It was a strange suggestion, but it was somewhat plausible. So far, the two suitcases that they knew of had been around either them, or someone who looked like Alois, which could have simply been a mistake. Alois was around the age Revy appeared to be when the Sudoku Killer last saw them, and given the fact that the menace gave him one hell of a fright during their previous confrontation, it would make sense for the serial killer to target the Phantomhives.
The real question was how he was doing it. Security camera footage from the front gate revealed that no one was watching the mansion, so they weren't followed from home. They also checked with Sir Midford, only to find a similar result. So how could one be tracking the movements of a person in London?
"Cell phones can track your location with GPS. Think one of us was hacked?" suggested the blonde, leaning back in his chair. "That would be a pain… I just got this one..."
"That is a genuine possibility… But could he?" questioned Ciel, resting his chin in his palms while he sat behind his desk. "Does he have the technical know-how to pull that off?"
"Maybe he had help?"
"Could be, but who and how? I'm not familiar enough with hacking to know any of it, really."
"What about cameras?" pondered Alois, looking his husband's way. "Security cameras, traffic cameras… Traffic cams would be a better pick, since you can watch them all in one place."
"True, but how would he access those?"
"Maybe he knows a guy?"
"If he does, couldn't he also have found someone who can hack our phones?"
"Yeah, I guess he could… What do we do about that? It's bad to walk around without your phone in case of an emergency, which is always bound to happen."
"We should at least wipe them of any personal information. Do a factory reset." Ciel replied, rolling his chair back and leaning down to open one of the drawers in his desk. "As for the rest, we'll use these." Sitting back up, he leaned over the middle desk and handed one device to his beau.
"Prepaid, convenience store phones." He said. "The kind drug dealers use. No internet access, certain, allotted amount of minutes, and no internet access. Most importantly, though, no GPS."
"There are mobiles like this?" questioned Alois, confused as he had skipped the time in history when cell phones like this were the norm. Holding it in his hand was like discovering alien technology as he looked at it with much curiosity and promise.
"Yes. The number for this phone is already programmed into it, and so is Sebastian and Integra's. Whoever we can contact in an emergency."
"So, take these and leave the real ones here?"
"That's the plan I got."
"I mean, it's a good plan, but what if I wanna read the news or check Buzzfeed or something?"
"You'll live. You can use newspapers."
"Newspapers can't tell me what candybar I am based on my zodiac, Ciel." the menace jested, prompting his beau to roll his visible eye.
"Candybars or human fingers?"
"Candybars, though I do wonder about those fingers." Alois said while rubbing his chin. "Whose are they? Do they belong to the same person as the ear?"
"I'm not sure. They both must be female, though." speculated the Watchdog.
"How do you know?"
"The ear had an earring, and the fingernails on the fingers were painted."
"Ciel, can I show you something?" questioned the blonde while standing up. Ciel's curious expression was met by Alois picking up his hand and rubbing a thumb over his blackened fingernails, directing his attention to them. Then, he proceeded to reach out and play with the bluenette's earlobes, fiddling with the metal of the man's earrings. Satisfied that he made his point, he sat down again.
"You're such a pretty girl." he said with a grin.
"Hardy har, har..." scoffed the blue Phantomhive. "So, what do we do about it?"
"The fingers?"
"Yes."
"Well, we've already got a plan for the cellphone thing, but what about the traffic cameras?" Alois pondered aloud. "I don't know? Barge into the place that handles them and see if anybody knows our puzzlegame-loving friend?"
"Good idea. I'll look up where that might be." Ciel stated before turning to his computer. Shaking his mouse, the screensaver dropped, revealing the image of an irritable-looking puppy with the words "That's an order" above it as his background. Immediately, the bluenette's gaze silently fell on the other demon.
"What? It's accurate." defended the menace. "Looks just like you."
"Whatever. I'll change it back later."
"Alright, mister 'default wallpaper', while you're doing all that, I'm gonna finish Pyestock stuff and try to think of a gameplan for Sudoku."
"Hey, Jim."
"What?" the blonde questioned, turning his head to face the Watchdog, only to accidentally touch his lips against the other's waiting ones. The action combined with the mischevious grin on Ciel's face as he sat back down in his own seat was enough to make Alois laugh. "You little shite."
"I love you too, muffin." Ciel confessed before turning his attention back to his monitor. Really, it wasn't a lot of work being done. It was a very quick Google search and a jotting down of a name and address before he knew where to look. Looking over to his spouse again, he saw the menace acting busy as a bee while he himself had nothing to do in the slightest.
Twiddling his thumbs, he said: "I can pop 'round there this afternoon, if you like."
"Where to?"
"Where the traffic cams are being recorded to."
"I'd like to go with you, actually. Can we do it tomorrow?"
"Yes, yes, we can. It's your case, too..." The bluenette looked a tad dejected as he turned his gaze back to the computer screen.
"If you want, you can pick out the packages in that box and open them." the blonde stated. "Just be careful and don't tear the paper too much. I want to know who sent what."
"Why?"
"So I can send thank you notes."
"Well, well… Aren't you professional? I'm impressed."
"You know it, babe." Alois said, looking up from his screen. "Go ahead. Tell me if I get any fingers missing a person."
"If you insist..." replied his husband, standing up and walking over to the box on the coffeetable, digging around until he came across a package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string.
Very neatly, Ciel untied it, taking great care in taking off the paper packaging without tearing it. Inside, he found a note and a rather impressive-looking book bound in leather with the outline of the Gehenna coat of arms pressed in deeply into the material. As for the note, Ciel read it aloud.
"'Dear Mister Lion,'" he began, "'You are such a symbol of hope for our town and have become such an important figure to us, that it would be wrong to write down our town's heroes and legends without including you. Thus, we have printed this copy of our 'Folklore and Tales of Gehenna' compilation especially for you. Please continue looking out for us and making the world a better place to live in. You have our utmost gratitude and admiration. Yours, from the Gehenna Printing Press staff.'"
Looking up from the paper, he saw the blonde staring at him with a goofy grin on his face, unable to not listen in. Ciel put the note between the cover and the first page of the book so that it wouldn't get lost before saying: "You know, you could look at these yourself, you know, my little 'beacon of hope...'"
"Aright, Pooch, enough with that..." grinned the menace while shaking his head.
"Why? I'm proud of you. These people really love you." spoke the Watchdog while thumbing through the book in his hand. "Better things to say than about me. These stories are very not nice interpretations of what happened. Sometimes, they're just made up!"
"I'm definitely going to have to read that later, now." Alois replied, stopping what he was doing to watch Ciel reading for a moment.
He looked so serious in what he was doing- it was an expression that Alois enjoyed looking at immensely. Icy blue eyes traced the other man's dignified jaw and stern brow before landing on his long eyelashes. Ciel, to put things simply, was a very pretty man. Alois did wonder what he was doing wasting his time with this task, however, as he was only half-serious and expected Ciel not to have much interest in it. Yet, he did, being the strange man that he was. That said, Alois was perfectly aware that Ciel really wanted to get working on the case and was anxious to do so.
"Hey, Ciel?" the blonde piped up, capturing the other's attention. The blue Phantomhive looked at him curiously, like a dog that had just heard a strange noise.
"Yes, love?"
"We just need to go talk to the guy looking at cameras, right?"
"For now, yes. That's our only lead for now." Ciel answered before tilting his head slightly. "Why?"
"Why don't you just go?" Alois suggested. "As long as you're just doing that, I won't be missing out much. Just keep me posted."
"Are you sure?" questioned the Watchdog. "This is the Sudoku Killer part two; I don't want you to miss anything."
"You seem bored out of your mind. You don't have to do every single thing with me."
"I know. I just want to do this particular thing with you. It's only fitting." the blue Phantomhive stated. "It's no trouble waiting, honest."
"If you say so..." answered his husband, still seeming a bit uncertain. "I'll try to finish as soon as I can in case we can go sooner."
"No, take your time. You really shouldn't rush your work, especially for my sake."
"Murderer on the loose clipping off fingers and ears should be a priority."
"So should the well being of those people who are counting on you to set up a place for them to live in." gently reminded Ciel. "Your work here is for the greater good as well. It's important. One man can wait."
"Even if he kills nine more?"
"Nine or a hundred?"
"Morbid, but compelling..." Alois conceded with a light nod and a slight face. "Still, tomorrow, then?"
"Yes. I will be looking forward to it." the bluenette answered while digging through the box of mail. Curiously, he pulled out an envelope that caught his eye. "This one's got hearts on it?" he observed, holding it up so his spouse could see while making a playfully perplexed expression at him, causing the other man to giggle.
"Well, you said I was popular, didn't you?"
A/N: Nyello. I like this chapter more than the last one. We're inching along in the story, I promise.
British murder mysteries tend to be slow at first, but they get there, they really do.
Occasionally, I get preoccupied with reading about a certain supernatural creature at a time. Last time it was faeries, before that it was American goatmen, and before that it was Scandinavian trolls. This time, it's the werewolf in Hull, UK. "Old Stinker", they call him. Apparently, he's been spotted this year, so it's especially fascinating. Some sites say he lives under a bridge, while others say that it was merely spotted there and also hangs out in the woods. Paranormal investigators got involved and started searching the woods on full moons.
Naturally, my head went to "I wonder what this person would be like?" and started coming up with stories pff...
Currently, it's May in DLTD time, so these sightings might be going on "currently" in universe?
Hmmm...
So, this is what I've been doing in between classes. These sites are weird. Love 'em, tho.
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
CHARACTER SHET
Question: "At home my cat becomes affetionate whenever someone tries to get work done. He is extremely persistant and if he manages to arrest our attention the task at hand is more or less abandoned until he's satisfyed. We call this affect "Cat Anchor". It seems Alois has a case of "Ciel Anchor". Come to think of it, I think Sebastian is susceptible to "Cat Anchor". To the Demons: "When was the last case of 'Cat Anchor'? What happened?"" by Guest
Alois: "This morning after I laid on top of Ciel to bother him and he hugged me so I couldn't move when the joke was over."
Ciel: "This morning. I was laid on top of and was prevented from moving."
Sebastian: "I desperately needed to trim the hedges, but a beauty with fiery hair had me distracted. I was ensnared and could not complete my task until she dictated it."
Luka: "Sometimes I grab onto Sebastian's legs and won't let go, so he has to drag me."
