A/N: Hello, hello! I'm sorry I vanished a little bit across these past two weeks. My term finished yesterday, so now I'm able to relax for the rest of the month. Also, I have no winter assignments, so I have no deadlines to be worried about! Speaking of which, my deadlines were due the 7th and the 9th, two essays, one being 100% of one module and the other was worth 50%. I was really worried about getting those done, and they've kind of consumed all of my time these past weeks, or so. Anyway, now that everything is finished, I can now focused on my leisure- which includes Investigasians.

On that note, I'm so glad to be back and free of responsibility. I've really missed writing, and it's been so hard to cram everything into my schedule. I know I study Ancient History, which isn't especially demanding in terms of contact hours- but the extra reading. Oh my God. I've never felt so behind in my entire life, but now that the term's finished, I won't have to worry about that for another month.

I can't believe it's December already! The past four months have shot by and, thankfully, it's nearly the end of 2016. I know a lot won't change, just because the year changes, but I think a new start always inspires people to be more positive at the beginning of the year. I'm going to try my best to continue writing some decent stories, and I'm really looking forwards to Christmas.

Without further ado, the next chapter of the The Musical Massacre!

Chapter 24

Lei's response took far longer than Yao had expected. It was on Sunday morning that he decided to call his colleague up, anxious that, tomorrow, the two week cold case deadline was drawing near. Even though it was nearly two weeks, Yao was sure he would try to continue investigating Niklas' death, purely for the sake of the rest of the money. He doubted much would be discovered, though. Evidence of the sheet music was probably long gone, and Yao doubted the pen still existed either. They had such little time, and Lei wasn't helping with his late responses.

"Yo," Lei answered almost instantly.

"Lei, we don't have much time, aru," Yao said anxiously. "Have you found anything?"

"I hate to say this, but their accounts are pretty complicated," Lei explained. "I can definitely get there, but it'll be later, that's for sure."

"Later today?" Yao prompted. "Later in the week, aru?"

Lei sighed, long and heavy. "I don't know. Just later, OK?"

"Fine," Yao closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Just… call me when you get an answer."

He disconnected the call and rested his mobile down on the counter in front of him. Kiku had offered to give Mei a lift to work that morning, as trains still weren't functioning due to the weather conditions. Yao had tried to protest, but his friend's explanation was that he'd needed to be out and about anyway, sorting out his bank account and then running some further errands around the city that his father had needed him to do. As a result, Yao had been stationed at the bar, making noodles for customers who dropped by. It was not quite the existence he had imagined, but as Kiku managed every day, then he would have to accept that.

It had meant an early morning for Yao, as the bar opened at seven. He was exhausted from all the excitement in his life, as well as how draining the case had become. However, serve customers he must, especially as Mr Honda peered in on him every now and then for a progress check.

The door swung open and Elizabeta flounced inside. Heads turned towards her, curious to see a new face. Yao stood upright, regretting that he looked unprofessional, lounging behind a bar with his hair scraped back whilst he prepared and handled food.

"Yao, I was told you lived here," she beamed, clasping her hands together, and looking around almost sympathetically.

"Hello, Miss Hédeváry," he said. "Is there something you need?"

"I just wanted you to know mine and Roderich's schedule, so that you could find us if you had any more questions," she nodded, approaching the desk. "He'll be staying at the venue you visited a couple of days ago, but I'm heading back to our house. I have a swimming tournament coming up, and need to make sure I'm ready."

"Of course," Yao nodded. "Thank you for letting me know, aru."

"I knew Roderich wouldn't say anything," she said, after a brief hesitation. "He's not very vocal about his timetable."

"I understand," he said. "Ah, Miss Hédeváry… May I ask about Francis' whereabouts during Niklas' birthday?"

"He was with me and Germaine a lot of the time," she said. "But after that, he went to speak with Roderich. The pair of them are such close friends, Yao. Almost brothers, and Francis greatly admired Niklas."

"So I've heard," he smiled. "Thanks, aru… I didn't realise he had a wife."

She paused, but it was so short-lived it may as well have not happened. She offered him a smile and a small shrug.

"They live very separate lives, as you may have gathered from Germaine's leaving to France today," she explained. "They never really talk about each other, if I'm perfectly honest. However, if you're suggesting their marriage is unhappy, I highly doubt that. They've been married for two years."

"I wasn't thinking anything," he blurted. "I was just curious, aru."

She blinked, suddenly surprised. "I see."

"Thank you, aru," he continued, becoming increasingly embarrassed.

With the smallest of waves, Elizabeta left the bar. Yao drummed his fingers on the table. Very few customers were present, which meant he was idle for a lot of the time. He received no calls from Lei, and was enormously relieved when Yong Soo finally arrived to provide him with company.

"How come you're here so late, aru?" Yao checked the time – it had gone twelve.

"Mr Zwingli came round today," Yong Soo said. "Apparently, he found out my details. I don't remember telling him, but maybe I did? Anyway, he was having a major bonding session with my dad, and I'm going golfing with them next week."

Yao had to silently admire his young assistant's ability to network.

"But I wanted to come up here and see Aniki, so I could help you with the case," Yong Soo continued – it seemed he'd dropped the 'da ze'. "Mum wouldn't let me leave until lunchtime, and I told her I'd have ramen here."

"Bad move, aru," Yao replied. "She hates that you only eat ramen with me."

"I don't care," Yong Soo waved a dismissive hand.

That's because you're not the one she complains to, Yao thought bitterly, but chose not to dampen the mood of the only person talking to him. "Do you want something to eat? Just because Kiku's not here doesn't mean you can't."

"Aniki can cook?" Yong seemed surprised by this.

"Of course I can," Yao bristled. "I did go to university. I once shared a flat with a group of people, and we had a cooking rota, aru. I could cook before that. Whenever my parents were out, and I was home alone, I'd make a meal for myself."

"I usually just order something," Yong muttered.

"That's bad for you," Yao pointed out, gathering a batch of noodles and dropping them into the broth. "Also, you don't learn any life skills, aru. Surely your mum disapproves of you doing that?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "She lets me do what I like."

Yao, then, could not understand why Mrs Im believed Kiku's ramen was less healthy than the takeout food Yong was ordering whenever they weren't at home.

"I assume you want your usual," he stated.

"You know my usual?" Yong Soo was still shocked by the revelation that Yao had some means of self-sufficiency, it seemed.

"I'm here every time you order it," he grumbled. "How could I not, aru? I've even paid for it, sometimes."

"Oh, right, sorry, Aniki," he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, I'll have my usual."

Yao nodded as he added the ingredients in, one by one.

"Do I still need to pay?" Yong asked.

"Of course, aru," Yao replied. "This isn't my business; it's Mr and Mrs Honda's."

"Sorry, my bad; you're right," Yong Soo pulled some cash out of his pocket and paid. "Here."

Sliding it across the counter, he dropped it into the cashier and made a note of the increase in funds. Yao then returned to the noodles and steadily stirred them.

"I can't believe it's just over a week until Christmas," Yong Soo breathed. "It'll be the New Year soon. What will you be doing on both, Aniki?"

"I'll probably spend it with Kiku, you know," Yao said.

"Not with your family?"

Yao paused. His fallout with his father due to not establishing himself a "proper career" had left him on rocky terms with his direct relations for years.

"Nah, I don't see much of them," he explained. "They're very busy people, aru."

He wasn't sure why, but he always felt the need to treat Yong like a child, and act delicately around matters such as family disconnectedness. His sidekick didn't seem to mind. He continued to be blissfully unaware, or perhaps too polite, to acknowledge the matter further.

Yao served up the ramen and slid it across the counter, providing his assistant with chopsticks.

Yong slurped up a mouthful. "Not quite the Kiku standard, but nice enough."

"You don't just tell people their food tastes inferior to other people's," he muttered, and Yong's eyes widened.

"Sorry, Aniki."

"Elizabeta was just here," Yao said, and relayed his newly discovered information.

"Has Lei gotten back to us?" Yong asked.

"No," he sighed. "Well, maybe. He said he needed longer."

"Does that mean we're at a standstill, Aniki?" the young man asked, pausing midway through his next mouthful of ramen.

Yao wasn't sure how to tell him that the standstill may also mean the end of the case. He didn't want to crush the student's dreams of working alongside a top private investigator agency, solving murders and gaining a reputation for himself. Even Yao himself had believed he'd stood a chance of discovering the mysteries of this case.

"Lei will get back to us, aru," he insisted. "Besides, we can always go for direct confrontation, but once we resort to that, it really means we've hit the end."

"The end?" a troubled expression crept into Yong's eyes.

"Yeah," Yao sighed. "We've done our best, aru. Remember that, kid."

It wasn't until later that Yao received a call from Lei once again. There was anxiety in the young man's greeting that Yao didn't like. Luckily, Yao was safely tucked away in his office, handling the call with the grace of a mature adult. He wasn't about to let himself slip up in public, and as Kiku had returned, he was no longer needed downstairs to handle ramen and customer service. He had left Yong Soo downstairs when Kasam had come downstairs announcing Lei on the phone. He didn't need the student buzzing around his ear, constantly inquiring as to what was going on.

"Lei? What is it? What's wrong?" he questioned.

"I checked all data and everything, Yao," Lei fretted. "It's impossible to hack. It's like she's paid for top security on all her accounts; some damned hard programs to get to – and I think my computer was expelled with some kind of virus, but don't quote me on that."

"Will I have to buy you a new computer, aru?" Yao worried.

"Hopefully not," Lei said. "I believe I dispelled it, but if something does happen, it's my life, Yao. So, yeah, basically, you'd have to pay for it."

Yao worried at his lip, before nodding. "Thanks, Lei. You've been helpful."

"What does this mean, Yao?" Lei asked, uncertain. "Edelstein won't give us the rest of the cash if we don't solve the murder."

"I know, aru," he ran a hand through his hair. "It's not over yet."

"What are you going to do?" Lei sounded tense.

"The only thing left to do," Yao said. "I'm going to question Elizabeta; she is, after all, our main suspect, and should be home alone."

"What?" Lei sounded surprised.

"She came in earlier today, saying she was preparing for a swimming tournament," Yao explained. "Roderich's staying in the city to clear up concert timetables and other matters. This is the best opportunity to speak with her alone."

"Make sure she doesn't call the police," Lei warned.

"If Officer Arsehole ends up on Edelstein's front doorway, I will ensure with all my power that I will not be the one getting taken away to be locked behind a cell," he assured his teammate.

"You won't be able to continue this career if you end up behind bars for harassment," Lei added.

"Stop pestering me, aru; I understand," he insisted. "I need to go now, before it gets too dark. Otherwise she'd have more ammunition against me as some kind of stalker, or something."

"Good luck," there was doubt in Lei's voice as he hung up.

It was not comforting when one's own teammates doubted one's ability to perform one's duty. However, Yao had to accept that that was the way in which he'd always been treated by his allies, and would probably always be treated. Despite his demands for respect, he had come to terms with the idea that respect was a distant word that evidently didn't apply to his relationship with his teammates. Disregard was what kept them together, or so he told himself.

Standing from his self-made office, he glanced towards the picture of the Target he had pinned up on the wall. Once he had solved a murder case, the mysterious man would be far easier to track down; he would also have the prestige as a feared detective for having cleared up something as grave as the death of Niklas Edelstein. He had great confidence in his abilities, even if his teammates didn't.

Walking to the door, he opened it and peered out in the corridor. It was like doing a death march as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. He handed the phone to a bewildered Kasam, before heading downstairs to where Kiku and Yong were huddled before the desk. It was still cold outside, and a fresh bout of snowflakes had begun their descent. He would have to reach the Edelstein household before the snow became too thick to do anything.

"Come on, Yong," he said, shrugging on his coat. "We have a suspect to question, aru."

Yong's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Now? Are we ready to accuse someone?"

"This is our only chance, aru," Yao announced. "After today, the case goes cold. We're out of evidence. The killer has been surprisingly adept at covering their tracks."

"Be careful driving," Kiku worried. "It looks like the weather has become rather unpredictable. You don't want to get stranded in the middle of nowhere."

"I'll be fine," Yao said, opening the front door. "And if I'm not, then expect to hear a call from me, aru."

The two childhood friends shared a knowing smile, before Yao threw himself into the blazing winds and icy drops of snow that landed on his hair and face. Yong was seconds behind him, an unusually anxious expression on his face.

"Are we getting Mei?" he asked.

"Of course we're getting Mei, aru," Yao grumbled. "She'd be furious if we excluded her from the questioning."

"Are you sure we're ready for this, Aniki?" Yong said as they reached the Old Civic.

Yao unlocked it and grabbed the handle. "Do you have any other suggestions of what we could do?"

"M-maybe ask if Roderich's seen the pen, o-or… if he remembered anything about the sheet music?" Yong suggested.

"That's just the same as an accusation, pretty much, aru, especially as we all know the murderer took the pen, and possibly the sheet music," Yao rolled his eyes and swung the car door open. "Are you coming or not?"

"Of course I'm coming, Aniki," Yong Soo climbed into the car beside him.

"Then call Mei and tell her we're on our way," Yao instructed.

Yong Soo fumbled for his phone, until he held it firmly between both hands. Panicked, he dialed Mei's number and held the phone to his ear, glancing at Yao every now and then. Carefully, he concentrated on his driving; backing into the quiet roads that still hadn't seen the reintroduction of the majority of city drivers. Out of the corner of his eye, he could always see Yong sending him small, meek glances, something he tried to pretend didn't irritate him. He was tense about what they were about to do.

"Hey, Mei, it's me, Yong," his sidekick said, whilst Yao listened – the radio was off, stone dead and silent. "We're just coming by your house as we're going to be questioning Miss Hédeváry soon."

There was a pause, and Yao felt Yong look at him again.

"She wants to speak with you," he swallowed.

Yao inhaled deeply. "Tell her I'm driving."

"He's dri- oh, you heard," Yong said. "She wants to be put on loudsp-"

"If she says loudspeaker, put her on damned loudspeaker, aru," he snapped.

"Sorry, Aniki," Yong shrank back.

"OK, for starters: don't take your anger out on Yong, because it's not like he committed murder," she scolded, and Yao rolled his eyes. "And secondly, are you mad? You have no proper proof against Elizabeta to actually make a sound accusation."

"That's where you're wrong," Yao scowled. "Compared to everyone else, Elizabeta has the most evidence placed against her, aru. She was awkward about the polished gun at their house, we caught her at Giuliano Zwingli's household asking 'unfriendly questions', as he put it, and her whereabouts for the party have never been defined by anyone else. She has no alibis, and her behaviour concerning the late Mr Edelstein has been nothing short of suspicious. I'll have you know, aru, that I have more evidence than you seem to think. I can add more, if you like, aru; Elizabeta has access to-"

"Shut up, you're giving me a migraine," she complained. "Fine; languish in insolence. I should be grateful you're bringing me along, so that I can clean up any messes you make."

"We won't be long, aru," he said.

"Fine," she hung up.

"She is so much maintenance, aru," he muttered, and was met with silence.

Glancing to the side, he saw Yong Soo's wide eyed stare in his direction.

"What, aru?"

"I thought Aniki was mad at me," came the small-voiced reply.

"I'm just stressed, Yong," he sighed, looking straight ahead once again. "Relax; I'm not angry, aru. Mei just frustrates me."

"She frustrates me, too," Yong Soo suddenly added cheerfully. "The next time we get a case, we shouldn't tell her."

For some reason, that bothered Yao. He didn't like hearing Yong bitch about Mei. Perhaps it was awkward, as he knew them both and valued their contribution to solving these cases. Either way, he was sure that if they didn't solve Niklas Edelstein's case, there would be no more Investigasians. That worried him, because Mayor Jones himself could possibly be tempted to find someone more capable of solving his 'Target' case, and that would be a great financial loss for Yao. He would probably ask Mr Honda for a new job.

The Old Civic pulled up before Mei's house, just as the snow seemed to intensify.

A/N: I think we may be nearing the end of the case, but that's just a hunch... And, if all goes to plan, it may be that the Fic will be ended for the New Year. How exciting! Until next time!