The young D'Mourir had spent his first year in Rhy'Din as a mercenary, smuggler, and effectively an assassin in a few circumstances; now he was a detective, and still a part of him feared the West End. It was where he conducted most of his investigations, where his informants were, and yet his office was conspicuously at the edge of its vast urban decay. With the overwhelming presence of death that was the crumbling buildings, the rubble in vacant lots and trash heaps in alleyways, there was the contrast of vibrant life, a contrast that was an obsession of Alain's. A more optimistic man would compare the West End to a thousand stars in a black night sky... but his optimism was running a little low lately, and he wasn't the only one. His business was flourishing most unexpectedly, his social life was improving, but the fact of the matter was,
Someone was extinguishing those stars two by two and leaving that night sky a little bit darker.
The murderer was killing his victims in pairs. Over a cup of coffee, Alain had discussed this with Cassandra. A man and a woman, a couple, were killed, and the woman had her tongue bitten off, while the man got a blade through his chin. What made the most sense was for the man to be killed first... unless both were quickly killed, and then the tongue bitten off. It would be easier the latter way, so when Alain first looked at the autopsy reports, that was what he supposed... until he looked at the case of the brothers. A crossbow bolt had been fired. The armed brother had been killed there, and dispatched first, while his slower older brother was left to watch. Then, the second brother was dragged off to a warehouse and killed... The murderer, he loved an audience, if only a small and short-lived one. Alain could see how the first double murder happened:
The man was ambushed, and dispatched efficiently enough, but with room still for the killer's... style. It was an experienced killer, no doubt about that. The woman, shocked, was left to watch... and then her tongue was torn out, partly eaten... but not wholly. No, the tongue became a paintbrush for the Scathachian poster nearby. So it wasn't cannibalism, exactly... not quite... but it was erotic. There had been a kiss... that seemed the only realistic way that could've happened. And it was close enough to leave all the oodles of evidence that incidences of cannibalism left.
He would go to the morgue, and garner what evidence he could. It was his first trip to the morgue, though... and rather unwisely, he went there with a full stomach.
Someone was extinguishing those stars two by two and leaving that night sky a little bit darker.
The murderer was killing his victims in pairs. Over a cup of coffee, Alain had discussed this with Cassandra. A man and a woman, a couple, were killed, and the woman had her tongue bitten off, while the man got a blade through his chin. What made the most sense was for the man to be killed first... unless both were quickly killed, and then the tongue bitten off. It would be easier the latter way, so when Alain first looked at the autopsy reports, that was what he supposed... until he looked at the case of the brothers. A crossbow bolt had been fired. The armed brother had been killed there, and dispatched first, while his slower older brother was left to watch. Then, the second brother was dragged off to a warehouse and killed... The murderer, he loved an audience, if only a small and short-lived one. Alain could see how the first double murder happened:
The man was ambushed, and dispatched efficiently enough, but with room still for the killer's... style. It was an experienced killer, no doubt about that. The woman, shocked, was left to watch... and then her tongue was torn out, partly eaten... but not wholly. No, the tongue became a paintbrush for the Scathachian poster nearby. So it wasn't cannibalism, exactly... not quite... but it was erotic. There had been a kiss... that seemed the only realistic way that could've happened. And it was close enough to leave all the oodles of evidence that incidences of cannibalism left.
He would go to the morgue, and garner what evidence he could. It was his first trip to the morgue, though... and rather unwisely, he went there with a full stomach.