Sleep is good. Everyone requires sleep without even thinking about it, the only time you ever think about it is when you don't get enough. Sleep was exactly what Harry was trying to partake in, but unfortunately a grey ball of fur was currently on top of the wizard meowing as loud as possible to wake him up. With a groan, Harry stirred from this slumber and opened his eyes to see yellow ones staring back at him expectantly. Mister, the large grey tabby cat, sat on the man's chest waiting for him to get up and feed him. Reluctantly Harry moved, this made the cat leap from the bed and swish its non existent tail before waltzing out of the room.
"Yeah, Yeah. I hear you mister." He grumbled as he got out of bed, shuffled over to pour some food into the dish for the cat, and walked into the kitchen.
Mouse, who was laying on the floor on some of the carpets, perked his head up and trotted over to his owner. With a few wags of the tail he sat by his own food dish and patiently waited his turn. Harry filled the dog bowl up with food. The wizard popped a few vertebrae in his spine as he shuffled towards the icebox in the kitchen.
Without thinking, he reached in and grabbed a coke. He needed caffeine at this hour, it was way too early to be up for the little amount of sleep he got. As he started to chug the soda to try and wake up, he riffled through the icebox a bit more looking for something to snack on. He grabbed the milk and took the box of cereal from the top and pour himself a bowl. Mouse trotted over from his own breakfast and looked up at Harry with a big dopey doggy grin.
Mouse was a large dog, and there is no exaggeration about his size. He was fu dog that Harry accidentally adopted as a pup without knowing how big this animal would get. He was nothing but fur and happiness, but if you managed to get on his bad side then you wouldn't even want to know what would happen. The wizard wouldn't admit it aloud but he loved that dog, even with his healthy fear of the much smaller cat that inhabited the apartment as well.
Harry sat on the couch and quickly started to eat his breakfast. He let his mind wonder back to the case from the previous night. He could see the mark burned into that woman's hand, it was very obviously someone of the order but what or who could have killed her? And what about those black wings, he never saw something like that before. It was bizarre, but of course bizarre was what the wizard specialized in. Well technically he specializes in lost items found, but the amount he worked for both Chicago PD and as a Warden for the council- he might as well add bizarre to his resume.
The way she was killed confused Harry though. He was pretty sure that just stabbing an Denarian wouldn't kill it, those things took a lot of power and possibly a knight of the cross to kill one. He was pretty sure that Michael would have called him if he was hunting one of the blacken last night. He would have to start working on this case soon, Molly was suppose to come over in the afternoon to work on her lessons. There was no way he was dragging the young girl into a mess with the fallen who had a grudge against her dad. The wizard looked over his gloved hand and thought back to that coin that was embedded in the sub basement floor. He knew each time the fallen appeared to him, it was a bit harder to say no.
He finished the small breakfast and moved to put the dishes in the sink. He wanted to go into the Morgue today before the grasshopper came over, maybe in the light he would be able to find something else that could help with with his investigation. He was pulled from this thoughts by a sharp knocking at the door. The wizard walked over to the door and open the heavy thing with as much force as possible to pry it open. Mister took this opportunity to scurry out quickly in a flash of grey fur. Harry was greeted with a stern looking Karrin, she was already ready to go for the day. Knowing her she probably already finished her routine of working out in the morning, had a good quality breakfast, and finished all the work needed before this ungodly hour. Stupid morning people.
"Nice boxers" She commented and let herself into the apartment. Harry looked down and could see he was wearing a pair with superman logos all over it. He could feel his ears heating up at the comment but otherwise kept his face neutral.
"If I was expecting company I would have put on the silk ones." He retorted with a grin.
Murphy just rolled her eyes. "I heard from Stallings" her tone completely changed, it was work mode time. "Seems like the FBI is starting to poke its nose into this case."
Harry just looked at her confused, he remembered the last time the FBI got involved. It did not end well for anyone. "Why?"
Karrin shrugged, "No idea but I intend to find out." After that statement, she bugged Harry enough to put on some clothes. He quickly got dressed, slipping on a pair of jeans and a dark shirt. He put on his heavy leather duster and adjusted the collar. The seasons were just starting to fade into fall temperatures which means there was a good chance this coat would be too hot in a couple of hours, but the amount of spells and enchantments put on this thing had saved his life before. He could deal with a bit of heat if it meant he wouldn't have to worry about a bullet in the back.
Harry grabbed his staff from the wall and pulled the door open for Karrin. With a roll of her eyes at his chivalry, she walked out with Mouse trailing on her heels. The Wizard followed after locking up and putting the spells in place to keep his house safe. Harry and Mouse got into the blue beetle, which only kept the name out of nostalgia and not because of the color of the car anymore, as Karrin got onto her motorcycle and attached the helmet to her head. Harry followed her all the way down the morgue.
By the time Harry arrived and found parking, Karrin is already inside requesting time to look at the body. He instructed Mouse to wait by the car, he didn't know if animals would be allowed inside and didn't want to run the risk of them getting kicked out before they even got to examine the body. When the wizard walked in, he could immediately tell that something was wrong by the expression on on short woman's face. Murphy was pissed. Harry knew better than to try and even talk to her when she was like this.
"What do you mean, they are here?" She asks in a smooth and quiet tone that absolutely send a pulse of dread down Harry's spine, even though the comment was directed at the receptionist and not at him.
"Um…" The young girl looked down that the papers in front of her pretending they held the secrets needed to answer the detective. "They arrived a couple of minutes ago, I was looking for Dr Butter's phone number since they wanted to ask him some questions about the woman he examined last night." She made a point to avoid the bright blue eyes that Murphy kept trained on her, unwavering.
"So the FBI in here, in this building, at this moment?" She asked to clarify and all the other girl could do was nod. She started to move but Harry caught her shoulder and kept his grip firm.
"I know this is not ideal, but we can come back when they are done." Harry stated the obvious, it would be better to avoid these guys.
"No!" The blonde spoke with such determination, usually she didn't get this upset. There had to be more to the issue then she was letting on. "This is my case Dresden."
"Why is it so important?" Harry asked in frustration towards his friend.
"Because it's mine." She huffed and crossed her arms. "They may have taken my job and demoted me, but they can't take this case from me." Karrin jerked her shoulder forward to break the man's grip and took off down the hall with determination in her step. It took a few moments for Harry's mind to catch up with the conversation, but everything seemed to click in place. It was then that the wizard noticed that Karrin was already halfway down the hall.
"Murph, wait!" Harry called after her, but it was no use. Once her mind was made up, there was no stopping the cop. Even with his long stride, it took a few moments before Harry could catch up with his friend. Just as he approached Karrin was shouting at the men huddle around the body. He almost felt bad for them… almost.
With almost identical movements, the two men in suits produced badges from their coat pockets. The third in a crumbled trench coat just stared at them. His eyes were just as bright blue as Karrin's but the way he looked at them was a bit unnerving. He make unashamed eye contact with Karrin, slowly he dragged his eye to meet with Harry. They two looked at each other for a brief moment, the one in the trench coat tilted his head to the side in confusion. Harry broke eye contact first, there was something a bit unsettling about him and there was no well in hell that Harry was going to get suckered into a soul gaze with this guy.
"I'm Agent Schon," The tallest of the three spoke. Harry had to bite back the urge to tell him to cut his hair. "These are my partners, Agent Cain…" He gestured his badge towards the shorter one. "and Agent… Perry." He finished and directed at the awkward one in the trench coat. Harry detected the hesitation in his voice before introducing the last one. It was just a bit suspicious.
"I don't care who you are-" Karrin started but was cut off by Harry stepping in front of her.
"Don't mind Murph" Harry spoke evenly, causing the detective to glare at him. "She just wants to know why you are involved with this case?"
"Hey man," The shorter one with sandy blonde hair spoke, he raised his hands defensively. "We are here for a job, not trying to step on anyone's toes."
"Listen here shorty" Karrin retorted defensively. The man just looked at her baffled. He looked her up and down as if to take in her height again, just to see if her comment was warranted. "No one comes to my town and takes my cases from me."
"Okay Barbie," The man rolled his eyes, that comment just sent fire into Karrin's eyes. Harry could see her clench her fists in anger. "I got news for you then, this ain't your case anymore." The two just stared at each other with such hatred in their eyes. The prolonged eye contact they made could be felt in the room. All the other occupants just stood around a bit nervously.
Harry reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder, as a comfort. This may have been a mistake as the death glare he received from the short woman caused him to instantly pull his gloved hand away as if caught on fire, which he would know the feeling. "Murph," He tried to keep a comforting tone, there was a slight sag in the woman's shoulders but her face remained unchanged. She just shook her head and sighed.
The tallest of the three strangers almost mirrored the Wizards actions. He placed his hand the the angry one's shoulders and whispered something in a hushed voice. He looked at the two of them, "I apologize for my partner. He can have a short temper." The man just ran a hand through his long hair, almost like a nervous habit. "We'll be leaving shortly." Harry wondered if he kept using the word 'short' on purpose, and given the glare the other man shot in his direction it seemed to be the case. "I'm sorry, detectives, but we didn't catch your names."
Harry just snorted a laugh, "This is… Sergeant Murphy." He caught himself in time for the new title change, he needed to be extra vigilant about that in the future, no need to remind her about the demotion accidentally. "I'm Harry Dresden, not a detective but a consulting psychic." He heard a sharp laugh from the angriest of the three. The tallest just shoved him forward, passed a card to Harry and said to if they need to get in contact with them it had the needed info.
Only have the two exited the room did the Wizard notice that the silent one of the three was still staring at him. Almost as if he he was trying to study the very atoms that made up the man. Harry looked back up and saw the blue eyes watching, never breaking contact. It was unnerving as hell. Harry didn't even realize that they made eye contact again, he held his breath. How long had they been looking in each others eyes? He took a sharp inhale, expecting the soul gaze to start any moment. Not that he wanted it, but he just didn't realize how long they had been looking at each other, almost like trying to figure something out that was not quite right in the other man. He waited… 1… 2… 3… nothing. The wizard blinked and furrowed his brows.
This seemed to cause the other man to blink as well. Without saying a word at all; the dark haired man in the trench coat looked over at Karrin, nodded and mumbled something along the lines of catching up with his partners and walked passed them. What a weird guy, and this is coming from a man who regularly plays dungeons and dragons with a bunch of werewolves.
The two were left alone with the dead body. Harry tried to shake the image of those blue eyes piercing into his skin but it left him a bit… strange. There was definitely something up with these feds. The wizard and cop (jeez, that sounded like the start of a bad joke) started to examine the body. Harry was able to get a better look at the mark on her hand, he was certain it belonged to one of the fallen. Although which one he didn't know. He needed to contact Michael to see if he could get more information. Murphy snapped a picture using one of those new fangled phones before turning it off and stowing it. That was probably wise; the less time that technology had to be working around Harry, the better.
There was very little else to look at. So the pair informed the assistant that they were leaving and she took care of the rest by cleaning up after them. The poor girl looked very worried and made a point to avoid Karrin at all costs. Karrin promised she would send the picture to Michael. Harry knew he needed to go see his friend, perhaps he could shed some light on what was happening. He knew that Michael was probably busy, he would wait to talk to him until he came to pick up Molly after her lessons today, in the meantime he should probably head into his office to check the mail and see if there were any messages. It seemed like after becoming a warden he was spending less and less time at that place, but he still needed some place to conduct his business from. He would try to convince Karrin to get some lunch with him before she headed back to work.