Oh GOD how long has it taken for me to get round to this? Jeez, far too long I guess would be the answer to that one, but fear not! I haven't just been wasting my time! Oh no, I have been doing many interesting and meaningful things... that I can't think of just yet, but don't worry, I'll think of something! :D

This is just a note for any who are wondering, normal text is... well text, italics are the character's thoughts, and if I need to use it, bold text will be author's notes. Also, Valkyrie is about 17 or so in this and is in sync with cannon at the moment (I think, if you spot something then please tell me).

And before I forget, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to my very first follower, SapphireShadowgirl! Virtual milk and cookies for you my friend! You have made my day!

ValkyrieEverdeen12 – xxx

Ghastly looked pale and drawn, so unlike his usual self that Valkyrie wondered what it was that made this case so different that it was keeping the Elders on high alert. He ran his hand down his face and spoke. "There don't appear to be any witnesses to the murder, but the body was found by the owner of a local shop and a school friend. The girl is understandably traumatised, so please take care when questioning her. Cause of death appears to be a slit throat, but the mortal forensic teams are stopping us investigating much further. We don't know whether this case is connected to the Carter case, but we have established that there was adept magic used either just before the death or to kill the victim."

Skulduggery looked out from underneath his fedora. It was a prime specimen today, blue pinstriped with a dark ring, it suited him well. "If this case is connected to the Carter case, can we talk to the witnesses from the previous killings?"

Ghastly sighed and looked down at the map of Dublin spread out upon the table in front of them, "We have already, no-one seems to know anything about the incident, and even the Sensitives can't seem to find any connection between the cases. The only similarities appear to be that the victim was going to meet with someone and never made it, and –"

Valkyrie cut him off "The cause of death." Both Ghastly and Skulduggery turned to look at her in surprise.

"Valkyrie, I seem to remember you not being on the Carter case?" said Skulduggery.

"Was that a statement or a question?" she grinned at him, and then shook her head, "It was my birthday Skulduggery, I wasn't exactly going to run off to a lovely gory murder scene when I should be staying with my parents and soaking in all of the attention for once," No-one spoke, so she continued, "what with Alice getting all grown up and me being practically furniture, it's amazing that I managed to get any presents out of them at all,"

Still nobody interrupted, and they sat in silence of a few moments before Valkyrie got bored, "I read up on the mortal inquiries into the murder, found it easy enough, wanted to make sure you boys didn't miss anything. So, did we get any info about the victim or the witness?"

Ghastly started slightly at the sudden change of subject and cleared his throat, "The victims name was Hannah Richardson."

"Oh my God," Valkyrie became aware that they were both staring at her again, "She's—" She caught herself, " We were in the same class. I used to sit next to her in biology; we would always laugh at how crap the teacher was." She smiled to herself, "I never thought it was this close to home though. She was really nice actually, cheerful. Always the joker..." She stared down at her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Ghastly share a significant look with Skulduggery. She didn't care though, and didn't protest as they gently guided her into a chair.

"I think this is going to be a long night" Ghastly sighed, "and not just for us,"

~~~DTVE~~~

"The victim's name was Hannah Richardson, senior at Haggard School of Secondary Education. Thoroughly liked and respected by pupils and teachers alike, no enemies, no ties to anything dodgy. Just a regular kid," Lestrade looked down at his files for a second, then continued, "The victim's throat was slit, forensics have evidence to say that the girl was attacked from behind, when the attacker subdued her and shoved her into a nearby alleyway. The girl's parents have been informed and they would like to appeal for any witnesses to come forward to aid in the imprisonment of her killer. So far, there is no evidence to suggest that this the work of a serial killer, so we can all sleep a little better with that knowledge"

The assembled crowd of journalists and news reporters, gave an unwilling chuckle at this, one, a young woman in the front row put her hand up. "Yes?" Lestrade tried his best to keep his tone warm, but a note of annoyance crept its way through into his voice, a note that unfortunately, didn't go unnoticed by the reporter in the first row, and she shot her question at him, trying her best to catch him off guard, "So Detective Inspector Lestrade, can you explain why most of the force in Scotland Yard have been diverted from other cases to what has been dubbed the "Richardson Assassin" if there is no threat to the public?"

Damn her, Lestrade thought grimly, well, at least he was prepared for this type of question, "Well miss-?" He looked at the woman in the front row as politely as he could, while all he could think was, She looks like a kipper in all of that orange make-up. "Foley" She replied, not even bothering to hide the smugness in her tone.

"Well, Miss Foley, obviously we don't want to cause mass panic," he shot a quick smile to the cameras, hoping he didn't look to nervous, "The staff diverted onto this case have been from other, more mundane crimes, shoplifting and such like. Naturally we don't want to completely abandon these, but for now our attention is focused onto the "Richardson Assassin", for the girl's parents if nothing else. Now if there are no more questions, then I will return to my station" Without giving them a chance to respond, he turned away from his desk and swept from the room.