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Post by demikara on Sept 4, 2018 18:28:33 GMT -6
There were bodies in the ice rink. To be specific, there were three bodies tied together and little more than desiccated husks in the middle of the ice rink. The second that they had been noticed, and confirmed dead, most of the galleria was closed. Given the location, there wasn't much choice, though already the owners were pressuring the police to hurry up and clean everything up and couldn't they move faster, because they were missing out on business because of this nasty business. Oh you could still make it to the major stores of course, and the store that didn't have a view of the ice rink at all, but that was it.
Each of the bodies was in a similar position, hands folded politely together over their laps, legs carefully positioned so that they were sitting upright, with their legs folded neatly to the right. They were slumped forward now, held upright only by the tension of the rope tying them together back to back to back. Each of their heads had been helpfully tilted to the left where neat puncture marks above the jugular vein revealed, though they were mean pinpricks now, given the amount of blood removed from each body. It was clear the corpses, each dressed in what could only be their Sunday best, had been intentionally and carefully put on display. Not a drop of blood was to be found and there were no marks on the ice near the body. Two of the corpses were male, one was female and on the females lap a simple folded over note had been left, a name written across is in curling letters.
Catherine.
The note itself hummed with power and the techs were being very careful not to even look too closely at it, having heard rumors of what happened with the last note.
Given the state of the bodies, MCU had been called out to handle it. And given the note, the Warden's team had been called out. Evaline Baird was already there and glaring across the ice, not impressed with the idea of her even trying to get across that safely in anyway. She had to examine the bodies, obviously. Right now, she was rather worried about making it out to the bodies. "Rufus, ensure I don't...fall." she ordered and Rufus had a rather long suffering look on his face as he tried to work out how. It was at least not just them whom the ice was slowing down significantly. The mundane police were largely making fools of themselves as well. There wasn't exactly protocol for finding bodies on ice after all. This was Dallas.
Carefully, Baird and Rufus made their slow way to the bodies, Rufus a good deal more steady than Baird was. "This is ridiculous." She complained, bag of tools over one arm as Rufus carefully escorted her onto the ice, careful of every step and ensuring her steps would be even and sure as well. Every step was slow and careful and hesitant, but it wasn't like there was much choice right now. She could manage this or no one would see to the bodies. The mundane ME was waiting by the body to conference with her, having been called before it was known that this was an unseen matter. He was clearly not willing to risk falling over either, especially by the bodies.
Molly at the edge of the ice rather wished she had a Rufus to keep her steady right now too. This was going to be a nightmare of epic proportions. Did she really have to go onto the- no. no she didn't. She could look for evidence out here! "I'll look around out here, see if I can find out how they got there." That was much better than having to get on the ice. Satisfied with her decision, Molly began to look around the entrance to the rink and directed several junior officers to check each of the levels around the rink for potential clues. She would cheerfully be in charge of not the ice and finding things not on the ice. Everyone else could deal with the rink itself. Molly had never stepped foot on ice and had no intent to do so now.
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Post by Circe on Sept 5, 2018 15:39:58 GMT -6
"Good luck with that one." Xiaolian commented bluntly to her partner as she watched the medical examiner hobble across the ice attached to none other than her boy toy, Rufus. "Initial reports haven't found anything, but you know.. if you'd actually read those you'd know that." The petite detective said with amusement as she watched Baird's rink crossing become more dramatic by the second. There were days when Xiaolian liked her job, and this was one of them. "How much you want to bet that M.E. faceplants on the ice? Say... $5 and looser has to buy lunch?" She asked turning to Molly, who was making every effort to look busy so she wouldn't be assigned a job with the bodies.
"I think that's a wonderful idea Boyuan... Bronson, you're with me." Catherine said as she walked up behind the two. She'd just finished speaking with the lead officer in command of the scene, and they were just getting ready to turn everything over to the MCU and it's officers. "Come on."
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Post by demikara on Sept 5, 2018 15:52:41 GMT -6
"She might make it, leaning on the boy toy, so bet, but not for lunch at one of those chain restaurants. And I did read those, but you know, second set of eyes and all." Molly sighed, having tried to get out of it. "$5 I face plant." She offered Boyuan, more out of dismay than not. She had no doubt she was going to fall down. Why could this not have occurred when they weren't maintaining the ice? This was not going to be fun. Arms outstretched for balance, Molly carefully stepped onto the ice. She made it all of five steps in and before her feet went sliding. She recovered quickly, but kept her arms out for balance. "Are we sure I can't stay rink side?"
Baird began to slip and slide up ahead. Rufus caught her and the two coasted a bit whether they wanted to or not. At least the public wasn't here. They had that going for them. The ME's knees buckled and she fell backwards, landed on her bum with a yelp of pain as she pulled Rufus on top of her. "Rufus! Get off me this instant!" She demanded and tried to get up but failed, scrambling badly and just making things worse. How was she supposed to do her job if she couldn't even get to bodies!
Rufus sighed and got off her and slowly stood, being careful of his balance and well aware he'd be helping his master get to her feet again.
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Post by Circe on Sept 5, 2018 16:03:54 GMT -6
Before Xiaolian could answer, she burst out laughing at the tangled heap that Baird and Rufus had made on the ice. The shouts from the medical examiner made it even better in her opinion, and Molly's wild windmilling just added to it. "So where are we going for lunch Bronson?" The woman teased, knowing better than to step out on to the ice with three people already scrambling for purchase. "$20 she knocks over Baird and the boy toy again." Catherine said to Xiaolian, clearly amused by the chaos.
It was a welcome break from the stress of dealing with Cedar Ridge, Scotty, and the inane details of the Dragon Court. The bodies were already dead and sitting on ice, so time wasn't exactly a detail Catherine was yet concerned with.
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Post by demikara on Sept 5, 2018 16:14:17 GMT -6
"I have no intention of going near Baird on my own. she's vicious." Molly said, having regained her balance, her arms down at her side now. Not that she was moving. She had yet to figure out how to move on the ice. "I'd ask to use ice skates for this, but I literally have no clue how, because why the fuck would I?" Sure ice skating looked pretty and all, and all respect to ice skaters, but it was definitely not for her. Molly watched the ME, more amused than not at this point as Rufus carefully coached his master up and on her feet again, though she was not remotely stable. She was however, steadily sliding her way over to the body.
The sergeant got out of the way of her boss and partner and raised an eyebrow at them. "And pick a place for lunch Boyuan. Pick a place." She moved slowly, deliberately managing to stay on her feet now that she found her balance. It was definitely different than solid land, but it wasn't...well, at least it wasn't as bad as Baird was making it out to be.
Baird carefully, cautiously made her way to the bodies and deliberately lowered down to the ground this time, to confer with the mundane ME about what he had found. She'd need to know what tests he had done so she could do the others. Not that she thought there'd be much to do in the field, but she still had been called out.
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Post by Circe on Sept 5, 2018 16:25:07 GMT -6
"And how did you find that one out, Bronson?" Catherine asked as she carefully shifted her weight to avoid slipping and falling on the ice like Baird had. She was mildly curious how the other had managed to piss of the M.E. that much, but wasn't really eager to press for details. "Ohh.. how about the mexican place off Maple?" Xiaolian asked sweetly. More than likely they'd each end up paying for their own meals, having largely ignored the bet they'd made.
Sliding to a stop near the bodies, Xiaolian with a camera and Catherine not far behind with the extra lenses and items that weren't Baird's. Just because she was the highest ranking officer on scene, didn't mean she couldn't pick up some of the slack.
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Post by demikara on Sept 5, 2018 16:41:51 GMT -6
"The mexican place sounds fine. And let's not discuss that." She refused point blank actually. Molly didn't like doctors in general at all. The officer made a sign next to her eyes and frowned at what she saw. "Heads up, the letter is spelled to hell and back. And moving the bodies might be a mite bit trickier than normal Baird. Looks like a localized weight based trap spell triggered on magical potential. Small radius for the trigger point so none of us are in it, but removing any of the bodies may set it off." Wasn't that peachy? Molly hadn't seen a spell like that in some time. She looked over the rest of the scene, carefully sliding around the bodies in a circle as she inspected the magic glyphs of the spell.
Baird groaned. "Aren't you supposed to do this before I get here?" She demanded and carefully checked each of the bodies. "Vampire bites. Causes of death appear to be uniform exsanguination, though I will know more in the lab. I can check for magical traces but that's all I would be able to do here and it's not as thorough as a test at the lab, and frankly if they're on a trigger that would interfere." Why she had even been called out, she didn't know. "Time of death for the three courses varies probably by about an hour each and they died within 8 hours."
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Post by Circe on Sept 5, 2018 17:01:27 GMT -6
Catherine frowned, ignoring Baird's whining as she took a moment to concentrate on the problem with the magic. "So are you sure or is it just a guess?" She asked the Sergeant, who was currently examining whatever web work of spells that had been laid over the bodies. Thinking for a moment, Catherine saw the potential for something that the criminal hadn't yet considered. "Boyuan! You're a null aren't you?" Catherine said turning to the small asian woman who was currently setting up one of R&D's cameras to get a good photo of the spell structures. After last time, the group had made it a bit of priority to at least be able to get a good visual of the residue and signatures.
"Warden? Yes, why do you ask?" The woman replied, pausing for a moment after she had loaded the camera's cartridge.
"Give Bronson a hand with despelling so Baird can get a look."
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Post by demikara on Sept 6, 2018 5:18:02 GMT -6
"I'm sure." Molly said firmly. "We're fine where we are, all of us. Baird, you can leave if you need to." Baird promptly scrambled away and allowed Rufus to help her up to standing on the ice as she made her very clumsy way off of it. Molly looked it all over and eyed the letter carefully, then pulled on sunglasses from her pocket and eyed it again, kneeling down to examine it very closely, though she didn't dare touch it. "I don't see anything here against nulls. It's bright as hell, but there's nothing against nulls specifically. You should be good to remove the letter and bag it in a containment bag. Go slow, just in case, and do it on my mark. I'm going to have to hold down the trigger on the trap for you to do this." She stood slowly, carefully, and slid just a bit, then reach in front of her into the air above the three bodies.
Her team were about the only people who had ever seen her de-spell anything or break a ward. "I'm just going to remove the trigger warden, so our guys can get a good look at it. Whoever did this isn't familiar enough with our team to include anything protecting the trigger itself." Slowly methodically, Molly began her work on the spell, hands moving in mid air as if she was examining something and then gently prying at something. This was one hell of a trap. She wanted to be careful.
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Post by Circe on Sept 8, 2018 12:56:03 GMT -6
Catherine nodded as she stepped back to allow Molly and Xiaolian to work. Setting off whatever trigger was attached to this new trap could be potentially devastating, considering how public of an area it had been placed in. Considering this for a moment, Catherine frowned in displeasure as she watched Baird and Rufus scramble to get off the ice rink.
"Sounds like they didn't think this one through all the way." Xiaolian said in agreement to Molly as she dug through one of the larger bags for the containment equipment.
With the ability or lack there of to retain much in the way to magic, Xiaolian tended to draw the short straw get put on duty when it came to handling toxic or dangerous magics. It was exactly the best talent, and as far as she was concerned she personally was something of a mixed less than useful bag when compared to the rest of the team. She knew her stuff, worked diligently, and was a solidly reliable officer; but that didn't stop her from sometimes feeling over shadowed.
"Ready when you are." Xiaolian said as she positioned herself to grab the slip of paper.
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Post by demikara on Sept 8, 2018 13:40:37 GMT -6
"I'll take them being sloppy. But it would have taken me several hours without you here, so they must have done some research." Just no where near enough. She swallowed and reached out, eyes shining with the spell that let her see what she was doing. "3. 2. 1. Mark." Her left fist clinched almost completely closed on something. Trusting that her partner had her back, Her right hand began moving rapidly through the air, her complete focus on what she was doing.
The other may feel overshadowed sometimes, but Molly knew perfectly well that Boyuan was the reason people felt comfortable leaving Molly an officer at all, and not kicking her off to be a contractor. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't, fully, fight the effects of puberty and what it did to her judgement and attitude. The potions that might have been able to help with that came with a multitude of drawbacks as well, and she wasn't sure about taking the potions anyway. Besides, others made it through this mess, she would too, even if she knew her judgement was incredibly clouded because of it. She also knew no one else knew why.
Well, Catherine knew now and that brat she was teaching periodically attempted. And said brat got put through her paces harder than Molly ought to do to her whenever she even brought it up.
Puberty was a bitch, especially when you knew jack all about your species puberty.
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Post by Circe on Sept 8, 2018 14:13:52 GMT -6
Xiaolian nodded as she steadied herself on the slick ice, trying to keep her thoughts empty and concentrate on the magic dissolving itself. At least that was what she intended to do as she reached for the paper, sliding it into the containment bag. 'New meaning to corpscicle...' She thought to herself briefly as she moved to slide back away from the three bodies.
Who ever Catherine had picked a fight with, seemed more than intent on causing problems until someone gave in.
"Got it."
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Post by demikara on Sept 8, 2018 14:19:49 GMT -6
With the others clear of the trap and the bait off the hook with no damage to her partner, a bit of tension left her shoulders. Working rapidly, Molly got the trigger isolated and removed from the rest of the spell, careful to make certain that everything was well clear of it. It took a solid fifteen minutes of her right hand working rapidly through the air before her shoulder's relaxed completely and carefully, she released the trigger. Nothing happened and Molly sighed. "I'm done. They're good to investigate and move now." She said and took two steps back, carefully, so she could stretch out some.
She took a third so she could get another view of the corpses only to yelp as her legs slipped from under her and she landed on the ice, sliding, thankfully, away from the corpses. Unimpressed with herself, Molly laid backwards and groaned. "Why did it have to be on the rink? Why not by the rink? Or at the very edge so I could have done all of this on solid ground." This was ridiculous.
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Post by Circe on Sept 8, 2018 14:28:12 GMT -6
Xiaolian shrugged as she placed the note in it's containment bag away for inspection later. "Don't ask me, I don't know what makes half these guys think grandiose displays of murder is a good idea." She commented as she motioned for Baird and Rufus to return. "By the way, I win." She added with a grin, seeing Molly wipe out on the ice.
Meanwhile, Catherine just rolled her eyes and shook her head as she went to accompany Baird during her initial inspection.
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Post by demikara on Sept 8, 2018 14:42:16 GMT -6
"You're a terrible person and I don't know why we're friends, Boyuan." Molly said in deadpan as she stood again. "Also, I'm not getting near that letter. The last one was bad enough." Fucking old ones and their terrible dramatics. Seriously, who possessed people? That was just added drama. Worse, it was added drama that had cost her a pretty penny. She was still steaming under the collar from it all. She'd have to have a guardian of all things. And if she wanted to keep her job, she couldn't just manage to get around it anyway. Besides, she was working against older fae here.
Humans were easy to handle. Vampires depended on the age, but in general if they were her age or younger she could talk her way around them too. But fae. She was basically in the kiddie pool when it came to anything with the fae and it grated.
Baird came closer once more and sighed, reaching for her spectacles and a few special rune carved tools. "I can already tell you cause of death was most likely blood loss and we have a potential time of death already. But I'll get what else I can, of course. I may even be able to tell if them were compelled or not, dependent on how the magic is playing together." Evaline was many things, but a master of magic she was not. Someone else made her tools, a necessary evil, but she could use them well enough. No, she had other things she needed to handle. "Rufus, the magispectrometer please." she held out her hand and Rufus placed a tool there, staying well away from Catherine. Or at least as well away as he could be and still attend to his master.
Rufus was no more fond of Catherine than Catherine was fond of him.
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