Wallander Fic

The Search 2

His head was still throbbing, but then again he didn't really think the fierce ache would go away so it wasn't all that surprising. He had searched long and hard but this guy was good. He had gone through all the case files with a fine toothed comb and still nothing had come up; the killer left no fingerprints- he didn't even leave foot prints. The only evidence of him ever taking Jessica was the burning cigarette in the ashtray, a Black Devil. Now the second victim had been taken and again, there was a burning cigarette in the ashtray. So far the only thing common between the two victims was that they were both rich, like filthy rich. Jessica Darling's husband was in the oil company, and the second victim, Harry Colt, worked for Microsoft. Of course, they were both married but that hardly counted as something being common because most people were married anyways. Now they were at Harry's house, a huge three story mansion with a winding staircase and dozens of famous paintings hanging in glass cases on the walls. Funny, that was another similar thing between the two; they both had an interest in the fine art, such as Picasso and Van Gogh. He couldn't help but admire the paintings as he walked past, searching for anything to help them. They were down to three days now, before their guy killed Harry. Magnus sighed and rubbed his fingers roughly into his aching temples, before running his hands over his face and through his curls. Kurt was grumpy now, trudging around and snapping at anything he could. He had even yelled at Magnus earlier for not picking up the phone fast enough, but he honestly didn't see why he had to answer the phone when everyone else was gathered around the table the phone was centered at. He looked over at his boss, who seemed like he had a frown permanently etched on his weary features. He caught Magnus staring and glared at him. The young detective rolled his eyes, and after deciding that there was nothing on this level that was useful or suspicious, he slowly made his way up the stairs to the third and final level. He was really looking forward to seeing his bed when he got home but Kurt had made it very clear earlier that he was not to go home until they had found their guy. He decided to start in Harry's office, which was, of course, on the top floor and huge with sky light windows and a large balcony. This was presumably where he was taken. He started with the desk, searching through the mound of papers on it.

It took about an hour of carefully reading the papers before he found anything. It wasn't much but it was something; a ticket for a poker game at a Cosmpol casino in Stockholm, the same one that had been on Jessica's desk. He put it in an evidence bag and then made his way down to Kurt.

"Kurt, I found something," he said as he walked over. "It's a ticket for a poker game in a Cosmpol casino in Stockholm. Jessica had one just like it on her desk. It looks to me like they owe someone money, and my best guess would be that that someone is our killer," he said proudly, holding up the bag with the ticket. Kurt raised his eyebrows at Magnus' Cheshire Cat grin, but looked semi-impressed about the fact that Magnus had remembered that.

"Alright, looks like we're going to need to go to that casino," Kurt said before turning sharply and heading down the stairs. Magnus shook his head and rolled his eyes before following his boss.

The drive wasn't too long but the sight that greeted them when they got there was not the one they were hoping for.

"Well, Magnus, I guess your poker ticked idea was valid," Kurt said as he stared at the building.

"Yeah, I guess so," Magnus replied as he stared in awe at the building, or more like what had once been a building. Firemen surrounded the building, trying to extinguish the huge roar of flames surrounding the building. Magnus looked around, trying to see something, anything, to let them know if this was the work of their killer. Then he saw him. The same man from the video, the same man who had killed Jessica Darling, with the ski mask on over his careful and clean cut suit, was standing behind and off to the right of the fire. The last thing Magnus saw before the building exploded was the reflection of the orange flames dancing in the man's eyes like the devil himself.