Grabbing the slim black camera in the black case she tossed it to Roxanne. “Take pictures of everything.” Taking a square box that fit inside her palm, she stood. “The purists are an unknown number of individuals who have taken it upon themselves to bring death to non magical citizens. This has not been publicized because of the mass panic it would cause. There are two other open cases similar to this.” Flicking a switch on the black box she held, there was a quiet beep and the front lit up showing red, yellow, then green bars before going back down to one red bar. Walking to the body on the bed, she swept her hand from head to toe an inch above the man’s body. The light on the black box never changing.
Walking towards the woman, she stepped around Roxanne and did the same to the woman’s body. “No magic. No magic recently used in this room recently.” Putting the device away she continued. “Their calling card is two way. The first is the knife thrust through the heart that ends in a twist completing mutilating the heart. The second…” Putting on a glove, she moved the sheet that partially covered the man revealing a two inch symbol cut above the knife thrust on the chest. It was the shape of a three pronged trident. “is a carved trident above the thrust.”
Post by Roxanne Lexington on Oct 7, 2015 18:24:39 GMT
Roxanne went about taking pictures of any details she could find. It wasn't like it was hard, and she could be good with details when she wanted. She continued with her picture taking duties while Silver explained the situation, stopping to look at the mark she hadn't been able to see without touching the clothing on the body. The camera raised and she took a picture before lowering said camera yet again.
"What sort of idiot targets people without magic? There's more of them than us, and as is they're pretty much not a threat until you get them to unite against the magical part of the community..." She frowned. Could that be what these people want? Some sort of backwards fanatics trying to push people to get rid of the mages as the dominant part of society? Not that most people actually thought about mages like that, whether they were magical themselves or not. Still... there was always those crazy people thinking they needed to bring about change to help people who were already happy...
Roxanne shook her head, bringing herself out of her thoughts. It probably wasn't that well thought out anyway. "What's the next step?" she asked, tempted to throw in some sort of flirt but was stopped by the fact that she was still rather annoyed with her 'partner.'
Silver paused, cobalt orbs thoughtful as she stared at Roxanne. Glad the woman took her order serious and was documenting the scene much like Silver herself would. “I had not thought of that… Their intentions could be –not to eliminate non magical citizens but –to cause panic enough to sway the scales in favor of non magical.” Her gaze went to the world outside the sliding glass door where the woman lay in a crumpled heap. “A magical council is the current governing body of Fiore with a lot of high up political positions being held by magical citizens. It would be catastrophic for Fiore to go through another civil war.” Her tone slightly troubled. She would have to think further on this and report it to the Captain. They had serial killers on the loose with a potentially political agenda rather than a strictly sociopathic mindset. “My original theory had given them the name Purists based off the fact of only non magical citizens being targeted. If you have a purely magical community would the offspring have a more powerful base?” The question was rhetorical in that she did not expect an answer.
Roxanne’s question and slightly off tone had Silver turning once more to her partner. A slight head tilt as if she could tell Roxy was still annoyed and was deciding exactly how to respond. The moment passed. They had documented the scene; the bodies were now the responsibility of the examiners. Putting on the remaining glove she knelt before the woman and turned her over. “Document this as well.” She pulled the night gown down just far enough to expose the trident. “Given the spray of blood, they likely came up from behind, stabbed her from the front… Carved the trident and placed her face down into the carpet as she would have fallen. Why take the care?” Standing, she wrote in her notebook some more after removing the gloves. “Next steps are to canvas the area, talk to the responding Templars, the witness who called the Templars, and the neighbors.”
At that moment Asa came in and sat at Silver’s feet. “Done?” The canine responded with a quiet woof. “How many scents?” Asa responded with four quiet barks. Pulling out four clear evidence bags marked with two different dates and addresses she opened up two from the most recent previous case and held out for Asa to sniff. “How many the same?” Asa barked three times. Closing the bags, she opened the two from the first murders. “How many the same?” Asa barked three times again. Closing those bags, she tossed Asa a treat with a murmured ‘Good girl.’ “Point of entry?” In an instant, the large canine’s nose hit the floor and she walked out of the room to the back door.
Post by Roxanne Lexington on Oct 8, 2015 3:07:38 GMT
At least Silver seemed to take Roxanne's musings seriously - It was more than she'd expected, to be perfectly honest. "Magical people are more likely to have kids who can use magic, yeah..." she answered, "But it's not garunteed, and this seems too well thought out for someone to just be killing non-magical people on hopes alone." She brushed her red hair out of her face, glancing around and snapping pictures in any spot she didn't remember taking pictures before - including the woman's own freshly carved tattoo.
"If it were me," Roxanne lowered the camera once more, failing to stuff her hand into a non-existent pocket on her skirt before just letting it drop. "I would have been attentive to such a detail to buy more time to get distance between me and the idiots on my trail. They'd be too busy asking stupid questions to come after me as fast as they should." She chuckled at that while Asa did her crime dog thing. "And here I am being one of the idiots who fell for it..." she murmured as she moved to look out the sliding glass window at an angle, searching for evidence of where they might have chosen to escape to.
Post by Silver Steele on Oct 12, 2015 19:15:16 GMT
“Given the edges of the pooled blood are coagulated and beginning to dry, I would guess this happened hours ago but the examiner will give a definite answer.” Pausing before she walked out of the door she said, “Trust, if this had just happened we wouldn’t be here.” There would have been a complete shut down of the city. Silver hated that they had murdered yet again. This indicated serial murderers. Their motive yet unknown only speculated about. Though she believed Roxy’s observation that it was too well thought out. Be sure the Yates were probably very social and their absence would not go unnoticed. She also had a feeling the friend who found them will have the description of the murders echoing across the town by sundown. She walked out of the room to follow Asa, stopping at the back door. There was no forced entry. Using her own magic, she ‘brushed’ against the lock. What was interesting was she could tell magic had touched the lock. Metal had a different feel to it once magic came into contact with it and brass was particularly impressionable. But the metal itself had not been magicked. That was the confusing part.
Walking back to the room she asked, “Well where would you begin the chase? I can tell you that though Asa can follow the scent, it usually ends a few yards from the crime scene which indicates magic use. And you are not an idiot. Templar work is not always chasing though the chase and finality of the hunt is the most rewarding.” She would guess some type of wind element but truly it could be anything.
Post by Roxanne Lexington on Oct 12, 2015 19:37:43 GMT
Roxanne knelt down, glancing at the body and the blood as Silver spoke. She was right, of course. Forensics and crime scene investigation weren't her forte. She was more experienced in being the criminal and avoiding these scenes altogether. Her eyes kept returning to the back yard. It was the only exit point in the house that wouldn't show forced entry if they left while simultaneously it shielded them from the normal street view. Theoretically maybe they could fly away, or maybe even teleport. Some magic was simply fancier than Roxanne's.
She stood back up and requipped into her street clothes. Silver had her dog. She had intuition and a knowledge of the criminal underworld firsthand. "There's a small chance the people here have no idea what's happened to the Hellknight of the Red Blades. I don't come here much, but this place is more than big enough to have people who know things they shouldn't." she turned and glanced at Silver. "This sounds really cliché but you're going to have to trust me for this."
She pulled open the back door, went outside and took a quick look around. Yeah, it'd be hard to get out of here efficiently. There wasn't anything sticking out as the perfect escape route. She glanced back at Silver and winked, then vaulted over the fence, heading towards a shadier end of town.
Post by Silver Steele on Oct 12, 2015 21:11:14 GMT
Cobalt eyes glanced up as Roxanne stood and changed clothes. She really was going to have to get used to that. A little bit envious? … Maybe, not that she would say it. Her own magic quite different from Roxanne’s though she wouldn’t trade the magic she knew and loved for anything. Roxanne’s next words had Silver feeling a bit uneasy. So much so that the silver haired woman followed her outside. Despite Roxanne looking around, her own cobalt gaze remained on her ‘partner.’ The wink had her frowning and the vault over the fence made her sigh. Had she not just given Roxanne a speech about the trust they were forced into? So why did she feel like a hypocrite that should follow despite the ‘trust me for this…’ The wind blew past suddenly and with it the coppery smell of blood which brought with it, her senses.
Asa whined at her side making her glance down. “Should I send you after her?” At that Asa tilted her head. “No. Everyone knows who you are. You ungainly beast.” Eyes wandered back to the spot now empty of Roxanne as she scratched under her dog’s ears. “I hope you got a good whiff of her when you were tussling in the case we have to give chase.” Having Asa wrestle with the woman was tri fold. It made for good entertainment, gave her an idea of the woman’s reflexes, and gave Asa the woman’s scent.
With another sigh and a neck scratch she turned around muttering about trust. Once inside the room she grew serious except for the last comment of “Let’s just hope the Captain does not show up.” The room needed to be dusted and the ‘friend’ interrogated and held so she did not spread word. Walking out of the room she approached the sergeant that now manned the door.
“Where are the mutts?” Silver asked indifferently. The sergeant snorted, displeased. One of her fans. “I sent them to canvas the neighborhood.” Nodding, “Good work. Where’s the friend?” The other woman opened her mouth then closed it as if thinking better of it. “She lives three doors north.” With a nod, Silver walked down the steps and headed towards the house.
She was going to have to trust Roxy for now. Trust that she was all in for Templar and using her previous identity as a tool. She would give her a few hours before she went looking anyways. The crime scene required her immediate attention.
Last Edit: Oct 12, 2015 21:13:37 GMT by Silver Steele
Post by Roxanne Lexington on Oct 12, 2015 22:06:12 GMT
It took awhile, though it didn't take half as long as Roxanne half hoped. She was a lot better prepared than her new allies gave her credit for, and she knew how to access her family's bank account in order to get the information she desired. It was technically hers anyway, even if her parents might currently disagree. Speaking of which, she wondered what they would say if she told them she was getting her hands dirty working as the closest thing to a knight the country now had - something her family had long enjoyed supplying the old king of Fiore.
Well, at least if the family member in question were male. Had Silver been allowed to have that training and do all off the fun things her father had done, maybe she'd still be living there looking down her nose at the common folk. She sighed, brushing her hair out of her face as she followed the instructions of the sergeant who Silver had talked to at the crime scene. She arrived at the house of the current witness and probably their only suspect (if only because they couldn't find anyone else). The door was cracked open, and Roxy let herself in. "Miss me?" she asked, her tone notably lighter than when she'd left.
She was, of course, still in her civilian clothes, and wasn't concerned with protocol in the face of murders. "I've got something for you," she stuffed her hands in her jacket pocket after moving her hair from her face again. "So..." she moved to stand near the woman. "Turns out there's people who like to talk in this town, and they're more than happy to talk to a pretty girl who has nothing to do with the Templars~"
Post by Silver Steele on Oct 20, 2015 20:59:17 GMT
Approaching the door, she knocked before entering. It was a subtle way of saying ‘I may be nice but I have the authority.’ The woman who owned the house had stood when she knocked. “I am Lieutenant Steele.” She held out a hand as she strode forward, Asa disappeared deeper into the house. The woman gripped it gently. It was one of those two fingered limp hand shakes. Silver kept her expression business like despite her dislike of women with limp handshakes. One of the many things that made her human. “That dog can’t be in here! I don’t like dogs.” Silver knew there was a reason she had an instant dislike the moment she laid eyes on the woman. “That dog is a Templar officer. She is on duty and helping investigate the Yates’ murders.” A low two tone whistle had Asa coming and sitting at her heels. “Lieutenant Steele and Officer Asa.” Silver re introduced herself and Asa.
“Ms. Durham. Call me Elizabeth.” She sat down and gestured for Silver to do the same.
“When did you go over to the Yates house, Ms. Durham?” She asked while preceding to stand and gave a short low whistle that had Asa disappearing once more.
“About an hour ago. Do you know who would do such a thing?” The woman asked with intermittent sniffles. Grabbing a tissue, she blew her nose.
“When was the last time you heard from them?” She took out her mini notebook not only to write notes but more to have something in her hands.
“I talked to Sara last night. She told me she had to work at the shop today. I just can’t believe they are really gone… There was all that blood.” Ms. Durham was looking around her living room but Silver could tell she was actually recalling the Yates bedroom.
“We will do everything we can to find out what happened and stop the person that did this. Do you know of anyone who would wish to harm the Yates?”
Tears rolled down the woman’s cheeks only to be caught by another tissue clenched in a very delicate hand. “No. They were good people. Always helping others. Everyone liked them.” Eyes were on her hands as she used one to rub another with a tissue as if something were there.
Nodding, Silver made another note before closing and putting it away. “Thank you for your time, if there is anything else you may remember do not hesitate to come to head quarters.” Silver left, Asa on her heels.
She met up with the other two Templars and swapped information. The medical examiner had arrived and was currently working the crime scene. Her mind wandered to where Roxanne was currently. Blowing air from her mouth, she refocused. What was she missing… Standing in the street, her eyes traveled across the Yates’ house.
She strode back to Ms. Durham’s house, entering without knocking. Following the sound of running water she found Elizabeth Durham scrubbing her clean hands over and over. Tear stained cheeks turned towards her and her hound. “How long?” The woman took an indignant tone, “Excuse me? Who are you to come…”
Silver interrupted the woman, “How long have you been sleeping with Mr. Yates?”
Ms. Durham’s mouth dropped open, her indignant tone evolving into a very indignant expression. “I don’t…” Interrupting again, “Do not lie to me. I will charge you with obstructing an investigation. You said Sara had to work. If you knew she would not be home than why go over except for Mr. Yates.” Cobalt orbs glared at the woman, Asa low growled as if to remind the woman who was all there.
“Six months.”
Silver exhaled loudly. It seemed she was going to make her ask each question rather than offer it willingly. “Did Mrs. Yates know?”
“No. She did not.” The question seemed to sour the woman’s attitude even further.
A raised eyebrow. “You wanted her to… Or is it you wanted Mr. Yates to begin a new life with you?”
Sullen silence. For a woman with a limp handshake she was quite hard in the face of accusations.
“What makes you think he would be faithful to you if he stepped out on someone else? Think you are that special?”
Before she could reply Roxanne walked in. “Yes I did actually.” Silver admitted with a smidge of surprise in her tone in response to Roxanne’s ‘miss me’ entrance. Eyes still on the woman in front of the sink, “Don’t leave town..” Turning, she walked out of the house. A half smile as she regarded Roxanne, “I am sure you get people to talk regardless of your station. What do you got?”
Post by Roxanne Lexington on Oct 21, 2015 1:36:25 GMT
Roxanne had overheard the end of the conversation, enough to both put together most of what was going on (or at least get a good impression). "Let me get this straight... Little Ms. sunshine in there was playing homewrecker because the dead guy thought he could just tell her she was special and get two girls? Man, That's low even coming from me, and I'm just a lowlife former wannabe noble turned dark guild member turned Templar, right?" She sighed. "Whatever, some people are idiots just because they want to be. Doesn't matter anymore anyway."
She brushed her hair back again. The wind outside had a way of moving it right back to where she didn't want it. "Turns out there's three killers all in on this whole thing together. It's what the trident means. Three people, one purpose. It's kinda poetic in that 'we should kick their teeth in' kind of way. They want to cleanse the world of something... but of what I can't say." she looked back at the house. "It certainly isn't gullible people."
Post by Silver Steele on Oct 21, 2015 15:27:07 GMT
At Roxanne’s summary of the situation Silver almost grimaced. It hit close to home, probably why she was so harsh and unyielding with the woman. If the purists had not killed the Yates, Ms. Durham might have gone so far as to have Mrs. Yates befall an accident. She honestly did not understand women. What was gained from creating a relationship with a man who already had attachments? Besides getting a beat down when said attachment finds out. Such men deserved a beat down themselves, the women were just enablers. “That pretty much sums it up… And true, the Yates have nothing to worry about anymore.”
She had been absently scratching her hound’s head while staring off. At Roxanne’s movement, Silver half turned. “I can braid it, if you want?”Silver offered without thought. Her own hair braided down her back. Hair that was not long enough to be braided framed her face and could not be tamed in the wind’s demand.
Silver was impressed with the information that Roxanne had obtained it would be helpful in the investigation. “The neighborhood saw nothing, heard nothing. Usual operations. Let’s go back to the bar. If the pattern continues we have three days before there is another victim. I have the other case files there.” About ready to walk off, she paused to say “Good work, that will help with profiling and hopefully lead to their capture. A definitive three.. Makes them a team.”
Post by Roxanne Lexington on Oct 21, 2015 15:50:47 GMT
Roxanne pulled at her hair a bit when Silver expressed that she could braid it. She did actually give it half a moment's thought, but then she just shrugged. "Braided hair isn't really my thing. It's something my parents would have wanted to go with the frilly dresses." It was the closest to talking about herself personally that she was willing to get into at the moment. She just shrugged off the compliment as well.
"We don't have them yet so there's nothing to congratulate me for." Roxanne was starting to take a personal interest in this case. There was hurting people who had it coming, and then there was hurting the people who were innocent. Mostly innocent. She felt far more sorry for the wife than the husband who had recently expired. "So what? We just head home? Leave everything to other people? I'm not okay with that. We're Templars, right? We should be stopping these people."
Post by Silver Steele on Oct 26, 2015 20:18:28 GMT
Silver merely shrugged as the offer was declined and nodded when she offered a reason, saying nothing. It was a small insight to Roxanne’s world and Silver appreciated what little bit she opened up.
Roxanne was all edges and sharp points as the woman said not to congratulate her. “If it was a congratulation, I would have said congratulations. I was merely appreciating your efficiency with obtaining concrete information.” If Silver could read Roxanne’s mind, she would have the same sympathies in regard to the most recent murder.
It seemed her partner was starting to take the case personal as she vetoed going back to the bar. “I would have said I have all the information on the other cases there. There is a ritual these killers seem to perform so unless they go rogue or snap…” It was a harsh way of thinking but having been in the game for awhile, she knew the behavior. She had also been a newbie at cases like these and she knew the feeling of a dog and its bone. One would get very tired very fast with how these cases go.
A coin tumbled over the knuckles of her right hand over and over again as she thought. “We are Templars and I understand your hunger. What would you suggest as our next move?” They had the addresses of all the murders, it was possible to triangulate the locations and work within that parameter. She was going off of gut instinct but she would bet whoever the killers were, their hunting ground was in their own backyard.
Post by Roxanne Lexington on Oct 26, 2015 20:33:14 GMT
The redhead nodded her acknowledgement when Silver clarified on her appreciation. When she'd run with the Red Blades, she'd always done everything in her power to keep people from dying. Losing fingers or a hand was a far more lenient punishment than outright killing, and in the end it meant they were both no longer useful, and unable to learn from their mistakes. A small part of her - the part she'd hidden away from even herself most of the time - simply didn't like it when she couldn't stop someone from killing someone. Even the villain Roxanne had wanted to be the hero, deep down, eh? Well, that or she had just never outgrown her conscience. It was a bother sometimes.
Roxanne's own line of thought was pretty close to Silver's. She had information. Roxanne knew that unless these people traveled around killing at random, they were also very likely locals. Even the Red Blades kept most of their dealings as local as they could. It was just more practical that way. Her serious expression relaxed slightly as she glanced at her partner. "What records do you have on the kills?" she asked.
"Symbolism is important to them from what you've said. Maybe these killings are in a specific pattern as well. If so, they're likely right in the middle of that pattern. That's how magical symbols work - you start from the outside and you move in, right?" she shoved her hands in the pockets of her long, white jacket with the fire-burned bottom edge. "These idiots are all about magic and symbolism. If we have at the very least the outer points, we might just find them located dead center."
Post by Silver Steele on Oct 27, 2015 20:16:55 GMT
Hearing Roxanne out, she responded “Exactly my thoughts.” She had the locations of the other two murders memorized. Crouching, blue eyes on the ground, she took out a slim blade from her belt. “I have everything on the cases from pictures and notes to autopsy reports.”
She began to draw a map in the dirt with the tip of her blade, the city’s streets in her mind’s eye. She drew in a grid pattern, starting with the Yates house. She stood and moved up a bit before crouching again. The murders were spread far apart though within city limits. Done with the drawing, streets labeled in short hand, she made a small circle for each location. Standing, she looked at her work. At the top of the map, north, the two previous murders were parallel to each other. The Yates murder being far to the South and directly in the center of the distance between the two previous murders. Crouching once more, she drew a faint line connecting all the murders and it made an upside down triangle with the Yates on the bottom.
Counting out streets, she made a small circle directly in the center of the triangle. Standing, cobalt eyes unblinking as she stared at the map. There was something more. Holding the tip of the blade against the middle finger of her left hand, the middle finger of her right hand pressed against the handle so the blade was held between her two fingers. It began to spin. What was she missing? "The top two points are the first two murders. The bottom point is the Yate's house. The middle point the exact center." Asa sat to the side, golden eyes curious as her head tilted.
*--------------* \/ \ * / \ / * They had more targets. How many? What is the symbol they are trying to make? The carving on the skin, the trident. Crouching, she added in three more points.
* * * | | | | | | *-------* -------* | | * Those were possibly the next three targets. Standing, she pulled her notebook out and drew a quick sketch. "That middle point is possibly our suspects base location."
Last Edit: Oct 27, 2015 20:19:03 GMT by Silver Steele
