[17 July, evening] Whitechapel murder scene

As Nikolaus and Rose approach, Barnaby does indeed come out of the building, and outside the tape, approaching as if Nikolaus and Rose were colleagues. He shakes hands first with Nikolaus, then Rose.

"Thank you so much for coming. I know it's late, but we'd dearly like this cleaned up before dawn."

As he shakes their hands, he palms them their ID badges. They look. Interpol. Excellent.

"Please, come on through. Your office said you had some expertise in this regard, which makes it so lucky for us you are here."

Barnaby nods to the two officers as they pass. The two are too bored to take more notice than necessary. Clearly their boss is OK wiith these two, so they are too. The press, though, are interested, and come running, and the two then take action to keep them back and outside the tapes.

As they walk into the store, the first thing of note is the newspapers taped to the front windows, and the dust and renovation debris on the floor ..l except for the circle in the middle. It's been well swept, almost polished, before the blood circle was drawn out, the body still lies within the circle, though has been covered. Five thick black candles sit, one at each point of the pentagram. There are two other officers in here.

"OK, chaps, out. Let the experts do what they can to help without breathing down their necks." And they grumble, but leave, and Barnaby well back.

How he wish he knew this one. This ritual was one of Rose's favorites, and he still clung to hope that one day, she'd teach it to him. To be able to see what she's able to see what she sees... And he would have very much like to watch her perform it but he knew that wasn't what was expected of him.

Distraction time.

Nikolaus looked down at the body. No way he was killed here. Dismemberment is messy. Too messy to draw such a pretty pentagram, and not have the place look like a slaughterhouse. Whoever did this was meticulous; magic or not, it was almost artistic. He starts taking a few pictures with his phone. Then, he passes it on to Rose so that she could pretend to look at it as she focused and that any sound she'd make could be blamed on Siri.

He turned back to Barnaby. "What did the coroner say? What's the approximate time of death? When did the call come in?" If it was during daylight hours, that would all but rule out kindred. As he spoke, he stared at the spot when the journalists were trying to sneak a peek at the crime scene. Visibly irritated, he stomped he cane on the ground and exclaimed in a rather loud voice. "That's the third time this one threatens to tear the tape. Don't you see?" he said to the officers guarding it."Is it at least possible to work in peace?" The more attention he'd get, the less Rose would.

Rose took a deep breath as she shook herself out of the vision. It was a great ritual and one of her favorites indeed, but it did take a lot from the caster, especially when the vision was as unsettling and preoccupying as this one.

She immediately thought to Nikolaus. 'The one who did that... a man wearing a mask... he had... a wand.' Even as she used Auspex, the Tremere sounded like she was somewhat out of breath. 'He has some thaumaturgical knowledge...' That part was thought with a mix of disgust and annoyance. 'But not enough to do it right, just to pretend that's what he's doing. The runes, the incantation... I know them but... I can't recall. It's like he's mixing several rituals or spells together.' A mix of Thaumaturgy and witchcraft maybe? Just like the runes and the black candles that had nothing to do with each other.

The Tremere paused trying to gather her thoughts. 'He used his wand... except to remove the victim's heart. And he... made sure no one would be able to identify the victim.' Though Rose would know be able to, since she saw the scene from the beginning.

Rose paused again and she started looking around, searching for something or someone. She couldn't shake that unpleasant feeling creeping up her spine, the feeling of being observed. 'He's not there but he's watching. Some kind of magical surveillance spell. I feel his eye on me... don't you feel it too?'

Was it the real purpose behind this messy ritual then, being able to see who would come? Did he make it look like Thaumaturgy because it was bound to attract Tremere to the crime scene? Did they just fall into a trap or was she reading too much into this?

Whatever the case, she hoped the masked man enjoyed mirrors because he was about to get trapped into one very soon and for a very long time. Maybe Quentin Duvall would find a spot for it on its wall.

Thencandles are thick and only black on the outside. The inside appears to be some natural tallow. When Nikolaus touches one, he can feel the wizard who handled them. He gets an image of the wizard, of bright blue eyes, long dark hair, but no features, they're hidden by the mask. A name, Max. And two gold teeth.

It does appear that the wizard(?) had at least an observational knowledge of thaumaturgy. He'd at least seen some practiced to get an idea of procedure, runes, etc. And then mixed it up, either deliberately, or just not knowing what he was doing.

Barnaby starts to fidget over by the door. You're taking a long while. He glances over, then looks away again.

'Not enough to make a positive ID, but it's enough to ask some questions,' he thought back. 'He must like that mask. But I have his eyes, his hair, even a first name.'

It was then that he noticed his ghoul. Rose was right; time to go. "We're done here, Inspector," he said, intentionally making his accent sound even more German, instead of the German/French mix typical of Alsace. "Would you be so kind as to walk us to our car?"

He did, after all, earn his blood for the month. As they'd walk, he turned to the journalists. "No comment," he'd say pre-emptively. "Interpol does not comment on ongoing investigations. Wait for the London Metro Police's press conference."



He casts a sideways glance to Rose, giving her a polite smile. 'They've overstayed their welcome, no? Please let me take care of this.' he thought to her, before turning to the taller of the two journalists, the one who seemed in charge, making eye contact with him from behind the tape.

"Show's over. Leave." He then quickly turned to the other one. "You too, leave." Emphasizing the word 'leave' as his Command, he motions for Barnaby to follow him. Hopefully, he's smart enough to tell the other two cops to stay behind. He's not getting his blood, otherwise.

'What's his name, then?' Rose asked, somewhat impatiently. Because the rest, she'd seen too. Although she could use a confirmation on the eye color too, but well, the name was a much more interesting piece of information.

Rose nodded as Nikolaus indicated he'd be taking care of the journalists. Honestly, she could care less about those. She headed out and to their car without waiting on the two men she knew would be following her. Then, she got in the car and started writing everything they'd seen or heard in her notebook for later use.

She knew Barnaby would be expecting his 'reward' but he was Nikolaus' ghoul. So, it was his business, not hers. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long. She had a lot of research to do as soon as they'd be back to the Chantry.

Barnaby kissed Nikolaus' palm before bending to drink. It's clear his addiction is still strong, and that he really needed this badly. As is probably normal, he only stops when Nikolaus forces the issue.

"It will be done. I'll let you know if anything similar comes up."

In the rear vision mirror, Rose can see that the female reporter seems to have shaken off Nikolaus' command, and is approaching the car.

"Wha--" he actually said it out loud, just as Barnaby finished feeding. Nikolaus looked into the rear view mirror, and grit his teeth. 'I did!' he thought back in protest, hastily licking his fang marks closed.

When he finished, he nodded toward the approaching journalist. "You heard her. Lose the vulture," he said, unrolling his suit jacket's sleeve and pocketing the cufflink. He'd fix that later. "And make sure your breath doesn't smell of blood when you talk to her."

Despite the patronizing tone, Nikolaus knew Barnaby was always careful about not smearing any blood as he fed. As addicted as he might be, he was a sensible man. He knew all about the consequences of breaking the Masquerade and he wouldn't risk compromising his career.

Barnaby was gone and as Nikolaus started the engine, Rose observed the reporter. She was really putting up a fight now, wasn’t she?

She closed her note book and said out loud, her eyes never leaving the rearview mirror. "That journalist, I saw Barnaby check her credentials." Twice. "I’d like for you to ask your ghoul to do a little research for me. I want to know where she works and where she lives."

Simple commands might not work on that woman but it didn't mean she couldn't be conditioned over time. The Tremere Regent had yet to meet a kine who couldn't. Maybe it was time they had their own private informant among the London Press.