The Storybook Killings: Tampa FL, February 2016

Characters involved: Maddie, Mabel & Seraphim Pinos, John Martin, & Dr. Lusiak

**Story**: Four high profile Murder cases were officially linked by police when a source leaked to to the Tampa Bay Times that crime scene evidence showed a common themes. While the authorities could not identify any connections between the victims, and indeed the bodies themselves were never found, in each case the crime scene in the victims home had a fatal amount of blood left behind that investigators were able to match to the missing victim.

The name in the Times piece came from a leaked bit of evidence: at each scene a book was found that had blood spatter on multiple pages inside, as though the murder took a prolonged time, and the book was open and being read all the while.

The first time any of the characters cross paths is the night after the third Murder. Special Agent Seraphim Pinos has taken an interest in the case and and met the local police on scene investigating. The third missing person/suspected death had made the morning news, but the detail of the books had not yet made it to makes it to the press. Agent Seraphim reviews the crime scene and observes the technicians examining the scene. A simple living room in a single person household, splatters of blood on nearly every wall and surface. A deep, still-wet pool of blood in front of one of the only 2 chairs in the room, with wet smears of blood like something being dragged away leading out the back of the house and a hardback book laying closed in front of the pool, caked in blood. She is there to see the book opened for the first time- she can't tell which one it it, but the pictures tell her it is one of the Whinnie the Pooh books.

Outside later, she sees officers working up and down the street door to door, asking neighbors if anything had stood out at the victim's house recently. But one of them stands out a bit: a woman on the tall side, in casual clothes at a neighbor's doorstep, talking to them. Her hair looked rather long for an off-duty cop, her clothes too casual for a detective. (Insert Maddie's description here). Agent Seraphim moves to speak with the woman, but they miss each other in the crowd. The agent leaves the crime scene making a phone call, reporting the situation to others...

But most of the characters meet 5 days later, 2 days after the book detail hit the press, at the home of the 4th victim.

Dr. Lusiak gets into the crime scene when he sees the initial crime scene techs are leaving and the scene in the living room is most unattended. The scene matches the prior crimes, though this is his first chance to see it himself.

He's looking through the room when the black SUV pulls up through the police cordon. Two women wearing windbreakers with FBI on the back get out. Agent (Kris) moves straight to the officers at the cordon, while agent Mabel Pinos quickly walks through the front door and comes into the room. Dr. Lusiak steps into a hall, listening around a corner, as she takes in the scene. After just a few moments she's muttering to herself, eyes darting around the room. He hears her describing what must have happened that night to a voice recorder, and she seems almost surprised when she describes 'something low and loping, too small to be a grown man' dragging itself from the spot. He catches just a glimpse of her from behind, and sees blood dripping from her ear.

Dr. Lusiak takes this as a sign to go, and slips quickly out the back door of the house- which leads to him practically tripping over Maddie. She had been examining the door's threshold, looking for and failing to find traces of ash or ectoplasm, when he suddenly toppled over her. The commotion between the two draws Agent Pinos out as well, who seems mainly confused, as she had thought she had the crime scene to herself.

Meanwhile, out in the street in front of the house, agent Seraphim stalks through the police officers, eyes scanning. No familiar faces in the crowd, but she does notice an unfamiliar man chatting with one of the crime scene technicians at a car just past the tape line. The technician seems to be packing his equipment away, and she spots the man handing over a coffee. She moves to approach from behind the stranger. Eavesdropping on John Martin and the haggard technician, she hears Martin talking about the book that was recovered, asking if the tech could remember which Agatha Christie it was.

**Interactions between characters**:

* Maddie halfheartedly, but honestly, explain that she is looking into the crime scene as a possible ritual killing, as she is somewhat of an expert in the area. If anyone presses her, she'll bow out, seeking to reenter the crime scene once vacated to look for more spiritual influence.
* Dr. Lusiak will wholeheartedly, but honestly, explain he has reason to believe that while human interference likely occurred, he believes the killings are caused by non human aggressors. He will attempt to stay out of the way, and out of sight, but wants to see if he can find samples out evidence to back his theories. He will also try to establish a non aggressive line of contact for collaboration with anyone who seems to be "in the know". He is particularly intrigued and eager to be acquainted with the agent (Pinos) who was bleeding from the ears and seemed to have intuitive knowledge of the crime scene. He offers her his services as a doctor as an excuse to gently pump her for information/a chance to get in on the action. He does not ignore the snooper (Maddie) as friends in low places (presumably) are just as useful. He does not press or make a nuisance of himself.
* Confused Pinos would ask for credentials. If none match, she would panic and tell them they need to go (looking back at the entrance). At the helpful sounding one (Maddie), she'd ask her to come back after x o'clock when everyone should be gone and they can work on an exchange of info. She does try to show them out since she only has a few minutes before the techs come back in (dabbing at ears and waving the doc off).

**Story**: Several hours later, near midnight, Seraphim and Mabel Pinos met with Maddie and Dr. Lusiak on the sidewalk a few houses away from the crime scene of the fourth murder. They shared what they had found, starting out cagey at first.

Maddie explained how the whole neighborhood was strangely barren of spirit activity, and that the only spirits she could contact spoke of something unnatural and alien happening in the house. Mabel confirmed her reconstruction of the crime; at least three people were present besides the victim. Splatter analysis showed that the victim was in place for half an hour minimum as they suffered repeated blunt force trauma and lacerations, and the three attackers left the home with some kind of animal. Seraphim told them the oddity of the neighbors' interviews - almost everyone on the block gave an identical account of getting tired and choosing to go to bed early, being asleep before 9pm, and hearing nothing through the night.

While they discussed this, Seraphim spotted John Martin once again. He was talking quietly with one of the uniform officers manning the police cordon, sharing some coffee. She came up to him, asked him what he was doing, and accused him of being a reporter. He revealed that he was investigating the killings and was interested in the book angle. In the conversation, he let slip that he was aware that each of the first three victims had been killed the night before their birthday (a fact that had not been in the news) and each worked in a construction field.

They agreed to share info discreetly- she confirmed that the fourth victim was an electrician, that it was his birthday, and shared what contracting service he worked for. With that, John cross referenced with records he'd already acquired, and found that there was a connection. All four victims worked for companies that had been contracted two years prior to perform renovations at Bell Channelside luxury apartments in downtown Tampa.

With that potential lead Seraphim, Mabel, and Maddie, left to investigate Bell Channelside for any clues or connections to the case, and Lusiak followed them secretly. The complex was made up of two rows of six story buildings joined to either side of a parking garage. When they came to the front entrance, they found the security guard passed out and unresponsive at the front desk. Mabel's instincts told her they would find what they were looking for at the top floor of the garage, and Seraphim told Maddie to stay back out of harms way. The agents called for backup and medical assist before rushing toward the garage.

When they got to the sixth level of the garage they stumbled upon a bizarre scene. The level was mostly empty of cars, and a rough archway of stone and wood had been constructed, and there was a hazy light coming through it. A green carpet was laid from the archway to a stone alter, with a row of torches on either side. There were three men standing at the alter, one on the side leading to the arch and two across from him. The two wore blue and grey robes, but otherwise looked normal enough.

The man facing them looked surreal- he wore a frock coat of glittering green, as though it was woven with emeralds. He was well over six feet tall, and appeared to have a rack of antlers that grew up through his long, silver hair. There was a cage on the ground beside the alter, and the creature within was grotesque - the size of a large dog, and tromped on four legs, but hairless and all muscle and sinew. Its head was misshapen and its maw massive, and it looked almost reptilian. The characters showed up just as the men were making a trade, man in green handing over what looked like a pearl the size of an orange in exchange for the creature in the cage.

Despite their attempts at stealth, the 'man' in green noticed their arrival almost instantly, and pointed them out to the men in robes. The FBI agents tried to maintain their composure, but the scene went to chaos quickly. Maddie dove out of the way, as the the other women moved forward. With guns drawn, Seraphim and Mabel tried to get the men to stand down. The 'man' in green retreated quickly, withdrawing back through the archway and disappearing into the light.

One of the men in robes made a gesture with his arm, and streams of flame filled the air around Seraphim and Mabel. The other started chanting and suddenly gravel was falling like hail around them. Mabel and Seraphim took cover behind one of the few cars, shooting from cover when they could. The warlocks had the agents pinned down with waves of fire, and every bullet fired at them seemed to ricochet off flying gravel.

In the chaos, Maddie saw the pearl lying on the alter and took a gamble to split the warlocks up. She bolted for the alter, took the pearl, and ran. Her instincts were right- the men weren't willing to lose the treasure, and one broke off from his chanting to chase her. He chased her to the edge of the building, but stopped stunned when she leapt off without so much as a pause. He was even more surprised when he got to the edge and looked down to see her getting up and running away. But he was most surprised when Lusiak, who had been tailing them the whole time, charged up behind him and knocked him over the edge.

With his protection gone, eventually one of the agents landed a shot on the other warlock that put him down. He bled out before reinforcements arrived, and the other who went off the roof went into a coma from his injuries. While the agents were securing the men, Dr. Lusiak disappeared, along with the cage and creature. In the day that followed, authorities investigated both men's homes and found trace evidence linking them to three of the four victims, allowing the FBI to close the grizzly case.