A/N: I'm not begging for reviews but I've noticed that people are putting the story on story alert. I just like to know that people read the story. Regardless, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I wrote most of it yesterday but I've never written a story like this so I hope it's going in a good direction so far (:

The nine teenagers were currently huddled together in Veronica's room. After Blair's frantic urging to watch the news (Serena and Nate had told Ryan, Summer and Seth), the group had to make sure they were all still there.

Veronica was upset - she was supposed to be far away from all the death and mystery that had plagued her and her family in Neptune. Logan was worried - he knew Veronica would become her old self again and go after this killer, even if Providence had intelligent cops. Dick was confused - hadn't he been making out with some brunette chick that looked oddly like the girl they were saying had been killed? Ryan was thankful - everyone was safe. Seth and Summer hadn't stopped holding each other, thankful that they hadn't strayed from each other all night. Blair was suspicious - Veronica was up to something and she was going to help the girl figure it out. Serena and Nate were lost - what the hell was going on with everyone?

Suddenly, all their phones started ringing, friends and family calling to make sure they were okay. The Cohens, Dr. Roberts, Julie, Eleanor, Lily and Rufus, the Vanderbilts, Keith, Wallace, even Trina. Frantic voices and relief filled the suddenly too small apartment and Veronica slipped into her room, Logan and Blair trailing behind. "Dad, I can't just let this go!"

"Veronica," he said, worry evident in his tone. "Lamb isn't even over there - the cops are competent. Just let it go and don't go anywhere alone."

Veronica sighed. Her father knew better than she did that she wouldn't be able to let this go. "I'll be careful, I promise."

A reluctant sigh and "all right" was heard on the other side of the line and a few moments later, Veronica hit the off button. Turning around to face her friends, her face held a look of determination. "I'm going to find this killer."

"Good. I want to help," Blair nodded in affirmation.

"I'm obviously in," Logan said, lips pursed in disapproval. "But only to make sure you two don't get hurt while you're pursuing this killer." Veronica smiled at him. She knew he'd be in regardless but it was comforting to see that he was still the overprotective jerk he was back in Neptune. Blair was another story. She didn't know anything about being a P.I. and this...this seemed too much for her to handle for her first try in the area.

"Maybe you should just-" Veronica started before Blair rolled her eyes.

"You're crazy if you think I'll just stand by while you find this lunatic. I'm going to help, whether you approve or not," Blair said, hands on her hips.

Veronica seemed to debate for a moment internally before finally nodding. "All right, bring your laptop and we'll start researching."

Logan wondered how he got stuck with possibly two of the most stubborn women he had ever met.

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Three hours later, Veronica and Blair were sitting on the spacious king sized bed in Ryan's room. He had offered to help them research (slash make sure no one snuck in and tried to kill them while Logan went with Summer, Nate, and Serena to get information about the girl) and the three were crowded amongst legal pads with notes scribbled sloppily, various printed pages scattered with the markings of neon highlighters, and other tools Veronica was utilizing. Ryan had taken advantage of the floor and was taking any notes the girls barked at him.

She had taught Blair and Ryan how to do an effective Google search, avoiding going through pointless documents. So far, their search was turning out to be harder than they thought - either, the death had been one of the first, or Brown fought very hard for their issues to remain undetected. Sighing, Blair slipped her glasses off and rubbed her temples tiredly as another article printed off. The bedroom door creaked open and Seth and Dick walked in, snacks and refreshments cradled precariously in their arms. Shortly behind them came the other half of the group, looking frustrated as well.

Veronica smiled at them hopefully. Logan didn't look too pleased as he walked around the room to place a tender kiss on Veronica's head, sitting himself on the bed behind her. "Okay, let's compare notes. So far we've gotten that there have been four recorded murders in the past year, each taking place at a mixer of sorts," Veronica started off.

"The first murder was of Mackenzie Grayson, freshman, and also at the school's freshman mixer. Her friend's reported that she had been dancing with a guy for sometime before she stalked off, rushing to the bathroom. Apparently, the guy had been trying to get closer to her but she didn't want him to. An autopsy revealed that she had been raped before being suffocated," Blair informed, reading off her notes. "She was a blonde, about five-foot-six, and rushing Delta Gamma."

"The next one happened at the Zeta Phi Beta Third Annual Mixer," Ryan continued. "Ryan Carter was a freshman as well, blonde, leggy, the whole shebang. One of the sororities frat brothers had been speaking to her and having more luck than the first guy - she was headed up to her room. He decided to have one last drink and meet her up there. When he walked in, however, she had been smothered and showed signs of distress. Her skirt was ripped off and her underwear had been pulled down to her ankles."

"What was the first guys' alibi?" Logan asked, stepping in before the could continue.

"The first guy swore he had quickly moved onto another girl and said girl - one of Grayson's friends - confirms his alibi," Blair said, slipping her glasses back on.

"And where was he when the second murder occured?" Nate asked, looking up from the freshly printed article.

Blair extended a hand for the article. "He said he was at a frat party but some of the ZPB's sisters say they saw him there," she mumbled, highlighting some key points. "However, another girl said he was with her at the time - the same girl - and his alibi checked to be true. He was at the ZPB party but they had apparently been going at it in some room."

Dick laughed. "Score!" he said, fist pumping in the air. Eight pairs of annoyed eyes shot towards him. "Dude, it was a little bit of sarcasm, 'kay? Our one suspect keeps using sex as his alibi, leaving us without a suspect."

"Dick knows sarcasm?" Veronica mumbled, feigning shock as she faced Logan. He chuckled softly. "Anyway, the third girl was a little different. At an annual Snowball dance thrown by the Latino Student Union, a brunette was found - also suffocated - but she fit the other roles - gorgeous, leggy, tall, the whole shebang. Madison Deluise, freshman, sorority sister," Veronica said, holding up a picture. Of all the girls, Madison was the only one she found a picture of that wasn't from the crime scene. "She was supposed to perform a salsa routine but when her partner came searching for her, he found her, also showing signs of struggle, in the bathroom. An autopsy revealed that she had also been raped but there was no DNA that could be salvaged."

"The fourth person was the one that just happened, Eloise Smith. She was a freshman as well, and was scene dancing with a shady guy. Pretty much the same scene as the first murder," Ryan filled in.

"How didn't they find any DNA when they knew all four girls had been raped?" Summer asked timidly from Seth's side. They were still standing in the doorway.

"Use of a condom, cleaning up with a wipe or something. The scene was so clean that the only signs of possible rape was the awkward skirt bunching and autopsy reports. It also looked like the rape happened after or even during the murder," Veronica replied, shrugging her shoulders casually. The entrie group shivered at the thought of someone being raped and smothered at the same time; then the thought of that happening to someone they knew...

"So, what'd this guy look like? The one that had been all the murder scenes?" Serena asked, trying to keep their minds from wandering to darker places.

Veronica and Blair shuffled among the papers on the bed. Ryan held up a sheet. "He's about five-foot-eleven, brunette, Italian descent. His name is Enrico Luigi and his family appears to have some mob connections in New York, Jersey, and even in Southern California. They claim they made their money off the oil mines in Saudi Arabia but that's questionable."

Serena suddenly jumped up. "I talked to him last night! He was there! At the mixer! He said that his name was Eric and he was a student here," she recalled. "He didn't seem sketchy at the time but...oh, God," she said, sinking back to Nate's side.

"The girlfriend?" Summer asked wearily.

Ryan held up another picture but Veronica did the commentary this time. "Sarah Peters. Both claim they're not dating - just the occasional fuck every now and then - but their alibis keep getting shakier with every crime. Blonde, about five-foot-five, leggy, fits the stereotype."

"I talked with her last night too. Said she was on the welcome wagon of sorts. She definitely seemed a little cuckoo in the head," Seth said, whistling and spinning his finger around his ear to indicate she was crazy.

"How would someone know how to so thoroughly clean after a rape?" Ryan asked suddenly, swiping his bright orange marker over a line in the article.

Veronica pondered for a minute. "Maybe he was a doctor or had someone in that field help him, whether accidentally or not?" Blair suggested when no one else posed an answer.

"Even someone in Criminology could know that," Veronica added, nodding in confirmation.

"Any condoms found?" Nate asked, grasping at straws.

Veronica shook her head sadly and closed her computer with a sigh. "Let's take a break. Usually, I just plow straight through but I don't normally have so much help," she said, blushing and smiling appreciatively. "As a thank you, Logan will buy us all pizza!"

"You are such a gentleman, Logan," Blair teased. Logan did his best "who, me?" impression and the crowd laughed at the light topic switch. "I'd just like plain cheese, pepperoni is just so greasy."

The crowd shot off their desires eagerly.

"So, Nancy Drew," Logan said as he and Veronica were headed back to their room early. "Does that make me Ned?"

"Well," Veronica trailed off with a shrug. Logan smirked and kissed her chastely. "I've actually always had a soft spot for Frank," she added, matching his devious smirk.

"I always thought I was more off the buff one, Joe," Logan pouted, bending down to kiss a trail down from her ear to her chin.

"No, you're much more irrational and rash than Joe," Veronica answered, tilting her head to give him more room as he moved his way down her neck to kiss her collarbone. She let out a low moan in response. "Besides," she continued. "Frank's the one who gets to hook up with Nancy."

"Nancy Drew got it on with a Hardy boy?" Logan asked, making his way back to her lips as his long arms came to rest on her hips, softly brushing the exposed skin her tiny t-shirt left bare.

"This one's about to," Veronica said, grabbing fistfuls of Logan's shirt as she pulled him down and stood on her tiptoes to silence their conversation with a kiss. As the kiss depended, both were vaguely aware of their path to the bed in the middle of the room. Spinning them around so he would be on top when they landed, Logan picked Veronica up as she wrapped her legs around his waist, and tried to get the shirt off without breaking the intense kiss.

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"Five bucks says Logan and Veronica are gonna be going at it all night," Dick said, falling into the bar stool by Blair with a thud, slamming a twenty on the counter and motioning for the bartender to bring him his usual drink. The two of them, plus Ryan, usually ended up here at the end of the night, being the third wheels in their respective groups.

Ryan shot him a sympathetic smile and Blair just patted him on the back soothingly. Many drinks had cause the three to bond in a friendly way and each had expressed their frustration at the lack of available one-night stands (though Blair and Ryan claimed they were in it for more than one night, no matter how much Dick teased them).

"Well, it's a little weird to see your ex and your best friend getting it on, regardless of the fact that they did it while I was dating said ex," Blair mumbled, knocking back her third Cosmo.

"I'm not even gonna discuss Seth and Summer," Ryan said, clutching his beer as the three started making their way to a booth for privacy. On the way, he collided shoulders with someone, almost spilling his drink in the process. Turning to apologize, he was met with the angry glare of none other than Enrico Luigi. "Sorry, man-"

Enrico walked off without a word, sliding into a booth across from a tall and vaguely pretty blonde and another blonde - a male who seemed not too pleased. Immediately, their conversation began, hushed tones and not a pleasureable one from the sound of it.

Blair walked up behind Ryan, eyes wide in shock. "Ryan, was that-"

"Yeah," he answered simply, switching his beer to another hand so he could guide Blair to the booth with his free one.

Dick slid in across from the two, shockingly calm and serious. "That other guy looks familiar, almost...almost like I've seen him before here."