A/N: Sorry for the wait. Thanks to all those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited my story.

Solene rose early in the morning and slipped off to the training yard to watch the soldiers in their morning exercises. As she expected, the fair-haired soldier who had been assigned to guard-duty was there swinging away at a dummy with her axe. Solene leaned against a pillar and watched her train. She took this moment to gather her thoughts on how to proceed in the case. She had come up with several ideas and scenarios last night when she had attempted – in vain – to sleep.

Solene wasn't always a very observant girl, but she did have one trait that she could use to her advantage, and that was her stubborn determination and clear focus once she set herself to a task. It served her well in smithing and she hoped it would serve her well now.

The soldier caught sight of her and left her exercises to approach Solene. Solene lifted herself up off the pillar to greet her. "Before you try to say anything to convince me to go behind the steward's back, know this. My very short and young life has been spent dreaming of fighting for the heroes of the Great War and of Markarth, and by trying to drag me down into your little scheme, I will forever destroy my dream. Now, what is it you wanted?"

Solene was slightly taken aback by her little speech. She was first shocked that she didn't believe she would get permission to investigate – but then again, she was shocked Jorleif finally conceded as well. However, what stuck out to her the most was how she had simply forgotten that her actions could have such high consequences for others. She felt a sudden pang of guilt as she connected this narrow vision to her other mistakes in the past including Frotti and her parents. She wondered how many other lives she may have hurt or ruined in her selfishness.

"Whoa, let's backtrack. I'm sorry," offered the guard, sensing Solene's sudden distress. "How may I serve you, Lady Solene."

"I am actually here on permission of the steward to act on behalf of the Jarl in this investigation."

"Okay, let's save that little speech for the public. Be frank. He really gave you permission?"

"Why does no one believe that I can do this?" asked Solene, a little louder than she had wanted. She looked around and lowered her voice before proceeding. "Yes, Jorleif gave me permission to assist you in hunting for clues. I'm not a child, I'm not a helpless woman, I am the Dragonborn."

"No, you are not a child and you're right, you are more capable than most citizens of this city. You are not, however a soldier, or a guard, or even yet a dragon slayer. You may have the blood of a dragon, but I wouldn't go about flaunting it while you are still training to properly fight."

"I-" Solene stopped herself short. This woman was right. Ulfric had literally dragged her through the dirt and while she had progressed with Ralof, those were baby steps. This woman was probably training and fighting for years. "You're right, but I have to grow and learn somehow. I do not have the luxury of years of training and service that you had."

Now the soldier took a few thoughtful moments before responding. "You're right. I'm Thora, by the way, and to be honest, I'm actually glad to have your help. I hope you're as useful at catching a killer as you are at slaying dragons."

"Well, I've only killed two, and really the second time Einar—" Solene stopped noticing Thora's exasperated expression. "Right. I'll do my best."

"What were the terms of your service?"

"Jorleif said that I was to search for clues and report back to either him or the guard. If I felt that there was any danger either, I was supposed to find a guard immediately."

Thora nodded before speaking, "Alright, then there are two things you can do for me today. You can talk to Helgird in the Hall of the Dead. She will be preparing the body. She's a crazy old bat, but she deals with the dead all day. If there was one thing she knows best, it's the dead. She can update you on any clues found on the body. After that, a fresh pair of eyes on the crime scene would help. You should try to get to that soon before the elements and time remove what's left of any evidence. I'll be following up with the witnesses today. Good luck, Lady Solene."

"Please, just Solene, and luck with you as well, Thora."

With her new assignment, Solene hurried off back towards the graveyard. She had decided to speak with Helgird first in hopes that information about the body may help inform what to look for at the scene. She walked in through the heavy iron doors and immediately shivered and wanted to run back out. A cold breeze swept the halls and it reminded her too much of an old tomb. She half expected draugr to rise at any moment. This wasn't the type of scene she expected to see in the middle of Windhelm. Though the ancient city has already surprised her much in recent days.

She made her way through the halls following the voice of the priestess echoing off in the distance. As the voice grew louder she could make out the woman's words. "… large diagonal cut from left shoulder." The robed woman wandered around the body on the wooden table and examined the corpse close.

"Have you noticed anything about the body?"

"Well, she's dead," she offered somewhat in a huff. "But I guess that's not unusual, at least not for somebody in here. I mean, someone who's not me, that is." She was rambling now. She could now understand Thora's assessment of this priestess. "Sorry, was only joking with you."

Solene wasn't sure if that actually lightened the mood any in here. "So… the body?" she goaded.

"Oh, yes, right, of course! The only unusual thing is the shape of the cuts. They look like they were made with… well the ancient Nords used these kinds of curved blades when they embalmed the dead."

"Yes, I've seen them in their barrows."

"I don't know who in Windhelm would even have something like that. Other than me, of course," she added with a nervous laugh.

Solene did take that into consideration. She was positive that the woman wouldn't have divulged that information if she herself had committed the act, but anything was possible for someone who spent their entire life tending after the dead. "Does anyone else have access to your tools?"

"No one else in the city comes down here. Well, not until their dead of course. You will come down here, too, someday. I mean, other than right now of course. Anyway, I think I would have noticed my tools go missing especially since I deal with the dead day in and day out. And don't you go thinking I've done this either. I'm too busy with the current dead to go around making new ones!"

"Does it bother you? The killings, I mean."

"Of course. I never wish to see someone down here well before their time. These killings are unnatural things," she said shaking her head. "Very unnatural."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well for starters, it's a murder! Goes against all natural laws! But there is something else about the bodies that I forgot to mention. These women who have been murdered, they've been… missing things."

Solene visibly shuddered. "What have they been missing?"

"It's been different for each girl. I only just noticed it this time to be honest. The first one was missing her head entirely along with some muscle and sinew. The second was missing a limb here and there and a few organs. This one was similar to the last."

"Someone is… taking their body parts?" Solene was horrified. "What is he doing with them?"

The priestess shrugged. A light came into her eyes and she jumped. "I have heard of a cult who eats people. Maybe he's doing that. I can't imagine one man being able to eat an entire body on his own."

Solene was done with this conversation and this place. She had spent enough time next to the deceased woman from Candlehearth Hall. "If there is anything else, please let me know. Thank you, Helgird."

"You're welcome child. I hope it may be still many more years before I see you again." Solene understood the morbid meaning to her words and she dearly wished for the same, never wanting to step foot into these halls again.

Solene stepped out into the courtyard and quickly worked through all of the new information she just received. She now knew what the murder weapon was, a pattern to the killings, and a potential motive. She also thought of a few new witnesses she could speak to about Susanna and she also grew determined to find out who the other two victims were to question others on them as well.

With all of that information now categorized in her mind and laid out into new tasks she continued on with the second task requested of her by Thora. She walked over to the gravestone where Susanna was draped the night before and crouched low. As feared, a light layer of snow already covered the scene. Solene carefully brushed the snow away from the gravestone revealing the dried blood crusted into the cracks and crevices of the stone. She looked around the ground near the stone hoping for some evidence to have remained in the frozen ground. After some more dusting in the dirt and snow, she had noticed several footprints that had kept their form over the frozen night and had not yet melted in the day's heat. She felt a slight rush at having noticed this, but her heart sank when she noticed several different footprints in the area. This was an area that saw a lot of movement through the day and there were several witnesses at the scene last night and these could have belonged to any of them. She knew she wasn't on the right track yet.

Solene sat on her haunches and looked around. She glanced around the frozen, old, and depressing graveyard, hoping for something to tell her what to do next. She wasn't experienced in this and time was not on her side. Suddenly she noticed something and stood up straight. She walked towards the middle of the graveyard and brushed her foot through a patch of pink snow. Below the layer of freshly fallen snow, she noticed blood frozen onto the ground. She kept brushing away with her foot to find it formed a decent sized pool. She was certain that this was from last night, and if this Butcher was taking things from his victims it would certainly create a trail of blood.

Solene examined the graveyard more closely, looking for pink patches of snow. She noticed another patch a short distance away and another one further west. This was what she was looking for! Solene followed the trail to the end of the graveyard then turned north towards Windhelm's estates. The followed the trail past large houses and finally stopped at the end of the road, the only direction left between two houses. She stood between the two properties and looked back and forth between the two. She turned to her left, noticing something strange about the door. As she got closer, she realized it was a bloody handprint pressed into the wood. Solene tried to open the door but it was bolted shut. She stepped back a few paced and looked up at the house. It was completely dark. Even though its owner could have left for the day, she was certain it was unused as the house had an air of abandonment about it. She would ask Thora about it.

Thora was no longer in the training yard, so she ran into the palace and then on to the barracks to the right. As expected, Thora was there, eating some bread and cheese and washing it down with ale. Solene joined her at the table and ripped of a piece of bread from the loaf at the table. "I'm assuming your search gained little," she said sighing heavily.

"Actually, I found a few things."

Thora's eyes lit up and she sat up straight in her chair. "Really? Tell me everything."

"I learned two things from Helgird. First, the Butcher is using a sort of ancient embalming tool to kill the girls. Helgird has those tools for obvious reasons, but she doesn't know of anyone else in Windhelm who would have them. Then second, the Butcher is actually taking pieces of the victims with him."

"That's disgusting! What is he using them for?"

"That's what I asked. Helgird seems to think that there is this cannibal cult that is eating them, but I wouldn't trust that motive just yet. That doesn't however erase the fact that body parts are going missing."

"How did we not see this before?"

Solene shrugged, remembering something her mother taught her when she was little and always trying to blame her missing toys on others. "Two points don't make a pattern. It wasn't until the third victim that Helgird noticed it, and he's been taking different parts."

Thora put her food – more accurately threw it – onto her plate. "That means he's probably not done yet. We can't let this information get out. Not yet. With Viola already going around warning people about the Butcher, we don't need more panic and fear to spread."

Solene nodded. "There was another thing I noticed. I found a blood trail leading away from the graveyard."

"Where did it take you?"

"To the north westernmost house in Windhelm."

"Hjerim? That was… Gods."

"What is it?"

"That was the home of the first victim, Friga Shatter-Shield. It's been abandoned ever since she was killed. I think her mother, Tova, has the key."

"Do you think she'll give it to me?"

Thora shook her head. "There is no telling what a grieving woman would do. You can at least try."

"Thanks, Thora!" she called, getting up to her feet and running out.

As she passed the threshold of the barracks she ran into something sturdy. "There you are!" bellowed an agitated voice.

Solene looked up at the man she ran into. "Ralof? What's the matter?"

Ralof shook his head. "Did you really forget? Your combat test is today! You were supposed to have met me in the practice field over an hour ago!"

"I'm so sorry! I did forget! Can... can this wait, Ralof? I am kind of in the middle of…" Solene trailed off as Ralof covered his arms and looked down at her with a disapproving glare.

"I thought you wanted to be a dragon slayer and help Skyrim."

"I do… but-"

"No, but's Solene! A warrior must prioritize what's important. Your training should come before anything else. You're a Dragonborn for Talos' sake! You wanted to fight dragons and the Thalmor and just how do you expect to do that? What is it that you have to do that is so important?"

Solene was prioritizing. The deaths of the women of Windhelm was not something that should be ignored. "I was…" Solene stopped herself. She had to be very careful. Jorleif gave her permission, but she was also asked to keep it from Ulfric as he would disapprove. Ralof would most likely disapprove of it too and what's worse, probably tell Ulfric about it as well. Solene bowed her head in mock shame. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Ralof sighed and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's hard being on your own with so much responsibility. You've been forced into a life you never asked for and it's all new to you. You've just got to keep your head on straight in order to get through this."

Solene nodded. She just had to play along and wait until she had free time again. Though she had to admit Ralof was right. While, investigating these murders were important, she had to make time in her life to continue her training. She also briefly entertained the thought of her training paying off whilst catching the Butcher.