"Welcome back, Al. I see you got a makeover." Ethan joked as he saw a haggard Alasdair returning from his free babysitting with an elated Daniel. Gratefully accepting an iced coffee from Grace's waiting hands, Alasdair only glared at his laughing supervisor as he downed his long-awaited coffee and ripped out the colorful ribbons and rubber bands from the short messy braids and ponytail he was sporting. Daniel, enjoying his father's long-due attention, went to sit on Ethan's lap, enjoying the snacks Grace had brought out for her favorite guest. 

"Danny." Ethan started, not knowing how to start the conversation. "How is everything at school?" 

"Pretty good. I've been doing really well in my classes. I made lots of new friends from recess too! We're going to meet later. Mom gave me some allowance money to buy my friends ice cream after we go to the playground." 

"That's really great to hear, buddy! And is there anything that's been bothering you recently? Anything at all?" Ethan bounced his eight-year-old, hoping to get the long-awaited answers without putting his son on the spot.

Unfortunately for Ethan, Alasdair was never the most patient, "Daniel, have you ever heard anything about two boys named Evan and Samuel? They're a little older than you, but I know you have a lot of older friends you like to play with."

Daniel's demeanor suddenly deflated, making a face and looking everywhere but Alasdair’s expectant face. " I don't like Samuel." The three adults exchanged glances, Ethan and Alasdair especially so. 

"Danny, can you tell me why? Has he been bothering you at school?" 

Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Daniel hesitated before reluctantly continuing. "He's really, really scary. I see him sometimes during recess and in the halls. He's really mean too! He always kicks the lockers, and sometimes he even kicks me and my friends when we play on the playground." Unable to register the shocked faces of his parents, Daniel continued, his voice getting shaky and louder with each memory. "I tried to stop him, stand up to bullies like you always do, Dad! I told him to stop! But he never listened! He always hit me with his friends after school until Evan came!" Grace and Ethan remained unable to respond accordingly. 

"Daniel” Alasdair cut in, hoping to deflate the situation. “Can you tell me a little more about Evan? He sounds pretty cool; it sounds like you really like him." 

Daniel sank into Ethan's lap, smiling as he recounted Evan's heroics with a face stuffed with chocolate. "Yeah...Evan is a superhero; everyone at school knows him. He's always been telling Samuel and his friends off whenever he sees them bullying someone. He helped me after he saw them kick me off the swings; Samuel and the other bullies never bothered me again after that." 

Ethan wordlessly lifted Daniel off his lap and onto the ground, staring into his son's eyes. Daniel, in turn, met his father's steel blue eyes with his own blue hazel eyes, which anxiously moved back and forth in an attempt to read his father's emotionless face. Breaking the silence, Ethan softly asked the question he never knew he had to ask. "Why did you never tell us that this was happening to you?" 

As if on cue, Daniel burst into a sobbing mess, shaking uncontrollably as his throat tightened, trying to stifle his tears by rubbing his wet eyes with tight fists. In response, Ethan pulled his small, eight-year-old boy into his arms, rubbing his back in a circular motion with shaking hands to soothe his crying son. Alasdair, not sure what to do, looked to Grace, who, despite her smiling face, was sporting the same red eyes as her husband and son. Quickly excusing himself to give the family space, Alasdair sneaked off to the stairwell to send Ross and Evans a quick text:

Someone bring Evan and his parents in for questioning. We have reason to suspect that the note may hold some level of truth.

 We've already gotten in contact with his parents you rude bastard, they agreed to come to the station later in the afternoon. Any questions you want to forward for questioning?  

No, wait for us. Graham wants to question Evan; I'll make sure to get us both there by the time they arrive. 

Cool, make sure the captain buys us a Happy Meal on the way. Jack is still sulking after Ethan chewed us out at the crime scene earlier. I want a large chocolate milkshake. 

Slinging his head back in exasperation, Alasdair passively listened to his captain openly sobbing with his son. What a great day it's been. 

Alasdair was reminded of his team's stupidity for the umpteenth time when he saw D.C Evans nearly burst into tears as Ethan apologetically walked into the homicide department with 5 Happy Meals and a large milkshake. As helpful as it is to know just how easy it is to bribe his coworkers, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at the embarrassing sight the three were making in front of the rest of the department. Stealing a Happy Meal and some pretzels from Ross's desk drawer, Alasdair sneaked over to his desk to enjoy the show and relax. Fucking embarrassments those three. 

"How have investigations been after I blew up at you two?" Ethan said, shrinking in embarrassment with red ears hidden behind his hair. "Has there been any progress with witness statements or forensics?" 

"Not exactly," Ross shrugged, "It's been only a few hours after all; they also have a bunch of tests to finish up for the Ulrich case. I'm almost done with the scene assessment report you requested, though. I can get it to you by the end of tomorrow. 

"I've also been busy meeting with Samuel's parents and classmates. From what I've heard from his classmates, Samuel was a notorious bully at school and directed most of his aggression towards Evan-who spoke out against his bullying his first day after transferring mid-term: the statements match up pretty evenly with the contents of the note and apparently." Evans reported. 

Ethan nods in approval, "Are Evan and his parents coming in for questioning soon?" 

"They actually arrived right before you two. We were waiting on you guys since Grumpypants over there let us know you wanted to handle questioning personally. They're ready for us now." Evans replied, flipping Alasdair off from across the room and receiving double what he gave in response. 

"That's perfect. Thanks, you two, for putting up with a cranky old bastard like me." Ethan turned towards Alasdair's half-asleep form and shouted, "Al! Get ready; you're coming with me!" With a mighty groan, Alasdair took off the surgical mask he was using as a sleep mask, "Take Ross or Evans- you don't want “child eater Alasdair” scaring off a traumatized kid anyways." 

"Where did you even hear that nickname? Not that I disagree, given your current track record interacting with kids." 

"Shut it, Evans, it was back at school. My point is Graham-" Alasdair found himself cut off by a sharp pull out of his seat. "I'm not hearing the same excuse for the second time today: get more creative, will you? You're coming with me." Knowing better than to argue, Alasdair accepted his fate and let Ethan drag him towards the interrogation rooms, all the while desperately fixing his hair to look the very least presentable. 

For once, Ethan was glad for his department's unbelievable laziness and uncanny ability to adapt to anything. The "child-friendly" interrogation room they had set up for the five-year-old eyewitness to her parents' murder-suicide half a year ago had been repurposed into the office break room, with everyone either too busy or rather, too lazy to clean out the soft beanbag chairs and stuffed animals.

Instead, to his chagrin, the interrogation room only became more and more messy: the boxes of instant coffee and tea bags littered the small coffee table seated at the corner of the room. A water purifier, God knows where that came from, supported several mug cups placed upside down on its top, each labeled with a dirty napkin written on with Expo markers and Sharpies. Worst of all, nobody bothered to get the nervous boy and his parents anything to eat or drink, those impolite bastards. 

"Thank you so much for agreeing to come in on such short notice, Mr. and Mrs. Vangarde. And, of course- to Evan, too. My name is Ethan Graham; I'm the leading detective for the case; besides me is D.C. Kirkland, who is helping me with the case." Ethan shook their hands as he looked around in embarrassment, "I'm very sorry for the mess- can I get you guys anything? Tea? Coffee? Chocolates?" 

"No, thank you. I just want to know what you want with our son." Mr. Vangarde responded with caution, receiving an approving nod from his wife. Instead of reassuring the parents, as he always does, Ethan faced the quietly fidgeting boy across the table. 

"Hello, Evan. I have a little boy named Daniel who's in third grade right now." He could see Evan's eyes shine with recognition. "I don't know if you remember him, but he called you a superhero; he's been singing nothing but praises since we asked about you." 

Ethan waited for a response. "Evan, can I get a little closer to you? You can say no if you don't want me to." Evan wordlessly nodded. Ethan looked towards his parents, who moved out of the way for him: a sign of approval, he took it. He kneeled down beside Evan, who refused to look anywhere but the ground. 

"I've been a pretty terrible dad to my Daniel these days. I've been so busy with work that my own son didn't think I'd care enough to help him, or you, for that matter. I'm so sorry, Evan, and to Daniel, too." Evan looked up and finally made eye contact. Despite his young age, Alasdair could see the mix of righteous anger and relief in his eyes, a look he was very familiar with. 

"Thank you for being there for my boy when I wasn't there for him, Evan. I can never thank you enough for being so strong when you're so young yourself." Ethan got up from his spot and addressed his parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Vangarde, you should be proud for raising such an amazing, brave son." He finished by bowing his head in thanks and wordlessly returned to his seat. 

"Evan, I know how hard it must be for you to talk about this, but we need your help if we want to solve what exactly happened to Samuel. Can you be a little braver for us?" 

Turning towards both of his parents, both on either side of him, Evan let in a deep breath and looked across the table to meet Ethan's eyes. Despite the strengthened resolve, Alasdair could see Evan's shaking white knuckles and leg hidden under the table, away from his parents and Ethan's eyes. 

"Ok." 

"Thank you, Evan; can you tell us how and when this all started?" 

"On my first day of school- my family moved here after school started, so I started school later than everyone else. I didn't really notice Samuel until I saw him bully some younger kids during recess. I think they were Daniel and his friends; I can't really remember. We got into a fight after I tried to stop him from kicking them off the swings: he hasn't stopped bothering me since." Evan looked towards the door, seemingly anxious to get out. 

"Can you tell us how he's been bothering you? Has he been hitting you?" Ethan asked as gently as possible, seemingly unaware of Evan’s discomfort.

"Uh-huh, he's been hitting me whenever a teacher's not there to see him do it. He usually drags me into the third-floor bathroom during lunchtime and tries to scare me with stuff he brings from home." 

"Like what, Evan?" 

Alasdair shoved his shoulder under Ethan's ribs, cutting the conversation short. Ethan, who let out a startled yelp from the sudden pain, couldn't help but glare at his subordinate, ignoring the Vangardes' startled looks. He thought he was finally getting somewhere!

Ethan realized, however, after following Alasdair's line of sight, Evan's tense posture: retreating into his seat and turning away from everyone's attention, decidedly done with the conversation. 

"Evan.” Alasdair said, writing down two sets of numbers on his notepad, “We don't have to continue right now if you feel uncomfortable; if you want, we can always have you come back when you feel better." 

Evan turned towards Alasdair, sneaking glances at his parents, "Can we do that?" 

"Of course. I'll give our numbers to your parents, and they can let us know when you feel ready to talk. We're sorry if we pushed too hard: we're just trying to understand what happened." 

Evan visually relaxed in his seat. "That's ok." He turned to his parents, "I want to go home now." The short sentence quickly snapped both Ethan and Mr. and Mrs. Vangarde out of their stupor, all quickly getting ready to head out of the interrogation room. Quickly exchanging numbers and thanks, Ethan watched Alasdair and the Vangardes leave the interrogation room in fascination and pride.

“Who says you’re bad with kids?” 

"Everyone. Let's go: Park just texted me that they're ready for the autopsy. Hopefully, her dumbass interns won't fuck it up again and delay the results like last time." 

"Be nice; I think I saw them cry the last time you yelled at them for forgetting to send you the autopsy report." 

Alasdair scoffed, "Their own fault for being so incompetent. Let’s go, I actually want to go home early today." leaving a bewildered Ethan behind.