A/N: Hey Erros here...again. I'm suprised at the amount of attention that this story is getting...its nice. But at the same time...now I feel obligated to do well. Anyways...enjoy!

A Murderer's Equation

The bustling streets of London seemed to fade away as Ciel glanced briefly up at a sign that read "Undertaker." Sometimes he wondered how he always found himself coming to this crackpot for answers. Today's journey was no exception, and had started like any other recent deeds of the earl: with a letter from the Queen.

Earlier that morning the Phantomhive manor had received a letter detailing three murders that had been committed in London, all connected by a common executioner. This letter consequently delivered a plea from the queen to stop the killer and do so by any means necessary. And as the Queen's Guard Dog, Ciel could do little but accept her order. With speed he reluctantly ordered the servants to look after the manor and had Sebastian make preparations for their trip.

As he made his way by carriage towards town, Ciel contemplated the information she had given her. The first body had been found in St. Peter's church. The victim: a young up and coming atheist novelist who had been dragged from the streets outside the church and onto the alter. The second murder had been of a man who had recently bought illegal services from a prostitute. His body had been found washed up on an embankment underneath a bridge. The final victim was found in an alleyway only feet from a tavern covered in vomit from a night of drinking. A dull knife linked their fates.

After investigating the first two crime scenes the young earl had come to a conclusion: Scotland Yard was incompetent. Naturally unintuitive the feds could only treat each murder as a separate event. They could not seem to connect the dots. Clearly the Queen didn't want to deal with more incompetence since their failure to locate three asylum patients.

Ciel smirked as he walked into the mortuary, Sebastian in toe. But his smirk quickly faded. The Undertaker was nowhere to be seen, however his shop failed to fray the young boy's nerves. Thumping his cane on the floor and clearing his throat, the Queen's Guard Dog was greeted by a fit of laughter. A resounding thud came from behind the duo, signaling the Undertakers entrance…from the ceiling.

"How can I help you today?" the Undertaker chortled a bit, stroking the sides of his face with his long dark nails. He was the picture of insanity.

Ciel recovered quickly and began, "I was looking into.." but he was cut short.

"You're looking into the recent murders…hm! Well, I've got the third victim in the back currently. Let's go have a looksie shall we?"

But Ciel was skeptical, "Don't you usually require payment?"

The Undertaker just shook his head and smiled merrily, "No need," he lead the earl and his butler into the back room, "someone has already paid for that information. Left only minutes before you did."

Ciel's could feel Sebastian tense next to him. "And who would that be?"

"Oh just two Shinigami."

Ciel felt curiosity simmer inside him, however held his tongue. Instead he drew closer to the three coffins that held each victim.

All the victims were young, yet each seemed to be from a different social class. The novelist was clearly poor, with his lack of warm clothing. But both the second and third victim seemed to be much more wealth, each sporting a pricey watch.

"The murderer doesn't seem to be discriminating by social class does he? Humans are such fragile things." The butler spoke his master's thoughts.

The Undertaker clapped his hands together as he hovered over the coffins. "They do however share the same murder weapon. The knife was blunt, because the gashes were deep. Each man suffered only one wound, to the head. But the cuts were forced. The blows resemble rips with the caved in portion of their skulls see? Actually," the Undertaker turned and rummaged through a drawer behind him, then produced a knife and dangled it in front of the Earl, "I think you'll recognize this."

Ciel was dumbstruck. It was a knife from the Phantomhive kitchen, his family crest confirming that fact. For a moment he could do little but stare.

"Been doing something knotty have you Earl?"

Finally snapped out of his trance, the young boy faced his demon, and was met with only an unknowing stare and many unanswered questions. "Sebastian did…" Ciel's suspicions were cut short however by a commotion outside. It took only moments for the earl to respond, leaving the Undertaker to slip into an unoccupied coffin.

Outside, the streets were filled with madness. All the carriages and foot traffic seemed to be at a standstill as white notes rained down from the sky and made their way into bystanders' hands. Across the street only a few floors up a new victim swayed against the wind, blood dripping from the noose around his neck.

Sebastian snatched one of the notes from the air then raised an eyebrow.

"My my, this could be problematic."

A/N: Well that's all for this weekend. I'm sorry that my updating isn't constant...however I had some free time on my hands and thought...eh why not. I have a pretty busy week so I'm not promising anything for a few days. Hope you enjoyed...and sorry for the ongoing cliffhangers...but I hope you can start connecting the dots. (i love hearing you're theories) Random thought of the day: Uh...uh...I'm not creative anymore...I've been playing a Beta DnD game: Neverwinter...and that's been pretty fun. I recommend it to anyone who's computer can withstand it. Unfortunatly (as I already stated) my computer is barely equipt for such things...as it overheats and has a horrible fan. As I said...my computer can't handle flames...the word or the heat kind. ANOTHER Random thought: Anyone have any good ideas for Anime Expo this year in terms of cosplay? Yes this is pretty open ended...but I'm at a loss as to what to be this year.

Have a good week...cheers!

Erros