"Lily Zwingli?"
The Russian asked as a petit blonde-haired girl opened the door, her eyes and nose were reddish as if she had been crying. She wore a blue bow by the side of her head and knee-length long purple dress.
"Yes, that's me".
She said under her breath and it was almost inaudible. Lily glanced at the badges of the detectives and then turned around quickly before signaling the officers to enter as she quickly began going up the stairs. Ivan looked at Yao in confusion and the Chinese man simply nodded before following the girl upstairs to the second floor of the house.
The walls by the stairs were decorated with many large paintings of landscapes. It was a big countryside house, the detectives were able to peek at the living room where a chandelier hung from the ceiling. They drove for about half an hour to get to Lily's house since it was almost outside of town, with a beautiful garden surrounding the house. They could tell that Emma's daughter was wealthy, with so many statues and even a pond in the garden, she was fabulously rich. After climbing the stairs, they followed her into a room that was most likely hers judging by the light pink walls, queen size canopy bed, a perfectly conserved antique tea table with a porcelain tea set on top of it.
"I apologize for not being able to attend you at the living room, but Bash won't allow me to talk to the police unless my lawyer is present".
The young girl spoke in a high pitched voice before sitting down on her bed and pointing at the two teddy bear chairs in front of the tea table, offering the detectives a seat.
Ivan glanced at the bear chair and with a sigh, he sat down on the stuffed animal chair, hoping that he could fit in it, and thankfully he did, although the bear's head was a bit uncomfortable. Yao sat down as well, he seemed much more comfortable because he was smaller and he didn't seem bothered by sitting on a stuffed toy bear.
"Miss Zwingli, thank you for having us in your lovely room. I'm detective Wang and this here is detective Braginski, we would like to ask you some questions about Emma Abelsson".
Lily nodded, a saddened expression on her face before she pulled out a white handkerchief from her pocket and sniffled. Then she folded it and placed it back into her pocket to then kneel down to pick up the teapot and pour some for her guests, it was just like she was having a little tea party.
"Oh, thank you".
The Chinese man immediately picked up the teacup to take a small sip from the steaming liquid. He always appreciated good tea, although Lily's tea was European and not the typical tea he drank, he was still going to receive it.
"Could you tell us what you did with Emma yesterday? Where you went and when?"
The Russian asked, taking out his little notebook again but before drinking the tea as well. He couldn't help but start looking around the luxurious room filled with toys, books, a walk-in closet, and all sorts of things. Her sisters would have loved to have a room like that growing up, maybe not Natalya but Yekaterina would have loved it.
"I came back home yesterday from boarding school for winter vacations and my godmother called me as soon as I arrived to invite me for desserts at 4. Bash is very protective of me so he sent me to her apartment with the chauffeur and we picked her up. Together we went to the newest pastry shop where we caught up until 8, which was the time Bash asked me to be home".
Detective Braginski wrote down Lily's version of the events but he kept getting distracted by looking around the room. Did she mention that she went to a boarding school? This girl was definitely loaded and she even had a private driver! Although she kept bringing up this Bash guy that he didn't know and Yao hadn't asked yet.
"Who's Bash?"
He asked, and Yao had to physically control himself from smashing the teapot on Ivan's head. Bash Zwingli was Lily's big brother who was a well-known bank owner, the richest man in town, how did the Russian not know this?
"Sorry for not introducing him, he's my big brother and is a bank owner".
The girl explained before taking her teacup and drinking some of it before detective Wang took control of the conversation again.
"Did you leave Emma in the pastry shop or did you bring her back to the apartment?"
The Russian noticed that Yao was upset by the question he just made, it wasn't his fault that he was new in town and didn't know who the millionaires were.
"I offered to give her a ride but she mentioned that Antonio would come to pick her up".
Something was off, and the Chinese man knew it. Antonio never told them that he would pick Emma up, either Lily was lying about something or the Spaniard was. Why would the girl not collaborate? She had no reason to, unlike the husband who might have something to do with the murder.
"Did Antonio call you around 8 to ask you if you were still with Emma and that you, in fact, confirmed it?"
Lily frowned in confusion before shaking her hand, putting down her teacup to speak.
"He called me at 11 but I never picked up because I was asleep, I can show you the missed call on my mobile".
She got up from the carpeted floor to climb up her bed and pick the brick-sized phone up and with a few clicks, she revealed the missed call from Antonio at 11 PM, then another call to Antonio at 7 AM, that had been her last call.
"Why did you call him in the morning?"
The Russian asked, now knowing that the Spaniard had lied to them about the call and the timeline. If he had lied about those things then what else was he lying about?
"I was preoccupied with the late-night call so I returned to call only to find out that my godmother was dead!"
She pulled out her handkerchief to blow her nose once more, her eyes getting a bit teary and her face turning red.
"Lily, it's okay, if you help us then we will find out who did this to Emma, but you have to be completely honest and tell us everything you know".
Ivan noticed detective Wang's tone changing into a softer one, maybe he wasn't great dealing with weeping adults but he did know how to handle a scared 16 years old. The Russian on the other hand did not know how to deal with teenagers or kids, not even adults, he really was a mess.
"Can you tell us about Emma's marriage?"
Lily wiped her tears away with her dress's sleeve before replying, taking a deep breath and drank some more of her tea.
"They've been married for 5 years and I was their flower girl! Both of them have a wonderful marriage as far as I know and Antonio is very sweet, always pampering her with extravagant gifts".
The Russian nodded before taking notes, giving gifts aren't exactly a sign of a healthy marriage. Saying that you will pick your wife up and then not going to later make a call at 11 PM didn't sound right to him.
"Who the hell are you two?"
A frowning blonde man burst into the room, holding a rifle in his hands while screaming.
"Big brother, please let me explain!"
Lily exclaimed, jumping up from the floor to rush to his side and the man quickly pulled her by the arm and placed her behind him in a protective way.
"Mr. Zwingli, please put your firearm down".
Detective Wang stood up from the teddy bear chair, slowly lowering his hand to pick up his badge and show it to the armed man in front of them.
"What are you two doing in Lily's room? How did you get past security?"
The Russian stood up as well, his badge on one hand while he looked down at his gun in his pocket. They had 2 guns and what Basch was holding was clearly a hunting rifle. Mr. Zwingli was a small guy, Ivan was pretty sure that he could take care of the situation.
"Big brother, please! Security doesn't even come on the weekend".
The girl tried to reason with her brother as she tried to lower down the rifle with a hand but Basch remained still.
"I can't believe you two sneaked in to talk to her when she's not allowed to talk to cops without a lawyer. Unbelievable what the police are willing to do".
Yao had been in situations like this before and no one had gotten hurt out of it. Now that he had a partner, he wasn't sure how things were going to turn out, but he saw Ivan staring down at his gun. That moron, clearly that would only alter Basch more and it could lead to a potentially dangerous situation. Right now what they had to do was talk it through.
"Listen, we're sorry for intruding Mr. Zwingli-".
Detective Wang was interrupted by another shout and curse from the homeowner.
"Get the fuck out!"
Completely unexpected, Lily pushed her brother to the side, making Basch lose his balance and fall on the ground while she quickly snatched the gun away from him and shoot at the ceiling twice in a row.
The Russian was speechless, the little sweet girl just pushed his brother away and shot the ceiling of her own room? He didn't know that she was that brave, it really was impressive.
"I'm tired of you trying to manipulate me while saying you're protecting me!"
She cried out, dropping the rifle to the side and kicking it away as far from Basch as possible.
"I think we have to go".
Yao mumbled and the Russian nodded, both of them approaching Lily and the surprised brother that still remained on the floor.
"You won't even let me talk to help Emma get justice, my godmother is dead, Basch!"
Mr. Zwingli watched the detectives get past by Lily and walked out of the room, there was nothing he could do about it, and perhaps he had gone too far this time.
The detectives were already walking down the stairs as they continue hearing the shouting coming from the room.
"I can't believe that just happened".
The Russian whispered, not wanting Lily to overhear him because he was genuinely afraid of the 16 years old girl.
"So many years working as a homicide detective and I've never seen something like that just happen".
Yao mentioned, the two of them now sitting in the car as the Chinese man drove away from the Zwingli residence.
"I don't blame him though, they were orphaned from a very young age and Basch dedicates himself to the bank and did his best in raising Lily. He's just a boy, you know?"
The Russian didn't know the backstory of that, now he understood Mr. Zwingli more. He would have done the same if he was in that case, fortunately, Yekaterina was the big sister who mothered him and Natalia.
"I am the big brother too in my family, and I would do anything to protect those brats".
Ivan raised an eyebrow, he didn't know that the Chinese man had siblings. It was interesting how he was opening up a little to him, maybe there was a chance of them becoming friends after all.
"I have siblings too, my two sisters. And you?"
Yao had his eyes fixed on the road but he was listening, now both of them had something in common. He wasn't sure why he suddenly started talking and sharing a bit of his personal life with Ivan but, it felt good to have someone to talk to at times. Instead of driving in the lonely patrol car, like he had done for many years after what happened to his partner.
"Three brothers and a sister, they're all a hand full".
He snickered and his partner did too, a slight blush appearing on Ivan's face. The Russian was glad that they were starting to get along, although it was just baby steps for now.
"Where are we going now?"
The larger male asked, always lowering his head in the car so he wouldn't bump on the ceiling every time Yao stopped the car.
"To confront the lying husband".