It had been over a week since the initial idea. Ludwig had jumped to research the practical side but not before immediately sending off an email asking for permission to the Chief of Police. It turns out that despite the genealogy websites being public, police needed authorisation to access their database for criminal investigations. Completely understandable, yet another obstacle that seemed to drag out the suspense.

The investigation's current status was pending, and Ludwig's anticipation was only marginally more in check than last time. Having got permission a couple of days ago, the brothers were just waiting on the results. Again. Though the results were more likely to be positive this time around, considering how popular ancestry tests have become and the killer can't escape being related to anyone at all. Though there was still enough doubt to leave room for uncertainty, a slim chance that no connection would be found and they'd be back to square one.

But it was more likely they'd find something, so Ludwig pushed any doubts aside. If the doubts were not unfounded, then they would simply find another angle to solve the case - only when they don't get any results, that is. But they won't know if they don't have a lead until they're told. So once the results come in, Ludwig can worry about it then. Well, he could worry now, and actually plan when it comes to it.

"-Luuuuudwig!" Gilbert shouted, "I said this one's all good!"

Ludwig blinked as he was startled out of his inner thoughts and was brought back to the task at hand.

"Right." He muttered sorely, slightly agitated from being snapped from what Gilbert would insist was his workaholic brooding. Relaxing his tight grip on the clipboard in hand, he clipped off the pen and marked off the necessary details.

Gilbert awkwardly clambered out of the police car's driver's seat, narrowly avoiding whacking his head in the process and cracking his sunglasses. He kicked the door shut, pushing the dark frames against his face and swaying away from the car.

"You can climb through the next one," Gilbert huffed and glanced down the line of department cars yet to be assessed.

"There's not many to go," Ludwig replied bluntly, "and you chose to be the one to do the inspecting."

Gilbert scoffed playfully as he manually locked the driver's door with the skeleton key.

"Fine. But we're having lunch after this," Gilbert whined as he approached the next car and jammed the key into the door. "I'm too hungry to keep working."

Ludwig gave a non-committal noise of agreement, his usually sharp demeanour feeling worn down from the past few days spent completing chores around the precinct from the list Natalya sent. Which was fortunate as it kept them busy and feeling productive. The list was demanding enough that if he threw himself into completing every little optional task Ludwig was able to prevent himself from compulsively reading the investigation report or rewatching the tapes. He had to keep resisting watching the unwatched tape now that the initial weight had subsided.

The flame in the back of his mind itched and hungered for progress. Even as his day was overwhelmed with tasks the burning in his mind kept bringing him back to the case.

To a point where even he could acknowledge it was excessively.

"Get it over with then," Ludwig advised as he located the plate of the car on the list. Checking if the police cars were stocked properly wasn't a glamorous job by any means, but the mundane jobs were necessary. More importantly, distracting.

Even if he couldn't move forward towards solving the case, other potentially productive things had crossed Ludwig's mind. Such as contacting Lovino Vargas, but for what reason he didn't know. Late redundant condolences? To inform him they had reopened the case? Then what? He didn't know what he would say to the man. Ultimately, he had resolved for waiting until the investigation was concluded to say anything, so as not to give him false hope or reopen old wounds with little comfort. Still, Ludwig was optimistically looking forward to the day that Vargas' investigation was concluded, as it seemed more believable than ever that Feliciano would get justice.

Here he was overthinking again. The slamming of a car door brought him back to the task at hand. He felt a little guilty when he realised he missed whatever his brother had to say about the status of the car and was marching onto the next one - indicating it was probably stocked right. Ludwig pressed his lips together as he decided not to ask his brother for clarification and jot it down as stocked.

Determined to see this through, Ludwig pushed his thoughts aside and glanced down at the form pressed against the still clipboard. There were only a few cars left to check. If he couldn't remain present for the remainder of this mundane job then he should be worried about his deteriorating attention span.

"Status?" he prompted as Gilbert clambered between the seats and out of the car.

His brother threw him a thumbs up and a suspiciously cunning smile. Ludwig narrowed his eyes as a warning against Gilbert doing something silly - what that was, he didn't know - and scribbled on the clipboard. He saw Gilbert in his peripheral vision locking up the car, and he thought his warning was received.

That was before Gilbert threw himself across the hood of the next car, rolling off the metal and stumbled upright onto the pavement. Ludwig was sure the vein in his forehead was visibly bulging now.

"Are you taking this seriously?" he snapped.

"Of course I am," Gilbert scoffed as he unlocked the car door. "I'm just havin' a little fun. Not everyone's married like you."

"Married?" A flash of confusion pushed aside the building tension. His mind scrambled to pick up loose ends to uncover whatever his brother was hinting at. Did he miss something said earlier because his mind was drifting?

"To your job." Gilbert sneered.

Oh, a jab. Gilbert thought he was being funny. Though from his brother's matching look of irritation, he knew that wasn't his intention.

"I act like a professional," he replied blankly, biting down any immature things he could jab back and add fuel to the fire.

"Yeah, all the time!" Open door forgotten, his brother leaned across the roof of the car and curled his twitching fingers into fists. "It's just us here! You can stop acting all uptight and edgy. And if you can't, at least don't tell me how to act."

"Firstly, we're on the clock. So right now, I'm going to act like a professional. Secondly, you threw yourself over across department property!" Ludwig's tone was more icy than intended, but as his headache grew his resolve for preventing an undesirable outcome weakened. "I don't usually tell you how to act, I just expect you would at least take your job a little more seriously."

"No, I slid across department property because it's awesome. Jobs can be fun you know. Maybe if you slid across a car like cops in the movies do then maybe you would know what fun feels like. And I do take my job seriously, I get shit done don't I? Just 'cus I don't have a stick up my ass doesn't mean I don't give a shit and stuff around all day."

Ludwig clenched his jaw as he stepped up to the car opposite Gilbert, careful not to slam the clipboard with too much force on the roof as he thought of how to get his brother to see reason.

"Gilbert, just do your job. You can act stupid later when you're not at work and not representing the police force. In fact, you should be acting more responsible as you're in a higher position. If anyone saw you throw yourself across a police car it wouldn't look very good. Would you do it if the Chief of Police were watching?"

"No, of course I wouldn't I'm not stupid," Gilbert heckled like he was stating the obvious, "but since it's just us I thought we could drop the whole uptight act. If you loosened up a little you'd probably feel better. Seriously, it's just us! I'm not gonna judge you. You've been all tense lately and I get this case is stressful and it's putting pressure on me too ya'know, but all being all edgy about it doesn't really help. But if you wanna be all angsty about it then whatever, but you can't make me get angsty about it too then say I'm not being serious!"

Despite his growing frustration Ludwig could this was going around in circles. It was strange, but he could feel the fight drain from him and his voice become less stern. Maybe this case was getting to him after all. He couldn't recall being so out of character with any of the more recent cases he had been assigned to.

"I know you wouldn't judge me," Ludwig raised a hand to his temple. He could feel the thrum of his vein against his fingers, beating along to his heartbeat in his throat. "But your comments about how I hold myself to a high standard are ironically, judgemental. I'm not being any more 'uptight' than I usually am, what would make me feel better is if you would just finish this task without being difficult."

"Fine," Gilbert spat, clearly as done with the arguing as he was. He must have noticed the change in Ludwig's demeanour. Being more on the confrontational side, Gilbert would usually argue without giving up so quickly.

"Have it your way," Gilbert mumbled and snatched the clipboard from the roof before stepping into the car. "Sorry I said anything."

Ludwig was frozen for a moment as he stood alone outside the vehicle, finding it much easier to stay in place with his mouth pressed shut. After a moment with no sound from Gilbert, he turned and made his way back to the department building. It wasn't a task that needed two people anyways.

He took the route directly to his office and was fortunate enough not to run into anyone looking for conversation. Pressing the door shut behind him with the tips of his fingers, Ludwig pushed the feelings of self-irritation and bubbling remorse aside as thought back to the list of odd jobs that Natalya had formed. Surely he could find something to occupy himself for the rest of the day without having to interact with anyone else.

It didn't feel like much time had passed when Ludwig was finally disturbed, though not by the usual crashing of the door being kicked in. Instead, his phone, which was lying face down on the desk beside him buzzed and demanded attention. He brushed his hand over his eyes, now suddenly feeling the strain of staring at a screen for some time and reached for his phone. Two things caught his attention that he did not expect. It was around the middle of the afternoon and that was not Gilbert calling.

"Hello Natalya," he greeted, unsure what the premise of the call was about. Maybe he was going to be called out for a job?

"Come get your lunch before it goes bad."

That wasn't what he expected to hear. With it being far past lunchtime and Gilbert not intruding since Ludwig couldn't think of an explanation. He'd have to go find out for himself.

"Alright."

With his acknowledgement, he ended the call and pocketed the device. Satisfied with the work he had accomplished on the computer so far, he could consider the short trip a break.

The lobby was empty, which was likely the reason Natalya had called when she did. From the look on her face, it seemed she intended to sooner. Wordlessly, she selected a white container that was resting beside her computer and two presumably empty coffee cups. With his attention on the object, she pushed it across the counter towards Ludwig.

"What's this?" he inquired as he picked it up. Cracking open the lid revealed pasta inside with disposable cutlery.

Natalya's eyebrows furrowed at his confusion.

"Your lunch, it's been here for hours. Gilbert left it for you. Said he didn't want to disturb you," Natalya conveyed the relevant information, her no-nonsense attitude as stern as her posture. "Usually he has no problem with that."

Pushing the lid back on, he nodded in response.

"Maybe he was busy?" Ludwig wouldn't know if he was. From Natalya's specific comment, it was likely she had an inkling of what went down earlier. With his mind still focused on work and tongue feeling like lead, Ludwig didn't want to bring it up. But if Natalya brought it up, he'd talk.

That may be a bit contradictory and unusual of him, but he was much more comfortable alone in his office.

"Maybe," she replied, evidently seeing how tired he felt.

He half-heartedly shrugged and let his shoulders drop.

"Thanks," he gestured with the takeaway container as he turned to leave, receiving a short wave as he departed.

Soon he was slumped back in his office chair with the pasta in hand and once again, his thoughts elsewhere.