Chapter 1 - Knightfall

She seems young... early twenties? Clear skin, no notable marks. The apartment beyond is mostly dark, a bit of light coming from the other side of the room beyond the doorway.

"Um... I'm not really supposed to let anyone in. Oh! It's nothing illegal. It's... proprietary. Can you... can you keep a secret? I mean, are you allowed to?" The woman seems flustered, possibly even nervous. "Ok, um... yeah, hold on."

With that, she shuts the door and you hear the chain slide. She opens the door, and steps back to turn an overhead light on. She lets Vlax in and then shuts the door, putting the chain back in place.

The apartment has heavy blackout curtains over the windows. It's sparsely furnished, but what is there certainly seems to be quality. She offers Vlax a seat (one of the two in the living room). The coffee table has Popular Mechanics magazines haphazardly stacked up on it. The whole room is clean... it feels like it's edging towards sterile.

What really catches the eye is a large work table. Some sort of project is spread out over it, in pieces of course. Looks electronic, but... larger scale than radios or TVs.

"I, um... I'm working on computers. I really think they're going to change our lives! The idea is to have them in peoples' homes... think of the potential! But... no one is supposed to know, so I guess I'm trusting your discretion." When she mentions computers, she seems to come alive. For just a brief second, Vlax can feel her excitement, and her smile is genuine.

"So, um... what's going on?"

She has been a tenant a little over a decade now.
She didn't know Mr. Schmidt that well, and never saw him outside of his role as landlord. He was always fair, mentioning the early days when her rent payments were late sometimes. She keeps to herself. The last time she saw him was when she paid rent at the beginning of the month.

She doesn't have to work at night, but she's always been a night owl. She feels more awake, more alert. The curtains are so she can sleep during the day. She offers up a sheepish smile and admits her recliner is ridiculously comfortable, and she sleeps in it about half the time.

"I assumed he wrote down the exact date when everyone paid their rent? Does he not?"

"Oh! Um... yeah, that..." She shrugs. "The building pays the power bill, but... I use more power than the other apartments. It was an issue, until we agreed I could make a monthly payment to cover the extra cost. Which is what I've done."

When the Detective asks for ID she cocks her head for a moment then snaps her fingers. "Nighstand! I'll be right back!" She hops up and dashes off towards the bedroom, coming back about thirty seconds later with her state driver's license.

As Vlax jots down the information, he checks her DOB and realizes she's 34 years old. Even though she doesn't look a day over 23.

Kimberly's eyes go wide when Vlax tells her the super was murdered. She drops into her chair and claps a hand to her mouth and looks like she's about to cry when she hears about the little girl.

"No, I'm sorry, that description doesn't sound familiar to me. Is... is that who you think killed Mr. Schmidt? I... I can keep an eye out. I mean, I don't go out often but when I do, I..." She pulls her knees to her chest and buries her face.

Her response seems honest.

Coffee is always on at the precinct, thankfully.

One call to missing persons reveals no new cases in the past three days, and none in over a month that involved a girl under 15.

The coroner's assistant doesn't have much to report on the super, outside of the body having no blood -- much the same as the little girl. That said, Edward Schmidt had all of his skin, and indeed all of his body parts. No trophies were taken. (And yes, at the moment the coroner believes the strips of flesh taken from the girl were trophies... it may seem unlikely, but he has nothing else to explain the behavior.)

As Vlax drinks another cup of coffee, he ponders why the litle girl they found wasn't reported as missing... and realizes that the easiest answer is that she was simply never reported.

He also realizes he was technically off hours ago, and has less than eight hours before his shift starts again. He's faced with something of a dilema, and only he can make the decision -- stick it out, or get some rest and keep at it tomorrow.

Vlax is able to get most of a night of sleep, although it certainly was fitful. Still, his head is clear and he's (more or less) ready for the day.

At his desk, there's a few things waiting for him. Dr. Williams called and confirmed the tox screen for the girl came back clean. He also briefly explains how the girl and the super are almost identical, at least as far as autopsies go. Lastly, the coroner mentions he truly doesn't have an answer for this -- he's never seen anything like it, can't even find anything comparable in texts.

Vlax also got a call in the wee hours of the night, and the caller left a message.
Check my mailbox.

- Kim

Lastly, there is a padded manilla envelope on his desk, sealed with no writing at all. It seems perfectly centered.