A large crowd surrounds the mall, five helicopters hovering from up above.
"Step aside, police business." Pierre says, pushing both his and Kazimir's way through the crowd.
The two enter the mall, a few people gathered around a lifeless male.
"Jeez, this shit is getting tiring to see. Who's in charge of this case?"
"I am."
Hearing Dayne's voice, Pierre lets out an audible groan.
"Could've been anyone but this clown. Alright blondie, what happened?"
"What happened is that your friend Andréy La'rine was shot in the arm by that dead man over there."
Pierre goes silent and looks over at the body.
"Then who killed him?" Kazimir asks, stepping forward.
"He killed himself." Dayne replies. "Andréy was meeting with Brent Domonkos and I have reason to believe it was a failed assassination attempt on Mr. Domonkos. I'm assuming the man realized his plan didn't succeed and he ran downstairs before taking his own life."
"What's the fucker's name?" Pierre asks, continuing to stare at the body.
"He had no identification on him. He was homeless."
Walking up to Dayne, Pierre grabs the man's collar.
"Listen, you want my spot, you can have it. But if you can't identify this motherfucker's identity, then you should resign from this department."
Ripping Pierre's hand away, Dayne brushes off his collar.
"You didn't let me finish; we took some DNA samples and those should identify the man's identity. Also, if anybody should resign, it should be you. Patience plays a huge part in law enforcement, Richano."
Pierre begins to seethe with anger as he watches Dayne walk over to a tall, young man with dark hair and mysterious green eyes.
"Anyway, I have decided to place this ongoing investigation into our newest member's hands. Cizetto, Richano, I'd like you to meet Lucien Mirdad."
Shaking his new coworker's hand, Kazimir gives him a warm smile.
"Hey, I'm Kazimir Cizetto."
"And I'm Pierre Richano, the most professional on the squad. If you need help with anything, let me know. Chances are-
"It's nice to meet you both." Lucien interrupts as he makes his way over to the dead body.
Taking out a magnifying glass, Lucien begins to inspect the bullet wound on the body.
"Mr. Niserratè says this man killed himself, but something about how the bullet was placed is screaming otherwise."
"As if the man knew what artery to hit that would kill himself instantly?" Kazimir asks, squatting down beside the young man.
"Yes. However, if this man was in a rush to off himself, which he most likely should have been, I don't think he would've spent more than 30 seconds trying to make the bullet hit a certain artery." Lucien replies.
"He could've researched what artery to hit beforehand." Pierre adds, placing a hand on a hip.
"While that is true, it's very common for the human body to instantly go into a panic upon sudden instances. And besides, we don't exactly know if this man was planning to kill himself so suddenly."
"So basically you disagree with what blondie had to say about the man offing himself."
Lucien nods.
"That's correct, Mr. Richano. I believe someone shot this man. Maybe a citizen with a gun who fled the scene, maybe an officer who hasn't said anything yet. One thing is very clear though; this man did not kill himself."
Standing up, Lucien takes his gloves off and puts them in his back pocket.
"Mr. Niserratè has told me Mr. Domonkos used to be a top chairman of an airline company until he recently resigned to focus on another business. Tomorrow, I'd like for you two to help me interrogate everyone who is in an executive position for that specific airline company. I'd also like to talk to close friends of Mr. La'rine as well."
"Well, I'm his closest one." Pierre says. "And I'm here to tell you that Dréy isn't about that sneaky, gang lifestyle if that's what you're trying to say."
"I never said anything about a gang lifestyle, Mr. Richano." Lucien replies. "People that you think are friends and family tend to get jealous and may want to harm the person that's seemingly doing better than them. How do we know that Andréy doesn't have any fraudulent friends or family?"
"Because he doesn't! Who the hell is going to take time out of their day to purposely hurt the most chillest guy on this planet?! WHO?!"
Kazimir and Lucien watch as Pierre runs a hand down his face and sighs.
"My bad, my bad. I just got frustrated, alright? Dréy is like a brother to me; we've been through it all together. Heh, I remember staying at his house for the summer and staying up all night. I gotta go see him. Like I said, my bad, man. I didn't mean to cause a scene."
"It's fine, I understand your frustrations." Lucien replies.
The two watch as Pierre walks off, putting his phone up to his ear.
"Do we know if there was a specific connection between Mr. Domonkos and Mr. La'rine?" Lucien asks, turning to Kazimir.
"Brent and Dréy's father both worked for the same company. Dréy's father actually was murdered while still holding position of co-CEO of the airline company."
Lucien raises a brow.
"This is news to me. Sounds like the company has a curse placed upon it."
Kazimir shrugs.
"Probably does. I'll take you to go visit Dréy and he can tell you more than I can."
———-
*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*
"I got it!" Khristina-Bella yells, jumping up from the couch.
With her cousin Laurenté close behind, the little girl happily asks for the person's name.
"It's Mr. Kaz-
"MR. KAZIMIR!"
Opening the door, Khristina gives the young man a big hug, jumping up and down to be picked up.
"Mr. Kazimir! Some meanie hurt Dréy, but Dréy said it just felt like something stung him! My brother is very strong!"
"I'm sure he is." Kazimir says, smiling. "Anyway, I have someone I'd like you all to meet. This is Lucien Mirdad, the department's newest detective."
"Hi, I'm Khristina-Bella, but everyone calls me Khristina! And over there is my friend Miracle!"
"Laurenté La'rine. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Dréy La'rine. What's good?"
"Just the usual." Lucien replies. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."
"There's also one more person that you're yet to meet. My little cousin, Dréy and Khristina's brother, Alexei."
"He's on a date with my mommy!" Miracle says. "Mommy gets asked out by lots of men, but she never goes to dinner with them because they're bums!"
"Uh, well, it's more of a business type of thing." Laurenté adds. "At least that's what my little cousin keeps referring to it as."
"Yeah, I know it'll help a bit with his career, so I ain't really wanna interrupt wit' the bad news." Dréy says opening a soda bottle. "I got some more Pepsi bottles in the fridge and there's a box of pizza on the kitchen table, so make yourself at home, Luce."
"Thank you. However, if you don't mind me asking, does anyone know what this Alexei is doing tomorrow? I understand he's recently became the new CEO of an airline company."
"Probably his usual business." Pierre replies, picking up a chicken wing. "You won't be able to find him."
"Is that code for something?"
Dréy nods.
"It's code for him locked in his house studying, planning meetings, and doing whatever else all day. Rarely do we have any time to spend with him."
"You can meet my brother when he comes back to get Miracle and drop her and her mommy off at their house!" Khristina says. "He's really nice and smart, Mr. Lucien!"
Lucien nods in agreement.
"I'm positive he got each one of those traits from his smarter sister. Now, if you all don't mind, I'd like to ask each one of you about your relationship to Brent Domonkos."
"Miracle and I have never been in contact with him." Laurenté says.
"Mr. Brent is literally the most funnest man on earth!" Khristina adds. "And he even let me cry in his arms at mama and papa's funeral!"
"Alright. How about you Mr. Andréy?"
"Found out he's my biological father today."
The room suddenly turns an eerily silent.
"So are we still siblings?" Khristina asks, holding her brother's hand.
"Yeah, Khrissy. We still have the same mother. All three of us."
"Basically Khristina, you and Alexei are both half-siblings to Dréy." Laurenté explains.
"Which means I ain't actually related to Laurenté."
"But Dréy's still going to consider me his cousin though."
The two chuckle and Dréy sighs.
"You know, that shit was kinda weird to experience. Not even two seconds after Brent said he was my biological father—bang! Next thing I know, my arm feels like it's on fire."
"According to the doctor's report, the bullet reportedly came from an ShAK-12." Laurenté says, looking down at the paper.
"The police report lists that as the same one that was used to fatally injure the unknown man at the scene." Lucien adds.
"So that man tried to off my biological pops?" Dréy asks. "Have y'all found a reason why?"
"Not yet. If I had to take a guess, I'd say because of jealousy or a job rejection."
A sudden knock comes upon the door and Laurenté answers it.
"Miracle, are you-
Stopping, Alexei La'rine brushes past his cousin and subtly jogs straight over to Dréy. He squats down next to him and begins to inspect his brother's injured arm.
"Andréy, what happened? What's going on? Why is your arm in a sling?"
"You must be Alexei."
Looking up, the young law student raises a brow.
"That is correct. Who are you? Were you the one who injured my brother?"
"No Zay, chill." Dréy replies, leaning forward. "He's a detective."
Alexei nods and shakes Lucien's hand.
"My apologies for the assumption, sir."
"It's fine, I understand. My name is Lucien Mirdad and I'll be the head detective on your brother's case."
"A pleasure to meet you, detective Mirdad. Has the department found any leads yet?"
"Yes. We believe an unknown man, which we're still trying to identify, plotted to assassinate Brent Domonkos. However, the bullet missed and hit your brother instead."
"And the unknown man's whereabouts?" the law student asks.
"From what I was told, he allegedly committed suicide but I have reason to believe someone killed that man."
Alexei raises a brow and tilts his head in slight confusion.
"What you're saying is that this man tried to kill Mr. Domonkos, misfired and shot my Andréy instead, and then someone else killed the unknown male?"
"Correct." Lucien replies. "That's why I'd like to question you about your relationship with Mr. Brent Domonkos."
The young law student sighs and looks toward a window.
"He was basically like my second father. I trusted him with everything when I was younger and I still do. After my parents sudden deaths, he was the first one to reach out and contact my siblings and I to ask if we needed anything. I'm just lost on why someone would feel the need to harm both of my loved ones."
"I agree." Lucien replies. "Well, I'd like to thank you all for your cooperation tonight. I'll be on my way to start on these reports. Have a good night everyone."