"Deputy Chief, there is this new case of serial killing." Ryder handed Valarie a document.

"Are you talking about the series of murders of rich men in the range of 40 to 50 years old?" Valarie asked. She had heard about the murders from the police. The case was too complicated. So, the police had handed it over to the Intelligence.

"Yes, Deputy Chief. This is the fourth murder in a month."

"So, what have you got?"

Ryder switched on his laptop and started his presentation. "The first murder took place on 23 of the last month. It was Edward Wesley. He was 47 years old. His body was found in the restricted area of Cobi Lake. We could not identify his face, it was completely burnt. His face was dipped in acid. Only after a DNA test, his details were found. His hands were tied together with a shoelace and had cuts in a star pattern on each arm. His both eardrums were punctured with nails and his right foot was completely chopped off. The man was carrying a note which said: You are the reason for the consequences and I am happy that you faced death quite bravely. For death is not evil, you are."

Valarie's eyes widened on listening to the note. It made no sense, yet it made all the sense.

Ryder continued. "The second murder occurred on the 30th, near the Park Highway. The body was identified to be Zachery Coben. He was 42 years old. The third murder took place on the 7th of this month in Barney Hills. It was Trevor Stone who was 49 years old. The fourth took place yesterday night. The body is yet to be identified. All the cases have the same modus operandi and each person was found with the same note."

Valarie looked at the photos of the men from the murder site. It looked horrendous. A normal person couldn't withstand seeing something that terrifying and Valarie was definitely not normal. She took a thorough look at all the photographs. They were many pictures of each dead body, taken from different angles. They also had the postmortem reports of the three victims.

"This the forensic reports. There were no fingerprints on any of the bodies. The killer used a blade to imprint the star pattern on their arms and his foot was chopped off with an obsidian knife."

"Obsidian knife?" Valarie intervened. This was a little shocking. The obsidian knives were banned in the country. Nobody was allowed to use it as it was the sharpest knife and a small mistake was enough to cause big accidents. The government had issued to stop its manufacture and had forbidden anyone from selling it.

"Yes, Deputy. That is what is written here." Ryder held up the report.

"Okay. How did they die? All these torture methods are not enough to kill a person."

"That is a mystery," Ryder spoke softly.

"Explain."

"There were no drugs or any sort of poisonous substance found in their bodies. No gunshot wounds or knife wounds on any other part of the body except the arms. There aren't any signs or marks on their necks."

"Interesting."

"Yes Deputy. The police tried but they found nothing. So the case has been handed to us."

"Hmm."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Get Preston along. We are going to the crime scene. We might find something."

"Copy that."

After ten minutes, Valarie, Ryder and Preston walked out of the building. As soon as they stepped out, Preston's body stiffened. He looked around frantically trying to find something.

"What happened Prest?" Ryder asked. He had seen him acting weird as soon as they left the building.

"I feel someone is watching us," Preston said, still looking around.

Valarie and Ryder looked at each other, hearing his words. They could never neglect anything of this sort if it was said by Preston. His sixth sense was incredibly strong. He could accurately sense if there was any danger lurking around. He had the senses of a bloodhound. Not only this he had amazing abilities to find clues. So, it was one of the reasons for Valarie to put him in the group although he was inexperienced.

Preston walked forward, while his eyes were roaming everywhere. He pulled out his gun and walked behind the huge row of trees opposite the building. Valarie and Ryder followed him with their hands on their gun.

At that moment, they saw two figures jumping off the trees and scuttling away. Ryder and Preston ran behind them and overtook them within seconds.

The two men were the same people who belonged to the Vipers gang. They had come to get more information on the people who arrested David Peters. They had just taken their position in front of the building when they were caught. They tried to fight, but they were easily overpowered by the trio.

"Take them to the investigation room," Valarie ordered.

The two men were dragged mercilessly by Ryder and Preston. Valarie turned around to see if anybody else was keeping an eye on them. When she found that the area was clear, she retraced her steps towards the building.

"Tell me, what are you doing here?" Ryder questioned the two men while Valarie and Preston watched all that was happening inside the room through the transparent glass,

"Can't we just walk around in this area? I didn't know walking was a crime." One of the men sassed.

"Ohh sarcasm." Ryder punched the man in the face.

"I am going to ask again. What are you doing here? Why did you run away as soon as you saw us?"

The men only laughed at his question, yet not a word was spoken by them. This continued for almost twenty minutes. Valarie couldn't take it anymore. She went inside the room. The men looked at her once she entered in. Seeing the woman standing in front of them, their gaze was filled with lust.

"I didn't know such a hot woman was working here. Maybe I would have applied for a position here too if I had known." The man, who had spoken before, said again stressing on the word 'working'.

Valarie ignored their comments and took a thorough look at them. She saw something on their arms, though it was hidden behind their full-sleeved shirts and her eyes were fixed at that position. Seeing the woman's gaze lingering on their right arms, the men pulled back their arms and they lost their smile. At any cost, nobody was to know that they belonged to the Vipers.

Looking at their suspicious behavior, Valarie pulled one of the man's arms. However, the man resisted. Preston, who had followed Valarie inside the room, held back the man. Ryder had to hold the other man as he had got agitated as soon as Valarie had held his companion's arm.

Valarie pushed the sleeve back and looked at the tattoo of the viper.

"They belong to the Vipers," Preston said.

Before the trio could react, the two men had gulped down something and they started to choke. Within two seconds, the two men were dead.

Ryder took a look at their face. "It's cyanide pill."

"They are following the Code of Omerta," Preston said holding one's of the men's jaw in his hand.

Code of Omerta was the code of silence which many mafia gangs followed to prohibit their members from betraying them. The penalty for disobeying was death. That, however, did not end there, family members of the traitor were also punished by death. The men had clearly chosen the easiest way to die.

Valarie sighed. She knew who the Vipers were. They were the deadliest mafia gang in the country. Not only the police, even the Intelligence hadn't managed to track them down. They were getting all the bad things done behind the scenes. But this time, they were surely unlucky to be have been caught by her team.

"Why were these men keeping a watch on us?" Preston said when they had left the investigation room.

"I don't know. Maybe they were looking out for someone." Ryder shrugged.

"Who?" Preston asked, looking at Valarie who was deep in thought.

"I know who they were looking for," Valarie said, staring right in the front.

"Who?" Both the men asked at the same time.

"They were looking for Ryder and me."

"But why?" Ryder was taken aback.

"Don't you think it's a little weird that right after David was caught, we are being observed?"

"You mean..." Ryder started.

"I think the Vipers are also somewhere involved with the virus."

"So what do we do now?" Preston queried, thrilled with the new discovery.

Valarie smiled at Preston whose eyes were sparkling like a little kid. "Now we have to find out who the leader of Vipers is and as far as I know he is the man we are looking for."