It was late in the night, the  moon was bright and full when a silent gunshot was fired at one of the houses in the moneybags' populated community of Golden Hill.

In the house where the gun was fired was the masked shooter, following the blood trail of the victim, down the stairs to the living room. "Please, don't kill me!" the man pleaded, as he sat down, back to the wall, in a puddle of his own blood stemming from his injured stomach

"Please..." The man continued "I'd give you any--"

[GUNSHOTS!!!]

***

"Which do you think goes better with this dress?" Rayleigh asked placing a silver earring next to her ears. She looked up to see her friend sitting aloof in front of the mirror

"Come on, Deb, we are running late" Rayleigh said

"I don't think we should be going" Deborah sighed

"Why not? You've been cooped up here for weeks now" Rayleigh stated "it's time you loosen up a bit. This party is what you need right now"

"A man died Rayleigh" Deborah exclaimed

"I know it's a little tone deaf--"

"A little?" Deborah interrupted

Rayleigh sighed before walking up to Deborah "what would you prefer to do tonight?" She asked

"Lock the doors, and go to sleep early--"

"That sounds miserable"

"Yeah..."

"Come on" Rayleigh said extending her hand to Deborah who takes said hand and they finish dressing up before heading for the party.

At the party, a man wearing a dark blue suit clings two glasses together, gathering the attention of the party goers. "Hello and thank you all for attending" he started "I am detective Ethan Isaac and by my side is my partner Patty Kane. We are in charge of the case to arrest the disgusting animal that have been going around killing the good people of this beautiful community

"I know things have been tough lately but i promise you my partner and i would do everything in our power to make sure the killer is brought to justice and peace is once again returned to this wonderful community." He finished

The crowd applauded as he set the glasses on a table before turning to his partner "nice speech" she said

"Well," he whispered "we need their full cooperation so it is necessary that we kiss their ass a little"

"Not your first time dealing with rich folks i take it?"

"No" Ethan looked around the party goers "wouldn't have been assigned to this case if it was"

Patty nods "I read about how you solved the Wendy Lewis murder investigation, i couldn't believe her own daughter was the killer."

Ethan looks at his partner "yeah, it's always the ones you least expect. Let's hope this one doesn't have the same drama"

"Agreed" Patty nods

"Quick question detective; at what time is the gate of Golden Hills closed to nonresidents?" He asked

"8pm sharp" Patty replies

"And what time were most of the murders committed?"

"After 8pm"

"Interesting. And how easy is it to enter the community at another time?"

"Pretty difficult, unless you're a delivery guy or the authority in which case you ought to leave before 8. However, if you know someone who lives there you can stay for as long as you like"

"So the murderer must either be a resident or one of them"

"That's what i suspect too"

"Why is chocolate hair over there moving like that?" Ethan asked using his eyes to signal to a lady at the other side of the floor

"Oh that's Deborah Sinclair. I interviewed her the week before, she was out of town with her friend Dr. Rayleigh Cooper the day of the previous shooting. Lovely woman" Patty explained

"And there are actual written records she left town?"

"No." Patty shakes her head "Just word of mouth"

"Interesting" Ethan says, his gaze still fixed on Deborah "Excuse me" he says before walking up to Deborah who looked out of place amidst all the other elites.

"Deborah Sinclair..." Ethan says, once he got to the young woman

"Hi," Deborah smiled "you're the detective right?" She asked

"Yes" he replied "Ethan Isaac" he shook her hands "nice to meet you detective"

"Likewise"

"Are you waiting for someone?" Ethan asked

"My friend Rayleigh, she basically dragged me here" Deborah laughed

"You didn't want to come out tonight?"

"No, I only know her and a few others here"

"Really?" Ethan said, genuinely surprised "and i thought old money hang out together"

Deborah turned to Ethan, her smile fading "Apologies, that was suppose to be an internal thought"

"No worries" she smiled "I haven't been at Golden Hill long enough to pick up more social groups. Perhaps some more time here and i'll know most of the people in the city"

"I'm really sorry m-"

"It's fine, really" she dismissed "I meant what I said. Only rich people live in Golden Hill and the more time i spend here the more I'd know the ones here"

"You said you haven't been here for a long time?"

"Yeah, since I became an adult at least. I only started living here like a year ago"

"Oh," Ethan says

"Deb, there you are" Rayleigh says walking over to Deborah's side

"...and here she is" Deborah eyes glow for the first time since she got to the party "Detective Ethan, this is the friend i was talking about, Rayleigh"

Ethan extends his hand to Rayleigh "Nice to meet you" Rayleigh shakes the detective's hand. She turned to her friend "Jennie's been asking about you"

"Really?" Deborah smiled "where is she?"

"Come on" Rayleigh says before pulling her friend to the other side of the floor. Ethan watched them carefully as they go noticing how Rayleigh was quick to drag her friend away when she heard he was a detective. He shrugged the weird feeling he was having and turned to see Patty approaching "anything interesting?" She asked

"No..." He stopped "when was the first killing by the 'Patrician killer' or whatever they're called?"

"Almost a year ago, why?"

"Miss Sinclair just told me she's only been in this town  for a year"

"She was raised here but left when she turned 15. Visited from time to time since then but eventually returned as a resident last year"

"She did mentioned that..."

"You think she's the killer?"

"Maybe... You have other suspects?"

"See that guy over there" Patty gestures to a man wearing a very expensive tuxedo, holding a cup of wine in his left hand "he owns the Williams shipping company. The man that got shot by the patrician killer recently? owns a rival shipping company. Williams shipping is now moving to acquire the company"

"That's actually pretty suspicious but i can't help but notice how something is off about Deborah Sinclair"

Patty place her hand on Ethan's shoulder "look" she started "I know you think she has something to do with the murders but there's something you have to know about Deborah"

"what is it?" Ethan asked

"Well, the first v-"

[Aargh!!!]

The screaming from the washroom drew everyone's attention. The two detectives race over to the washroom where they found a woman, her hand over her mouth. Ethan followed her gaze to see the lifeless body of one of the elites.

Most of the other elites had gathered around the washroom. Ethan looked around the room and noticed Deborah staring at the lifeless body. There was no shock and neither was she horrified.

He could see that her eyes were filled with rage.

.....