Chapter 16 – Buried Smiles, Part 2

“This is all the help you could get?” Cole the Morgrem asked, seemingly uninterested, as he rested against one of the remaining walls of the mausoleum.

“Believe me, we don’t need more,” Velia assured, getting in position. Beside her, Cora, Asher, Kyle and Terrel were getting ready as well. Terrel didn’t look too excited, but he said he was going to help and he always kept his promises.

“Okay, ready?” Asher said, grabbing the edge of the wall. “One, two…”

“THREE!” Everyone yelled, and they pulled. They were giving it all, trying to lift the wall with their strength combined with the Meowstics’ psychic power, and yet… The wall wasn’t moving.

Cole snorted. Their efforts were admirable, but that just felt like a waste of- Huh? Did he just see the wall moving? At first, it was subtle, but then the wall moved a few inches more… Just how powerful was that Meowstic?

“Come on! We have to… do this!” Cora said between grunts. Her flippers weren’t made for heavy lifting, that’s for sure.

“This is… too much…” Kyle said, and he was about to give up when someone started lifting the wall from beside him. “Huh?”

Cole was helping too.

“Ughhh… I’m not sure… why I’m doing it… But whatever…”

Kyle silently thanked him and resumed his efforts. It took a lot from them, but eventually, the wall moved a lot more, and they managed to move it a few feet away, instead of putting it back up like they planned at first.

Everyone let go and fell back, panting hard. It took the effort of six pokémon, but they made it. Once they’d had enough time to recompose, they didn’t take too long to notice what was under the wall all those years.

“Huh… Is that an umbrella?” Asher said, inspecting it closer. “Why is there such a thing here?”

The item was pretty much a mess, crushed by the wall, but it was still discernible. It was a black umbrella, one of those items that were being used in recent years to cover from the rain.

“I remember that umbrella… It was my mom’s,” Cole said.

Kyle rested a hand on his chin and hummed in thought. “So your mother was using this at the time of the accident… That means it was probably raining.”

“Huh…” Everyone turned to Cole, who looked confused. “That doesn’t make sense, I don’t remember it raining. In fact, there was a full moon that night.”

“Maybe you don’t remember well? It was years ago, after all,” Asher suggested, to which the Morgrem just shrugged. He had a point, but you don’t just forget stuff from the day that most impacted your life.

“Guys? What’s that over there?” Cora pointed at what looked like a small pile of powder. There was more of that scattered around, but it was subtle.

Kyle leaned closer and took a pinch in his fingers, leaving a gray stain in them. It was like… ash? “Something might have been burned down here at some point,” he thought out loud.

“Let’s just send a sample to Louis and see what he can tell us about it,” Velia said, and she scanned the powder with her GD, the oddly futuristic hologram light reaching the ground with a strange beeping noise that everyone got used to.

Terrel, however, was surprised to see it and couldn’t help but stare in awe. The same could be said for Cole, who could almost swear it was some kind of sorcery. Or a psychic-type move, that could work as well, right.

“Hey, Terrel!” The Meowstic almost jumped at Asher’s voice and looked back with a bit of wariness. “Thanks so much for helping us, we couldn’t have found this without you! You’re like, crazy strong!”

Asher’s bright smile almost made him blush, but he was more focused on the intense pressure in the back of his neck that made him want to go home. He had to suppress that thought and say something quickly, or else they would start asking questions!

“Uh… No problem I guess…”

“I’m proud of you,” Velia said, resting a paw on her brother’s shoulder, which caught him off guard, but he just looked away and shrugged. She didn’t wanna show it, but seeing him here was making her so happy, even if she could tell he was having a hard time staying. Was she okay with the fact that it wasn’t her the one who helped him get that far? Well…

She pushed that thought aside as Kyle brought up an important point. “Well, now what? We don’t have enough information about this and we have to wait to get the results from Louis.”

“Now, we investigate some more. We might find something else in the graveyard, or someone to ask,” Velia proposed, to which Cora tensed.

“Or… we could just review all that we know so far while we have ice cream!” Cora said, but she couldn’t hide her nerves.

“ICE CREAM!” Asher yelled, making Terrel jump again. What was wrong with that lizard…?

“We already had enough ice cream two days ago, we have a job to do now,” Kyle said as he shook his head, and Asher deflated. “Velia is right, we should check the place.”

“Alright then, let’s move,” Asher said, regaining his spirit and marching onwards. Terrel stayed close to Velia, but also stole a glance or two at Kyle, while Cole just decided he had nothing better to do and followed as well.

Cora wanted to protest, but everyone was already moving and she was left with the words in her mouth. Great, her mood was completely ruined. She followed behind, trying to take her mind away from her thoughts, but it was hard when all she could see was that depressing landscape.

Dead pokémon, everywhere. It didn’t help that they were resting in such gray-scaled places, and now they were even investigating a pokémon that died here, in a place of dead pokémon, and everything else was-

“Cora, are you okay? You look pale.”

She was snapped out of her thoughts as Asher called her name with a concerned look. “Um, why? I was just thinking.”

“You were certainly not,” Kyle said, crossing his arms. “Why have you been so anxious this whole day? There’s no need to be so secretive about it.”

Cora almost growled at that, but she tried to keep calm. “I’m just… And what about you? You were also secretive about your reason for investigating this! And the belt thing!”

“What? Why are you directing the conversation towards me now?”

“You know what? Never mind, I just wanna get this over with, please!” Cora said before she quickened her pace, passing by Kyle and Asher while avoiding their gazes. She heard Asher calling for her but chose to focus on getting away as soon as possible.

Unfortunately for her, Asher was a living vehicle with cool but unnecessary wheels. He reached her and called again. “Cora, please, let’s just talk about this, this isn’t like you-“

“Stop it! I don’t wanna talk about it right now, just-“

Cora stopped. She wasn’t even paying attention to where she was headed, and of all the places she could go to, she was right in front of it.

“What’s with the rush?” Velia said as she retraced her steps to check on her teammate. Everyone else arrived as well, and they saw Cora breathing hard.

In front of her, there was a grave with a specific name on it.

‘Beatrice the Primarina.’

Cora shivered in place, unable to think clearly as her teammates grew concerned. That was the one thing she wanted to avoid the most, but here she was.

“Cora, is that…?” Asher started.

“… My grandma.”

Now they understood. The reason why she’s been so anxious all day was because of her grandma. Maybe she never got over it and she’s afraid to show her vulnerability…

“I’m sorry, that must be hard,” Velia said, to everyone’s surprise.

“That explains everything, I guess… I’m sorry,” Kyle said, debating on whether to approach her or not. He was still not good with emotional stuff and preferred not to show too much of his emotions.

Asher rested a claw on Cora’s shoulder and spoke in a soothing tone. “Hey, we’re here for you, okay? If you wanna talk about it…”

Cora quickly shoved him away and moved, trying to get as far as possible from that grave. “I’d rather not. L-let’s just keep going.”

Asher insisted. “Are you sure? Your voice is shaky and you’re clearly not okay. We can-“

“Can you just drop it already?” Cora snapped, now facing everyone with a glare. They just stood still, surprised at the sudden outburst coming from someone as cheerful as her. The Morgrem, however, looked quite amused at the scene.

Cora slowly relaxed and looked away, embarrassed. “Sorry for that, I… I just don’t wanna think about it, that’s all.”

“… Sorry, right. Let’s go then,” Asher said, but he was clearly upset.

Everyone agreed on moving on, so once again, they resumed their little trip around the place with an uncomfortable silence. Cora kept her distance at first but eventually joined the group, even if she still looked anxious.

They weren’t sure of what they were exactly looking for; after all, it’s not like there could be any more traces left from the incident after so many years, but at least they expected to find someone else they could ask about it. Cole didn’t have more information to share, but he still tagged along.

Team Riding Star and the two guests eventually stopped in front of a grave after Velia heard a strange noise coming from it.

“Are you sure you’re not crazy?” Terrel asked, but he even looked hopeful that there was something there. He looked a bit less uninterested now.

“I’m not. If Ari were here, he could use his aura and check if there’s someone there,” Velia said as she crossed her arms and clicked her tongue. “Team Silver sure has things easier…”

“You can literally move things with your mind,” Kyle said.

“That’s not as helpful when dealing with investiga-“

She was interrupted when a figure emerged from the grave in front of them, out of nowhere. Velia couldn’t hide the notorious jump she did out of surprise, but quickly recomposed herself and hoped nobody had paid too much attention to that.

“Hey, you all are a bit noisy, hehe…” the figure, a Duskull, reprimanded with a serene and eerie voice.

“What the…? What were you doing down there?” Asher asked.

“I live here.”

Asher blinked. Kyle blinked. Cole blinked. Everyone did.

“What do you mean with… that?” Kyle asked with a tilt of his head.

The ghost did a twirl in the air as he hovered over the grave. “I was born here, probably when I died, but I don’t remember that previous life.”

The whole team exchanged glances, their eyes widening in realization. Kyle was quick to ask first. “Wait, were you by any chance here seven years ago? Or were you born around that time?”

“Ahhh, no. I was born around four years ago, hehe…” Everyone sagged in disappointment, but Duskull continued. “But I know someone that used to live here that had been around for way longer than me.”

“Oh? Who is it?” Cora asked, her voice still a bit shaky.

“It was Mercan, a Gengar. He was quite nice, but I remember how he said he used to feel really lonely, hehe… That’s why I didn’t expect it when he decided to move to that mansion, even after I was born and we became friends.”

“Wait, a Gengar in a mansion?” Asher turned to his teammates with eagerness. “Guys, could it be…?”

Velia nodded. “Yes, there’s someone that matches that description. Maybe it’s time we pay Anne a visit.”

“Nice, it’s been some time since we went there…” Cora said, looking somewhat relieved at the idea of leaving the graveyard, even if only for a while.

“Huh… So that Gengar is now living in a mansion, that’s impressive,” Cole the Morgrem commented, resting against a grave a bit separated from the rest. “I think he was the ghost type that was around when the accident happened.”

“Wait, really?” Asher asked. “You don’t think that because he felt lonely he would…?”

“Kill someone to get a ghost-type companion?” Kyle finished for him. “Even if that’s a possibility, I’d say we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Still, at least we got ourselves a lead.”

Before anyone could say something else, Velia’s GD vibrated with a beeping tune, and she exposed it in front of everyone. “Hum… Louis? That was quick.”

From the little gadget, the muffled voice of the science teacher spoke.

“Indeed! I got all I needed from that sample you sent me.”

“So?”

“Those are the ashes that remained from what seems to be a blast seed. Actually, it was probably more than just two or three of those,” he explained.

Cora gasped. “Wait, what? So it… really wasn’t an accident.”

“What are you guys doing over there?” Cole said as he approached. He stared at the gholdevice like it was some sort of magic. “Huh, you guys sure are well equipped.”

Not minding the Morgrem, Kyle started searching inside his bag. “So those ashes actually come from…” He pulled out a flame-shaped seed and stared at it, lost in thoughts.

“Hey, be careful with that!” Cole said, bringing a hand to his eyes and turning his head away. “I don’t wanna be blinded.”

Kyle blinked. “Huh? What do you…?”

“Guys, we already have the info we wanted, can we go visit Gengar already?” Cora said, her unease growing with each passing second.

“Hmmm… Right. Thanks, Louis, we’ll contact you if we need anything else,” Kyle said.

“No problem, take care!”

 

---

 

Kyle knocked on the door and everyone waited. Well, except for Cole, who had decided to stay in the graveyard as he wasn’t supposed to leave the place during work hours. It wasn’t like Ebert was around to scold him for doing so, but he didn’t want to risk it.

Eventually, the door to the mansion opened, revealing a Zoroark that instantly smiled at them. “Oh hey, it’s you guys! Been a long time, huh?”

“Heyaa! Sure has!” Asher beamed, and Cora waved with a big smile. She just didn’t speak this time.

Kyle spoke next. “I hope it’s not interrupting anything, but we’re investigating something and we’d like to talk to Gengar… Uh… Macron.”

“Mercan,” Zoroark corrected.

“Yeah, that.”

“He and Anne are washing dishes right now, I can take you to the kitchen if you don’t wanna wait.” He gestured for them to come inside, and they nodded, following without wasting any time.

The mansion was as big and fancy as ever, and Terrel recalled Velia’s tale from when they investigated the place, which made him look more enthusiastic. However, he was quick to drop his excited expression as soon as he noticed Velia looking at him. She sighed, but couldn’t hide a subtle smile.

Terrel was lost in his own mind when he was snapped out of it by the Zoroark, who had moved beside him. “Hey, I don’t think I saw you last time.”

“What? Oh, um… I’m not from the team, I’m just her brother,” Terrel said, pointing at Velia.

“Ahhh, I see…” Zoroark looked pensive, his ears drooping slightly. He noticed Terrel looking at him in confusion, and he shook his head. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just kinda envy you, going places with your sister. I left my family because they’re just boring assholes who only want to be around their own species.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.” He just didn’t know what else to say in that kind of situation. Kyle would relate to that.

“Nah, I’m doing just fine. Besides, I have a new family here.” He then patted Terrel’s shoulder strongly and playfully. “So how about you? I don’t think I got your name.”

The Meowstic didn’t know where this was coming from. He was pretty sure Velia and his teammates didn’t even get to know these people that much and it was just part of their job, but now that Zoroark was acting all warm and friendly like he’s known Team Riding Star for years.

“Uh… I’m Terrel.”

“Nice to meet ya, Terrel. I’m Nout.” The Zoroark said as he gave him a teasing wink. Terrel could only frown as he tried to process what was happening.

He couldn’t question it further as they soon arrived at the kitchen, a clean-looking room with white furniture and white everything. It was a bit blinding to look at, because of the light entering from the windows and reflecting on every single surface.

Sitting on a chair was Anne the Nidorina, who was chatting to a floating ghost that was organizing one of the drawers. They turned around and perked up as they saw the group approaching.

“Oh, hi guys, I wasn’t expecting to see you ever again,” Anne said.

“That’s rude,” Velia said disapprovingly, and she got looks from everyone, who decided to not think too much about it.

“Nah, she’s just joking, haha. How is it going?” Asher asked with a big grin.

Everyone sat at the table as they told each other about recent events in their lives over some berry juice that Anne handed to treat her guests. Team Riding Star just did a brief summary of their investigations and that was basically it, while the others had a lot to tell (not counting Terrel, who stood silent the whole time).

Anne had been hired by the Kecleon brothers after the incident, and now they didn’t have to overwork themselves as they were doing. Mercan the Gengar was studying to become a doctor, something that Kyle found quite ironic, even if he didn’t comment on it. Asher did make a face that suggested he was suppressing a laugh, though.

Banette, who they learned was called Ruth, just became a preschool teacher, and that was even more ironic considering the lack of patience she had, according to Anne. And Nout the Zoroark… well, he just couldn’t find what he wanted to do just yet.

“I just don’t wanna do any boring job like Anne’s.” He got a playful glare from her, but he only smirked in return. “I’ll just find something eventually I guess.”

“Well, you’ll need to earn money eventually if you wanna live here. Keeping this place is quite expensive…” Anne commented, making him wince. He just took a sip of his cup of juice and looked away.

“Even if it’s a boring job, if it pays your bills then that’s good enough,” Velia said, and then she turned to her brother with a curious glance. “But that’s somewhat similar to Terrel’s situation, now that I think of it.”

Terrel tensed with the unwanted attention, and Nout perked up. “Is that so?”

“Uhm… I-I just wanted something more exciting…” Terrel said right before he gave Velia a death glare for exposing him like that. She shrugged.

At that, the Zoroark snorted and wrapped his arm around Terrel’s neck, making him jump. “Well that’s interesting, so we’re actually similar, huh? I also want something exciting, maybe we could work together!” He said the last sentence with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

“What?”

“Ah, he’s doing it again…” Anne facepalmed. “Don’t mind him, he’s just a bit stupid at times.”

“Hey!” Nout barked.

“Ahem.” Everyone looked at Kyle. “This is all great and the stories are interesting, but we really should get into business. We came because we wanted to talk to Mercan.”

The Gengar blinked. “Me? What for?”

“Apparently, you used to live in the graveyard when Tamora the gravedigger died in an accident seven years ago.”

Mercan snorted an amused laugh. “Damn, that sure was long ago. You’re investigating that now of all times?”

Velia nodded and put her cup aside. “Could you tell us what you know? It’s important.”

“Well, if you must know…” Gengar chuckled and floated a bit upwards, folding his arms behind him to rest his head… body… whatever. “It’s a bit foggy, but I remember I saw that Castform that goes there every week. She was there when it happened, and um… I remember it rained at some point, but I can’t say for sure.”

“So it was raining… Then the umbrella does make sense.” Asher stopped to lick the remains of oran berry juice he had on his lips and continued thinking out loud. “But Cole didn’t remember the rain, that’s strange.”

“Where did you see Elena?” Kyle asked.

“The Castform? Well, she and I were a bit far from where Tamora was at the time, near the entrance.”

“You think she couldn’t do it?” Kyle pressed, and then he noticed Cora wasn’t even paying attention, distracted as she rhythmically placed her cup on the table over and over again, grabbing it with both flippers. There was still berry juice in it. She was acting quite strange…

“Wait, you think it wasn’t an accident?” Mercan frowned, suddenly feeling a bit tense. “Well… Then no, I doubt it was her. But it wasn’t me either! She can vouch for me as well.”

Velia stood up and shot her accusation. “Duskull did mention you felt alone back then, what if you wanted to create a new ghost type to have as a friend?” She got looks from her teammates who told her she was being too direct.

The Gengar only gave her a dry look. “That Duskull is a dumbass. Do you really think I would kill someone just to get company when I could just befriend Tamora while she was alive?”

Velia blinked twice. He did have a point. She eyed everyone and slowly sat back in her chair. “I… knew that. I was only checking to see your reaction to this information.”

Yeah, right. Everyone believed her.

“Anyway, something else you can tell us? Something suspicious you saw?” Kyle asked.

Mercan hummed as he thought about it for a longer moment. So much that he didn’t realize he was about to phase through the ceiling and had to go back down. “Oh, I know! I remember there was a grave that wasn’t actually a grave.”

Asher frowned. “What do you mean? Also, do you have more oran juice? It’s delicious…”

Anne refilled his cup while Mercan continued his testimony. “Since I can go through walls and floors and all that, I saw what was inside one on the farthest area. And there were loads of money!” Everyone gasped, but he continued. “Wait, there’s more. After the incident, I checked again and the money was gone.”

There was a moment of silence while everyone thought of the same, but Kyle voiced it first. “That money… Could it be Tamora’s fortune?”

Even Cora was snapped out of her thoughts and decided to finally intervene. “What if the accident was set up as a distraction so they could steal that money?”

Asher’s mouth went agape, and he knew his teammates were also considering that possibility, judging by their widened eyes. Would someone really cause all that just for money? … Yes, definitely.

“Speaking about money,” Mercan continued. “I saw Ebert talking to a Hatterene that same day, hours earlier. I’m sure I’ve seen that same Hatterene in the bank, she probably works there.”

Kyle tensed at the mention of his father. Right, he’s the keeper of the place Mercan lived in, so it made sense for them to know each other. Still, the possibility of his father being involved in the case made him uneasy, even if that was pretty much a given at this point.

And now a new pokémon, a Hatterene, has entered the equation. And a banker, of all things. Could it be a coincidence that such an amount of money disappeared right after a banker showed up in the place? He was probably jumping to conclusions, but they couldn’t ignore any possibility.

“I think we should pay that Hatterene a visit,” Kyle suggested.

“I was thinking the same.” Velia nodded in agreement and then turned to the hosts. “Thank you for your help, but we have work to do now.”

“No problem, it was nice to have you here!” Anne beamed. Mercan only grinned beside her, while Nout elbowed Terrel.

“Indeed it was!” The Zoroark said, his voice soothing. “Say, Terrel, how about we go get some drinks one of these days?”

Mercan snorted. Even Velia noticed his tone and narrowed her eyes at Nout. What was he trying to do with her brother? Meanwhile, Asher and Kyle were just confused by his intentions. Nah, the Zoroark probably wanted a new friend.

Terrel, however, didn’t know what to say. Interacting with people was already exhausting enough for him. “I… Uh… I don’t know…”

“Well, it’s up to you, but you know where to find me if you ever wanna hang out.” Nout winked at him, leaving Terrel even more confused.

Cora let go of her cup, still with a bit of berry juice in it, and eyed the Zoroark. Damn. That Meowstic sure was lucky.

 

---

 

Team Riding Star stood in front of the biggest building in town: the bank. It looked similar to the academy, with gold ornaments hanging from the light gray walls. A huge poké symbol rested on top of the main entrance, which made it easy to know what that place was for.

As they entered, the first thing they noticed was the number of guards keeping an eye on the place, mostly strong pokémon like Machamp or Bisharp, who wore a badge on their chests. Knowing the amount of money they kept in there, it made sense they didn’t wanna risk it in case there was any attack.

The checkered floor made it look quite fancy, and the walls looked like brown marble. There were a few desks with workers attending to visitors and helping them with their issues, or probably stealing their money, Kyle thought. They didn’t take long to spot a certain tall fairy-type pokémon at one of those, writing something down. Luckily, she was alone.

They took their chance and approached the Hatterene, who noticed them and looked up.

“Oh, sorry, you have to take a number before anyone can attend you.”

Cora frowned. “A number? What…?”

“Actually,” Kyle interrupted. “We were just hoping to talk to you. We’re investigators.”

Hatterene blinked, something in her expression turning uncertain for a moment. “What is it about?”

Kyle continued. “It’s about an incident seven years ago. Tamora, the Grimmsnarl was crushed by a wall and died.” Hatterene’s eyes went slightly wider at the mention of the victim, suggesting she remembered. “We recently learned you and Ebert were having a conversation at the graveyard hours earlier.”

“Oh, yes! I remember now.” Hatterene offered a gentle smile and brought her claw tentacle to her chin. “Ebert, what a nice mon. You kinda remind me of him, now that I think about it…”

“That’s because I’m his son.”

“… Oh, is that so? Then it’s a pleasure to meet you! You can call me Indigo.” She nodded, tilting her hat forward as a formal gesture. “I used to help your dad with financial issues. That’s the reason we were talking that day.”

Asher frowned. “Wait, you were talking about… money?”

Kyle knew exactly what his teammate was thinking, and he didn’t like it, even if he thought the same.

“Yes! He had a great debt that he couldn’t pay, so I was advising him. That’s my job, after all. I was visiting a deceased relative and ran into him by chance, so we were discussing it then. Luckily, he could eventually pay his debt.”

The team exchanged concerned glances. That was too obvious to be the solution, but it still was a solid motive for a crime. If such an amount of money disappeared from that grave on the very same day, it couldn’t be a coincidence. Still…

Velia didn’t understand. How could someone with such a modern house like Kyle, and Ebert for that matter, have had financial issues in the past? And even if that were only after getting that money, it was clear that they had a high status, and knowing that Kyle’s mother was a jury, the need for such an amount of money made less sense.

“What were you doing after that? During the incident,” Velia asked the Hatterene. Kyle was surprised to hear that, but it was probably because she wanted to think of every possibility rather than defend his father.

“Well, as you can imagine, I have a job to do, so I came here immediately after. And if you’re wondering about what I did at night, I was at home. You can ask my neighbor, we talked that same night.”

“Uh… That won’t be necessary, but thanks,” Kyle said. It seemed that Indigo the Hatterene had a solid alibi, which in a way, made him uneasy.

“Ahhh… Still, it was a shame what happened to Tamora. I didn’t know her well, but she didn’t deserve such an end,” Indigo lamented, shaking her head with her eyes closed. “I do hope you find what you’re looking for and hopefully give that case its deserved closure.”

“Thank you, Miss Indigo! We will,” Asher responded with a smile. “I think that’s all we needed to know, right guys?”

Kyle stole a glance at his teammates plus Terrel. Velia looked like she was content with that for now, and Cora and Terrel weren’t even paying attention. He supposed that meant they could leave and nobody would protest.

“Alright. Thanks, Indigo, we’ll leave you be.” Kyle turned around and walked away, followed by the others, while Indigo waved her goodbyes.

“Well, we got some easy info there,” Asher said, pleased. “But I don’t know if that’s a good thing…”

Velia hummed, and it felt like a doubtful sound. Kyle gave her a questioning look and she spoke. “Don’t you think it was a bit too easy? How is it that she remembers so clearly what happened seven years ago? She didn’t have to think about it too much.”

“I mean, we’re talking about a death, I would remember that day clearly if something as impactful as that happened,” Asher offered as an explanation. He dodged a few other pokémon that crossed by, a bit annoyed that they would walk so close by with all the space there was in the building.

Velia thought about that possibility but was still unsure. Kyle was similarly confused but then thought about every other pokémon involved in some way in the incident. They all had reasons to want that money.

Cole had financial issues as well, and his mom didn’t want to share with him. His own son. Mercan could have wanted to live in a luxurious place, hence why he conveniently ended up living in a mansion. Actually, they had to rely on what he was telling them about the money that disappeared from that grave… Was he actually telling the truth or was he just lying to blame someone else and that money never existed?

Then there’s Elena… Actually, they didn’t know much about the Castform, other than how much she visited. Lastly, Indigo was a banker, so Kyle doubted she required that much money. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with that for now, so he decided it was time to review all the information they had so far.

“I’d say we go back to the graveyard for now, and we’ll see what we can do from there.”

Cora tensed at that, finally paying attention to the group. She didn’t say anything, though, but Kyle could sense the frown overtaking her face. What confused him even more was seeing the Brionne trying not to step on the black tiles of the checkered floor. She was acting so weird that day.

Cora, Velia and Asher went ahead and left the building, but Kyle had stopped in his tracks as he thought about how to deal with… well, everything. He didn’t know how to help anyone, how to solve this case, how to even talk to people about this kind of stuff. It was a bit overwhelming.

He felt a paw poking at his arm and turned around to find Terrel looking at him. “What are you doing?”

Kyle shook his head. “It’s nothing, I just…” He eyed Terrel for a moment, unsure of what to say. However, his uninterested expression made it easier to not feel judged for what he was going to say. “I want to talk to Cora about whatever is going on with her, but I don’t know how.”

“Huh. Just ask her, I dunno,” Terrel said, simply.

“It’s not that simple,” Kyle said, but he got a look from the Meowstic that spelled ‘Really?’, and he sighed. “It’s hard for me to talk about feelings.”

Terrel rolled his eyes. “It’s not even your feelings that you have to talk about, it’s hers. And even so, if you care about her, what’s so bad about showing it for once? Just be yourself for once and stop pretending that nothing affects you.”

The Scrafty tried to find a counter-argument, but he knew he was right. Just… Why was it so hard? Maybe if he hadn’t been taught that having emotions was wrong…

“Hmm, alright, I’ll try. But I don’t even know where to start. And I don’t wanna talk about that kind of stuff with everyone else looking…”

“You don’t have to worry about me, because I’m going home.”

Kyle frowned. “Huh? Why?”

“I… I think I’ve had enough, I really wanna go home…” Terrel let out a deep sigh and looked down. “I don’t feel good spending so much time outside and surrounded by people, I’m exhausted.”

“Are you sure? We might be getting to the end of our investigation and things might get interesting,” Kyle proposed.

“Well… I don’t even know. For now, I’ll go tell my sister.”

“Hmmm, I understand.” Kyle rested his hand on Terrel’s shoulder and nodded. “I still think you handled this pretty well. I’m glad you made the effort to come with us all this time.”

Terrel locked eyes with him for a moment and then looked away. “… Thanks.”

Satisfied, Kyle exited the building followed by Terrel, and they reunited with the rest of the team, who waited impatiently. Velia eyed Terrel with an unreadable expression, between concern and pride, maybe because he was actually talking to someone. However, it was Kyle who spoke first.

“Guys, could you get ahead of us to the graveyard while I talk to Cora?”

Cora stiffened. He wanted to talk about that, of all things. Just what she wanted to avoid at all costs. Good.

“You do that, I’m going home,” Terrel added, to everyone’s surprise.

Velia approached him and crossed her arms. “Are you sure? You can tell me if there’s something wrong.”

Terrel shook his head. “I’m just tired, I wanna go. This investigation isn’t that exciting either way.”

Velia didn’t frown, but Terrel knew her enough to know that her serious expression wasn’t precisely happy at that moment. At least she looked like she wasn’t going to pressure him to stay, which was nice.

However, Asher had an idea. “Hey, Terrel! Don’t you wanna ride on my back? I can take you for a stroll before you go, it’ll be fun!”

Terrel opened his mouth and then closed it again. He was ready to dismiss any offer, but that one… didn’t sound bad. “Uh… Well, I guess that would be nice.”

Velia perked up, and Asher beamed beside her. “Cool! Come on you two, get on!”

Terrel glanced at Kyle, who just nodded approvingly, and he and Velia mounted the Cyclizar. Cora didn’t complain or say anything, she just watched the whole conversation as she tried to keep her thoughts away, to no avail.

Once they were gone, Kyle and Cora moved to a nearby bench and sat on it, the Brionne lying down as if she was going to sleep right there. The sun was high in the sky, so they still had more than enough time before sunset, which Kyle took to organize his thoughts first. There weren’t many pokémon around, which luckily made things easier for both.

Eventually, Kyle spoke.

“So… What’s going on? You’ve been acting all weird today.”

There it was. “You already saw why. Is this really necessary?” Cora said with a tired voice, her head resting on her flippers.

Kyle shifted uncomfortably on the bench, trying to find a better position while he thought about his next words. “I know you’re sad about your grandma, but there was to be more to it. You’re not acting sad, you’re acting… anxious.”

Cora tensed her shoulders. “Well, I’m just… Ugh… Kyle, it was me who was supposed to help you today, but here we are. I promised Ari, and you still haven’t spilled the beans but you expect me to do so?”

“… What?”

She sagged and waved him off. “It’s nothing, forget it. I guess I’m not good at this…”

Kyle blinked twice. So that’s how things were, huh? Maybe they weren’t so different at all. He took a deep breath and prepared to do what he was most scared of.

“The leather belt you gave me…” Kyle began, and Cora slowly raised her eyes to look back at him. “I couldn’t wear it because of my mother. She didn’t want me to wear anything too fancy.”

Cora gasped and stood up. “What? But why would she…?”

“I don’t know. She just… never lets me be myself. She’s more concerned about us getting looks than for what I want. And my father’s the same, they don’t want me to stand out, so I’m forced to act all formally all the time and not even show any sign of strong emotions.”

“Kyle… That’s so unfair, I’m sorry…” Cora said, suddenly forgetting about her own discomfort. “You shouldn’t hide what you feel or like! It’s a part of who you are, and even if it were embarrassing or something that would make you get weird looks from others, you should be proud of it!”

Kyle nodded. “I know… But it’s hard to do so when I feel like they’re judging everything I do. That’s why I chose this case; even if they were already bad, everything got worse after Tamora’s death, and I wanted to know why.”

It all made sense now. Cora thought at first that maybe he was trying to use that investigation as an excuse to get on his dad’s good side and maybe change his mind about the lawsuit, but it seemed like he had other reasons as well.

“You think they might change after this?”

Kyle sighed. “I don’t even know, but at least I can try.”

Cora nodded and returned her gaze to the ground. There wasn’t much she could do about that other than help with the case, and for that, she needed to be in high spirits. But she promised Ari… And at the same time, she knew it wasn’t right to focus all the attention on a single pokémon. Nimb already lectured him about it once, so…

“It… never was about my grandma.”

Kyle’s eyes got a bit wider as he looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“Sure, I miss my grandma, but that’s not the problem. She was so healthy, and everything seemed normal, but one day out of nowhere she just… died. I couldn’t understand how someone like that could die without any warning.” She took a shuddering breath and confessed. “Since that day I’ve been scared…”

“Scared? Of what?”

Cora turned and locked her gaze on him. “Of death. Every single time I think about it, I get so anxious and I can’t keep those thoughts away. I thought that maybe, if I don’t think about it, then it’s not real. That’s why I didn’t want to go to the graveyard; everything in there spells ‘death’…”

“That… explains a few things.”

Cora nodded, and as she thought about her next words, she started trembling. “Y-you know, I have my… rituals. Whenever those thoughts come back, I-I end up doing weird stuff. Every day before I go to sleep, I close t-the door to my room three times, and I always leave my bag and its contents in a very specific way and if I don’t, I feel like I could die at any time.”

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and then continued. “Doing that makes me feel safe, but also frustrated, because I have to deal with it and it feels like an endless loop.”

“I see… But why are you so nervous while telling me this?” Kyle asked, his expression actually showing concern instead of the serenity he always carried.

“B-because it’s weird and stupid, that’s a real reason why people would give me weird looks, and not wearing a leather belt.”

“I don’t think that’s weird or stupid,” Kyle said, and Cora looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. He continued. “If it’s something that makes you so anxious, I understand that you have your own way of dealing with it. It’s everyone else’s problem if they don’t know your situation.”

“Kyle… But…” She gave a shuddering sigh. “I don’t even know why I worry so much about this. I shouldn’t be worried about myself here, I should have just focused on my grandma. When she died, everyone was so sad, but I… I was focused on something else.”

“You weren’t sad?”

Cora hesitated. “I… I don’t know. I loved her and all, but I just couldn’t bring myself to cry, or just to be sad about it.” She knew her own answer for her next question, but she said it out loud anyway. “Am I… a monster for it?”

Kyle didn’t even have to think too much. “No, you’re not. That’s far from it.”

Cora tilted her head. “What…?”

“Everyone has their own way of dealing with grief. You already said you loved her, so you don’t have to prove it by crying. And you had reasons to be distracted from all of it, because of your anxiety. So no, I don’t think not being sad means you’re a monster.”

“You… You really think so?”

Kyle nodded. Deep down, Cora thought the same, but she never truly believed it, like she wasn’t allowed to have an opinion on that. And now, hearing someone else say that… It was a relief. So much so that all her stress gave way to something else, and she couldn’t hold it anymore.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked Kyle in the eyes, trying to find any indication that he was lying just to make her feel better. But she then remembered how straightforward he always was, and some more tears fell.

Kyle was incredibly uncomfortable seeing her cry, but if that meant he was getting her to open up, then so be it. “And… I’m not going to see you differently just because you avoid the black tiles when you’re anxious. So… don’t worry, really.”

He said that with more emotion than he was used to, and his voice cracked in the last sentence. It was super embarrassing, but Cora’s state at the moment was worse than his, so it didn’t matter that much.

Meanwhile, Kyle’s words felt like a blessing for Cora, who instantly became a crying mess. She leaned forward and wrapped Kyle in a tight hug, crying all over his chest with choked gasps. Kyle froze, feeling the looks of a couple of bystanders nearby, but he focused his gaze on the crying Brionne that had been thrown at him.

He was confused, scared, and embarrassed, all at once. But Cora was there, trusting him with her emotions after he did the same, and for once, he forgot about it all. His face morphed into a deep frown and some tears formed in his eyes as well. He enveloped her, resting his hand on the Brionne’s head, and pressed her closer.

They stood there, crying to each other for what felt like an eternity, but it might as well have been just a minute; it was hard to tell since neither of them cared about the world around them at that point.

Eventually, Cora pulled away and wiped her tears. She had calmed down by then, and so did Kyle, as she noticed when they looked at each other. Kyle was still embarrassed about it all, but somehow… he felt better. Sharing it with someone instead of crying alone in his room was such a different experience, and something was filling that emptiness inside of him now.

“Sorry I made you cry, hah…” Cora eventually said. She had a smile plastered on her face, even if it had a bit of sadness in it.

“No, it’s okay. I guess I needed that too.” Kyle didn’t smile, but his expression was softer. “Do you feel better?”

“Actually… Yeah, I do. Thanks, Kyle, you’re a great friend.”

Friend. There was that word again. Did he consider her a friend? Are they all… more than just classmates? At this point, he didn’t care about what his parents might think; he had his answer.

This time, Kyle actually smiled. “It… It was nothing.”

“Let’s just… go find the others and finish this investigation for once so I can do my part in helping you,” Cora decided.

Kyle could only snort at that. There was no way he could convince her to just let him handle his own problem, but he was okay with it.

 

---

 

What awaited them in the graveyard was definitely not what they expected. Once Cora and Kyle returned to reunite with their teammates + Terrel (who in the end decided to stay for a little longer), they found that everyone was there. Mercan the Gengar, Elena the Castform, Cole the Morgrem and Kyle’s parents were talking to each other, but there was a bit of tension as well.

Kyle frowned at the sight of Mother, who he didn’t expect to have here as well. He guessed she was there to support Father, because why would she support her son?

“Mother, Father, what are you doing here?” Kyle asked, getting everyone’s attention, and Asher sagged in relief. He looked very uncomfortable.

Kyle’s mother, who everyone else just learned was called Lishan, approached him with a stern look. “Kyle, why are you digging in the past? You shouldn’t have started doing this out of nowhere, this isn’t like you.”

Kyle winced slightly but quickly regained his courage. “How could you know this isn’t like me? You never let me be myself.”

She gasped, turning to Ebert for some support, and he joined her. “Watch your tone, Kyle! That’s not how you talk to your mother.”

As much as he wanted to retort, Kyle couldn’t find the energy to confront both of them at the same time, so he just deflated and looked away with a frown. Cora looked ready to step in, but Velia was faster.

“Excuse us, but we have a job to do. You can discuss this later, if you may.”

As much as Kyle’s parents hated to admit it, she was right. They fell silent and that was the moment they needed to realize that Nout the Zoroark was also there, for some reason.

“Wait, why are you here as well?” Asher asked, and then he added. “Um, not that there’s anything wrong with it, of course!”

Nout chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Heh, I was a bit bored so I thought I might come with Mercan to see how the story continues.”

“Or you just wanted to see someone else,” Mercan added quietly, elbowing him teasingly. The Zoroark just smirked but decided not to comment on it.

Then, out of nowhere, Elena began to glow and her body changed, suddenly adopting an orange sun-shaped form, which surprised some of them. She got confused looks from them, and she explained.

“Oh, never mind this, haha. It seems there’s not a single cloud covering the sun now and it’s shining bright, so my body changed to adapt to it. That’s a thing with my species whenever the weather changes.”

“Ohhh, that’s kinda cool!” Asher said, and he got a disapproving look from Velia, who thought it was basic knowledge.

“Anyway,” Kyle interrupted. “We should review all that we know so far. Father, could you retell who did you see that night when you came to the crime scene?”

Ebert sighed but decided to oblige. “I remember better now. The pokémon I saw that time were these here; Cole, Gengar and Castform.”

Kyle reacted to that. Cora wasn’t sure why, but she could swear his expression changed for a moment. Was it because Ebert only mentioned the Morgrem’s name? But that was because he was his boss, while the others were kinda strangers to him, right?

“That’s right,” Mercan said. “Elena and I were there that night, and we both saw each other.” Elena nodded, floating in place.

“And I arrived when I was told as well,” Cole added.

“What about the time of the incident? Was there someone else besides Elena and Mercan?” Cora asked. She was trying to focus on the mystery, but it was hard to keep her mind away from the intrusive thoughts, even if that talk with Kyle earlier helped.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Lishan responded, her arms crossed as she closed her eyes deep in thought. “Ebert was at home with me, while Kyle was already sleeping.”

“Hmm… It all happened at night, and apparently, it was raining at some point,” Kyle said. He was trying to organize the events in his mind, saying them out loud, and everyone else was following. There was something that didn’t quite click, though.

“Are you sure about that? I didn’t see any rain,” Cole said with a frown.

“Me neither,” Ebert added as well.

The Gengar floated in between and raised his hand. “But I’m sure there was at some point!”

“Judging by the umbrella we found on the crime scene, I’d say he’s right,” Velia said with a tilt of her head.

“So… That sounds like it was raining but it stopped right around the time Tamora died, and that’s why neither Ebert nor Cole saw any rain, since they arrived later.” At Asher’s explanation, everyone else stared in awe, not expecting such a deduction from him. “Huh? What is it?”

“It’s… nothing,” Kyle said.

He saw Velia looking at him, and she had this… knowing look. She had realized something, and it was resolute. She nodded at him, and only then, it all came to him. Kyle gasped, and he raised his head as he looked around, studying the pokémon that were gathered to solve that mystery for once.

Kyle spoke. “The only pokémon who doesn’t have anyone else to cover for them as an alibi, who didn’t have anyone seeing them at the time of the incident was… Cole.”

“Huh? What do you…?” The Morgrem tensed.

“Actually,” Kyle continued. “There was something important that we found in the crime scene.”

“You mean the ashes from those blast seeds, right?” Cora asked, and there were some gasps between the other pokémon.

Kyle nodded. “That’s how we knew it wasn’t an accident, but an actual murder. Someone blew up the wall and it fell on Cole’s mother, causing her death. Conveniently, Cole happens to own a seed collection.”

The Morgrem looked at him in disbelief and started looking around as his fear kept rising. “You… You can’t be serious, right?”

“That’s a big reason we had to suspect you were the one who did it. But… Something wasn’t right.” Kyle got a confused look from Cole, and he crossed his arms as he explained. “When I took a blast seed from my bag, that reaction you had… You said you didn’t want to be blinded.”

“Yeah, that didn’t make much sense,” Asher said, offering his contribution. “That was a reaction you’d have to a blinker seed, not a blast seed. It was as if… you’d never seen a blast seed before.”

Cole frowned with a tilt of his head. “Wait, that wasn’t a…?”

Kyle nodded. “So that takes me to my next point.” He turned to his father and continued his line of thought. “Father, you said you remember seeing Cole, Mercan, and Elena that night when you arrived, right?”

“Yes, why?”

His expression darkened, and Velia nodded to him, knowing where he was getting to. “When we talked this morning… You still didn’t remember exactly, but what you said caught my attention. You said the pokémon you saw were Cole, a Gengar and… a blue pokémon.

Ebert froze. “That’s…”

“As you can see, there’s no such blue pokémon around,” Velia explained, leaning closer to inspect everyone around. “But there’s one way you could have seen such pokémon.”

Kyle hummed. “You said earlier that the pokémon you saw instead was Elena, the Castform, so it’s impossible for you to have seen any blue pokémon… Unless it was raining.”

“Elena’s species can change forms depending on the weather, as we all saw. And if it rains, her body changes to look like a bluish water droplet,” Velia explained. Ebert’s face was morphing into pure horror as every single contradiction was exposed.

Cora’s eyes slowly went wider as she realized. “Which means… You were here at the time of the murder!”

Everyone turned to Ebert as he freaked out, his calm demeanor shattering for the first time. “What? But why would I do something like that? I don’t have any motive!”

“Hmmm, motive? Is money enough of a motive for you?” Velia suggested, and that completely shut Ebert’s mouth.

Asher continued. “Thanks to Mercan, we found out there used to be an immense amount of money buried in a fake grave on the farthest part of the graveyard, and apparently it wasn’t there after the incident.”

“What? My mom hid her money in there?” Cole was dumbfounded, but he quickly shook it off as he focused on hearing the rest of the revelations.

“Indeed there was,” Velia said. “And we talked to a Hatterene named Indigo, who happened to know Ebert, and told us he had a huge debt he couldn’t pay.”

Ebert’s eyes went wide and he turned to his son. “Wait, Kyle, what were you doing? You didn’t actually talk to…?”

“We did,” Kyle responded, bluntly. “You conveniently managed to pay that debt right after this incident, right when all that money disappeared…” He turned to his mother. “You lied. Father wasn’t home that night, you’re just covering for him.”

“No! That’s not… I…”

“Cole didn’t know what a blast seed was.” Cora went to face the Morgrem, giving him a nod, and then she turned around to face the Scrafty family. “But you, Ebert… You had a pretty similar box in your house to the one Cole was gifted years ago.”

Asher perked up. “Right, Cole’s one had a heal seed icon on it, and the gaps inside matched that exact shape. But Ebert’s box had a different icon… It was that of a blast seed.”

Ebert gasped, and everyone turned at him with accusing looks. Kyle, however, just nodded calmly, but something in his expression felt sad. He finished with his last accusation.

“You used to have many boxes of that kind, which means you had a bigger collection of seeds, especially blast seeds. You had enough to… cause the explosion that collapsed the wall. All of that as a distraction to steal a fortune that was buried in a distant grave.”

There was a long silence. It was tense, and it was sad. No one dared to admit what it all meant, but eventually, Ebert lost his will to fight and sighed.

“… I did it.”

Not even his wife said anything to that. Lishan knew it was true, and she knew there was nothing else that could be done anymore. Kyle wanted to ask why, but his words were caught in his throat. Everyone else was just speechless. Everyone except for Cole.

“You… You killed my mom! You fucking ruined my life!” Cole walked ahead, enraged. He was ready to explode, but he was caught by a claw that rested on his shoulder.

“Hey… I’m sorry that you had to go through that, but this isn’t going to help you.” It was Asher, who tried to soothe him with kind words. “It’s been seven years, and nothing would change if you attacked him. You would only become like him.”

Ebert clenched his fist and looked away in shame at that. That was right, Cole didn’t want to be such a monster like him. He took a deep breath and turned around, not wanting to look at his mom’s killer in the face ever again. Asher stood by his side, stroking his back gently, which Cole silently appreciated.

“Why… Why did you have to go through this now?” Lishan was losing her temper, and the whole family experiencing strong emotions for the first time in ages. “What do you even gain from this? Is it for money?”

“It’s because I’m exhausted!”

She stopped. “What…?”

“You’ve been forcing me to live like an empty, emotionless husk. You didn’t let me be myself, you judged me for every single thing and you don’t even let me have friends,” Kyle scowled. He wasn’t holding back anymore. “It was already bad before, but since this incident, it became even worse, and I wanted to know why.”

Kyle took a shuddering breath as his parents processed all that was thrown at them. And he wasn’t even finished.

“I just want to be free. Am I not old enough to decide what’s good for me?” His voice cracked at those last words, but it got worse. “I wanted to change that for once, but I didn’t expect it to end with my father being a murderer…”

Terrel felt like everything was already too much for him, and he regretted staying there. The air felt way too tense, and he wanted to go home so badly. Luckily for him (probably), someone noticed, as he felt a claw resting on his shoulder. A Zoroark claw.

“Hey Terrel, you okay?” Nout said quietly.

“Uh, I… I’m just a bit uncomfortable with all this…”

Nout pointed behind them, towards the town. “Wanna go take a walk away from all this?”

Terrel pondered that, stealing a glance at his sister, who noticed and just shrugged at him. Should he go alone with a guy he just met who was also heavily flirting with him? … Meh, he didn’t care that much, and it probably was better than staying in there.

“Alright, I guess.”

Nout brightened and started leading the way, and both of them left the scene silently.

Meanwhile, Lishan was furious at her son. “How can you be so ungrateful? You have no idea of what you’re saying, all we do is try to protect you!”

“Protect me from what? From being happy?” Kyle was fuming.

The female Scrafty winced but then continued. “You don’t understand, this is for your own good! How can you-“

“Why is it so bad to wear a leather belt?”

Lishan turned to Cora, who had intruded on the family conflict, and stared at her with frustration. “Why is…? Because everyone is going to look at him! And this doesn’t concern you.”

Cora was glaring daggers at her. “It concerns me, because Kyle is my friend, and I want him to be happy. So what if someone looks weird at him? Why do you care so much about that?”

Lishan was about to explode. “Because-“

“Stop it.”

Everyone looked back at the source of that: Ebert, who seemed tired from all of it. He took a deep breath and gave his wife a sad look.

“This isn’t going anywhere. I’m going to turn myself in.”

“Wait, Ebert! But you can’t just give up like that!” Lishan begged.

“No… This is the only option now. Kyle is right, maybe we’ve gone too far, even if we had our reasons. And I did something horrible here, which I could never forgive myself.” Ebert looked at his son, and there was a bit of something besides sadness. Hope? Pride, maybe? It was… new.

“Father…” Kyle leaned closer, but he immediately stopped to think what he could say. He never expected to find himself in such a situation. Did he just break his family?

“Don’t look at me like that, Kyle. You were doing your job, and you succeeded. I hope you keep doing that, and maybe one day…” He didn’t finish that sentence, but he exchanged glances with Lishan, who nodded sadly.

 

---

 

The police had taken Ebert into custody, but no one felt in a good mood to celebrate. Even though they knew Lishan was hiding a criminal, Ebert begged them not to tell the police that part. Fortunately, they all agreed, mostly because they didn’t want Kyle to have both parents taken away from him. Kyle appreciated it.

Nout had returned after a while after going for a walk with Terrel and said he had just taken him back home since he wasn’t feeling well after the long day. Nout did say he at least looked livelier than in their first meeting, which was reassuring to know, and apparently, he told Nout to thank Kyle for everything, which made him smile a bit. Velia would have a talk with his brother later, though. Especially about whatever happened when he was alone with Nout. Just doing what any big sister would do.

Cole had thanked them for finally solving this case, giving her mom some proper closure after all those years, even if he felt angrier now. Even if he looked a bit intimidating and rude at first, he actually got a liking to them, and Asher assured him they would visit someday. Kyle was surprised by the Cyclizar’s ability to make friends with anyone at any time.

Now walking through the streets of Bismuth Town, the sun having already set on the horizon, Kyle was still thinking quietly while his teammates talked. He didn’t look really happy, and they had noticed, so Asher asked him before Cora could do it.

“Hey, Kyle… Are you okay?”

Kyle perked up, but quickly averted his gaze. “Well… Why lie at this point? No, I’m not okay. My father is in jail, and I don’t think I gained anything from this.”

“Well, maybe you gained some freedom for once…” Cora suggested, her voice uncertain.

“Hmm, you think? It feels like at least my mother was still convinced she was right all along. And worst of it… I feel like we didn’t actually solve this properly.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Asher asked.

Velia stopped and gave Kyle a look. “We don’t know anything about whatever debt your father had.”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. Honestly… That’s making me feel a bit uneasy. I don’t know what kind of debt could lead my father into committing murder, but… I just hate that all of this was caused by money.”

“Right, like how you wanted to start this investigation because of the lawsuit…” Cora added with a deep sigh. Her eyes met Kyle’s and she could read the guilt in his expression. “I can imagine your dad didn’t say anything about canceling it, right?”

Kyle shook his head. “No. I don’t know what’s going to happen with that… I’m sorry.”

“Again, this isn’t your fault, Kyle. And I’m going to be just fine, it’s not like that would ruin my family!”

Asher rested a claw on Kyle’s back and smiled at him. “Of course, so don’t worry, buddy! Everything will be alright.”

Kyle smiled at that, even if only a bit. However, Cora could only smile for a moment before she remembered something.

“I’m concerned about Sanah, though… And I hope Ari could find Ren in the end. We’ll have to check on them tomorrow, it’s getting late.”