Arriving at the scene of the crime, some of the University's staff stopped to question us. This only further angered Lemmy, though just before he escalated the situation any more than it already was, Javi was there to calm things back down for us. He really does seem dependable, and it's good to have someone who works from the inside helping us on the case. Nevertheless, we aren't here for the case - right now, Lee is the one who's most important.

"Halt! State your names and affiliation-!"

"Where's my dad?!" Lemmy shouted, "Show me where you're keeping him right the fuck now!"

"Whoa now." Javi chuckled in a friendly tone, only stopping to seriously advise Lemmy, "You're not gonna get anything done like this. Calm down, take a deep breath, and cooperate. Trust me, it's the fastest way to go see him."

"Hrng...!" Lemmy bit his nails in anxiety before feeling a gentle pat on the head, "Archambeau?"

"It'll be fine, your father's surely okay." She smiled, "For now, let's just do as Javi advised. We're the student council, and you're the student council president - surely they'll understand as long as we cooperate."

"R-Right." He then took a couple of deep breaths before turning to the staff member who inquired about us, "W-We were told a man matching the resemblance of my father had been found near the river. Please let us check if that really is him."

"I understand. Would you please give me your names?" The staff member pulled out a pen and paper.

Pointing at all of us in order from right to left, Lemmy then explained, "Lemmy, Javi, Kiria, Kevin and Meil. Now could you please take us..."

"Alright, and your ranks in your respective schools?" The staff member wasn't yet done with his interrogative questioning.

"Huh? Why is that important?" Lemmy tilted his head.

"Proof of identity. We'll run a background check on you before letting you inspect the body." He explained, "We found a brown book in his possession and believe it'd be best to hand it over to any known relatives. If everything you say checks out, we'll hand it over to you."

"Shit, the book!" Kevin whispered, only to get shushed by mademoiselle.

"T-Then I'll start first!" Mademoiselle spoke up, "I'm a Quartion."

"Same here - Quartion." Javi spoke right after.

"I'm a DeciCin." Kevin said, a tad embarrassed for being a newbie.

"Nonim." I looked the man in the Eye as he jotted it all down.

"I'm Heit." Lemmy then did a double take at me, "Hold on, didn't you just enroll a month ago? How the hell are you just one rank under me?"

The investigator didn't seem to appreciate this sudden new info, though I had nothing to hide, so I simply explained it as it is.

"People do not necessarily have to start at DeciCin." I said, "If you impress the examiners and professors, you might be allowed to skip a rank or two."

"So you're at the level of Nonim without ever studying in here, you say?" The investigator didn't stop writing, "Impressive. That is, IF it's true."

"I assure you I am a top ranker." I boasted, "They just put a cap on the amount of ranks you can skip."

"Stop acting all important, there's a chance my father's dead!" Lemmy then yelled, "Sir, I'm sorry for being impatient, but please understand my situation. Please, all I ask for is a peek at the body and I'll tell you whatever you need after that. Just please give me that peace of mind."

"I understand." The investigator motioned for us to pass through, but momentarily stopped Lemmy, "Just one last question - What are your addresses?"

"...You don't need that for proof of identification." He glared back, "Let's go guys, come on."

Oddly enough, the investigator didn't seem to press us on the matter too much. Maybe he figured how rude it was to hold Lemmy up, or maybe he just got all that he needed. Investigators work closely with the University, after all, so it's not like they couldn't get this info whilst fact-checking us later. Nonetheless, we were allowed to pass over the yellow tape and ran to catch up to Lemmy, who was frantically running to a bunch of officers huddled around a white sheet covering someone. We already knew that that was a body, we just didn't know if it was Lee's or not.

"In the name of the student council, uncover him this instant!" Lemmy shouted.

"Who let these kids in?" The officers started whispering amongst themselves, "Hold on, did he say student council? So they're students. Shit, should we let them see?"

"I've already gotten permission from the investigator, just let me see my dad!" Lemmy shouted.

"Investigator?" They tilted their heads, "We didn't hire an investigator yet."

"Huh? Then who's that guy over... there?" Lemmy pointed into an empty spot just over where we talked to the investigator, "Eh?"

"...Like we said, kid. No investigator." They shook their heads at us, "Still, you mentioned something about the corpse belonging to your dad?"

"Gah, I don't know yet! That's why I'm here to make sure!" Lemmy's Eyes started to tear up, "Please, just show us the book and his face, that's all I need to verify if it's him or not!"

"Ah, this book here? Sure, take it." One of the officers tossed it over to him, "Not like we have any use of it. It's completely empty."

"What? It's empty?" Javi asked.

"He's right." Lemmy smirked as he seemed to have noticed something about it, "Completely empty."

"As in - There's nothing written in it?" Mademoiselle added, equally as confused.

"Right, just a blank book with a brown cover." The investigator explained, "Probably an unused notebook or something. Still, if it means so much to you, you're free to have it."

"O-Okay." Lemmy nodded as he braced himself, "T-Then would you please uncover his face?"

"Sure thing." Another officer then grabbed ahold of the sheets and yanked them off, revealing...!

***

Thank Ouroboras! It's not Lee! I-I mean, it's just some guy that has the same body frame as him, but his hair color and face don't match at all! Lemmy must be super happy about this-!

"D-Dad!" Lemmy jumped to hug the dead body, "Fuck! No, this can't be happening! Dad, wake up, dad!"

"What?" I furrowed my brows.

"The fuck? You sure that's him?" Javi questioned, "Lemmy, what the hell is going on? You're saying that's your dad? Like, a hundred percent sure?"

"Yeah man, it's definitely him!" Lemmy turned around to face all of us, lightly winking to tell us to play along, "H-He was fine just this morning! What the hell could've happened since then?!"

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Lemmy's dad..." Mademoiselle wimpered as she started to feign sobbing, "I-I'm so sorry for your loss, Lemmy..."

"Dude, you can come live with us until you figure things out." Kevin joined in as well.

"A-Agreed." I patted him on the shoulder, my acting still a bit stiff, "Lee is... dead. But..."

"Sniffle, thanks guys..." Lemmy wiped away his plentiful tears as he addressed the officers, "W-Well, we'll leave you to it then. J-Just please tell me where the morgue is. I'd like to know when I can pick the body up for the funeral."

"Huh? You seemed to have switched your tune pretty quickly, kid." The officers furrowed their brows.

"Y-Yeah, my dad told me to always look at the future. "The past is the past", he would always say." Lemmy made something up on the fly, "I-I'll get through this, just tell me where the morgue is."

After this pretty incredible performance by Lemmy, add to that the little help he got from us, and we had successfully convinced the officers that the dead person in question is in fact Lemmy's father, Lee. Though, that still begs the question - Why did we have to convince them of such a thing? Why did Lemmy do all this? Not to mention - Where is Lee anyways?

"You got all that?" The officer finished explaining the morgue's directions.

"Yeah." Lemmy said as he finished "writing it down" on the brown book, "Then we'll be getting out of your hair, officers. Thank you for everything."

"Sorry for your loss, kid." The officers waved us off, "We'll do our best to find out what happened here."

"Thank you." Lemmy nodded seriously, "Thank you."

After that, the five of us had walked back to Jelena's coffee shop to figure out what to do next. Lee's still MiA, and for whatever reason, Lemmy had lied to the officers about that. Sitting down and ordering our coffees, we had all waited patiently for Lemmy to explain himself.

"What?" Lemmy happily drank his chocolate milk, "What're you all staring at me for?"

"That person was not Lee." I glared at him.

"Yeah, no shit." He replied, "I did a little known trick called "Lying to the authorities to get my father out of trouble". You wouldn't understand, Meil."

"Right, we get that." Kevin couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, "But where is your father now? Shouldn't we be looking for him?"

As he said that, Lemmy had put the brown book on the table and slid it over, telling us to open the last page of it. Doing as we were told, we noticed a small piece of paper peeking out of the inside cover.

"Both my dad and I were raised as thieves, y'know?" He explained, "We have a secret way of communicating that only we could understand, feel me?"

"He's right!" Mademoiselle's Eyes beamed as she read the piece of paper aloud, "Here it states clearly: "Fake book. The real one's at the morgue. I'm leaving the country." Wow, a bonafide thief!"

"Impressed, are you?" Lemmy smiled smugly, "Yeah, no biggie. We thieves are like that."

"Impressive, sure, but I don't want you to be like that." She then put the piece of paper back in the book and handed it to him, "Lemmy, please continue the path you're on right now. You shouldn't pride yourself on previously living a life of crime."

"...But you're still impressed, right?" He shone her a bright white smile.

"This guy's got a thing for her, doesn't he?" Javi whispered to Kevin across the table as if to reaffirm his suspicions.

"I don't care what he has for her, she definitely doesn't feel the same." Kevin groaned.

"I see." Javi the turned to me, "They both got a thing for her, don't they?"

"Very much so." I nodded in agreement.

"But wait, your father's out of the country then?" Mademoiselle noted, "Who will you be living with?"

"I dunno. I guess I'll just live alone in my house." He shrugged, but was quickly interrupted.

"Absolutely not!" Mademoiselle slammed the table, "A young boy living on his own! There's no way I'll stand for that!"

"Hm? Well, it's not like I have anyone else to live with." He looked at her all puzzled.

"Then it's settled!" She proudly proclaimed, "Until your father comes back, I'll look after you in my dorm!"

"Hell the fuck no you won't!" Kevin was the first to deny the suggestion.

"Hell the fuck yes she will!" Lemmy denied his denial.

"Kiria, I won't allow it. As your best friend (and future lover), I just can't let you live alone with this guy!" Kevin explained, "Besides, the dorms are divided clearly by gender! What the hell is your plan even? To smuggle him in every day?"

"I-If need be!" She gave a weak retort.

"T-Then...!" Kevin got desperate, "T-Take me with you! Make it a fair fight, at least!"

"A fair fight? What the hell are you on about?!" She started yelling as well now.

"Hold on, if you take Kevin away from me, I will have to pay the rent all by myself, mademoiselle." I objected as well, "That is not economically efficient. Are you trying to make me go poor?"

"Mei-Monsieur!" She bit her tongue, "W-What's going on? You're all acting so strange!"

"Shut the hell up!" Jelena slammed the bill on the table, "Here's a solution, pička vam materina svijema - You all live at the kid's place together likr a big happy family! How's that sound?"

"That..." Javi reasoned, "That actually makes sense. It solves everyone's problems. Literally, everyone's happy and content that way."

"T-That's a bit..." Lemmy seemed apprehensive about it.

"That's perfect!" Mademoiselle jumped for joy, "This way we can all work together way more efficiently! We'll be like a real detective party! And as an added bonus, Lemmy won't feel lonely, and Meil won't have to pay more rent!"

"A-And you'll be closer to your childhood friend, right?" Kevin smiled awkwardly.

"That too!" She pointed at him.

"I'm an afterthought in her Eyes..." He silently wept under the table, feigning having to tie his shoelaces.

"Then it's settled! We'll move our stuff first thing tomorrow!"

"E super!" Jelena smiled happily, "I just said that as a joke, but if it works, all the better. Now pay your bill and get the fuck out. You're making a ruckus in the shop, and I don't want you scaring away any more of my customers."

"Right, sorry Jelena." I apologized.

"Not you, scholar. You're cool." She gave me a thumbs up, "Actually, I'm surprised you found such a loud and rowdy friend group, given how quiet you usually are."

"I am a good listener, they are good talkers." I explained.

"Hey guys." Javi sheepishly raised his hand to ask a question, "Got room for one more in that house of yours? I recently got kicked out of my parents' house."

...Well, this is gonna be one loud house, I guess.