Disclaimer & Notices

Copyright: I own every last character.

Violence: Yes, there certainly will be.

Sex: There will be sexual content eventually. Also this is all slash.

Summary: The violence and crime has been steadily rising in the city. The citizens don't notice, but there are three people that do realize it. Devin's happy life is greatly altered by the violence. She later dedicates to making the people see the violence by using the best weapon she has – her camera. That same night, Devin meets an usual, dark hero that protected her. The masked hero remains quiet and moves through the shadows but strikes out against the crime. But not everybody is accepting of the dark hero, and Detective Logan has sworn to capture the vigilante. They each find a way to confront and speak out against the violence in a method they believe is just, but they don't expect the violence to shape a connection between them.

Started: Nov. 20, 2007

Series 3: Putting the Puzzle Together – Story #27

Ωmega the Black ωarrior

by Red Hope

Chapter 1

"Ms. Kaler." She received no response though from the woman, who was bent forward in the chair. "Ms. Kaler," she tried again.

Gradually Devin came out of her distant world at hearing her last name. She lifted her head and discovered a petite woman that stood in front of her. She then shifted her gaze to the man that stood next to her.

She studied Devin Kaler and couldn't imagine a woman more stricken in some time. She rarely felt uneasy, but tonight she did in front of this victim. "Ms. Kaler, I'm Detective Janis Logan." She held out her hand to the right. "This is my partner Detective Sean Conway."

Devin said nothing and merely stared at the detectives.

Detective Logan glanced up at her partner and gave him a faint look of signal.

Sean Conway understood easily after so many years of working beside Janis. He excused himself and wandered down the hospital's hallway.

Janis Logan took the empty seat beside Ms. Kaler. "I know right now isn't..." She wasn't sure how to finished her sentence. Her job was never easier and seemed harder every day.

Devin leaned forward some again and wiped her worn face with her hands. She tried to rid of her broken features, but it was hard. She licked her dry, cracked lips then turned her head to the detective. "You need to ask questions, I know." She searched the mercury blue eyes near her.

Janis Logan was slightly shorter than Devin Kaler, but she had broader shoulders and a stockier built. She also had rich auburn, shoulder length hair. She had thin lips and round cheeks. And her blue eyes reflected silver in the light's angle.

Devin leaned back in the chair and tried to remain in control of her emotions. She wouldn't break down here and not before complete strangers. She relied on the last of her strength to do this.

Janis Logan revealed a notepad and pen. She stayed focus on the victim and carefully started, "You'd told the police that you and your partner were walking down the road."

"Coming from the park," Devin agreed.

"The gunman approached you from behind," Janis suggested.

"Yes." Devin relied on her memories from earlier tonight. "The street was quieter than usual. I really didn't want to go that way, but Tammy and I always cut down that way because it's quicker to get home." She lowered her head and continued her story. "He came up behind us... had a gun pointed at us. He demanded we hand over any money."

Janis had jotted down a few notes. She peered up from it.

"We didn't have anything." Devin stared at her hands and knotted her fingers together. "He'd noticed Tammy's diamond ring. Tammy started to take it off, and I tried to stop her."

The detective refrained from cringing because she imagined that would have annoyed the gunman. "She gave it to him." She now reached into her jacket and pulled out a small, clear baggy. She held it out to Devin. "This ring?"

Devin gingerly took the bagged ring, and the sting returned behind her eyes. She felt the heirloom ring through the bag. "Yes."

Janis studied the evidence in Devin's hands. "It'll be returned to you once it's been processed."

Devin blinked back her tears then returned the evidence. She found it almost impossible to give it back to the detective. "I guess I aggravated him. He'd gone a few feet then turned and shot at us. Tammy pushed me aside, and she was hit."

Detective Logan had tucked away the evidence back in her jacket.

"I went to her... and..." Devin shook her head and stared down the hallway that the other detective had gone.

"You'd mention to the officers that there was a man that showed up...?"

Devin slowly rotated her head to the detective. A brief flash of the man's mask passed her. "Yes." She became befuddled. "I didn't notice him until he jumped over the hood of a parked car." She shook her head and explained, "The gunman was going to shoot me... he had the gun pointed at my head. Just before he fired, there was... something, I don't know what, but it ripped the gun from his hand. Then his gun was stuck in the building's side because of this... thing."

"Did you see what it was?"

"No," Devin confessed. "But I know he threw it."

"You mean the masked man?"

"Yes." Devin shifted in the hard chair some. "Once he got over the car's hood, the gunman backed away. He tried to run but the masked man threw something at him. I don't know what, but I remember hearing it then seeing the gunman fall to the ground."

Janis Logan had obviously been at the crime scene earlier. She decided to explain what had happened. "He'd thrown a meteor hammer at him. It wrapped around his throat, nearly choked him, and the hammer at the end struck him in the face."

Devin furrowed her eyebrows at the name of the weapon. "What is a meteor hammer?"

Detective Logan leaned slightly closer then quietly outlined the weapon. "It's an ancient weapon. It's either a rope, chain, or wire that has a steel ball at either end."

"This one had wire," Devin concluded. She watched the detective's nod, yet she questioned, "You said it's ancient?"

"A rather old weapon, yes." Janis Logan had also been mystified by the weapon around the gunman's neck. The only reason she knew its name was because her partner had an interest in ancient weapons. He'd recognized it right away and was surprised as Janis.

Devin filed away the weapon's name for later.

"After he stopped the gunman, what happened?" Janis watched Devin focus back on the memories.

"He came over to Tammy and I." Devin brushed back her short, messy hair. She slowly shook her head. "He tried to help... he'd pulled out some moist cloth and put it against Tammy' wound."

"Where is this cloth?" Janis had a spark of hope at the mention of this.

"I imagine thrown away," Devin replied. She actually couldn't remember where she'd seen it last because it was of little concern to her at the time.

The detective made a mental note that her and Sean needed to find that cloth. She rerouted the conversation back to the incident. "When did he run?"

"As soon as he heard the sirens," Devin answered. "He got up quickly, grabbed that strange weapon that held the gun to the building, and he jumped over the car. His motorcycle must have been left running because he got on it and disappeared before the police showed."

Janis slightly furrowed her eyebrows at a part of the story. "He jumped over the car? You mean the hood again?"

Devin tried to remain patient despite she wanted more than anything to be alone now. "No, he jumped over the roof of the car."

Detective Logan could tell that Ms. Kaler was being honest. She needed to still question other witnesses and see if they would corroborate her story. "Alright." She moved in the chair again. "Did you speak to him at all?"

"I didn't really have a conversation." Devin swept back her hair and sighed. "Just when he was getting ready to get up and take off, I grabbed him by the wrist. I asked him who he was."

Janis tiled her head and waited.

"He only said, 'Omega'." Devin bowed her head slightly. "Just Omega... then he raced off."

Janis instantly thought of the Greek letter, and she knew it was the last letter in the alphabet. "What about his mask? What did it look like?"

"It was very unusual," Devin replied. She easily recalled the mask just because it was so unique. "It was made of a silver metal, and it had holes for the eyes. The nose piece came out in a triangular shape. The bottom portion only covered down to his cheeks."

"You could see his jaw, mouth, and chin?" Janis saw the nod so then she asked, "What of the top part? Was it just plain across the forehead?"

"No." Devin lost the focus in her eyes. She went back to her mental picture. "It had three horns... but like a 'w' shape. The two outer horns were bent inward more so and the middle one was slightly shorter." She then recalled the symbol too. "There was a symbol on the center of the forehead too. It was similar to an 'o'."

Janis looked at her notepad, and she quickly drew what the victim made have seen. She then held the notepad out to Devin. "Did it look like this?"

"Yes, exactly." Devin considered it more carefully and murmured, "Omega."

The detective nodded and flipped to a clean page. "It's the capitol omega." She jotted down a few notes. "Did you see his eyes?"

"Blue," Devin insisted. "The brightest blue I've ever seen."

The detective peered up from her notepad and studied the victim. "Anything else?"

"I think he was wearing some kind of eyeliner." Devin shook her head. "Thick too so that it'd give him a darker appearance."

"His clothes were all black?"

"Yes." Devin slumped back in the chair. "I didn't get much of a look." She rubbed her face and felt her emotions start to win over her. "I.."

Janis Logan closed up her notepad. She sensed that the woman had enough for tonight. She pulled out her card and held it out to the victim. "Contact me if you recall anything else." She stood up but offered, "Do you need a ride home?"

Devin negatively moved her head. "Somebody is coming." She bit her lower lip then looked up at the detective. "Who... who was the man... that murdered Tammy?"

Detective Logan was silent for a moment then softly answered, "Ted Bearings." She slipped her hands into her jacket pockets. "I am sorry, Ms. Kaler. We'll be in touch soon." She turned on her heels and walked off. She didn't see Devin slump forward in the chair.

Devin covered her face with her hands. She'd left the business card in her lap. She couldn't fight her tears that surfaced finally. She kept her eyes shut tightly, but she couldn't block out the deep wound inside of her. All of her happiness, security, and mostly her love had been taken from her in a matter of hours. Now she was being forced by reality to accept that truth, and she would refuse it. Soon enough she would return to her home, and it truly was only her home, now.

Detective Janis Logan met up with her partner down the hallway. She informed him that they were making a quick stop at a nursing station. She led the way and came right up to the counter.

"Can I help you?"

Detective Logan flashed her badge. "I need to speak to Tammy Grey's doctor. Whoever took care of her in the ER."

The nurse nodded and looked through the records on the computer system. "Doctor Tim Rogers saw to her." She lifted her head. "He's most likely still in the ER area."

"Can you page him?"

"Of course." The nurse slipped away and did just that. She came back and mentioned, "He'll be here in a minute."

"Thank you."

The detectives stepped away from the nurse's station. Detective Conway edged closer to his partner and took her notepad. He skimmed over her notes but decided to ask more later when they were away from close ears.

An older gentleman in white lab coat came around the bend. He had his hands in his coat pockets, and he half smiled at the detectives. "Can I help you, detectives?"

"Hi. I'm Detective Janis Logan and this is my partner Sean Conway." Janis received the doctor's hand, and she waited until he finished shaking her partner's. She then went straight to the topic. "You took care of Tammy Grey when she arrived by ambulance."

"Yes." The doctor frowned and ruefully shook his head. "Sadly there was nothing that could be done. She'd lost too much blood and the bullet hit her spine."

Detective Conway also shook his head some.

"There was something that Ms. Kaler had mentioned to me," Janis started. "She'd said she was keeping a moist cloth over her partner's wound. I presume to slow the bleeding." She tilted her head. "You wouldn't happen to have seen it?"

"Actually..." The doctor was clearly curious himself. "It wasn't on her wound by the time she came into the ER. But it'd been set aside by the EMTs on the stretcher's bed." He considered his memory. "I believe a nurse may have thrown it."

"Do you think you can retrieve it still?" Detective Conway encouraged.

Doctor Rogers truly debated it then nodded. "Wait here, please." He wandered back into the Emergency Room.

Sean turned to his partner and quietly asked, "Why do we need this?"

"It's a link to this renegade vigilante," Janis answered. "He'd given it to Devin Kaler to use on Grey."

Detective Conway only nodded. He was surprised when the doctor came back around so soon. He spotted the red cloth zipped up in a clear biohazard bag.

Janis retrieved the evidence from the doctor. "Thank you very much."

Doctor Rogers studied the cloth then peered up at the officers. "It was interesting... that cloth has a coagulant on it." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "I'm not sure what it is but one of the nurse's mentioned she smelled some chemical on it. I suspect it's a coagulant because the bleeding was much slower than what it should have been considering the bullet wound."

"Obviously it wasn't fast enough," Sean sadly concluded.

"I'm afraid so." The doctor stepped back and said, "Good luck, detectives." He then turned and quietly left them.

"Let's get back to the precinct." Janis started to stroll down the hallway and aimed for the exit doors.

Detective Conway kept at her side. He handed back her notes after closing it up. "We should drop this off to the ME first."

Detective Logan lifted the bag and carefully studied the contents. She now realized that the item wasn't exactly a cloth but more of a sponge. "First stop," she agreed.

The detectives left the hospital in the mid-evening. They climbed into their unmarked car and wound through the streets until they made it to the medical examiner's office. They dropped by and handed off the bagged sponge and diamond ring then asked if he could have it ready soon. The ME had only sighed at them then went to work without another word.

The officers finally arrived back at their precinct and came up to the third floor by the elevator. The captain for the squad happened to be coming out of her office. She caught wind of the returning detectives and asked for a report.

Janis Logan sat on the corner of her desk. She glanced at her partner, who sat behind his desk. She focused back on the captain. "Her body was transported to the ME... we were just there."

Captain Jenn Warson folded her arms and carefully listened. "You stopped at the ME already?"

"We'd retrieved some evidence from the hospital and dropped it off to the ME," Sean explained.

Janis placed her hands on the edge of her desk. "The vigilante that'd helped the victims had given Devin Kaler a medical sponge to slow the bleeding. It'll be processed for any prints or other forensics."

"Good." The captain stepped closer to the pair and bowed her head. "We need Kaler to come in and give us a sketch on this vigilante."

Detective Conway glanced at his partner and gave her a knowing look.

"I'll call her tomorrow," Janis agreed.

"We should interrogate Ted Bearings," Sean stated.

"He's probably done booking." The captain liked the idea. "Head down there and bring him up." She went back to her office.

"You bring him up, and I'll get the room ready," Janis offered.

"I picked up the last perp." Sean gave a sour look.

Detective Logan smirked and pushed off her desk. "And you can get this one too." She disappeared down a hallway.

Sean Conway huffed, but he popped out of his chair. He headed down to the elevators so he could go to booking. He came back up within fifteen minutes with Ted Bearings, who was handcuffed in the front. Sean escorted him into an interrogation room that his partner already occupied. He shoved the perpetrator into a chair.

Detective Logan hauled out a chair, and its legs scraped over the floor. She sat near the gunman and looked him in the eye. "How was booking? I hear they're gentle."

Ted Bearings shot an dark look at the female detective. He then questioned, "Why am I here? I've already been charged, haven't I?"

"You have," Janis agreed.

Sean Conway shifted behind the murderer and mentioned, "We're curious about your little friend."

"Friend?" Ted echoed.

Janis leaned against the table and explained, "The one that left that mark around your neck." She pointed at it.

Ted Bearings groused at the reminder. He even rubbed his tender throat then look over at Sean, who had shifted to the right. He focused back on the female officer. "I don't know who he is."

"We suspect not," Janis agreed. She now leaned back in the metal chair. "Did you get much of a look at him?"

The perpetrator shrugged. "He had a mask on. And he was tall... dressed all in black."

"How tall?" Detective Conway pulled out a chair opposite of Janis and sat.

"Tall than you or I," Ted answered.

"I'm five ten," Sean supplied.

Ted Bearings nodded once. "I'm five eleven myself."

Janis tilted her head. "Was he an inch taller or a few?"

"Maybe an inch or two," Ted concluded. "But he was wearing boots."

"Notice anything else he was wearing?"

The perpetrator turned his head to Detective Conway. He tried to jog his memory from earlier tonight. "He was sorta dressed like one of those SWAT cops you see on TV." He thought about it more and continued to talk. "He also had on some... belt or somethin'. He just had a lot of pouches and crap hooked to him." He shook his head. "Like a utility belt."

"He'd taken your gun from you. How?"

Ted Bearings rotated his head to the female officer. "He threw some weird weapon at my gun. I don't know how he didn't slice my hand up."

Janis glanced over at her partner in hidden signal.

Sean understood and focused on the perpetrator. "You know what that weapon looked like?" He and his partner had seen the three holes made into the side of the building above the spot where the gun rested on the sidewalk.

"Yeah sure... it had three, long prongs like a fork. Then it had a handle."

Detective Conway knew he'd been right earlier tonight. He wasn't sure whether to be happy or worried about his correct assessment. "A sai," he concluded.

Ted Bearings brightened at the word. "That's it." He lost his excited feature though. "After I lost my gun, I made a run for it. He didn't really chase me... but he used that rope thing to hit me."

"You don't remember anything after that?" Detective Logan checked.

"Just waking up in handcuffs," the gunman answered.

"Did he speak to you?"

Ted Bearings looked at the male detective. "Not a word."

"He rode a motorcycle?" Janis questioned.

"Yeah." The perpetrator turned back to Detective Logan again. He slumped back in his chair. "I'd heard the motorcycle earlier, but I thought he was just passing. I didn't see what kind of bike it was or nothin'."

The detectives had received that same answer from many of the witnesses. They only heard that it was a sport bike that was completely black. The bike had remained running while the masked vigilante interrupted the murder. The story was the same across the board.

"Did he jump over a hood of that sedan car?" Janis laced her hands together and placed them on the table.

"Shit... yeah." Ted Bearings shook his head at the memory. "He didn't hit it... he cleared it. I don't know how he did it."

"He jump high?" Sean couldn't imagine how high this possible six foot man had to get to fully clear across a car's hood.

"I bet like six to seven feet over the hood." Ted Bearing looked from each detective and insisted, "I'm serious too."

Detective Logan realized that most likely Devin Kaler's story about the masked vigilante jumping over the roof of the car was true. On average, a sedan had a height between four feet to five feet while a SUV could be between six to seven feet.

"Alright." Sean Conway stood up and ordered, "Come on."

Ted Bearings hesitated and commented, "Whoever he was... he was fuckin' strong." He climbed up to his feet, but he stared down at Detective Logan. He saw the female detective peered up at him. "I couldn't pull that weird weapon... the sai from the building."

"Let's go." Detective Conway marched the perpetrator out of the room.

Janis Logan remained in her chair. She pulled out her notepad from her back pocket and flipped to the page that only had the capital omega letter sketched on it. She stared at it.

Captain Warson came into the room. She been behind the one-way mirror and listened to the interrogation. She took the vacated seat that Ted Bearings had occupied. She glanced at the detective's notepad. "Omega huh?"

"That's what he calls himself." Janis Logan flipped back a few worn pages. "What kind of man dresses up, with a mask, rides a bike, and looks for crime in progress?"

"And goes by a Greek letter."

Detective Logan glanced at her captain, who was deep in thought too. She studied the captain's soft features, long black hair, and hazel eyes that were unfocused. Janis turned back to her notepad. "Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet."

The captain's lips thinned from her thoughts. She mentioned, "What a lot people think is that omega means 'last'." She sensed Janis's curious eyes on her, and she met it. "It actually means 'great O' in Greek."

"And a lot of people use it to mean 'the end'." Janis then quoted, "'The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.'"

"Book of Revelation." The captain knew the quote from her younger days. She'd heard the popular quote a few times that always referenced to God.

"Maybe this vigilante means it that way." Janis tapped her fingertips on the desk. "The end to what?"

"The end of crime," Captain Warson suggested.

The detective bobbed her head some in agreement. She stretched out her short legs under the table. "But if we're going by the the religious factor... by the quote then does he see himself as God here?"

Jenn shook her head and argued, "It's too early to tell yet." She then considered another angle. "Bearings said the vigilante didn't talk to him. Did he speak to Devin Kaler?"

Detective Logan realized what the captain may be hypothesizing. "Kaler asked him who he was, and he'd told her Omega."

"Anything else?" The captain watched the detective negative response. She nodded but suggested, "He spoke to her and not him."

"He was comfortable with her." Janis Logan peered over at the captain. "Well more comfortable with her than with Bearings." She picked up her notepad. "He also uses ancient weapons. So far there isn't anything modern... no guns."

"We don't know that yet," the captain reminded. "Don't be too hasty to mark that off the list." She stood up from the chair just as Janis did the same. "He uses a sport bike, which isn't too old fashion."

The detective silently agreed. She and the captain strolled out of the interrogation room and saw that Sean Conway was at his desk again. "Do you think we should research if there's been any prior vigilante acts?"

Captain Warso swayed her head as if not sure about the idea.

"He probably would have made a few prior attempts," Sean suggested. "Just to test the waters before he did this."

The captain sighed and decided to give into the idea. "Alright, fine. Don't spend too many hours on this pursuit. We have higher priority cases." She stepped away, hesitated, and turned back to the detectives. "So far he's saved somebody, stopped the bad guy, and made a run for it." She looked between the officers. "It is possible though that he could become dangerous. So let's keep a stack of facts and evidence ready for that point. Otherwise, we'll keep a close watch and decide what to do later."

Janis Logan watched the captain leave, and she went behind her desk. She gazed across to her partner. "How many years back?"

"I got the first five," Sean grabbed.

Detective Logan grinned and claimed, "I'll take the five before those." She turned in her chair and went to her laptop. She heard her partner tapping on his keyboard too. She put in her search requirements and let the police system do its work. She pulled open another window and decided to do more research on Devin Kaler's background. She received the information rather fast so she looked over it.

Sean Conway decided to research more on the sai and meteor hammer despite he was mostly familiar about them. He looked over the history on them and realized both weapons originated in Asia. The meteor hammer came from China while the sai was from Japan, but it too eventually migrated to China and even India. The detective doubted that was a fluke because the vigilante would be selective about his weapons.

"Oh great," Janis spoke out randomly.

Detective Conway peered around his screen and looked at his partner. He had a curious face.

The female detective sighed and switched her attention to Sean. "Devin Kaler... she's a photographer for the City Times Newspaper."

"You're kidding?"

Janis Logan grimly shook her head. "Give it two weeks and there'll be some article she wrote for the CTN."

"Damn," Sean muttered. He went back to his screen and saw that the results were back for his search request.

Detective Logan also clicked back to her search screen. She found results too so she sat back and scanned through the seeming countless matches to her query. She hoped to find some kind of lead.

The detectives weeded through the searches and tried to find some kind of pattern in any of the vigilante acts. There was hardly anything to pick up though. They hadn't realized that four hours passed until Janis Logan's desk phone rang. She answered it and heard the ME's voice on the line. After she hung up, she mentioned that the ME had some answers for them.

The officers got out of their chairs and notified the captain that they were going to see the ME. They hastily left the station and drove back to the ME's rather quickly. They entered the building and went to medical examiner's usual location. They slipped through the door and took in the distinct smell that told them they were in the coronary room.

The medical examiner, Mark Richards, greeted the detectives when he came out of a side room. He approached the pale, mostly nude body of Tammy Grey. There was only a blue sheet that covered her lower abdomen, and her hollow eyes lifelessly stared at the ceiling.

"Well, she was indeed shot," the medical examiner concluded.

Janis leaned closer to her partner and muttered, "Coroner humor."

Mark Richards rolled his eyes then picked up a white sheet. He proceeded to cover the dead woman. "The bullet that the doctor removed match up to the gun. Bearings fingerprints were all over it." He walked over to a nearby counter and took a spot in front of the handgun. The detectives flanked him on either side.

"Were there any other prints on it?" Janis inquired.

"No." The ME shook his head. "I only had prints from Bearings." He stared down at the gun, but he suddenly turned and crossed the room. "I also processed your little sponge." He felt the detectives come up from behind. "That doctor was right. This is a coagulant agent on here."

"Do you know what it is?" Detective Conway tilted his head.

"Actually, yes." The ME was slightly excited now and dived into it. "There's this absorbent chemical on it called zeolites. It's a main hemostatic agent that's used to make blood coagulate faster." With his gloved hand, he picked up the bloody sponge. "This is actually made by a brand name called C-Medical." He set it back down into the small tray. "This sponge is called a FastClot, and you mostly see it used by the army."

"So it's hard to get," Sean deducted.

"Wrong." The EM charged off and went to his desktop computer at another counter. He shook the mouse and made the screensaver leave. "It's recently been approved to be sold over the counter." He opened up a browser window and displayed a company's website where the FastClot product was being sold. "Five sealed sponges to a box."

Sean Conway leaned in closer and gawked. "Fifty dollars for a box?"

"Ten dollars a pop," Janis divided aloud. "Not something you buy in bulk."

The medical examiner faced the pair. "It is over the counter, but it's not something you'll find in every household. The people that use this kind of thing are involved in sports or have thin blood." He turned back to the computer and clicked to another browser window. "This famous sporting good store sells a sport version for people who may get injured while hunting. It's the same company that makes the FastClot."

Detective Logan placed her hands on her hips. "Can it be found in any regular pharmacy stores?"

"I doubt it," the EM replied. He then pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the computer. "You'd be better off buying it online." He dropped his hand to his side.

"Did you find anything on the sponge?"

"Blood," the ME quipped. He marched back to the bloody sponge, and he was followed again. "There was nothing on it besides the blood. These sponges are kept air tight sealed in their packs. But there were no prints or fibers." He sighed and looked at the two officers on his right. "Sorry, detectives but your vigilante must have had gloves on."

"And the ring?" Janis hoped.

"There's nothing but the perp's and two vics' prints on them according to the forensics boys." The ME shifted down the counter some and picked up the bagged ring. He returned it to the detective. "I'm sure the owner will want that back."

Janis silently agreed and tucked the ring away. She'd have to get it returned to Devin Kaler.

"I'm afraid that's all I have for you." Mark walked the officers to the door. "I'll finish up my formal report for tomorrow if you don't mind."

"No, that's fine, Mark." Sean Conway cracked the door open. "Thanks for staying late."

"Sorry I wasn't more help with that vigilante." The medical examiner hid his gloved hands in his white coat pockets. "But whoever he was he certainly is prepared." He back stepped once and offered, "Have a good night."

"You too, Mark." Detective Logan left with her partner. She quietly went down the hallway beside Sean. She thought about the disappointing news from the ME. She sighed.

Sean sensed Janis's annoyance, but he carefully tried, "At least this time we don't have a lead on a victim's savior rather than her killer."

Janis Logan groused some, but she needed to let it go for now. "I suppose we better update the captain."

"Then I think it's time to call it a night," Sean decided. He caught Janis soft grin, and he chuckled.

Janis peered up at Sean's boyish features, short sandy hair, and his gentle expression. "You never can function without sleep."

"I turn into a poor detective," Sean agreed.

Janis softly laughed and pushed the heavy glass door open for them. She headed right for the patrol car, but she was thinking about the faint evidence she had on this vigilante. He was mysterious and very clever obviously but if anything a six foot man on a black motorcycle that could leap several feet in the air would be noticeable to citizens. If she kept pouring over the prior reports maybe she and Sean could come up with a better lead, hopefully.

To be continued.