"Oh god, not you two again."
Feliks frowned before putting the two menus down on the table before crossing his arms and glaring at the detectives that ran off last time without paying and took the plate and fork too.
"Good to see you again, Feliks."
The Chinese man said as he grabbed the menu and began flipping through the pages. He didn't even want to come to this coffee shop for lunch but Ivan insisted that he had to pay for the strawberry shortcake and coffee from last time and apologize for taking the plate and fork as well.
"What do you two thieves want?"
The Russian was uncomfortable, maybe Yao was right when he said it wasn't a good idea to come back and if the issue was with the unpaid bill, he could just send a check over and get it over with, but Ivan thought it would be best to come personally as well as have lunch there.
"I'll have a club sandwich and cherry soda please."
The Chinese man wasn't that bothered. He didn't order anything last time because they were on investigation duties and not to have afternoon tea. Although he might be the reason behind why the Russian left without paying and with the plate of cake because he kept hurrying Ivan, the Chinese man wasn't taking any responsibility for it.
"First, I wanted to apologize for last time. I was on a hurry and-"
Detective Braginski stopped when the Polish man suddenly stretched out his hand as if waiting for something to be placed on it.
"Huh?"
The Polish man continued, leaving his hand stretched out waiting for Ivan to place the money he owed there. Yao simply shook his head before putting the menu down.
"Can you just pay him already? Or else he's not going to take our order and you can forget about having lunch."
Ivan finally understood, ticking his hand in his pocket in search of his wallet, pulling it out and opening it up as he was about to take the money out.
"Sorry, how much is it?"
Yao rolled his eyes. He only decided to start having lunch with Ivan so the Russian man wouldn't pass out one of these days, but he didn't want to waste a lot of time on it. Detective Wang, being the impatient man he was, opened up the menu in search of the prices since Feliks refused to talk until he got paid for the food from last time.
"A total of six bucks."
The Russian got out the money and placed it on Felik's palm and the waiter closed his fist once he got the money, shoving the bill into the front pocket of his apron with a smug smile.
"Thank you! Now, what can I get for you, detective?"
The polish man really didn't need that money, the restaurant covered that loss and he didn't have to pay for the stolen food. He just wanted some revenge and took the money as his tip from last time. After all, he did collaborate a lot with the investigation and gave them all the information he had.
"A roast beef sandwich please, and a vanilla smoothie too."
Feliks nodded, taking off the pen tucked behind his ear and his notebook from the front pocket of the apron as he jotted down both of the orders and turned back to the register.
"I don't think Kasem is our suspect for this case. The man is absolutely terrified, to the point that he's selling the company and going back to his country."
Detective Braginski wasn't expecting that he would be talking about the case during lunch but he shouldn't be surprised since he was on lunch break with Wang Yao, and with him, it's always about work.
"But what if the killer is the owner of the competition that's buying the company? It would make sense for the murderer to take out Lien Chun since they knew she wasn't going to sell it no matter what."
It did make some sense, money was a motive of course. Yao scratched his chin as he thought about that possibility.
"Then what about the other victims? Why would the corporation eliminate a college student and a fashion designer? We wouldn't be tracking down a serial killer if that was the case, and it can't be separate, I just know it has been done by the same person."
The Russian was about to reply when Feliks came back with the drinks, placing the smoothie and the cherry soda on the table before leaving the straws too.
"So, how's the murder mystery going?"
The Polish waiter was a curious man, perhaps a little bit too much for his own good and often meddling in affairs that didn't correspond to him like right now.
"How are our sandwiches going?"
The Chinese man returned the question. Feliks had no business with their investigation and he should stay out of it for his own good.
"Don't underestimate me for being a waiter! I've seen all of Charlie's angels and I know a lot about murder mystery."
Both the detectives chuckled. Ivan didn't want to be mean but what they were dealing right now was much harder than what those 3 hot chicks could ever face in their adventures.
"Oh fine, laugh if you want but you have to admit I do have great observational skills, don't I?"
Yao had to admit that it was true. Other waiters possibly didn't even pay much attention to the clients as much as Feliks did, even though the Polish man did it just because he was incredibly curious and attentive with all the gossip in town.
"Okay, I'll give you that, you're pretty observant."
The Polish man grinned and saw his opportunity to get a new job considering how much he disliked being a waiter.
"See? You two should hire me as your secretary! I can take calls, make coffee, order files and I'm also cute!"
The Russian man giggled, putting his straw inside his smoothie before taking a sip from the cold beverage.
"Unfortunately we're fully staffed at the moment."
The Chinese man also popped open his can of cherry coke before taking a sip from it with his straw.
"We are, but you could take Gilbert's position as a detective and do a better job than him."
Yao did see some potential in Feliks to be a detective but he will have to go through the police academy first and he very much doubted that the waiter was willing to chop off his hair for the training.
"Whoever this Gilbert is, give him my number to his boss if they want a better agent."
Feliks grinned, before moving on to the next table that was calling for him to take their order.
"Anyways, do you remember that Kasem mentioned something about Lien Chun insisting him on travelling because he was going to travel by himself more often?"
Yao recalled that it was something that stood out to him that could give them some possibilities to deduce what might have happened with her.
"Maybe she knew that she was getting murdered?"
Ivan pointed it out, still going by the theory that the competition had hired someone to get rid of her or who knows, maybe someone from there did the dirty work themselves.
"What if she had a lover? That would also mean she wasn't going to be travelling much since she planned on settling down. Perhaps it was a serious relationship rather than a fling which was what he had with Emma and Michelle."
Yao argued, convinced that all the cases were linked together by one single killer that murdered his partners in the same manner and proceeded to take something from them, except nothing was missing from Lien Chun or at least nothing that they knew of.
"But it wasn't just a fling, right? He knew the sentimental value to that ring which is why he took it. He must have known Emma for sometime and the same with Michelle, they were at least dating for two weeks and he took her bow as well, another item with sentimental value."
They didn't have any clue that can point them directly to Lien Chun's killer so all they could do now was theorize what might have happened and if it was the same man that murdered the other girls.
"So it is the same man then, and Lien Chun was his first girlfriend that he killed. The problem is that nobody knows about this lover. Maybe if we could hear the recording of the call we could have figured something out but it's gone. Perhaps, she wasn't even sick at all and just wanted to spend a whole week with him before Kasem returned."
Considering that Lien Chun was such a private person, it did make sense she would rather lie about being sick than telling her secretary that she was taking a week off. Because if she did then Emil might tell other people and rumors start circulation. At least that's the Chinese man's perspective on her behavior.
Ivan nodded, taking his notebook out to start writing all that his partner said down when Feiks was back to their table, placing the sandwiches.
"Enjoy your meal, detectives."
The Polish man didn't dislike them that much anymore. Perhaps because he managed to scam Ivan into paying him for the meal from the last time that the restaurant covered or maybe because Yao thought he had potential. Either way, he just hoped they could solve the murder of the pretty rich lady that was in the restaurant a week ago.
"This doesn't look bad, but it's pretty overpriced."
Yao commented before taking up his club sandwich and taking a bite out of it. It didn't taste bad for sure, but still too expensive. Then again, this isn't the kind of restaurant he would usually go to but only accepted because Ivan wanted to pay the waiter back.
"Da, it is a bit expensive for a sandwich but the station covers for our lunch so it's fine."
The Russian munched on his roast beef sandwich and he thought that perhaps the price was actually worth the taste of the sandwich.
"The chief will not be happy with us eating in a fancy place."
Ivan shrugged, this was his first time having decent lunch with the money the station gave them to cover for their lunch break. It was impressive how Yao still refused to eat when it was free, to the extremes his partner will go just to solve a case were truly impressive.
"Yao, I've been meaning to tell you something."
The Asian almost choked on his sandwich, what was that supposed to even mean? He wasn't sure if he liked the way it sounded but he was somewhat nervous by the way Ivan said that.
"What is it?"
The Russian noticed the small blush starting to appear around Yao's cheeks. He wondered if what he said made his partner anxious. Perhaps he worded it long? English wasn't his first language after all.
"Francis Bonnefoy, Michelle's father, you remember him right? My sister's father in law, he wanted to invite you and me to the beach to let go of Michelle's ashes later today."
That definitely wasn't something that Yao had been expecting and of course, he remembered Michelle's father, the poor and devastated man that wept over the death of his daughter.
"Invite me to go? I appreciate the gesture but why me? I'm not family like you are to participate in such an intimate ceremony."
Yao wasn't sure why the Bonnefoy's family would want him there. He wasn't a likable man and Arthur could be there too, it was a terrible idea.
"He called me to ask you to join us, because he is thankful that we're working on his daughter's case."
The Asian paused for a moment, taking another bite from his sandwich before putting it back on the plate. He never thought a victim's family member would ever want them in the funeral or any similar ceremony. It sort of moved him, that Francis was thankful for his work and Yao was working day and night over the case, so maybe just this time he could make an exception and go.
"What time did you say it was going to be?"