Hours later – still at LAX

Dan watched as forensics swarmed the abandoned car. No keys had been found so just opening the trunk would not going to work. And loading the car up and taking it to the impound yard without documenting its condition was not feasible either. For a moment Dan wondered why he had put himself in this position, waiting to see what new horror was waiting to make itself knows on this bizarre case. When word had come of its discovery Chloe had been hot to see for herself what might be hidden in the vehicle but Dan had volunteered to go in her place, pointing out she still had interviews with the dead man's family to conduct. And frankly, Lucifer's odd mood was beginning to wear on him.

Previously at the precinct

"Look, Chloe, I'm at a stand-still with this missing person's case. Let me help with this while you go talk to Mrs. McIntyre and her brother about her late husband's interest in an old, supposedly haunted hotel."

"If that was what he was really interested in" Lucifer had quipped, flipping through the files that had been stacked neatly on Chloe's desk.

"Whatever" Dan muttered. "Ella will go too to start processing the car. We can meet up here afterwards."

"The officer who found the car said there was a bad smell coming from the car" Chloe responded with a troubled frown.

"Yeah – I heard" Ella called out, putting her kit down on the floor in front of Chloe's desk. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"I'll have a worse feeling if it really is Annalise and her dad Mad Dog Gibson hears about it. From his jacket he wasn't known to be the forgiving type." Dan shrugged uncomfortably, remembering the burly man's plea to Amenadiel to find his child. "He may say he's out of the game but I'm betting he's still got people in debt to him that he can call on to start spreading the pain."

"And I'm betting the first people he'll start with are Candice McIntyre and her brother James Milton" Ella said thoughtfully. "Especially if he finds out our vic and his daughter were working on some podcast project together." She looked across the open area leading to where she normally worked her forensic magic for the team. "I still don't why a middle-aged man would want to play ghost stories with a teenager. Or better yet – why she would want to play with him."

Lucifer hid is grin behind a file. "Oh I can think of a number of reasons for the attraction on both sides" he chortled. "Though I wouldn't rule out Mr. Bradley knowing more about this than he says. And then there is his nephew Gabriel…"

"That's a strange one" Dan replied. "How do you go from a seminary in Rome to being a ghost hunter in L.A.?"

"I'm betting he's the mysterious figure whose been leaving us breadcrumbs since the case began. Question is why?" Chloe grabbed up her keys and headed for the elevators. "Lucifer, you coming?"

"No – I think I'm going back to the club for a while and talk to Maze. She's developed some very interesting contacts since she went into this whole bounty hunter gig. Maybe I can get her to do a little digging into a few of our straggler questions."

"Such as?" Chloe asked suspiciously.

"For one – who this odd internet character DeathStalker24 is and how he knows so much about the Cecil. And for another – why Bradley's nephew left Rome in the first place. The Vatican isn't known for letting its rouge characters wander off without a reason."

Chloe eyed her partner skeptically. "And you think Maze can find that out?"

"You would be surprised, Detective, how many of the clergy preach the power of Dear Old Dad on Sunday but really own allegiance to the other side. She'll know who to knock up to get the answers we need." Lucifer dropped the files on the now messy pile and sauntered past the group, whistling a cheery toon as he disappeared into the elevator.

"Why does his being in a good mood suddenly make me nervous?" Dan asked.

Chloe sighed. "Don't go there, Dan. Let's just hope his mood stays good until we know for certain what happened to McIntyre and Annalise."

Back at LAX

Dan waved a hand at the car impatiently. "Let's get this over with" he growled, holding a handkerchief to his nose. "Pop the trunk."

One of the forensic techs nodded and popped the lock, pulling the trunk open. A noxious wave flooded out of the vehicle, staggering everyone.

The tech, covering his nose and mouth, took a quick peek inside. "No human remains but a whole lot of bloody sheets" he pronounced, waving the camera person over the document the scene. "Multiple bed sheets from the looks of it and all covered in gore. Won't know for sure if it's human or how long they have been in there until we process the stains."

Ella, face slightly green from the smell, glanced in as well. "Blood still looks wet and tacky. I'm guessing maybe a few hours."

"Not a long time – why is the smell so bad?" Dan muttered.

"Car's being in a sunny parking lot didn't help" Ella replied, pulling on gloves and starting to remove the sheets to large plastic bags for transport. A small clink was heard as she pulled the last sheet out and a small, gold bracelet fell to the concrete. "Got something here."

Dan used his pen to pull the jewelry up and examine it. The links were exquisite filigree with a name running through the design. "Annalise" he muttered. "This is not good."

Ella squinted at the bracelet with a frown. "Doesn't mean this blood is hers" she pointed out.

"Doesn't mean it isn't" Dan countered. "And if it is – then we're not looking for a missing girl. We're looking for a dead one."

From the author - sorry for such a short chapter. It's been a horrible week but I wanted to at least get this out there before I lost track of where I was going with it.