The claxon goes off shortly after 7:00. As usual, I'm the last one in the meeting room. Manning is standing at the front of the room waiting. He scowls at me when I enter, but I just ignore him and take a seat next to Hellboy.

"All right, people, listen up," Manning starts. "We have some unknown entity preying on men in Downtown Manhattan. Bodies started showing up about a week ago."

"How do we know that it's not some psychopath making the rounds?" asks Hellboy.

"Because all of the bodies are the same," Manning answers. "All of the victims died of drowning. However, there is no other cause that can be found to lead to the drowning. No blunt force trauma to the skull, no broken bones caused by falls from a substantial height, no bruising of any kind and no drugs in their systems. It's as if they fell into the water and willing drowned."

"What about suicide?" I ask.

"All the victims had what could be called happy lives," Manning replies. "They all had jobs. Some were in stable relationships and some were single. There was no sign of depression of any kind.

"What about robbery?" Myers asks.

"All the victims still had their wallets with both credit cards and cash still in them. No jewelry was reported missing," Manning responds. "Another thing that should be noted. All the victims had a look on their face like they've 'seen heaven.' The coroner's words, not mine."

"So do we have anything to go on?" asks Hellboy.

"All of the victims were last seen at karaoke bars that are all situated near water," he answers. "We've narrowed it down to three places. We'll be splitting up into teams. Hellboy and Abe will be stationed at the most central of the bars, ready to move out if this thing hits at one of the other locations. We will keep in constant radio contact. Agents Briggs and Mignola, you'll be taking target one. Agents Gordon and Levin, you'll be taking target two. Agents Palmer and Richardson, you'll be taking target three. Are there any more questions?"

After a few moments of silence, Manning nods and says, "Ok, let's move out."

Within 15 minutes, Hellboy and I are in the garbage truck and we're on our way to Manhattan. I'm actually rather glad of this since I know that's where Maggie is. She told me a while back that she'd be coming out here for her cousin's birthday. Every year they go out to dinner and then do something afterwards. Usually it's a show, but this year her cousin had something else planned. She had no idea what it was though.

"So what do you think, Blue?" asks Hellboy. "What kind of monster are we dealing with this time?"

"Hmm, I need to think," I answer. "All of the victims were last seen at bars near water and they all drowned. It could be some sort of water spirit. Let me see what I can find."

I go to the crate that contains the books on various spirits, gods and monsters and start to do some research. By the time we've reached our destination I've come up with a few ideas, but nothing solid. As we sit and wait for word of a disturbance, I continue to read. After about an hour of reading, I've got a few theories. But without more information, I'm at a stalemate. I stand and stretch.

I look over at Red. He's staring out the window at Liz, puffing on a cigar. This is the only place he can smoke those things now, since Liz banned any smoking around her. If I didn't hate those things so much, I'd feel sorry for him.

I look past him out the window. We're parked in a parking lot located beside one of the bars that we're staking out. The door to the bar faces the street and we can't see it from our position. I reach out and try and touch the minds of the people inside, just to get a feel for the mood of the people inside. What I find is confusing and a bit frightening.

"Red, something's going on inside," I say.

"Like what?" he asks turning to look at me.

"I'm not sure," I answer. "I'd have to get closer to be sure."

I look out the window and see two women come around the corner. The first one is pulling the second one along. They stop and the first one starts looking for something in her purse. The lighting is bad here, so I reach out and touch their minds. The second one is confused and a bit frightened. The one looking in her purse stops my heart.

"Red, that's Maggie out there," I say in shock.