A/N: Welcome back dear Lucifans! What an exciting last chapter! I am so hyped from all your lovely comments! You are simply amazing! I'm super happy you enjoyed the crazy insanity and are all hyped for more angst and gore and for this maniac to be caught and brought to justice! The plot continues to thicken and our team is all in on the investigation! Well… except Dan perhaps. He might need to see Linda. xD

For any fans who have not yet heard of the release date for S6: 10th Sept. 2021! *celebrates like crazy*

And a reminder that you can find me on Twitter now. I'm sharing WIP snippets, background info to my stories, scribbles I did for my fics and more. So if you like to see that and maybe want to connect find me as: x_Luniana_x

But now, enough of the intro. Sit back, have a nice glass of your favourite beverage and enjoy the read!

Recommended Songs:

Peter Gundry - Lucifer's Hymn

Revolt Production Music - Torture

Power Music Factory - Reckoning

Chapter 14 – Analysis

[Peter Gundry - Lucifer's Hymn]

When Chloe dropped him off at Lux, he found his penthouse to be empty. No sight of Miss Lopez and Amenadiel. Right after stepping out of the elevator, he could spot various tools spread out on his floor, making his stomach twist. He knew what awaited him. What would be lying closeby.

Shrugging out of his jacket, he tossed it over the first bar stool and looked across the room. There they were, piled up on his oaken desk, the small feathers along the wing bones lightly fluttering in the soft breeze that came through the open windows. It was unsettling to see them so motionless, without a twitch, without a curl, detached, torn and dead. They weren't supposed to ever be like that. They were made for his immortal body. To stay immortal with him. To keep on moving. To soar through the skies. They were supposed to be majestic and now they were lying broken.

With a heavy breath, he walked up to his wings and caressed along the arch of both of them. A sad, tearful smile tugged at his lips as he remembered the struggle he went through because of their return, but also what they had helped him with. Chloe was alive, because he had been able to shield her with his wings from a hailstorm of bullets. And now he wondered, if he would be able to protect her again, if they would grow back, if he was worthy of them.

He certainly didn't feel like it. Not with the rage that ran through him, boiling in his veins.

It was a déjà-vu of some sort. It took him a moment, but then he clearly remembered. Of course. The rage, the drive for punishment, for justice. It was the same, although less personal, when he had gone to find Tiernan, that bloody scumbag who was trafficking helpless, young women like pieces of meat. It had been the lowest of lowlifes he had encountered in a long time. The white burning rage that had consumed him back then felt similar to the one he felt now. But now it felt sharper. More heart-wrenching and suffocating, rather than sickening to the core.

He was close to making a promise of ending the life of the person responsible. For sure if it was a demon or anything else celestially. But if the person would turn out to be a human, then what?

Yes. He was close.

"I'll make you pay," he mouthed darkly, hellfire flickering through his eyes. "No matter what."

Grabbing his severed appendages, he walked out onto his balcony and aimed for the jacuzzi. With a stony gaze, he put them into it, but realized they were far too big to fit in it the way they were right now. He swallowed thickly as he brushed along the top of his right wing and felt the metal bracket screwed into the arch, keeping it outstretched. Tears burning in his eyes, he took a firm hold onto the thick bones left and right of the bracket and cracked it in two. The cracking sound painfully twisted his heart and a sudden dizziness overwhelmed his senses. The wing slipped out of his hands as his knees gave in and a flashback shot through his body like a lightning strike.

[Revolt Production Music - Torture]

~o~

He stares into the mirror in shock and terror. The man with cold blue eyes looks back at him, small wrinkles showing from a smile that is hidden under his medical mask. He lifts his right hand, the blue nitrile glove completing his clinical look. There's something in the hand and it takes him a moment to grasp what it is. When the bright light of the room reflects on the metallic object, he understands: A scalpel.

The man disappears behind him and a moment later, a sharp pain slices into his shoulder blade. The pain is gruesome and he wants to grunt and cry out, but his throat and mouth don't cooperate. He gazes ahead, feeling another agonizing cut into his flesh. Tears sting in his eyes that he wants to blink away, but his eyelids don't cooperate either.

A short metallic clattering sounds in his ears and a loud exhale from the man behind him. He looks at him through the mirror, trying to see what happened, and spots a laboratory trolley beneath his right wing. On top of it, he can see various items, all shimmering in the bright lights from above. One item, he notices, has a red, wet glisten. Blood. His blood. And as the man reaches for another tool on the trolley, it dawns upon him that whatever is being done to him is far from over.

He's panting flatly, watching the nitrile hand as it floats above the tools, the fingers curling in a mix of hesitance and joyful excitement over which tool it would pick up next. The man is enjoying this, he realises, and his eyes widen as the hand picks up a cleaver. The man lifts up the tool, just like he did with the scalpel, presenting it, and waits.

His breathing becomes faster, frantic. He wants to get out, pull his body free, but he is stuck against a tilt table, his hands, feet, throat, waist and chest fixated against it with thick straps. The seconds pass by and when the man lunges out above his head, he tries to brace himself for the pain he knows would come next. He focuses, his eyes staying fixated on himself in the mirror, as the blade slams down into his flesh like a hatchet.

The pain is maddening, tearing at his sanity. Having Maze cut off his wings or even having done it himself hadn't been this gruelling. It is unbearable and he wants desperately to faint and be blissfully unaware, but his consciousness isn't granting him that wish. Muscles are chopped and not only the pain of it makes him feel nauseous. It is also the sound, the wet crunching noise that twists his stomach each time the cleaver cuts down into the junction between his wing and shoulder blade.

The tears burn in his eyes and continue to spill while the procedure goes on, until eventually a loud clattering makes him startle from his delirium of pain. He looks at the trolley and sees the blood stained cleaver that had been carelessly dropped in between the other tools.

"You know...To start with the Devil… It's perfect," the man purrs with a spine chilling happiness in his voice. "And you even lead me to a lovely, fitting lady. She's definitely worthy. A perfect gift for him." The man peaks over the small arch of his right wing, looking back at him through the mirror, whispering in his ear. "Isn't that biblical? All of this? The snake that was tempting the innocent young woman. Ah… yes. I'll make sure you won't taint her and pull her down to hell with you."

As the man turns towards the trolley again and picks up another tool, he feels another wave of panic rushing through his body. A bone saw. He gasps for air and uses all the strength he can muster to pull from his restraints, but his arms don't move an inch, his muscles not working at his will. He watches as the man presents the saw and tries to scream even before the tool could get used on him, but his vocal cords still didn't work either. Left with nothing else to do, he watches the saw disappear behind his wing. The pain sets in together with a repetitive sawing tune as the tool works its way through his wingbone.

In that moment he prays that he will die from pain, blood loss or from whatever other cause that would save him from this hell. He begs for his Father's almighty intervention, prays for a miracle, but nothing saves him.

The wing trembles from the atrocity that is being done to it and he wants to cry out in despair as the appendage drops to the ground. The sound is stuck in his lungs just as the sob he wants to release, and the only outlet his body has is to release more tears that silently run down his cheeks.

"One down. One to go. By god, they are beautiful… I'll make sure to put them to good use," the man mumbles. Now it's shifting from his right towards his left ear. "I had imagined them to be difficult to remove, but as they say, it's just been the first try. The second one should go more smoothly…"

The scenery around him flashes up and suddenly he sees both of his wings lying on the ground and the man standing right in front of him. His right blood-stained and gloved hand reaches out and grabs his chin. He grunts and huffs, feeling tired and cold, and every now and then a short pain surges through his back, the severed muscles and nerves trying to find and move what was no longer there.

"I asked you a question.… Tell me what I want to know," the man purrs darkly, his fingers digging into his jaw. "I'm sure you know. There's no point in denying it."

He doesn't want to tell the man the answer. Doesn't want to give him what he desires. His tongue feels heavy as he tries to respond with a snarky remark, feeling for the first time in forever, how he can force his mouth and vocal cords to work again. "Ngh… S' n't g'nn' h'pp'n…" he slurs with a huff. It's exhausting. He pants and his eyes flutter from tiredness, eventually falling shut completely, but a moment later a sharp slap against his cheek makes him startle again, forcing him out of the comfortable dark.

"What was that?! Oh it WILL happen! Don't you dare slip away just yet, Devil," the man growls, his eyes turning sharper and darker with a dangerous glisten in them. Turning to the trolley, he grabs a syringe with a light green fluid inside and slams it into his neck. "Now, let's see if you can still hold back that information. Talk!"

The pain of the injection is barely recognisable in comparison to the constant, agonising buzz that shakes his body. But then something stirs inside him. A desire to do what he was asked, to answer. He tries to push against that desire, battling his own brain and tongue, but he can feel his control slipping. His tongue moves and his lips part to speak against his will.

~o~

Lucifer gasped for air and startled, sitting upright on the balcony floor in front of the jacuzzi. "Bloody hell…" he grunted in between his heavy breaths, glancing agonized at his wings. He tried to sort his thoughts, his memories and what he had done that had triggered the flashback, and realized two things. For one, it had been the cracking of the bone that had sparked his memory and secondly, he remembered every detail from his flashback. The sounds, the smells, the words spoken from that imbecile and the tools he had used on him. It wasn't like the flashbacks he had had before when he had been alone, but rather like the last big one he had at the doctor's office with Chloe. Even though he could tell it wasn't the full memory of the events yet, he did remember every detail of this flashback.

Releasing an exhausted sigh, he reached for his left wing and snapped the bone in two like he had done with the right one before. The appendages sunk into the jacuzzi, not sticking out too much.

Well… Now they fit, he thought, bitterly. After being cut, ripped, drilled, sewn, and finally, broken apart.

He retrieved his lighter from his pants' pocket and leaned in on his wings, gently caressing over the feathers a last time. It was a silent goodbye, a reverent one, and after a long-stretched minute he flicked the lighter and set the heavenly appendages ablaze. The wings burned as if they had been drenched in gasoline; A weakness they only had if they were severed.

Quietly he watched as the flames ate away at his wings until they died down. The feathers were nothing more than a crumbling pile of ash and the wingbones were scorched black, smoking from the hell they had been put through. The divinity inside the wings had burned away with them, making them pose no more threat to humans close-by.

With a doleful satisfaction, he headed back inside and poured himself a drink, feeling in dire need to have something burn in his stomach other than the seething wrath and ineffable sorrow. As he downed his first glass of bourbon, he thought back to his latest flashback. There were a few, quite disturbing things the butchering bastard had said. Things he needed to discuss with his Detective.

[Power Music Factory - Reckoning]

Chloe released a long-stretched groan, slammed the folder shut and leaned back in her chair. It had taken her almost two hours. Every single, weird, celestial event she had encountered with Lucifer during her not-in-the-know-days had been easier to write down than what had happened this morning. It was all a mess. The crime scene with bystanders going absolutely wild, officers not really doing their job, but getting lost in some crazy religious mania, and the body of a woman being mounted with real angel wings that now had been removed and would never ever be seen again. Evidence that could not be kept, because it was too dangerous.

After seeing what the wings had done to the people at the crime scene, she had texted Lucifer about the single feathers in Ella's lab, thinking that he would reply whenever he was ready. She had asked if it was really safe to keep the handful of feathers in the precinct and he eventually answered that there was little chance of the few of them actually still having an influence, but that she could be on the safe side by destroying them like he had with his wings. Once Ella had returned and made sure she got all the analysis done on the feathers, Chloe had secretly burned them in the sink, even though it broke her heart. For one, because she was destroying evidence and for another, because the feathers were Lucifer's.

With her whole morning having been just one huge mountain of horrors and inconveniences, she felt exhausted and was in desperate need of good news.

"Detective," the soft, vibrant voice of Lucifer greeted her from close-by, causing her to startle up in her chair.

"Lucifer, hey," she greeted back with a warm smile and tried taking in all the information she could from his appearance. He looked better than she had expected, especially when thinking of how he had cried over his wings in the church this morning, but she knew this didn't have to mean much. After millennia of upholding a facade to the outside in order to not show his true emotions and the issues he was avoiding to deal with, he could put on a brilliant smile and focus on everybody else while on the inside he was falling apart. It was only since they were truly together, that he was dropping more and more the walls he had built up around him.

Hands loosely in his pockets, he offered her a small smile in return, but it died down just a moment later. "I wanted to come see you, because I just had another flashback at the penthouse," he spoke, quieting his tone, "Right when I snapped my wings to fit them into the Jacuzzi. It was actually the sound that triggered it this time..."

Her brain felt a short overload of information it hadn't expected to hear. "Jacuzzi? Wait. What?" she stuttered confused as her brain caught up. "Another flashback?" The exhaustion from her packed, rough morning was immediately washed away and replaced with genuine concern and alertness. "Are you... okay?"

"Yes, yes, of course. No mental breakdown and I'm still wearing the same suit from earlier, as you can see," he quipped, leisurely extending his arms to display himself and proof he was not covered in snot this time, before his expression turned serious again. "I had a bit of a... Texas Chainsaw Massacre flashback you could say, remembering how that imbecile took off my wings. I recall some of the things he said and the tools he used."

Her throat tightened with a lump at his comparison to a horror movie and the word tools. Plural. Why do I have the feeling it's not gonna be just a normal scalpel? Getting up she gently touched his hand and motioned for him to follow her along before she led the way towards Ella's lab. Finding Ella deep in her work, Chloe harrumphed to get her attention.

Startled, Ella turned around. "Oh, hey guys. I'm still processing the evidence." She looked between them back and forth, both of them looking worryingly serious. "Uh oh… You look like bad news. What is it?"

"Lucifer had another flashback," she answered and looked at her partner. "Why don't you tell us everything about it? Ella is in the know, so it's best if she gets all the information as well."

Taking a deep breath, Lucifer nodded and started to tell them about his returned memories from his butchering in all its gory details. He explained about the tilt table and restraints, the trolley with the tools and the procedure of the bastard showing off the tool before he'd use it on him. He also quoted the man's words and tried to explain what he could grasp with his other senses, the way Linda had told him to do in their session. It wasn't much as most of the time he remembered he was overwhelmed with pain, but he could recall the sounds the tools made. He also remembered the man's voice much clearer than before and felt certain that he would recognise it again, if they'd have a suspect to compare with.

Chloe and Ella both looked at him, horrified over his regained memories and the new cruelties that they revealed. "That's…. Holy moly…" Ella sighed concerned, closing in to give Lucifer a hug.

Feeling mildly awkward about the affectionate hug, but understanding it came from a place of love, he lightly patted her back before she pulled away. "Thanks, Miss Lopez. Well, I hope the details from my flashback will help with the investigation."

"Of course, Lucifer," Chloe assured and offered him a warm smile. "It's really good information. For example, the guy definitely seems to have contact or maybe even access to a medical facility and its equipment."

"Yeah and telling by the stitches and internal work in the victim's back, it's safe to assume the person had years of practise in the field," Ella agreed, pointing at the numerous pictures she had taken of Flora's hands and back.

He knew that this wasn't a lot of information, but at least it would help them narrow down the pool of suspects, little by little. And he trusted that the Detective and Miss Lopez were able to figure out who was responsible for his and Flora's butchering.

"Alright, so let's get to the things that wackjob said to you," Chloe went on, crossed her arms in front of her chest and rested back against the edge of the table. "He told you, that starting with you, the Devil, is perfect."

Nodding, he gritted his teeth. "Correct. Which begs the question, what did he mean with 'starting' with me? Apparently he wants to continue, but there's no other Devil. I'm unique."

"I guess he simply meant another angel," Ella suggested, before her eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh! Maybe he's after Amenadiel next!"

Rolling his eyes, he sighed. "Bloody hell… So I do have to get him fully involved then?"

"Hey! He helped us a great deal already," Chloe countered, giving him a pointed look. "Don't be like that to him. I think Ella's right. Amenadiel could be in danger. Don't forget this guy managed to take you down without problems and almost got you killed even though I wasn't around."

Lucifer raised his hands in an accepting gesture, knowing that they both were right. He certainly didn't want to put his brother in any danger. "Alright, alright. I'll fill him in. But there's more that bugs me from my flashback. The sicko asked me a question. I can't recall it, but when I refused to answer, he injected me with something and then I could feel how I was about to say something before the flashback ended." Looking at Chloe, he frowned guiltily. "I think I told him what he wanted to know."

Gently brushing along his arm, Chloe shook her head. "Hey, no self-blame." She offered him a warm smile, imploring him with her eyes and she only went on when he sighed and agreed. "Okay. So, he wanted to know something and from the feels of yours, you have given him the answer."

"Meaning the injection must've been with some kind of drug that made you talk more loosely," Ella pointed out and quickly headed to the opposite table where she picked up some of her notes. Feverishly looking through her analysis and data sheets, her eyes suddenly widened as she grabbed one page and skimmed through its content. "Oh my god, Lucifer! Your blood analysis!"

"Well first of all, that's an oxymoron," he pointed out and his expression softened. "And, I told you, Miss Lopez, you'll not be able to understand celestial anatomy on its molecular lev-"

"No! That's the point!" she cut him off excitedly and waved the piece of paper in front of him. "I couldn't figure out your blood components, so I had various substances that I couldn't quite pinpoint, because they were so fragmented in your blood. I wasn't really sure what they could be. Now I know!"

"Oh? You do?" He blinked, surprised, and exchanged a look with Chloe who looked equally curious. "Do tell."

"Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid or in short GHB. It's a naturally occurring neurotransmitter and a psychoactive drug," Ella explained all hyped up.

"Another drug?" Lucifer grumbled. "So that bastard put two into my system."

"Exactly! One was decamethonium and, going by the blood sample, I'd say you had this injected last, because it was not fully decomposed yet. But the GHB must've been given to you before that or perhaps in between two shots of decamethonium. That's why, at the time I took your sample, I could only find fragments that made no sense."

"And what does this GHB do exactly?" Chloe asked, looking at her expectantly.

Ella was in her element, her expertise bubbling from her like someone had opened a shaken bottle of champaign. "Okay, so you've might heard of it also as Liquid Ecstasy-"

"Liquid E! Yes, I have indeed! Quite the fun stuff actually!" Lucifer interrupted with a brilliant smile, remembering some fun time with the mentioned drug, but at the serious expressions of Chloe and Ella, he harrumphed and motioned for Ella to continue. "Excuse me. Go on."

"So, the drug has its usual happy-times effects: euphoria, reduction of anxiety, sexual stimulation, increased self-esteem, muscle relaxation, intensified emotional awareness, compulsion to move, you name it. But here comes the juicy one for Lucifer's situation. One of the effects that's pretty darn intense is an increased need to talk, even up to the point of logorrhea."

"So he actually made you talk!" Chloe mouthed surprised, looking at her partner shocked.

"Well that's not fun at all! I was certainly not consenting! And it means I was right. I was answering his question… whatever that question might have been." Grinding his teeth, he grumbled. "Why the bloody hell did I have that hiccup in the flashback exactly at that point where it was so important?!"

"Perhaps exactly because of that," Chloe softly responded. "Maybe you tried so hard to not answer him and with all the stress of the situation, your memory blacked out particularly heavily over that exact moment."

"Exactly," Ella agreed, "I mean, there are veterans who remember pretty much everything when they come back from war except one particularly traumatising moment. It's not far-fetched that your memory recovery is happening selectively as well. In any case, it means it's really important information that's been buried."

Letting their explanations sink in, Lucifer nodded and looked at the pictures and evidence bags on the big table. Ella had been as thorough as always, cataloguing every little detail from the crime scene and the body. Seeing the pictures of poor Flora made his anger boil up, causing his eyes to shortly flash up in wrathful oranges and reds. It had been a long time since he had encountered genuine evil on earth. "What can you tell us about Flora and that whole sick wing-setup?" he asked with a tight voice, looking back at the young Latina expectantly.

"Alright, so, the ME report isn't in yet, obviously, but one of the first things I ran was a tox screen and, boy, it ain't lookin pretty," Ella began, showing them the results of both Lucifer's and Flora's blood next to each other. "Okay, the left one shows Lucifer's, the right one Flora's results. Notice the overlap here? That's decamethonium."

"So she's been drugged with it as well," Chloe muttered, feeling a sickness twist her bowels and her mouth tasting stale. Flora had been unable to move just like Lucifer. "Had she been under anesthesia or any pain killers?" she added quietly, the reason for her question awkwardly known by everyone in the room. If the answer was 'No', Flora's horrific disfigurement had been done in her full consciousness, just like Lucifer's butchering.

Biting her lip, Ella shook her head, frowning deeply. "Just decamethonium," she answered with a cracking, small voice. "And she's had one massive dose in her system from the looks of it. With Lucifer's blood I couldn't make a calculation, but with hers… Well. It's bad. Really bad. She was pumped full of it with an insane amount."

It was sickening, but just like every other gruesome detail piling up on this whole case, it made her wish to catch the bastard become even stronger and made her more determined than ever. It sharpened her instincts and made her dig deeper, harder and faster. While it turned out the sicko did more gruesome things, she turned into a bloodhound, relentlessly following the stench until she would hear the sweet sound of prison bars locking him up for good. "Just why so much..." Chloe wondered out loud. "I mean… with Lucifer it's clear. His metabolism is really quick, but Flora… She's a normal human."

"Well isn't it obvious?" Lucifer grumbled next to her through gritted teeth. "He left her there, maybe hanging for hours. She was conscious, to a degree, we can assume. She couldn't move, couldn't scream for help. She was put on display like some stuffed animal," he hissed with contempt. "He didn't necessarily want her to die right away. He wanted her to be quiet and motionless until she would be found in time of the Morning Prayer."

Upon Lucifer's explanation, Ella released a sad sigh. "From the looks of her palms and the red marks around her ankles, it appears like the decamethonium was eventually wearing off. She was starting to struggle."

"Oh god…" Chloe quietly cursed in consternation and looked at the pictures Ella had taken from Flora's body.

"I'm afraid, it's not like He's coming down to help, Detective," Lucifer muttered with a huff, looking back at her saddened. A bunch of papers suddenly slapped against his upper left arm and made him flinch.

"Don't you dare say something like that!" Ella hissed, upset and hurt, her eyes watering. "You don't get to say that!"

His chest contracted painfully at Ella's reaction and he immediately felt a wave of guilt rush through him. She was a genuine, deep believer and with her being in the know now it was undoubtedly put to the test. Believing and knowing were two very different things after all. And making a snarky comment about his Almighty Father from the position of being His son was surely not contributing to her faith, but rather hurting it. "Miss Lopez, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just meant that He isn't the type to show-"

"No, Lucifer! God is everywhere! He's with us, all the time! Knowing about you and that everything is real has just made it so much clearer. I trust that He's helping us where He can. And if He isn't here directly, He's here through different things. Like you."

Lucifer stared back at her, bewildered. He was about to protest and point out how God was surely not present through his fallen son, but as he spotted Chloe deep in thought over the crime scene photos, his focus instantly came back to the case. "What is it, Detective? Did you find something?"

"She looks so… so clean," Chloe muttered, looking between close up and wide angle shots of the victim.

"Well, she's been propped up. He was probably very careful-" Lucifer began, but she cut him off, shaking her head.

"No, that's not what I mean. She looks so neat. Look at her hair, her nails… Was she wearing makeup when she came to Lux?"

Digging in the memory he could now so clearly recall, he nodded. "Erm… I… Y-yes… It was subtle. Soft pink lipstick, some rouge and masquara. She looked quite lovely actually." Now, not so much anymore, he reckoned. While she looked almost peacefully asleep in the pictures from the crime scene, the paleness of her skin and her faint purple lips were disturbing beyond measure. Especially because he had felt the pureness of her when they had met, how she had been full of life, dreams and desires. She was not supposed to look like this.

"She was found without makeup though. Her skin is all cleaned up," Chloe pointed out on the close up shots of Flora's face.

"So he cleaned her," Lucifer concluded from her thoughts. "Why? Some kind of pious purification-" His eyes travelled over the pictures and when he saw the ones of his wings he froze. "My wings, too," he breathed, remembering how he had caressed them earlier. "They were clean and not ruffled. But I remember how they got sprayed with blood. So he must've cleaned them up as well after he took them from me and put them on Flora."

"That's a lot of dedication for the cause," Chloe uttered. "Since the wings are out of the picture, can we get something from Flora's skin? Maybe he used some super fancy, baptized soap or whatever." When she saw Lucifer throwing her a sceptical look, she raised her shoulders. "What? I'm just saying."

"I took samples of her skin, yes. I'll set Nick on it," Ella replied and took forward a small evidence bag with a piece of paper inside. "Now let's get to this. I found it in the victim's folded hands. How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!" she read out loud and looked at Lucifer. "This is undeniably about you, even though I figure the Bible got most of its stuff wrong, am I right?"

"Yes. The book takes the term 'historical accuracy' rather loosely," he grumbled and ground his teeth at yet another obnoxious piece of evidence. The list appeared to just be growing and growing, but so far none of the things they had found got them any closer to the culprit. "Right, but a bloody citation from the bible ain't gonna help us! Is there actually anything useful that gives us a lead to this blasted miscreant, because I feel the distinct need to tear his spine out and beat the bloody hell out of him!"

Ella stared at him open-mouthed, the contradicting behaviour of him towards what he had said spinning in her head for a couple of seconds, until his question managed to settle in and shake her from her stupor. "Well… so far, not really. The thread from the stitches is pretty standard and so is the rope used on her ankles and the wings. You'll find that in any home improvement store. I hate to admit it, but he's good."

He could feel the rage boiling inside him. This was an absolute disaster. Nothing got them a step forward or got them at least on a lead.

Chloe frowned in sympathy with him, seeing the way his fingers curled in anger and how his jaw muscles flexed in tension. She could understand. They needed a lead. A suspect. Anything that would get them on the way to find the man who did this. "Ella, you said this must've been done by someone with years and years of experience. Let's see if we can narrow that down at least a bit. What kind of training would you say is necessary for all of this?"

"Puh…." the forensic blew out of her cheeks and bit on her lip in thought. "I mean, he must've been dealing with years of difficult surgeries. I'd say something like military surgery or emergency surgery. Lots of work on the bones in combination with aspects of cosmetic surgery. The work with the plates in the victim's back and the connection of all the tissue was really well done. If you'd have me guess, I'd say ten years of practise at least."

"Ten years?!" Lucifer explained angrily. "And this bastard simply chopped my wings off of my back like he's re-enacting The Shining on me and I'm bloody door?!"

"That was probably intentional," Chloe pointed out. "I mean, he clearly sees you as the evil Devil… I imagine he didn't really mind being sloppy and vicious with you. Not that mounting your wings on Flora's back wasn't vicious… But he's done that with lots of precision and dedication. It must've taken him many hours to do this, especially if he was on his own." Running her hands through her hair, she collected her thoughts. "Okay, so… we'd be searching for a guy, ten years minimum of practise, specialised in emergency surgery-"

"Disturbingly cold, blue eyes and equally disturbing, calm voice. A bit of a raspy baritone, I'd say," Lucifer threw in, expectantly staring at Chloe.

"Rrrrright. Great," Chloe drawled, tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him in bafflement over his search criteria. "That's still just gonna narrow it down to what? Several hundred suspects in LA?"

"Well I'll be happy to start somewhere, if it means we might find-" A buzz in his jacket interrupted him. Taking out his phone, he glanced at the screen before taking the call. "Hello James," he greeted the former FBI agent with a dubious change of career path. "Don't tell me of yet another bloody feathered surprise like Ivy did this morning."

"She told us she informed you… Sorry it was bad news. But maybe mine will help," James said, audibly taking a drag from a cigarette before he blew out the smoke through pursed lips. "The decamethonium. I've got the list of purchases for this month."

"That's good news then," he replied, a small smile slipping up his lips. "How many are there?"

Another drag from a cigarette sounded and James sighed. "Couple dozen. Pretty much every research facility in LA and several hospitals."

Nodding unseen from James, Lucifer exchanged looks with Chloe, who from the confused look on her face seemed to try to decipher what he was talking about. "Couple dozen buyers of decamethonium, you say?" he spoke out intentionally so she'd understand. "Sounds better than several hundred doctors to skim through. I'll take that list. Send it over to me. Well done James."

"Of course. Anything for a favour from the Devil."

"Careful. No schmoozing, James. Nobody likes crawlers," he grumbled darkly and hung up. "Looks like we might be able to work through a much shorter list. Finally some good news." He flashed a smile at Chloe, feeling already a nervous tingling in his limbs, yearning to get going and be back on the hunt.

Eyes narrowing, Chloe tilted her head. "Just how many dubious people did you have over at Lux to ask for help on this case exactly?"

Pursing his lips, he assessed her reaction. "...Five," he admitted and went on immediately when she rolled her eyes. "But, Detective, these dubious people are the best in their business sectors! And quite frankly I'll take all the help we can get to catch this despicable maggot." He could tell Chloe was visibly fighting with her code of ethics as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Oh, come on! I've got at least a shorter list to tick off! Doesn't that count for something?"

Reluctantly nodding, she gave in. She wanted to find the bastard and while normal methods were taking their time to bring up a lead, this somewhat shadily acquired list was at least shorter than going through hundreds of doctors in LA. "Fine. Unless there's any new leads popping up, we could as well use the time to visit the buyers from your list."

Rushing out of the lab with Lucifer taking the lead, and setting quite the fast pace with his wide strides, they got on their way. A ping on Lucifer's phone signalled the arrival of the list of names and facilities of the buyers. There were fifty-eight buyers to go through, scattered all across LA. A long and tedious work. But at least it was something and with any luck it would lead them right on the doorstep of their butcher.

A/N: WOW! That's some analysis done! (hehe, hence the title…..) LOTS of information gathered, although it appears they don't present any leads. At least they got a list of buyers now to tick off, even if they're fishing in the dark. Hopefully they catch the bastard! :) I'm curious about your thoughts! So excited! :D Alright, I get back to writing and I'll see you in the next one!

- Luni