Chamberlain Butts looked at the scene of the crime. He was pretty sure it was the scene of the crime. Blood covered the body, and the concrete flooring under the bridge. Some of it had hit the brick walls about eye height.

The detective turned in a circle. The blood was confined under the bridge. He noted technicians trying to pick up a trail. Apparently the murderer was able to translate without leaving a trail.

That made things a little harder.

“Can I look at the body?,” Butts asked the assistant medical examiner on the scene.

“Go ahead,” said the examiner. “We've already marked everything we've found.”

“Anything useful?,” asked Butts.

“Not really,” said the examiner. “I can tell you the cause of death looks like fifty stab wounds to the chest with a knife. When I get him back to the slab, I'll be able to tell you more.”

“I just need to take a second, and then you'll be able to take him away,” said Butts. He tried to avoid the blood as he knelt over the body. “Fifty stab wounds?”

“At least,” said the examiner. “I'll be able to give you a better count.”

“Thanks,” said Butts.

The detective raised his hand. He pulled energy out of the aether. It wrote on the air in a complicated sign. The drawing spun in place. The blood danced in front of him. He grimaced at the lack of information he acquired.

He should have several signs to point him in the right direction. The only thing he had done was rule out magic as the weapon. The blade had been sharp but had done nothing to the body other than puncture it.

And the murderer had not left an aura exchange at the scene. That was unusual in Butts's experience. Usually he could find a bit to show him a small part of the killer. That hadn't happened this time.

The killer had kept his feelings under wraps while he was doing the deed.

Butts had only seen that in professionals and serial killers. He didn't like the fact that he might be looking at a spree when the city was faced with a major alert.

It meant he would be looking for this guy alone while everyone else was doing the alert. He might be pulled off his case to help the department with the alert which could cost him important time.

He needed to trace the dead man's movements before he wound up under the bridge.

“Go ahead and take him,” said Butts. “I'll come by and check the findings with you in a few hours.”

“Better make it tomorrow,” said the examiner. “We have a couple of accidentals and an exploder from this morning.”

“All right,” said Butts. “Anything you can find will be a help. I didn't get anything with a search.”

“All right,” said the examiner. He waved at a couple of helpers to get started wrapping the body up and loading it up for shipping.

Butts walked over to the crime scene techs. He hoped they had something he could use. He didn't want to think about having a no hoper.

“I don't have much for you, Cam,” said Max Kinder. He had barely met the height requirement, was thin as a ferret, and had cat's eyes. “We did a run down, but nothing popped out. I have his identity and a history search, but they don't point to anything as far as I could see.”

“Let me have them,” said Butts. “I need something to start with better than no exchange, and no suspects.”

Max handed over a transparent folder. The identity card said the victim was Nuke Kline from Modelin upstate. Three years in the army, fifteen years at home in Modelin. No wants, no warrants, no charges in his life.

Why had he come to the big city? How had he met his murderer? Why had an emotionless killer stabbed him in what could be called a frenzy?

Did he know the killer, and that's why he had to die?

He needed to call up there and see if the local police knew anything.

He handed the folder back. Was this the first killing like this? He couldn't remember another murder with a signature like he had seen. How did he proceed?

He decided he needed to call in and ask for permission to go up and talk to people in Modelin. He needed to know why Kline was in the city. Someone had to know something.

Then he could trace the line back to the city and hope to figure out where he had crossed paths with the killer.

The only problem with the approach was the time consumption. While he was trying to trace Kline, the killer might be picking someone else to axe.

If he got lucky, he might come across the trail fast enough to stop the killer from killing someone else.

“Send everything over to my desk, Max,” said Butts. “I'm going to see if I can get permission to talk to the next of kin if our dead guy has any.”

“I'll have to collate the findings, but I can tell you we didn't get anything,” said Max. “I haven't seen anything like it since I have been on the force.”

“I have, but the case was shared out with the Angelos,” said Butts. “The killer targeted petite brunettes for ritual sacrifices. Hurry Hamelin and I caught up with the guy while he was still working. Hurry caused his ritual to blow up on him.”

“This might be the same thing?,” said Max.

“I don't think so, but it has the dead feeling to the killing,” said Butts. “Hurry did something to reverse the trace. I'll have to ask him what he did.”

“He reversed the trace?,” said Max. “I've never heard of that.”

“I hadn't either,” said Butts. “Hurry loves that stuff. If he sees a spell, he's probably thought ten ways of using it in a way that it's not supposed to be used.”

“I can believe that,” said Max. “When you talk to him, tell him to send that over to me so I can use it.”

“Be glad to,” said Butts. “Let me see if I can get him. Hopefully going out of town won't be a big thing.”

Butts reached into the aether. He searched for the signal that Hamelin gave out. He touched it with his own.

“Go ahead, Cam,” said Hamelin.

“My victim is from out of town,” said Butts. “I'm going to have to go to his place and notify the next of kin.”

“Anything conclusive?,” asked the inspector.

“I don't have anything,” said Butts. “I'm looking at a no signature killing, Hurry. I'll need to check for additional victims if this wasn't the first.”

“What's the method?,” asked Hamelin.

“Fifty stab wounds,” said Butts. “The Medical Examiner's Office has the body.”

“Ouch,” said Hamelin. “Chase it. I can't spare anybody to help you. The city is on alert, and everyone else has cases that have to be cleared. As soon as I get someone free, I'll send them to help you.”

“Don't worry,” said Butts. “Modelin is a small dot in the middle of nowhere. How dangerous could it be?”

“You know better than to say anything like that,” said Hamelin.

“I got it, Hurry,” said Butts. “I'm pretty much thinking a woman did the crime. I just need to find one that hated the victim enough to stab him fifty times. How hard could that be?”

“What I am thinking is you find her and she stabs you fifty times,” said Hamelin.

“I'll leave a note with her name on it,” said Butts. “I'll call you when I know more that what I got now.”

“All right,” said Hamelin. He cut the connection.

Butts blinked away the aether. He looked around. He had a plan. Before he went to Modelin, he needed to make his check and pack a bag. If there was another victim out there, that would help him narrow the field.

“I have to head out of town, Max,” said Butts. “I'll look at the reports filed when I get settled in Modelin.”

“Be careful, Cam,” said Max. “If she did this to a stranger, imagine what she would do to you.”

“I'm a lot better trained than some guy who hadn't seen a bad guy in years,” said Butts. “See you around.”

Butts pulled his sword from the other space where he kept it. He sliced the air, slicing the aether with it. He stepped through to his apartment on the edge of the city. He reversed the stroke to close the rip.

When he got to Modelin, he would check the system to see what had come in from the techs, and the M.E. That would give him some evidence, but he doubted it would be conclusive enough to make an arrest.

He expected some backing for the idea that he was looking for a woman. It probably wouldn't be enough to make a picture of her since he didn't have a signature to affix to her.

If he could narrow things down with circumstantial evidence, a signature didn't matter. He could go to court with enough to exclude the rest of the world from committing the crime.

He packed his bag and put it on his couch. He only needed enough to get him through a few days without having to come home. If he needed more time than that, he would come home and do his laundry, and then go back up there to finish looking around.

He sat down at his home office. He touched his desk with his aura. A copy of his desktop at the office opened on the desk. He looked down at the program running in the wood. He asked for a search of people from Modelin stabbed to death.

How many could that be?

The computer gave him three. He blinked. He checked the scenes. Two were in southern California, the last in Texas. He ruled out the one in Texas. The victim had been stabbed once in a bar fight. The Rangers had picked the killer up before he could flee the state.

That left him the two downstate. Both victims had been stabbed in excess of forty times, both were from Modelin, No signatures, no evidence to point anywhere.

He needed to know what those investigators had done. Had anyone from their departments gone to Modelin? What did they have as evidence?

He had no doubt he was chasing the same person. What tied the three victims together? He decided to make inquiries of those other departments. He needed all the help he could get.

He made some calls. He didn't learn anything, but the primaries said they would send what they had found out to his desk at the office. He didn't expect anything better than that. He hoped he could do better with his investigation than they had with theirs.

He already thought he was a better investigator.

He picked his bag up and looked for the node for Modelin. He pulled his sword and cut his way to the outskirts of town. He needed a base first before he went to talk to the local department.

He was of two minds about talking to the locals. They were reasonable for background stuff, but how much did he need at the moment. What would they know about the victim being in the city? He doubted they knew anything about it.

Did they know anything about the other murders?

He decided that the best thing to do was check with the local newspaper. Had the other murders made the news this far north? The library might have old copies of the papers so he could look for connections.

He also needed to check the address to see if anyone was living with Kline. That person might give him something he could use.

He wondered if all three victims knew each other. If they did, it might give him a motive he could use to find the killer.

He decided to check their names against the local schools. Maybe they were in the same classes together.

He had a lot of things he could do to get started. He decided to hit the address of the deadman first before he tried to hook him to the other deaths. The other things were for when he needed more leads if he couldn't trace Kline leaving town.

Butts looked for motel signs where he could stay while he looked around. The city would reimburse him in six months, but that couldn't be helped. The bureaucrats controlled the way the money was spent.

He nodded when he saw a place overlooking the highway. It was close enough for him to use the road if he wanted to pretend he couldn't slash his way anywhere he wanted. He used his sword to cut his way across the distance. He put the sword away as he stepped inside the office.

“How's it going?,” said Butts. “Do you any rooms?”

“Sure do,” said the clerk. “The Bayside always has a room. How long will you be staying?”

“I don't know yet,” said Butts. “Put me down for three days.”

“All right,” said the clerk. “I need you to fill this out, and I will get you the key for room ten down at the end of the building.”

He handed over paperwork for renting the room on a clipboard. Butts took it and started filling it out.