FIVE

Less than an hour after Paige called Darryl there was a knock at the front door. When Paige answered the door she found Darryl standing on the front porch. He was holding a file folder.

"Hey, Darryl, come on in," Paige said. "If I knew you were coming over I would have saved the phone call."

"I'm here because of that call," Darryl said. "You said Piper was dating this Darren Carson."

"Yes," said Paige as Piper and Phoebe came in from the kitchen.

"Hey, Darryl," said Piper. "What brings you over here today?"

"Your Mr. Carson," said Darryl, holding up the file folder. "I ran his name like Paige asked. Red flags started going off almost immediately."

"You mean he has a record?" Phoebe asked.

"No," said Darryl. "But that's apparently because no one can actually prove anything. His name appears in so many cases that it can't be coincidence. Cases involving murdered or missing people. And in all of them Mr. Carson figures prominently."

"You think he's a serial killer?" Paige asked.

"There's not enough to suggest anything," Darryl said. "There really isn't any proof against him only that he seems to be around when people die or go missing."

"We've had our share of that," Piper said.

"Then there's this," Darryl said, pulling what looked like a photograph out of the folder.

The photograph was obviously a police identification picture. It showed a large dagger with a very ornately inscribed handle. There was also a tag tied to the handle of the dagger identifying it as evidence in a police investigation.

"This was discovered at the scene of a man who went missing a couple of years ago," Darryl said.

"It looks like an athame," Piper said, looking at the picture. "But it's more ornately decorated than most I've seen."

"It's a sacrificial ceremonial athame," Chris said, coming into the room. "It's used in rituals that involve human sacrifices. The Incas, Aztecs, even the Egyptians used similar athames."

"Like I said," said Darryl, "this one was found at the scene where a man went missing. The only prints on it are those of one Darren Carson."

"You think he used this to kill that man?" Phoebe asked.

"No one knows," Darryl said. "There was no blood found on the knife. According to the report the inspector filed, Mr. Carson claimed to have sold that particular knife a few days previously. Which would account for his prints being on it. But the man that disappeared was never seen again."

"I told you he was dangerous," Chris said to Piper.

"Just calm down," Piper said. "This really doesn't prove anything. If there was no blood on the athame it means he didn't use it to kill anyone."

"Unless he cleaned it off," Darryl said. "There was some blood found at the mans' apartment. The one who disappeared. It wasn't Carson's blood so it's assumed it belonged to the guy who disappeared."

"So Carson could have killed the man," said Phoebe, "disposed of the body, then came back to clean up the crime scene. He cleaned the knife but the police showed up before he could get rid of it."

"That's what the inspector speculated in his report," Darryl said. "But other than his prints on this knife, there wasn't any other evidence. They couldn't hold him so they had to let him go. Piper, if you're seeing this guy you need to be very careful. I've checked and he's been implicated in at least seven murders and five disappearances. And according to the reports, some of them included items of an occult nature."

"A witch hunter," Chris said. "It's the only thing that makes any sense. Either that or a warlock that's been killing witches and stealing their powers."

"Hold on," Piper said. "We're jumping to conclusions. There could a very reasonable explanation for all this."

"Like what?" Darryl asked. "Piper I've been a cop a long time. I've learned to tell when something doesn't feel right. And this doesn't feel right. There are too many coincidences for them to be coincidence. His name appears in more reports than most police officers' names. And all involve people who have been murdered or who've never been heard from again."

"He's right, honey," said Phoebe, putting her hand on Piper's shoulder. "Look, I know you really like this guy. And I know you don't want to believe that he's a demon. But let's face it. What Darryl has learned changes everything. This guy is killing people. Maybe he's a demon or a warlock or maybe he's just a serial killer. But you've got to face the fact that he's not what he appears to be."

"I know," said Piper. "I just didn't want to believe that it was Jeremy all over again. But I can't figure out what his game is. If he's planning on me being his next victim why hasn't he done anything yet?"

"You may not be his next victim," Darryl said. "If he's a serial killer then he goes after specific types of people. People that remind him of his mother or father. People that were abusive to him. Something that the victims all have in common. So far no link has been found between all of the victims but there has to be one. We just haven't figured out what it is yet.

"Piper, it's possible his intentions in you are genuine. But that makes him even more dangerous. He obviously doesn't want you to learn what he's doing. And if he thinks you know something, he'll get rid of you to protect himself. Even if you're not a planned target you're still in danger. And the longer you see him the more dangerous it's going to be."

"The question is what do we do about it?" Phoebe asked.

"I say we vanquish his butt," Paige offered.

"And if he's not a demon?" Piper asked. "Even if he is a serial killer or something like that, we can't just kill him. That would be murder. Besides, we're not supposed to get involved in things like that. That's what the police are for."

"Exactly," Darryl said. "You need to stay away from him. You need to break it off right away. But you need to do it in a way that won't make him suspicious. If he thinks you've broken up with him because you suspect what he is he'll probably come after you to find out what you know and to get rid of you."

"I'll have to think of something," Piper said. "Thanks, Darryl. You've been a big help."

"Just be careful," Darryl said. "I don't know if this guy is a demon or just some nut job who gets his kicks killing people. Either way he's very dangerous. Watch yourselves."

"We will," Phoebe promised.

"So, what do we do?" Paige asked after Darryl had left.

"First, I'll make up an excuse not to go out with him when he calls," Piper said. "I can say I have an emergency at the club. He had one the other night. He should buy that."

"Then what?" Chris asked.

"We need to find out if he's a demon," Piper said. "If Leo was here he might be able to tell us something."

"Leo's off on another of his searches," Chris said. "Trying to prove I'm the bad guy."

"He's just trying to figure out who sent him to Valhalla," Phoebe said.

"I think we'd better search a little deeper into Darren's background," Piper said. "There has to be something that will tell us if he's a demon or not. I'll put on some coffee. Looks like it's going to be a long day."

As Piper went to put on the coffee, the others began to discuss what they needed to do to discover who Darren Carson really was.