A/N While this isn't a crossover with Criminal Minds, I do picture Xander's ability working kind of like theirs do. The Agents on Criminal Minds are behavioral scientists, profilers. They study people's behavior, Xander really doesn't need to study because he has the supernatural equivalent, but he's also got actual training thanks to the F.B.I. Some of what I'm describing in this chapter is seen on shows like Criminal Minds or Bones, in terms of checking out a scene. If it seems off, please let me know, I'm basing it off TV shows and reading detective novels, I'm not sure how well that actually translates to real police work. Description of body, scorch mark and scene based off of Charmed transcript for Black as Cole episode of Charmed.
The Triple Crescent and the Triquetra being related to each other comes from the Charmed wiki. It's never explained on the show exactly how they're related, are they descended from a distant family member or are they descended from another member of the Coven Melinda Warren was born into, the ones we meet in the Halloween special? Or do the symbols just have similar meanings? Any are possibilities.
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"Agent Alexander Harris." Xander showed his badge and ID to one of the cops at the scene.
"Little young, aren't you?" The officer asked. "Are you shadowing another Agent?"
"No, I'm soloing. I've got six years experience," which was true if you counted the years before the wish. "and am three years out of Quantico. You're welcome to double check my credentials."
"I think I will, just to be thorough." The cop took his ID and called it in for confirmation. But than Xander had expected that, a silent war sometimes happened between locals and feds who took their investigations from them. After confirming his information the cop handed the ID back. "All yours." The cop said, somewhat sourly. Xander just nodded and moved passed him, he could sense the dead body and he needed to check it out first. "I need a copy of the 911 call." He told the officer.
"I'll request it."
"Thank you." Xander had learned just being polite could ease tensions quite awhile ago. He squatted down next to the body, pulling on gloves as he did so and began to dictate into a recorder in his pocket, it helped him keep track of things for his reports.
"Single stab wound up under the diaphragm, quick in and out to the heart, bypasses the ribs." He picked up each hand. "No scrapes or cuts on the hands, happened so fast, she didn't have time to fight back. Fingernails are neat, trimmed. No broken edges and looks like they're clean underneath, but should be scraped just to be sure. Clothes are neat too, nothing out of place. She wasn't redressed, the clothes just never got messed up by the attacker. Might not have taken even five seconds to kill her. Did she have time to scream? If she did someone might have heard her or the killer didn't take the chance and covered her mouth. Note to M.E. to swab and scope around and in the mouth, maybe she got a piece of the killer." If she did the girls would have something to scry with. Xander stood up and looked around. "Area around her is clean, no signs of a struggle, no obvious blood." He looked up and down the alley. "She fell back, the blood pooled in the chest cavity and soaked into the clothes. The position and the angle of the wound made it so there'd be almost no blood left at the scene. Very tidy kill and everything is consistent with previous scenes."
"Payphone at the end of the alley. Did the 911 caller use it or a cell to call 911? Have the records for the payphone pulled and the quarters dusted for prints. Hell of a lot of prints but it might lead somewhere. Just a couple of steps from the body. Why was she in the alley?"
'Was she hunting a demon herself?' Xander thought. 'Being a witch, it was entirely possible, but the demon or warlock proved faster. If it was a demon or warlock that killed her, nothing is screaming either yet.'
"A copy of the call is being made." The officer who'd verified Xander ID told him. "But the operator says if you want she can play it over my phone for you. She says it's odd."
"Odd?" Xander asked.
"I know her, she's been with the 911 system for over a decade, if she says there's something about the call, I'd pay attention, she's not being dramatic." The officer assured him.
"Tell her to go ahead." Xander accepted the phone and listened to the call.
"Yes, I would like to report a terrible murder. Uh, a beautiful young woman in the alley behind the Canon Theatre." Xander immediately understood why the operator thought this was a weird call, the caller sounded like he was ordering pizza, not reporting a murder.
"Hey, you gonna be long? What are you, deaf? I need to use the phone." Xander heard a second voice on the call during a pause.
"Hold on." The original caller's voice said. Another pause. "Hurry please, before anyone else gets hurt." Still sounding like he was ordering pizza instead of reporting a murder, way too calm and emotionless for someone reporting a murder.
Xander handed the phone back. "She's right, it's odd and it confirms the payphone was used to make the call. My people will be by to examine the phone." He walked over to the wall of the building and examined a scorch mark on the surface. "Have there been any problems with the wires around here?" He asked the officer. "Or lightening strikes reported?"
"Not as far as I know, but I can check into it."
"I'd appreciate that." Xander gave him a card with his contact information on it, even though he was pretty sure the report would come back negative, but he had to dot the i's and cross the t's. He climbed into the car.
"The scorch mark is the only potential evidence linking to a demon." He told the girls. "It could be from a demon's energy ball. We need to wait for the M.E. to finish the autopsy. Since they're aware of vampires and such, they've already been notified we're investigating. Let's check out the earlier scenes." Piper, who was driving, just nodded.
