Shepard's eyes were zeroing in on his target. By all accounts, the shot he was attempting would be difficult for anyone to make. The target was small and a good distance from Shepard's position. But as long as Shepard lined up his shot perfectly and got his breathing controlled to steady his aim, he could hit the target no problem. Once his shot was lined up, Shepard held his breath and…

(COUGH)

The sound of someone coughing behind Shepard stopped him from firing. He rolled his eyes in frustration while other voices shushed the person who coughed. It was then Shepard remembered why he was going to have a harder time making the shot than he normally would. Any other time he had to make a difficult shot, he did it without anyone watching him. Having Garrus and several other C-SEC detectives watching with eager anticipation was making him nervous. Still Shepard was determined to make the shot. After all, he was still a rookie detective and he wanted to prove to the others he had what it took to join their ranks. With everything quiet again, Shepard held his breath, aimed and fired.

(SWISH)

From his desk, Shepard watched as the paper ball he threw flew over several desks and landed perfectly in the wastebasket on the opposite side of the bullpen. He then heard the sound of gasps from the people behind him who were both surprised and impressed that he made the shot. Their reactions caused Shepard to smile as he was proud of himself for succeeding in his goal to impress them. Suddenly the gasps turned to grumbles. Confused by the sudden change in the group's mood, Shepard turned around to see what was going on. What he saw made him smile again.

All the detectives that were watching Shepard make his shot were now gathered around each other and exchanging credits. No doubt settling up bets that were made on whether he would make his shot or not, the large amount of grumbles told Shepard a lot of them had bet against him. As soon as the last bet was settled, the detectives separated and returned to their respective desks. It was then Shepard noticed that the only person who seemed happy with the outcome was Garrus.

"Thanks for playing everybody," Garrus said as he sat down at his desk which was located directly opposite of Shepard's, "I hope you learned something today. You never bet against Shepard."

Listening to Garrus made Shepard feel both happy and slightly embarrassed. On the one hand, he was happy that his best friend had the confidence to bet on him even when no else did. Though that wasn't really a surprise since that was pretty much the story of Shepard and Garrus' friendship. From the very beginning of their fight against the Reapers, Garrus was one of the few people who put his money on Shepard's warnings even though the rest of the galaxy didn't want to believe them. On the other hand, Shepard kind of wished that Garrus didn't make it sound like he was unbeatable. All of Shepard's accomplishments in his military career had earned him a reputation that made him sound like an unstoppable super soldier. As far as Shepard was concerned, he was just a regular guy who had his shortcomings just like everyone else. Just by looking back on his hunt for Dana Thompson was enough to prove that to him. He may have caught her but it took him two years of searching and six of his friends were killed before he did. If he was the super soldier everyone thought he was, he would have found her sooner and without losing anyone. Realizing he was letting his mind wander to a place he didn't want to revisit, Shepard tried to focus on something else.

It wasn't easy for Shepard to focus on something else however since it was pretty quiet in the bullpen. His first day had been uneventful, something he was extremely grateful for. He'd rather be bored in the bullpen than having someone die just to give him a case to work. Coming into work on his second day to find there were still no cases, he started tossing paper balls into wastebaskets in his latest attempt to break the boredom. It was only after Garrus came into the bullpen and boasted that he could make a shot from across the bullpen that Shepard found himself the subject of the latest bullpen betting pool. While it was embarrassing, it did add a bit of extra excitement to Shepard's day. Now that tossing papers was becoming dull, Shepard decided the next best thing to do was catch up with Garrus.

"So Garrus," he said, "how'd Tali react when you told her we were partners."

Garrus chuckled, "by squealing like a fan girl. Apparently she has been secretly hoping that you and I would become partners one day ever since you first joined C-SEC. She says congratulations on the promotion by the way."

"I'll be sure to tell her thanks the next time I see her. Ashley was pretty excited too when I told her last night. She's already talking about how she and Tali can add being homicide detective wives to their list of things to bond over. I told her the two of them should start a club."

The joke made Garrus chuckle again, "yeah. I'm sure that some of the other detectives' wives would be interested in joining. They would just need to come up with name. How about 'The Homicide Detective Wives Club.'"

"VAKARIAN! SHEPARD!"

Shepard and Garrus' smiles vanished when they heard Bailey call them. A feeling of dread began to overtake them as they both knew there was only one reason Bailey would be calling for them the way he was. They looked in Bailey's direction and saw him typing something on his omni-tool. A few seconds later, both of their omni-tools chimed as they each received a new message.

"We just got a call that a quarian woman has been found dead in her apartment. All signs point to it being a homicide. I just sent the preliminary info and address to your omni-tools. Move out!"

After hearing Bailey's last order, Shepard and Garrus rose from their seats to leave. They pulled out their respected sidearms from their desks and headed out of the bullpen. While they were heading out, Shepard was mentally preparing himself. He was really about to begin his first case as a homicide detective. A quarian woman was dead and now it was up to him and Garrus to figure out what happened, who was responsible and bring that person to justice.

Since Garrus was the only one who had a C-SEC issue skycar, it was agreed that he would drive to the crime scene. While on route, Shepard read through the information Bailey had sent to their omni-tools. The call they were responding to had come in from a quarian woman named Jala'Cal vas Tonbay. She had stopped by the apartment of her friend Shara'Vael vas Moreh to pick her up for a girls day. Upon arrival, she found Shara in her living room dead with multiple wounds on her chest. Initial reports from the first responders indicated that the front door had been hacked leading them to speculate that it was possibly a robbery gone wrong. It was going to be up to Shepard and Garrus to try and determine if that was actually the case.

"So partner," Shepard said after he finished reading the report, "any words of advice for the rookie before we arrive?"

"Not really," Garrus replied, "this isn't your first time at a crime scene so you know how to handle yourself. Just know that it's okay to admit if you're stumped. If you're not sure what to do, come find me and we'll see what we can figure out. Beyond that, I'm going to let you investigate the scene however you choose."

The apartment building where Shara lived was easy to find thanks to the amount of police vehicles parked outside. One thing Garrus pointed out as a positive thing was that there were no news crews on the scene. He explained that it would be a lot easier for them to do their job since they didn't have to contend with any media circuses. Worst case scenario they would probably have to deal with a few nosy neighbors but they would be a lot easier to control than a bunch of reporters. When their skycar touched down, Shepard and Garrus were greeted by an asari officer. The officer seemed particularly amused upon seeing Shepard.

"I can't believe the rumors were true," she said, "I had heard you got a new partner Detective Vakarian. Whatever happened to your 'no more partners' vow?"

Garrus chuckled, "what can I say? The commander finally found one that I like. Detective Shepard, this is Officer T'Parro. We've worked several crime scenes together over the years."

"Pleased to meet you T'Parro," Shepard said as he shook T'Parro's hand.

"Likewise Detective. If you two will follow me I'll take you up to the crime scene."

T'Parro let Shepard and Garrus through the apartment building's lobby and to the elevator that would take them to the floor Shara's apartment was on. During the elevator ride, she gave them a rundown on what would be awaiting them. There were two officers guarding the entrance to the apartment. Inside the apartment were a handful of crime scene techs processing the scene and the medical examiner. Most of their work was done and they were waiting for Shepard and Garrus to arrive so they could give their reports. Besides them, there were a couple of neighbors peeking from their apartments but the officers guarding the door were keeping back any that tried to get a closer look.

Upon exiting the elevator, Shepard and Garrus got a brief glimpse of what T'Parro was talking about when they saw officers telling a neighbor to step away from the room. The neighbor initially persisted in trying to learn what was going on but finally walked away when the officers warned that they would restrain him if he didn't. Glancing down the hallway, Shepard noticed other neighbors peeking out from their doors. He shook his head in bewilderment. What was it about murder that made people curious enough that they would try to get a peek at what was going on? If it wasn't for the fact that his job required him to investigate murder scenes, he probably would avoid them like the plague since he had seen enough death to last a lifetime.

Shepard and Garrus were allowed past the officers guarding the door and instantly their eyes darted across the room to process everything that was going on. Sadly no matter how many times Shepard tried to look at something else, his eyes kept returning to the horrible sight in the living room. With a salarian who Shepard assumed was the medical examiner standing over her, the late Shara'Vael vas Moreh was lying on the floor near a corner of the room. He could just make out several holes on her chest. Shepard couldn't tell for sure if they were stab or bullet wounds. Remembering that the body wasn't discovered until Shara's friend came to pick her up, he figured the neighbors didn't hear any gun shots. So they were either stab wounds or the killer had their gun equipped with a silencer. The only way Shepard would be able to find out for sure was when he and Garrus talked to the medical examiner.

"Okay Shepard," Garrus said with a sly smile, "I've already noticed a few things of interest but I'm not going to tell you what they are."

Shepard looked at Garrus with confusion, "why not?"

"Because this is the perfect opportunity for me to see how well you handle a crime scene on your own. One of the reasons Bailey made you a homicide detective was because he was impressed by the way you worked the crime scene of Kelly's murder."

Garrus was referring to Dr. Kelly Chambers. She was a psychologist who also worked as Shepard's yeoman during his mission to stop the enigmatic race known as the Collectors from abduction human colonists. Kelly was sadly also one of the friends Shepard lost thanks to Dana Thompson. Her death had been ruled as the result of a brain hemorrhage but Bailey, who was leading the investigation, suspected there was more to her death than there appeared. When he discovered Shepard was listed as Kelly's emergency contact, he called Shepard and asked him to come to the crime scene. Shepard was the one who figured out that Kelly had actually been murdered and that the killer worked for Dana who he only knew as the mystery backer then. It was that day Bailey saw the potential in Shepard that convinced him Shepard would make a good homicide detective.

"I want to see that for myself. The best way to do that is to see if you'll notice the same things I did. So go ahead, take a look around and then come find me when you're done. I'll be with the medical examiner."

With that said, Garrus left Shepard standing with a stunned expression. Shepard thought for a while about what Garrus had said before he finally smiled and chuckled. It may have initially seemed crazy that Garrus was letting him work his first crime scene solo but upon thinking about it, he saw the reasoning behind Garrus' logic. Garrus was an experienced investigator and if he said that he already noticed something, than he would take his word for it. The challenge now was for Shepard to see if he can notice the same things.

According to the report, Shala's murder was believed to be the result of a robbery gone wrong because the front door showed evidence of hacking. Glancing behind him, Shepard could see a tech working on the door likely trying to study the hack used to open it. When he turned back to face the living room, he found himself wondering what would a potential burglar see in the apartment that would make them think it was worth robbing. From what Shepard could see, Shala wasn't somebody living a life of wealth and luxury. The few items that a thief might want to steal appeared to be accounted for. It was possible that the killer decided after killing Shara that it wasn't worth the risk of getting caught by sticking around to get a few miscellaneous valuables.

"But why would the killer break into an apartment when the occupant was home?" Shepard asked himself. "It's practically burglary 101 to wait for when a home is vacant before breaking in. There's less chance of getting caught and less chance for something like this to happen."

With the question still lingering in his head, Shepard started walking around the room. He barely took a few steps when he noticed evidence markers labeling two separate piles of broken glass. One pile was located between a coffee table and a couch. The other was scattered along the corner of the room opposite Shala's body. Shepard knelt down by one of the piles to get a closer look. The first thing he noticed was dark colored stain underneath the glass. Based on the smell coming from it, Shepard could tell it wasn't blood. It smelled more like wine. Besides the wine stain, there was something else in the pile that caught Shepard's eye. He pulled out a pen from his pocket and used it to move some of the glass pieces around. Buried in the shards was a circular piece that was a different color than the others. He asked a crime scene tech for a tool that would help him pick up the piece so he could examine it closer. Upon close inspection, Shepard realized that it was the base of a drinking glass. He quickly checked the other pile and found a similar base buried underneath the other shards as well as another wine stain.

"So we have two shattered drinking glasses," Shepard thought as he looked around the room, "but where's the rest of the mess? If there had been some kind of a struggle in here, more stuff should have been tossed around and damaged."

The last place Shepard decided to look was on the nearby desk. There were only two items on top of it, a partially open terminal and a picture frame that was laying flat. Shepard carefully opened the terminal and was greeted by a login screen. He knew it was a long shot that he would be able see what was on the terminal without having to go through a login screen. However he felt it was worth trying since the terminal was partially open. It was likely Shala was working on something before she was killed. He made a note to ask a tech to take the terminal and see if they could get onto it. If the murder wasn't the result of a robbery gone wrong, the terminal could have some info that would tell them what angle to pursue next. Or maybe the picture frame would. Lifting up the frame, Shepard waited for the picture to appear on the screen. Within seconds, an image of Shala appeared. She was wrapped in the arms of a male quarian and the looks on their faces seemed to indicate they were deeply in love with each other. It was what Shepard considered to be a sweet picture. The only reason Shepard could think of for why Shala would have the frame pulled down would be if they had a falling out.

Convinced that he had seen everything that he needed to see, Shepard decided to join Garrus and the medical examiner by Shala's body. Though it wouldn't be the first dead body Shepard had ever seen, he took a few deep breaths to ready himself for what he was going to see. Most of the dead bodies he'd seen in the past were only fallen allies and enemies he would glance at briefly while in battlefields. It was the times where Shepard actually looked at the body closely where he felt uneasy. But looking at bodies was now going to be a regular part of Shepard's job and he was going to have to get used to it. Once he was ready, he walked towards Garrus and the medical examiner. As he got closer, Shepard could hear the medical examiner speaking. To Shepard's confusion, he didn't appear to be talking to Garrus who was the only person standing by him. It was then Shepard noticed that the medical examiner wasn't really talking. It sounded more like mumbling. There was almost something familiar about the way he was mumbling but Shepard couldn't quite place it. His thoughts were interrupted when Garrus noticed him approaching and spoke to him.

"How are you doing?" he asked. "Anything sticking out to you?"

Shepard nodded, "a couple of things. Hopefully they're the same things you noticed. I'd like to hear what the medical examiner has to say before I share my thoughts though."

Garrus smiled, "smart choice. A good detective should always wait until they have all the available facts before posing theories. Besides if you don't talk to the medical examiner, you're going to miss out on the one good surprise you'll see today."

"What do you mean?"

"Doctor," Garrus said turning to the medical examiner, "this is my new partner, Detective Shepard. Detective Shepard, allow me to introduce you to the medical examiner I've worked with on most of my cases, Dr. Belon Solus."

Shepard's eyes widened with surprise when he heard the name, "Solus? Is he related to…?"

The man introduced as Dr. Solus stopped mumbling and turned to face Shepard and Garrus before Shepard could finish his question, "Partner? Yes. Heard the commander assigned you a new one. Optimistic this partnership will last longer than others. Pleased to meet you Detective Shepard. Know a lot about you from Uncle Mordin's stories."

Sure enough, the medical examiner Shepard was looking at was the nephew of his former squadmate Dr. Mordin Solus. Mordin was a salarian scientist that Shepard recruited for the Collector mission. It was thanks to Mordin's scientific expertise that Shepard and his squad had the countermeasures they needed to avoid becoming paralyzed by the drones the Collectors used to immobilize the colonists. Later Mordin would use his medical knowledge to develop a cure for the krogan genophage, a biological weapon that severely reduced the probability of viable krogan pregnancies. Sadly Mordin passed away when he sacrificed himself to ensure that the cure was successfully dispersed. Sill Mordin was someone Shepard couldn't easily forget thanks to his vast knowledge of science, his quick-talking speech and his unexpected singing talents.

Seeing Belon in the flesh brought Shepard back to one of his talks with Mordin during the Collector mission. During that talk, Mordin mentioned that he had a nephew who was a geneticist and had secured university tenure at sixteen years old. Based on Mordin's description of Belon, Shepard assumed Belon was planning on following in his uncle's footsteps. His assumption would have been further strengthened by the fact Belon seemed to have Morin's quick talking speech since it indicated Belon looked up to his uncle. Yet, further adding to Shepard's surprise, Belon was introduced to him as a medical examiner which was a relatively far jump from genetics. Belon seemed to pick up on Shepard's surprise and continued speaking.

"Surprise understandable. Wasn't expecting to see me in this line of work."

"Yeah," Shepard replied, "when your uncle mentioned you, he said you were in genetics. How'd you go from being a geneticist to a medical examiner?"

"Long story. Best told at later time. For now, deliver report."

"The floor's yours Doc," said Garrus, "what can you tell us about how Ms. Shara'Vael died?"

Belon knelt back down and gestured to the multiple holes on Shara's chest, "cause of death, multiple stab wounds. Initial examination puts time of death between 2100 and 2300 last night. Based on wound locations, damage mostly done to the heart. Note also hand impression on mouth. Killer likely covered her mouth. Kept her from screaming."

Garrus nodded, "between that and the fact most of the tenants were likely asleep at that time, it would explain why no one heard anything. What else, Doc?"

"One peculiar thing of note. Found twenty stab wounds total."

"Twenty?" Shepard gasped, "are you sure?"

"Yes. Strange. Fatal blow likely among first dealt. No reason to continue stabbing. Sadly can only tell how murderer killed victim. Up to you two to figure out why murder committed this way."

"Thanks Doc," Garrus said when Belon finished his report.

Rubbing his chin in deep thought, Shepard stepped away from Shala's body and paced around the room. All the while trying to ignore the anticipated stare from Garrus. Shepard knew that Garrus was going to ask for his thoughts any second. He was almost ready to share them but he felt like there was one more thing he needed to check. Hie eyes were suddenly drawn to the nearby kitchen. Sitting on the countertop was a kitchen knife set.

"Something on your mind Shepard?" Garrus asked when he noticed Shepard's intense focus on the knife set.

"Has anybody found the murder weapon?" Shepard asked while he made his way to the kitchen.

"No sign of it," Garrus replied, "the techs were thorough with their search. If the weapon was here, they would have found it."

Inside the kitchen, Shepard closely inspected the knife set on the countertop. All the slots were filled as all the knives were accounted for. He then started going through the drawers. He stopped when he came to a drawer containing silverware. The drawer was well organized and nothing seemed out of place or missing, especially in the section where the knives were kept. He closed the drawer and returned to the living room. With the new information Shepard gained from the kitchen, he was ready to talk to Garrus.

"Well Detective Shepard," Garrus said when Shepard rejoined him, "you ready to give your initial thoughts on what happened here?"