Dr. Stein was an odd man. For one, he had a very large screw stuck through his head. Maka realized that it couldn't actually be stuck through his head. But it certainly seemed that way. When he would eerily turn the large nob of it, the other end seemed to move as well. Maka quickly schooled her face into a polite and bland smile.

"Doctor," she began, "what can you tell us about the victims." Dr. Stein swiveled in his chair, his arms resting on the back of it, so that he could address the two detectives to their face. His smile grew large. Much larger than Maka thought was appropriate when talking about dissecting someone.

"Well," he began, "they died of exsanguination. They bleed out. But not before someone tortured them within an inch of their life." His smile seemed to grow as he remembered performing the autopsies. "After death is where the odd part came in." He got up and gestured them over to the body fridge. Opening a door, he slid the table out with a body still covered in a sheet.

"Look," he explained, pulling the sheet back. "After they died, the attacker sliced them open. Then rooted around inside them like they were looking for something." Maka and Soul just stared at the doctor. Their polite, bland smiles gone and in place was a horrified look as they realized the type of person they'd be searching for.

"Looking for something?" Maka squeaked. She thought she might barf soon.

"Yes!" Dr. Stein exclaimed. "The marks they used to open the body are harsh. I highly doubt the attacker has had any medical experience. It also appears that they simply reached into the body cavity and started feeling around." That was it, Maka was gonna hurl.

"What would you say they were looking for Doctor?" Soul asked quietly. The coroner looked up at Soul and the harsh lights in the morgue glinted off his glasses, coupled with his now maniacal grin, Maka's breath caught in her throat.

"I'm not sure." He replied. "Everything's still there. Just in pieces. It seems the attacker got angry at not finding what they wanted and tore everything up." His grin still hadn't left his face. Maka was genuinely considering running any second now. How had she been nabbed for psychological evaluations and this guys was still here?

"Thank you Doctor." Soul said stiffly. "Do you have official reports for all of this?" The Doctors grin did seem to fade at that. He stripped his hands of their gloves and walked over to his desk. Returning with three folders, he handed them to Soul. The maniacal grin did broaden now.

"I'll be sure to get those to you should anymore come in" Stein laughed. Maka noticed how he seemed to look forward to more bodies.

"Thank you," she managed to get out. Grabbing Soul's arm she practically dragged him out of the coroner's office and back onto the sunshine lit streets. Once they were safely outside and away from the crazy doctor, Maka released Soul's arm.

"That man is crazy." Soul stated with finality.

"This isn't going to be a fun case is it?" Maka asked. She started walking back to the station. Soul knew better than to answer, and just followed after his partner. Both were quiet on the walk back to the station, deep within their own thoughts. As they drew closer to the station, Maka wrapped her jacket closer around her.

"I think I'm gonna call it a day." She quietly told Soul. "I'm going to grab the files for this case and review them at home where I can curl up if it gets too disturbing." Maka knew she was tough. She never shied away from a dangerous situation. But there was something psychological cases that disturbed her. To think of rooting around in a dead body, especially a body that you just dispatched speaks to a very tweaked mind indeed. It didn't escape Maka that as she was going through her own psych evaluation, she'd be passing judgment on someone who clearly was going through some very dark psychological times.

"Wanna grab lunch together first?" Soul asked, breaking into her thoughts. At his words, Maka's stomach growled. She saw the smirk that crossed her partners face as he heard her stomach. Well, it was only 1pm. And she last ate at 7am before dashing out to work.

"Sure." She smiled at him. "Where to?" Soul smiled down at her. He was about five inches taller than her. With a nod of his head, he directed her down a small street, around a couple of corners, and through, what she was positive was a drug alley. They came out in front of a small building.

"The best Irish food I know," Soul said. "It's like comfort food in a way." Maka was dubious about the place. It was small. It was a little shabby looking with paint half chipped away. She was positive the shutters were leaning too. It looked dark in the small restaurant and Maka would've passed it by in a second. Before she could do just that, Soul took her elbow and led her in the door.

"Magda!" He called out. "It's Soul!" A large elderly woman walked out from behind a small but clean bar. She was a large woman. Tall and wide and she looked like she could easily hold her own in any fight. She was wearing a long dress and a dirty apron over the dress. As she saw Soul, her face broke into a smile.

"Hey there boy!" She said with a thick Irish accent as directed the two to a small table near the middle of the restaurant. "You brought a pretty girl in here this time. That's good" She nudged Soul with her elbow while putting the menu's down in front of them. Maka blushed slightly. To hide it, she buried her face behind the menu. Maka was sure Madge noticed as she chuckled and walked away. Maka had never really eaten anything more Irish than corned beef so the menu full of traditional Irish dishes was a little foreign to her. Finally she settled on Boxty, a potato pancake, wrapped around sliced beef and served with fresh steamed veggies. Her decision made, Maka placed the menu down on the table and looked around the restaurant. It was dark inside, but clean and cozy. The color schemed seemed to be dark green and dark, rich woods. A variety of small paintings hung on the wall depicting rural, farm scenes.

"What did you decide on?" Soul asked, tearing her attention away from the paintings on the wall.

"I think I'll try the potato pancake thing, uh, boxty." Maka replied. Her eyes widened as she saw Soul flinch. "What? Are they bad?"

"No no, they're good. You just pronounced them wrong." He clarified. "It's pronounced 'back-stay'." He smiled at the look of concentration on her face.

"Bawk-ste?" She tried.

"Back-stay" He said again. She frowned a bit as he repeated it slower.

"Bawk-stay" She tried again.

"Close enough," He smiled as she still frowned mumbling the word under breath. Magda had heard them and come over to take their orders.

"I'll just have the stew of the day and bread please Magda." Soul ordered, nudging Maka with his foot under the table to bring her back to reality.

"What? Oh!" she finally noticed Magda waiting for her order. "Sorry, I'll have the 'back-stay'. Please" she ordered looking at Soul who nodded in confirmation. She flashed a smile at Magda who laughed.

"Good job on the pronunciation there girly. Was the boy teaching you?" Maka nodded. Magda laughed again. "Good job boy." She collected their menus and walked away. Maka looked over the table at Soul who was just watching her.

"How did you know how to pronounce that?" she inquired. "Did Magda teach you?" Soul smirked.

"Nah," he drawled in a convincing Irish accent. Maka's eyes went wide. "Comes with the territory. My family is a big Irish family. My dad came right off the boat."

"That is so cool!" Maka exclaimed. "Why did he come over?"

"They're big musicians, my family." Soul said, no longer in the accent. "My father is a famous cello player. My mother is a soprano singer, and my brother plays the violin." Magda returned to the table with glasses of water for the two of them. Maka thanked her and turned her attention back to Soul, waiting for him to continue. He casually sipped his water, glancing at her.

"What?" He finally asked. Her gaze had never wavered off him. He was starting to understand what it felt like to be a suspect in the custody of one Maka Albarn.

"What do you play?" Maka asked innocently. Soul winced.

"I used to play piano." He replied slowly. Maka was impressed. When she was younger her mother had tried to get her into music and put her in a piano class. After three classes where Maka came home crying because she was so frustrated, her mother pulled her from the class and musical talent was never brought up again in the household.

"That's cool." She said. No need to bring up her own devastating ineptitude in all area's musical. "Why'd you join the force?"

"I just felt like doing something with my life." Soul responded. "I didn't want to just make music and be a pretty little addition to something. I wanted to actively affect things around me." Maka watched as his eyes grew softer as he was no doubt remembering the past. There was a comfortable lull in the conversation and Magda came over with their food.

"Enjoy you two. It's on the house today." She said, to the gasps and refusals of the two. "No, no," she continued. "Really, I made too much, so thanks for eating it." She smiled and walked away, content to let them eat and enjoy their break.