Even if Charlie Braun was innocent, investigating him would rule him out and leave them with only one other option. But Ludwig was ready to put all his eggs in one basket and make the bet that this was the man they were after. It wasn't difficult to locate Braun using police resources, now all that was left was to stake him out and gather enough evidence to prove it was him. Once they had the evidence a warrant to arrest him would be inevitable.

Unfortunately, since they needed a warrant to enter his house, they had to settle with following him around whenever he left. They followed him around for a couple of days, painfully bored with a man in his late sixties who didn't do much with himself. He'd go to his friend's houses to watch tv and drink, which frustrated the detectives to no end because if only he did that at a bar where they could follow and nab his drink after. Whenever he wasn't with his friends, he went fishing for hours on end. Getting a sample of DNA then wasn't preferable either. While the stakeout was hardly eventful, it was only a matter of time before they got what they needed. In the meantime, Ludwig was obsessively planning how to stalk the other brother to pass the time, 'just in case'. He ignored Gilbert as he insisted Ludwig was 'being his workaholic self again'.

It was the fifth day of the stakeout when Charles stopped at a cafe. Gilbert's gleeful expression was comparable to a child on Christmas as he rubbed his hands together before jumping out of their undercover car to follow him. They were dressed in regular civilian gear and Gilbert sported an obnoxious pair of mirror sunglasses. Nothing that would raise any alarm bells in Braun's mind, though Ludwig doubted the man felt any threat around regular police officers. After watching the man for a week, he wondered if he even remembered what he did forty years ago.

They lined up behind Braun and listened to him order himself a full meal and watch him sit at a booth. Ludwig couldn't hope for a more perfect opportunity. He ordered two coffees and directed Gilbert to another booth that gave him the perfect view of their target.

"Fucking finally," Gilbert whispered. "Now what are we waiting for?"

"We need a DNA sample." Ludwig reminded him. "If it matches, we can get an arrest warrant. When he leaves, grab his coffee cup and we'll extract a sample from it."

"Roger that."

Another woman entered the cafe and placed an order. Ludwig didn't pay her any mind until she sat across from Charles.

"Who's that?" Gilbert asked, narrating Ludwig's thoughts. "I stalked his FaceBook for this mission and she's definitely not his wife."

"No, she's not." Ludwig sighed. "Just make sure to grab the right cup then. Until then don't draw suspicion our way."

He could feel a vein bulging in his next as Gilbert tried to discreetly take a selfie and capture their target's table in the photo.

"What are you doing?" He hissed.

"Relax, it's all evidence."

Ludwig sighed and Gilbert put his phone away. Their drinks arrived in the form of local artwork takeaway cups and Gilbert took off the lid to lick the foam.

"So what are we gonna do about Opa on Saturday?"

"I don't know." Ludwig sighed. "Just don't touch anything until then so we have something to clean."

"I wasn't going to anyways."

Ludwig gave him a disappointing look.

"Have I mentioned how much you look like Opa when you do that?"

"I am related to him."

"Obviously. You look more like him than me. But what I meant was that stare you did."

"I'm sure it's not unfamiliar for someone to be looking at you with disapproval." Ludwig replied before thinking better and adding; "I meant that in a loving, joking way."

"Psshh, I know. I'm not gonna overthink that one, relax."

Ludwig nodded. But considering the things Gilbert shared Friday night, he'd rather be safe than sorry.

"What parts of your apartment need cleaning?"

"All of it. Except the floors. I sweep those nearly everyday cus Gilbird gets seed everywhere."

Ludwig recalled his brother sprinkling seed in his hair for his beloved pet and questioned if the blame really lies with Gilbird.

"Well, that gives us plenty to do. I'll bring all my cleaning equipment over on Friday."

"Sounds good to me! How 'bout we hang then too? We could watch some stupid crime shows and shit on how stupid they are?"

When Ludwig accepted by saying, "Sounds fun," he really meant it.

They found things to talk about while keeping an eye on their target, who was really enjoying his meal and company. Ludwig couldn't be more disgusted at the man and distracted himself with his brother, who evidently felt the same. Ludwig didn't find conversation too difficult when Gilbert was leading, his brother could talk for hours without stopping. Gilbert sounded annoyed when Ludwig cut him off when he noticed his targets standing.

"Wait until they leave but act before the staff clean it up."

"I got this." Gilbert winked as he collected his and Ludwig's cup and dumped it in the trash just as their target walked by. He gave Ludwig a thumbs up and walked to the abandoned table, snatching both empty cups. Ludwig took that as his cue to leave just as Gilbert put only one cup in the bin.

"Mission success," Gilbert smirked as he passed the evidence and Ludwig put it in a satchel.

Because of case priority, they only had to wait a couple of hours to get the results of the DNA. During those hours wait Gilbert forced him to go for a walk when he noticed he had started obsessing. Ludwig obliged him, knowing how important it was for Gilbert who was also being caught up in the tragedy of the case. His brother would feel like he was helping him if he went along, so he couldn't refuse.

Ludwig fell back into his professional ways when the DNA matched, moving on autopilot as he got the warrant and made the arrest. Braun argued as Gilbert read him his rights and resisted loudly the entire way to the interrogation room. But he lost his spirit the moment Ludwig fixed him with his signature no-nonsense glare that apparently he inherited from his Grandfather and laid down the evidence while barely holding back his righteous malice. It almost felt unreal that all this mess was finally over when Braun confessed on record to killing Feliciano Vargas.

Now, all he needed was the why. Legally they didn't need to know why. Braun would be put behind bars for the rest of his life regardless, but Ludwig knew he wouldn't be able to sleep at night without understanding what could make someone do something so immensely cruel. The reason was hardly a surprise or unique in any way. Ludwig could feel what little faith he had in humanity erode further as Braun explained defensively as if anything he could say would ever excuse or justify what he did.

Cocaine, meth, ecstasy, any drug you name, Braun had tried it. Everyone was using and he couldn't resist. It was only a matter of time before he was gripped with addiction, causing him to drop out of school. From there he tried to get jobs but his addiction always got in the way. To get money he'd rob people's houses. He never intended to kill Feliciano, he thought he left the house when he saw someone just like him drive off. When he realised he wasn't alone in that house he panicked. He wasn't going to kill him, but then he was left with no choice. As for the items taken from the house, those were given away to pay off debts. He washed his hands of the evidence a long time ago.

Despite the victory, Ludwig felt hollow as he thought over everything he learned. It seems the case predecessor had got a few things right, just short of the technology to do anything else about it. He hoped the previous detective was still alive so that once the case was marked closed he could rest easy.

Despite the case not being completely under wraps yet - or at least legally, the brothers found that their weekend was still enjoyable despite the loose ends being so close and just within reach. Ludwig brought over his cleaning equipment on Friday night and Gilbert made it absolutely clear that he was not allowed to talk, or even think about work.

"Work-life balance bro! You can't have an awesome life if it's all just work."

"But-"

"Don't feel guilty for enjoying your awesome life! Enjoy it extra hard for those who can't! We'll be back at work before you know it anyway and we've caught that bastard so what are you even worrying for?"

Ludwig grimaced. Feliciano couldn't enjoy his life anymore, but was he really honouring his memory by obsessively thinking about the boy's last moments and refusing to enjoy his own life in solidarity? Ludwig should probably look into why he felt guilty about it, but his brother was right. Despite his worrying and guilt, he was going to try his best to enjoy living.

Hanging with their grandfather was nice. Gilbert forcibly kept the conversation away from work, or rather, the case. The conversation was a little awkward for him at times, so Ludwig left it to Gilbert and their grandfather while he enjoyed their company and focussed on cleaning. But overall he could see the event was a success. Gilbert's apartment felt brand new and after Opa said his windows were facing the right direction for growing plants, Gilbert created an opening by insisting their grandfather teach them about gardening.

And just like that, their grandfather was opening his calendar and searching for a date they could go back to the house they hadn't been back to in years so he could show them his garden.

All information about the case was withheld from the media until the trial, which was fortunately pushed forward due to priority. It didn't take long for Ludwig to organise all the evidence to use against Braun in court. Once his argument was wrapped up and packed in a folder, Ludwig had one last thing he wanted to wrap up.

As a formality, he suggested to Gilbert that they write a letter to Lovino Vargas. At least to explain the circumstances and emotionally prepare him. He deserved to find out before everything was thrown to the vultures that were the media. Before he sealed the envelope, Ludwig took one last look at the photograph of a once carefree Feliciano before sliding it safely into the paper.

When the court date arrived, Braun was charged with second-degree murder, aggravated murder and assault, breaking and entering, and theft. Ludwig used his intimidating image to his advantage as he argued against the statute of limitations, more than pleased that Braun knew better than to bother with a lawyer (or really thought he didn't need one) and pleaded guilty to every charge. But Ludwig was less than pleased to know the man only did so knowing that he had a good life, one that Feliciano did not and that he got to enjoy until he was caught. In the end, it was a unanimous decision and Charles Braun was sentenced to life in prison.

A day later, the story was all over the news. Gilbert, with uncharacteristic seriousness and wisdom, met with Ludwig before he left his apartment for work and told him to avoid it. Saying the media would only play to the emotional side of the case and mess with them again. He was pleasantly surprised when Gilbert joined him on his walk and the autopilot slowly wore off as he sunk back into his routine of collecting coffee and spending the morning with his brother. He could tell Gilbert was feeling strange that it was finally over and he wondered if he'd be able to handle the next case. But with his brother by his side, he was sure he'd overcome, no matter how challenging. Be that literally or emotionally.

They sat in Gilbert's office, sipping on their coffees in silence when Natalya swung the door open.

"The Chief would like to see you." She said with her usual amount of excitement, which was to say none.

"Are we in trouble?" Gilbert giggled and tossed his empty coffee cup in her direction. She caught it with little effort and ditched it back at his head, making him fall out of the chair as he tried to dodge.

"Well, he had to email me because you're ignoring him, so I hope so."

"Thanks, Natalya." Ludwig responsibly dropped his coffee into the bin and sidestepped when Gilbert yeeted his in after.

"Congrats on the case," she said out of routine workplace obligation before turning to Gilbert. "I respect how you aired his laundry, really the cherry on top of the steaming pile of shit that made a man."

Ludwig didn't get to ask her what that meant because Natalya was walking away.

"What does she mean by that?"

"Ahhhhhh," Gilbert couldn't look more suspicious as he struggled to meet his younger brother's eyes. "I'll tell you later. Let's go see what Opa wants!"

Ludwig frowned but let it go. He would be finding out what that meant later.

Gilbert beat him to knock on the Chief's door and threw himself in one of the chairs when they were let in.

"Guten morgen Opa! Have we made you proud?"

Ludwig hesitated as he sat beside his brother. Once upon a time, he would've thought Gilbert was just asking that to be pesky or just to run his mouth and get their grandfather's attention, but now-

"Of course he's proud of you Gilbert," he commented in his no-nonsense tone so his brother couldn't dispute it. "You're not Sergeant without reason."

"That's correct, Gilbert." Their grandfather stated. "I have no doubts about your ability to take detective work seriously and to seek justice against all odds. As far as I'm aware you played a prominent role in how this was investigated so you should feel proud of yourself."

Gilbert went unnaturally still, but Ludwig didn't have long to analyse that as the Chief moved on to discussing the final stage of their case. Paperwork. It wasn't anything Ludwig didn't expect, only that because of the change of hands since the case was opened and the age meant that things had to be digitised and filed slightly differently. Ludwig expected that to be the end of the meeting when the Chief surprised him by addressing Gilbert with a sigh.

"And next time, Gilbert, please run it by me before you contact media outlets about a case."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. Was this what Natalya was referring to?

"What did you do?"

Gilbert broke into his weird chuckle and smirked.

"I said that he was caught while cheating and sent a photo as evidence. I cropped us out, don't worry! But his wife can do way better and this guy is a murderer so you can't make me feel bad about it!"

"Is this why you told me to avoid the news?" Ludwig's eye twitched.

"No! I was just being an awesome big brother looking out for you because I really knew that we didn't need to see it. The guy's in jail now, case closed!"

Ludwig sighed but didn't rebuke that.

Later in the day, Ludwig had just finished finalising all the paperwork and stopped to check his emails when he saw something forwarded to him and Gilbert from Natalya. Seeing as Gilbert was with him straightening the last case papers in the folder, Ludwig got his attention and turned his computer screen.

"What's this?" Gilbert asked. "Please don't tell me it's more paperwork..."

"I don't know, likely about the case." Ludwig shrugged as he opened it, immediately realising it wasn't just paperwork.

'To whom it may concern,

I'm the previous detective who worked on the case some forty years ago. You couldn't imagine my surprise when I saw the news the other night to see something I never thought would happen. When I first shelved Vargas' case, I did so with a heavy heart lamenting my investigative skills thinking he would never see justice.

Thank you for picking it up once again. While I'm enjoying my twilight years, like many others my age I have plenty of time to spend overthinking my regrets, getting stuck in a spiral of 'what if'. One of the biggest 'what ifs' was what if some of the hardest cases that I just couldn't close never saw completion or justice.

Thank you for finishing what I started. I don't know where the family members are now, but I know I'll never forget interviewing them. Some things from this job never left me, most of all the guilt. I don't even know if they're alive anymore, but if they are, I just know and hope that despite the painful emotions brought back to the surface after being buried for so long, they're grateful that this story finally has an end. And if they're no longer alive, I just know they're at peace. Or at least, that's my personal belief. Hopefully, Vargas is at peace too. Although I hope he found his peace many years ago.

There were some other cases that I unfortunately never saw finished. I suppose I was limited by the technology and knowledge of my time, but I hope that I helped pave the way for you to follow. I have high hopes that everything I started will one day be finished and that it's all left in capable hands.

Best regards for your future endeavours,

H.R.E'

Ludwig rubbed his eyes as the bittersweet feelings choked him. Next to him, Gilbert had put his sunglasses on like Ludwig wouldn't know his eyes were glassy. Not that he'd mention it. The two of them sat in silence for a while as their resolve to move on to the next case grew stronger. No matter what they uncovered, they were full of determination to see it through and find closure for the lives that ended without reason.