Taking the files out from under his waist coat, he handed them to Miss Holmes and sat in silence, staring between her and the mask, while she scanned over each of the suspects case files.

"You have questions." Sebastian was about to answer but was cut off before he could even start. Sighing, Elena grabbed her purse and opened it, sliding a slip of paper towards him. "The water is contaminated. Drugged. See how this piece has turned a shade of pink? That just means it's not a deadly poison. It's something from a hospital actually, so a calmative or muscle relaxant of some sort, perhaps even a very mild liquid form of anaesthesia? Something quite shocking is going to happen later on in the night. I assume, since this is the Viscount of Druitt's party, he's holding another underground trafficking auction or something alike."

"Interesting."

"Mm. It is, isn't it? Now, your other questions regarding the invites, Charlie Seville and, of course, how I know you lied about forgetting the the masks in the cab." Having started looking back at the files, it was her way of proving just how simple it all was to figure out.

"You have my attention."

"This isn't our table. Charlie Seville wasn't our waiter we were assigned, he was easy enough to get rid of for the night though. This is the table belonging to the people I switched our tickets with. If you look behind you, there's a table with some extremely drunk characters. Now–"

"Ah. I understand! That was supposed to be our table. Their drinks weren't tampered with, making it easy to spot us in a calm and relaxed crowd."

"No." Sighing again, she shook her head and went back to reading the files. "They are just drunk because they can't handle their liquor. If you look a little more closely in that direction, you'll find there is an empty table, with used glasses on it and the table cloth is disturbed. Clearing that table, is three waiters. That's odd enough on its own, but to make it more suspicious, they all seem to have more muscle and attitude than the others. Not to mention, they each have an empty cart, draped with a floor-length cloth. Oh, and they are also the only waiters armed."

Without even needing to look in that direction, Sebastian remembered seeing all that she mentioned when he looked over the first time. But he was genuinely surprised a human caught all that with just one glance like himself.

"But you already knew all that, didn't you?" She smiled while taking in the images of the victims. "Regarding the masks, I don't have enough evidence to support how and where you got the materials to construct them at such short notice, but it is clearly evident that you only just finished making them when I opened the door to the cab."

"And your evidence supporting that theory?"

"When I tapped the mask earlier, the glue was still wet."

A silent stare off commenced between the two, only ceasing when Elena had to blink. Getting back to the topic at hand, without even having to interrogate them, she was able to deduce that three out of the four suspects were innocent in regards to her father being missing. When questioned about her methods, she was more than thrilled to explain to the demon who seemed to know everything.

"Suspect number one: Gavin Thorn," she pointed to his picture. "Having dealt with him first hand, it seems impossible for him to have kidnapped my father. He likes the attention. He wants to be found out, so he leaves clues, messages, photographs. Take your pick. He's clearly not guilty of this crime.

"Suspect number two: Theodore Hemming. Although much more discreet than Mr. Thorn, he is another one to leave things strewn about, except his clues aren't left intentionally. He is just very, very clumsy when it comes to his visits. Always knocking things over, making loud noises, et cetera.

"Suspect number three: Donald Greenwich. I did at first think he could be a potential suspect, but with his track record, it is highly unlikely–so much so that it's not even worth investigating. Donald has many of the qualities like subtlety and cleanliness. Though he doesn't keep his victims long before he straight up murders them; a couple hours or a day at most. That, and he also prefers women as they are easier targets."

"All very valid points, I see. In which case, I back your decisions one-hundred percent." Sebastian then asked about the fourth. "Though, I'm curious what about Ned Brighton makes you remain suspicious?"

"Ned Brighton. He... he is very intelligent. Has proven to be quite a challenge when it comes to finding sufficient evidence to convict him. He's very clean with his work, leaves next to no evidence–and when he does, it's something untraceable to him." A little uneasy now, Elena's breath caught in her throat. "Brighton actually uses his brain. He plans ahead for every outcome possible–good or bad. That, and he's got a grudge against my family."

"Care to elaborate?" said the butler, interested.

"Not to you."

"Then perhaps you'll continue for me?" Ciel stated, returning to his seat. Elena glared at him before looking down back at his file.

"After my mother had foolishly played and stolen something very valuable from him, he tracked her down, tracing her back to my father–who had been the first person to ever outwit him. As you can imagine, he'd been plotting a revenge most incredible for my father, and he was more than willing to take full advantage of their new found weakness. Like killing two birds with one stone." Swallowing hard, Elena's skin went cold. "When he really wants to hurt you, he will attack your most vulnerable of places. The mind."

"I think you mean, the heart." Ciel corrected surely.

"No." Sebastian answered automatically.

Elena had also answered at the same time as the demon butler. "Don't be ridiculous. After what happened to you, you should know hearts do not possess emotions. Having your mind messed with causes much more pain than simply dying. Death is a merciful act in comparison to what can be done to you while you still have a working thought process."

"He used you to get to your parents," the demon stated.

Ciel asked his butler the time and looked around at the other guests, barely showing interest in what she had to say any more. "Would you bet your life on Ned Brighton being capable of kidnapping your father?"

Pulling a face of disgust, she shook her head. "He's capable of many things, but I wouldn't bet my life on him being the offender. Brighton would have gone after me again if he wanted to hurt him. He saw how much it pained my father when he... anyway, I was in the next room over. It's highly unlikely Ned Brighton kidnapped my father. "

Sharing another curious look with one another for the night, the Earl and his butler decided to get on with the evening's plans they had intended for.

"What about a different case then? Who would you pin as the offender for the most recent crimes in the paper? I'm clearly not as susceptible to pick out each of their shortcomings as you are, so I'd like to hear your two-cents." Elena scrutinised the Earl, having already figured that tonight's events weren't completely aimed at her. Although annoyed that he had to lie to her to get her help and waste her time, it was indeed starting to sound interesting and she'd never been one to ignore an interesting case. Elena would get him back, but for now, she'd help him with this. "Six people have been murdered, all great men who work–worked–under the Queen, like myself. They've all been murdered differently. Some have been quick, others put through lengthy torture. We have no reason to believe they are targeted for no other reason than their title. And these four are our top suspects."

"You could have just asked my help straight up rather than bring me out to a party–where you're clearly not wanted, might I add–to help you close a case the Queen thinks is of the utmost importance." Taking a long sigh, Elena continued. "It's clearly evident that I would need to inspect each victim and their crime scenes too, but given that I'm only a pawn in your game, I can already tell that I'm not going to be granted such luxuries.

"You'll need to describe the crime scenes and victims to me. The more detail you give me, the more accurate my answer. For instance, are they toying with you and leaving things out in plain sight? If so, what? Or are they cold and vicious with their killings? Without conscience or consideration? Or perhaps they were quick and very dexterous? Do the victims show signs of a struggle or were other means taken?"

The demon explained each scene in impeccable detail. It was evident that it was at least one of these four men, especially since they were all spotted on more than one occasion at the murder scenes and each of the late watchdogs had something to do with one of these criminals. He explained that everything was done mercilessly. Bloodshed everywhere, the bodies brutally bashed, broken, and tortured. One had even been found strung up. Unsightly as that already is, what made it even more disturbing was the message behind it all and the state the body was in. The lack of clothing, a dog's collar–studded with diamonds–around his neck, his arms and legs bound by a leash and the fact that he'd been deafened by a letter opener having been pierced through each ear and even had red wax melted over his eyes and mouth and then stamped with the Queen's seal–all of them genuine Royal items too as the Queen had reported them missing, along with her dog's collar.

Most of them kept to the same basic style of killing, bar the one that clearly played on everything about this man's moonlight job serving the Queen.

Elena studied the demon butler's expressions, trying to read his inner thoughts as he spoke about each death. She could very nearly see the images of the victims' bodies in his eyes just from his words. The way his eyebrows would slowly pull down, his nostrils slightly flaring, his heart rate and breathing, his eyes would focus, pupils would dilate and his lip twitching ever so gently in repulsion. It surprised the Holmes girl that he could feel such emotions as disgust and pity. Not that she was complaining. Learning more things about the demon was going to give her slight advantages here and there if need be.

"You don't like dogs, do you, Sebastian?" Elena asked casually as she took the files, except Ned Brighton's, and faced them towards the Earl. Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "It's rather simple to figure out. These three, Gavin Thorn, Theodore Hemming and Donald Greenwich all killed at least one of the six victims. The first two victims, Haywood and Smith sound like Hemming's ways of killing. The next three, Anderson, Grey and Barnes sound like Greenwich's–though seeing as he likes the ladies more, Hemming is more than likely to have helped in one, two, maybe even all three of these–but the last, Newman, is definitely something up Thorn's alley!

"The first five are far less conspicuous, less showy and more emotionally connected. They wanted them dead. They didn't even care about their own pleasure in killing them, they just wanted it done and over with. The last though, Thorn really likes to make it obvious he was there. Though, the wrath in Newman's death was so overt it's covert! Although he makes out his victims to be of some sick game, even he can sometimes forget to have fun while playing... But that's just a simple deduction without seeing any of the scenes, victims or evidence for myself."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Ciel glanced to the side. His eyes meeting his butler's, "Does that sound plausible to you, Sebastian? It will all be going in the report."

"For someone who hasn't seen anything in this case first hand, you're extraordinarily accurate." Sebastian smiled and then nodded to his Master. "I'd say she hit the nail on the head for all six scenes. When and how did you want to round Thorn, Hemming and Greenwich up? Should I have Scotland Yard take them away and you can enjoy the rest of the party how it was intended and then report back to the Queen later?"

"Don't be daft. You know Scotland Yard are useless. Things would get done faster if Elena took them on by herself!"

"It's settled then." Smiling, Elena relaxed a little in her seat. "Ciel, you've got Hemming. Butler, you're on Thorn and I'll take Greenwich."

"Theodore Hemming is a little out of the Master's, how should I put this, weight division? Might I suggest my Lord and I switch targets?"

"You'd really risk your master's life so easily? For once, I'm genuinely shocked at your actions, Sebastian." Elena stifled a laugh. "Although out of his weight division, Ciel has the advantage of being stealthy and agile against Hemming. Whereas if he went after Thorn and things backfired–"

"I'd be right by his side to help him."

"–should you be a little tied up at the time, Thorn has both weight, height and agility on Ciel. That, and he has no qualms about attacking those out in the open, unlike the others who try to avoid public recognition. I'd suggest he take Greenwich, if anyone, but Donald will be more than happy to go after me. Not only does he want revenge against my father, which I can use to lure him out, if need be, he is also more prone to following a female out into a dark passageway. So unless you're up for a little cross-dressing, I'd stick with Hemming."

The demon smirked, breathing a light chuckle before facing his Master for approval. After an agitated moment to calm down from that cross-dressing remark, which brought back some unwanted memories, the Phantomhive nodded in agreement. As they were all about to go their separate ways, Elena had one more thing to bring to attention.

"Tonight, you are your weakness. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Looking at her concernedly, Ciel raised an eyebrow. "I wish you both luck, you'll need it."

Wandering through the crowds of people in search for Theodore Hemming, the Earl had come across Ned Brighton standing by the wall, staring off into around him, he couldn't see his man, so the Earl continued looking elsewhere.

Sebastian was still searching for his man, though in a much less suspicious way. Dancing about with whatever lady approached him, he scanned the room effortlessly as he spun. He had spotted Hemming, Brighton and Greenwich already, but unfortunately hadn't seen Thorn anywhere. He did think to just take out the two while he knew where they were, but if he did that, it would only raise Lady Elena's suspicions of him more, and he really couldn't afford for her to have solid evidence of him being a demon. Not unless his Master ordered otherwise. So for now, while his Lord didn't want anyone in his control to know about his non-human status, Sebastian had to remain under the radar.

"You're such a wonderful dancer!" the woman cheered, her pudgy face wrinkling slightly as she laughed.

The music ended and Sebastian took her hand, and bent down, kissing it graciously. Standing back up, "You're too kind, the pleasure was all mine, milady."

Blushing madly, she whipped out her fan to cool down as she made her way off the dance floor to her grumpy-faced husband. His sour expression made him look even older, and from the muttered discretion he and his wife were now having made it all the more obvious that he didn't like Sebastian one bit. Finding his ego stroked enough from that little tiff, he found the auras of women wanting to be right beside him now a little daunting. He had to remain appearing human, but they appeared to be about to go rabid if they didn't all get a dance with him.

Suddenly, a jab in his back had him turning in an instant with a frown. Being approached was one thing, but grabbed at was just rude. Upon finding the cause to be Elena though, his face relaxed. Her expectant expression was all too easy to read, but he wanted to make her suffer a bit. Having then asked how he could be of service to her out loud she had to grit her teeth to hold back an insult. She shook her head and took his hands, forcing him into a waltz just as the music started up. Had Sebastian not manoeuvred around his screaming fans, they'd have all been pushed to the floor.

"Getting a little jealous, were you?" Sebastian teased.

Out of breath, Elena stepped on his foot on purpose. "Shut up. Just dance and don't stop. If you can, get us into the centre without causing a scene that would be great."

"Greenwich is still where I last saw him, might I ask what's gotten you this flustered if not from seeing me surrounded by beautiful women?" he winked upon noticing Elena's glare.

"You really are something, you know that?" Looking back to where she came from, she relaxed a little more in the demon's arms, unbeknown to her why she suddenly felt comfortable being so close to one of Hell's Children. "I ran into someone I had hoped I never would have to meet again. Not to mention that you're fooling around and–Thorn at three o'clock–and not doing as you were instructed."

Glancing directly left when Elena had said, Sebastian's eyes fell on Gavin. He commended her for the help with finding him and after spinning her out, he disappeared before she had even realised he'd let go of her hand. Bumping into someone and being caught before falling, from the direction he'd spun her in and the speed, it could only mean one person was behind her. Frowning at the demon's ungraceful departure, Elena turned and smiled apologetically.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, Sir. It seems my dance partner had somewhere more important to be."

"Is that so?" Donald Greenwich cocked an eyebrow, a subtle grin slowly forming on his lips. The elevation in his heart rate apparent as she held onto his wrist. "It must have been urgent if he had to leave such a beauty all on her own. We'll have to do something about that. Follow me."

About to guide her back out onto the floor, he had his shoulder grabbed by Theodore Hemming. "I'm sorry ma'am, but this gentleman is a little busy at the moment. I'm sure there's plenty of other free–"

"Don't be worry, Theo, I'll just be a moment," Donald glanced between them and then at the exit. "I'll be back before anyone misses us."

Grumbling, Theo looked to his left before letting go of his friend's jacket. "Make it quick."

Elena had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at their obvious double meanings. She wondered how women could be so easily lured to their demise by this man. Being lead outside and around the corner to a large pond, they stopped where he was slowly reaching into his pocket with his right hand and pointing up to the stars with his left. Pointing up too with her left, she brought her elbow back down as hard as she could on his nose.

A grunt of agony echoed and was about to be followed by a string of swears, but his voice was drowned out after being winded. Elena had kneed him in the gut, cut off his vocals with a slice of her hand to his throat, blocked his blind jab, slammed her palm up against the bottom of his chin, spun him around, pulled his jacket halfway down and kicked the back of his knees before entrapping him in a choke-hold long enough to make him pass out. Before leaving Greenwich, she searched him for any thing concealed, upon not finding any thing but a photograph in his pocket, she took one look at it before getting up and making her way back to the party.

Off to her right, she saw Sebastian had already taken out Hemming and Thorn and was just dusting off his hands. He too looked on to face her, finding her expression getting more and more distraught the longer he watched. Catching up with her, he followed closely and pushed her gloves down and off her arms, explaining in whispers they had a few specks of blood on them. Without looking at him, she nodded and reached back into his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a pair of his spare gloves.

"Find Ciel."

"Milady?"

"Just do it already! His life is at stake here!" Elena put the gloves on, "Why didn't I see it before? It all makes sense now!"

Without another word, Sebastian took off in no particular direction. Having also pick-pocketed the demon's pocket watch when grabbing the gloves, she checked the time. Seville, you better not let me down! Elena frowned some more as the minute hand ticked over.

Needing to cause some kind of distraction, she looked around the room quickly, setting her eyes on a beautiful metal sculpture by the curtains and smiling. Making her way over, she leant the candelabra over just enough to have the flames make contact with the curtains. Quickly making her way safely under a table before anybody noticed the fire and smoke.

It had been a minute, way too long for someone not to have realised there was a fire in the building, so Elena stuck her head out from under the tablecloth. The fire was really bad now, but nobody seemed to notice. Annoyed, Elena took it upon herself to yell out the obvious to vacate the building. Getting on top of the table, she stopped herself when she saw Ned Brighton holding Ciel by the exit. Their eyes met for a brief moment before someone nearly ran into him, he was carrying a handgun. Ned took off and Elena jumped down to quickly follow.

A loud cry of "FIRE!" came from the direction she was running in and it only took a second to realise the man with the gun must have yelled it out. Shrieks then started up all around the place like a domino effect. Minds were panicking, bodies were rushing about frantically. People were so desperate to get out that they were willing to do anything. From a quick glance, Elena had already seen two people getting trampled on. Swearing under her breath, she pushed as hard as she could to get through the doorway swarming with over one-hundred people.

Once out and safely against the wall, she searched through the crowd for Brighton and her cousin. Sebastian had appeared beside her at one point, his expression not happy in the slightest. Elena even detected the slightest echo of worry etched onto his face.

"Brighton took off out here with him," she handed back the watch after checking the time once again and with that one quick glance at the butler, she continued surely, while looking down at the panicked guests. "You were shot. Three times. Try not to die until we get Ciel back, okay?"

"If a servant of the Phantomhive household couldn't endure something like this, then–"

"Oh, do cut that out. It's getting old." Elena smiled as she saw a familiar face rushing towards her.

"Found them. They're running towards the trees, by the only unlit street lamp."

Elena put her hand out blindly beside her, "Wonderful, mind taking the lead and slowing them down? I'll be there in a moment!"

Not bothering about her, Sebastian was more focused on getting his Master back. Ciel wasn't calling for him, so he must be unconscious or heavily drugged now. Gritting his teeth, he pushed forward, leaping over the edge and not worrying about using the lengthy stairs. Dashing speedily through the hoards of people, Sebastian was determined to save his Master and make Ned Brighton and his comrades pay. He'd caught up to Ned and his Lord, only to have another shot fired at him. This time it missed him and only just missed his Master and Ned.

"I believe you have something of mine." Sebastian took a step closer. "I'd like him back."

"I'm surprised you're still standing after taking those hits. You're quite the determined one, aren't you?" Chuckling to himself as he pressed a blade harder against Ciel's throat. "You should have stayed down when you were given the chance, watching your Master die is sure to give you nightmares."

"I can assure you, Mr. Brighton," Sebastian's eyes shimmered magenta as he licked his dry lips, "I am your worst nightmare."