if there was one thing that Yao never stopped teasing Kiku about, then it was that he shared the car's name.

"Music theatre, here we go," Yao started up the engine and they were off.

The Old Honda Civic was a manual car; it had been considerably cheaper than everything else Yao had looked at. Although it had still taken several months of his rent away from the Honda family, putting him debt for a while, Yao perceived the ugly thing as his sibling or child, take your pick. Either way, he cared for the piece of scrap metal in a way its previous owner hadn't.

They stopped in the theatre's parking lot. Police cars and vans surrounded the entire building, the yellow crime tape swaying in the breeze, restricting any public entry. Other than that, the place was deserted. Compared to the throngs of people that had been present to see the late Niklas Edelstein's final show, this was a meagre result of a gathering. It almost seemed sad that, when the time of death actually did occur, the entire audience of nearly five thousand people suddenly weren't present.

Yao stepped out of the car and glanced around. He assumed that, in a time like this, he wouldn't need to buy a parking ticket. He was, after all, part of the special authorities. With Lei and Lien following just footsteps behind, Yao approached the front of the building where the police were gathered.

"No public access," the Chief Policeman stepped forward, green eyes gleaming with amusement as a smug expression spread across his face.

Although he had reached such a high position, Arthur Kirkland had once attended school alongside Yao. He hadn't liked him then, because of the smug manner he'd had when being good at academia, and he still didn't like him, partly because he was successful, but also because that smugness had carried over, and was often directed at how he barely knew who Yao was.

"You know, I'm a Private Detective, aru," he showed his ID in agitation.

Arthur took the ID in his hands and held it between his fingers as if it were riddled with filth. He raised suspicious eyes and shook his head. "I've never heard of you before, I'm not sure I-"

"You can tell it's obviously authentic," Yao scowled. "Not to mention you've seen it before, aru."

"There's no need to act like that," Arthur dropped the ID back into his hands and shrugged. "I'm only messing around with you. Like old school mates, right?"

"I've been hired by Roderich Edelstein to investigate this murder," Yao scowled. "If you don't let me through, you'll have him to answer to him."

"What about these two?" he asked. "Who are they?"

"My crew," Yao said, striding forwards.

Arthur only just stepped out the way in time. "Where's the kid gone? Did he join a better detective agency?"

"He's at school, duh, aru!" Yao stormed into the musical theatre and blew out an agitated breath. "I hate that guy."

"He's arrogant," Lien agreed, although she herself didn't know him as well, having not been to the same school as him.

Yao showed his ID to another pair of officers and they passed through the next stage of doors to find themselves in reception. Yao had actually never set foot in the theatre, but here it was, looking grandiose, and this was just the reception. It looked posh and untouched, but Yao couldn't help but notice how the thinnest layers of dust had begun to form on the desk and how the carpet didn't look freshly cleaned. After the murder, cleaning staff must've been temporarily let off whilst investigations proceeded.

"Something tells me it was obvious Niklas Edelstein was murdered," Lien commented with a grim expression on her face as they passed through the lobby. "After all, there's no question of suicide or an accident."

Yao didn't like the sound of that, but pressed on, just as there were running footsteps behind him. He turned to see Lei catching up, a little red faced.

"Where were you?" he asked, frowning.

"Talking to Chief Officer Kirkland," he explained. "I was asking him a few questions about the surveillance on this building. The only people to enter this building since late Mr Edelstein's death was the janitor, who supposedly found his body, Elizabeta Hédeváry and Roderich Edelstein. Other than that, all people have been banned and even the janitor didn't return since discovering the body."

"I see, OK," Yao huffed, disliking that Lei seemed to have managed to have a pleasant conversation with the sarky police officer.

Lien pushed open the door into the magnificent opera room.

A/N: A little bit to chew on! I wonder who killed Niklas Edelstein? I mean, I know... but you guys don't! Feel free to shout any guesses in a review (I mean, you can do it verbally, but maybe shout quietly, if that's the case?) because, even though the night is young, I always love replying to people's reviews. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter of Investigasians, and I look forwards to hearing your opinions!

Until next time!

Yao Wang: China
Yong Soo Im: Korea
Lei Siu Chun: Hong Kong
Lien Chung: Vietnam
Kasam Yodsuwan: Thailand
Kiku Honda: Japan
Roderich Edelstein: Austria
Elizabeta Hédeváry: Hungary
Arthur Kirkland: England