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Noxumbra Files

Case 3: Hydromancer

Part 1

By XP Author

Three weeks. It took him three weeks until he didn't pass out from touching someone and getting bombarded by their life story. In that time, he and Dr. Mind had made a few interesting discoveries about his power. Like his normal ability, it had to be direct touch, so wearing gloves or someone touching his shoulder while he wore a coat would not trigger it. He _could_get flashes from the same person, but the information downloaded into his brain was not always the same visions, though they did always conclude with the most recent events. Things like cut hair, shed fur, lost feathers, or old scales did not trigger anything, but blood always did. For now, they were calling it Hematic Psychometry. Mr. Mind theorized that other bodily fluids likely would as well, but thankfully did not force a test of this particular theory, much to Tag's relief.

He found that his 'cooldown' period was around 7 hours. But only for the more vivid flashes. His object-related ones had a cooldown of around 5 minutes before he could get another vision, but after the more detailed visions of someone's lifetime, even the object-related ones would not occur for at least another 3 hours. Though with training and practice, both psychics were sure he could start to narrow those periods down.

Lastly, after he had been knocked on his ass enough times by them that he built up a resistance, Tag accidentally discovered he could somewhat control where in the person's lifetime he could focus. It took an incredible amount of willpower... or just being exceedingly annoyed at having seen the unicorn in magic research sitting in front of a computer for the 8th time, he could skip to the most recent section and get it over with. This helped to mitigate the migraine-inducing level of information he was forced to experience, at the cost of losing access to any reasons the person he was experiencing had for their actions. It was not perfect, though, and he might focus on some innocuous moment and learn nothing of value as a result. It also left him feeling even more drained from the effort.

There were other side effects of spending nearly two months in total training like this. First was that he had to accept being at least contracted by Noxumbra so they could pay him. He wasn't exactly able to take any jobs while he was fighting constant headaches and learning far too much about the members' personal lives, and he did still need to pay rent. He also still needed to pay his assistant, Christa. He had also told the panda exactly what was happening, much to his mother's chagrin, but he was not going to keep secrets from his closest... and possibly only real friend. Plus she would ask too many questions about him not taking jobs but having the money, so it was just easier.

Another side effect was learning so much about the other members. He got nuggets of information about whoever was willing to let him. From the unicorn in research, to the phoenix in the lab, the minotaur that ran security, the goat wizard head chef, and a half dozen others. Oddly, the only person he seemed not able to get visions for was Ginny. Or he did, but there was nothing there, only seeing a void of black before being kicked back to reality. It was like something was blocking him. Ginny said it was probably because she had been dead for so long, a statement that still unsettled him, even after having spent months around the bouncy rat and her concerning dark sense of humor.

During his time, he also had the chance to talk with his mother a few more times. While he was still not quite ready to forgive her, he did at least hear her out now that he had seen her history... some of it, anyway. He refused to let her touch him again, if for no other reason than he had no wish to see his own conception and birth another time. He had a begrudging respect for her dedication as director of this supernatural policing organization.

After months of training, passing out, and near-constant headaches, he was finally ready to actually accept a job from them. And it was just in time. He was summoned into the director's office for a briefing. He sat across from her, the older jerboa leaning against her desk with a stern look. "So, we've got a new case for you. It's stumped our usual agents. Your new control of your abilities should help."

He tilted his head. "How so?"

She frowned. "There have been some rather... disturbing murders cropping up, all with a very distinct method. The victims have all been..." She hesitated. "...it was described as 'if something had ripped its way out of their bodies.' Apparently making quite the mess."

He winced. "Eh... not sure I want to take that job." Before she could do more than frown, he held his hand up. "No, I'll take it. If someone... or some thing is murdering people in such a gruesome way, then it needs to be found and stopped." He shifted in his seat. "Any clues as to what it could be?"

She shook her head. "No. That's the odd part. The teams found no remains of something birthing itself out of them, no slime residue, and no other cuts or signs of attack. The species of the victims have all been different, too. The only consistency is that they were all female, around their mid to late 20s, and that the crime scenes were... unusually humid."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Okay..." He was not sure how that was relevant, but a pattern was a pattern.

She shrugged and continued. "The latest victim was discovered just this morning. A young raccoon, Lilian Silverstein, age 27. I'd like you to get to the scene and see what you can find." He nodded, but saw she had something else to say. "I'm also going to be assigning you a partner..."

"A partner? I don't really work with one anymore..."

"Yes, well. You will be while you're working for us." She motioned to him. "You're only on contract with Noxumbra right now, so we need to have an agent with you that does work for us. Plus, you are not exactly a..." She licked her lips as she thought of how best to word it. "...type for fighting? The threats we deal with can be exceedingly violent if cornered, as you saw with the werewolf."

He chuckled. "Yeah. Saw that in the visions from a few of the agents. That makes sense. So who will be joining me?" He was not sure why he asked. He already knew the answer.

"That would be me, tall boy!" He sighed as he heard the voice he had expected to hear. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Ginny walking in, a huge smile on her face that was at least slightly friendly looking.

"Since she seems to be somewhat immune to triggering your visions, she is the perfect person to follow you." Beatrice smiled. "She's also one of the most capable hand-to-hand fighters we have. You'll be as safe as you can be with her." Somehow he doubted that statement. Something about the rat made his fur stand on end, like prey sensing a predator. And he was definitely not the predator in this relationship.

The rat turned her toothy grin at him, and he got that feeling in full. "Happy to be working with ya more officially this time! So! Shall we go find us a killer? Been itching for a good hunt!" If nothing else, this was going to be an interesting turn for his career... provided he survived long enough to get paid.

* * *

"This the place?" Tag looked at the house he and his new partner stood in front of. Despite being in the nice part of town, the closest thing the city had to a suburb, the house was pretty nondescript. About as generic and cookie-cutter as these suburban homes tended to be. One story, two bed / one bath, mostly living room, and a small but respectable lawn. The only thing missing was a white picket fence to complete the look. Almost identical to the one on either side, even down to the same shade of blue exterior.

Ginny shrugged, nodding at the numbers on the house beside the door. "20102. This is the place." Since the nature of the crime was something that got Noxumbra's attention, there were no police lines or tape around the place. No cops in the driveway. Nothing that would indicate that there was anything suspicious going on. Well, other than the periodic string of unusual suspects. Such as themselves.

The jerboa shrugged right back. "Alright. Let's go in and see this crime scene. Supposedly, they're a real mess, so brace yourself for that."

Ginny giggled as she followed him to the door. "Aww, you're worried about me. How sweet of you. But don't worry. I'm sure I've done worse than what we'll see in there." What worried him was he didn't doubt her for a second. The more time he spent around the black rat, the more he suspected the only reason she wasn't going on a constant killing spree was because it was boring to her after doing it for so long. He really needed to ask his mother if they had some kind of control over her to keep her so... docile.

Tag grunted as they stepped through the door. The scent of blood was incredibly strong once they were within the house itself. Blood and other things he wished he didn't recognize. He shook his head a little. "You okay?" He blinked, looking at his partner.

"Huh?"

She gave him a look of concern that seemed... actually genuine? "You look a little more pale than usual." She smirked, her sarcastic nature back. "And here I thought I was the one that had to brace themselves."

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just a headache. Didn't each much of a lunch. Figured it would be best not to have a full stomach to lose if I get a particularly... nasty vision."

"Ah! There you two are!" A voice called out. The two turned to look at the owner, a shockingly short avian with a very long, thin beak. He looked up at the two. "You the psychic team HQ sent over?"

Tag nodded. "I'm the psychic. She's my..."

"Bodyguard!" Ginny interjected, all too gleefully.

"...Chaperon." He didn't need to look to know she frowned at him. "I'm Tag. This is Ginny."

The avian fluttered his wings at an alarming rate. "Ah! Y-yeah, pretty much everyone in NU knows about her. At least within Alta Ferro." NU? Oh. Noxumbra. Right. "Anyway, I'm investigator Simon. Pleased to meetcha. I'd shake your hand, but I wouldn't want you hurting your back bending over so far. Especially as tall as YOU are. Haha!" Tag just tilted his head, but before he could say anything, Simon continued. "Ha... ah, sorry. Tiny person humor. Ah, fairy hummingbird, by the way." He motioned at the tall man. "Saw the confused look. New to the company?" Before Tag could answer, he was again cut off. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Anyway, crime scene is in the bedroom. Just past the kitchen, first door on the right. The one on the left is a home office. Doesn't look like our vic used it much, though. Just be careful going in there. It's kind of a mess."

"Thank you." Tag was surprised he could get a word in edgewise once Simon started talking. Lived up to the hummingbird stereotype. He stepped past the man carefully, then went to the bedroom. The directions really weren't necessary. The smell of blood alone was enough. Once they got there, he just sighed. "Well. I'll say this. It's definitely not a normal killer."

Ginny tilted her head. "Yeah... kinda sloppy."

"Kinda?" Laying on the bed was what was left of the raccoon. She lay naked, though that would not really make much difference. Her body looked to have been ripped open from the inside. Blood, guts, viscera, and bits of bone were splashed all around the room, including on the ceiling. Her whole front was gaped open, from just under her neck, down to her hips, leaving her spine, ribs, and pelvis exposed. He looked up at the ceiling, seeing the splatter of blood and gore. "It's like she exploded."

The rat peaked a little closer. "Yeah, kinda. Like a big old, blood-filled water balloon." She giggled. "Maybe that's why it's so humid in here." She was right. Just like he had been told, it was way more muggy in the room than it should be, even for a fresh corpse being left out like this. The whole house was like that, in fact. Ginny nudged him. "Well. Get to doing your thing, Mr. Vision."

"Please don't call me that. I really don't want that nickname to stick." He took a deep breath, much as he hated filling his nostrils and lungs with the scents and tastes in the air. He reached out and touched some of the splashed blood, and... nothing. "Huh." He touched another bit. Still nothing. He brushed a finger against her leg. "The hell?"

"What? Did ya get something odd?"

He shook his head. "No. I mean, yes, it's odd, in that I'm not getting... anything." He touched the bed. Still nothing.

She put her hands on her hips. "Did you go and break yourself?"

"No! At least, I hope not..." His career as a professional psychic for the company would be pathetically short if that were the case. "It's strange, though. Nothing from her, but that just means she's not magical or anything like that. But nothing from the bed, either." He touched the pillow under her head. "Nope..." He gingerly moved around the room, touching everything from the lamp to the light switch to the curtains. Nothing was giving him any flicker of a vision. "That's really weird. Someone was clearly exploded in here, and I'm getting no lingering psychic imprint..."

"Maybe there's something blocking you?"

He shook his head. "No. Mr. Mind was pretty clear that psychic blocking was kind of a myth. A strong conscious mind could block being read, but an inanimate object or a dead body can't block anything." He grunted, rubbing his temple. "It's just making my headache worse is all it's do-" He stopped, looking around. "Headache..."

Ginny tilted her head. "What? If you're looking for some migraine pills, maybe ones covered in bits of girl guts isn't the best idea."

He shook his head. "No, that's not it." He held up one finger. "Since I walked into this house, I got a headache. It's only gotten worse as we got closer." He continued to look around as he spoke, though now he was looking at the floor. "What's the one odd thing we were told about these cases?"

"Uh... that all the girls were exploded from the inside?"

He blinked. "Okay, yes. Maybe I shouldn't have said odd. But it stands out." He waved his hand in the air. "The humidity. All the crime scenes were unusually humid. So if I can find... ah HA!"

She sighed. "Enough with the TV drama bullshit, please. Just tell me what you found."

He pointed to a bowl on the floor. "A pool of water. Specifically one that isn't mostly blood."

Her look was dubious at best. "Water?" Her tone matched.

He reached out. "Look. It's the best idea I've got right now, okay? So just shut up and let me do my-" He stopped the moment his fingers touched the water. His world went white, and he was no longer himself as the vision took over.

* * *

He was water. He had never been water before, so this was a unique experience. Both moving and still at the same time, and surrounded by pressure. Crushing pressure. He wanted to burst forth, to be free and expand. He was in the pipes, though he had no way of knowing which one. Maybe all of them. He felt himself extended far beyond just his tiny little cramped tube. Suddenly, the pressure was released. He was able to move. To expand. He rushed out through the pipes, falling, striking a tub. So it was the bathroom.

Before the drain could claim him, a force he had no explanation for gripped him. It pulled him up, manipulating him in ways water should not be. He floated in the air, but not as mist, still as a liquid. He was dragged by the force through the air, compelled to move down a hallway. Sound vibrated through him in odd ways. Sounds he knew all too well from visions of the past. Moaning. Loud and lustful moaning. There was a gasp, a cry, then he was pressed against something. Flesh.

As if it wasn't strange enough being water, he now felt himself being crushed again. He was forced inside the flesh, through more than one orifice. The pressure returned as more and more water was forced inside the flesh. He filled organs, yet more was added. The flesh resisted, quivering, clenching, but it could not compete with his pressure. Something ripped, then more things, yet more was forced inside. There was too much. All the water that was through the pipes, crushed together, pressing outwards, wanting to escape again, to expand.

The prison of flesh could not withstand it. As so much was added, the desire to escape won the battle. Flesh tore with force, and he was flung in every direction. He splashed against the ceiling, the walls, the floor, the raccoon's exploded corpse, and the fox as she cried out in orgasmic bliss. This was the first he was aware of a fox being there, and he made a mental note to try and remember every detail he could as he splashed against her naked body.

Another force gripped him, yanked him away from... everything. His whole existence vibrated oddly. He was no longer even liquid, being shaken apart by the force until he could hold no form anymore. He was the air. It was overwhelming. He felt everything in the house at once. Too much to even process. His being went white hot. Then darkness.

* * *

Tag gasped deeply as he was again within his own familiar body. He stumbled back several steps, only for something hard to press against his back. He flinched, for a moment forgetting what a solid touch felt like, only to realize it was Ginny's hand, keeping him from tripping over his own feet. "Whoa... you okay there, big guy?"

He nodded, his head still misty... foggy... as he came back to himself. "Yeah. Sorry... was... a new experience." He groaned, shaking his head, though it did nothing to clear it. "I've never been water before. Or steam. Not a fun experience." And it wasn't the only new experience of the day.

The rat kept her hand on his back until he looked a little more steady. "Okay." He caught her concerned look, only for it to suddenly shift to her usual bubbly smile. "So! Did ya learn anything useful?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. A few things. First off, how she died. You weren't too far off with the water-balloon comment. She was filled with water from all ends until her body simply burst. Though I'm not sure how the water was forced in. It wasn't from a hose or something. It felt more like it was being... controlled somehow."

"Hydromancy?" He gave her a confused look. "Water magic." She explained. "Most magic users specialize in something specific. The most common are fire, alteration, healing, and..." She trailed off.

He tilted his head. "And water?"

The rat shook her head, unable to hide a look of discomfort. "Necromancy."

He nodded slowly. "Ah." He did not question more, understanding her discomfort on the subject. He had learned somewhat what a revenant was during his time training. In the broadest terms, a reanimated corpse, similar to a zombie, but with full control and self-awareness. Made by souls so filled with hate and malice at the time of death, they came back seeking revenge on those that wronged them. While not brought back by necromancy itself, they were highly susceptible to being influenced by it. Supposedly, after getting their revenge, they would 'die' again, the sated soul leaving the body once more. Though if she was as old as she claimed, he couldn't imagine anyone who wronged her was still around to get revenge on. He wondered if her continued existence was due to necromancy.

Ginny cleared her throat, her bubbling mask covering her emotions once more. "Anyway! Hydromancy is kind of rare as a specialty. Usually most water-based magic is related to ice. It's a lot easier to control for mages."

He nodded again. "Right. Speaking of, I saw... or... felt... our mage in question. She was here in the room at the time of..." he motioned to the body. "... bursting... and all that splattered all over her. A fox, about five and a half feet tall, slightly heavy set, can't say how old but can't be too old. By the moaning happening before, I'd guess around a similar age to our victim here." He glanced at the rat. "Ring any bells for known mages?"

She shook her head. "Nope, but we can see if it matches anyone in the database later. Anything else?"

He hesitated. "Ah... Very well endowed." He motioned to his chest, as if cupping invisible breasts. "Judging by the consistency... definitely real."

The rat tilted her head. "Do I want to know how you can judge that so easily?"

He smirked. "When you've been enough shirts, bras, and bedsheets as I have, you learn to know the difference between real and fake tits pretty easily."

She just stared at him for a long moment, then burst out laughing. "Man. I'm so glad they made me your partner! You've GOT to tell me more about that sometime!" Tag couldn't help but smile at her laughter.

* * *

He stood uncomfortably as he waited. It wasn't that he disliked being in the magical department, or even that he didn't like being around the woman who was looking up all the known magic users that fit the description he gave. It was more because she was the most attractive thing he had ever been around. Which made sense, considering she was a succubus. The tall woman was lightly toned, covered in short, blue fur, and very curvy in all the most noticeable ways. She also had absolutely nothing against showing it all off, wearing little more than strips of cloth that barely qualified as a string bikini. Apparently, getting her to even wear that much had been a task for the previous head of Noxumbra.

She gave him a smile, and it took every bit of self-control he had to keep from leaping across the desk and giving in to his urges. Even if he knew she would love that. He cleared his throat, keeping his mind on task. "So, uh... did you find any results?"

The woman nodded. "Oh yes. They're just getting printed off now. Should only be a few moments." She tilted her head. "Enough time for a little fun, if you want. Though if you're in a hurry, I can be qui- ACK!" She flinched as someone smacked the back of her head with a wad of paper.

"Behave." The gryphon that ran most of research stepped around the frowning succubus, holding out the papers. "Here you go, Victor. Sorry about Milixotana. She still hasn't learned how to control herself around others."

The succubus grunted. "I am controlling myself. But look at him! He's all tense! I just wanted to help relieve some of that- AH!" She flinched as the half-avian swatted her again, this time with a wing.

Tag just smiled awkwardly at the two. "Ah... i-it's alright, Dahla." He looked at the small batch of papers in his hand. It was a list of names. A lot of names. "This... is a lot of people..."

The gryphon nodded. "Yes, well, you would be surprised how unhelpful 'looks to be in their early 20's' helps. Most magic users are quite long-lived and slow-aged, so they could be 20 or 200 and look the same." She motioned in a general direction. "Take the director, for example." He nodded. It was true that his mother did not look much older than 30, despite being over two centuries. He had wondered about that. "Best of luck to you."

He nodded, turning to the door. "Thank you, Dahla. And you, too, Millie."

The succubus grinned wide. "Any time, handsome. If you ever need help again, stop on by. Even if it's just some personal h- AH! Stop hitting me!" He chuckled as he walked out of the room, feeling much calmer once he was out of the sex demon's aura.

"So! Find anything!?" He cried out in surprise as Ginny was right up close to him, not having seen her in the halls. "What?" She glanced at the door as it closed. "Oh. Millie." She gave him a mischievous grin. "Got a bit hot and bothered in there?"

He sighed. "That is none of your business. But yes, I did get what I was looking for." He held out the papers.

"Alright. I'll drop it... for now." She took the sheets. "This... is a lot of people." She flipped through the pages, seeing name after name after name. "Some of these are listed as living in other countries..."

"People travel." He took the sheets back. "Just because they live somewhere else doesn't mean they stay there all the time."

She nodded. "Yeah... okay. So. What now?"

"Now I go and do my job as a PI."

She gasped, giggling and bouncing giddily. "Oh! Are we going to go kicking in doors and interrogating people!?"

He just stared at her. "What? No!" He tapped her forehead with a finger, getting a squeak in return. "That's only in the movies. No, it's mostly me sitting at my computer looking things up, or calling around for information. If I DO have to go find things out in person, it's just watching from afar with a high-zoom camera."

The rat's excitement faded, leaving her looking like a deflated balloon. "Oh... that sounds... really boring."

He nodded. "It is. Which is why I'll be doing it, and not you." He stepped around her. "You go... I don't know what you do in your spare time, but go do that. I'll call in if I find anything that helps narrow down our focus." He gave her a wave over his shoulder. "Don't wait up. It'll take a while." He just hoped he could actually cross a few names off the list of potential suspects.

* * *

He was able to cross off nearly every name on his list. Though it had taken almost a week of digging through records, calling in favors, or straight-up lying about his credentials to get the information he wanted. He was easily able to knock off most of the foreign suspects, especially as he was able to get in contact with a Noxumbra branch in Europe to verify that several were very dead. In fact, he was able to cross off more than a few for that reason. By the end of the week, he had managed to narrow it down to four names.

First was Susana Ray Taffmann, age 124. While she was a magic user, she seemed to like to focus on potions, but also experiment with new magic. She had not been seen in almost 30 years, after having wandered off into the woods and vanishing. Something he was informed was not unusual for mages to do. She was not known to be violent, but she did not have the best reputation, either. She was known to not care much about morals when experimenting with spells. While there was no evidence of her testing on people, it was not hard to imagine her crossing that line.

Next was Vivian Yincore, age 73. Her whereabouts were also unknown, but there were rumors of her being in Alta Ferro as recently as last month. Though she had a penchant for fire spells, he was told that it's not uncommon for magic users to try and learn spells that could counter their own. Especially useful, as she was wanted for arson. He could see someone with a love of fire wanting to cover up their crimes by learning how to control water.

Next on the list was Cara Rayl, age 32. A native to Alta Ferro. He was able to find out quite a bit about her, such as the fact she had been going to AFU for a degree in journalism, but had dropped out. He found the address to where she had apparently been living for the last ten or so years. Somewhere he'd need to check out later. As for her magic, not much was known, other than some rumors about her supposed witchcraft being seen by neighbors.

Lastly, there was Yolanda "Igna" Inshen, age 28... maybe. Everything about her read as a violent crackpot. She claimed, supposedly, to be part phoenix... somehow, and that she had been reborn over 800 times, dating back to pre-Roman times. She was known to be quite violent. She was eventually arrested and convicted of several counts of murder, including drowning someone in a pool, crushing another under a stone display piece, and even beating someone to death with her bare hands. Despite the notable lack of magic in these, he left her on the list for a few reasons. For one, all the victims were supposedly her girlfriend at the time. For two, she had escaped from police custody a few years ago, and there were some rumored sightings of her in Alta Ferro. She was still the loosest of maybes on his list.

He was just typing up the last of his personal notes on his four prospective suspects and reached over to pick up his mug of fresh coffee. He was halfway through sipping at it before he realized it even was a fresh cup. With a smile, he looked up. "Thanks, Chris. You're an angel as always."

The panda chuckled as she moved to her desk. "Didn't you say you met an actual angel at that underground place?" He knew what she meant. For sake of security, they had decided to not say the name Noxumbra in the office. Unlikely as it was, there was always a chance of someone listening. Risk of his job.

Tag shrugged. "Yeah, I supposed I did. Just means I have a better reference to compare you to, and the compliment stands."

She let out a boisterous laugh. "HA! Smooth talking as ever, Tag. If I was 20 years younger, I'd make something of that." She let out a hum as she poked her keyboard to wake up her computer. "Do keep up the compliments, though." She chuckled as she brought up her files. "Wouldn't mind a raise, too."

He shrugged again. "If this shadow thing works out, then you'll get one. Might be case-by-case contract work, but the pay they promised isn't exactly pennies."

"Yeah. Provided the check doesn't bounce." Before he could assure her otherwise, the phone on her desk rang. "Saved by the bell." She picked it up. "Touch Investigations. How may I hel-" She blinked as she was cut off. "That depends on who is asking." Tag looked at her questioningly, only growing more curious as he saw the usually calm panda scowl. "Now you listen here, missy! I am NOT Mr. Takdt's secretary, I am his business partner! Now tell me who you are or I'm hanging up!" He could not help but smirk. She was normally very calm and slow to anger, but whoever was on the phone seemed to have found one of her few buttons to push... which gave him an idea of just who it was.

"Fine. Hold please!" She jabbed the button on the phone hard, as if whoever was on the line could feel it. "Some people." She looked at him. "There's a very irritable woman on the phone for you. Says she's too important to talk to, and I'm quoting, your secretary. Said her name's G. Just the letter. Like some kinda secret agent from a bad movie." She scoffed. "You want me to ghost her?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "No. That's most likely my liaison from the shadow group. Probably checking up on me since I haven't checked in with my findings yet." He nodded to her. "Go ahead and transfer her over."

Christa huffed. "If you insist. But you could tell her to be more polite next time."

He reached out as she transferred the call to his phone. "I'll do my best with that." He doubted he could convince Ginny of anything. Even the higher-ups at the HQ had trouble controlling the rat. Picking up the phone, he poked the button to take her off hold. "This is Victor Takdt. How can I h-"

"Tag!? The hell, man! Don't you own a cellphone!" Ginny's voice shouted over the phone at him. "This is the 21st century, isn't it!?"

He scoffed. "I'll let the irony of someone as old as you claim to be asking me that go for now. I do, but it's off. I've been doing my job. What do you need?"

"There's another body. Same MO." she paused. "That's the right term, right?" She continued without waiting for an answer. "Anyway, I texted you the details, so turn your damn cell on and meet me there pronto. It's pretty close to your office."

"Wait, what-" he heard the click, then just looked at his phone. "Patience is not one of her virtues."

Christa scoffed. "Neither is politeness." She nodded at him. "You going to be running off again? You've been up for the last 23 hours"

He was already getting out of his seat. "Yeah. Another body was found." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. As soon as he turned it on, it started vibrating and making beeps, alerting him of fifteen texts and seven missed calls, four of them from Ginny. The other three were probably spam. "Apparently it's not far from here."

The panda nodded. "Well, that does explain the urgency a little." She motioned to his desk. "At least finish your coffee first."

Tag chuckled, picking up the mug. "Good call. Wouldn't survive without this."

She scoffed again, though this time more good-natured. "You wouldn't survive without me." He wouldn't disagree.

* * *