[Scene I] Barely time for a drink...

[Priest]

Millicent, watching how Felix quickly puts his powder and things away and begins to nonchantly look at the various books on the bookshelves, guesses that the new arrival is another police officer. Realising that it might not go down to well for a couple of unecessary civillians to be stomping around a crime scene, she moves towards the door.

Millicent thinking:   Walking around?

She looks down at the floor, with all the blood that must be about she looks for footprints heading towards locations which to her mind haven't been checked yet.

Millicent thinking:   The killer must have left a trail leading somewhere

[Dave Syrinx]

Grimes pockets the envelope and says "I wonder if the book is from the shop or the library? I can either way get that from the one who sent it. Two places to visit. The. We'll know what caught his eyes." He looks at Felix and Millicent. "When I've spoken to his professor we'll know the full extent if his studies. By the looks of it the Bookhounds tore him asunder."
Grimes sees Millicent studying the floor when he hears the new arrival outside. He steps over any puddles after covering the body again.

He walks to the front door and is about to open it when he asks the room, "Is there any marks of lipstick on the china? Make sure to check the shards on the body as well. We have the angles from the photograph anyways."

Grimes pushes the door open and says
"Yes?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Cheers," says Amanda as she rises, gratefully accepting the mug and sipping from it. The hot liquid refreshes her and warms her up. "Ah, that hit the spot! Just what we needed." Her fear and horror fade into the background, as she has also been encouraged by her own speech. The tea doesn't hurt either. "You did just fine, Mrs. Pelletoot. Do you recall what time you heard the noise?"

[Airbornexo]

Upstairs...

Sam & Amanda,The old woman looks at [b]Amanda[/b], and her heart goes out to the her. She doesn't deserve this on her doorstep, she's had enough in her life without the last few years haunted by a specter of murder. "[color=#0000FF]The noise? Well I suppose it would have been at around quarter to nine.[/color]" She suddenly sits up a little straighter, "[color=#0000FF]Has [b]Barnaby[/b] not come home yet, I do hope he's alright! You know I don't really care for him, the horrible little man, but I wouldn't wish ill on him...no perhaps he's still trying his luck with the new bar girl over at the [b]Cock and Feathers[/b]. He's was chatting about her yesterday and again this morning...[/color]" That sounded like the rake that [b]Amanda[/b] knew... Glancing at the clock [b]Sam[/b] notes that it was closer to eleven now which made sense.

Meanwhile downstairs...

Millicent on a hunch studies the floor, and is rewarded but several smudgy footprints that track through the blood and spilt coffee on the floor. The police had tracked in here, as had the doctor. The landlady too, had been in here and seen the body. Most likely seem to be a set of smudgy large men's boot-prints that have collected more of the blood as they track toward the door - obviously the fresher blood would have traveled further. Checking the shards of Coffee cups on Grime's advice, she notes that there is no discernible marks. 'He'll have me deputized, or whatever it is they do, next.' Millicent thinks.

Felix's eye is drawn to the bookshelves for a clue as to the nature of the studies of the two students of the apartment. It would appear that they either loved dearly literature or, more likely, they were students of English Literature with tomes of Shakespeare, Dickens, Austin, Bronte and massive amounts of romantic poetry from Byron to Keats.

The bookshelf stands next to the open door to the bedroom and his curiosity gets the better of him and he cannot resist a peek inside. The bedroom contains two unmade beds and various wardrobes and chests of drawers - but aside from that it appears perfectly ordinary.

Grimes pulls open the door to be greeted with the round face of Sergeant Andrew Atkinson. Atkinson looks as though he has run a distance, he mops the sweat from his brow and pulls his uniform straight over his ample frame. "Detective Grimes, sir! The doctor told me you were still here, I've just managed to catch him on the street outside and sent him already. There's been another one sir, like this," He gestures deliberately at the covered body, paying little heed to the photographer and writer standing innocently in the room. He gestures at the smashed cups, "poor bleeder, barely time for a drink before he's done in!"

[Tabs]

We'll know what caught his eyes." He looks at Felix and Millicent. "When I've spoken to his professor we'll know the full extent if his studies. By the looks of it the Bookhounds tore him asunder."

Felix muses on Grimes' dark humour. He adds: "English Literature, by the look of these books. No modern stuff, unfortunately--Yeats and such like."

He overhears the Sergeant's disquieting words and determines to gather as much information as he can, he thinks "These gruesome murders could mean a substantial payday for you, Felix my son." He puts to one side any remorse for the humanity that has been snuffed out--and is well aware of his callous attitude, but needs must. He glances toward Millicent, wondering if they really can work together on a book or if their personalities would clash?

Felix slips through the bedroom door.

OOC:   Airbornexo, Evidence Collection?

[Airbornexo]

Felix slips into the bedroom as Grimes speaks to the Sergeant. Pushing the door so that it is hard to observe what he is doing he makes a cursory examination of the room.

Felix,He sighs, a little disappointed that there is nothing really of note in the small room beyond the obvious. An examination reveals the expected : There are two distinct sets of clothes – the simple suits and shirts belonging to the late [b]Hector Hornley[/b], clothing which matches the quality and style of the ones he was dressed in when he was attacked. His room-mate's clothing seemed considerably more expensive and the wardrobe is crammed with stylish outfits.

[Dave Syrinx]

"Thank you Atkinson, where are we to after this one has been processed? We are still trying to line this one up. Did you catch the brute? The victim was it a man or a lady?" The torrent of questions was unlike Grimes - probably due to the fact that he sometimes wished to duplicate himself.

"Atkinson, get over there and let no one inside. I'll accompany you presently. Some legwork still required here, I'm afraid."

Waiting for Atkinson to share the details of the new murder before turning to Felix and Millicent. He will join Felix in the bedroom for a look over. While getting there he measures the dishes to gauge if the lad lived alone or not. Passing Millicent he says, "Pardon the gruesome nature of this late hour miss. I'm afraid all our drinks will be very delayed. One more stop before we can hit one of the cellar bars of Soho."

[Airbornexo]

The sergeant pulled a pained expression, "Right you are sir...its just that...well Superintendent Atherton was at the station when these two came in and asked that you attend to them personally and quickly. You know how he can be sir. It's a fair way away as well, Hersperus Crescent, down on the Isle of Dogs." Grimes did the mental calculations, around 6 miles; at this time of the evening, shouldn't take more than about twenty minutes or so in the car. Atherton was a potential problem thought, the career desk-jockey insisted on having all the i's dotted and t's crossed yesterday.

At the order Atkinson looked sheepish, "He's not going anywhere in a hurry governor. Well, to be honest I've left a couple of uniforms over there as it is. We've not gone past the front door yet though, smell would choke a sewer worker. No-one to catch though, begging your pardon: Bit of a ripe one! A man, been sat for a couple of days Constable Avery reckoned. It's the eye thing that connects the case, that's why Atherton has put you on it as well. Catching two on your night off, that's some luck you've got there! Remind me to invite you to our next card game!" He gave a knowing look to the big detective and said his goodbye..."with your permission then sir I'll get over there?"

[Dave Syrinx]

"See you there." Grimes says and closes the door.

"Murdering marauders", he mutters and fetches Felix and Millicent after deducing the things he had had on his mind when he was called upon again.

"We have a ways to go, friends. We take my carriage and should be back inside an hour. I'll leave the scene to the other constables. Upstairs to Sam and Amanda!"

He leads back to the door and waits. "We can get back later should we need more from this location. Or I can, you all need your sleep, I gather. It's my back that's whipped."

He whistles in the stairway. "The interview 'ill be in the car."

[Priest]

As Grimes leaves the room, Millicent catches his arm, "One question Mr Grimes. Maybe I missed it or something, but it appears this apartment had two occupants, Mr Hornsley and another. What happened to that other person, do we know?"

[Dave Syrinx]

"What lead you to the conclusion there's another party living here?" He looks back at the scene. "If there is I hope it wasn't the Gargantua that endes the lad's life. "

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, I know what he's like all too well," says Amanda, rolling her eyes. "I wouldn't wish anything bad on him either. I'm sorry, but I haven't seen him." She turns when she hears the whistle.
"I think that's the detective calling for us. I'm afraid we'd better go."

[Priest]

Millicent gestures back to the apartment, "Why, the bedroom contains two unmade beds. I'm sure that Felix...Mr Henriot can confirm as he looked into the bedroom, while I merely noticed through the doorway. But in truth I would imagine that there has been so many policemen coming and going that one of them, surely, would have discovered the fact"

[Tabs]

"Ms. Broadacre is correct, Detective Grimes, Hornley had a flatmate," says Felix. He continues: "There are two beds and sets of clothing--note that the other chap has a richer wardrobe. Ms. Somerville can give us details of the flatmate. This second murder, speculates Felix, is he the absent friend?"

[Dave Syrinx]

"True. Very well played, miss. Now, we're heading for the next site. From the description it's the primary scene - this one lies closer in time. Similar modus according to Gov. He wants the lay of these murders before tea, today. When we've surveyed the primary scene, we can put it all together."

Grimes waits in the hallway and puts on his driving gloves.

[Dave Syrinx]

"No identification made yet, I hear. Could you tell if the flatmate had a considerably larger size than Hornley? If so we may be hunting said flatmate... An escalating number of crimes follow this brute, whomever he might be."

Grimes walks out on the stairs to the apartment building breathing in the chill of early night-time.

"On the look for mr Night-time." He muses.

[Tabs]

Airbornexo,What size are the flatmate's clothes and are there name labels?

[Airbornexo]

Felix,Felix notes that the clothes are of a smallish man - many of them are monogrammed B.F.

[Tabs]

" 'Mr. Night-time'?" questions Felix, following Grimes on to the stairs.

"The flat mate's clothing had the monogram B.F. and they are (were?) worn by a small man."

[Dave Syrinx]

"Yes, I believe those crimes were committed during the late hours of day. By someone raging and capable of snapping someones neck as a twig and hurl his head at china, then gouging the eyes out. Not a lady-like manner, I'd say. Thus Mr Night-time. Makes me remember the Slaughterhouse case. It's hard not to try to hook up whatever unknown facts we have on a label. I could label it The Nighttime kilings, but to put a name to the killer, albeit fictional helps me think and to arrange all known facts in my head. We're still in the early hours of the investigation and I have yet to put the finds in an initial report. To do that I need the primary location first." Grimes seems to talk to himself as much as to Felix.