The London Times office was bustling. Reporters were darting in and out, chasing new leads, typing up articles, editing each other's work, among other tasks. Alfendi Layton, the London Times' self proclaimed best photographer, was relaxing with his feet on his desk. His latest pictures made the front page of today's edition, not for the first time.
He loved doing holiday photo shoots. St. Patrick's Day had just passed and Alfendi had covered every inch of the parade through London. But it was too easy to get the front cover that way. He needed to try a different angle, challenge himself more.
Thankfully, he had been working on a side project for nearly seven months now. All he needed was the stack of files he had been hiding across the office together.
"Hey, Alfendi!" A young voice shouted. He smiled as he saw his intern darting over, her orange cap nearly sliding off her head as she carried a stack of files.
"Perfect timing, Baker. I was beginnin' to think you were lost." He stood to help grab some files from the eighteen year olds arms.
"Wot's the point of hidin' these things, eh?" Lucy Baker, the intern he had all but stolen from his entire office, asked wiping her forehead.
"Can't let just anyone see these. This might be the biggest case of the year if I'm right." He explained, pulling out another file from his desk and opening it up. "And I'm 91.6% certain that I am right."
"And wha's that then?" She leaned in excitedly, reading over his shoulder. "You've been hinting at this for awhile now! I just gotta know!"
Alfendi spun his chair to face her directly. "You can't tell anyone."
"You can be dead certain I won't tell a soul." The girl put a hand on her heart, which make Alfendi chuckle.
"I think Scotland Yard is covering up a massive string of murders." He explained keeping his voice low, as to not be overheard. "From what I'm thinkin', there have been fourteen murders so far, and no end in sight."
"Give over, no way!" Lucy looked back down at the files on the desk. "Were these all the killings then?"
"Yeah, the police have been keepin' this whole thing quiet, but it's definitely a serial killer." He paused for a moment to open one of the files. "An old friend of mine got out to one of the scenes before the detectives could get there. They saw the guys calling card and everythin'."
"Wha's it then? Wha's the card?" She pressed.
"A puzzle piece."