A/N: Hey everyone- sorry for the long wait! I was almost prevented from uploading, too, because I was having some technical issues, but they were easily sorted! I must admit, though, the smallest things frustrate me...

I'm in full swing for my exams, and I actually had a major one last Friday. I came home, and did actually nothing, so... I think that's one reason why that wasn't posted on Friday. The other reason was that my hands had metaphorically died. I wrote 18 pages for my exam, which is not normal, and still had 5 minutes to spare! I mean, to be fair, it was a 2 hour exam. I'm taking it as a good sign that I knew my stuff. As for Saturday, my excuse is, once again, my not-so-blessed Internet connection. The weather was really bad, and it kind of wrecks my Internet access. Nothing was loading, and I just had to give up and call it a day. So, that it why I'm abysmally late posting this chapter! Some force of nature attempted to prevent me just now, but I'm resilient and refuse to quelled.

On a different, much brighter note, I only have 3 exams left and 2 of them are next Friday- the last one's on the following Tuesday, and then I'm finished! It's going to be very exciting, and I think I shall post an additional chapter on the Tuesday, or Wednesday, as a celebration for my exams having finished. Also... next week exactly, I'm going to be seeing Coldplay! This is absolutely momentous, and I'm so excited to hear them play. I've seen before, some years ago, but they only played a couple songs, since it was a number of acts. This is the first only Coldplay concert I've been to, and as it's for my friend's 18th- precisely on the day- this is a very exciting time. I'm saying this in advance, just in case if I fail to have the next chapter out by at most Saturday (I'm hoping Friday), but this one's for her, even if she doesn't watch Hetalia!

Without further ado, here's the next chapter of the Musical Massacre!

Chapter 2

Audience chairs must've stretched back for at least a mile, and there was even a balcony above to fit more people. Yao had seen it on the computer video he'd watched on an older performance, and had been impressed by the masses that had managed to squeeze themselves into one, large room. Now, as the seats were all empty, it suddenly seemed much smaller and emptier. It looked a little less grand than when it had been readied for performance; the average ceiling lights were on, rather than the stage lights, and the room lacked the pre-performance excited chatter of the audience.

They stood at the bottom where the musicians would play if it were a theatre production. Niklas Edelstein himself had been both a performer, but also owner of the theatre. He would've taken the stage for his final performance on the piano. There was a throng of police officers standing on the stage, as Yao and his colleagues approached. He held up his ID as he walked over, and watched them part ways to let him see the body.

"The exact time of death remains unconfirmed," one officer said.

"I'll take a look at the body for analysis once you're done with your basic check-up," Lien told Yao, placing her briefcase gently on the stage and opening it to reveal an assortment of interesting medical looking equipment. Yao was no expert in this part. He wondered how Lien was. He watched her pull on some gloves before she approached the corpse.

Yao had never been told to go on a murder case before. He had seen bodies on TV and in police and crime shows, but he had never thought he would see a real one. For some reason, he had never believed anyone would hire him for something as serious as this. Beside him, Lei looked slightly pale, but he held up the camera and proceeded to take snapshots of the body from all angles.

With an uncomfortable swallow, Yao wandered around the body. Niklas Edelstein must've died a painful death. He was tied to the piano by its own cords, that appeared to have been cut and used to strangle him to death. The body was blue faced, its eyes unfocused. Yao assumed this was probably the last time anyone would be able to see the crime scene before the body was moved for preservation purposes. If that was the case, then he was very fortunate.

"It looks like he was strangled," Lei said, as Lien approached the body alongside them. Yao thought that was rather obvious, what with the strings still wrapped around his neck.

"If you take a closer look, there are wounds on the back of his head as well," Lien said, standing beside the corpse. "It seems an object of some kind has been used to beat him."

"Is that the cause of death, aru?" Yao asked, joining her and seeing the dried blood on the back of the dead man's head.

"No, asphyxiation definitely was," she shook her head. "I'd assume those attacks were to subdue him."

"Niklas Edelstein was alive when he was strangled?" Yao frowned, feeling his stomach churn.

"Precisely," she said. "If you take a look at his face, you'll see his head direction indicates he was faced away from the killer. If Niklas Edelstein truly was murdered on this spot, then the killer probably approached him from back stage whilst he was beside the piano. I'll swab for any fingerprints or suspicious DNA samples…"

Lien set to work whilst Yao took a look at the piano. The case had been smashed to pieces, and hints of blood could be seen.

"What do you think this is?" Lei asked him, standing beside him.

"A desperate attempt to hide any fingerprint trace," Yao explained. "If what I'm seeing here is correct, then the victim, Niklas Edelstein, was attacked before the piano was smashed to pieces. The killer knew that, if strung tight enough, piano cords could be used to kill him. They must've dragged his body over to finish the work they'd started."

The pair of them glanced around the room and saw a patch of blood that had been brutally scrubbed at on the stage. It was right beside the piano stool.

"I'd assume Niklas Edelstein was playing piano before he was attacked," Yao guessed.

"And the murderer attempted to clean away as much of the evidence as they could," Lei agreed. "But why?"

Yao pursed his lips. "I'm not sure either…"

He wandered round to get a closer look at the piano stool. The piano was left open. There was no book or sheet music in sight.

"Yes, he was definitely playing the piano," Yao said thoughtfully. "But what exactly was he playing? There's no book here…"

"Could he play from memory?" Lei pondered. "That seems likely... Or did the killer take it?"

"That's what I was wondering, aru," Yao rubbed his chin. "But… why would the killer want the music Niklas Edelstein was playing? Why not just steal it? Why kill him in the process?"

"To claim it as their own?" Lei cast him a sideways glance.

"I'm not one for coming to conclusions this early on," Yao murmured. "But it is mighty suspicious that the musician's music was taken…"

"Do you think it could've been Edelstein himself?" Lei asked.

"As I said, I won't state a conclusion yet," Yao said. "He was very quiet, and his fiancée noted he'd been affected by his father's death. Besides, he seemed extremely eager to get justice."

"Guilt?" Lei suggested. "Perhaps, in the desire to become greater than his father by taking his masterpiece, Roderich Edelstein murdered him. However, because he'd murdered his own family, the horror of it proved to be too much."

"He's definitely on the suspects list," Yao wrote this down in his little notebook.

"What about these wires?" Lei peered into the piano. "They look pretty wrecked."

"That's because they've been pulled," Lien said, standing and walking over. "The killer didn't use scissors to cut them, which indicates they weren't planning on using the wires when they originally came. The killer believed their weapon would be strong enough to bludgeon Niklas Edelstein to death. Because he was still conscious, though, they couldn't leave him in the room alone, for fear of his possible escape. Whilst he couldn't struggle, he was still alive. The blood on the piano case suggests the killer used the weapon to attack Edelstein to also smash open the piano."

"Why not just open the piano, aru?" Yao scowled.

"I'm not sure," Lien admitted. "Perhaps they needed to be quick? Getting a grand piano's lid to stand up would take time and effort. I don't think they wanted to risk the lid hitting their own head, maybe?"

"Or they knew squat about pianos," Lei said.

"Or pretended they knew squat," Yao added pointedly. "But I do wonder… I thought most master musicians play a grand piano with the lid open, aru?"

"They do," Lien said.

"So… was Niklas playing the piano, or wasn't he?" Lei frowned.

"Perhaps he was about to?" Yao shrugged. "He was doing something at the piano stool, and I'd like to know what…"

"Maybe he couldn't be bothered to set it up?" Lei suggested.

"I think we need to know more about his character before we start making judgements like that," Lien said. "After all, it's difficult to predict his movements if we don't know him."

"The people who would know him best would be Elizabeta and Roderich, which means we should aim to speak with them," Yao said. "What else can we do here?"

"Well, piano strings can break randomly based on their tuning," Lien said. "However, this has just been brute force. Once again, there's blood on these snapped wires, indicating the same weapon was used to pry them off."

"It would've been easier to add pressure until they snapped," Lei muttered.

"Unless, of course, they didn't know to do that," Yao glanced at him. "It's possible that our theory was too quick."

"Desperate people act outside character," Lei argued. "And methodical killers can put on an act."

"This wasn't the work of a methodical killer," Lien said. "They came very unprepared. Because they needed to improvise, they appear to have a high capacity to think on the spot, but they still lacked a plan B that a professional killer would have. The wounds on the head imply they were merely using brute strength, and it just wasn't enough."

"What do you think the weapon was?" Yao glanced around. "I can't see anything suspicious here."

"The killer probably took it with them," Lien replied. "Based on the wounds, I would guess something long and thin. Perhaps a pole? It wouldn't be made of iron, because more damage would've been done, then. However, to have broken the skull, it must be metal. I'm guessing aluminium, or maybe even steel."

"What about a broom?" Lei suggested.

"A broom?" Lien glanced at the body. "If the broom had a metal handle, then possibly, but I'm not sure. Why?"

"There's a blood patch here," Lei pointed to the bar stool. "This was the exact place where Niklas Edelstein was murdered."

"I see," Lien's eyes scanned the floor, mainly around the bloodstain. "Once more, an unprofessional job of cleaning away this blood stain. There's also a slight drag mark where the body was turned and pulled away. That should mean there's fingerprints on the body, and yet I was unable to define any."

"The killer was wearing gloves?" Yao looked curious.

"That's why I'm unsure of why such a clumsy job has been made of the killing itself…" Lien's eyes narrowed. "It seems so badly done that you could almost say it's too unprofessional."

"Maybe they knew what they were doing, but hesitated?" Lei pressed.

"You're desperate for this to be Edelstein," Yao stated.

"Well, I doubt he's an experienced killer, but he sounds like an intelligent man, from what I've heard of him," Lei shrugged. "It's only natural he would hesitate before murdering his father."

"Unless this truly is the work of someone who wears gloves on an ordinary basis and keeps brooms and cleaning equipment?" Lien said. "Someone who wouldn't be an experienced killer, so it makes sense that this scene is so messy but that they were wearing gloves?"

"I don't understand the significance of them wearing gloves," Lei mumbled.

"They hide fingerprints," Lien explained. "Either they were already wearing gloves, or they put them on for this purpose. The type of person to fit my description and the former position means suspicions could also point towards…"

"The janitor," Yao gasped. "Of course! He even found the body, aru!"

"Would it be worth checking the janitor's closet, then, for any suspicious objects?" Lei asked. "As well as questioning the janitor himself?"

"Might as well," Yao said. "It's one of our leads. Is there anything else we can gather from the crime scene?"

"It's an assumption, but I'd assume this crime took place at night," Lien said. "The janitor was probably the only person here at the time, so less people would be aware of what was taking place."

"It's pointing very close to the janitor at the moment," Yao admitted. "Could it be we have our killer?"

"We won't jump to conclusions yet," Lien said. "I need to ask the police for access to this body whenever I need it. I've searched it for any clues, but nothing. However, it could prove to be useful…"

"I'll ask for access to the security footage of the entire building," Lei turned away. "If I can get a copy, I can probably take a complete overview of the entire building and people inside."

"I'll take a look at the janitor's cupboard, aru," Yao turned away and headed towards the backstage area.

He assumed the janitor's closet was kept out of sight, so would probably be down one of those mysterious 'Staff Only' areas. There were all sorts of instruments that were stored out back. Yao surveyed each piece of musical equipment for any bloodstained items, but nothing matched to Lien's description of the murder weapon. He passed through into a few 'Staff Only' corridors. The floor was tiled and looked slightly unpleasant. He checked a few doors and found some bathrooms. There was no sign of the janitor's bucket in either. He wandered further down the hall, checking doors absently. A lot of them were storerooms of new instruments, but also libraries of the works of previous musicians; Bach, Schumann, Chopin, Verdi and many more.

The door on the end finally led him into a room that looked promising enough to be the janitor's. The classic cleaning bucket was left in one corner, but it currently had no water in it. There was a flannel, and sponge, but no broom in sight. As the room was small, it didn't take Yao long to search the cupboards for unfitting sheet music or a book. He found neither, and the cupboards that contained cleaning liquid didn't have a broom hiding within them. Yao even went as far to check under the desk, but raised his head, unsuccessful of finding anything of value. He checked the cupboards one more time and saw one of the bottles had less cleaning liquid inside. With great care and precision, he reached into his pocket and took out a tissue. He picked up the bottle of bleach using the tissue and carried it from the room.

Lien and Lei were waiting for him in the opera room when he returned with the curious bottle.

"Check this out," he said, offering the bottle to Lien.

She took it in her gloved hands. "What is it?"

"I found it in the janitor's cupboard," Yao said. "Perhaps it was used to clean up the bloodstain?"

Lien looked thoughtful. "I swabbed the ground near the bloodstain, just in case of traces of the liquid remained. If I take a small sample of this, then I can compare them."

He watched her swab the lid, and also use a plastic syringe to extract some of the liquid, which she then squirted into a tiny, little glass tube. She capped a lid over it whilst Lei snapped a photo of the bleach bottle.

"I'd say hand that in to the authorities," Lien said. "If it's potential evidence, they need to know about it."

Yao nodded and did as instructed, watching it get sealed in a plastic bag and whisked away.

"I'm fairly sure we're done here, aru," he walked over to the other two. "If we need to return, we always can. Did you two get what you wanted?"

"I've been granted full access to the body if I need to," Lien looked pleased.

"I wasn't so successful," Lei grumbled. "They don't want digital files being removed from police hands, so I need to go over there tomorrow afternoon if I'm to get anywhere…"

"Don't worry about it," Yao said. "You can always do that. That means our business here is done."

Satisfied with their work, the three of them left. Arthur Kirkland remained in his position before the door.

"Done wasting our time?" he scowled. "Let me guess, you found out that you're not cut out for this kind of crime?"

"I'll have you know that I and my team performed very well, thank you very much," Yao huffed.

"Who did it, then?" Chief Officer Kirkland leant closer with a smirk.

"I can't say I know that, aru," Yao pressed his lips together.

"Then you're in no different a position to the police," Arthur waved a hand. "Be on your way. It'd only look more suspicious if you hung around here all day."

With a disgruntled glare, Yao turned and left the scene with Lien and Lei. He felt they'd made significant progress. They already had a prime suspect, and a secondary suspect. For a brief look around the room, Yao felt that was rather good. The Investigasians piled into their car.

"I'm so hungry," Lei complained, taking shotgun.

"Well, it is five," Yao checked the time. "I didn't realise I was looking around that building for so long, aru."

"You were gone a while," Lei said. "But we also spent a lot of time assessing the body and the crime scene. It feels… weird, to actually be doing things like this…"

"Hey, if it makes you feel un-"

"Honestly, the promise of one fifty keeps me going," Lei turned his head to look out across the city. "It's not that I'm bothered, I just feel like we're actually doing the work this business was set up for."

"Every little helps," Yao quoted – that certain supermarket's slogan was always convenient.

"Aniki!" they all turned their heads to see Yong Soo riding towards them on his bike.

"What are you doing here?" Yao gawked.

"I finished school for the day," he leapt off the bike and rolled it towards them. "When I went to Honda's Ramen shop, only Kasam and Kiku were there. Kasam told me you'd gone to the music theatre, so I rode my bike all the way here."

"Good on you, I guess," Yao said. "Hey, we were just going to get a coffee from nearby, aru. How about you join us and I'll fill you in on what we've just discovered?"

"About the Musical Massacre?" Yong Soo loaded his bike into the car boot.

"I should make you ride after us in that bike of yours for such an inappropriate comment," Yao scolded. "But yes. The 'Musical Massacre', if you so want to say that."

"Cool," his young sidekick climbed into the backseat beside Lien after giving Lei a look. It was usually Yong Soo who sat in the front, but not today, it seemed.

The drive to the nearest coffee shop wasn't long; they could've avoided the five o'clock traffic by walking. Once inside, Yao was cold enough for a good cup of coffee. He ordered himself a large cappuccino, needing the caffeine.

They all sat down at their little table with their steaming cups and, in Lei and Yong's case, a cake slice each. It was nice to relax after a strained day at work.

"So, what happened?" Yong Soo asked nervously.

"Niklas was murdered, aru," Yao said. "We suspect the janitor."

He pushed his little notebook of facts and clues towards the younger member of their group and watched his eyes scan the page. Yong Soo raised his head with widened eyes once he'd finished reading, and returned the notebook to Yao.

"Are we actually going after a murderer?" he gasped. "That's so exciting."

"Exciting?" Yao hissed. "This is dangerous work, Yong Soo, and it needs to be taken very seriously, do you understand, aru?"

"Yes, Aniki…" the young man lowered his head, ashamed of himself.

"However, it is pretty exciting," he sipped his coffee.

"What is your Arumeter telling you to do, then?" a sharp, displeased voice said.

Yao swallowed and turned in his seat to see who had spoken. Standing before him was someone he hadn't expected to see ever again.

"Mei?" he grimaced.

A/N: Ah, I really hope everyone enjoyed this week's chapter! I hope the Investigasians at least sound semi-professional... I'm no expert in murder cases, but one of my friends once told me a lot about forensics, and that was really interesting. I guess it partly inspired Investigasians, too, as I was deeply interesting in forensics myself for a long time afterwards. Anyway, for an amateur in murder, I hope it's somewhat convincing! I like to think Lien sounded professional.

Thank you for your patience and I really will try to get back onto my regular updating schedule!

Yao Wang: China
Lei Siu Chun: Hong Kong
Lien Chung: Vietnam
Roderich Edelstein: Austria
Elizabeta Hédeváry: Hungary
Arthur Kirkland: England
Yong Soo Im: Korea
Mei Xiao: Taiwan

P.S. If Chris Martin is found deceased on the stage, A) I didn't do it, and B) sign me and Yao up for investigating his case! Thank you for reading, and until next time!