The 3rd Step- Part 3

I stood there dumbfounded. Was I hearing this right? The one night I fell asleep, Wraith had struck again? On top of that, a young woman too. Did that man have no dignity?

Well, of course not. He was a murderer after all. I put on my coat and fedora, mumbling to myself all the way. I wanted to reach the crime scene as soon as possible so that I could check it myself. A thorough sweep. I respect the police, but they aren't exactly the best at their job. No matter what they make you believe. Deep in thought, I descended the stairs.

On the last step, I ran into Mrs Baker. My landlady, also one of the sweetest creatures on this planet. Her biscuits were one of our favourites. Suddenly, I stopped, startling her. The look on my face must have done it. One of bewilderment. Such sudden bewilderment. 'Our'? Where had that come from?

I took a couple of minutes to calm down Mrs Baker and collect myself, brushing off the incident as a random error. Although it still unsettled me quite a bit.

I walked and walked until I lost that little incident in thought. The case was more important no matter how I looked at it. Wraith had done his dirty work while I slept cosily in my apartment. Someone had died because I had let up for just one night. I vowed to never do it again.

After about twenty minutes of walking, I reached the alley. The police already had the place on lockdown. However, Londinium was a small place for us fellows pursuing justice. They quietly let me onto the scene. There, I was met with two men standing over the body. It was a relatively fresh scene, with the scent of untainted blood still hanging in the air. I headed over to the body, but one of the men turned around, and immediately proceeded to stop me. Internally, I groaned. It was that blasted Jimmy Karter that they had put on the case. If he was here, then his partner must be...

The other man turned around, and I saw that I was right. It was, in fact, Sam 'Smithie' Smith. While Jimmy was of somewhat average height, Smithie relatively towered over him. Both men shared two things. Their tastes in various things like booze, smokes and women, and their hatred of P.I.s. Oh, and both of them were also very rotund. We absolutely loved to say it to their faces. This time, all it did was nag at my mind. Not enough to distract me, however. 

It took quite some time fighting with the two dimwits in charge of this case, but my reputation helped out a lot. Eventually, though, they let me inspect the body my way. First thing I checked was the placement of the cuts. Like I thought, they made a perfect star. Next, I checked how the skin was cut. Clean, like cutting soft butter with a hot knife. The exact M.O. of the one and only Wraith. Now, I would get even closer to catching him. 

I spent a few hours at the scene, but I was soon forced out of there by the staff from the mortuary. They had to transport the body after all. Make it ready for the funeral. They told me her name was Annabeth. Still only in her twenties, she had her entire life ahead of her. Poor girl. She didn't deserve this.

At my house, I spent hours pouring over my evidence, searching for any little thing. However, the exhaustion of the past few days joined that of today's, and I couldn't help but pass out. Even when the light dimmed in my eyes, the nagging sensation of saying 'our' never left me. 

And then Wraith woke up. We really did make a beautiful pair.