The sunset smeared crimson watercolor above the house roofs. The sun was caught by its edge over the vane spokes, as if it delayed at last before the night comes into its own. A breeze was blowing from the sea, entangled in the branches of darkening bronze trees.
Long rosy shadows covered the cathedral square with a curlicue. Trees, bushes, poles, benches, cast iron handrail of porches - everything cast its transparent and crumpled lace on the pavement.
There were few passers-by.
That's when a girl dressed in a blue priestly gown and a short cape folded behind her the shoulders came out to the square from the road to the port. A very common girl, remarkable only for that hair color – it was dark red, like an autumn leaf, - and a very decent, almost masculine height.
She lingered a little, adjusted the strap of a small leather bag on her shoulder. Taking her time, she headed towards the Cathedral.
Several minutes passed. The sun was setting, turning the shadows into long dark scars on the pavement. The wind grew stronger, carrying the salty smell and distant echoes of seagulls from the sea. The cathedral square was getting quieter - the sound of steps, the rhythmic talking of priests and pilgrims, the slamming of doors and shutters was slowly dying away. Only a remote leaping, almost hysterical barking of a dog and a quiet ringing of bells announced the beginning of a new hour.
And something more… the clatter of hooves.
This silence was artificial. Never before did the center of the city fall silent as dramatically and as fearfully as this evening. People were shocked by the rumors of killings in Old Town, but here at the citadel of Light and salvation it all seemed just scary fairytales that the poor used to tell their children in order to save them from cruel robbers and thieves. Just fairy tales, phantoms, fantasies generated by someone's imagination gone too far.
And yet... Now it seemed that the ghosts touched this reality when a frozen lump of ice-cold silence was cut by a clop of a rider, riding slowly down the street past the Cathedral, slowly as if floating down in a thick haze of the evening, almost merging with the shadows cast between houses. This figure appeared both as a fantasy generated by the sunset sky and as something very alien, as the darkness can possibly be alien to Light.
The rider looked straight ahead, ignoring everything else. The horse was putting its subtle bony legs one before another like stilts and made no sound. The street emptied. The people shut the windows and doors, trying to convince themselves that they were just hiding from the wind and the looming rain, but deep down knowing that they just do not want to make eye contact with the stranger.
He approached the girl from behind and pulled on the reins a little. The horse huffed, but this sound was more like as if a large sheet of paper was wrinkled.
She did not hurry her steps after hearing the clatter of hooves. She even didn't turn around when the pulled reins clinked almost directly above her shoulder and there was a dry, somewhat hoarse sound.
She turned around - and slowed down, slightly stepping aside for the rider not to shove her with his horse. A serene and friendly glance briefly ran around him, pausing shortly on his face - an understandable curiosity, after all the death knights rarely appeared in this quarter just like that, without any business.
The girl's face was calm and a little tired. A usual, moderately attractive face with clear gray eyes and a small obstinate mouth. It didn't seem that this unexpected encounter bothered her.
The rider's face was half covered with a dark hood of a tattered fur coat that once had a color, but now it has become just vaguely gray with some kind of streaks and stains. And so was his armor made of dark metal on which barely visible reflections crept, although no apparent source of light was nearby, creating an illusion that the armor was alive and moving.
The rider stopped, frozen for a few seconds. The horse's mane also covered its eyes like a hood, turning the dead animal into an even more inanimate object with no personality and no soul. Something unnaturally white could be seen from under the hood, but it could not be determined because of the evening twilight and shadow play.
Oswald felt a strange sensation coming from this human. He had intended to simply pass by, maybe hitting the girl by a horse - he did not care. But something made him stop and look at her. A certain feeling that lashed the heart that long stopped beating with a wave of acute pain that could be compared to nothing. He was not hungry, and a sudden desire jumped to his throat as if out of nowhere. The death knight was confused for the first time in the last years of his un-life, and it made him stop.
An empty gaze slid over her, caught on red hair and stopped on her face as if looking for something.
The girl tilted her head slightly to one side. It seemed that the knight wanted to say or ask something but hesitated for some reason - maybe his vocal cords were injured, maybe he just did not want to scare her off. Or he was ashamed – even this happens to them sometimes...
A searching look from under his shabby hood felt on her skin as a sharp dagger-like chill.
"Can I help you?" she asked, her words accompanied by a welcoming smile.
The rider seemed somehow... restless to her. Whether cautious beyond measure or just irritated. There was no need to see the knight's face to feel this tension; his almost physically perceptible gaze was enough.
Oswald winced hardly noticeable hearing her voice. He did not immediately realize what she said; it was not important for him. He caught the smallest changes of intonation, listened to the tone, looked for emotions: something that was so mysterious in the mortals and that caused such sharp despair... She looked questioningly at the death knight, and he again replayed her words in his memory.
"You... can't", Anderfels's raspy voice sounded, and he threw back his hood due to some momentary impulse, staring into the girl's eyes with his one. The left one of his eyes was empty and dead, however it was the only one that spoke the truth. A face once lovely but now disfigured of death presented itself before the girl, looking like a poorly tailored tapestry: stains of death and decay were scattered upon it, mixed up with parts still alive.
What is this strange place, Anderfels thought. What kind of mysterious land where he has to live, constantly battling with incomprehension of what is happening around him? What is this creature that has this look... no, rather this sense of life energy coming from it as clean and concentrated that it literally made him grind his teeth... The fact of the girl's existence alone turned over all of his nature, forced the remnants of his feelings to writhe in an almost unbearable agony of awareness of the wickedness of his own existence. It was agonizing. Unbearable. And yet he couldn't stop looking. Just couldn't.
"You can't help me", he repeated, almost completely seeing clearly before his eyes as this mortal creature screams in agony, struggling in his arms, dripping blood and life, becoming one with him and dissolving into the endless void of the death knight. No, don't, flashed through his mind, driving away those obsessive thoughts. It was the center of Cathedral Quarter and he had already killed two people a couple of days ago. He could not be so careless, or he would have to change his dwelling place again. Still, the temptation was too great.
He ran a hand over his face unconsciously, rubbing the bone protruding from his cheekbones. A long forgotten gesture from the past life, which for some reason hadn't been killed by the magic of the Lich King. However, that was all that was left in him from a human.
You can't help me...
Kaetana could have sworn that the knight still wanted something of her.
But perhaps he simply confused her with someone else, and finally recognized the mistake.
...Solid, regular face features. The solitary eye is full of glowing ice. The lips as if smeared with ashes. The bone in a narrow torn wound on his cheek is gleaming white. Former beauty, crossed out with the reality of deformity...
Kaetana never detained her look at such things. She was not afraid of death knights, she had even slept embracing one of them once, let alone she had seen all sorts of wounds and other delights in her life so many times that it would be enough for a dozen men. It was all familiar to her.
"You're sure?" she asked just in case, ready to leave.
Weariness made itself felt. It was time to go; tomorrow she wouldn't get enough sleep, as usual...
Oswald's horse moved its leg, gritting its horseshoe on the pavement, betraying the signs that it is still not a statue, but a living being in a way for the first time since the conversation started. This brought Anderfels from a kind of trance into which he had already managed to fall.
"Yes", he replied, turning away. It was as if he was ashamed to stand before the girl, full of life and beauty that were almost visibly flowing around her. Of course, it was pointless. He was unable to experience such feelings as shame. But it seemed to him that she knew something about him - something that he would never open to anyone, and it infuriated him even more than his own doubts.
He clenched his fist, and something of a struggle reflected in his face, giving his already not too attractive face an expression of some kind of half-mad joy mixed with hatred. The knight's eye flared with a bluish light, and his hatred cut through the girl like a knife.
"Leave", the death knight said, staggering in place like a drunk. "Go away. No matter where to. Just don't get in my way ever again". He turned away, pulled his hood and took the horse by the reins; he went to one of the side streets of the Cathedral Quarter where his lair was located.
Home... this word was no longer familiar to him. Home was the place where he could be alone, though loneliness became his faithful companion from the very moment when his eyes closed and his body was left lying on the battlefield. Secretly, he hoped that he will stumble upon this annoying loudly barking dog, and he could kill it to soothe his pain a bit. He could no longer remain close to that woman and pretend that he did not care. She was lucky that he wasn't hungry. Next time he wouldn't give her such a chance, however he didn't particularly know why he gave it now. Maybe because he didn't want to get in trouble. And maybe for some other reason.
Kaetana shrugged her shoulders, and after glancing at the knight for a few moments, she went up the steps to the entrance of the Cathedral.
He was bad. Very bad. But he didn't need help. There was no such cure to remedy death... it hadn't been created yet.
Once again turning to where the rhytmic clinking of horseshoes subsided in the alley, where the shadows engulfed the high gloomy figure of the knight, Kaetana entered the Cathedral.
Something in her soul was whirling, tossing, falling slowly, and settling like ash in a glass of bright water... Something that the death knight left for her.
It will be over soon.
...Shortly, the night fell onto the Cathedral Quarter, and it struck midnight in the chapel. Life was slowly coming back into its place, because the city didn't sleep even at night.
The dog let out a prolonged and high squeal in the distance and fell silent, but no one paid any attention to this. Everything was going as usual, and no one remembered the phantom of the past that swept through the streets like cold wind, and just as the wind he left nothing behind except for a shiver somewhere down the spine. No one remembered something that didn't want to be remembered; something that was torn away by the mind as having no value and impossible to understand.
And even the priestess had soon lost the feeling that the death knight gave her. She was alive, and therefore couldn't keep those ashes in her soul long. The thing that had always been with him in his un-life. The thing that he wanted to give her so much, to share his suffering in exchange for her life. But this was merely a fleeting dream. Nothing more.
The Dwarven Quarter was gradually calming down. In the evening, there were fewer customers and the blacksmiths quietly seized their activities. Some hammer blows were heard only in a small building in the middle of the block. A small window was brightly lighted, and in it one could perfectly see an elf standing at a forge. The door was tightly closed, a narrow strip of light beaming through a small gap onto the pavement.
Heinrich thoughtfully examined the door and the surrounding buildings. It seemed that the boy was talking about this smithy exactly.
Cracking his neck, Gayle forcefully hit the door a few times.
"Ligrim, open up!"
A few seconds later the door opened, and an elf appeared on the doorstep, clutching a steel chisel in his hand.
"Heinrich, is that you? What's up with the hurry? Something happened?" the elf wondered.
"Yes. We need to talk", Gayle looked up at the elf. "Can I come in?"
"Oh, right, come in". The elf went to the table, letting Heinrich inside. "Just shut the door".
The man nodded and shook the dirt off his shoes, walking inside the smithy, closing the door behind him and looking about him with boredom.
"First, answer the standard questions: are you free now and can you keep secrets?"
"Yes, to the both questions". — The elf sat down into a chair and clasped his hands together.
"Perfect, that's what I was expecting". — Gayle approached the anvil in order to see the elf's next creation. — "The case is more than specific for me. However, it came from a man who first of all, is very interested in the implementation of it and secondly, pays more than well".
Picking up a strip of metal that may someday become a sword or dagger, Gayle looked at the wall thoughtfully.
"Currently four murders have been committed in Old Town, with an interval of nearly a month. In both cases, they found couples of young people in terrible condition which can not be attributed neither to the attacks of thugs nor to any other domestic incidents".
Turning to face Ligrim and tossing the metal strip in his hand, Heinrich went on:
"As I have heard in fact the murders are likely to be of a ritual or some other nature. People were dismembered into small pieces and then somehow hidden from the common eyes, giving the killer or killers some time".
Walking around the room and examining the tools, the man continued:
"The following is in no doubt: the murders were unplanned or had a pretty wild scenario; the murders were rather cruel in nature, which makes it possible to assume magical overtones; and the killer did not leave any traces. Soon I will receive the copies of the guard reports, but I don't think I will learn anything new".
The elf listened carefully, never interrupting Gayle.
"Always couples?"
"Well, there are two cases that we are aware of. In both cases it was couples. A man and a woman. Prostitutes both times, but the men have different social statuses. Either regularity or coincidence; it's still impossible to say for sure".
"Strange indeed. Who requested to find the killer?"
"That shouldn't be of interest to you; the customer wished to remain anonymous. One thing is for sure, it's not his own doing".
"Very, very peculiar... But what do you want from me?"
"I want you to go to the place of the last murder with me, and together we will examine it. Knowing how the guard works and the relative recency of the event, I dare suggest that we may find something to clarify the case. I'm going to visit the morgue in the morning; now nobody will let anybody in".
Gayle put the workpiece down and lit a cigarette with a piece of coal from the furnace.
"Get dressed and take your weapon. Just in case..."
The elf nodded, walked to the back of the smithy and came back in a few minutes wearing his usual black cloak. The weapon was nowhere in sight.
"I'm ready".
Heinrich nodded and walked out.
Gayle was silent on the way to the place of murder, only once he did ask a question.
"Do you think that such assassinations can be a sign that Twilight Hammer showed up again?"
"Until I see the crime scene, I can't say anything certain".
That was all.
Drizzling rain began dirt and slop that always accompany the big city mingled underfoot.
And there was the place...
"Operative working"...
Heinrich thoughtfully examined the fence and crates that blocked the alley.
"Ligrim, there it is".
And without waiting for approval, Gayle began to climb onto the fence.
The elf hemmed and climbed behind silently. He jumped down from the other side and looked around.
"We didn't think of taking a flashlight with us, did we...?"
Gayle sighed and looked around in order to find anything that can provide light.
"Hmmm... We certainly didn't. Can you see anything at all?"
"Relatively so, but in this situation we won't find anything..."
"Well, Ligrim, stay here, I'll be right back. There are a few of my friends; I'll tell them to bring some light".
"Go ahead, I'll wait. I'm curious myself".
Gayle nodded, climbed up the boxes and disappeared after having a look at the street from the top.
Light flickered over the crates in a few minutes, and two figures appeared, one of them was carrying a lantern.
"This is Paw. He's with us and will tell us about what he saw".
Jumping down, Heinrich glanced around more carefully and headed for the blackening entrance to the sewers.
"Paw? I remember something... Oh well", the elf followed Gayle.
Paw hesitated in place and followed the elf, constantly looking around.
"Is it true that zombies killed five people here?"
"We didn't invite you for discussion", Heinrich winced whether at the smell or at the 'zombie killers', "but to provide light. Mind your own business, if you please".
"Allright, Doc".
Heinrich sat down on his knees and inspected the passage, on which they had set a new door with a large padlock. Picking some dirt with his finger, he showed the result to Ligrim.
"They tried to clean up here, but there's no blood, and the ground is old. If the corpse was torn to pieces, it had to be soaked with bodily fluids. But ground is clean..."
"Interesting... Did the murder take place here?"
"Apparently, yes. Or the corpses had been pumped out of blood, collected in a pile, brought here, and crammed into the sewer... And everything close to a very busy street", Gayle pointed somewhere to the right. One of the brothels is situated there. For those who have gold. So I think that the victim walked out of there with a girlfriend, then came here... or they were lured... And got killed".
"How long ago?'
"Don't know. The corpses were found a day ago".
"A day... Then who the hell has cleaned up here?" the elf squatted down, rubbed the dirt in his fingers, even sniffed it.
"The case is very peculiar, and our King doesn't like to worry his subjects. They've even set up a fence and closed down the sewers".
Gayle chewed his lip.
"Paw, what exactly have you seen?"
"Nothing special, Doc. Me and the boys watched as the corpses were loaded. One was got out literally in buckets! And then all somehow got scared, sent a man to the GHQ, quickly swept around and poured water, the dwarves set up the door and blocked the alley".
Gayle nodded.
"I think it's fitting, for a murder like this".
"Goddammit, fucking wiseacres... Trampled everything here to hell. Paw! Tell me what you saw. How the corpses were loaded".
"In buckets, elf. In buckets. Well, one of them for sure, the second was still intact, but I didn't notice anything special, sorry".
The elf straightened and spat out angrily.
"Swept everything, flooded ereything! Everything! And what should I look for here? Paw, did you see anything unusual on the ground until this wiseacres dug their noses here?"
"No, elf, nothing here. And even if there was anything interesting, they took it away".
Gayle shrugged, getting up from his squatting position.
"We have to see everything by ourselves here, Ligrim. Why don't you inspect the right side, and I'll take the left. And we must carefully examine it all. Maybe we'll find something".
"All I can say is one thing. It's not the Hammer. Not their style".
The elf straightened up and went to the right side, carefully examining everything around.
"Gayle! Some light needed here..."
Having got his hands behind his back and sometimes poking the ground with his boot, Heinrich walked by the left side. After he heard Ligrim, he gestured Paw to approach the elf and then went on his way. He bent over the ground, found a tooth and began to study it attentively.
"Ligrim, what have you got there?.."
"A scrape on the wall... Paw, I need light here".
The elf tapped on the wall and narrowed his eyes.
"A scrape made by something very sharp. A sword, I guess, its very tip. The masonry here is brick and the scratch is smooth, as if the blade cut through like butter. There's no blood, but I think someone was killed here, apparently decapitated. It feels like they struck with a swipe, chopped off the head and grazed the masonry", the elf squatted down. "No blood of course. Dammit... What do you got?"
"A tooth. I think that the story of the corpse taken out in buckets is truer than we think".
Gayle sighed and dropped the tooth on the ground.
"I think we got nothing more to do here. I'm going to the morgue tomorrow. Then I'll let you know how it went. Deal?"
"Deal. One thing is for sure, we can dismiss Twilight Hammer right away. It's not their style. Maybe some local psychopath", the elf straightened up with a sigh. "You said you would receive the reports of the guard. Can I have a look? And at what you will see in the morgue. They have swept up all the traces, and have done it well, not a damn thing to find. I'd tear of their frigging hands... The guard trampled everything even more so. Paw, so you say one man was taken out in buckets and the second man was more or less intact?"
"The second woman, elf. The second was a woman, and she was covered with burlap, but they carried her by the arms and legs". Trampling on the spot, the man wondered. "Is Doc gone already?"
Gayle walked down the street, leaving Ligrim to deal with the volunteer and twisted a cigarette between his fingers, thinking what kind of trouble he got himself into this time...
"Okay, Paw, good luck. I'm sure I've definitely seen you somewhere before..." the elf smirked, lit a cigarette and walked back the same way that they'd arrived here with Heinrich.
Gayle entered Elza's room chewing on something. Pensively examining the sleeping woman, the man sighed and approached, putting a glass of cold milk to her forehead.
Livlett rolled over and grabbed the pillow, hugged it and muttered something that could not be heard properly in her sleep. Her clothes were hanging nearby on the back of a chair, and the woman was dressed only in her underwear.
Gayle sighed and put the glass between the shoulder blades.
"Rise and shine, Elza. I need you, you can sleep enough later".
She kicked her leg, trying to resist someone who so obsessed with waking her up so early, but probably she couldn't get much sleep anymore. Letting out a sigh, she opened her eyes and looked at Heinrich as if he was a demon from the Void itself.
"Well, what do you want?"
Gayle handed the glass to Elza, reaching for a cigarette with his other hand.
"Do you remember I told you last night that we had been hired by some rather serious people to investigate the killings? Today we'll go to the morgue. Wash your face, I'll tell you what we have found with Ligrim.
"Interesting. Why do you need me?" Elza asked, pulling her clothes on and drinking up the milk. "I'm not particularly big on cadavers. And anyway, it seems to me that all this is in no way connected, and people believe just out of fear that the murders were committed by one person".
Gayle leaned against the door frame, looking at the exit from the hallway.
"The people have already guessed that the killers were zombies, so you shouldn't believe everything they say. However, the murders have been similar in execution and victims. Although I'll be able to say for sure only after the third incident".
"So we'll wait for the third murder?" Elza asked in surprise, buttoning up her jacket. The mornings, especially early ones, were quite chilly. "Don't you think it's a bit too much?"
"We won't wait, Elza. We'll just do what we can". Turning around and glancing at the woman, Gayle smiled awkwardly. "We're paid for vengeance, not for leisure".
Without saying anything else, Heinrich went to the exit.
"Hey, wait!" She ran after him, trying to pull on her boot on the go and to hang the knife on her belt, just in case.
On their way, Gayle told briefly about what they had discovered... or rather, hadn't discovered with Ligrim. It was more than cool outside, and there was a thick fog which appeared to be the consequence of the yesterday's rain.
A bright beautiful building came slowly out of the fog. And who could say that there was a morgue in the basement of this building... Field surgeons were trained on the upper floors, but the future healers were nowhere to be seen at this early hour.
Gayle ignored the main entrance and opened a small gate, marching through the neighborhood to the distant back entrance.
"I don't like it here", Elza shivered, shaking off the sticky mud of her boots. She had absolutely no desire to look at the corpses; what Heinrich had described to her was more than enough. But something was not right here. Ligrim... She thought of him all of a sudden.
"Don't you worry, it's okay".
Gayle banged his fist on the door.
A minute later, shuffling steps could be heard behind the door, and it open slightly to let a long hooked nose stick outside.
"Who's there? I can't let anyone in: orders of superiors".
Instead of answering, Heinrich reached into his pocket, pulled out a few folded sheets of paper and gave them to the stranger.
"We have our own orders".
After a while, the door opened to the full width and displayed the owner of the nose: a high creaker in a worn business suit and house slippers.
"Why so early? You could've come later".
"Work isn't waiting".
"I see", the man said, handing the documents to Gayle. "But better yet an hour later... My clients don't usually run away".
Gayle did not react to the remark, squeezed between the man and the opened door, and began to walk down the stairs.
Elza smiled uncertainly at the old guy and squeezed after Heinrich. With her height, she had to bend so as not to bang her head against the door frame, and that greatly spoiled her attempt to sneak into the room quickly and quietly after Heinrich. Deciding that showing off in front of Gramps was completely useless, she walked after Gayle straightening her disheveled hair.
Heinrich entered a long hall, at the sides of which there were tables with bodies covered with burlap.
"Where are our guys, mister?"
"Here you go". The man proceeded to a closed door in a bouncy gait, shuffling his slippers and ignoring the cold. "You understand that this is a delicate matter, so I keep them away..."
Tinkering with the lock a little, he flung open the door and stepped back.
"I have seen them already a few times, I won't mingle. If you need anything or are going to leave, I'm right there. Knock on the door and I'll come back".
Gayle nodded and entered a small room where it was obviously colder than in the main hall. There were five tables in the room, three of them were occupied.
"So then, the son has already been taken... bad".
Coming up to the first table and looking at the paper tag on his toe, Gayle nodded.
"Victim one. Male. Worker from one of the shops. Age nineteen. Died of a gnawed throat".
Holding the corners of the fabric, Heinrich pulled it off abruptly, revealing the naked body.
"Gna... what?" Elza choked, staring at the body with wide eyes. "Gnawed? Who? How? Why?!" She couldn't understand why someone suddenly needede take away a person's life using their teeth. And it seemed more likely as if the boy had been attacked by an angry worgen. Elza shuddered. She had already seen the same picture somewhere, except that the face was different. Blood drained from her face and she shrank back, barely suppressing a sudden desire to throw up.
Gayle looked at Elza and walked over to her tight-lipped, closing the ugly picture from her glance.
"Stop panicking. Take a deep breath... Come on, breathe in and out... Breathe".
Gently patting Elza's cheek, Heinrich smiled awkwardly.
"If you want to leave, then go. But if you want to help me, either be patient, or…" Reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small hand-rolled cigarette, the man handed it to Elza. "Here, it's not poison, just calms you down a bit".
"No thanks", Elza shook her head. She had already come to her senses more or less, but she still looked pale. "I'm okay. It's just... I remembered something. Something similar". She paused, turning away from the corpse. "What's next?"
Gayle nodded, removed the cigarette, and came up to the table.
"And indeed, they literally gnawed his throat. Using their teeth…" After searching for some kind of medical instruments and not finding anything suitable, Heinrich took a knife out his sleeve and cautiously lifted one and then the other edge of the wound. "Nothing here is clear. Rats did their job here... bad".
Straightening his back, the man once again examined the body.
"And here are the wounds that had been inflicted in the moment of murder. Puncture... round... five of them. And apparently, they had been inflicted with something wooden: see the splinters here? I have a suggestion, but we need the second corpse for this".
"Wooden? What is it, a vampire hunt?" Elza realized that her joke failed, and scowled even more. "It's too many coincidences. I mean, throat gnawing, then chest piercing with a stake. Too... diverse for one and the same killer".
"I think so too", Heinrich said, throwing off the burlap from the second body and wincing as it could barely be called a body any longer. Apparently, morgue workers spent a long time trying to gather the body in one... pile? Pieces and shreds that simply could not be placed correctly were lying next to the feet.
"What is this?" Elza approached the body and grimaced. "How... who is that? Have they identified the body? Although, probably that's a stupid question..."
"We'll have to look at the documents of the guard, there is nothing written here". Gayle looked at the tag. "Only that it's a woman... Well, that I can see for myself. We are not interested in her gender, so let's proceed to the inspection. Look, the lower jaw… We figured it correct with you: it was she that gnawed his throat. Here it is, see? The teeth are broken off a bit; and there are pieces of meat stuck in them. So... where's her hand... The righ one is clean. And here... look, splinters and a wound here. Evidently, she had been striking with something wooden, and it broke down in her hand".
"That is, she killed the guy?" Elza stared at Heinrich with a mixture of disbelief and delight. He spotted something that she would never have noticed, given the other... colorful details. "But that just doesn't make any sense!"
"Maybe it's just memories of my former clients, but if they had taken control over her... And simply forced her to kill the guy first, and then they killed her... Well then, at least it is clear why one victim is different from another in a manner of murder, but both are connected to each other by a single... Ripper of some kind!"
Gayle grimaced and rubbed his hands. He was utterly disgusted to see such cruelty, which was pointless at least with the known facts.
"But why? Why take her under control and force to kill the guy, and then kill her? It doesn't make any sense... After all, if she survived, she would be considered responsible for all the crimes..." Elza rubbed her chin thoughtfully. And why would they dismember the girl's corpse and leave the guy just like that, with such obvious traces?"
Gayle shrugged.
"Maybe the killer is a madman, maybe he enjoyed the panic of this woman, maybe this guy was somehow able to grab the killer and deprive him of the ability to move... Too many maybes..."
Heinrich turned his head looking at the man and then at the woman.
"The killer somehow takes control over the woman's brain, causes her to kill her companion, thus absolutely without interference into what is happening. After that he begins to cut her into small pieces with a very sharp weapon... Disgusting".
"You're right", Elza resisted the urge to spit on the clean floor. "Let's not look at it any longer than necessary. What else is there?"
Gayle nodded and proceeded to the last table.
"A new victim. According to the card, she was murdered three days ago. She was engaged in prostitution in one of the brothels of Old Town".
A jerk - and the burlap flies to the floor, and there is a body of a rather pretty girl lying on the table with a deep wound in her chest area.
"She was killed less... bloodthirsty, but according to the records she has no heart".
"Now, that is the cultists' style", Elza murmured, leaning over the girl. "Looks like it. Usually they sacrifice people organs… young women's often. Has the heart never been found?"
Gayle shook his head and "opened" the girl's ribs.
"A clean work, nothing to add here. Neat cuts, neat fractures... Wait. Elza, keep it this way, I need to check something".
Grimacing, she warily took hold of the edge of the wound with her faintly shaking hands.
"Please, hurry. I don't want to touch it". She looked away, trying not to peer inside the cut.
Gayle carefully pulled the skin with his knife along the bottom edge of the right-wing ribs, and gently made an incision. Grasping the edges of the wound and pulling it, Heinrich "opened" the woman a little wider and bit his lip.
"That's how it is…"
Letting go of the ribs and proceeding to the pieces of the first woman, the man started poking around in them.
Elza broke down and took a step back from the dead body, almost tripped over a cabinet with tools and swore to herself. She's just a sissy... but war is one thing, and poking around in corpses and examining entrails just like that is another thing.
"You... what have you found?" she tried to give her voice a more calm tone, although she clearly felt the cold sweat streaming down her forehead.
Gayle turned around and frowned at Elza.
"We've got problems... Both women have no blood. Looks like your stupid joke about vampires had a reason".
The silence in the morgue was shattered by a knock on the door and the shuffling of the creaker's slippers.
"Hello, Lieutenant! Want to examine the bodies again? Sure, of course, come in".
Gayle looked around, wiped his hands with a clean piece of burlap, and muttered "Get out" to Elza. Pulling the peak of his cap lower down, Heinrich headed into the street ignoring the curious gaze of the investigator.
Elza quickly left after Heinrich. It seems they had been in the morgue for longer than it appeared: sun was shining already in full, and the morning wind abated little by little. Elza unbuttoned her jacket and lifted her pale face to the sunlight. She came out of there at last...
"Have any ideas?" she asked as she walked next to Gayle and looked at him askance.
"I have to think it all over. I've seen such cruelty, but this happening in the capital… It's something new for me".
Wrapping himself up in the cloak more tightly, Gayle marched towards his home.
