Page 3 of Hellhounds and Homicides

“I don’t know the scent was strong and yet scattered and frayed. It was impossible to read but its presence wasunmistakable.” Dumas continued to watch Detective Dalhousie from a distance as he spoke to everyone gathering information that could lead him to the killer.

As a human, Dalhousie would not last ten seconds with this killer, so it was paramount that the Pittsburgh police did not get too close to whatever it was that was happening in the lowlands. The Detective was focused and diligent. If necessary, there may need to be a vampire intervention taking him off the case and replacing him with someone less skilled at their job.

"Humans cannot discover the cause of this death. Even if they don't admit it, they will have the knowledge, and that is unacceptable." They remained on the edges of the scene for the rest of the night, and come morning after the bulk of the police presence had left, they returned to the apartment together this time. Dumas wanted Reis' impression of the space.

"Wow, this is messed up." Reis enunciated each word clearly as he moved around the room, careful not to disturb anything. "It's powerful whatever it is, and there is magic involved." He looked up at Dumas. They left the apartment and then gained entrance to the apartments belonging to the missing people, and they found the same. The essence was weaker, but it was the same mix of supernatural and magic.

“They must not have had time to dispose of the last body. Someone or something interrupted them.” Dumas made the assumption, and Reis nodded.

"I heard one of the humans out front tell the detective that the man who had been killed, Jason Turner, had been invited to dinner and didn't show, so his friend went to check on him." Reis then added. "He said there was a strange odor of sulfur in the apartment that dissipated quickly." That made thesituation so much worse. Dumas knew the implications of sulfur, and Reis responded to his sudden expression of dread.

“What does it mean?” He asked.

"Influences of the underworld. The magic they have tapped is immoral and depraved demonic, which should have been obvious to me by the act of violence committed." Dumas indicated it was time to leave as he could hear people waking and moving about the building. He and Reis would report their findings to Josef, who would not be happy with the news of more evil on the rise in Pittsburgh.

Rowen spent most of the night investigating the murder in the lowlands. It was far from routine and pointed towards a paranormal killer. That fact was made all the clearer by Master Hadden’s men showing up at the crime scene.

One was a vampire, but he could not determine the species of the other although he gave an aura of shifter. He wasn’t a wolf or bear, but he was big and menacing. He was dressed like all Hadden men very refined, cut and formidable everything about him and his companion spoke of dominance.

They hadn’t seen through Rowen’s cloaking enchantment so that was a positive for now anyway but if he were around them for any sustained period of time the large one would probably see through him. There was just something about the big man that spoke of potency and intension. He could probably dance around the vampire for a while, but the shifter was another story.

"So, what did you find?" His Sergeant met him at his desk as soon as he arrived. He didn't care that Rowen had worked all night and had just walked in; he wanted a report, and hewanted it now. Rowen gave him a quick rundown of what he encountered at the tenement building and what the people in the area had to say.

"Cause of death?" He asked, and Rowen had to tell him and tried to do it without making it sound like a crazed vampire had killed the man. It was difficult, but his Sergeant was human and needed practical, believable answers to his questions.

"His body was drained of all fluids." He said and left it there. The coroner would put it into more detail, and with that thought in mind, he wondered how the Hadden Coven was going to deal with it. Such a report could be damaging, but that was the Coven’s problem. His problem was solving the case without betraying the paranormal world.

"Any obvious marks on the body?" The Sergeant asked him.

“None that I could see, sir.”

"Keep me informed and complete your report before you go home. We need to find this killer and put him away before the city starts to react. Three missing and one dead, all in the same building is not good."

"Yes, sir." He thought about the odd scents present in the apartment and the acrid smell of sulfur that the man who found him had described. Rowen's people were well-versed in the forces of magic and also in the effects of evil. The odor of sulfur was disturbing in that it pointed to a demonic influence. The magic was basic, but the overtone was severe and based on the diabolic.

Dumas and Reis met with Josef and explained, as best they could, what was going on in the lowlands. He did notlook happy at all and asked Dumas to continue to shadow the Detective. "The presence of the supernatural is going to be hard to contain, but it must be done." He made himself very clear. "This must stop immediately; whoever is behind these deaths needs to be found. The other missing people, probably deceased, need to be located and dealt with before the police find them."

He paused and looked at both Dumas and Reis with eyes that bored to the bone. “Desperate time equals desperate measures you have permission to do whatever you have to do in order to resolve this without exposure.”

“Yes, sir.” Dumas responded as did Reis.

"Reis, join Micheal's team and bring them up to speed on the murders. Find the killer or killers." Josef stated and then turned to Dumas.

“Like I said, stick close to Det. Dalhousie and the police presence in the area. Grant and Iker will keep us informed of their progress.” Dumas nodded his agreement and understanding.

“I’ll inform the Master of the situation in the lowlands and if he has further orders, I will let you know.” Before dismissing them he drove home once more that they needed to bring an end to this threat, and they needed to keep the human authorities out of it. “Now go get some rest and something to eat you both have long days ahead of you.”

Dumas fully understood the seriousness of this incident and swore to do everything in his power to destroy this threat. Reis made the same pledge and added that he interfered with the phones of people present last evening. “They will have nothing to post today other than their own oral renderings of the scene.”

“Good job Reis.” Dumas patted him on the back.

"I also cleared the memories of those who had stood too close to the Detective and may have overheard information and those who had given statements. I know the Master has rules around touching the minds of others, but in this instance, I was pretty sure clearing was the way to go." Reis was a thorough man, and Dumas appreciated him very much. "I don't know if they were a threat, but I didn't want to take the chance."

“Follow your instincts on this one. It’s better to do more than not enough.” Dumas offered.

“That’s what I figured. But honestly, I tried to get at the Detective's mind too just to slow him down a little, but I wasn't successful." That was interesting.

“You couldn’t clear his mind, or you couldn’t even touch his mind?” Dumas asked for clarity.

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