"A-Arthur Kirkland?"

Yao asked again in disbelief, how was this possible that his ex-high school boyfriend was also Michelle's ex-boyfriend? It was far too much coincidence, they can't be talking about the same man, no way! But Mona mentioned the 14 years age gap and if he was 35 and Michelle 21, then it had to be the same Arthur Kirkland!

"Yes, you can find him at Oakleaf College, he was Michelle's literature teacher and that's how they met."

The Chinese man was horrified, so it was the same Arthur after all, and did he heard it right? He was Michelle's teacher? The Asian always knew that the Brit was a piece of shit but never expected him to be a complete degenerate! Dating his student that was much younger than him? He really was a sick fuck, sure they both were adults but still, something was off about that.

"Like I said, Michelle had a thing for older guys."

Mona repeated herself since the detective seemed to be not buying it, but it was the truth! That's why her papa was so upset and against Michelle's relationship with Arthur. She didn't like the English man a lot either, he was a grumpy old man that always wore horrid green pullovers with massive bushy bows that she desperately wanted to pluck out. He really didn't fit with the Bonnefoys at all, so when her sister broke up with him, they were all delighted.

"Do you think that Mr. Kirkland would ever harm Michelle?"

Ivan asked, noticing that his partner was visibly confused and settled since the name of the ex-boyfriend was mentioned. He wasn't sure why Yao was reacting like that but he would be making the questions for now.

"I-I don't know, I mean he wrestled my dad on Michelle's birthday when we invited him over for lunch and things got a bit heated between them."

Well, that wasn't surprising for Yao, he already knew how much of a brute Arthur could be when angered, but to kill a person? For what? They would have to know the reason for the breakup. Mona did mention that Michelle was seeing another guy, which could indicate why they broke up other than they hardly had anything in common.

"Do you have any clue who this new guy she was seeing was?"

The Russian heard his partner talk and prepared his pen to keep writing down any important details that Mona could mention to them.

"I wish I knew, but she didn't want to tell me anything because she really wanted me to meet him once I came back from this internship."

Mona answered with a sigh, looking back at her house where the horrific incident occurred, it was difficult for her to believe that it could have been Arthur. Even though she disliked the man, he didn't seem like the type who would commit a brutal murder after being dumped. He was sweet to Michelle, wrote her many love poems and letters that always filled their mailbox.

"Do you think you think there's any way we could know who she was seeing? Maybe a friend who might know about it?"

Yao asked, not entirely convinced that Arthur was capable of murder even if he was very hot-blooded. And even if he did kill her, what about Emma? Did he kill her too? How were they related to each other? The Chinese man had far too many questions in his mind, but first, he needed to know who the new guy was since he could be relevant to the case.

"No, I was always the first one to know who she was dating, but perhaps she wrote it down in her diary."

A diary? Young girls loved to write those. Ivan remembered going through both of his sisters' diaries when they were younger because he just wanted to know what his sisters were up to and if they were going out with boys and stuff. Yekaterina's diary was always the most interesting one, with gossips from school and writing about her crush that Ivan then threatened him to make sure that he would take his older sister to the school dance. While Natalya's diary was more of a list of people she was pissed off by daily and strange random facts that always creeped him out. Eventually, when he got older, he stopped reading the diaries and the girls also stopped writing them.

"Is it still inside the house?"

The Russian asked, already crossing the yellow tape around the house while Yao followed him, jumping over the tape so they could go in and search for the diary that surely would give them major clues.

"Yes, I'll go with you or else you won't be able to find it, she hid it very well after papa tried to look for it!"

The Chinese man stretched out his hand to help Mona cross the line then Ivan picked up her suitcase and carried it to the house's front porch. As they walked into the house, Mona looked down on the carpeted floor to look at the bloodstains. She felt sick in the stomach as he imagined how much blood there would be upstairs as she followed the detectives. Mona froze for a second, looking at the pool of dried blood on the second floor's hall. She felt her heart stop for a moment, did her sister die there? She didn't even want to picture it and she didn't want to be in the house any longer but he had to help the detectives or they'll never catch whoever did that to Michelle.

"Are you alright?"

Ivan asked, turning around when he didn't hear Mona's steps anymore to find her standing at the entrance of the second floor, staring down at the massive bloodstain on the floor. For the Russian and his partner, it was nothing new to look at blood and corpses but for Mona to be in the house and at the place where her sister's body was found? It must be difficult for her to process. Detective Braginski went back to her, taking her hand and helping her jump over the bloodstain and took her by the hand until they arrived at the room where they only found more blood scattered around the bed and floor.

"Oh god."

She gasped, digging her nails into Ivan's hand which made him flinch but he could tolerate the pain, Natalya used to scratch him like a cat with her long sharp nails when they were little and she was upset with him. Yao glanced at them once they were all in the room, he never thought that the Russian had a soft side when talking to scared people. Perhaps it was because he had sisters and that had trained him, but he didn't react the same way and Antonio and Francis were crying and all hugged him suddenly. His soft spot was shown with girls only, very interesting.

"Can you tell us where it is so I can take it out?"

The Asian asked, pulling out his rubber gloves and slipping them on, they still were on a crime scene and he had to be careful in trying to preserve any evidence even though Francis had already disrupted the scene.

"Under the bed, there's a floorboard that can be removed, the diary is hidden underneath."

Mona was right, if they hadn't come in with her then they would have never found the diary by themselves. The Chinese man leaned down, feeling his backache a bit as he crawled under the bed and soon he reached the removable floorboard, putting his hand in but it was empty. He crawled further and reached his hand in deeper but it was empty.

"There's nothing in here, maybe she misplaced it?"

Yao asked, already moving out from under the bed to find Mona shaking her head while still holding onto his partner's hand.

"No, she would never take it out from there!"

The Russian thought it was odd that the diary was missing, that only could mean that the killer took it with him along with the red bow. The bow could be a memoir like Emma's wedding ring but the diary? The murderer knew that details about him were written there and that at some point, the police would find it and catch him.

"We should get going."

Yao mentioned while standing up while walking out of the room as the other two followed him. So the diary was gone, and what was written on there must be information about the murderer so the killer took it with him. But how did the killer know where it was hidden? Only if he had been to Michelle's room in the past and what do boyfriends do? Go to their girlfriend's room, so he must have known about the diary.

"Do you think Mr. Kirkland knew about the location of the diary? Has he ever gone into Michelle's room?"

Mona didn't know what to reply, she wasn't sure if her sister and he were that close for her to tell her where the diary was but if he had gone to her room? She wasn't sure about that either, her papa had forbidden them to ever bring boys upstairs but she traveled a lot and papa was working all day, making Michelle the only one who was at home most of the time so who knows.

"I guess, perhaps, I-"

She was interrupted by Yao who was already outside of the house and about to get into the car, he had everything he needed to know. It had to be Arthur, at least for their theory now, the Brit fitted perfectly. He still wasn't sure if the English man was related to the Abelsson case but they would figure it out soon.

"Thank you for your collaboration, miss Bonnefoy. Let's get going, Ivan."

Mona didn't even get the chance to thank the detectives and especially Ivan, who was pretty much family for being working on his sister's case, and just like that, the detectives were gone. Leaving her outside with her luggage, slowly pulling it and making her way to the main street to get a taxi. She placed her hand inside her pocket, looking for her cigarette and lighter because, after such an emotionally draining day, she needed a smoke.

"Do you think it was Kirkland?"

The Russian asked bluntly because he was suspecting that it had to be the ex-boyfriend, He was the other person other than Mona who could have accessed the room. It would make sense since Michelle left him for a younger guy and that certainly must have enraged the ex. He was someone Michelle knew and she simply let him into the house because maybe he wanted to talk it out or something like that, then he did it, he killed her, out of jealousy and rage. Freaking out and taking the diary with him but what about the bow? That seemed more like a memoir a serial killer would take like Emma's case.

"It seems likely, we'll have to talk with him first."

For the first time, Yao didn't go on to scold Ivan into jumping into conclusions too quickly. Maybe it was because he already knew Arthur and a part of him was telling him that he did it, that the Brit was guilty and there was no doubt of it. After all, in his memory, the English man was a cruel heartless beast that cheated on him and wrecked his teenage heart. The other reasonable side of him was telling him to focus on the facts, the possibility was high but they needed evidence to support that theory and that he had to calm down and be professional. What happened between them was long ago and people change, so how can he guarantee that Arthur wasn't the same boy that tore his heart apart so many years ago?