Beep… Beep…Beep…

Detective and Special Agent Arthur Kirkland groaned and opened his eyes, then reached out and groped around on his bedside table until he found his cell phone, which was beeping loudly.

He grabbed it and picked it up, pushing himself up into a sitting position as he did. Pushing his messy blonde hair out of his emerald green eyes, he flipped the phone open, and a message popped up on the screen.

Got a new case. It's pretty big. Come over to the station ASAP.

-Wang Yao.

Arthur groaned again and snapped his phone shut. This was supposed to be his day off.

Oh well. He thought, getting up. His boss didn't really care about things like holidays.

A half an hour later, Arthur was showered and dressed and getting ready to leave. Not bothering to make breakfast, he grabbed his keys, his badge and his gun and headed out the door, locking it behind him.

Five minutes later, he arrived at the station and was greeted by Wang Yao, his supervisor. He was Chinese, and slightly shorter than him. His ash brown hair was tied back into a ponytail that was slung over one shoulder. He was wearing a dark brown cardigan over a white shirt, jeans and had a serious expression on his face.

"Ni hao, Arthur." Wang said, turning and gesturing for Arthur to follow him.

"Good morning." Arthur said back a little irritably. "I hope this is case is a good one, you woke me up." The Englishman followed Wang into one of the conference rooms, where the rest of the team was already assembled.

There were five team members, including himself and Wang. The other three were all sitting in chairs at an oval-shaped table, all looking tired and slightly rumpled.

The first was a Frenchman named Francis Bonnefoy. He was about the same height as Arthur, with shoulder-length wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, and a small about of stubble on his chin that he refused to shave off. He was wearing a rumpled bright blue shirt and jeans, and he looked as if he was about to fall asleep at any moment.

The second was a small Japanese man named Kiku Honda. He had short-cropped black hair, dull brown eyes and a slight, thin stature. His small, thin-fingered hands were folded on the table in front of him, and he was staring at them anxiously. He was simply dressed in a suit and tie, but he looked uncomfortable in them, like the clothes were a second skin he was forced to put on.

The last one was a Danish man named Magnus Densen. He was tall and had wildly-styled short blonde hair, dark blue eyes and a contagious grin. He was wearing a red plaid shirt and jeans, and was leaning back in his chair, his feet up on the table, with a bored expression on his face.

"About time you got here, Artie." He said as the Englishman walked into the room and took his place at the table next to Francis.

"You should not be one to say that, Magnus-san." Said Kiku, glancing in the Dane's direction. "You were the last one to come here before Arthur-san."

Magnus rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Wang, who was now standing at the head of the table in front of a smart board, looking grim. "So? What's the case you dragged all of us out here to see?"

"This." Wang pressed a button on the remote he was holding, and a series of images popped up on the blank screen behind him. They were all images of crime scenes, and next to them there was a picture of the victim.

"This is a serious case that is, so far, been left unsolved for several weeks. Five college students were found murdered in their dorms in a college campus in New York, NY. They were all male, and they all varied in age, race and social status. The killer struck them over the head with a blunt, heavy object then strangled them with his bare hands while they were knocked unconscious." Wang pressed the button again, and another crime scene photo popped up, along with the picture of a nervous-looking teenager with short, curly blond hair and light blue-violet eyes.

"This is the most recent victim, 15 year old Raivis Galante. He, like all the other victims, was hit over the head then strangled. He was found at home by his parents when they came home from work."

"15?" Magnus took his feet off the table and leaned forward, looking serious. "That's a pretty big jump in victimology, from college students to high school students... Are you sure this isn't a copycat?"

"Yes, because all the killer left this behind on the wall of Raivis' kitchen, along as on all the other victim's walls. " Wang pressed the button again, and a picture of a clock drawn with dark blue paint on the living room wall popped up. The clock only had one hand, and it was pointing towards the number five. "This specific detail hasn't been released to the press, so a copycat has been ruled out."

Francis leaned forward slightly, no longer half-asleep. Now he looked intrigued. "What is that?"

"It seems like some kind of counting device." Wang pressed the button again and another five pictures popped up, showing the same clock each time drawn on a wall, but the hands were pointed at the numbers four, three, two, and one.

"Every time the killer murders another victim, the clock's hand moves forward a number. We theorize that the killer is using the clock as a way to count down to his final victim, who would be number twelve on the clock." Wang explained.

"This remind me of book I read once." Kiku murmured.

Arthur frowned slightly. "So why is the NYPD is calling us out?"

"Because, everyone at the station down there is freaked out, they think this might be the work of a psychopath. Besides, all the bodies have been found in their homes, so everyone in the residential areas is freaked out." Wang said grimly. "They want us to come down there and solve it as soon as possible."

"Well, there goes my idea of sleeping in today." Arthur muttered under his breath.

Wang stood up and addressed the team.

"The plane takes off in twenty minutes, you have that long to get ready." The Chinese man turned and walked out of the room, leaving his team behind to ponder at the crime scene photos.

"Who the hell would do something like that to a kid…?" Magnus murmured, half to himself, staring at the picture of Raivis.

"One sick son of a bitch, that's who," Arthur said quietly.