A/N: Sorry, I would have updated sooner, but document manager was playing up! Chapter 10 - enjoy : )

CHAPTER 10

As soon as they entered the room, Ianto and Gwen knew what they would find. The victim – a woman in her late thirties – was awkwardly slumped forward in her chair, her final moments of terror concreted in her expression. Her dark blonde hair had become matted with blood and, due to her position, small fragments of brain matter peppered the desk, having escaped from the drilled holes in her forehead. Gwen closed her eyes and took deep breaths, trying to suppress the nauseousness rising in her stomach.

Judging from the slight green tinge in Gwen's cheeks, Ianto was glad that he could only see the back of the victim's head. Despite cleaning up his fair share in the past, he still found it hard to stomach the sight of blood, not to mention mass trauma.

"Okaaay," Gwen exhaled loudly, "I'm pretty certain the death is linked to Maurice's," she turned to face Ianto, pulling the Bekaran scanner from her jacket pocket. "The holes in the head give it away, somewhat." She walked cautiously over to the desk and ran the small gadget over the body, just as Ianto had done the previous night. Needing to get to the tool box, Ianto moved slowly beside Gwen; bracing himself for what he might see.

"The victim is a Wendy Bowman. Lives locally. Wife and mother of four. Only been in the job a few weeks." She sighed when she noticed the family portrait on the wall. To Torchwood, this was just another death that needed solving; yet out there, there was a family who was oblivious to the fact that their loved one had been murdered by an extra-terrestrial. God, sometimes she really hated this job.

"We'll need to take the body back to the Hub. I'll go tell the receptionist that…"

"Er, Gwen?"

"Yes, love." She turned around and concern immediately set in when she saw the look of astonishment on Ianto's face, "What's wrong?"

"The holes," he breathed, "they've gone!"

"Gone?!" Yep, the holes had definitely vanished; the crusted blood being the only indication that they were ever there at all. "Okaaay, that's just been added to the list of mysteries." She held a finger up to her ear and there was a subtle bleep as the Bluetooth leapt into action. "Jack?"

"This had better be important, Gwen. I think I've got a lead…"

"Just a quick favour; could you check Maurice's body and tell me if anything about it is different?"

"Different? Why, are you expecting a limb to have disappeared or something?"

"Not a body part as such…" She could hear the tone of breathing change as he briskly jogged to the Autopsy Room. There was a slight pause, and Gwen could imagine the Captain preparing his diagnosis.

"The body's still here," he said finally, "same as we left it… Oh, hang on." Another pause. "The holes in his crown have gone. Looks as though they were never there. That's strange."

"At least we know that the deaths are definitely connected," he heard Gwen mutter, presumably to Ianto.

"Has the same happened to your victim, then?"

"Uh huh. So, what have you found then, Sherlock?"

"Well, I've had a rummage around the archives and…"

"I hope you put everything back where you found it," warned Ianto.

"Er, yeah, of course." From the tone of the responding silence, Jack knew that his young colleague wasn't convinced. Oh, he'd tidy it up later; after all, what else does a non-sleeping man have to do? As he skim read the printed document clutched in his hands, something within him suddenly clicked. "Wait…" There was a long hesitation, and Gwen could hear the cogs turning in his brain. "That's it!"

"What's it?"

"That!" Both colleagues' brows furrowed in confusion as Jack's voice boomed into their ears once more: "Gwen. Ianto. Clean up the mess there and meet me in the boardroom in an hour. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." The Captain swiftly hung up, circling a paragraph with a black fountain pen and dashing back to his office. At least his mood had changed for the better.

"That's our Jack; brief and to the point."

"Hmm," Ianto pouted as he contemplated Gwen's comment, "I beg to differ." Gwen arched an eyebrow, but quickly decided that she really did not want to know. Even though it was no secret that Jack and Ianto were at it like rabbits, it still felt weird when it was suggested openly… She shook the thoughts from her head.

Whilst Gwen busied herself with ideally tapping at the PDA, Ianto expertly put on the latex surgical gloves to prepare the body for movement. As he leant over her shoulder, he noticed a typed document beneath Wendy's cold, statuesque hand which, like everything else immediately surrounding her, was saturated with the victim's crimson blood.

"Oh," he noted, recognising the typical layout. "A tax return form. Lovely."