Chapter 9

"Westerlund aren't the only ones reporting on this now," I say to Garrus, glancing up from the omni-tool screen as the turian steers us through air traffic; sirens very much on at this point, given the urgency of Pallin's messages. Every single news channel is running it as their headline story; just flying past the Presidium and some of the holographic displays mounted on the sides of the larger buildings and skyscrapers shows the same images – I have no idea what the reporters are saying, but the text spread across the bottom of the screen on every channel covers the gist of it well enough; 'Tayseri Ward Butcher at large', 'Serial killer continues rampage in broad daylight', 'Are you safe? C-Sec refuse to acknoweldge leads on eight connected killings…' "It's like they're trying to make everyone panic."

"Nobody tunes in for the good news," he mutters, eyes firmly fixed out the windshield. I don't think he's taking this particularly well, and to be honest, neither am I; it's our case, after all. One murder is bad enough; finding all the bodies this morning, and two more now – it really is getting out of control. When Garrus mentioned a station wide panic in the games, I thought he might've been exaggerating, but obviously not. Pallin must have the Council on his back by now, no doubt. "We need to get on top of this, now. How many did you narrow it down to from what Hante told us?"

"Well, if you put the biotics together with what Hante mentioned about an elcor, that narrowed it down to twenty-five people on the Citadel as of today, from what our records show." I flick my omni-tool back to the tab I had open from the Citadel's citizen database – an almost worryingly comprehensive record of everyone who's entered the station, details around age, species, name, distinctive factors and risks such as biotics, the works. "Considering the elcor population is in the hundreds of thousands, that's pretty good."

I can see another detail as well; Garrus mentions that the killer is a diplomat in the original Mass Effect, and true enough, I can see one name clearly on the list – Caltan Xenvalis. Junior diplomatic attaché at the elcor embassy, but as far as I'm concerned, the prime suspect. How else to narrow it down to him…

"That's still a lot of people to talk to in one day," the turian points out. "Anyone it looks like we can rule out, or at least move down the priority list?"

"Well, I'm thinking the killer is doing it for credits, right?" I suggest. Seems like that's what the whole case revolves around; given the profile of the victims, we're still working on the assumption that's what helped lure them in. "So it's not going to be anyone already earning a lot of credits..." There's actually some fairly senior executives in biotic amp manufacturing on the list, as well as a couple of researchers; and the biotics field pays plenty well, so that at least drops them down – and keeps the diplomat on the list. Junior ones must get paid alright, but definitely room for improvement. "Taking account of people who must be quite comfortable already, I can drop it down to fourteen likely candidates to talk to."

"Alright. Let's see if there's anything at the scene that narrows it down more, and then go from there." Another frustrated sigh slips from Garrus.

"You alright?"

"It's like you were saying in Hante's shop. This one feels different," the turian says, taking a moment to glance over at me for the first time since we got in the cruiser. "It's too obvious of a location. The killer must know we're investigating, so why do this now instead of cutting their losses?"

"Could've freaked out knowing that we're onto them," I say, offering the only devil's advocate explanation I've been able to think of.

"Why would that make them want to kill again? If they were in a panic, they'd want to flee, not give us more evidence." Garrus shakes his head. "Something's off."

"Well, let's get onto the ground, check out the scene and go from there, yeah?" I suggest. "Either way, once we gone through our suspect list, we're going to be able to narrow it down from there pretty fast too."

The turian nods, but doesn't give it much more of a reply than that, gaze firmly fixed out the windshield again. A little sigh of my own slips free as I lean back against the passenger window, the news reel holograms still prevalent against the more muted colours as we descend towards Tayseri Ward. Guess he's feeling the pressure, given all this.

We both are.

It's a very different sort of crime scene to the one we were at before; mostly thanks to the media presence occupying most of the space around the crime scene. There can't have been too many officers in place once the news broke, because the cordon looks like it's being reinforced as we speak, prying cameras and reporters being politely pushed back as the street gets blocked off, and it's immediately clear why once Garrus and I finally get some room to land. I catch sight of Pallin, but he's over dealing with the media scrum, which at least gives Garrus and I some time to work uninterrupted.

If the killer's handiwork this morning was surgically precise, no mess, then this...well, you don't have to be in the forensics team to work out that there was a struggle. Definitely a struggle. The officers on the scenes have managed to get tents set up around the bodies to cover them away, but there's literal dents on the walls of the alleyway, blood trails on the ground – far removed from the earlier technique.

Once we get inside the tents to look at the bodies, it fits a lot more with the idea of bodies being 'hacked up' – any kind of method seemingly abandoned. It's still revolting, but I've at least got the constitution from the earlier scene not to throw up this time; looks like the organ removal was a messy process. Cut into quickly, yanking what they could out, and then leaving. Again, it's all so surreal, I have to keep reminding myself that it's really happening; that this, like it or not, is my job now.

Garrus and I duck out of the tent after looking at the second body, and it only takes one exchanged glance for us both to come to a similar conclusion. "It all looks completely different," I say, as Garrus nods his agreement. "The only similarities are that we're in Tayseri Ward, and the organs have been removed. Otherwise..." I trail off as I see a rather familiar looking turian detective walking towards us from across the crime scene, along with a taller, female turian partner. It's Valen – the homicide detective on the same course as me – and his partner is Nyxis, one of the more senior members of the department. Not sure this bodes too well. "Hey, Valen. Didn't realise this was with you guys again."

"Eight corpses elevates it a bit above a contraband case." He really sneers out that word to me; Valen always has carried himself with a level of arrogance, thanks to homicide being the 'most important' role in the department, at least in his eyes. Still, if our test results are anything to go by, the guy is top of the class at almost everything, so if anyone was going to get that job, it'd be him. Nyxis, to her credit, gives him a disapproving look at the apparent gloating.

"The Executor wants this dealt with, fast," she explains. Her tone is quite clipped, professional; no hostility, but not much warmth in it, either. "Thought the extra resource wouldn't go amiss. We've already been through an initial scan with the forensics team, and matched the bodies with the citizenry database. Sent you the initial results."

Garrus and I both have our omni-tools ping at the same time. I've not really had a whole lot of experience with Nyxis, but she's the kind of straight-laced detective that Garrus described earlier; by the book, all about due process, efficient and meticulous to a T. Not that it's a bad thing – the few interactions I've had with her have all been pretty positive, and she's certainly friendly enough, which makes a change from some of the other turians; there's just a constant sense that she likes to keep her professional life very separate from her private one.

The summary file is pretty robust, too; some pulls from the database about the victims. Two humans, Elias and Maria Delam – married couple, lived on the Citadel for ten years; both working lower paid jobs, hence living in Tayseri Ward. Probably just walking home together, and then...this. There's also bits and pieces of DNA evidence picked up from all the blood over the scene and on the bodies; there's some traces of element zero, but my heart sinks when I read the next line.

There's trace krogan DNA – not enough where they've been able to identify anyone specific, but it's there.

That would explain all the carnage – but it also doesn't fit with what we've seen before. I can see Garrus tense up a bit next to me, mandibles flaring out slightly; presumably he's just read the same part that I did. This is really, really bad. Some kind of copycat killer, perhaps? From what Hante was saying about an elcor selling organs, it has to be the case that Garrus mentions in the game, so where does krogan DNA fit in? Did Hante just make something up?

"It doesn't look like it fits in with the MO we saw earlier today," I point out, looking back up at Nyxis. "Not as precise. Copycat, maybe?"

"The killer might have tried attacking one of them, and didn't realise the other was around." Valen jumps in at that, shaking his head dismissively. "We read the earlier analysis around the use of stasis, but if they couldn't maintain that on two people at once, they would've had to turn to more violent means."

"So you think it went wrong?" Garrus asks. "Why such a random attack out here? It doesn't fit with any of the victim profiles that we saw before."

"Could've been planning to transport the bodies elsewhere, and they're low income, Tayseri Ward locals. It's not completely out of the profile, is it?" Valen counters. Certainly confident for someone a day into the job. "Finding the bodies earlier forced them to adapt. They just didn't make a good job of it."

"It does have all the signs of a botched attempt," Nyxis adds, doing a better job of sounding diplomatic about it. "One of the humans must have managed to cut the killer, since we picked the krogan DNA up from a blood trace on clothing."

The more it's explained, the less outlandish it seems. I still don't understand why the killer would double down like this, especially when they've been compromised, but it does have the hallmarks of a murder attempt gone wrong. Biotic traces are consistent, and even if the victims don't meet the usual profile, that might be more a matter of convenience and location than deliberate planning. It just...it doesn't fit. What I know from the games, Hante's lead, the size of the silhouette that the salarian scavenger saw – it's an elcor. It has to be.

While I'm busy thinking to myself, Garrus steps in to at least ask some questions. "So what's the plan now? Wait for the DNA trace to come through?"

"Forensics are saying it'll take a few hours to isolate properly. Lot of other contaminants around here," Valen explains, making eye contact with me, tone making it very obvious that he's talking down to me - and enjoying it. "Until then, we're just keeping the crime scene locked down. Nyxis and I will go and talk to whoever it narrows down as, or we'll start a manhunt on the station, assuming they're not at their address. Unless you two had any other leads to follow up?"

I can see Garrus turning to look at me out of my peripheral vision. Shit. I'm not sure mentioning the elcor is such a good idea; Valen, at the very least, is going to ridicule me for that, especially when there's now hard evidence pointing towards a krogan instead. "We were going to go and interview friends and employers of the earlier victims," I decide on. Keep it nice and vague. "Had the tech teams trying to look through their omni-tool data as well, in case we could pull anything from that."

Nyxis nods. "That would still be worthwhile. The more evidence we can gather on motive, the better. If you two go and conduct those interviews, Valen and I can be on hand once to pursue that match when it comes through." The more cynical part of my brain is figuring they're sticking around so they can get the credit for the arrest – but that might just be from the growing level of annoyance and confusion building up in me. Really not the time to start doubting myself, but given what they've found here, it's hard not to. Her eyes catch on something behind me, giving a respectful nod as I start to turn around. "Executor. We're just getting caught up. Vakarian and Shaw are going to interview related individuals to the earlier victims, while we assist with the crime scene and follow up on the DNA samples." True enough, Pallin is starting to stride towards us, and boy does he look pissed.

"Fine. Tell forensics that if they don't have this done within the next two hours, they'll be up in front of the Council, explaining precisely why we've got a full-scale public panic on our hands. We've got half the wards below the Presidium worrying that they'll be next." His gaze switches over to me, looking doubly annoyed. "And Shaw, they want to talk to you."

"Who does?" I ask, giving Pallin a blank look. Can't think of anyone else on the scene who would need me specifically-

"Westerlund. First human detective involved in a case like this, they want to turn it into a story. I'd rather they were running with that, rather than focusing entirely on the body count, so go and talk to them." Makes sense he's trying to take some of the heat off, but I remember Westerlund News well enough, and I really don't want to be televised, even if helps change the narrative around this at least a little – though I suspect the narrative Pallin's aiming for is that it's all a human's fault that we've not arrested anyone yet.

"What am I supposed to say?" I look over at Garrus in slight panic, who doesn't look ready to interject, given how increasingly irate Pallin is getting.

"Something positive!" Leaving his instructions at that, Pallin practically yanks me by the arm over towards the camera crews; all I get is an apologetic, and somewhat concerned, look from Garrus, a smirk from Valen, and then I'm being spun around towards the familiar face of one of the few modern journalists I actually recognise. For all the wrong reasons.

"Thank you, Executor, this will only take a moment," Khalisah Al-Jilani gushes, broad, patently fake smile on her face; Pallin just shoots her daggers before stalking back off towards the crime scene. She holds it for a few more seconds, watching him leave, before visibly relaxing a bit and flashing me a more genuine one. "That turian, yikes. It took a lot of work to get him to agree to this, let me tell you – had to show him the section we were about to run before he relented. I think 'which other wards are C-Sec neglecting' tipped him over, so you're up instead." She says it with such an affable tone, I have to think twice before appreciating that she's basically just blackmailed the Executor of C-Sec into giving her the interview she wants. Christ. As much as I don't like her, she's pretty effective.

"That's, uh, yeah. Impressive." I glance over to the camera, hovering ominously next to her head, lens pointed directly at me. "You're not rolling live, right?"

"What? Oh, no, not yet, we'll want to edit before putting it on the newsreel. Want you looking your best." Right. I find that very hard to believe. "Don't worry. Our viewers have just been dying to hear about the first human to be a C-Sec detective, so it'll be some quick, simple questions. Okay?" She sounds so cheerful about it; I don't remember her being a big fan of the Council in the games, and Westerlund is a human news network, so maybe it's not going to be a total character assassination; at least not on me.

"Okay," I nod, trying to get a handle on my nerves and lifting my eyes up to meet the camera. Just some basic questions – give some rote responses until she's happy, then get out of here. Got enough to worry about, trying to prove that there's an elcor involved somewhere in this mess.

"Alright, great." Al-Jilani opens her omni-tool, nodding. "And we're rolling. So, Detective Shaw, thanks for coming on to talk to us."

It takes an awkward second of silence for me to realise she actually wants something back there, clearing my throat quickly. Shit. "No problem."

"So, with eight dead, is it fair to say that the Tayseri Ward Butcher is staying one step ahead of C-Sec?" I try to maintain a composed expression, even with my initial instinct being to look at her in shock. Quick, simple questions? Really?

"No, I don't think that's fair," I reply, shaking my head quickly. "We're pursuing a number of active leads, and we've got patrols throughout Tayseri Ward and neighbouring areas keeping the public safe. I'd just advise everyone to remain calm, report anything suspicious to C-Sec, and go about their business."

Al-Jilani looks a bit ruffled by that; not because I said anything controversial, but I think that's the problem. It's a very rote statement, the kind she'll have got from Pallin already. "Now, Detective, we've heard plenty of that from the turian side – what my viewers want to know is, what's your perspective on this? Do you feel like being the only human on the case is getting in the way?"

Smear piece on C-Sec. Well, I guess that makes sense, given the Westerlund agenda. If they're not bashing the Council, C-Sec make for a pretty good target too. "There's no 'sides'. We're one department," I reply, tone coming out blunter than I'd intended. "If that's what a turian detective told you, then it's no different coming from me. They're just the facts of the matter."

"I see." She really doesn't sound impressed, though I'm not sure why she was expecting to me hop on board with slamming the department. "So, you've had no problems settling into the role?"

"Nope. Everyone's been very welcoming." I mean, that's not strictly true - but Garrus has been pretty good to me, and given that he's the one I'm going to be work with directly most of the time, that's enough. I don't want to give her the satisfaction of saying yes, anyway. "C-Sec's got a good team; everyone just wants to look after the station." That might be pushing it into being a bit too fluffy - sure enough, Al-Jilani changes the subject.

"Be that as it may, we've also been reporting on leaked documents this month, implying that human appointments to C-Sec are actually part of a Council ploy to draw attention away from the continued under-representation of human politicians in Citadel affairs." What the hell is she talking about...? "What's your reaction to that?"

"Sorry, is this interview about the case, or C-Sec as a whole?" I ask, looking back over at her with a frown. "I'm happy to help reassure the public that we're going to get this solved, but if you just want speculation on Citadel politics, I really do have work to get on with." The camera's still rolling, but if she wants to use that, she can go ahead. I don't really fancy playing along with this.

"So you've got no comment?"

"I don't watch a whole lot of Westerlund, so whatever you're talking about must've passed me by," I say, folding my arms. Not the smooth interview I'd been hoping for, admittedly, but beats getting drawn in. "Wasn't aware there was any controversy."

Al-Jilani sighs, flicking her omni-tool out again, and the light on her camera switches off. "Look, cut me some slack. I was hoping you were going to be a little more honest about things, give me something to work with. I don't want to have to run that section I was talking about before, but if you're just going to toe Pallin's line..." She leaves that hanging in the air. Presumably as a threat.

"Honestly, I could give less of a shit about whatever wrangling is going on behind the scenes with humans wanting a Council seat or whatever. Really. I don't care," I say flatly. I don't have to put on an act for that; it's the truth. They'll get their seat one way or another, and I'm not in any great rush to start pushing that particular agenda. More than enough problems on my plate without being the pro-human figurehead that she seems to be pushing for. "We've got a killer to deal with, and there's plenty of aliens working on it who care just as much as I do. I'm not going to stab them in the back to make your job easier, and I'm not toeing anyone's line. That's just my opinion. Seriously." As much as I dislike Pallin, ragging on him on a well-watched news channel definitely isn't the way to go about improving things.

"Fine. Didn't take you for a xeno-lover," she mutters, shrugging. "We'll run with our original segment. Thanks for taking the time." Oh. I suppose that's that, then. Losing out on my fifteen minutes of fame in the public eye - somehow, that makes me feel happier than if she'd actually decided to use that footage.

"Don't mention it, really. Keep up the quality reporting," I reply sarcastically, but she doesn't look particularly bothered, heading back towards her van. I can definitely see why a Renegade Shepard would, at the very least, smash her camera, but that risks making the story – and annoying or not, I've not really got the temperament for solving problems via smashing them. No doubt this'll piss Pallin off further down the line when he sees which segment they go with, but I'm sure he'd rather this than having one of his own detectives slag off C-Sec for the whole Citadel to see.

I head back over towards where I can see Garrus waiting – Valen and Nyxis have moved off, and Pallin seems to be dealing with some separate media outlets, so I guess he's just waiting on me before we head off elsewhere. I steal a glance down at my omni-tool; it's only barely even the afternoon on station time, but I'm absolutely exhausted already. I guess most days aren't going to be like this, but given the high intensity, it's seriously draining.

"How did it go? We're not going to be seeing you on all the news channels as we fly back over to the Presidium, right?"

I give a laugh at that, shaking my head. "I think she was after something a little different to what I said. Wanted me to talk about how awful C-Sec is."

"And you told her you've been having a great time, getting involved in a case like this?" Even with everything going on, the turian's sense of humour does buoy my mood somewhat, rolling my eyes at him as we head back over to the cruiser.

"Pretty much word for word, yeah." Garrus laughs too, popping open the doors via his omni-tool. "So, that krogan DNA that they found. Any thoughts? I'm guessing you're not entirely convinced either."

"It still doesn't feel right. Not after what Hante and the salarian said earlier. It's hard to say otherwise when there's DNA evidence, but...it just feels like there's something more going on here."

"Just can't place it. I know what you mean," I mutter. There has to be a connection somewhere. "Going to be hard to argue unless we can prove something, though. Pallin's going to want this wrapped up as soon as they can work out who the DNA match is."

"I'd give forensics maybe three hours to get it worked out, and then another hour for Nyxis and Valen to find their krogan. Four hours to go and get some statements," the turian mutters. "We're going to have to split up when we get to the Presidium, if we want to even get halfway through everyone we want to talk to."

"Better drive quickly then, hadn't you?" I smirk to him, getting a mock-irritated mandible clack for my troubles as he fires up the engine. Four hours to prove that my hunch isn't crazy.

No pressure.