Embarrassment was what Yao felt the next day when driving to the station. He still couldn't process the incident from the night before. He never asked for Ivan's address and drove him to Kiku's old house. Once again he had gotten them mixed up. He was the only one to blame for this occurrence. It has been 3 years since Kiku died in that unfortunate case and the Chinese man still hadn't overcome that. Since his brother and partner passed, he isolated himself and became a workaholic, completely obsessed with his work, neglecting siblings and taking little to no care to his own health, skipping meals, and having an odd sleep pattern. Yao knew that he had to get it together, the Japanese were long gone and Ivan was not the same as Kiku. The Russian did make him feel like he was around his brother again but he can't keep thinking of them as the same person.
"Morning detective Wang! Here's your coffee."
Feliciano greeted his co-worker cheerfully with a pat on the back that startled the Asian lost in his own thoughts that took the coffee with a nod and a small awkward grin. He still didn't know how to approach Ivan after what happened yesterday. The Russian had tried to make the situation in the car less uncomfortable by giving his address so Yao could drive him then there was a very long unpleasant silence until he arrived at his partner's house to drop him off. Then he couldn't sleep the entire night, tossing and turning thinking about what occurred. Perhaps he was going through this because he never processed Kiku's death properly. He never talked to anyone about it, not even his siblings, no one. Yao had come to the realization that it was time to move on, that would have been Kiku's wish too, that the Chinese man can form a new friendship with Ivan, so then he could be a bit less lonely, and have someone to talk to, to open up to.
"I'm sorry I'm late!"
The Russian suddenly appeared behind detective Wang, almost making him drop his coffee. What was it today with people scaring him so early? At his age, it wasn't good for his heart to keep getting frights like this. It was Ivan this time, apologizing for being late but it was understandable his tardy, after all, he got home past midnight and had to be at the station early.
"Don't worry about it, you're just 5 minutes late."
Ivan nodded with a small grin, his hair was still wet since he had left his house in a hurry to get to the station on time, he didn't even have time for breakfast. He was starting to comprehend why his partner always ended up skipping meals, the tight schedule really left little time for eating. As for the event last night, the Russian didn't want to ask questions about it, they barely knew each other and it would be strange to start asking such personal questions. Somehow he knew that it was about that Kiku he was confused with when they went out for dinner, He assumed that this Kiku was Yao's ex-boyfriend and they must have broken up recently because the Chinese man might have driven him to the ex's house.
"Let's get going, we have a busy day, I hope you had breakfast."
The Asian commanded, finishing his coffee and leaving the station, walking towards the parking lot to get on his patrol car. He was still feeling uncomfortable about what happened yesterday but he was determined to continue with their work schedule, then at some point in the day, he would open up to Ivan about it because his partner deserved to know why he was acting so strange and that certainly would be what Kiku wanted him to do.
"I didn't, but did you?"
Ivan was hoping that Yao would take him for breakfast because he wasn't sure if he could function properly without food in the morning. Maybe they could go back to the pastry shop from yesterday, although that might not be such a great idea since they ran out without paying and took the plate as well.
"Forget about breakfast, Braginski, we have two cases to solve and Michelle's sister is returning from her internship today, we must interrogate her."
Now the old Yao was back, with that usual glimmer in his eyes as he hopped into the patrol car and the Russian followed. So today they would be talking with Mona, in hopes that she could give them some clue on the ex-boyfriend or who could have murdered Michelle.
So they were back at the house, surrounded with yellow tape from the police department and a woman standing right outside, she wore a pink coat and knee-length brown boots. A side of her hair was braided with a red ribbon decorating her head, the same one that Michelle wore, and two hair clips holding her bangs from coming to the front. Mona had a pair of black glasses as she looked at her house with a saddened expression. She stood there with a red suitcase since she couldn't enter her house, it was a crime scene after all. Not even her father could stay in the house anymore until the investigation was finished.
"Good morning, miss Bonnefoy."
The Chinese man rolled down his car window before parking and getting out to greet her, Ivan too got down of the vehicle and when he saw her, he immediately remembered her from the wedding, she had been one of her sister's bridesmaids too.
"Morning detective and... Ivan?"
Mona didn't know that Matthew's brother in law was part of the police, she knew that he was a policeman but in Russia and had no idea that he was here. Her father hardly explained anything to her other than Michelle was dead, murdered to be precise and that she had to return as soon as possible. So she did, taking the first flight she could find and went straight to her house to meet with the detectives instead of going to the hotel where her father worked and would be staying until the investigation was over.
"Hello, Mona, nice to see you again."
Ivan received an angry glare from Yao, which probably was not the best thing to say when talking to someone after their sister got murdered. Mona simply nodded before detective Wang shook her hand and then he did the same.
"I don't understand what's happening, my papa called me but he was crying and explained nothing to me, just begged me to come back but that I needed to talk with the detectives first."
This was probably the worst part of their job, giving the bad news and telling someone that their loved one was gone.
"Michelle was murdered, it happened between 4 PM when she returned home from school and 8 PM when Mr. Bonnefoy returned to find her on her bed."
Yao tried to be brief, giving as little details as possible since nobody wanted to know about those. Mona's expression immediately changed, completely horrified by what detective Wang informed her, covering her mouth in shock as she started to tear up a bit.
"My sister...how? Who? Who would do that to her? I know my sister like I know my own mind, there was no one like her as trusting or as kind!"
Mona held back her tears, she was angry, she wanted to know who could have done that to Michelle who she loved so dearly, they were best friends and now she was gone. She would do whatever was possible in order to help the detectives to find her sister's killer.
"We want to find that out, but we're going to need your help."
Ivan mentioned, now pulling out his notebook ready to write down any important details that Mona could provide them with. She nodded, taking off her glasses that were foggy and cleaned them with her coat's sleeve before putting it on.
"Can you tell us about her ex-boyfriend?"
Yao asked, now starting with the interrogation, he noticed that Ivan was taking notes, he really was learning fast and getting used to the job.
"Oh, they broke up about two weeks ago I think, my papa really disliked him so he was very happy when Michelle told him about it."
Mona lifted her glasses to have a better view, remembering the family dinner they had not long ago when Michelle told them the news.
"Girls, dinner is served!"
Francis called out, taking a pan of ratatouille out of the kitchen, fresh from the oven as he held it in kitchen gloves and placed it on the table.
"Papa you made my favorite!"
Mona cheered, getting up from the couch where she was watching television and moving towards the dinner table.
"Of course, mon cher, you've been going on so many internships that you're not home very often so I had to pamper you a bit, and where is your sister?"
The French man asked, taking off his gloves while putting them to the side, sitting down with his daughter to have supper.
"She was talking on the phone in her room, that's the last time I saw her."
Mona mentioned, already picking up her fork, ready to dig into the meal once his papa served her a piece of it but the French man slapped her hand softly, indicating that they should wait for Michelle.
"Must be talking to that l' Anglais."
Before his daughter could respond, they heard the steps coming down the stairs and it was Michelle, rushing over to the dinner table hoping that she hadn't missed supper.
"Well there you are, we were about to start without you!"
Michelle giggled, taking a seat right beside her sister as she looked at the delicious food his father had prepared for them.
"Tell Arthur to not call you before we have dinner, it's supposed to be family time and you're not allowed to be late."
Francis was very insistent of their family time every night, they were an odd family after all. The two girls had different mothers, both had been married to the French man but he had ended up with full custody of the girls. Matthew was the same case, but he was older than them and already had a wife, and soon would become a father.
"Oh about that papa, Arthur, and I are not together anymore."
Michelle mentioned while biting into the ratatouille, her dad's cooking skills were impeccable. Having a chef as a dad sure had huge benefits.
"Ah, boy! About time you listened to papa's wise words of advice! I told you that an age gap of 14 years was far too much and I'm very open-minded, Michelle."
The French man said excitedly before standing up from the table and running towards the kitchen while Mona giggled at her father's reaction.
"So did you really follow papa's advice, or what happened, what really happened?"
The Monacoian questioned her sister while their father went back to the kitchen to grab whatever he needed to take.
"Well, I'd say I did listen to papa because Arthur is really much older than me and we also don't have much in common and there's also this guy…"
Michelle paused with a smirk on her face as her sister kept eating and looked at her with surprise.
"I knew it! Who's the guy? How old is he in the first place?"
Mona asked, nudging her sister on the arm with a light chuckle.
"He's 29, you'll meet him once you return from your next internship."
The sisters exchanged smiles before heard the sound of shelves being opened in the kitchen.
"Huh? He's still 7 years older than you! Well, I guess you just have a thing for older folks."
Francis returned from the kitchen holding a wine bottle and 3 glasses as he began pouring the drink for him and his daughters
"We must celebrate the occasion of Michelle breaking up with her sister, so let's toast for that!"
Then followed the sound of glasses clicking and laughter, it was a good memory for Mona, one of the last memories with her sister.
"What's his full name?"
Yao asked as he glanced at the Russian to take note of the ex-boyfriend's name.
"Arthur Kirkland."