Angels and crooks

by Nuredhel

Bard and Thran are getting used to their lives as married but they do still have their jobs and it makes things very interesting at times...AU story, sequel to Beast.

16. You're all need

Chapter 16 You're all I need….

Albert did straighten his cap, he let his hand run through his short grey hair and sighed. "Well….shit!"

He had been a cop for almost 40 years, he was just a month away from retirement and he had seen it all, or so he thought. He had been there when the mafia was at its most powerful in the late sixties, he had been there when rival MC clubs stalked each other's members with deadly accuracy. He had seen riots and serial killers and he had seen accidents and disasters. He was hardened, but this? He sighed again, took a step back and turned around. Kids always got to him, hells, it wasn't natural if it didn't. Those who said that seeing a dead kid didn't affect them were either dead within or lying their shirt off.

The dead body of a teenage girl had been found in a garbage container outside of a very popular fast food restaurant, an employee had arrived early that morning to fix a broken fan in the kitchen and had found a bag of garbage somebody did forget to take out the night before. She had decided to get rid of it and since it was still very early the garbage truck hadn't been there yet. She had opened the lid to toss the bag inside and voila…there it was, one of the most vile corpses Albert had ever seen. The poor employee was in shock, she had almost passed out and she was still so shaken she had to be taken to the E.R for some medication. The restaurant would have to be closed for today, there could be some sort of evidence in the area but Albert doubted it. Something about this did stink, his instincts were sharp and his intuition told him that this was gonna be one of those cases. He had seen a few before, cases which grasped onto your soul and refused to let go, simply because they were examples of the depravity of the human race. And by God how depraved some people were.

The body had looked like nothing he had seen before, the very position had seemed impossible at first, every one of the long bones of the body had to have been broken and only the face was enough to give a person serious nightmares for years to come. He was sad to say that he had seen worse, because he had but very few times. And it had been accidents, this was done deliberately. The poor girl in the container had suffered, terribly. That was the only thing he was sure of, he had a hard time understanding how a human being is capable of doing something like that to another person. She did look like a doll some disgruntled toddler has vented its anger upon. Judith had just arrived and she was climbing into the dumpster to check for clues. There were already a swarm of CSI technicians arriving at the scene like blowflies and Albert knew that everybody already knew that this was one gory scene. The young and eager did arrive wanting to prove themselves and learn something new and boy would they learn. He doubted that even Judith would have seen anything like this one.

He did stand guard as the coroner did remove the body from the container, he didn't look.

What he had seen among the bags of leftovers and garbage was enough to make him praise his maker that he at this age never ate breakfast, he only had some coffee, raven black with no sugar. That was his fuel and enough to keep him going for a good amount of time. He sighed and heard that the assistant who did accompany Judith said a fond and loud farewell to everything he had eaten that morning. Too bad, the kid was a very sweet fellah Albert hoped would become a good coroner one day. He did need to be hardened but this was a dive straight into the bottomless pit so to speak. Albert wondered what Thran and Bard would find out about this one, it surely was a dead body with quite a tale to tell.

Judith did race back to the morgue and she was putting the pedal to the metal in a manner which caused her assistant to cling to his seat with eyes like dinner plates and a very pale complexion. She couldn't waste any time, the environment in which the body had been left was the absolutely worse one when it came to contaminating evidence and there were flies and maggots already eagerly trying to devour the body. Those dumpsters were hellish, in special the ones outside of restaurants. The amount of food in them would attract everything from flies to racoons and she did still, not fondly, remember the one time somebody had found a body in a dumpster and a whole family of rats had taken up residence within the ribcage of the diseased person. And Mrs Rat didn't enjoy being evicted at all, Judith was glad she had all the vaccines on the list for damnation, rats do bite and they do carry every conceivable disease known to mankind.

They pulled onto the entrance made for the morgue, locally known as "the body bay" and backed the van up to it. It was raised so they could push the gurney straight into the morgue without worrying about stairs and steep areas, it was a relief for the old morgue had one section of floor which did tilt at a 10 % angle and one of the interns had let go of a gurney with a "floater" once and the body had exploded when the gurney hit the wall at the back of the corridor. It had been a bloody mess, quite literally.

Judith had seen a lot over her years and she did already know a lot about this body, it had been no accident and the injuries she had seen were ghastly. They spoke of rage, of hatred and a cold indifference to the suffering of others. She got the body onto the slab and removed the bag, it was in one piece thank goodness but other from that it was gonna be a terrible job. The dead girl was little more than a kid and Judith made a grimace as she started to gently remove the clothes and jewellery, the girl had been well dressed and her style impeccable. She wondered who it was, well, they would find out and then there would be the usual scene, hysterical parents, heart wrenching grief and tears. Judith did never get used to it, perhaps it was for the best.

A couple of hours later Judith stood there by her computer and punched in the findings with a face like stone, she felt the taste of bile in her mouth and she stared over at the now covered body. She had managed to give it some dignity back, it did look like a human body now and the undertakers were good too, they could camouflage even the worst of injuries and make the deceased look almost alive again. Some times she wondered if those guys used some sort of magic for she had seen bodies with literally no face and when the day came for the funeral they did look as if they were simply asleep, and no sign of any injuries. Wax was such a wonderful material.

She heard that Thran and Bard did arrive and some minutes before the CSI technicians had dropped off a few items they had found in the area which could belong to the dead girl. A handbag, a make up bag and a camera. It wasn't Judith's job to evaluate this so she left it all for Bard and Thran. The two men did arrive and she turned around and tried to smile, it was hard to smile and not sneer considering the state of the poor body. She hoped that they really made that bastard who did this pay and pay in a huge way. Bard grinned and Thran did look at the covered body, his eyes were narrow. "Good morning Judith, they say you have something grizzly for us?"

Judith did brace herself, she took a very deep breath. "I do, be glad you weren't here when we did arrive. I have seen it all guys but this…"

She opened the file on her computer and took a deep breath. "Let us start from the bottom shall we?"

Bard did frown. "Bottom?"

Judith looked at him with a tired expression on her face. "Just to start somewhere, this is gonna be a long list guys so stay sharp."

She pulled up some xrays and pointed at them and Bard gasped, Thran opened his mouth and shut it again. "Ah, what…"

Judith tried to smile. "Ever seen the movie "Misery?" This is what happens when you take a hard object and make it crash down onto someone's foot, from the side"

Bard did look slightly green. "Oh…Crap. It looks like confetti!"

Judith nodded. "Yes, yes it does. The small bones of the foot is shattered. Not one is in one piece, it must have been done with some sort of mechanical device for it is so darn uniform. The whole foot must have been crushed simultaneously, or rather, both were"

She moved the x ray. "Shins, shattered too, at least eight fractures along each Tibia and Fibia, it must have been done slowly, one fracture at a time."

Thran grunted and Bard moaned, the very xrays were horrible in themselves. She continued. "Pelvis, no fractures oddly enough but severe tearing of the vaginal tract, it would have been fatal in itself. No DNA left, it was done with a hard object, not a penis. There is also damage to the rectal area and anus, I found some similar tears in the lower gut and something was most certainly inserted there too. Probably the same thing"

Her voice was hard, expressionless like that of a robot now, she was just doing her job. "And then we have the torso, deep lacerations all over, with some sort of acidic chemical added. I have not been able to identify it yet. The lab has gotten samples though. The poor things nipples were cut off, and her breasts…let me just say that the feet isn't the only thing which does look like confetti."

Bard did wet his lips. "What the actual fuck?!"

Thran was listening, his eyes were very hard and there was a certain glimpse within them which told Judith that he was thinking. She did change the Xrays for pictures. "And now gentlemen, the crème de la crème, the reason the poor sod who found this girl probably is gonna lay in a fetal position in a corner for a while."

She opened one of the Jpg's and Bard gasped. "Wh….what..?"

Judith smiled, a stiff grin. "Exactly, what are we looking at"

She pointed at the picture. "The deceased had her face taken off, she was skinned. And it happened when she was still alive. Then the face was reattached, with some sort of glue. The same thing was done to her scalp. Her tongue was stuck to her palate with glue, and also with the help of this which did pierce the tongue and her lower jaw"

Judith pulled forth a metal object, rather long and slender and Bard stared at it with narrow eyes. "What the fuck is that?"

Judith tried to smile. "That my friend is something your daughters would recognize rather well I think, it is a tool used to place embezzlements on finger nails, glitter and stuff"

She found another photo. "The ears were pierced several times, also by a tool used for nail art, and there was glue in her nose, she must have suffered horribly."

Bard was green and Thran stared at the pictures, his features were calm. "I see that her make up is rather untouched?"

Judith grinned, a very sardonic smile. "That is because the culprit reapplied her make up after she was dead, it makes no sense and yet…I have to admit that it was expertly done"

She closed the pictures. "It is the same thing with the hands and arms, Radius and Ulna both broken in several places, very clean fractures but painful ones. The hands…oh man…"

She took a deep breath. "Also crushed, they were like jelly actually. And the finger nails…They were mutilated too. Someone had taken a drill to them, they did look one of them crocheted table cloths"

She looked down. "Too bad, the girl had gorgeous nails really, expertly done"

Bard swallowed. "Do we know her identity?"

Judith felt tired. Like the air had gone out of her completely. "Yes, missing persons got a call one hour ago. It was easy to find her identity and her parents are coming this way as we speak. There was no doubt about who this was"

Thran frowned. "Really?"

Judith sighed. "No, she was Rosa Mae Devon, daughter of Eleanor Bright Devon, successful leader of Devon cosmetics and David Franklyn Devon, CEO of Goodriver boating company. This kid was loaded, and famous"

Bard nodded slowly. "I have heard of Devon cosmetics, Sigrid is using some of their products I think. And Goodriver boating? I think they make luxury boats for the rich and famous?"

Thran nodded. "They do, but not yachts and such, smaller boats, like speedboats and pleasure cruisers."

Judith tilted her head. "Rosa was very healthy, no issues there. She had an old fracture on her left arm, I pulled her files just before you came and it was from when she fell from a swing as a two year old. The only odd thing I did see was this…"

She did open a new folder and found a picture. It was of a hand, it was odd in shape and swollen but on the top there was a pattern visible, the skin did look angry around it and Judith pointed at it. "It is a henna tattoo, the type you get at fairs and such, made with black henna. It is a very nice design but I saw from her medical files that she was allergic to black henna, I cannot understand why she would get a tattoo like that done for it does cause a nasty rash."

Bard stared at the image. "Is it old?"

Judith shook her head. "She had it done less than two hours before she died, the rash haven't had time to develop fully"

Thran did look intense. "Was there any signs of alcohol? Drugs?"

Judith made a grimace. "I have sent the blood off to be tested, but they are a bit slow at the lab today. Apparently some moron did managed to place a beaker with some volatile fluids in the wrong closet, and they had to evacuate until the fumes were gone. The person I talked with claimed that they were close to being gassed like the poor sods at the Somme."

Thran nodded. "For how long was she missing?"

Judith sighed. "Since last night, they saw her at bedtime, half past ten and everything seemed fine. When they got up this morning she wasn't in her bed and her camera was missing"

Bard snapped his fingers. "The camera, is it working?"

Judith did look apologetic. "Sorry, it works yes but the memory is removed, no pictures there!"

Bard swore. "Damnations"

Judith took a deep breath. "There is one thing about this of which I am absolutely sure though, and it is sinister"

Bard sort of shrunk. "Really, worse than this?"

He pointed at the pictures on the computer screen and Judith nodded. "This was premeditated, well planned. It was executed in a manner which kept the victim alive for a long time but in absolute agony."

Thran had been silent, now he nodded, and Bard saw an odd light in his husband's eyes. "Yes, you are right. This killer is a true monster, and very sick. But it is a person without remorse, and an intense hatred. The question here is what it is that the person hates"

Bard shivered. "What do you mean?"

Thran turned around and stared at the covered body. "Was it the victim or something else? Her parents are well known, and business people often get enemies."

Judith shuddered. "Bad enough to do something like that to a kid?"

Thran nodded. "Believe me, I have seen how utterly horrible some people are. Killing kids and pets and even distant relatives to get to someone isn't unusual"

Judith was a bit pale. "Oh God"

Thran tilted his head. "So, was there any sort of trace evidence to be found?"

Judith shrugged. "Like I said, the lab is behind schedule, the CSI technicians brought everything over to them. But I wouldn't place any bet on that, the dumpster was filled with every thinkable substance known to man, from spittle to old rotten tomatoes. Good luck finding anything in there"

All three jumped visibly when a phone suddenly rang and Judith took a quick glance at the two men and crossed her fingers before answering. "Yes?"

They heard voices at the other end and Judith did take notes, she listened very intently and didn't say anything until the person at the other end was done. Then she said a polite thank you and hung up, she turned around to the two investigators. "Rosa had alcohol in her blood, but not enough to dull the pain in any manner. And she did also have a drug usually used by hospitals, before major surgeries. It is used when the patients is already under, it relaxes the muscles to the point where movement is impossible"

Thran cursed. "She felt it all but couldn't move, that is goddamn evil"

Bard swallowed again and again. "Goddamn it. That drug, is it easily available?"

Judith shook her head. "Nope, it is almost impossible to come by unless you are working at a hospital and even then it is something you have to sign wavers to get your hands on. It is very dangerous"

Thran mumbled, "No shit, anything else?"

Judith made a grimace" The glue in her nose and mouth was eye lash glue, and there was some trace left in her…orifices. It was a type of grease used to make hydraulics work, usually found on construction sites. The acidic substance in the wounds was a chemical used to clean grease off engine parts."

Bard just shook his head. "The fractures, could they have been made by some sort of hydraulic equipment?"

Judith nodded. "Yes, most definitely. They are so very precise, so controlled. I would say that the culprit knew exactly how to do this. I did notice that neither of the fractures were open, the skin wasn't broken even a bit"

Thran had a sour expression on his face, as if he had tasted something which did taste very bad. "To make sure that the victim didn't bleed out"

They just stared at each other. "I hope we find some clues when we interview her family and friends, whoever did this…I am for once sad that this state no longer support the death penalty"

Judith's voice was laced with poison and Bard nodded. "Yeah, what sort of monster are we after this time?"

Thran stared off into nothing, "A monster like none other I fear. One with no empathy at all"

They were about to leave the morgue when they heard voices and Judith cringed. It was a woman and a man and they were clearly arguing with the police officer stationed outside the main entrance to the morgue. Judith was about to go over to open the door when it burst open and a woman ran inside. She didn't even look at the three people present, she ran straight to the body and Judith rushed forth to stop her but it was too late. She pulled the sheet off and froze, an absolutely horrible scream could be heard and the woman collapsed onto the floor, shrieking like a banshee. A man came running after her, pale and obviously shocked and he stared at the mutilated corpse and went stiff as a board. The sight was horrible and since the investigators were used to seeing death they didn't react that much but to a lay person it had to be absolutely ghastly.

Judith grasped the woman and pulled her away from the table, Bard grasped the man and manhandled him away too and they placed the pair in a sofa in the reception area, the woman wasn't shrieking anymore, she was sobbing instead and Bard saw that horrible empty expression on her face. The look of a mother who has lost her child, and her reason to live. He had seen it before, it usually ended with something rather bad.

Thran did sit down and his face was suddenly filled with compassion, understanding. The voice slow and spinning and gentle and the husband did stare at him, eyes red rimmed and swollen and his chin did tremble. He was close to tears. "I am Thranduil Oropherion, I work with the police. First of all, we are so terribly sorry for your loss. "

Mr Devon did look up, his face was chalk white. "I…who…who did this…to my…baby"

The voice was hoarse and Thran laid a hand on the man's shaking shoulder. "I assure you Mr Devon, we will do everything in our power to find out but to do so we need your help. Is there anything you can think of which can tell us what happened last night? Do you or your wife have any enemies?"

The grieving father sobbed, his head moving slowly from side to side as if in physical agony. "No, we…we have never had real enemies. I have had people who are unhappy about my success and some customers who have been angry since our product didn't fit their expectations but nobody have…do you think this was because of ME and my wife?!"

Thran shook his head slowly. "No, we just have to cover every possibility. So, last night?"

Mr Devon did wipe his eyes with his sleeve, he did move in a clumsy manner. "God…ah…She went up to go to bed at half past ten, as always. We checked in on her when we went to bed an hour later and she was in her bed, sleeping"

Thran sighed, the oldest trick in the book for sure. Mr Devon did continue. "But she wasn't there this morning when my wife was coming to get her up for school, we called her phone but no answer, and then we called her friends but none had seen her. Then we called the police"

Thran nodded at Bard who took up his phone. "My friend here will send some officers over to your house, just to check that nobody abducted her from her bed"

Mr Devon swallowed hard. "There were no signs of a break inn? Everything was…fine. We have a very expensive alarm system and it was on the whole night"

Thran nodded. "Yes, and still we need to check it, some crooks are very savvy these days when it comes to technology"

He already knew that the girl had left during the night, probably disabling the alarm to sneak out. Mr Devon sighed and tried to control his trembling, his wife was not speaking, she just made these whimpering sounds and Judith did look a bit nervous. It was not a good sign, she probably needed a doctor. "Tell me Mr Devon, did she have any hobbies, something she did enjoy doing? Did she have friends she could have met?"

The poor man tried to compose himself, his hands were trembling. "She…she is an influencer? She started it as mere hobby some months ago but now she has taken it rather far. She was on the verge of being sponsored by some pretty huge companies"

Bard did blink a few times "Influencer? Really?"

Mr Devon nodded. "Yes, she made these videos, about make up and clothes and lately about how to make photographs of your stuff. She is really good at it too"

Thran was listening and his eyes were narrow. "So she was popular?"

Mr Devon nodded. "Oh yes, she had about 200 K followers I think. And got more each day"

Bard swallowed hard and Thran made a grimace. "Okay, I think I know why she left the house then, there was something she was going to take pictures of. Did she have a boyfriend?"

Mr Devon shook his head. "No, she didn't have time to be very social. The blog and the school took all of her time, she still got top grades in spite of all the work she put into the blog."

He sobbed. "I am so proud of her"

Mrs Devon was still shivering and making odd sounds and Judith rolled her eyes and made a discrete gesture. Thran knew what it meant, get out of here. It was obvious that the woman was so deeply shocked medical attention was needed. Thran got up and he grasped onto Mr Devon's hand. "Judith will make sure that you get a place to stay, your wife needs a doctor and she needs it now, she is in shock"

The man nodded slowly, he got up and he was still shivering, Thran did support him discretely. "We have sent people to your house and we will probably go there too, there could be clues to where your daughter was going, and who she was to meet"

Mr Devon just stared with empty eyes and he didn't even flinch when the paramedics Judith had called came to collect his wife and him. He wasn't showing shock as strongly as his wife but he was getting there too, as he sort of understood the situation. It was delayed shock for sure. Bard watched as the couple disappeared out the door, he turned to Thran. "Do you think she was killed because of her blog?"

Thran did shrug. "Could be, there is an insane amount of money in that business, some of the most popular ones earn millions, and if she was a rising star there is no doubt that some people may have gotten jealous, but enough to mangle her like that?"

Bard took a deep breath. "So, what now?"

Judith walked over to a table and took up the stuff the technicians had brought. "Here, take a peek at this. It has been checked for evidence, but there could still be some clues left"

She handed the handbag over to Bard who stared at it with narrow eyes, he saw the discrete gold letters on the front and knew that this little thing cost more than a month's pay. Thran opened the make up bag and took a peek at it. He stared at the items and did look as if he was staring at some sort of alien technology. He pulled out a mascara and made a grimace. "I bet this one item does cost more than my best shoes"

Judith looked at it and grinned. "Yes, but I am rather sure that she got that one for free, as with the rest of the stuff in there. It is all very expensive."

Bard lifted the handbag once more. "Sigrid wanted one of those for her last birthday, I told her that would happen when pigs fly to the moon"

Judith frowned. "Waaait a minute"

She leaned forth and grasped a lipstick from the bag, opened it up. "This isn't the shade she wore?"

She went over and checked the images she had taken. "I was right, it is too dark. She wore a more bright red lipstick"

Bard perked up. "Could it tell us something?"

Judith shrugged. "I don't know, the one who killed her did reapply make up to her face, and did it remarkably well too. But with different colours? It has to mean something. I did sample the lipstick Rosa wore, it could be that it gives some information but most likely not"

Thran did rummage through the make up bag, he had no idea of what half of it was supposed to be. "Look at this"

He held up a small box with a lid covered with what looked like tiny crystals. "Is this powder?"

He opened it and something dropped from the lid, a small black object. It landed on the table with ping and Judith stared with huge eyes. Not at the object, but the content of the box. It was a shimmering powder but there were dark spots in it. "Oh, goody"

She grasped a cotton stick. "Ten quid says that is blood"

Thran put the box down very gently and picked up the object, it was a memory card. "Oh my…Let's take a look at this"

Bard was stepping in one place like an eager horse before the starting gate and Judith stared at the cotton stick, she did look like a predator who has caught the scent of a wounded prey. "I bet she tried to hide something, brave girl"

Thran got his laptop up and opened it, he inserted the card and started working. "Aw feck…it is encrypted"

Bard stared over his shoulder. "It needs a password"

Thran groaned. "Yeah, there are no notes in the bag, with a word written on it?"

Bard shook his head. "No such luck"

Judith smiled. "Go to her place, you have to get there anyhow. You may find something there"

Thran packed up the laptop and sighed. "Will do, we are going to need to speak to her friends too , and everyone who knew her."

Judith held the cotton stick up like a lance. "And I will check this, if it is her blood it proves that she tried to hide something from her attacker"

Bard and Thran went to the garage and took off, the home of the dead girl lay on the other side of the city and it was in the area better known locally as "Gamble hill", this because the first millionaire to build a mansion there did it with money gained on casinos. The home of the deceased girl was fantastic, a very tasteful and elegant villa surrounded by a lovely garden and it had a tall wall surrounding it. Thran did look intense. "I bet there are motion sensors up there, and broken glass too. She went willingly, through the main entrance"

Bard nodded. "Yeah, but where, and why?"

They stopped in front of the house, there were a couple of technicians there already and the two were met by an elderly woman wearing a ghastly gown with floral prints. She had been crying and the apron was full of stains. Thran smiled at her. "And you are?"

The woman blew her nose in a handkerchief. "I am Arlena, I am the housekeeper. Oh what horrible dreadful day, mi Madonna mia, our precious little darling…"

She sobbed and Bard saw that she was very distraught. "Tell me, did you notice anything unusual last night?"

Arlena shook her head. "No, but Ceasar, that is my dog, he got up half past twelve and barked. I thought it was at a racoon, we have them here you see, little bandits. They go in the trash cans"

Bard nodded. "Do tell me, where do you stay?"

She made a gesture. "At the back, servants quarters, very nice place. The family is so nice, so generous. I live well here"

Thran nodded at Bard and they went through the house, the back was just as elegant as the front but there was a small secluded yard with trash cans and they heard a small dog yipping the whole time. There was a gate in the wall behind it, narrow and not very visible but it had an ordinary lock and not some high tech code lock. "She left through this"

Bard grinned. "I was thinking the same. The dog must have heard her, half past twelve then"

They went upstairs and felt slightly guilty for not taking their shoes off, the carpets there were soft and fluffy enough to harbour an entire ecosystem and Bard didn't want to imagine the cost of cleaning it all. Just vacuuming those floors had to be enough work for an entire army. The rooms the girl had occupied were typical of those of a teenager, with one exception. She had one room transformed into a photo studio with lights and backgrounds and all and there was a nice desk with some make up on it and a chair and spot lights. This had to be where she shot her videos.

The two technicians were done going over the rooms and smiled but their faces were a bit dark. "Sir, we didn't find any sign of a forced entry, or an abduction. She must have left alone, with clothes and shoes and all"

Bard nodded. "We have come to the same conclusion. Was there a computer?"

The technician nodded towards a corner, there was a desk there. "There, it is brand new, and costs about half of Thor's annual budget for our station"

Thran snickered and went over, the computer was really a high tech thing, with a key board of the type made by laser light and a huge screen. He turned it on and crossed his fingers as he did insert the memory card into the right bay. "So, let us see here"

Bard cringed. "Ouch, password protection"

Thran took a glance around. "Most people use a password based on something familiar, something they see all the time"

The walls were covered with photos of movie stars, pop idols and so on and there were stuffed animals, cute dolls and what not. It was obvious that she preferred the "Innocent little girl" style even though she was almost seventeen. Thran was thinking and Bard allowed him to do that. Sigrid was not as old as Rosa had been and yet her room was way more mature and she had thrown the dolls and the teddy bears out years ago. Thran got up and walked around, looked at the posters and his eyes were narrow. He stopped at one poster, it was from a movie and showed a young man with dark gothic makeup, leaning against a tomb stone with a crow sitting on his shoulder. "Hmm!"

He got back to the computer and typed inn. "The crow"

Nothing, it wasn't the right word, then he typed Brandon Lee and the screen came to life, bright happy letters danced across it and he smiled. "I was right, that one poster was different from the others, and it was the right one"

He went for the memory card and it wasn't empty, there were files on it. Bard leaned over as Thran started to download them and he grasped an USB pen and transferred it all it too, just to be on the safe side. It was images, rather large ones and Bard held his breath as Thran opened the first one. "Let us see what this is about."

It was a rather dark image, it showed the dead girl leaning against the stem of a tree, she wasn't lighted by any sort of artificial lights but the moon was rather strong and gave her a pale sort of mysterious quality. She wore heavy make up and was posing, a sort of fem fatale posture with a bit of a pout and hooded eyes. The outfit was elegant and not risqué and yet sensual. Bard frowned. "This looks…"

Thran opened a new image. "The same outfit, the same make up, just a different background"

On this image she was sitting on what had to be a rock, there were dark trees behind her and some light in the distance. She did look as if she was challenging someone, chin held high, her face a bit haughty. The pose was powerful. Thran tilted his head to the side. "Know what? These images are very different from the images we see here"

He pointed at the pictures of Rosa she had posted on the wall. They showed her sitting there with some make up in front of her, smiling and being just sweet. "I have an idea, wait a sec"

He went to youtube and her videos showed up right away, he did open one of them. It was a tutorial about how to apply eye shadow if one has heavy eyelids and it was good but she had a very sweet and almost naïve way of addressing the viewer and her face was very youthful and innocent looking. "I was right"

Thran spun around. "The images on that memory card are very different, I think she was planning on going in a new direction"

Bard stared at the room, it was very….pink!

"I see"

Thran shrugged. "She was changing her image, her audience. She was seventeen goddamn it, the blog is probably made for girls younger than her. It is a huge market alright but not as huge as the one for more mature women. I think she was aiming for something new and different. The pictures are speaking of someone trying to transform herself"

Bard stared at the video, Rosa was enthusiastically showing a new type of eye shadow which wouldn't end up inn creases and wrinkles. "I think you are right, but who took the pictures and where was she?"

Thran opened the other images and he froze. The last picture was of Rosa and she sat on the keel of an upturned boat, legs a bit spread and the pose was more sexual than the others. Her expression was also different. Bard saw that his husband did tense up, he did zoom in on the image. "Look, her hand"

Bard squinted. "The tattoo?"

Thran nodded. "Yes, it wasn't on the other images, and her eyes, look?"

Bard leaned inn. "Ah…Oh damnation"

Thran smiled but it was a stiff smile. "Damnation is damn right"

The girls pupils were enormous and her face slack in some way, as if she was very intoxicated. Thran had a wolfish expression on his face. "Do you see where the image is taken?"

Bard shook his head, Thran pointed at the boat. "That one isn't finished, and there are others in the background. It is a warehouse and I bet it is her father's factory."

Bard went pale. "The smaller boats, they use hydraulic presses to shape the hull!"

Thran nodded. "Exactly! So the factory is our next stop"

They were heading back downstairs when they heard a racket from outside, there were shrill voices and screams and they heard that the housekeeper tried to shout something but the front door sounded as if it was pushed open. Thran took the stairs like he was flying and Bard was straight behind him. The hall was being flooded by girls, most were visibly distraught, some were weeping and others did look as if they were in shock. All were in their teens and well dressed and one did see Thran and Bard and let out a cry. "Is it true, is Rosa dead?! Say it isn't so, she cannot be dead!"

Thran raised a hand. "Unfortunately I have to confirm that Rosa is gone yes. And you ladies are?"

The girls let out a unison wail of despair and started howling and weeping like a gang of professional mourners, the housekeeper looked as if she didn't know what to do or think. The door opened again and a girl did enter, her eyes were red and she had been crying for her make up was smeared but she did seem to have some control over her feelings. She took one glance at the two investigators and took a deep breath. "Girls, calm yourselves. Please, let us hear what these nice policemen have to say"

The girls sniffed and stared at her. Bard cocked his head. She was perhaps sixteen or seventeen, not very striking looking, a rather average look but she had the air of somebody who is in control of themselves and her voice was soft and gentle. The girls stared at the two and Thran did throw a glance of obvious gratefulness at the girl. "Like I said, Rosa has passed away, she left her home last night and was found this morning, dead in a dumpster outside a restaurant. Does any of you have any idea of what she may have been up to?"

The girls shook their heads but the last arrival stepped forth, she made a sort of a smile. "I may have some idea, I am Miranda Westley by the way, I was in Rosa's class. We were not close but I did speak with her every now and then"

Thran stared at her. "Great, so, what do you have in mind?"

Miranda sat down on the couch, very elegantly and she sent a sympathetic glance at the housekeeper. "Girls, don't bother the poor old woman, go back home, you will hear whatever you need to hear soon enough. There is nothing here"

Some sent her some grumpy looks but they sauntered out of the door and Miranda smiled at the two men again, her face did reveal grief but also determination. "I will try whatever I can to help you gentlemen, Rosa was a wonderful girl and whatever happened to her, I am sure she didn't deserve it"

Bard smiled back. "That is very kind of you miss, so, what can you tell us?"

Miranda swallowed. "Rosa was getting tired of her present style, she wanted to change her image, to do something more edgy. It wasn't that it wasn't paying to run a pink blog but let's face it, she was seventeen and well, she couldn't pretend to be a kid forever"

Thran nodded. "So she wanted to go in a different direction?"

Miranda nodded. "Yes, I heard her claim that the constant make up videos were choking her, it wasn't what she wanted to use her creativity on. She wanted to make more artsy stuff, a bit gothic perhaps? She even showed me a picture of a gown she was gonna wear for a video shoot and it was really cool but not very sweet"

Bard leaned back a bit. "Did she have others she did speak to about her projects?"

Miranda shrugged. "Rosa is very outgoing, she spoke to a lot of people. You saw that mad crowd yes? She has fans who adore her, look online, I bet she did discuss her plans with many of them"

Thran nodded. "But aside from that. Is there someone she would trust enough to work as a photographer for her?"

Miranda looked curious. "Photographer? No, she didn't hire anyone, ever. She didn't trust that others would share her visions. She did work alone, always"

Thran looked at Bard, the photos from the previous night was taken by somebody else than herself, there was no way she had used a camera tripod. Thran smiled at the girl, she was obviously eager to please and help and her somewhat anonymous looks told them that she wasn't one of the jet setters for sure. "Thank you, is there anything else you can think of?"

Miranda shook her head and her eyes got narrow. "No, or…I am not sure if this is important but…"

Thran smiled at her. "Go on miss, don't be afraid"

She did bite her lower lip. "I know that one other blogger was giving her some hard times, calling her names, making threats even. I think he or she called themselves Rubysweet"

Bard did make a note of the name. "That is great, thank you. We will look into it"

Miranda just smiled. "Let me know if you come to the school, I can show you her locker and stuff"

Bard nodded. "That would be nice, I am sure we will need to talk to her teachers and so on"

Miranda grinned, her eyes were running still and she sniffled. "That would be Mrs Grover and Ms Delacrux, Rosa had some extra classes, she has problems with math"

Bard did wrote down the names. "That is great Miranda, thank you!"

The girl was practically beaming. Bard got the impression that she was someone used to be ignored by everybody else. She got up and sent them a sweet smile. "I am at school tomorrow, I will think about Rosa and may I call you if I remember something new?"

Thran nodded. "Of course, here is my card, do not hesitate"

She took it almost reverently. "Thank you sir"

She got up and left and Bard stared after her. "Sweet kid, very charming"

Thran did nod. "Yes, and very polite."

He got up. "We need to check out that Ruby Sweet blogger."

Bard took a deep breath. "Let's get to it then"

Two hours later they stood outside of the house of a fifteen year old gay lad who had a solid alibi and was horribly sad that Rosa was dead. He had hated her blog but not her, all because his sister had died from anorexia after having gotten hooked on that sorts of blogs and he wanted the girls to stop idolizing unnatural body ideals. He had been harsh at times and even threatening but it had all been to make Rosa stop accepting sponsorship from certain companies which did nothing to hinder girls from becoming addicted to slimming products and harmful cosmetic surgeries. He was cleared and it was getting late so Bard and Thran had to head home for the night.

Bard was quiet in the car, they had mailed all their findings to Thor and Judith had also added some new info. It had been Rosa's blood in the powder and the lipstick she had been wearing at the moment of death had been a very exclusive brand and colour, one only a very few could afford to buy. The colour was called "Intrigue" and Judith claimed that it was the type of make up which was discrete but of extremely high quality.

Bard proclaimed that Sigrid and Tilda would be banned from watching beauty videos until they were in their sixties and that make up would be banned from the house from now on. Thran laughed and they put the case behind them as they drove up the driveway to their home. They did never bring the work with them home, it was a solid rule.

The next day Thran did sit down with a map of the city and he did stare at it. He put a pin on the Devon house and one at the boat factory and he stared at the area with narrow eyes. Bard sat down next to him. "What are you staring at?"

Thran made a grimace. "She must have walked from her home to the factory, it is a long way to walk, and which route did she take?"

Bard pointed at the map. "See this road here? It is a sort of fair, it is always open, lots of shops and attractions. I bet you could get a tattoo done there"

Thran did tap his pen against his front teeth, it was a habit he had when he was thinking. "Know what, that is possible. There is a park here, not far from her home. The first images must have been taken there."

Bard let his finger follow the possible route. "We need to go there, see if anybody saw her. And if she was with somebody. But we need to talk to the teachers first"

Thran got up. "Yes, and her class too. There could be something Miranda didn't notice, and then we go to the factory, it has to be checked before evidence is ruined, I bet they don't start work until ten since it is a Friday"

They were heading for the door when a roar from Thor did stop them dead in their tracks. "Guys, not so fast, we have another corpse!"

They stared at each other. "Is it not something one of the others can deal with?"

Thor shook his head. "Nope, it is a girl from the same school as the other one, and if she was grizzly, well , you haven't seen nothing yet"

Thran closed his eyes, he just knew it. This case would become a freaking nightmare.

Thor handed them a note with an address on it, his face was grim and his eyes rather dark. "Guys, we need to solve this, asap. If this gets out there will be panic. Kids…people tend to react very badly when kids are the victims."

Thran didn't speak as the two went to the car, his eyes were distant and Bard knew why, this did really affect the profiler, he had probably encountered many bad people over the years but this was probably one of the worst cases he had seen. They drove as fast as they could to the scene of the crime, they were there before even Judith and they saw that the address was a farm just outside of the city. It was a recreational petting zoo and riding school and there were animals all over the place as they drove into the yard. Chickens and geese ran around while some kids tried to herd them to the right pens and some cows were wreaking havoc on the nice flower beds which did line the driveway. A donkey was standing in a fountain and some horses ran around looking very happy. Thran blinked, "Well…I'll be…"

A woman wearing a leather apron and some very dirty overalls came running, she had been crying and she was ashen grey in the face, her hands were trembling and she was short of breath. "You are from the police?"

Thran nodded, "Yes, excuse me but what is going on?"

The woman heaved for air. "The…the bastard who did it…whoever it was released all the animals, we are trying so hard to catch them."

Bard moaned, it was smart, it was extremely smart. They would have no chance at finding any footprints or anything now, every evidence would be contaminated by all the animals. A chicken came racing with a kid in hot pursuit and it did suddenly remember that its ancestors could fly and tried to copy them, it crashed with Bard and fell to the ground making some wheezing sounds. The kid grasped it with glee and ran off to get it back to the coop. The woman did look very apologetic. "I have sent the kids off to catch the animals, takes their minds away from it. Few know…They just know somebody did open all the gates."

Thran nodded. "Good, so…shall we?"

The woman nodded. "I am Glenda by the way, I run this place. We have about twenty kids here today and thank the lord just two of them saw…it. And they are older, more mature. They are inside, I gave them strict orders to not speak to anybody. "

Bard smiled at her. "Very smart of you"

They walked towards one of the stables, they heard horses whinnying and stomping and Thran looked at Glenda. "What…"

The woman swallowed hard. "It is the stable for private horses, most are sports horses and there are some stallions in there. They don't accept the smell…of death very well. But we have only one door and …You will see. We cannot evacuate them, yet"

The stable was well lit and Glenda did take a visible breath before entering the narrow door. The door could of course be pushed open way wider but they saw why she hadn't the moment they turned around. The dead person was hanging on the door. Thran let out a very low sound, a sort of moan and Bard didn't really find the air to make any sounds at all. It was a girl, the same age as Rosa approximately and she had been wearing a riding suit but now she was more or less naked. She had been nailed to the door, quite literally. Her hands and arms pierced by several very long nails, probably from a nail gun and her torso was pierced by a hay fork. The horses were spinning in their boxes, Thran saw many white rimmed eyes and flat ears and one large bay horse kicked his door hard enough to make it bulge outwards. Glenda did look as if she was in a panic. "Please, tell me the coroner is on his way? We have to get this out of here, the horses are going nuts soon."

Thran stared at the mutilated corpse. Nobody had removed this girl's face but what had been done to her was rather similar. Only that it was the other end which had been mutilated. Her body was skinned from the navel and down to mid thigh and her bowels were hanging from the wound. The smell was ghastly. The feet were obviously missing, cut off at the ankles and Glenda did look as if she was about to puke. "Over by that bin…"

She pointed at a bin which did contain brushes and other grooming equipment and they saw a set of tools, a sort of bolt cutter and a hoof knife which did look wickedly sharp. It was blood on both items. Thran swallowed hard. "He or she did remove the girl's feet"

Glenda nodded. "Deidre was an equestrian, she loved horses and lived for horses. Ah…it is customary to remove the hooves from a dead racehorse, to bury them at the track. It is a symbolic thing"

Thran nodded. "I know, I have owned a few over the years."

He stared at the body again. The killer had covered the dead girls face with a sort of black goo and he went a little closer and sniffed it. "Hoof oil?!"

Glenda nodded. "Yes"

Bard tried to think clearly. The girl had probably had long hair for a pony tail was laying on the ground in front of her, and her clothes were shredded into confetti. It did look terrible. And there were bandages on her arms, from her wrists up to her shoulders. "What are those?"

Glenda did cringe. "Ah. It is…it is a sort of medication we use for lame horses, it is a very irritating liquid which does increase the blood flow to an injured area. It isn't used that much anymore, it was animal cruelty and most states has outlawed it. But I had one bottle left in the pharmacy here, I kept it mostly for educational purposes. The kids need to learn how awful people used to treat horses in the old days. It must have felt as if her arms were being dipped into liquid fire. "

Thran nodded. "But now I bet the coroner is just around the corner, the kids shouldn't see that she is arriving, can you get them away from the front yard somehow? Do you by the way know how long it has been since somebody was in her last?"

Glenda gaped, she did look a bit overwhelmed. "Uh…Deidre arrived half past seven, as usual. That bay horse is hers, it is an eventer and she was going to ride him as usual. I didn't see her at the track so I sent two of the kids in here to see if everything was alright and...well, the rest is history. I saw her like this at…"

She did take a peek at her watch. "8:35"

Thran sighed. "She had been hanging there for less than an hour then, and you heard nothing?"

Glenda nodded. "But the kids, oh Gods, what do I say?"

Bard was thinking fast. "Say that a stray animal got into the stable and died here, a coyote or something. That explains the horses, and send them off to the lake, tell them…"

Glenda did brighten up. "There are minnows in the lake, we often catch some to feed the ducks and geese. I can tell them to catch some, to lure the birds back into the coop. "

Thran smiled. "Good, do it now"

Glenda ran off and Thran and Bard stared at the corpse again, Thor had said that this was more grizzly than Rosa and he was right, it was…brutal. The blood had formed a huge pond underneath the girl and flies were already having a feast there. Bard looked at the body from several angles. "The culprit must be strong, it takes strength to pierce a body like that…with a hayfork!"

Thran nodded. "Yes, and cut through the ankles with a bolt cutter too. I do not understand anything at this moment."

Bard frowned. "Ah Thran, her mouth?"

Thran took a pair of gloves out of his pocket and did gently pull the lower jaw down. He backed away and Bard held a hand in front of his own mouth. Her teeth had been removed, or at least, some of them. Her front teeth were there but not the ones on the side and her mouth was stuffed full of what could only be oats. Thran turned around, his shoulders stiff and his expression one of anger. "I see now, oh I see the pattern."

Bard frowned. "The pattern?"

Thran nodded. "Yes, yes damn it. The killer takes what they love the most and turn it against them, in mockery. Rosa was killed and had her face removed but also restored, as somebody else's. Deidre here loves horses, she has been…mutilated and slaughtered like one, almost transformed into one."

Bard felt his mouth go dry. "I fear that you are right…"

Thran did look wild, his hair flying around his face like a lions mane. "We need to go to the factory, I have a feeling here"

He seemed almost frantic and Bard took his hand. "Whoa there, calm yourself. Judith is on her way remember? We cannot leave until she has arrived."

Thran took a very deep breath. "Alright, fine. But goddamn it, I don't think this monster is done yet"

Bard frowned. "Why not?"

Thran shrugged. "Call it intuition, it is almost symbolic, ritualistic. And so very methodical"

Glenda returned, she did look a bit better now. "The kids have all fled the scene so to speak"

Bard nodded. "Good, very good, tell me, could somebody have entered the stable unseen?"

Glenda nodded. "Yes, the back of this building is facing a piece of the local woods, there is a popular jogging track there and we have a small door in the back, it is in the tack room and usually it is very well locked. "

Thran stared at her. "Check it, now!"

Bard followed the woman to the back room, it was very small and very full, saddles and tack and equipment filled each square inch of the room and there was hardly room to stand. The door was indeed small, barely a door at all and Glenda checked the lock. It was locked but Bard could see that the lock had been opened recently, there were scratches in the layer of rust and the mechanism was shiny too. He sighed, the dust was gone from it, it had been wiped down, no fingerprints there.

When they returned the huge van Judith did drive was already parking outside and she came out of it like a bat out of hell, pulling on gloves and grasping her kit as she went. Her assistant came behind her, looking slightly less enthusiastic. Judith did stop as she saw the body, her eyes huge for a few seconds. "Oh bloody…"

Glenda sort of looked apologetic. "I am sorry, I haven't moved the door at all, I was afraid it would ruin…evidence"

Judith turned professional. "You did good, we will work as fast as we can"

She did take photos and the assistant got the horrible job of gathering the blood and the tools. He did look green. Thran made a grimace. "We have to go now, text me if you find something interesting"

Judith didn't even look at him. "Will do"

Thran almost ran to the car and Bard had to hurry to catch up with him. They took off and Thran did drive like a demon possessed to the factory. It lay near the harbour and the front gate was closed. There was a sign there saying "Closed due to family business"

Thran got out of the car and walked around, the factory was rather large and they saw several boats which were ready to be delivered. Bard saw that there was a sort of door bell attached to the gate and he went over and pushed the button. At first nothing happened, then an elderly man came out of a door near the entrance, he couldn't be a worker for he was bent over and walked with a cane but he wore a sweater with the company logo on it and he tilted his head and fished a key out of his pockets. "A good day to you sirs, I recon you are with the police?"

Thran nodded. "Yes, we are investigating the death of Rosa Devon, ah, I wondered if we could take a look at the factory. We have reason to believe that she has been here during the night of her murder"

The old man smacked his lips. "Of course gentlemen, follow me. Rosa was often here, she loved the boats you see. She drew the designs for several of them."

He opened the gate and they passed through, the old man was limping badly and he sort of leaned to one side the whole time. Bard stared at him and he snickered. "Oh, I am the janitor, or rather, a gate keeper. Mr Devon's father was my brother in law, I have worked for the company for…fifty years now? "

Bard swallowed. "You…you are no spring chicken, why work when you are obviously having problems walking?"

The man grinned. "If I sit down I will rot, simply as that. I get some salary and I stay active and that is all I need really. Thank goodness that Mr Devon is such a good man, he has room for everybody."

Thran stared at the buildings. "I am glad to hear that, and we are very sorry for his loss"

The man nodded.. "We are all mourning now, Rosa was like a daughter to everybody here, we all spoiled that kid rotten. "

He opened the door to one of the buildings with a groan and Thran cringed. "You have been hurt?"

He nodded. "Aye, fifteen years ago, got smashed by a boat which did slide out of its sling, we were putting it on the water and the owner wanted it lowered into the water from above, instead of sliding down to the water the normal way. And the straps were too narrow to keep it steady. I survived so I guess I ought to be grateful"

Thran smiled. "You are one tough person Sir, so, what are we looking at here?"

The old man raised an arm. "This is the production area, where the fiber glass is being moulded and put together. Over there is the area where the boats get their finish and the next building is where they get their interior"

Thran walked forth, there were lots and lots of heavy machinery there and he grasped a small penlight and switched it on. It was black light and as they walked towards one of the machines it started to glow an eerie blue. The old man stared at it with huge eyes. "Ah, what is that?"

Thran sighed. "Blood, what does that machine do?"

The man swallowed hard. "It… it shapes the metal skeleton of the boats, it is needed to keep them in shape."

Thran stared at the machine, there as even blood on the floor but not visible. "There has been nobody in here since she was found dead?"

The old man shook his head. "No, the factory has been closed for two days now. Was…was she killed here?!"

Bard nodded. "Yes, looks like it. Tell me, is there a half finished boat here with a blue finish?"

The old man did nod. "Yes, over in the storage unit?"

Thran did bend down, he picked up something using a pair of gloves. It was a large wrench, and it was covered with grease and blood. It was almost glowing in the blacklight. "This was used on her, beyond doubt, I will call the technicians. There is lots of evidence here"

The old man looked as if he was about to weep. "Oh god, Rosa was very careful you know, she was taught well. The machines in here are very dangerous and the rules strict. Mr Devon isn't like other factory owners, he does care for his workers and won't accept any accidents. I was given a huge compensation for my accident and I didn't even ask for it"

Thran made a grimace. "Show me that boat"

They went into the next building and they did recognize the boat right away, it had been left as it was and there were no signs of anybody there. No blood or anything. Rosa hadn't been killed there, that was for sure but the last picture was taken there beyond doubt. Thran got on the phone with Thor and explained everything and then they told the old man to keep the gate closed until the technicians arrived. They were pretty busy this day for sure.

Thran was very quiet as they drove towards the school, his eyes were glazed and distant and his jaw clenched. Bard knew that his husband was nervous and also a bit scared, the level of brutality here was beyond anything they had come across before. The school was a very well respected one with a very good reputation and it was not among the largest in this city. Exclusive was a word which did describe it rather well. Bard and Thran were heading up the stairs when the girl from the day before stepped forth from behind the front door, her eyes were huge. "Is it true that…that someone has killed yet another girl?!"

Bard swallowed hard, how the heck did she know? "Ah, I don't know where you have gotten that piece of information young miss…"

Miranda took a deep breath. "I saw Deidre's teacher earlier this morning, she did look as if the world had fallen apart right in front of her, and the headmaster is gonna give a speech now in twenty minutes time. I was just putting two and two together Sir, so it is true?"

Thran had to nod, the girl was very smart indeed. She had made them confirm it. "Yes, Deidre is…gone"

Miranda swallowed convulsively. "Oh God, that is …horrible"

Bard frowned. "She didn't happen to have a blog too?"

Miranda blinked, her eyes huge. "Well, yes? She did have a blog, but it wasn't a beauty blog though, it was about horses."

Thran did look intense. "Did she get any money from it?"

Miranda nodded. "Oh yes, like a lot! She had many sponsors. The horse market is a huge one and she made people buy stuff all the time. "

Thran and Bard stared at each other, they were both thinking the same thing. Miranda did take a look around her, she lowered her voice. "I was speaking with Deidre a lot, she was cool. Not full of her self like some of the other girls here, more down to earth if you know what I mean?"

The men did nod and Miranda made a grimace. "She had a stalker, on the blog. She blocked the guy but he kept coming back, with a new name each time"

Bard took a deep breath. "When you say stalker, what do you mean?"

Miranda was keeping her voice low for there were people scurrying by the whole time. "He wanted her to wear…horse stuff. Like bits, and saddles and stuff. And go around on all fours, naked. It was very sick"

Thran nodded. "I see, what do you know of her family?"

Miranda smiled, she did look happy to be useful. "Her mom is a hair dresser and her dad ran out of them when Deidre was five, he haven't paid child support at all and nobody knows where he is. Could be dead for all they know. Deidre's mom has inherited some money from her parents, that's what pays for Deidre's riding and her horse"

Thran did notice that a short but rather round woman wearing a blue skirt and blazer came towards them, she had to be the headmaster and Thran put on his most polite expression. The woman did look very distraught, she was almost in tears and her eyes were red. "Are you the investigators? Your boss called and said you were on your way?"

Bard nodded and Thran held up his badge, "Yes, we are from the police. May I speak with you in private?"

The woman nodded slowly, her make up was smeared and she had a slight tremble in her hands. "Of course, follow me gentlemen"

Some students were staring at them but since neither did carry a uniform most did probably think they were somebody's dads. The headmaster lead them into her office and closed the door, she did look a bit like deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming semi truck. "Is it true? Is Deidre too…murdered?!"

Thran took a calming breath. "Yes Mrs Fallow, it is true. She was found this morning, at the stable"

The headmaster sat down so hard it was a miracle the chair didn't fold in half. "Dear lord, I got a call from her mother, an hour ago. She didn't say much, she screamed most of the time but I managed to understand that Deidre is dead…How…"

Bard shook his head. "It is better for you not to know, believe me. You have told Deidre's teacher?"

Mrs Fallow nodded slowly. "Yes, and the poor woman almost lost it. Deidre was….she was loved by everybody, such a hard working sweet person"

Thran sent the woman a very calming smile, she was genuinely shocked. "So, have any of you noticed anything unusual here, like somebody hanging around the school who doesn't belong here, or strange phone calls, things like that?"

The headmaster shook her head. "We have a very good security system here, the entire school has surveillance and we have guards standing by at all time. The students must leave their cell phones when they arrive in the morning and won't get them back until they leave for the evening. And no photos taken while on these parameters."

Bard leaned a bit forward, the chair he sat in was a bit uncomfortable to say the least. It was so hard he feared that his ass would become completely without feeling if he sat there for much longer. "Are you aware that both the deceased girls were bloggers?"

The headmaster did roll her eyes. "Yes! It is an epidemic. Now everybody wants to run a blog and make a fortune but most of them don't exactly succeed. It takes hard work and determination to reach that far. And there are so many blogs out there, making something which make you stand out from the crowd is not easy"

Thran smiled. "I bet, so many do the same thing here?"

The headmaster did nod. "Yes, we have some who have made it though, but if I say that half of the students have a blog less then five have really become famous. Deidre and Rosa were among them"

Thran sighed. "Right, it cannot be a coincidence, we are facing some mad person who does target bloggers"

Mrs Fallow got even more pale than before. "Oh no, I have to warn them…I..."

Bard took her hand, gently. "Tell me, who else has blogs like that, famous ones?"

Mrs Fallow blinked, she did look as if she was going into a sort of shock. Thran snapped his fingers and she jerked. "Come on, who?"

Mrs Fallow swallowed hard. "Ah…Jeanie Bardston, she writes about cooking, Emmelina Voight, she is a fitness enthusiast and then there is Bryan Woods, he is all about sports history"

Bard smiled. "Alright, call their classrooms and ask if they can come to this room, don't make it sound like something serious."

The headmaster did grasp the intercom and called the teachers. She was obviously nervous and her face was red but she kept her voice steady and surprisingly sweet. After two minutes there was a knock on the door and two kids entered, a tall rather chubby looking girl and a nerdy looking guy with thick glasses and a distinct lack of a good haircut. Mrs Fallow smiled. "Where is Emmelina?"

The chubby girl shrugged. "She didn't show up for school today"

Thran tensed up. "Does that happen often?"

The chubby girl who was Jeanie shook her head. "Doh, like never? Who are you?"

Mrs Fallow grasped a phone. "I have to call her parents, I have to know if she is okay"

The two men did show their badges and the two teens eyes got huge. Jeanie did sit down, like she had been shot. "So it is true…"

Thran smiled, a very sad smile. "I am afraid so. I am sorry, but the one who did hurt Rosa and Deidre are targeting bloggers, or so it seems"

The lad started to shiver. "Are…are we in danger?!"

His voice was becoming hysterical and Bard laid a hand on his shoulder, to calm him. "We will offer you police escort and take you to a safe location, you will be under constant surveillance until we have solved this case"

Mrs Fallow shook her head. "Ah, nobody is answering the phone? Emmelina's mom is a stay at home mom, she ought to be there"

Thran was a bit pale. "What is their address?"

Mrs Fallow opened a folder. "Uh…2489 West Dingham street."

Thran did open his phone. "This is unit BT 87, this is an emergency. Send units to 2489 Dingham street, we have a possible 490-1."

Bard frowned. "Really?"

Mrs Fallow did look curious. "What does that mean?"

Thran swallowed and loosened the upper button of his shirt. "A multiple murder with house intrusion."

Mrs Fallow squeaked and the two kids were ashen grey. Bard leaned back. "Do you kids know of anyone else who runs blogs, famous ones?"

They looked at each other. "Ah…Miranda did, for a little while, but she quit, she didn't have what it took, and she was writing about former first wives, not many bothered following that, boring"

Bard frowned. "Really? That is an odd interest"

Jeanie shrugged. "Miranda is weird, I mean, she is super smart and very polite and all but she never lets people get really close to her if you know what I mean? She doesn't have really close friends."

Thran tilted his head. "Alright? Is she shy perhaps?"

Mrs Fallow shook her head. "No, Miranda is among our best students, she is so smart she easily could have finished high school in just two years but she is living with adoptive parents. The CPS did take her from her real family when she was four, I think the reason was abuse but I am not sure of what kind of abuse."

Thran nodded. "There are many kids like that unfortunately. But she is doing well?"

Mrs Fallow nodded. "Oh yes, very well indeed. She is very mature for her age, and she does her best to be liked but she isn't one of those who has to be liked no matter what. She isn't trying to be somebody she isn't, just to fit inn. That is rare"

Bard grinned and thought about all the drama Sigrid was talking about, her class was full of drama queens for sure. "That is very mature yes"

Mrs Fallow stared at them, pleadingly. "So, what now?"

Thran smiled. "Call Jeanie and Bryan's families, tell them to get here. I will call the office and ask for them to be put under surveillance and see to it that they are given a safe place to stay. Don't worry, nobody is gonna get to you"

Jeanie was a bit grey still and Bryan did look green. Thran tilted his head. "So, have anybody approached you in any manner which didn't seem okay? You both run blogs, any odd comments?"

They looked at each other, Jeanie did swallow hard and her face did express a slight disgust. "Well, there was this one woman some weeks ago. She was nasty, she said I couldn't cook to save my own life, and that my recipes and routines would give people food poisoning. I did block her right away, she was just…nope!"

Thran looked at Bryan. "You?"

The lad shook his head. "No, nothing. I don't have that many followers but the area I blog within is very small and it is rather famous among sports enthusiasts. I guess I cannot be attacked since I always use solid sources and give links to where I find my information too."

Thran lifted an eyebrow. "I think Bryan is rather safe, my guess is that the culprit goes for girls, not lads, but one can never be completely sure. I would hate to be wrong about this"

Bard jerked, his phone went off and he saw that it was the leader of the team of technicians. He did push the answer button and the deep baritone of the tech could be heard. "Bard, it is me, Bruce, we have checked the factory. Nothing, the only remains we did find were from Rosa, no DNA or anything from anybody else. It was almost spooky. The wrench was…what you said it was, and the hydraulics had been used to break her bones without doubt, there was skin residue on them. The only thing we did find was a piece of candy wrapping, Fox's sweet mints. It could have been left there by one of the workers"

Bard sighed. "Alright, damn it, I had hoped that…"

Bruce could be heard sighing too. "Sorry, that bastard was careful, just…allow me to make a personal comment?"

Bard rolled his eyes " Of course, out with it"

The baritone was low, as if the man was almost whispering. "The killer, he knows our methods Bard, he knows how we work and what we look for. This one could very well be an ex cop"

Bard felt that his hairs stood up on end. "Shit, you are right Bruce, well, go on. We'll talk later on"

He ended the conversation and his eyes were dark. "If Bruce is right…"

Thran closed his eyes. "Then there is great trouble"

He did call Thor and asked for somebody to come and take care of the two teens and then they made Mrs Fallow address the students and give a short and very sweetened explanation as to what was going on.

Miranda was waiting for them when they got out, she was grinning. "Can I help you some more? I think what you are doing is so fascinating, it must be great helping people"

Thran petted her on her arm, he did look like somebody's sweet uncle there and then. "Well, you can ask everybody here who has a blog if somebody has sent them odd messages?"

Miranda did beam. "Will do Sir, are Jeanie and Bryan gonna be alright?"

Thran nodded. "Of course, they will be taken to a safe location, and have cops watching over them at all times. Do not worry"

Miranda smiled. "That is wonderful, Jeanie is so sweet and Bryan is very good at what he is doing, he puts so much work into it"

Thran just smiled and they were heading for the car when Thran's phone rang again. "Unit BT 87? This is officer Clarke, I am here outside of the Winston residence…Ah…you…you will not believe what we have just come across…"

Thran closed his eyes, his knuckles were white. "Emmelina is dead?"

The voice from the other end was shivering. "They are all dead, goddamn it Thran, they do not pay us enough for this shit, nowhere near enough. Get your asses down here, asap. I have called for Judith and the CSI techs, but they are currently busy at that stable. I…Oh Jesus Thran, I will need counselling after this, seriously"

Thran stared at Bard. "How fast can we get there?"

Bard made a nasty grimace. "If you drive? Ten minutes?"

Exactly eight minutes and thirty seconds they stopped next to two police cruisers which stood there with their lights on and they saw two police officers standing next to a fire hydrant, both were puking and Clarke was standing by the door, he did look as if he too had puked but his uniform was impeccable and he did look calm, although very shaken. "Goddamn it guys, do that car have a rocket engine or something? From the school to this place in less than ten minutes? I ought to give you a hefty speeding ticket"

Thran just made a stiff grin. "So, how bad is it?"

Clarke leaned against the wall. "I have seen shit guys, serious shit. But this…I cannot…This isn't a human being guys, no human does this to another sentient being. No way!"

He did walk into the house, it was an ordinary looking suburban middle class home, nice furniture, well put together. Clean, neat, very cosy and it did look like a happy home. But there as a smell there which did tell them all that something was terribly wrong. And on top of it a scent which did make Bard sniff and look at Clarke with questions within his gaze. "Cooking oil, just you wait and see"

The first dead person was a man who laid on a couch with a newspaper still folded neatly over his chest, cause of death was easy to see, a small bullet wound in his temple. "Mr Winston, he died in his sleep, lucky bastard."

The next dead thing they found was a dog, it too had been shot through the head and lay there in the middle of a doorway. It was a golden retriever and there was an odd confused expression on the poor animals face. Thran swallowed and swallowed, animals were his soft spot. Clarke went into the kitchen, it was spotless and very nice and a woman sat on a chair next to the bench, her head laid on the bench and her arms were hanging down. A kitchen knife laid on the floor and there was a smell of onions. "She was cutting onions when…she was killed"

Thran's voice was hoarse. "The killer didn't bother with torturing them, they were just in the way, something he had to get rid of. He had to have used a silencer"

Clarke nodded. "I have looked at the wounds, all came from a calibre 22 handgun, and all were very close range. It had to be, a gun like that does lose most of its power if you use a silencer, more than half a meter and the shot won't be fatal"

Thran lifted an arm and pretended to be firing a gun. "That is so goddamn cold, just raising a gun and shooting somebody like that."

Bard nodded. "The killer doesn't see these people as human, they are…chattel"

Clarke nodded. "It is like under the war, the Nazis would shoot people like that, as if it was nothing, just a boring job which needed to be done."

Thran gathered himself. "Emmelina?"

Clarke went a bit green again. "Upstairs, and…you haven't eaten I hope?"

Both shook their heads and he sent them a pale smile. "Follow me"

He went up a flight of stairs and the scent of oil got stronger. Bard was holding his breath. They entered a room which was turned into a small gym with all sorts of machines. At first he didn't even know what he was staring at, then he realized and he almost passed out. "How…"

Clarke didn't stare at the body at all, he stared at the wall, wisely. "How it is possible? Beats me!"

Thran was heaving for air and there were tears in his eyes. Bard could understand it for he felt the same way. "It is the same M.O. using what they stand for against them"

Clarke took a few very deep breaths. "From what I can see here the culprit did strap her arms and legs to that machine there and put it on max speed, while…"

Thran took up a huge five gallon bottle which had contained cooking oil, it had a hose attached to it, and a sort of electrical pump and a huge syringe. It did look expensive. The body didn't look like a fitness expert for sure, it was so bloated it was grotesque, and the movements had in fact caused the skin to rupture along the joints.

Thran was green. "I guess the cause of death is compression of the heart and lungs, there can't be any more space in there for her organs to work"

Clarke nodded. "My guess also, her entire body is filled with oil, I bet there is oil under her skin and inside of the abdominal cavity too."

Bard tried to think. "You know, the first murder victim, she had been drugged. And this looks like hospital equipment"

Thran turned around, swiftly "You are absolutely right, the person must have access to a hospital."

The dead girls face was also swollen, blood had been running from several puncture wounds and Clarke groaned. "I once heard of a worker at a garage who accidentally got stabbed with the equipment used to inflate truck tires, he got his entire body filled with air but survived miraculously. I guess oil is…."

Thran looked down. "It has probably gotten into her bloodstream, into her lungs and heart and everything. But when did she die? Deidre was killed early this morning?"

Clarke shrugged. "I think it happened early last night, the bodies are stiff but is starting to soften again and I spoke to one of the neighbours. They haven't seen any of them since half past six last night, when they did walk the dog."

Bard stared at the pump, and the straps which did attach the girls legs and arms to the stepping machine. It had to have been hellish, being forced to move when your skin slowly ruptured due to the pressure.

Thran left the room, he picked up his phone again and checked the map again. "When the others arrive we are going to go for a walk. The street Rosa had to have passed through isn't far from here, I have a feeling we may find something there"

Bard sort of cringed. "I wouldn't bet on it"

Thran just shrugged. "We have to start somewhere"

Judith did arrive twenty minutes later, looking tired and also sad. "So, this is even worse?"

Thran nodded. "More sadistic than ever, and more than one dead person too. This one won't stop"

Judith took a very deep breath. "Alright, leave it to me. Get out of here, you both look as if you need some fresh air. "

Thran got outside, he bent over and stood like that for a while, just breathing. "I have never come across anything like this…ever! I…I just cannot imagine what sort of creature we are dealing with here"

Bard tried to grin. "Makes us two"

They were heading towards the car when the phone rang again, it was a number they didn't know but when Bard answered they heard a hysterical voice in the back, and it was one they knew. "Mr Bowman? It is me, Miranda, I…I am at the school and…something has happened"

She did sound as if she was about to burst out crying. Bard didn't like the sound of it at all, something had obviously upset her, terribly. "Slow down, what has happened?"

Miranda was sobbing. "I…I have a cell phone, hidden. We all do, well, most of us anyway. The school don't allow phones in class so we hide them….and me and Adelyn…we both…we got the same message…just now"

Thran leaned over. "Is Adelyn a blogger?"

Miranda was breathing hard. "Yes, she just started, she blogs about dieting and healthy weight loss. I…I used to have a blog too, but….i haven't been active for months, it…it got too boring and…"

She was getting hysterical and Bard didn't really know what to do. "Calm yourself, please. What message"

Miranda could be heard gasping. "I am sending it, as a screen shot"

Thran's phone did ping and a picture did appear, it was a short text but it was very nasty. "You bitch is next, you are gonna squeal like the pig you are, goddamn fake whore"

Thran stared at Bard. "Right, they both have to be put somewhere safe. "

Bard nodded. "I will make the call, the safe house has room for two more for sure"

Miranda was sobbing again. "Please, hurry. We are both so very scared."

Thran took the phone. "I know, but it is gonna be alright. We are sending someone to pick you up right now, stay where you are and do not leave the school"

Miranda did sound as if she was choking. "Yes, yes, I will look after Adelyn, she …she is…so very frightened"

Thran made a grimace. "Yes, I understand that, but do not despair. You will be safe soon"

Miranda gasped. "Are you at Emmelina's place, is she okay? Is her dad and mom okay? What about their dog?"

Thran clenched his teeth together. "Sweetie, I am so sorry"

Miranda let out a shriek and then the phone went dead and Thran shook his head. "This case? I am telling you, I am starting to believe in the devil, for real"

Bard nodded. "Right, but I feel like moving now, let us check that street fair, at least they will pick up the girls soon."

Thran nodded, Bard got on the phone and made the request and then they started walking. The street was rather long and a real old fashioned market with booths and shops all over and there were people everywhere. They walked slowly, tried to see if anybody there made tattoos and Bard suddenly stopped. "Look at that?"

It was a booth selling candy and there was some Fox sweet mint bags hanging on the front of it, it was a rather common type of candy but Bard remembered what Bruce had said about the wrapping they found in the factory. It wouldn't hurt trying one's luck. The salesman was an elderly chap with a bowler hat and a nice moustache. He did not at them. "Can I get you something gentlemen?"

Bard showed his badge. "We just want to know if you have sold any of those sweet mints two days ago? Probably in the late evening?"

The man frowned. "Hmmm, I sell a lot of those you see, they are popular…"

Bard moaned and the man did pull his moustache. "But when you mention it…there was one customer who sort of triggered the old spider sense you if catch my drift. I work here alone, often late and I have learned to read people."

Thran did tense up. "Yes?"

The man made a grimace. "Young lad, maybe late teens? Didn't speak, just pointed at the candy and paid in cash. But there was something very weird about him, wore a cap and I did barely see the face. Rather pretty, short stubble, scar over the cheek. What made me react were his clothes, they were…too nice if you catch my drift? Not worn at all, probably brand new, and black. Looked like a track suit of some sorts, the expensive kind. If the people who have cash come here it is usually to look for drugs."

Thran nodded. "So he did trigger your instincts, something else?"

The man frowned. "Ah, well, there was this chick walking through the street at the same time, she carried a camera. And she was dressed as if she was a model, not very smart if you catch my drift? There are nasty people out there. But I did notice that she did look at the guy a few times and he at her, it wasn't just a coincidence, I can tell you that"

Bard frowned. "Really?"

The salesman nodded. "I have instincts remember? Those were aware of each other, or you can call me one of Santa's little helpers."

Thran did wet his lips. "Right, so she didn't appear to be scared?"

The man shook his head. "More like having fun, having a secret. She did look almost smug"

Thran didn't want to show the sweet old man the images of Rosa after she was dead. "Was the girl dark haired, rather petite, with dramatic make up?"

The saleman nodded. "Yes, very pretty. But she should at least have worn a coat, it was cold that evening"

Bard stared at the booths and shops. "Are there anybody here who makes henna tattoos, the temporary type?"

The salesman did point up along the street. "There is one guy here who does that yes, he is sitting right after the shop which sells crystals and stuff. You cannot miss it"

Bard did thank him and they walked on, Thran did look intense as never before. "That guy, he was the one who took the photos. I am sure of it. Who the fuck are we looking for?"

Bard shrugged. "I have no idea!"

They found the tattoo guy, he was an elderly Asian man who sat there on a sort of large pillow and they saw that he couldn't walk, his lower legs were crippled and he smiled at them but pointed at his ears and shook his head. He was deaf. Thran sighed, wonderful. The man did tap his stick at a box and a girl came from the back of the shop, she smiled and seemed to be very friendly. " I am sorry, grandfather is deaf but we have a sort of sign language we use. How may I be of service?"

Bard took a sigh of relief. "Ask him if he did put a tattoo on a girl two nights ago? A black henna tattoo, on her hand?"

The girl did move her hands in a very rapid manner, and the old man did nod. He did sign her back and the girl looked at the two. "Yes, he did give a girl a tattoo that evening, very late. He was about to shut down for the night but she insisted, or rather, her boyfriend did. He picked the design too"

Thran frowned ."Really? What sort of design was it?"

The girl signed and the grandfather signed back. "It was a symbol which means "rebirth" in our language, but he says that there was something wrong with the girl, and the guy. He got scared"

Thran leaned forwards. "Explain?"

The old man could clearly read on the lips for he signed the girl and she did nod slowly "The girl was intoxicated, not much but visibly, she acted as if she had no will of her own. And the guy? Grandfather calls him a "doubleface" That means that somebody is hiding their true nature, that they are false, not what they appear to be. He says that the young dude was…"

She signed at the old man and he answered again. "A dark spirit, very bad"

Thran stared at Bard, "He had some sort of hold of her, not only via drugs but otherwise."

The old man tilted his head, he clicked his tongue to catch their attention. The granddaughter did translate the signs he made. "He says that you ought to be aware, you must not trust what you see, trust what you feel."

Thran bowed swiftly. "We will remember his wise words, and heed them well"

The old man smiled and grasped Thrans's hand, he did do some sort of sign in the air, then he did the same with Bard. "Grandfather was blessing you, consider it an honour"

Thranduil nodded and bowed again. "We are honoured"

He and Bard walked on towards the factory and Bard bit his lower lip. "We have to call Judith, there could be more drugs in Rosa's system then what they found earlier. She must have been unable to resist, or stand up for herself. She knew she was allergic to black henna"

Thran grunted. "Yes, and the design. "Rebirth" It is creepy, the culprit had it all planned, to the smallest detail. I think he did that to them all, planned it carefully"

Bard kicked an empty coke can out of his path. "You are right, he must have studied their every move carefully, their every day routine and everything. And yet nobody did react to it?"

Thran shrugged and picked up his phone. "I am gonna call Judith, she has to run some extra analysis on Rosa's body. And since she is a doctor she may be able to find out if some hospital is missing equipment."

He did press the button and they heard Judith's voice, she did sound stressed out. "Thran, I was just about to call you. The lab has finally gotten their hands out of their asses and done some real work. Rosa had more than just alcohol in her body, but it didn't show up in her blood, there were remnants in her liver though. Very small amounts of an old drug used to interrogate spies. It was called truth serum but what it really does is remove inhibitions and make you very eager to please. "

Thran almost snorted. "I was gonna ask about just that, so she was probably unable to make her own decisions?"

Judith could be heard moving something metallic. "Yes, combined with alcohol it would have made her almost unable to question anything. It is a very insidious drug"

Thran nodded to himself. "Judith, the culprit must have gotten the drugs and the equipment from somewhere, can you call the hospitals and ask if they are missing something?"

Judith was probably walking, they heard footsteps. "I am on it, I think I know what that pump was for, so I can narrow down the number of places I have to call. Emmelina did by the way die from massive doses of oil in her blood, there were cloths everywhere, lungs and heart and brain. And of course blood loss, she was a complete mess poor thing"

Thran sighed. "Sadistic son of a bitch, I swear to God, if I lay my hands on that person I will not hesitate. I don't bloody care if it counts as police brutality"

Judith almost growled. "I agree, I would love to do some permanent damage to that person too, of the fatal sort."

Thran did end the conversation and he shook his head. "So, what's next? The factory is being checked, the school is safe, the kids are in a safe place. What haven't we looked at?"

Bard made a grimace. "Their respective blogs? There could be some hints there, but I don't know how to navigate those things."

Thran snapped his fingers. "But Erestor can, let's go. We need to talk to our favourite hacker, if there is something sinister about the blogs he can find it"

They returned to the car and half an hour later the famous hacker was placed in a office at the HQ and he was attacking the computer he had been given as if he was starving and it was food. He went through Rosa's blog first and he did look as if he was very focused. "There is indeed something odd here, but I am not quite sure what it is. Let me look at the others, if I see the same thing there we may be onto something"

Thran was obviously curious. "Weird how?"

Erestor made a sort of vague gesture. "To a layman this may be a bit incomprehensible but nothing is ever gone if it has been posted online, there is a trace of it, a sort of ghost if you like. You can delete your spam but it can still be found, if you know how to look, I cannot help but think that there are something missing from this blog."

He opened the front page. "The set up of the page is very professional, and it looks damn good too. But in the comment section…."

He pointed at some comments. "I cannot help but think that some comments have been deleted, probably by Rosa herself."

He opened several tabs and brought up the blogs of the other girls. "Let us see here!"

He worked for a while, Thran and Bard got headaches just from watching the speed with which he did type and it was obvious that this was an art most people wouldn't even understand, thank goodness for that. Erestor did raise his hands. "I was right, I was damn right, they have all deleted some comments, from the same source"

Thran was tense. "Can you track them?"

Erestor made a grimace. "I will try, but do not count on it. It could have been posted from a cell phone and if it is a disposable one…well."

Bard held his breath and Thran was trotting around the room, very nervously. Erestor sat with his face almost rubbing against the screen and he was mumbling something to himself. It did sound like the way some people whisper to a nervous animal to calm it down. It took a while, a good twenty minutes and Bard was eying the coffee machine outside of the office with obvious longing when Erestor finally leaned back again. He shrugged. "Sorry, it is from a disposable phone, un-trackable"

Thran swore. "Can you in any manner check the blogs of those kids who are still alive? Could the culprit have sent them messages?"

Erestor did raise his arm in a salute. "Aye sir."

He went to work again and this time it didn't really take that long before he whistled and got a very confused expression on his face. "Guys, take a look at this."

He pointed at the screen. "The lad, he haven't gotten any messages of a nasty nature at all. I bet he is safe. But the girls…"

He opened a tab. "Here is that Jeanie girl. See this?"

He pointed at a long row of comments and Bard did read, his eyes got wider and wider. "What the …"

Erestor did nod. "Whoever this is, he hates her, with a vengeance. I have seen some nasty comments but this? It just spews bile and hatred"

Thran did lean forth, he was reading too. "The person doesn't seem to be very literate, the spelling is horrendous and immature. I think we are right when we say that this guy is some looser who wants to get even at girls who manage to become successful"

Bard turned to him. "Like an Incel?"

Thran shook his head. "No, way worse, much less human. This is a monster"

Erestor opened the blogs of also Adelyn and Miranda and to their shock they saw a distinct difference there. Miranda hadn't really gotten that many messages but they were very different from those Jeanie had gotten. It wasn't an attack at her personally, just at her blog. It wasn't professional enough, it was too sloppy, the writing was done by an amateur, the historical facts were not right… It was written in a strict almost school teacher like manner and yet the misspellings and cusswords were the same.

Adelyn on the other hand had gotten many messages and she had obviously tried to delete many too. And they were very different, they were the words of a person who tries to make themselves sound like the best friend Adelyn could ever get. It was shameless bragging about her blog, about her looks, about everything really. It was wishes to become best friends forever, it was confessions of lust and love and Thran did look as if he had tasted something nasty. " I bet he started off like that with the others too, too bad those comments are gone. Adoration turns to black hatred the moment real rejection is made"

Bard swallowed hard. "Look here."

It was among the last comments made by Jeanie. "Get off my blog you looser, I do not want to see your name in my comment field again, get lost"

Thran shuddered. "She is in danger, goddamn it"

Erestor opened Miranda's blog. She had just answered with an impersonal "Who is this? I do not like your tone"

That was the last thing there, no further contact. Thran frowned, "She didn't express fear, she stood her ground and was cold in her answer. I bet that have pissed the culprit off, enough to text her"

Bard nodded. "And the others were afraid, and that must have been like a heady drink of power for that bastard"

Thran tilted his head. "Adelyn too got that text, the bastard is escalating his killing spree, I bet he will go for the others too, in some way or the other. If the one he does contact don't respond the way he wants he starts to hate them right away."

Bard shivered, his hairs stood upon end "Goddamn it, sounds like a very insecure person"

Thran nodded. "A psychological wreck for sure, filled with malice."

Bard tried to concentrate, remember other cases like this except from the fact that there never had been cases like this one. "Do you think the culprit has been under treatment?"

Thran did shake his head. "Hardly, a person that disturbed would never have been allowed to leave, he would have been kept under surveillance twenty four seven"

Bard sighed. "You are right"

Thran's phone did ring and it was Judith. She did sound short of breath. "I did check for theft, and yes, one hospital had both equipment and drugs stolen two weeks ago. It was during a fire alarm, somebody did trigger the alarm in the basement and they had to evacuate. It was chaos for they had career day and there were lots of school kids there learning about how to become a doctor. When things calmed down several things were missing, no signs of them anywhere and the camera's had been sprayed with black shoeshine. Didn't show anything at all"

Thran moaned. "Great, fucking amazing."

He shook his head. "Somebody up there hates us"

Bard nodded solemnly. "Amen to that"

Judith was almost yelling. "It was the Northbeach hospital, they specialize in plastic surgery, the pump is usually used for liposuction. It is very powerful indeed."

Thran was a bit pale. "And the culprit probably made it work in reverse. Smart bastard"

Bard stared at Erestor. "But the lad haven't received any threats at all? No problems?"

Erestor nodded. "Yes, he is safe, I see no signs of that person on his blog"

Thran frowned. "What is the username?"

Erestor looked at the screen. "He has used several, mostly just numbers and letters but it is obviously the same person. The messages sent for Adelyn is different though, at least yet. Here he is called Greekpoet"

Bard just gaped. "What? Greek poet?"

Erestor nodded. "Odd yes, but who knows what this person is thinking about"

Thran was walking in circles. "I don't like it, the person is like one of those small lizards which change colours all the time. A username is usually very personal, it does say something about the person and his or her preferences. To just switch one all the time tells me the person isn't really stabile at all, it is somebody able to change themselves completely from one moment to the next"

Erestor did raise a finger. "I think the first contact was done using the real username, but when things turned nasty he started using those without any real information in them"

Thran looked at him with narrow eyes. "What makes you think that?

Erestor tilted his head. "Dude, I work with computers, I am a hacker. Some people out there live their entire lives through their computers and there are some messed up personalities out there for sure. I have seen it all. Believe me, when you accidentally come across a page for people who like to smear themselves with poop while singing the national anthem and eating cherry pie you lose some of your faith in mankind"

Bard couldn't answer to that, he just shuddered and Thran rolled his eyes.

That was when there as an alarm going off, it sent everybody out of their chairs and Thor came busting through his door like a raging bull. It usually meant that some officer was down and Thran and Bard stared at the man with huge eyes. "What is going on?"

Thor was pale, his eyes bulging. "It is the safehouse, it has been hit. You…I have alerted the Swat team, it is a mass casualty event"

Bard did seem to shrink, Thran was unable to close his mouth and Erestor was just staring, wide eyed. Thor leaned against the door frame. "Catch this one, for the love of God, do it soon. We have lost good officers, please!"

Thran was heading for the door. "Wait a second Thran, none of you are leaving without this!"

He held up two bullet proof wests, a new type which could stop just about anything, including bullets from an assault rifle. And it did also cover the upper arms and thighs. Thran stared at it, with disdain but he did take it and Bard grasped his with glee and put it on. It made you stiff and slow but it could save your life. They ran to the car and the SWAT team did appear right at the very same moment, the black van was hauling ass along the road with sirens and all and Bard knew that these guys were the best of the very best. They were also very angry so Bard hoped that he and Thran would get there first. If the culprit was still on the scene or nearby they didn't want some gun crazy ex army guy peppering him with large calibre bullets before they had the chance to interrogate him. Thran did drive like a demon possessed, he did swerve through the traffic with the sirens on full and he did break just about every traffic rule known to mankind but Bard didn't care, they had to get there, fast.

The safehouse was a villa in one of the suburbs to the north of the city, it was a very quiet and almost anonymous neighbourhood and the street was eerily quiet. There were two police cars and an ordinary sedan in the driveway and a police officer stepped out from behind a tree, he was covered with sweat and held his gun in a shaky hand. "Sirs, please. Do not enter. I have no idea of what is going on in there but I heard gunshots and…Brian and Thomas, they don't answer when I call them."

Thran nodded. "How many gunshots?"

The officer swallowed, his adam's apple was jumping up and down. "Three Sir, from one of our own guns. The sound is rather special"

Bard did loosen his own gun and cocked it, he felt the taste of bile in his mouth and hoped that they weren't too late. The officer was panting. "The parents…they all went out to eat, we…we haven't called them yet…if they return…"

Bard swore and called Thor, asked him to send somebody to stop the parents., the culprit had clearly held the house under surveillance to know when it was safe to attack. But how had he known where the kids were? Thran stared at the house, it was silent. The SWAT team did arrive, they had shut off the sirens and everything and the van did just glide into place, there was no shouting and yelling like you see in the movies, just men in black armour sneaking forth with guns ready. Thran and Bard did follow the leader, a huge guy who gave orders using signs. The front door was open and they found the first body just inside of the door. It as the officer by the name of Thomas, he laid there on his belly and there was little blood but the SWAT leader bent down and checked him. The cause of death was obvious, a gunshot to the head. Just like the parents of Emmelina. Thran was shaking, Bard had never seen him this tense before.

The next body was Bryan, he lay on the couch with a remote control still in his hand, he too had been shot through the head point blank. He hadn't had time to notice anything, there was still some popcorn in his mouth and his eyes were open and staring into nothing. Bard felt sick to the core.

Thran whispered. "He was just disposed of, like that officer. "

The SWAT leader moved silently and the others spread through the house, there ought to be yet another police officer there and they moved upstairs. They were halfways up the stairs when they heard someone shout, it was a girls voice, straining and thin. "H…hello? Help!"

They entered a corridor and saw a horrible sight. Miranda and Adelyn sat at the end of the corridor, in a heap. In front of them lay the body of the second officer and in front of him lay another body. He had a small handgun in his hand and wore a sort of ski mask. Miranda held a gun in her hand, it was shaking terribly and there was blood on her face. She appeared to be very hysterical. "He…he….shot…the policeman…But I took the gun and…I killed him"

Thran took a quick look around, "Jeanie?"

Miranda gasped. "I…I think…the room at the end of the corridor…I heard something odd and…screamed and Brian came and then this …man came and shot Brian and…I had to defend us"

Bard walked slowly towards her, he took the gun carefully. It was Brian's service gun, she had to have snatched it when he fell. "You were very brave Miranda. "

Thran took off to the room Miranda mentioned and he stopped in the doorway, the sight was just horrible. Jeanie was most definitely dead, her head completely smashed by a marble rolling pin and her arms and legs cut as if she was a pig hanging at a butchers shop. He groaned and turned around, this was just too horrible but the culprit was dead. The SWAT leader called to let the others know it was alright and Miranda was embracing Adelyn, both girls were shaking. Thran was kneeling down. "You did well Miranda, you saved both yourself and Adelyn"

Miranda sniffed. "We are best friends now, forever. "

Adelyn was just sobbing and Thran took her hand. "Listen, you are alright, you are safe. We will take you to hospital just to make sure that you are okay, then you can go home. It is over now"

Adelyn just blinked. "I slept, he killed…he killed Jeanie and I just slept, I was so tired. "

Miranda did stroke her hair. "It is alright dear, you needed it. I am just glad I didn't fall asleep and heard someone running along the corridor"

Thran did get a text from Thor, the parents were stopped but would meet the girls at the hospital after they were interrogated and somebody were taking the lads parents aside. Thran didn't envy the poor bastards.

The SWAT leader went over to the dead man and pulled the ski mask off him, he was young and rather feminine looking with short stubble and a scar across his cheek and Bard let out a sigh of relief. "Check for ID"

The man had a filthy wallet in his pocket and the soldier did pull out an ID card. "Steven Bridle, age 22. A local lad I think"

Thran did nod. "He was gonna kill the girls for sure. Check the 22' for fingerprints just to be safe, but I bet they are his. What a monster"

Miranda was sobbing and appeared to be very distraught. "I shot him…I shot him"

Thran nodded. "You did what you had to do to save yourself and your friend. "

Miranda hid her face in her hands. "He…he had killed Jeanie, did…did he shoot everybody downstairs too?"

Bard nodded and she let out a wail. The SWAT leader did help the girls get up and started to escort them downstairs. Bard did stare at the dead young man, he didn't look like a monster, as a matter of fact he did look like a normal young man, rather poorly clad though and he had some scars in his wrists which did indicate a history of self harm. Bard did pat him down and stopped, there was something hard in his sock and he did pull up the torn jeans and found a small cell phone, hidden in his sock. It was the very cheap disposable type and he showed it to Thran. "Bag it, we will check it later on"

Thran picked up the phone and called Judith. "We got him, one of the girls managed to shoot the bastard. It is over"

Judith could be heard letting out a whoop of relief. "Thank goodness. How are the girls doing?"

Thran swallowed. "He got Jeanie, I am sorry. The lad too. But Miranda and Adelyn are alright, just in shock."

Judith swore. "Goddamn it, but it is good he is dead. Listen, I got the final list from the hospital, they did also miss some strong sleeping pills, but only a few so it could be that some nurse had done an error counting"

Thran nodded. "Alright, we will report to Thor and then we'll get to the hospital and finish the interrogation of the girl. You have a job ahead of you though, Jeanie's head…is no more"

Judith was sighing. "As long as the bastard is caught I will do my job as best as I can."

They went downstairs, the SWAT team was sealing off the property and Thran did take a swift look at the dead officer laying in the door, he shook his head and there was real grief in his eyes. "I knew this guy, he had a wife and a three year old daughter and another on the way. "

Bard felt empty, like a balloon someone had taken a pin to. "I know"

They drove towards the HQ again and Thran did stare off into the distance, his eyes were cold and he made some grimaces. Bard was driving so he had to keep his eyes on the road. "What is it? You act like a cat with an itch"

Thran shrugged. "I don't know…I just…something feels off. It ended too well, too easily"

Bard smiled. "You are just too tense, relax love, it is over, the bad guy is toast and at least two survived."

Thran tried to smile back, it became a sort of stiff grin.

The headquarter was a chaotic place when they did arrive, there were journalists almost barricading the doors and Thor looked like a thundercloud. He nodded at them. "There you are, this is one goddamn situation, the reporters are like leeches. I will personally flay whoever leaks the names of the two surviving girls to the press, they will be all over them like vultures"

He did pat both investigators on their shoulders. "I am glad it is over, too bad the crook is dead but we cannot have everything we wish for now can we?"

Thran nodded and they went onto their office to get rid of the bullet proof wests, Thran did look a bit thoughtful still and Bard didn't push it. He too felt oddly torn, this case had been hellish. Thran picked up the cell phone they had found on the dead villain and he stared at it, then he did push the on button and it did come to life. He did enter the text messages and frowned. "Bard? Take a look at this?"

Bard took the phone, he did stare at it. "Ah…"

Thran did read it out loud. "I got the address, have the stash ready. Will be there in twenty"

He did continue. "Enter the backdoor, go right up. Throw this phone away"

Bard blinked. "What?"

Thran appeared to become a bit frantic. "Remember what the candy salesman said? Young pretty guy, with a scar and stubble. But he wore a very nice expensive tracksuit. Steven was wearing old worn out clothes. Check his file, hurry"

Bard turned on the computer and typed in the name, they did almost collide when they bent over to read. "He is a drug addict, but no violence recorded, a nobody. No known address."

Bard frowned. "He is a homeless person? Then how.."

Thran took a deep breath. "How could he follow so many blogs? He cannot have a computer, junkies use their money for drugs, not for internet time at some café. "

Bard swallowed. "The person the candy salesman saw wasn't Steven?"

Thran nodded. "No, and I have been an idiot, no, I have been blind. This isn't about hatred, it is about love. Sick twisted love. It was a girl, dressed up to look like Steven except for the fact that he don't own such fancy clothes, it was camouflage for later, it was all planned, even this last stage. I bet she talked Rosa into partaking in a photo shoot and Rosa was probably smart enough to hide the memory card when she realized that it was the end of her."

He grasped his coat. "We have to get to the hospital. Adelyn is in mortal danger. We just sent her from the ashes into the fire"

Bard blinked. "Ah what on earth are you talking about?"

Thranduil sneered. "The hospital had school kids visiting? Junior high most likely. And I am willing to bet a month's salary that it was the school these kids go to. Remember the blog Adelyn wrote and the comments Erestor showed us? We are gonna be best friends, forever? What did she just say to Adelyn? Just that!"

Bard nodded and put on his coat as they ran out the door. "The culprit is in love with Adelyn, and want's to rid her of any competition. "

Bard just gaped. "Ha?"

Thran almost laughed, a hollow sad laugher. "Greekpoet remember? Which greek poet is most well known?"

Bard shrugged as they entered the garage " Beats me?

"

Thran opened the car door. "Sappho of course, Sappho of Lesbos!"

Bard gaped and felt how the world suddenly turned itself upside down. "Shit!"

Thran nodded and let the car race out of the garage like it had a rocket strapped to its roof. "Huge shit yeah, elephant shit. We have looked at it the wrong way the whole time."

Bard still couldn't believe it. "But…a girl?!"

Thran nodded. "Yeah, she is rare, so very rare. But be aware, female psychopaths are more dangerous than their male counterparts. They are way more vicious and know how to imitate feelings perfectly. But they feel nothing, except a need to control others, often by using very sick methods"

Bard leaned back against the seat. "Yeah, sick! I do not doubt that, not even for a second"

Thran was pale. "I ought to have smelled something rotten, she was too eager to help, too charming, too likeable. I have seen cases like that before but it is usually pyromaniacs who tend to involve themselves in their own investigation, just to get a kick out of it. Psychopaths usually are like that, they fly under the radar completely. They know just what to say. She sent us off in the wrong direction several times, and got all the information she needed while doing it. I bet she was having the time of her life, manipulating us."

He shifted gears. "She knew about Emmelina's parents, that her dad was at home when they were killed, she knew when they died Bard. If it had happened that very morning it would be normal to assume that he was off to work. She asked us directly about the dad and the dog remember?"

Bard nodded. "A slip of the tongue"

Thran sent him a narrow grin. "The messages, all made to look as if it was an illiterate hateful person, someone like Steven, poor and a looser. She probably chose him early on and manipulated him masterly, playing him like an instrument. She was so very clever, and I bet she has read all there is to read about criminal forensics. She has been one step ahead of us the whole time. The text messages were just to make sure that she ended up in the safe house with Adelyn, and Jeanie. We served her the last victims on a silver platter Bard"

They drove like they had the devil and his entire entourage at their heels, they came to a screeching halt in front of the hospital door and ran inside, car still running. Thran was waving his badge. "The two girls who just were brought in, where are they? They are in danger"

The lady behind the reception desk looked at the two armed men with wide eyes but managed to squeak. "Fourth floor, room 19. The doctors were there just minutes ago and they are fine?"

Thran started running towards the stairs. "Not for long!"

Bard followed, he knew that the elevators were slow, it was faster to take the stairs and the two men ran up making new personal records each. They entered the corridor and Thran stopped, he stared at the room numbers. 19 was at the end of the corridor and they suddenly heard a muffled scream. Bard swore and pulled his gun and Thran did the same. They kicked the door open and saw a scene straight from a horror movie. Adelyn was on the bed, strapped down like a crazy person but she had gotten one arm free and was trying to stop Miranda from stabbing her in the neck with a syringe. She had a roll of bandage wrapped around her head and it was pulled down to use as a gag but she had managed to pull it out of the way.

Miranda was red in the face and she did look like a fury there and then, her movements oddly mechanical and she was snarling like a wolverine in a foot trap. Bard didn't hesitate. He didn't even have to take aim, he just fired the gun and Miranda fell backwards with a godawful howl. She clenched her hand which had a nice hole in it and the syringe fell to the floor. It was full of something yellow and Thran grasped a pair of gloves from the dispenser at the door and his grin was not nice. "You were gonna inject this into her artery right? Her own urin mixed with air, you truly are devious you little minx"

Adelyn was trembling. "I thought…I thought she saved me…Oh God, the things she said…"

Bard did handcuff the spitting and hissing girl, she was surprisingly strong but he didn't mind using some extensive force this time. Some bruises were just what she did deserve. Miranda howled. "You have to love me, I made it so! I removed them all, all the idiots who tried to hold you back. You should be grateful"

She tried to wrestle herself free from Bards grip and her teeth were bared. Sheer madness shone in her eyes. Thran did smile, a very cold grin. "Know what sweetie? No more blogs for you, just a very nice white shirt with very long sleeves and a room with very soft walls. I am rather sure that the judge would prefer to put old sparky back into use but that isn't the way it is done here, beside, I think even the devil deserve better than having to deal with you. "

He removed the straps from Adelyn's arm and legs and the girl was sobbing hysterically. "She wanted me to be her girlfriend, to do whatever she told me to do. She is sick"

Thran nodded. "Yes, a born beast. Don't worry Adelyn. She is going away and she will never come back"

He turned to Miranda. "You did befriend them all didn't you? The sweet somewhat shy girl who couldn't do anything wrong. You learned their routines, took advantage of the fact that you were seemingly harmless."

She spat but didn't reach him. "They are so fucking gullible, yeah, I offed some looser so what? I could have given her everything!"

The last words were a howl and Thran sighed, he shook his head. "I won't do the analysis of this one, no way. I don't even think there is a diagnosis for this"

Miranda tried to bite Bard in the arm and Thran did backhand her across the face. She just gaped, the shock in her face very obvious. "I will give you one advice you little bitch, behave, or I will make sure that your next address will be an asylum where the guards enjoy playing with their patients, and not in a cuddly child friendly manner. There are places like that still, and I know them all"

His voice was low and menacing and he was staring at her with an expression on his face which could have frozen the pacific rock solid. Miranda backed off a few inches, then she tried to smile seductively and she was almost purring. She obviously thought that she could seduce him somehow but it was rather stupid of her.

Thran rolled his eyes, completely and utterly disturbed, no other words could describe that sort of reaction.

Two policemen came running into the room and Bard nodded at them with a narrow grin. "Here guys, arrest her for the murders we have been investigating. And the deaths of two policemen. She shot officer Brian and then she shot the kid she had tricked into coming there, believing that she had drugs to sell. This is the devils little sister, she drugged Adelyn to make her sleep through it, only to wake her up in the middle of the whole drama. So it would seem real "

The two men stared, then their eyes got hard and they manhandled her rather brutally as they hauled her off. Adelyn was sobbing still and she did look as if she didn't really believe what she had just witnessed. "She…killed all those people? Because of me?"

Thran took her hand gently. "Yes, but do not feel guilty, it wasn't your fault."

Adelyn shivered visibly. "Oh Jesus, I should have played along, said that I did love her back or something, just until I could raise the alarm. But I didn't know…"

Thran smiled. "Neither did we, and we are experts. Rest now, your parents are coming, it is gonna be alright. Trust me"

She tried to smile back and did look very young and very vulnerable there and then. This would probably haunt her for the rest of her life.

They waited until a nurse came, then they walked down again, Thran did look very tired and Bard threw an arm around his shoulders. "She really was gonna kill Adelyn"

Thran nodded. "Aye, that is one intelligent and cunning killer. I cannot even comprehend what her mind is like but it is most likely completely ruined. I bet she saw some serious shit as a kid and that stayed there and festered. When Adelyn did reject her she snapped, she cannot deal with rejection at all probably. That is why she killed them all, they rejected her when she tried to befriend them. She probably tried to frighten them away from blogging at first, then she switched her tactics and went on the rampage. She is very dangerous, thinks that everybody owes her respect and love"

Bard shuddered. "No shit Sherlock."

They returned to the station just as Thor got the news, he was pale. "Are you feckin' serious? It was the girl? A girl did all that…horror?"

Thran sat down like a sack of potatoes. "Yes, I was a fool not to see it, but creatures like that are so very rare. It wasn't about money or revenge or anything, it was an attempt at wooing somebody, from someone without the ability to feel empathy. I guess I have learned something new. Although I would have preferred to have it unlearned."

Thor just nodded and sat down. "Well unless there are more psychos hidden somewhere you can take the rest of the day off, and the rest of the week too. You deserve it"

Thran and Bard just stared at each other, both did look worn down and felt like wet rags. "Thank you boss, from the bottom of our hearts. For once we do indeed need some days off."

Thor waved his hand nonchalantly. "By all means, you are just flesh and bone after all and this has been some godawful days. Go now, I will take it from here. "

Thran did hold Bards hand as they walked to the garage again. "Promise me that you don't mention this case back home?"

Bard nodded. "I swear, I don't want the girls to have night mares."

Thran managed to smile. "I know, it is the same with Legolas. He is fragile. So, not a word?"

Bard did fist bump him. "Not a single word"

Two weeks later they were back at work. Bard had caught a cold and so they took some extra time off. The investigation was over, Miranda had sent messages to herself to throw everybody off track, she had really been very clever. But Judith had discovered that officer Thomas had been shot from the back and so had Brian. Adelyn had been drugged as she killed Jeanie and the policemen, and Miranda had probably even copied the key to the stable doors. It was the work of a cold brain and it was all due to an obsession with one person. She was charged and found guilty on several charges of murder and abuse and the jury did only use five minutes to reach their verdict.

Miranda was transferred to a max security prison, she was held in isolation for the first two years and since she was given a sentence of four hundred and fifty years without any chance of parole she would never see the light of day again.

She didn't last that long though, everybody knew that she was an evil minded sick individual and even the guards were afraid of her. So when there was a fight in the cantina and Miranda tried to strangle another woman who happened to stand before her in the dinner queue the guard did use his tazer on her. Unfortunately Miranda had a hidden heart failure and so she did die there, not in old sparky but she did end up getting fried after all and maybe there was some justice in the end. But as Thran said it when he heard of the death, he didn't think even the devil would welcome that creature among his demons, she would probably try to create her own little private hell. But as long as it wasn't here on earth nobody did mourn her for even a second. Her adoptive parents had been oblivious to what they had kept under their roofs and they both needed therapy and they weren't the only ones. Thran said that she was one in a billion and Bard did agree, it was one case which would stay with them for the rest of their lives and it did indeed tell them to listen to their guts, instead of what common sense did dictate.