The three agents stood in the locker room discussing the situation.
"First of all," Myka began, "it can't be a vampire because vampires don't exist!"

"Myka, look at the puncture holes!" Pete objected. "Don't they look like bite marks to you? Some viciously long fangs?" He bared his own teeth in demonstration.

"Would you stop acting like a twelve-year-old?" Myka snapped.

"If it's not a vampire," Steve mused, staring at the body, "what else could it be?"

Myka shrugged, "Okay, obviously we're dealing with an artifact that causes the bearer to maybe follow the stereotypes of a vampire, but," she stared hard at Pete, "we are looking for the artifact, not a vampire!"

"Geez, okay, calm down," Pete sobered in a moment. "So what are we looking for, then? Plastic fangs? A cape? Maybe a fob chain on a tartan vest, or some kind of hairclip?"

Myka sighed, "Okay, we've learned all we can from the victim. Now I guess we see what some of the other students know."

"That's a good idea," Steve agreed. "We can start with the two that discovered the body: Willow Rosenberg and Harmony Kendall."

Myka shot him a puzzled look, "How did you know that?"

Steve pulled a news clipping from his pocket. "I saved the article and memorized it on the way here. You know, just in case any of it would be useful."

Pete nodded, "Let's talk to Willow and Harmony, then!"

They all returned to the school yard, where a blonde comforted a redhead. Both appeared to still be in shock.

"Hi," Myka approached cautiously.

The two girls looked up, showing the warehouse agents their tear-stained faces. "My name is Agent Bering, this is Agent Lattimer and Agent Jinks," Myka continued, "but you can call us Myka, Pete, and Steve."

"Oh," said the blonde, "I'm Harmony, and this," she gestured to the redhead, "is Willow."

Myka hesitated, unsure how to begin.

Willow blinked slowly, her chin trembling as she resisted crying. "You're going to ask us about Spike, like the other agents did," she guessed.

Myka balked, "Spike?"

"Spike Williams," Harmony explained, "the guy who was killed." She seemed to take it much more calmly than Willow did. "We found him in that locker."

Myka nodded and took a seat on the bench next to Harmony. "So what can you tell me about Spi—"

"He's a bully." Harmony didn't even wait for Myka to ask.

"Oh really?" Pete asked, "Are you saying he deserved to die?"

Harmony said, "Yes!"

At the same time, Willow picked up her head, "No! I mean, yeah, he was a jerk and all, but he—" she hiccoughed and started to breathe quickly in an attempt to remain calm, "He didn't—not like that!" She turned a pitiful expression on Myka, "You will find who did this, won't you?"

"That's what we intend to do," Pete assured her.

Willow managed a shy smile.

"But," Myka said, "we're not from around here, so we could really use your help."

Harmony rolled her eyes, but Willow nodded, "Sure; what do you need?"

"Well, first tell me what you know about Spike; did he have a group that he normally hung out with? Do you remember anyone actually ever threaten him or want to hurt him or something?"

Harmony smirked, "Well, duh! Everybody wanted a piece of Spike!"

"Even you?" Steve asked her.

Harmony sneered at him.

Willow answered Myka, "As far as threats go, Spike was usually the one making them. He had a group of pals that followed him around, but it was mostly because they felt cool standing with him, not because they were actually friends. Any one of them could just as easily have...h-hurt him real bad."

Myka sighed, "Okay, let's just deal with the biggest scenarios."

"The big fights?" Harmony volunteered. "Oh, he's thrown down with Finn the school jock plenty of times!"

"And there was that one girl he was with for a while," Willow added, "Cornelia or something." She turned to Myka, "He's going out with her for three months straight, then the school puts on a formal and, poof—" she tossed her hands, "he shows up with someone else. They weren't together after that."

Harmony raised her gaze to recall more helpful incidents. "He had one kid, Jonathan, who did his homework almost all the time."

"He dated Anya for a while," Willow noted.

Pete glanced at Myka, "You got all those names?" he muttered.

She nodded.

He turned back to the girls, "Okay, last question: what were the names of his cronies?"

Harmony raised her eyebrows. "All of them?"

Myka placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "We just want to narrow the list of suspects as much as possible."

The girls thought for a moment.

"We can't remember all of them," Willow answered, "but there was Angus, Andy and Wes—"

"Oh, Ripper and Warren, too!" Harmony added.

"Got it," Myka nodded, "Okay, that's enough for now." She stood from the bench with a smile. "Well, you girls have been very helpful; you wouldn't mind sticking around town while we sort this out, just in case we need any more help, would you?"

"Of course not," Harmony gushed, "It's no problem at all! Whatever you need," she linked arms with Willow, "We'll be there!"

Myka nodded and turned. Pete waved as the three of them walked away. "Thanks, girls."

Harmony and Willow nodded and waved back.

Myka was glad to find Dean Blaine standing alone.

"Hello, Dean Blaine?" she called to him, "Agent Bering."

The Dean wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "Who? Oh yes, the Secret Service. What can I do for you?"

Myka smiled; so Agent Summers' brush-off had not made the Dean suspicious; that was good. "We would like to question some of the students," she explained. "Do you happen to have a copy of the student roster?"

"Why, yes," the Dean opened the binder he carried and gave Myka a list of names.

One glance told her it wasn't the one she needed. "Mr. Blaine," she began, "there are some names missing from this list, and we're going to need contact info—" she stopped when he shook his head.

Mr. Blaine sighed, "I'm sorry, Agent Bering; for security reasons, the school is only allowed to issue one copy of the complete roster."

Myka frowned in confusion; why was this security measure necessary, and why was she being shut out? "Well, where can I get this copy from?"

The dean pointed past the trio. "The only copy was issued to Agent Summers. You'll have to ask her."

Myka groaned inside. What cruel fate was constantly pushing the two teams together? Why couldn't they just work separately? Or, better yet, why didn't Summers and Harris just give up and leave, already?

Myka carefully approached the two agents.

"Agent Summers?" she called.

Summers turned around and grinned, "Ah, Agent Bering! Did you want something? My help, perhaps?"

Myka huffed, "Look, I don't like the way this is turning out, either, but we'll find the culprit much faster if we work together!"

Summers smirked. "Okay, try this: how about Xander and I solve the case, and you three stay the hell out of our way?"

Myka felt the comebacks rising to her tongue, a thousand scathing remarks, but she kept them in check and said instead, "Dean Blaine told me you had the complete student roster."

Summers nodded, "Of course; Xander and I were going to question the likeliest suspects, and we needed their contact info."

"Have you gotten all you need?" Myka asked.

Summers glanced at the sheaf of papers in her hands. "I believe so."

Myka guessed that the CIA operative held the roster, and held out her hand, "May I see it?"

Summers grinned strangely and placed the sheaf of papers in Myka's hand. "Have at it!" she motioned to her parter, "Let's go, Xander."

Pete and Steve moved in close as Myka examined the list.

"That jerk!" Pete fumed.

"Well," Steve mused, "this is going to be tricky."

Summers had gone through the list and blacked out several names with black marker.

Myka stared at it; why had she blacked the names, and what if one of these was the killer?