Criminal wars (Pg-13) P.K. X Price (IC)

[P.K.]

Back at the authorities head Quarters William Quinn set at his desk intent on his work. Filing away information on in coming scenes and old scenes, fitting pieces together and connecting cases together for the investigators to look at later took a lot of work. And with as many cases as there were coming in, thankfully not all of them being brutal murder cases like the one he was working on now, they were being swamped with information that needed to be sorted and connected. Though most others had gone home for the night so they could start again early, William didn't have anything to go home to so he poured himself into his work.

"That's not right." he mumbled looking over the screen intently and moving things around. There was so much information being put in and so much information being requested. He set back and rubbed the bridge of his nose closing his eyes for a moment. "Why are they becoming so active suddenly? It feels like crime rates have gone up drastically over the past few months." he murmured to himself before leaning forward once more. He connected the nearly completed file of the most recent child murder case to the other eight before sighing and resting his head against his desk for just a moment. Nine cases and each one was closer and closer to the last in time fram, though each had happened on a different street they were all well with in walking distance of each other. Though no one had mentioned any signs of anything else being done to the children but mutilation so what was the motivation? He sighed heavily. He wasn't a detective but if anything came to mind he'd make sure to make a note of it as he set up to go over the files again.

[Price]

A harsh hand slammed against William's desk causing a loud raucous bang with the intent to startle the man. As other workers suddenly looked on at the scene, the next noise was a hardy chuckle from Detective Boyd Buchanan who had the cheekiest smirk written across his face. Such antics were not outside the expectations for the greatest detective to have ever served on the force. He was a man that operated so far outside the normal parameters of the agency that he would have drawn the ire of the majority of his colleagues if not for his absolute perfect results. The man was a legend, a god among men, and so his actions were tolerated by all. This most recent action resulted in a room full of trained operatives jumping out of their skins in sudden fright before looking at the detective with disapproving expressions.

“Ah, that’ll get the blood pumping!” Boyd began in a nonchalant almost gleeful voice. He paid no attention to the reactions of the colleagues around him. “A year and a half of rigorous training, and you startle so easily. Priceless,” his remarks were to no one but everyone. He stopped his smile as suddenly as he started it, tugged at his coat sleeves a bit, rubbed his palms together, and played a quick drum beat on William’s desk. His attention turned to the man and his expression showed that the great detective was all business once again.

“Right, so I need your help. Well, not your help, well not you specifically, I need what you know. I’m quite capable of performing the necessary actions myself, but the agency insists,” Boyd trailed off with an eye roll and a sigh. “To the point, I need information on a suspicious person in connection with our favorite child serial murderer. She looks like---“ Boyd took a pen from William’s desk without caring to wait for consent or response and began drawing on the backside of one of the many files. The sketch was complete in under a minute, and the woman’s face was reconstructed with perfect detail down to the tiniest freckle, thanks to Boyd’s photographic memory.

“So, hurry on. What do you have for me?” Boyd prompted as soon as he put down the pen. His brain worked a million miles a minute, and he demanded the same from everyone around him. Any less and he was bored.

[P.K.]

William was deep into his work so when the desk shook from the detectives surprise attack he jumped knocking over his drink before scrambling to pull it back up, thankful that it had a lid on it as he looked to the man. "Sir..." He sighed letting his heart rate go down. "Not all of us with in this department have had such training." he responded composing himself once more. William was not be a stoned faced or poker faced man, he had a honest face with relatively boysih features. Before he could ask what service he could be to Boyd the man's mood shifted, not an unusual occurrence.

William didn't take any personal offence to what Boyd said and simply brought up the person search screen before looking to see what Boyd gave him He blinked for a moment taking the paper and looking it over for a long moment before shaking himself and looking back to the screen. "Alright sir I'll see what I can find, Do you by chance have a name for this women?" he asked as he begun to type in the details of the Picture the detective had drawn searching through some of the results that came up. just from the descriptions there were at least a hundred women who matched the description. it take a while to sort through them but a name might narrow it down further.

[Price]

Detective Buchanan thought William’s question over with careful consideration. The woman was a particularly interesting kind of strange so similar to himself that it was difficult for the investigator to take anything that she said at face value. Their whole discourse had been a match, and so it followed that her last words would have been chosen deliberately in the spirit of gamesmanship. 'As for my name. Maybe I'll share it with you over a nice cup of sweet champagne, another time.' The words replayed in Boyd's head as a challenge, a tease, no, test. And why sweet champagne? It would have suited her coyness just fine to simply say champagne, but no, she went a step further to be descriptive. Why?

Sweet champagne...Boyd went through the list in his head, but only one seemed to stand out as a possible match. It was a stretch, but it was worth a shot. “She was quite the elusive individual, but I believe I did catch a first name. Try Sherry...” Boyd said as he crossed his arms. The young detective waited impatiently for William to begin his search. If his hunch was correct, Boyd would be a step ahead of his opponent in their little game. One step, one move is all that he would need.

[P.K.]

William waited patiently for the answer as he continued to look over all the photos before looking up when he mentioned Sherry. "Hum." He said before adding it into the search. It narrowed down the search considerably as the name seemed to be pretty seldom used. "I don't see anyone here matching your descriptions." he replied after a moment before going back to the original physical descriptions. "Let me try something else real quick." he said picking up the pictuer the detective had drawn as he pulled himself from his chair and moved over to another computer, its worker was gone but it was equipped with different equipment then his own.

Sitting down again he quickly got the computer on and logged in before getting the Picture to scan in. Knowing the detective was growing board he continued to work at a quick pace as he brought up the search again but compared it to the rather detailed drawing and getting the system to pinpoint all the same features. Usually he didn't do this and could find someone pretty simply with just a description so this was a rare occurrence for him. It didn't take long for a single Photo to appear. "Got it." he said before bringing up the file only to frown. "Well that's strange." he said peering at the almost empty file. "Sir, you may want to look at this."

The Photo wasn't a well taken pictuer but you could still clearly make out the women it was focused on, she looked a little different but all the key features were there. However there was barely any information. Where a name should have been was "???" and the information about the women was simply a note of a possible suicide in the old learning district, no remains were found. "It looks like she vanished near the beginning of the game sir... a Jane Doe it looks like."

[Price]

As Boyd peered over the file, the look of concentration on his face intensified before changing expressions altogether back to his usual confidence. Without waiting for anything further, he snatched the file in his hand and turned on his heels. “Right, that will be all then. Stay safe, Mr. Quinn.” Not waiting a further reply, Boyd left the office taking the file with him despite any possible objections. The detective proceeded back to his loft apartment on the scenic side of town. The apartment complex itself had actually been rather easy to afford early on in the game, and as time went by the detective had accumulated a small enough fortune to buy out the complex in its entirety, but under a pseudonym to remain anonymous. The man hated company, so a low-key complex on a hill overlooking the city was just perfect to satisfy his rather odd needs.

Boy’d chosen apartment faced east overlooking the rising sun against the beautiful ocean. On the shore was not sand nor shells, but rather stones, rock formations and dirt lining the ground and daring the water to cross over its path. It was quite breathtaking, the perfect place for Boyd Buchanan to enjoy a cup of hot jasmine tea while thinking over some intellectual discourse. His living room was utilized as his office. There was not a blank space on any of the four walls, instead there were papers pinned into the walls everywhere, often with pieces of string acting as lines to connect links between different points. Every ongoing investigation managed to have a space on the wall. Boyd walked to one investigation web in particular and pinned Sherry’s picture to it. “Got ya...you are the key....” As Boyd walked to his left he passed a different investigation web, the child serial murderer.

The next few hours were spent in deep thought and meditation combining aromatherapy, music, and posture changes. As ideas formulated in his head, the detective used his focused concentration towards solving five separate cases simultaneously. Once he was finished, he spent the evening with a cup of hot tea and a poetry anthology book, followed by a book on philosophy, and finally a rather sizable book that compelled some of Shakespeare’s most regarded works. He finished the night by solving the rest of the puzzles in his Sudoku work book before heading off to sleep on his sofa couch, which, he found uniquely more suitable for sleeping than his rather large and comfortable, soft bed. In the morning, he had a date with Miss Sherry.

[P.K.]

William blinked. "Uh sir?" but it was to late, the detective was already gone. What a strange guy... But he did well for his field of work, that was the only way he was tolerated the way he was but William found him interesting. Still... he turned his attention back to the Photo of the women with a frown for a moment. There was something about that women... He just couldn't put his finger on it. Finely he closed it down and turned the computer off before moving back to his work space. He should head home to get some rest soon.

~~~

It was a cool almost chilly morning in the old learning district. old crumbling buildings scattered around the area, museums, schools and even church buildings, every one in varying levels of disrepair and decay. Debris and trash scattered across the streets and lains between the old but still oddly beautiful buildings. Some were still in tact enough to give some sort of shelter, but most were left empty, anything that could be of use or easy to move was long gone... though anything to big to move by hand was usually left. Most of the buildings were gray, their bright colors long gone, warn away by the elements. Still it was oddly pretty and serine.

Sherry had gotten up early and gone to the fountain, a large and deep, more like pond, fountain. Though it no longer flowed with water it still held a vast amount, enough to bath herself in, which is exactly what she did. She didn't wait time even in the chilled air. She slipped into the water relishing the chill it sent through her body as she set her cloths at the edge and quickly submerged herself into the cold water. She pulled herself free once she was completely soaked and scrubbed at her skin and hair to work on cleaning herself off before she would pull herself free from the water again and dress herself in some cargo pants and a plain long sleeved shirt.

It was best if she laid low to day. she thought as she pulled her wet hair free, not seeming to mind that she was still wet, only making her cloths wet as she picked her way back through the empty streets to the natural history museum, leaving a small trail of water behind her. She pushed open the doors and entered the old run down place. The front room was huge, the skeleton of a massive elephant sent in the entrance hall just behind what should have been the welcome desk, which Sherry had turned into a place to tinker with odds and ends. Tools and scraps scattered along the desk top.

There was a stair case that let to the second floor, there was balconies over looking the entrance hall and from the rails hung a large selection of cloths from nearly ever class level, drying or just waiting to be used. In the chest cavity of the mammoth, hanging between its ribs was a make shift hammock. Through one of the many doors was a room she'd converted somewhat into a make shift kitchen, not that she used it often. she mostly kept things together, the rest of the rooms were really unused by her, keeping to the entrance hall to make things simple. She climbed the stairs so she could reach the balcony rails and hang some cloths up and relocate some cloths.

No one really came here, and those who did didn't stray that far in. There really wasn't a reason, there was nothing left of value, though it would make a great hiding place for gangs and people who didn't want to be found... like her. But there just seemed to be something haunting about this place that kept most people away. Besides it was a bit out of the way for most organized groups and most criminals that came here... didn't leave.

[Price]

Morning came swiftly, but not soon enough for the detective. It never matter how much of an early riser that he was, Boyd felt that the dawn could not begin soon enough. After all, the sooner the start, the more productive potential in the tended to be for the day. He no longer needed any alarm clock, for he had established the same routine for quite some time now. He would wake at precisely five in the morning, clean and refresh himself, have early morning meditation, and start the day with a cup of jasmine tea on his balcony watching the sunrise. From there, he would return to his work duties and handle his cases. This morning was no exception to his rule.

The last sip of tea was slurped as the sun peaked its head over the ocean’s horizon, as beautiful and tranquil as ever. Satisfied, Boyd rose from the lawn chair and left the balcony, shutting the sliding glass door behind him and locking it. He took his empty glass cup and saucer to the sink. Once the dishes were placed, the detective made his way over to the coat rack and selected a glossy black overcoat to match his solid white oxford shirt and charcoal slacks. He then put on his favorite loafers and proceeded to leave the loft. His car, although not a clunker, was nothing special. It was a simple four door sedan with a beige paint job. It would make the drive to the learning district just fine. As early as it was, traffic was virtually nonexistent, making for an easy and quick drive to his destination. Once there, the detective parked out of view and waited for signs of life.

Finally, a figure made its way out of one of the buildings...it was Sherry. She didn’t notice as he observed her from afar, but being the gentleman that he was, he didn’t watch her bathe. Instead, he used that time as an opportunity to leave his car and proceed further into the abandoned learning district. Its derelict buildings suggested that it was unused anyone in the game, but the detective had learned long ago to not trust first impressions. The structures were out of the way and forgotten enough to make for a great hideout for anyone seeking anonymity. Sherry definitely fit those parameters. Finally, she had finished bathing and was dressed. Boyd tailed her, more careful than before, and was successful in remaining undetected. He watched as she entered what was presumably her home, the museum of natural history.

Detective Boyd Buchanan entered cautiously. He arrived just in time to see Sherry go up the staircase and out of view. While she was unaware of his presence, he decided to have some fun. After all, he wanted to do more than simply make his presence known. He wanted to make a spectacle of it. He wanted Sherry to know that she had been bested in her little game and that she was not as mysterious as she believed herself to be. To this end, the detective pulled a juicebox out of his coat pocket. He had made a stop to the gas station on the way to purchase it. The flavor? Grapefruit, the very kind that she had ordered when they first met. Next, the detective approached the mammoth. He helped himself to the hammock and relaxed, kicking his feet up. He popped a straw into the juice box before looking up to the balcony with the smuggest of grins on his cheeky face.

“Nice place you got here,” The detective called out mockingly. His loud voice reverberated, echoing through the empty museum halls. Next, he took a big sip of juice making sure that a loud, obnoxious slurp filled the echo chamber. His eyes managed to find hers, even from such a great distance away. The smug grin only increased in intensity in anticipation of her response. Oh what a priceless reaction it would be!

[P.K.]

Sherry looked over the rail at the voice, visibly taken back for a moment before her face panned out to an unamused expression. She knew what he wanted, and she wasn't obligated to give it to him. The air around her was different to say then the relaxed, more sophisticated one of last night. That daring, knowing smile with quite Mystery was also lacking, replaced with the faint frown and the air of something else... The air of unconcern. And she wasn't acting this time. "Hasn't anyone ever told you its rude to enter another's home with out knocking?" She asked laying the cloths to the side over the rail before she lend on it to peer down at him resting in her bed.

"Do you make it a habit ,detective, to make yourself at home in other women's beds?" she retorted before she picked up her cloths and hung them properly. "Any proper women would kill you, maybe I should do the same." she said, her voice holding no malice, not even a warning. almost not feeling at all save maybe some irritation.

[Price]

Detective Buchanan had relished the few seconds of stunned bewilderment on Sherry’s face. Even as she recovered and found a retort, he maintained a smug, victorious demeanor. He had gotten to her, even if only for a moment, had gotten to her. No matter how quickly she could rebuild her stone faced apathy and confident attitude, they would both know that she had been absolutely bested and that she had been the first to blink in this game of theirs. That was all the satisfaction that Boyd Buchanan needed.

“This is quite the interesting home you have here, Sherry,” the detective continued just as snidely as before. He was totally and completely ignoring her retorts, too fixated on enjoying this little victory of his. Another obnoxious slurp echoed throughout the empty museum. A hardy and victorious laugh followed before he spoke again. “Do you always make yourself so easy to find? All of the effort disappearing at the start of the game, keeping your name out of the databases, staying totally anonymous all this time, and yet you can’t even spot a tail. That’s pretty sloppy...especially for a vigilante.” He let the last words ring out in a rather unimpressed tone.