Their wheel of fortune had finally turned. The results had made for a cheerful but busy morning. There was a match, and thanks to genealogy they had a family tree mapped out with a way to track the potential suspect lined up. Despite his calm demeanour as he printed the results of the email, Ludwig's internal attitude matched his brother's. Gilbert was cheering and pumping his fists as he ran to grab the papers from the front office. Ludwig followed him at a more reasonable pace, ready to steer him back on track and away from distracting Natalya.
Well, it seemed he was too late. Ludwig supposed Gilbert was free to hang in the front office for a bit as he went over the contents with Natalya, considering he had the email on his phone too. He tuned his brother out and revised the details.
Thanks to a woman who publicised her ancestry test details, the system was able to establish a biological relationship between her and the unknown DNA using their common ancestry to trace back to the suspect. With the partial family tree mapped out on the attachment, Ludwig knew what he had to do next. The relationship between the woman and the individual is labelled as an uncle. It's strange to think the prediction could be so precise, yet it's all in the detective's favour. If anything, it gives Ludwig hope that as long as there's a smidge of DNA evidence for any of the other cold cases, they will be solved.
Things were finally in his reach. Ludwig would just need to pay the woman a visit and ask about relatives who filled that role and gather what information he can. Luckily the email listed her personal details, including her address and number. Now all he had to do was get in touch with her.
As luck would have it, she responded sooner than he imagined. Even luckier, she was free that afternoon and happy to answer questions. That's how a couple of hours later the two brothers were anxiously knocking on the door of a modest-looking suburban house. A middle-aged woman answered the door.
"Mrs Braun? I'm Detective Beilschmidt, we spoke over the phone. Thank you for agreeing to meet so soon." Ludwig shook her hand and refrained from slapping Gilbert's hand when he tried a fist bump. So unprofessional.
"That would be me! It's nice to meet you," she responded pleasantly. "Please come in, would you like anything to drink?"
"Just water, thanks," he answered politely.
"Coffee please?" Gilbert asked.
They followed her through a comfortably decorated hallway with photos of family members and colourful frames everywhere. Ludwig wondered if this was the standard for family homes. Opa's house was empty in comparison, even when they were growing up. He shook the thoughts away. He had a reason to be here and he wouldn't be distracted.
"I hope we didn't take you away from anything important," Ludwig commented.
"Oh, I would only be gardening. That's not as exciting as being a detective." Mrs Braun uttered as they entered her pastel kitchen. There was a wooden square table with flowers in the centre and Ludwig took a seat.
"Don't be so sure, I know some detectives that garden on weekends."
"Oh yeah," Gilbert chuckled. "That'd be the chief."
"I guess the city's in good hands then." Mrs Braun laughed as she placed a cup of water on the table and put a packet of coffee on.
After thanking her for the drinks and with the obligatory small talk out of the way, Ludwig decided to acknowledge the pressing topic. The reason for their visit.
"So, about our investigation." Ludwig took a sip of water. "I didn't go into detail on the phone but I can now. I'd like to advise that the nature of the case might be upsetting in advance."
"If you imagine I'd be upset by death, you must know that everyone's lost someone in their life. It's a part of the planet earth experience. Murder is unfortunate but not a foreign idea. Just tell me what you need me to know so I know what details you'll need."
Ludwig nodded and summarised the context of that fateful night. The break-in, method and potential motive. Missing objects and violent act... The family link between the mystery perpetrator and Mrs Braun.
"I'm looking for someone who fits this description. Tell me everything you can. If you knew of their whereabouts at the time or possible motives, that sort of thing. It'd be a great help."
"Leave nothing out! Anything we can use against this guy can help." Gibert added as he sipped on his drink.
"I only have three uncles, all on my father's side. I don't know exactly what they were all up to in the eighties but I know some of it. If it isn't much help I suppose you could contact my father but I'll see if I can help you first."
She grabbed a tea bag and dipped it in her mug as she thought about it.
"Dennis is the oldest and he lives in Canada. He went there when he turned eighteen and never left. He turned eighteen in the seventies so I suppose that clears him. Next, there's John. He became a pilot and was always very busy. He never left the area and we've always been close. I know you never know what people are capable of but I really don't think he would have killed someone. Even if he hated them."
She shrugged and sipped at her tea.
"And Charles..." she frowned. "Charles got kicked out of home for stealing the family car and crashing it. He dropped out of school and never really held a job. I only heard all this through the grapevine at family events, but apparently he married a younger woman who didn't know better and has been leeching off her since. So if it was any of them... it was him."
Ludwig felt the exact same. Of course, that didn't mean it was, but he was their best lead to start with. Hopefully following him for a week would yield results. Ludwig noted the uncle's full names and other biological information that would locate them easily while Gilbert changed the conversation to back to gardening.
Gilbert naturally got along with anyone who'd talk to him so in the end Ludwig had to step into the discussion his brother just couldn't wrap up. Gilbert compromised by adding his equally talkative companion on Facebook as Ludwig thanked her and asked that she wouldn't discuss any details about the pending investigation until an arrest has been made. But Ludwig was confident that it was only a matter of time until this would be wrapped up.
AN: I had to make a decision. Either I use a canon character as the villain (and halve the number of stories) OR I randomly generate a villain and have more stories for everyone in the cast :) My wonderful plan is to victimise every one of our beloved characters. Also once this story is complete imma edit the hell out of it cus it could be way more concise
