Ezra Bennet's Story

“What will happen to you if she wakes up?” Ezra was confused about the whole situation, but he was gathering the more important facts from what Miss Bronson was saying. She had called this Karato person her old inhabitant, it did make him wonder what that actually meant for her, as the host. If she was the original owner. How was it that every thought lead to more questions? “Alright, I’ll tell you as soon as I receive an answer.” He’d have to make the call at night, hoping to catch them before they headed to work.

He tried not to laugh at her comment, yet couldn’t help but look amused. “It is easy to be polite in a professional environment, Miss Bronson, as long as one abides the rules. It becomes increasingly difficult when one doesn’t agree with them, however. I am extremely opinionated when it comes to the council laws, and I can be very blunt about it. As you might be able to imagine, this doesn’t make me a very popular figure.”

"Then I'm likely going to have my body on a shared basis again." she said dryly. "For which I apologize. No one should have to deal with Karato. She's an ass." The woman shrugged it off. "And thanks for it. I hope they can help." Desperately. She needed some form of peace of mind that didn't come from the fact that he needed her alive. The fight smiled at his explanation for being here.

"Blunt and opinionated huh? Well, word is Klein sent you, so don't feel bad. He's my least favorite councilor." She cheerfully admitted. "And I am his second least favorite officer." She had never punched him before, but she had made it exceedingly clear she thought he could do with his ass handed to him, and she was more than happy to do just that, if he tried any shit in the Dallas offices ever again. The man was not to be trusted one ounce. "But I'm here because of Karato, not because of that. He counts her and me as one person. I don't mind though. Dallas is where everyone I know is."

Still, it rankled being sent to Dallas because of Karato's record. Just because they were connected was no reason for their disciplinary records to be connected.

“No problem. That stalker of yours needs to be stopped, and I am glad if I can be of service.” He was pleasantly surprised about her openness, the situation with Karato was a very personal one. She likely had to be, whatever the second being was in her body, she sounded difficult to deal with. “I appreciate the warning. Are you still aware when she takes over?” He promised himself that this would be the last question for today, as fascinating as all of this was, the books surrounding them were not going to read themselves.

“I admit I do not know how my standing is with him, but even if my relocation should be considered punishment, that suits me fine.” He’d been worried at first, and he still felt like he could have made a better impression during the Dam case. All in all, he found he liked it here, oddly enough. Even found himself getting along with some people on a more personal basis. “Yes, see, for mundane’s I understand why the records would be combined, the most leeway they have is considering psychology. But we really should know better.” It amazed him how despite all their means and possibilities, they still held on to such antiquated systems.

Molly considered this, and then shrugged. "Sometimes." She admitted. "But not always." She knew most of the time, but sometimes, rest was needed. "It really depends. It's my body, so she can't just knock me out like I can with her, but if she's taken over because I passed out, or I was sleeping, then no." Molly considered things. "Usually, she'd take over when I was asleep. My body can handle the extra stress. I'm not sure why, as it shouldn't, but maybe it adapted because of it." She shrugged, not sure. It just was. That was kind of her life, most days. It just was.

The officer smiled to him. "I'm glad to have you. One more to stare down the darkness is helpful." And here, in Dallas where the veil was too thin, some days it felt like they literally just did that, and little else. "As for Karato any my records, well. Apparently I'm responsible for her, because she is in my body." That was bullocks as far as she was concerned. What was she supposed to do, wrest control when Karato was being an ass? That was more likely to get her hurt than anything else.

“I wish we had a spell to make people live these kind of situations for a day before they make useless assumptions”, Ezra stopped himself, shaking his head. “Forget I said that, it’s a horrible idea.” Who knew what kind of havoc that would wreck, they had enough to deal with already. He could already see the city burning. “And anytime, Miss Bronson. We need to look out for each other in this office, our situation is difficult enough as it is.” If they couldn’t rely on their coworkers, it would only add to the risk they regularly put themselves into, and that wouldn’t do.
“I think I’ve asked enough personal questions for a day, and we have such a thrilling task ahead of us.” He motioned towards the books, only being half sarcastic.

Molly's eyes lit up as she looked back to the books. "We do. We better get to it." With that, she focused on the books once more, easily sinking back into the research fugue that she relied on to get the work done. He had drawn her out the right way at least, but for now, she turned herself over to research in a way she hadn't since her senior year of college. Let it not be said that Molly couldn't handle research.

Her pencil moved across her page taking notes, as he expression went almost slack and she moved from book to book, flipping pages and searching through them as needed.

"Speaking." She said picking up the phone on her desk on the third ring, while wondering why the sudden jump in activity; the weather wasn't getting warmer, it was getting colder. In fact looking outside all she could see was a slow, soaking, cold rain that had started on Thursday with no sign of letting up. They were lucky it wasn't snow or ice, yet. "That's a high traffic area." Catherine said frowning. "We'll be there in ten." She added as she placed the phone back on the receiver.

The other case would have to go on the back burner for now, after all Alexander had said he was going to speak with Hecatate. If he had, Catherine had no knowledge of what had happened in the meeting. Pushing back and standing up from her desk, she headed downstairs to grab the other officers, but not before knocking on Ezra's door on her way out. "Time to go, we've got another hand off from DPD."

She was not looking forward to going out in the rain and cold to deal with Dallas Police.

Along her way out, she grabbed Molly and Rafael. Their small team of four could handle whatever this was, or at least she liked to think they were capable enough.

December 2, 2015
Moonphase: Waning gibbous
Morning

It was a miserable day for murder. Nonetheless, it looked like in the early morning hours that was exactly what had happened on the Trinity Greenway. Not far from the banks of the river itself, crime scene tape was easily viewable. Police crawled over the scene, marking evidence, bagging and tagging anything that may help. Mundane or Unseen, police work rarely differed, and once the mundanes were done, then it was MCUs turn.

By the time the officers arrived, the last few were there, standing guard over the scene and the evidence found. It was time for the officers to handle anything leftover. The witness who found the bodies, along with a large, and by now muddy, golden retriever were huddled in the back of a police SUV, with the trunk door open to provide some shelter from the rain.

Molly normally would have ridden with Catherine, but was an inch from killing Rafael. If she heard him go on about guns one more time, she was going to slap him silly. Unfortunately, their desks were all too close together.

This had led to her quick stepping over to Ezra and declaring she’d ride with him. Two cars, two agents was fairly standard, just in case a suspect was on scene. Right now, the tall woman stretched as she exited the passenger side of their department car and then looked around.

“So, judging on the sheer lack of cover, I’m willing to bet this happened at night, and in the treeline, such as it is.” They were exactly deep. Still, first impressions could say a lot about a person, and to her, it said this person was an idiot. No doubt the new guy would have more to say. It was, according to the email sent out, his job to psychoanalyze the evidence and figure out a profile of their criminal. Or something like that.

There was going to be mud everywhere, the amount of rain was getting ridiculous. The river ahead of them seemed to agree with his assessment, slightly overwhelmed by the excess water. But the drive had been pleasant, and who knows where his navigation system might have lead him if Molly hadn’t been there. Ezra even had an umbrella along. Considering the circumstances, he was pleased.

He did wish someone would have told him what the scene was about. “So we know for sure this isn’t just the dumpsite?” They were too far away to really see much, but it seemed like as good an opportunity as any to put some feelers out for traces of magic.

"Hopefully the rain hasn't washed anything away." Catherine muttered to herself as she exited the white SUV. They were getting close to eight inches over the last few days, and the swollen river was close to pushing over it's banks. Sooner or later various authorities would be announcing flood stage with the Trinity and recommending evacuation of low lying areas, the park being one of them.

"Though honestly, for this to happen in such a public place.." She said to no one in particular, her thoughts going back to a case that had made headline news a few months ago where a man jogging on the Katy Trail had been attacked with a machete. "Okay," Catherine started as she waited for everyone to pull on jackets, and grab gear they had decided to bring with them. "I would assume you know the drill by now, talk with DPD and whomever else is still there." She instructed, feeling that somehow it was necessary to reiterate what was already known. "If someone can find scene command, send them mine or Warden Bennet's way. Understood?"

Homicides were fairly normal in a big city, as sad as it was, it just seemed to be a symptom of life in a city. However the homicide like the one dispatch had sent their way was fairly unusual. "Alright, let's move out."

Molly nodded and headed closer to the scene. The scene itself was perilously close to the river bank, and hopefully the rain would stop before the water contaminated the scene. As it was, the remaining crime scene tech looked nervous, carefully snapping picture of something on the ground. Molly moved closer to the yellow tab, and ducked under it. It didn't take long to find the scene command and send them heading in Catherine's direction. Shortly after, Molly was carefully walking the scene and examining it, looking for any hints of magic.

She moved closer to the crime scene tech and squatted down. "Is that a...stiletto print?" She said, eyes wide. The tech nodded and Molly made a face at the very idea. Who the hell would wear shoes like that in this mess? Well, where there was one, there was likely to be more, especially with the ground so soft.

"Yes." The tech answered, the nodded to the two bodies that were solidly away from the bank of the river, at least, under cover to protect any evidence on them from the rain. "Based on the bodies, my boss thinks this is the murder site too. If there was any blood on the ground though, the rain washed it away." He shrugged and finished his work. "If we're lucky, the river won't burst and the scene itself won't wash away, but I don't think we will be."

Molly could agree. She left the tech to do his job and approached the bodies, peering under the covers carefully. The first one held a young woman with a slit throat, fully dressed as if for a date night. Her jewelry remained, but her hair was mussed. Herr hands and ankles were held together by a zip tie.

The junior officer lowered the cover and then peeked under the second one. A man, age very clearly unknown. Or at least, judging by the genitalia, she assumed the withered corpse there was a man. That was all that remained of him at least, a heavily aged mummy with wisps of grey hair on its head, as if he had been old before he died. She frowned and shook her head. "Found why we were called at least." She lowered the cover and then looked more carefully. The two corpses shared what appeared to be a picnic blanket, if a sodden one by this point.

The junior officer wandered back to the crime scene tech. "Hey, any idea how they got here?" She asked him, uncertain. The tech finished bagging what could be a clue or simple garbage and then answered.

"An officer found an abandoned car about half a mile down Canada Drive." He answered. "It's almost as weird as a scene, sans the Pharaoh Ramses over there. They're sending the stuff to your lab now though, car and all." The techs there were working just as hard no doubt on that scene also. Molly nodded and then began to conduct her own investigation of the scene. Some faint trace here set her senses haywire and it was stronger the closer she was to the male body.

Uncertain, the demon hunter knelt down and began to focus on her senses. She was getting soaked in the meantime, but if it meant figuring out what did this, then who cared?

...

Rafael appeared quite amused at it all. He also finally had a use for that poncho that he bought and the gore tex boots. He did look quite the sight in the black and blue poncho with a ski mask on. He more so looked like he committed the crime.

"Looks like these two were into some kinky stuff. Granted I never did understand how a woman could be a necrophiliac?" Rafael said from behind Molly.

He looked around his eyes casually scanning the scene for anything important or missed. Maybe a mythological dagger that could open time warps into horrid dimensions releasing monsters he could fight. That was unlikely but he could hope, it would give his sword a use besides his occasional LARP's and the practice he did.

Spotting Rafael's latest get up, Catherine just shook her head and sighed in exasperation. The man took his job as a joke, and reminded her of all the bad qualities of many of the men she'd worked with over the years. There wasn't much she could do, disciplinary issues were not part of her job description anymore. Stuffing her hands deeper into the pockets of her coat, Catherine found herself increasingly cold and wet; soaked through to the skin from the rain, it was miserable work.

She finished speaking with one of the DPD senior officers as the scene and incident command came her way. "What are we dealing with here? It looks like Dallas's normal garden variety stupid." She asked, wondering where Ezra had wandered off to. Normally she would have liked to have the other warden around to talk to the scene commander, but apparently he had his own ideas.

“I swear to God, Fisher if I ever find out who decided you’d be my partner, I’m going to brain them.” Could he not be creepier? “Take the ski mask off before someone shoots you.” She grumbled, clearly not pleased. Her concentration was completely broken. Still, she recognized the type of energy at least, even if she hadn’t been able to get a hold on any details.

“I doubt it was necrophilia, state of the male’s body besides. There’s some sort of energy residue on the man.” she said and shrugged. “I think, maybe, it’s demonic, but I could be wrong. Someone interrupted me before I could be sure.” And given how cold she was becoming she doubted she'd be able to figure it out. Damn. This coat was not at all waterproof.

The scene commander made his way to Catherine and shook his head. “I wish it was. It looks like two lovers out on a picnic. If you take away the fact the the man is a naked mummy, and the woman has a slit throat and is completely missing her underclothes.” The scene commander was rather blunt about it. “Both of their hands are zip ties together, and the woman’s feet are as well.” He shrugged.

“The mummy is the official reason I’m turning this over to you all. The unofficial is that these scene gives me the creeps.” He shrugged and began on the safety stuff. “Nothing was found close to the bank, but there’s a muddy stiletto print that we think we might lose if the rain doesn’t let up. Otherwise, the only thing of note is that there’s an abandoned car on Canada Dr. It had a male’s set of clothes, women’s underclothes, and a purse that had an ID in it that matches the woman. Pessy Elkins. There was a second ID of a male. Rizalino Morris.”

....

Catherine just looked at the man for a moment, thinking that if he found this unsettling, he didn't want to know what else was out there. Walking over to the scene in question, she lifted the tarp and sheet that covered the bodies. "Hm... interesting." Was all she really said before turning back to the scene commander. "You're right, it doesn't make sense. Especially since this is a very public area." Catherine remarked thoughtfully. "How long have they been here?" She asked motioning to the bodies under the covering. No doubt some early morning jogger, or even some kayaker down this branch of the Trinity had spotted the scene and called it in. Normally DPD was slow to respond, but it appeared this time they wanted the case off their hands quicker than ever.

"I'll have my officers take a look at the car, and see if we can't get an impression or at least some way of documenting the stiletto print before the rain washes it away." The heavy rains could do any manner of damage to the scene, and the thing Catherine was most worried about was how old the scene was. Over time magic traces would fade away and dissipate, leaving them little if anything to work with. "Medical can go ahead and get them out of here I think, it looks like we're going to be racing the river on this one."

"Good day." Ezra returned just in time to hear about the car. He’d obviously been walking through mud, his pants now sporting speckles and the colour of his shoes completely unidentifiable. “I apologize, I thought I had a trace.” It had been faint to begin with, and gone far too quickly when he tried to follow it. By now, he wasn’t even sure if there had been anything in the first place. Also, the part of him getting stuck in the ground for a minute was not a detail he felt too keen on sharing. “Should I take Paladin Fisher along and look at the car, or do you need me here?” With two scenes to this crime, splitting up like this made sense to him. It would also reduce the threat of either of the women getting headaches, or of Fisher getting punched.

"You would be the only to shoot me for the ski mask, Miss. Molly. But none the less I will remove my nice waterproof ski mask and expose my hair to these harsh elements." He removed the hat from his head stuffing it into a pocket on the inside of the poncho.

"Catherine take this I have no need for it as I have my Russian poncho here." He slipped the Vertx jacket off that he was wearing underneath of the poncho. It was water proof as well and had a hood. He stuck the jacket out towards her.

"I say we go Comrade Ezra. We should ensure the car doesn't happen to have any more identifiers or possibly Capitalist intentions within. May we leave you with our two new friends and search through the car?" Rafael asked looking over at Catherine his hair starting to soak up the rain falling on it.