It was another cold, rainy night in Seattle, Washington. Detective Jay Benson had just reheated some leftovers when he received the news. Another homicide.

"What have we got here?" asked Detective Benson, as he lifted up the yellow tape. He asked his question loud enough for C.S.I. Eddie Rivera to hear it.

"The victim's name is Danny Cross. He was gutted from his groin to his neck," said Rivera.

"Same M.O. as the Lamont case?" asked Detective Benson, as he crouched down to get a better look.

"It looks like this guy has the same crescent mark on his neck," said Rivera, pushing away the shirt collar on the victim's body.

"This guy also matches how Greg Lamont looked," said Benson, "As with the other ten men found in the last year. What else can you tell me?"

"The victim didn't give much of a struggle. He must have been with somebody familiar, and then got caught by surprise," said Rivera.

"Any other details?" asked Benson.

"I found something a few inches from his body. Take a look," said Rivera. He used his flashlight to cast a beam onto a matchbox: "Fountain of Diamonds" was printed on it.

"'Fountain of Diamonds'…that's an upscale bar by Smith Tower," said Benson, "I'm going to have the new detective investigate any leads."

"You said the men each matched a common profile. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Rivera.

"A serial killer? It would appear so," said Benson, "The victims all were found in King County. Or it could just be some hits. Maybe this time we'll have better leads."

"Do you want me to keep processing the scene?" asked Rivera.

"Please do," said Benson. As he walked away from the crime scene, Benson made a call on his cell phone.

"Hey it's me. We found another one. Can you go to the Fountain of Diamonds? Yeah, it's the bar in Pioneer Square. Check the office fax machine. You'll have all the information you need. Right. Keep me posted."

Benson closed his cell phone. He was hoping the new detective wouldn't screw things up.


"Let me get this straight," said the detective, "Danny Cross wasn't a frequent visitor?"

The bartender was shown the victim's photograph.

"Like I said, I've never seen him before in my life."

"So, if we checked the surveillance tapes, we won't see Danny Cross?"

"The cameras are there for show. They don't work."

"Listen, a man was murdered just a few hours ago. If you don't cooperate, somebody else can wind up dead."

"I don't know anything about that guy, so I wash my hands clean."

"Is that so? I'm guessing that's your Porsche parked outside."

"Yeah, and...?"

"According to our records, your license is suspended. You know it's a serious offense, especially with all those unpaid parking tickets."

"Okay, all right, we don't have to go there."

"Let's try this again, then. Did you see Danny Cross earlier tonight?"

"My shift had just started, and I saw Danny Cross leave. I really didn't attend to him."

"Who did?"

"My coworker, Mariani..."

"Last name."

"...Yusof. She might have attended to him. Her shift ended a half-hour before mine."

"Any way to contact her?"

"Well, I don't think I should be giving you that information…"

"It's either your coworker or you…which is it going to be?"

"All right…I'll give you that number."

After giving the detective the phone number, the bartender tried to be apologetic.

"I'm sorry about earlier. It's just that we got to keep things hush-hush around here, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I get it. It's "mistress central" in this dump. If I don't get the answers I want, we'll be in touch again."

The bartender watched as the detective left. Man, the bartender thought, that Detective Kate Lockley is a real bitch.