A/N: Hello, everyone! I'm back again with the weekly update, now that I'm officially an "adult"- however, I don't think anything has really changed... Thank you for all the support for Investigasians, as we've officially moved past Chapter 10! I'm really enjoying writing this Fic, and I hope that people like reading it just as much.

A quick shoutout to totallyignorable for the support and love for The Musical Massacre! I love getting reviews and hearing what people think, so keep up the reviews everyone and thank you so much!

Without further ado, the next chapter!

Chapter 11

"This is a criminal act," Mei said from the passenger seat.

Not a single streetlight was lit. It was too late for that. They were all dressed in their darkest clothes, and Yao had come prepared for what they were about to do. Unfortunately, due to the hour, Yong Soo had been unable to accompany them. Whilst he'd kicked up a fuss about that at the time, Yao had downright refused to involve him in something that could potentially have them arrested. He knew Mrs Im would definitely have had something to say about that; something that would earn him more than just a few years behind bars. Officer Kirkland wouldn't intervene, either. He had enemies in powerful places and he wasn't about to risk his own career just so Yong Soo could accompany him on their late night missions. The only late night thing he'd let his young sidekick join in on was the chase of the Target.

"Shut up, aru," he scowled at her. "I suppose you could wait in the car, but you'd be easily spotted."

"I'm not going to sit in the car," she got out with him and slammed the door shut. "I'm going in."

"Quiet down, otherwise the whole neighbourhood will wake up," he hissed.

"They're all old – they won't without their hearing aids," however, she lowered her voice nevertheless.

Yao snuck along Gilbert Beilschmidt's driveway and hovered by the door, glancing around before he took a hairpin from his jacket pocket. He saw Mei's eyes bug out as he twisted and shaped it, sticking it into the lock, wiggling it, and smiling when the click of the unlocking door snapped in place.

"Where did you learn that and why?" she frowned. "Have you committed criminal acts before?"

"No, actually, aru, not really," Yao said. "I had a friend at uni who always locked himself out of his apartment when he was pissed, aru. I had to learn to pick locks for him, otherwise he'd always be hanging around my place with a raging hangover."

"Right," she sounded sceptical, but Yao decided to leave her to believe what she wanted to believe.

He pushed open the door into a dark hallway. The house was cold, as if nothing had lived in it for some time. Yao could only assume that that was because that was truly the case. There was a sense of lonely abandonment within the house. Mei seemed to detect that, too, because she shuddered as she followed him inside. He closed the door behind him – leaving it open was just plain disrespectful, but would also draw attention to anyone having a midnight stroll. Rather than turn on the lights, he brought up the flashlight on his phone.

"If he's not here, what exactly are we looking for?" Mei asked darkly. "I don't want to get arrested for no reason. In fact... I'm not wholly sure I even want him to be here."

"If the police come, you're here to break down and convince Kirkland we had no other choice unless we wanted the case to go stale," Yao muttered in response. "I'm sure he'll listen to you, aru."

"I flatter him once and now you believe he's head over heels in love with me?" she rolled her eyes. "As if. His ego inflated and he sucked the compliment up like a sponge. I think he just finds me different to you and Yong Soo, if I'm honest."

To an extent that was true. Officer Arsehole had shown no particular dislike towards Lei when the pair had spoken. However, Yao just found the concept of Harlot Mei amusing and wanted to keep it up. He knew they wouldn't get caught.

They rooted around the house, checking obvious spots like the kitchen and the living room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Gilbert Beilschmidt may not have lived the life of luxury, but the homely essence of the little house couldn't be replicated anywhere else in the city.

Yao was the first of the two to take initiative and go upstairs to check out his room. He found something even he hadn't expected.

"Mei, come here," he called, and she hurried up the stairs.

The room looked like it had been flipped upside down and shaken around a little. Clothes that had been hastily grabbed were strewn across the bed, and drawers had been left open. An alarm clock had been knocked off the side table and was broken.

"My Arumeter is usually correct, and it's telling me Beilschmidt left in a rush," Yao's eyes scanned the room once again. "That certainly calls for a guilty conscious, aru."

"I… just wow…" Mei looked pale as she looked around the room. "Are you sure he wasn't attacked?"

Yao glanced at her. "I don't know why you're so reluctant to believe he didn't do it. This is the real world, Mei, not a game anymore, aru. It's possible to find the culprit in good time, aru. This definitely wasn't a scuffle, because it has the appearance of things having been taken."

"The point is, Gilbert Beilschmidt isn't here," Mei shrugged. "He's long gone. How are we supposed to talk to him when he's taken flight?"

"We need to get Lei as soon as," Yao grabbed his phone and raced down the stairs.

"What?" she followed after him. "What's Lei going to do about this?"

"He's going to track him down," Yao answered.

"I hate to say this, but Lei isn't a member of the authorities," she said. "There's only so many files he's allowed to access."

"Permission is certainly a key element to this…" Yao leapt down the last few steps and threw open the front door. "I think you underestimate Lei's abilities."

"He's good at computer science, yeah," she closed the front door behind her and slid into the passenger seat as he started the engine. "He analyses what's given to him. There's a limit to what people can do, so don't-"

"He can hack, Mei," Yao rolled away from Beilschmidt's house and turned away into the empty road. "That's what he's handy for, aru. Hold the phone for me."

He handed his device to her and she drew it up to her ear and waited.

"It's midnight," she said. "It'll be a miracle if he answers."

"If he's got his headphones on too loud he won't hear a thing," Yao sighed. "With any luck he's keeping his phone close to him."

"Oh, he answered," she gawked. "Uh, hi, it's Mei. What do we want?"

"You know what we want, aru."

"Oh, well, umm…" she swallowed nervously. "Yao would like you to do your… you know… special ability."

"Why are you treating him like a Pokémon?" Yao huffed. "Put him on a loudspeaker. You're useless at this."

With a scowl, Mei set the phone on loud speaker and held it between them.

"Lei? You hear me?" Yao said as he drove, turning off the radio completely.

"Yeah," his voice sounded a little grainy from the phone, but that was to be expected when on loudspeaker. "Enlighten me on what my 'special ability' is."

"Alright, I need you to track down all the accounts leading to a Gilbert Beilschmidt," Yao said.

"How the fuck do you spell that?" Lei chuckled. "I've got a pen."

"B. E… I. L. S. C. H. M. I. D. T," Yao said from memory of all the files he'd assessed. "He's the other janitor. He's done a runner from his house, aru."

"Well, this'll be interesting," Lei murmured. "I'll track his phone calls as well as any credit cards, etc. I should have him pinned in no time if he's been casual about his accounts."

"Great," Yao grinned, and noticed Mei's ashen, wide eyed stare. "Lei… would you say what you're doing is completely illegal, aru?"

"Absolutely," Lei's answer came without hesitation.

"See, Mei?" Yao smirked. "Us Investigasians don't give a crap about what methods we turn to, aru."

"Wow, just wow," she sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever. I'm too in deep to turn you guys into the police. Besides, I want to find Beilschmidt too, and if this is the best way to do it, then fine."

"Alright, thanks, Lei," Yao said. "Get back to me when you've found him or at least a trail."

"No problem," Lei said and disconnected the call.

"Right," Yao said. "I'll drop you off home."

"Don't," she said. "There's a train right here."

Yao puffed out his cheeks. "Won't that cost? I'm offering you a free lift and you're turning it down, aru?"

"Yeah," she put a hand to the door handle, adamant with her decision.

Yao pulled the car to the side and waited patiently as she stepped out, her train card in hand. With a frown, he watched her walk away without even glancing over her shoulder. She'd left his phone on the passenger seat, screen blank. Yao drummed his fingers on the dashboard, but knew there was no pondering about it. What Mei wanted to do, Mei did, and if there wasn't an explanation, then there never would be one. He needed to start accepting that more and more.

Yao drove the rest of the way to the Honda Ramen Bar. Since he was one of the few people to own keys to the place, he was able to unlock the door and quietly sneak upstairs to the room he shared with Kiku. His friend was fast asleep after a long day of working. Yao crawled under the sheets of his own bed and closed his eyes, exhausted after a busy day of work. That was quite nice to say. He'd had a busy day of work. He smiled to himself as his mind submerged into his subconscious.

The following morning, Yao was mildly surprised to find Yong Soo waiting for him. However, he had to quickly recall that Yong had now finished with school for now, and would be available for services for a much longer period of time. He had to guess the student had gone to the effort of riding his bike to the Honda Ramen Bar as soon as he could, rather than wait for a lift.

"Hey, Aniki," Yong beamed. "What are we up to today?"

"Well, I'm still waiting for Lei to get back to me on some information about Beilschmidt, aru," Yao seated himself beside Yong. "I've put him up for one of his 'searches'."

"Ah," Yong Soo nodded in understanding. "But what should we do? I assume that means we can't do anything about Beilschmidt for now…"

"There are a couple things we can look into," Yao shrugged. "Roderich Edelstein said there should've been a pen on his father's person, aru. As far as we're concerned, there was no pen found on his body of the crime scene. We're also missing sheet music, and what gun was used. We also can't assume the clippers were found in the music theatre, aru. We need to know for sure about those…"

"In other words, we've got more to do than I thought?" Yong Soo pondered.

Kiku paused in his activity and cast Yao a glance. "Have you really ruled it down to one person already?"

"What do you mean, aru?" Yao frowned.

"Well, are you certain the culprit is this Beilschmidt you talk of?" Kiku stirred a pot of ramen noodles thoughtfully.

"I guess so," Yao shrugged. "So far, the evidence points to him."

"Another thing you need to think about is if that evidence could rapidly change," Kiku warned. "You haven't heard a single statement from this Beilschmidt character. You can't just assume he won't have any means for defending himself."

"Oh," Yao frowned. "If you put it like that, then…"

"What?" Yong Soo leant a little closer.

"We could technically talk to Giuliano Zwingli and learn about his whereabouts the time Niklas Edelstein died, aru," Yao suggested. "There were also plans to tail Elizabeta Hédeváry."

"What?" Yong's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, just like in the TV shows."

"You want to do that?" Yao said hesitantly. "I don't know, Yong. You have to be extremely stealthy when it comes to following people, and I'm not sure you're as subtle as what's required, aru."

"But, Aniki…" Yong begged. "That sounds really interesting."

"Hang on, before we start tailing our client's fiancée, I think we should speak to Giuliano Zwingli first," Yao reasoned, desperate to put off angering Roderich. "I think that'll be a bit more productive without Mei, aru."

"You want to tail Hédeváry with Mei around?" Yong looked disappointed.

"No, not that," Yao said. "I just feel Zwingli's statement would be important, aru. Thanks for that thought, Kiku."

"You'd have turned to it eventually," Kiku smiled. "But it's honestly not a problem. Good luck with your investigation."

"Thanks," Yao said, as he and Yong headed towards the door.

It had only grown colder. Saturday had seen a sudden drop in temperature. Yao was fairly sure the time for wearing hats was approaching. He'd opted for a scarf today. He threw open the car door and dropped into his seat, putting the car into ignition. The engine rumbled, full of life, as Yong Soo buckled himself in. The trip to Giuliano Zwingli's wouldn't be short, so he allowed his thoughts to drift.

What if Kiku was right? What if there was a possibility that Gilbert Beilschmidt turned out to be an innocent man? Mei seemed to have been having misgivings, but could Yao really trust her judgement? Sure, she had a creative imagination, and that was helpful. It was also undeniable that her childhood talents as an investigator hadn't withered away. She had slipped back into her element, seemingly unaffected by what was happening around her. And she had also doubted Gilbert Beilschmidt was the killer. Yet he, a trained professional through years of experience, believed that it could still end with Mr Beilschmidt. Unlike Mei and her childhood reflections, he was sensible enough to realise a crime could end. Yet the question remained clear: had he made the right deduction?

As he pulled into the drive of the Zwingli household, he was surprised to see they were not Giuliano's only guests. Elizabeta Hédeváry hurried down the main staircase, Mr Zwingli standing in the doorway with a hand raised. She looked angry and frustrated – desperate, even. As he pulled his car to a stop, she raised her head, keys in hand and other palm pressed to the side of her car as she fumbled with the door.

Yao stepped out of the car and nodded towards her. "Miss Hédeváry."

"Detective Wang," she swallowed. "How good to know you're working diligently on this case…"

"Thanks, aru," he watched as she hastily jumped to the wheel and jerked the car backwards, leaving in a sudden rush.

Merely out of curiosity, Yao watched the car drive away.

"She's a tough woman to understand," Giuliano appeared by his side, nodding towards the retreating car. "I honestly wonder…"

"What was Miss Hédeváry doing here?" Yao turned to him with a frown, alarm bells ringing in his head.

"What was she doing here?" Giuliano looked surprised. "She dropped by to ask some questions. Unfriendly questions, I'll admit, but questions either way."

"I see," Yao watched as Giuliano gave a light hearted shrug before gesturing towards his grandiose manor.

"I assume you're also here to ask some questions of your own, Detective. If that's the case, I'm happy as always to answer them."

"Yes, aru," Yao followed the wealthy Mr Zwingli into his house, Yong Soo trailing after them.

He couldn't help but have the gut feeling that Zwingli's answer was a little flimsy. The lack of detail was one thing; Miss Hédeváry's behaviour as she fled the scene was another thing entirely.

Giuliano Zwingli didn't waste time providing his guests with what they needed. He made sure they had a glass of wine each and invited them both to play a short game of golf. His desire, as he casually explained to Yao and Yong Soo, was to be able to stand from his porch and get a 'Hole-in-One'. That was why he spent hours each day batting golf ball after golf ball towards the green, optimistic and determined. He had already achieved it many times, but he wanted his shot to be flawless- to never miss.

"So, Detective Wang," Giuliano turned to them, golf club in hand. "What kind of questions did you have in mind?"

"I want to know where you were on Friday night and Saturday morning," Yao twiddled the glass he held in his hand as he carefully assessed the man. "Particularly one-thirty in the morning."

Giuliano coughed in disbelief and turned to him. "I was asleep. What do I look like to you? A young, hip and energetic twenty year old? I'm fifty-one; nowadays, I need to rest these ageing bones."

"Is there anyone who can provide an alibi for this?" Yao asked.

"My daughter and my house staff," Giuliano said.

"What about your son?" Yong Soo frowned. "You have a son, don't you?"

"Yes, but he's not here at this exact moment," Giuliano glanced between them. "However, he could also attest as an alibi when he's back."

"Can I speak with your daughter?" Yao set his barely touched wine glass on the table.

"Yes, yes, of course," Giuliano Zwingli waved a dismissive hand, then cast a doubtful glance. "Just be quick, because she's in the middle of a tutoring session. Meanwhile, I want to help you work on your swing."

"Me?" Yong Soo frowned.

"Yeah, you have an awkward hold on it," Zwingli said, and Yao wandered off into the house to find Miss Zwingli.

Whilst he was alone, he took the opportunity to take a reasonable look around. There were so many golfing trophies here that Yao found it difficult Zwingli had rivalled Niklas Edelstein in music. However, the man seemed to have a variety of talents. Yao stumbled upon the tutoring room, where the girl was in the middle of her lesson. It was a Saturday. It seemed Giuliano Zwingli was a ruthless man when it came to education.

"Oh, hello, Detective," the girl said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Um, yeah, actually," Yao frowned, casting a brief glance towards the tutor. "I need to ask you some questions about your father."

Uncomfortable looks appeared on both their faces, but the tutor stood and fled from the room, not wanting to disturb what was about to happen. Yao carefully sat a couple chairs away from her.

"Miss Zwingli," he said. "Was your father home at around one-thirty in the morning, last Saturday?"

"Last Saturday?" her brows knitted together. "Um, I can't say I know for sure. He was in the house when I went to bed, and nothing woke me in the night to imply anyone left the house. I'm sorry… I was asleep at the time, so if something happened, there's a chance I wouldn't have noticed…"

"I see," Yao said. "I've heard a lot, and I want to know something… Is it true that your father and Niklas Edelstein didn't get on well?"

Her eyes drifted across the room as she thought up her answer. "I… Yes, they didn't get along… I… I wouldn't say it was enough for either to kill each other, though…"

"Miss Zwingli, in no way am I accusing your father of-"

She extended a hand towards him to lightly pat his shoulder, with a smile on her face. "It's OK, Detective Wang. I understand that everyone is a potential suspect. Even me. All I need is the faith in my father that he wasn't involved in this. That's all I need. I'm sure there are many staff around the house who will be able to answer the questions I can't."

"Th-thanks," he found it difficult to see why she was so understanding, compared to Roderich, who had flipped a switch at the mention of his fiancée being guilty. "Was your father aware that Niklas Edelstein was celebrating his sixtieth birthday at a party Roderich and his fiancée had organised the night he died?"

"My father mentioned something like that," she said in thought. "So… yes. I would say he was aware. However, he never received an invite, so had something to complain about."

"Complain?" Yao frowned. "If the two disliked one another, why would he be agitated about not being invited?"

She smiled again. "My father is a very proud and self-important man. There were many prestigious people supposedly going to be present at Niklas Edelstein's birthday party, and it was a lost opportunity to meet them. That's why he was complaining. As I said, ask the staff around the house. The night guards would probably be the most useful in this case, as they most certainly would be awake."

"Oh, thank you very much, Miss Zwingli," Yao stood and gently shook hands with her. "You've been of great help to this investigation."

"My pleasure, Detective Wang," she said. "If there's any other way I can be of help, just ask, and I'll be happy to answer."

Yao left the room after that.

A/N: Will Yao find something from the night guards to prove Beilschmidt's innocence? Is Giuliano hiding something behind that winner's smile? And what about Elizabeta- what is she up to? Find out...

...after the 9th August! Yes, I would just like to take the time to say that I'm going on holiday and won't be back until the 9th. I will be honest with you; I won't be getting anything done so there won't be any results to show on the 9th, and it may be that I won't have a chapter until the 12th. So, I'm terribly sorry, but until then, I shall have to pause the investigation... Just thought I'd let you all know, whilst i disappear and go and enjoy my holiday!

Until next time!