Chapter Seven

When Nick arrived at the crime scene, Hank was kind enough to have a cup of coffee waiting for him. Nick thanked him for the coffee and said, "What do we got?"

Hank, a black man, tall and broad. He could easily be mistaken for a linebacker. He said, "It looks like a robbery. Victim was stabbed and his wallet and phone were stolen. Wu is attempting to ID the vic through fingerprints."

It wasn't common for Nick to be called to a murder scene in the city. Normally, he found himself in out of the way places. But the body in this case was simply in an alleyway in downtown Portland. Surrounded by various restaurants and boutiques, Nick asked, "Any witnesses?"

Hank shook his head, "None that have come forward yet." He pointed to the crowd that had begun to form on the other side of the crime scene tape. "Just a bunch of lookie-loos so far as I can tell. But we have our people asking around about it."

Nick had a bad habit of not putting on his gloves, instead he'd hold them in his hand and push things around with the latex as needed. He crouched down next to the body and began examining it as best he could. The stab wound to the heart was difficult to miss, "Whoever did this wasn't messing around. It's directly to the heart. The medical examiner will have to confirm but it looks dead center to me."

Sergeant Wu stepped over to them, "So far I've been unable to get a name. His prints don't appear to be in the system."

Hank nodded, "Well, let's have our people go over the alley as best they can. See if they can find a murder weapon and look for any kind of surveillance."

At the word, 'surveillance' Nick began looking around himself for any obvious signs of security cameras in the area. But they were surrounded by dumpsters and garbage cans. Not exactly the kind of place to keep cameras focused on. Perhaps they could find something from the main streets.

Nick added, "Go ahead and have the body taken to the ME."

As he stood up, by happenstance, he glanced into the crowd that had gathered at the crime scene tape and saw what he thought was a familiar face. As the familiarity registered, he turned again back to the crowd. Was it his imagination or did he really see the man Trubel had warned him about only an hour ago? He began walking towards the crowd but it was a busy street in general. Cars and pedestrians were still going about their daily business. Through the crowd he thought he saw him once more crossing the busy intersection, but he still couldn't be sure. Nick began walking faster, trying to shorten the distance between them.

Hank began to call out, "Nick! Nick, did you see something?"

Nick stopped, he still couldn't be certain he'd seen anything at all. So he called back, "I don't know. I thought maybe..." But then he saw him. It was a reflection in the brown tinted glass of a bar. He was staring directly at Nick through the reflection while using the crowds of pedestrians and vehicles as cover. Clever, Nick could easily not have noticed. Nick yelled to Hank, "Call for backup, now!" and began sprinting to the bar, but the traffic was too much. Cars, buses, delivery trucks, all speeding past and Nick couldn't get a clear route. By the time he arrived, the nameless man was gone. Next to where Nick surmised he must have been standing was a garbage can. It was filled near to the top and he could see that between all the disposed of paper plates, bags and cups, he could make out what he thought was a wallet.

Hank caught up with Nick, followed by Wu. Drew Wu, short and slender and of Filipino descent. He'd been a sergeant since before Nick found out he was a Grimm. He had also been kept in the dark about Nick being a Grimm longer than anyone in Nick's inner circle. He used to be a Kehrseite, someone who wasn't Wesen, but after being attacked by a Blutbad with a rare Lycanthrope disease, Wu contracted a disorder that no one had ever seen before. Now, when he becomes threatened he morphs into a primal version of himself. Almost neanderthal like. Over time, he's managed to get some control over it. But, in extreme circumstances it can completely take over.

When Wu caught his breath he said, "Um, Nick, care to fill us in on what you saw? Should I be putting out an APB or something?"

Nick shook his head. "Cancel the call for backup." He saw that Hank was actually wearing his gloves and asked that he grab the wallet out of the trash.

Hank shook his head in disgust, "You know, you really need to start wearing yours so I don't always have to be the one reaching into garbage cans."

Hank retrieved the wallet easily and opened it to find that if there had been any money in it before, it was certainly gone now. But they were able to retrieve his ID. "Zachary Gray. He lives about twenty or so minutes from here. Wu, have someone go through the rest of the can, see if they can find his cell phone."

Nick was listening, but he was also looking around the area to see if he could spot the nameless man watching him again. He motioned for Hank and Wu to step closer. As he spoke softly to them, he continued to scan his surroundings, checking reflections and even rooftops. "The guy I saw, I don't have a name, I only have a face and I was told by Trubel that he's extremely dangerous. At first, I wasn't sure, but I saw his reflection on the glass," he pointed to the bar behind him, "and I got a pretty good look and I'm pretty sure it was him. He was watching me. Given that the wallet was in the trash can, we have to assume he took it and that he killed our vic. If the phone isn't in the garbage we have to assume that he's still in possession of it. Once we have a number we can try to track it.

Wu asked softly, "Is he Wesen?"

Nick shook his head quickly, barely perceptively, "I don't know. All I know is that he's allegedly killed a lot of people. We need to get to the vic's address now and see if someone can get us his cell number and try to track that phone. If someone finds the phone, text me."

  ***

Later, Hank and Nick pulled up to the house that was listed as Zachary Gray's home. Before walking up to the front door, they looked around the property and saw no obvious signs anyone was there. Nick rang the doorbell and they waited. A few moments later a young woman, very slender, white, taller than average with very long, straight, dark brown hair answered the door. Nick assumed she couldn't be any older than twenty. She asked, "Can I help you?"

Hank wore his detective badge on a chain around his neck, he held it up so she could see it more clearly and said, "I'm Detective Griffin, this is Detective Burkhardt. We need to ask you a few questions." He didn't give her a chance to respond before asking, "Do you know Zachary Gray?"

"Yes, why? Is he in trouble?"

Nick cut-in, "Could you tell us your name and how you know him?"

"I'm Sam... sorry... Samantha... Gray. He's my brother."

Hank continued, "I'm sorry, Sam, Zachary was killed today in what looks like a mugging downtown."

There were many aspects of being a detective that were unpleasant, but telling someone a loved one had been murdered is one of the worst responsibilities. Nick and Hank couldn't afford to get bogged down into the emotional drama of it though. It can be draining psychologically, but there was also a time factor to consider. The sooner they got answers to their questions, the sooner they might be able to catch a killer.

They allowed a moment to pass for the news to sink in as Samantha realized they were being serious. She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes began to fill with tears. Then, she Woged.

Nick recognized her as a Scharfblicke. An owl-like Wesen. The feathers that appeared on her face blended seamlessly into the hair on her head. Nick waited for the inevitable, for her to see that he was a Grimm. He didn't take any pleasure from it, but it did sometimes have the advantage of moving a conversation along.

Once she saw that Nick was a Grimm, Samantha stopped crying and took a step a back, her eyes wide with fear, she glanced at Hank and it was clear to Nick that she was trying to decide what to do. So, Nick took the initiative. He caught the door before it closed and said, "Samantha, please remain calm. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a Grimm, but I'm also a cop and I want to catch whoever killed your brother."

Samantha glanced at Hank again. Nick saw that she was struggling with deciding what she could and couldn't say in front of Hank. Nick took a step forward and said, "It's okay. Hank is a... Hank is a... Hank, I'm drawing a blank here. What's the phrase for you knowing what you know?"

Hank, who couldn't see what Nick was seeing and had been caught up in what was unfolding before him, had to think for a moment himself, then quickly said, "Kehrseite-Schlich-Kennen" The term Wesen use for non-Wesen who know about Wesen.

Samantha's face returned to its typical non-owl like appearance, though she continued to look fearful.

Nick looked around behind him at the street. At the moment, there weren't any passing cars, but he said, "I'm feeling a little exposed out here. Can we come inside and talk?"

Samantha opened the door a bit wider, as she walked stiffly further into the house, it was clear to both Hank and Nick that she was struggling with a fight-or-flight response. Nick assumed her adrenaline must be pumping pretty hard, he could see her hands shaking. He did his best to continue speaking in a calm manner and to not make any movements that would frighten her.

Nick looked at Hank and without saying a word, Hank understood that this was going to be a Wesen and Grimm interaction, so Nick was going to have to take lead. Nick suggested they all sit down. She pointed them to her couch and asked if she could get them anything, but Nick was quick to decline. Primarily because he could see in her eyes that she was still frightened and he didn't want her to run off while pretending to get a glass of water. She sat down in a chair opposite the couch.

Her voice shook as she spoke, "What can I do to help?"

Normally, Nick would try to power through and ask whatever questions he had, but in this case, Nick could see that Samantha was more frightened than just about any Wesen he'd ever encountered, simply because he's a Grimm. He was impressed that she was at least attempting to remain calm, though it was clear in her voice, her eyes and her shaking leg, that, inside, she was anything but calm. Instead of asking questions, he chose to first calm her down as best he could.

"Samantha," He said, "I am so sorry to have frightened you the way I have. I had no idea that you're a Scharfblicke... am I pronouncing that correctly?" He knew the correct pronunciation but mispronounced it intentionally to see if she'd correct him and she did. He could see that she was beginning to calm a bit. At least her leg wasn't shaking as hard and fast as it once was. "So, let's start with the obvious stuff first. Can you think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt your brother?"

At the mention of her brother, Nick could see that for just a moment, because of her fear of Nick, she had actually forgotten that her brother had been killed and her eyes began to well up with tears and she was becoming too emotional to speak.

Nick turned to Hank, "Do me a favor, go outside and call Trubel, ask her to text the photo to you. She'll know what you're talking about. I forgot to have her send it to me."

As Hank stepped out, Nick slid off the couch, and while remaining crouched, he took Samantha's hand in his. She flinched at first but was able to open her eyes enough to look at Nick. He said, "I'm going to do whatever I can to find the person who did this."

She nodded and took her hand back. At first, Nick thought she was pulling away, but instead, she leaned forward and put her arms around his neck and hugged him. Not exactly the detached professionalism that was expected of a homicide detective. Nick saw no way to get around it and just let it happen.

Samantha said, "It's so hard hearing that my brother was killed while also having what I've been taught is the scariest and most deadly type of person holding my hand, trying to console me. My emotions don't know which direction to go. Thank you for being patient." She released Nick from her hug and sat up. The occasional tear would stream down her cheeks. Nick saw she wasn't quite ready to answer questions, because first, she had some of her own. "So, is there like a Wesen division of the police department?"

As Nick sat back onto the couch his first instinct was to say no, then realized that technically, he, Hank, Wu and his boss Captain Renard were all informed about Wesen and worked a lot of the Wesen related cases. He said, "Not officially. There's only a handful in the department that I'm aware of that know. My partner being one of them."

Samantha began wiping at her face, Nick saw a nearby box of tissues and got up to retrieve them for her. The simple act of him handing her a tissue box caused her to shake her head, "I was taught to run if I ever saw a Grimm. To run as far and as fast as I possibly can. Our parents hammered that into us from when we were in diapers. They said a Grimm had killed my grandparents on my mother's side."

She blew her nose.

When she was done, Nick said, "I"m sorry to hear that. I currently know one other Grimm and she wouldn't hurt you either."

Samantha asked, "Currently?"

Nick nodded, "Yeah, my mother and my aunt. They both have passed away."

Surprisingly, Samantha was now the one expressing sympathy to him for having lost family, "I'm so sorry. Were they like you? I mean, would they also not have hurt me?"

Nick briefly raised an eyebrow in thought. "I'm pretty sure my aunt wouldn't have. There was a time I wouldn't have been sure about my mother. When she found out I was friends with a Blutbad and a Fuchsbau, well..."

Samantha interrupted, "You're friends with a Blutbad and a Fuchsbau?!"

Nick chuckled a bit, "Yes, and when they first met my mom, let's just say it didn't go well, but she adapted and came to accept them."

Through her grief, Samantha smiled and said, "This is the craziest stuff I've ever heard. A Grimm friends with a Blutbad and a Fuchsbau."

Nick was happy to see that Samantha had stopped crying, though her face was still wet and her eyes were still red. So, he added, "As a matter of fact, the Blutbad is going to be the best man at my wedding."

"And let me guess... You're marrying a..." Her eyes began darting around as she tried to come up with the most ridiculous Wesen she could think of.

Nick answered for her, "A Hexenbiest."

Samantha's expression of skeptical wonder changed to that of just skeptical as she said, "Okay, now I know you're lying."

Nick saw he was losing her. She actually looked a little angry, "Other than inviting you to the wedding I don't know how to convince you, but yes, I'm marrying a Hexenbiest."

Samantha sniffed loudly and blew her nose again. She looked at the ceiling as a few more tears fell from her eyes. She wiped them away and said, "You actually had me going there for a minute. Don't get me wrong, I get why you're saying this stuff. You're trying to calm me down. So I'm not mad."

Nick interrupted, "If Hank can confirm it when he comes back inside, will you be convinced by that?"

She nodded and they both sat in silence for another minute before Hank reentered the room. He said, "Check your phone, you should have the picture now."

Before Nick could respond, Samantha asked, "Hank, who, and what, is Mr. Grimm here marrying?"

Hank didn't understand the line of questioning at first and asked, "What? You mean Adalind?"

Samantha replied, "Right. Is she Wesen?"

Hank sat down on the couch and said, "Oh yeah. She's Wesen, alright."

"Well, what kind?" Samantha insisted.

Hank looked at Nick, "Did I miss something important? What's going on?"

Nick said, "Go ahead and tell her, Hank, she doesn't believe me."

Hank looked at Samantha and said, "She's a Hexenbiest."

Samantha, still skeptical said, "And the best man, what's he?"

"A Blutbad. Is there a reason this all came up?" Hank looked at Nick and tilted his hand in the air as if to say, 'What's going on here?'

At that moment, Nick suddenly had a thought and his facial expression became deadly serious. He looked at Samantha, staring unblinkingly into her eyes and asked, "You're not one of those Wesen who hates mixed marriages are you?"

Samantha who had finally calmed down, started becoming nervous again. "No! God, no. I believe people should love who they love."

The tension in Nick's eyes vanished, he smiled and as he leaned back in his seat, he said, "Good."

Hank spoke, but so softly Samantha could barely hear him, "Two good friends of ours were nearly killed by a group of those fanatics. That was a scary day."

Samantha had been hearing their words, but was only just understanding the depth of their meaning and asked, "You guys really protect Wesen?"

Nick nodded but also shrugged his shoulders at the same time, "Wesen are people. We protect people, most often though, from other people, including other Wesen. Do me a favor, please don't go around telling people about me. It hasn't gone well in the past."

Samantha nodded and said, "Sure."

Nick said, "First, I need you tell us your brother's cell phone number. It's possible the killer is in possession of your brother's phone. And, like I was asking before, can you think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt your brother?"

Samantha provided the cell number, and Nick texted it to Wu, who would begin a search for the phone. Nick and Hank asked a lot of standard questions about Samantha and her brother, Zachary. But, other than his place of employment, which was back downtown, she wasn't aware of anything that could be thought of as helpful.

Nick showed Samantha the picture of the unnamed man on his phone and asked if she had seen him, but she hadn't. "I believe he may have been involved, but I don't know anything for sure yet. If you see him, do not approach him. You run, you call me or call 911." He handed her a business card with his name and number on it. "Do you have anyone you can stay with for a few days?"

"I have some friends, yeah. Why?"

Nick attempted to give Samantha a reassuring look, "I have no reason to believe that the killer will come here, but he did have access to this address, same as we did, through your brother's wallet. Just to be safe, you should be somewhere else for a little while. Don't pack a lot of stuff, just grab a few things and go. You had mentioned your parents earlier, where are they?"

She wiped at her face and said, "Cancer. About five years apart. They left us this house."

Nick reached out one more time, and he and Samantha hugged again before he left. As he was walking down the front stairs, he turned to Hank and said, "Don't you dare tell a soul about that."

Hank replied, "Your secret is safe with me. You big softy." He grinned mischievously.

  ***

Shortly thereafter, Hank and Nick arrived back downtown and parked in front of the boutique that Zachary Gray had worked at. When they stepped inside, they found a store filled with various merchandise, t-shirts, coffee mugs, post cards. A lot of touristy memorabilia. They walked up to the counter, flashed their badges and asked to speak with whoever was in charge.

A moment later, a haggard older man stepped out to greet them. As unkempt as his gray hair and beard was, it was off-putting at how cheerful he was when he greeted them, smiling as though he was trying to sell them a used car. "I'm the owner, Lucas Bello, what I can do for you gentlemen?"

They introduced themselves and provided the news that Zachary had been murdered just a few blocks away. Lucas' smile faded. "That's terrible. His sister must be beside herself with grief. I only met her a few times, but those two were very close."

Nick asked, "How long had Zachary worked here?"

Lucas looked up and thought for a moment and said, "I want to say it was somewhere between three and four years. I have records if you need me to verify."

Hank shook his head, "That likely shouldn't be necessary, we're just trying to get an understanding of his background. Had he been acting strangely at all recently? Mention anyone that might have been hostile towards him?"

Lucas, shook his head, "No, not at all. This wasn't his dream job, but he liked working here. He was always very friendly with the people who came in. I can't think of any reason why anyone would want to hurt him. Didn't you say you believed it was a mugging?"

Nick replied, "We have to rule out every possibility." Nick showed Lucas his phone with the picture of the nameless man on the screen. "Does this man look familiar to you at all?"

Lucas had to fish his reading glasses out of his shirt pocket and after he placed them on, he took a better look at the phone, "No, can't say I recognize him. But hundreds of people are in and out of here every day."

Nick took his phone back and said, "Well, he's a person of interest. If you see him, please notify us immediately." He handed Lucas a business card. "Can you tell us what time yesterday Zachary left?"

Lucas reached under the counter and pulled out a clipboard with layers of paper attached, "According to the schedule he was done here at nine last night. I wasn't here though, I worked the day shift."

Hank pointed at a security camera and asked, "Would we be able to get the footage from last night?"

Without the owner's consent, they'd need a warrant so Nick and Hank were relieved when Lucas said he'd have it prepared.

Nick said, "Excellent. We'll have Sergeant Wu stop by and pick it up later. Is there anyone here that worked with Zachary last night?"

Lucas double checked his clipboard, "No. See, everyone here typically works in the day time. The evening crew won't be here for another few hours. But I can get you their names and numbers if that helps."

Hank nodded, "That would be a huge help. We'll have Wu pick that up with the security footage."

As they were leaving Nick called Wu, put him on speaker and updated him on the investigation. Then asked, "Any news on the cell phone?"

Wu replied, "Yes, but you're not gonna like it. We tracked the phone to a different trash can three blocks away."

Hank responded, "We need to pull any surveillance we can between the murder scene and the two trash cans."

Wu in his usual sardonic tone said, "I thought you'd say that. I have people on it."

Nick hung up and looked at Hank, "This investigation is going nowhere until we have some video footage to look at. I'm heading home for now. Call me when we have something."

  ***

Nick was feeling a bit grimy since having picked up the trailer and moving all those boxes, so he wanted to shower. He wasn't surprised when he got home and found the loft empty. Adalind was working and she often took Kelly with her and this week was Sean Renard's week with Diana. He took his shirt off and was about to step into the bathroom when his motion sensor alarm went off. He walked to his security monitor and began toggling through different video feeds when he found what he was looking for.

A car had pulled up to the front of his loft garage door. A person stepped out of the driver's side door and looked directly into the camera so Nick could see that it was Eve. He pushed a button and the garage door opened. Eve sat back down in her car and drove it into the garage.

Nick put his shirt back on and waited for Eve to make her way up. When she stepped out of the freight elevator Nick spoke first, "I assume you're here on business."

Eve was wearing all black. A black shirt with a black coat over top of it. Eve had a selection of wigs she could wear and she was wearing a black wig as well. Nick felt the all black ensemble gave Eve an imposing figure. Especially challenging for someone as slender as she was.

Eve nodded as she looked around the loft to see if anything had changed since she'd last been there. The only things that could be considered new were the children's toys. Kelly had been an infant since she was last there. Now he'd become a toddler and the toys on the ground reflected that.

She pivoted and looked at Nick, "Trubel told you about the man we're after." It wasn't a question, but she was seeking confirmation.

Nick didn't deny it and simply asked, "What can you tell me about him?"

At first she didn't say anything. Then she asked if she could have a glass of water. Nick got her a bottle of water out of his refrigerator. She drank half of it before she looked at him, but then she turned her back to him and said, "He's unlike anything I've ever seen before. Cold. Calculating. Powerful. And, Nick, he's fast. So fast. You know how people bring up the cliche of playing Cat and Mouse. Well, that's what he does, but the whole time he has you believing that you're the Cat. I've been after him for months and he's always a few steps ahead. But sometimes he lingers behind a little and gives the impression that maybe he's tripped up, stayed in one place too long. You think he's finally made a mistake, but no. He's just having fun. I've seen so many people dead at his hands. I wasn't the only one tracking him. I'm just the last one left standing." Since becoming Eve, she'd been able to keep her emotions in check in a near robotic way. But when she lay dying after a violent confrontation, Nick healed her with a stick. The stick was later found out to be a broken off piece of a magical Staff. When it healed her, it did something to her mind. She still identified as Eve, but the compartmentalization of her mind had been compromised. It became more difficult to keep her emotions separated.

Nick could see in her eyes that she was struggling, so he took a few steps towards her and put his hand on her shoulder. She pulled away and turned back to look at him. "You have to stay out of this, Nick. He's too dangerous."

"I can't do that. We believe he may have killed someone in Portland. I think I saw him today at a crime scene"

She put her hand to her forehead and said more to herself than to Nick, "Of course he's killed someone else." Then to Nick she said, "He'll likely kill more people before he leaves Portland and goes who knows where."

Nick sat on a stool and said, "What is he? What makes him so dangerous?"

Eve, almost shouting, replied, "He's a Grimm, Nick! But he's not like you and Trubel. The way he moves, it's like he knows what you're going to do before you do."

Nick thought back to when he first saw his mother after he thought she'd been dead for years. At first, he didn't recognize her and attempted to attack her. But she dodged and blocked every punch he threw her way.

He stood up from the stool, his eyes widened as the realization set in, he said, "So, you're telling me there's a psycho Grimm here in Portland and what, is killing people... killing Wesen, indiscriminately?"

Eve nodded. "We think so. We can't always verify the people he's killing are Wesen. Maybe they're not every time."

Nick tilted his head up and asked, "Have you fought him?"

Eve turned away again, "He's almost killed me... twice. All told, I've spent about three weeks healing up from my encounters with him. If I hadn't been a Hexenbiest, I don't think I'd have survived at all. There were four of us against just him and he tore through us like we were amateurs in less than five minutes. My only advantage right now is that I'm pretty sure he thinks he killed me last time."

Nick began processing all the information Trubel had told him earlier that morning and his expression changed to that of puzzlement, "Why all the secrecy from HW?" His facial expression changed again to that of disappointment, "He worked for HW during the whole Black Claw thing didn't he?"

Eve snorted a brief laugh and said, "I knew you'd see between the lines. You're not a detective for nothing."

"So, what... HW is embarrassed that someone in their organization has gone rogue? They want to take him down before they get any more egg on their face? Is that it? Or, and I really hope for their sake I'm wrong about this, they don't care all that much, because it's only Wesen he's killing?"

Eve did her best to speak with confidence, "I'm fairly certain it's the first one. HW is doing what they can to track him down, but he knows their methods. He's trained with a lot of them. Fought side by side with a lot of them. We can't be certain, but we think he wants you next, Nick."

"Me? I get that I'm a Grimm too, but is there something beyond the similarity that he would want to come after me?"

Eve turned to Nick and stepped toward him, "Nick, I know and you know that you had a team of people working with you to take down Black Claw in Portland. But, Nick, all of that information is need-to-know at HW. To a lot of people, you single-handedly defended a major city. You got all the credit for killing Conrad Bonaparte. HW management thinks he's impressed by you."

Nick took his phone out of his pocket and said, "Give me his name, I'm putting out an APB on him."

Eve shook her head and said, "You can't do that. If he finds out the police in the region are looking for him he'll simply vanish and possibly kill several cops in the process."

Nick put his phone back in his pocket, "Fine, but tell me his name. I can at least tell the people in our inner circle." Nick used his fingers to draw a circle in the air, but he did it out of the frustration of his limitations.

Eve waited a moment for Nick to get a hold of his temper and said, "According to HW, the name he gave was Charles Spencer. He was supposedly raised in Alabama. So far as we know, he has no living relatives. I have some files that say he'd mentioned to people that his parents had been killed by Wesen. Not sure which kind though. I also have a psychological profile drawn up by HW that, in summary, says not to believe anything he says."

Eve drank the rest of her water, sat down the empty bottle and said, "After HW took down Black Claw, they started cutting loose a lot of operatives. He was one of them. So far as we can tell he's been traveling from random place to random place killing any Wesen he happens to come across and takes whatever cash they have on them so he can support himself. He's been trained by HW to avoid surveillance and to not leave evidence. He's a ghost. He knows how the game is played and worst of all, he enjoys it."

An idea came to Nick, "Sounds like what we need to do is change the rules."

He took his phone out of his pocket and as he was about to dial, it rang. He answered and from what he was being told, Eve could see he was both disappointed and angry. When he hung up, he said, "They found another body. I have to get to the crime scene. But first, I need you to do something while I'm out."