"To be clear, I am not a wizard," said Ori as they stepped into the elevator.
"I don't know how that makes any difference." Myra's voice was flat, as she crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. The uneven mirror on the ceiling made her look like a penguin and she decided it was as stupid as the first time she saw it.
"Not to you, I suppose."
"I will tell you one thing that does make a difference. We are in this... situation because the laws changed, but the laws in this country do not change for anyone's benefit but the ones that made them. So whatever the real reason is, only time will tell. Secrets don't last forever, magic or not."
"We're here because someone killed a young man. Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"Whatever."
When the door opened, they found themselves in a seemingly endless hallway perfumed by the unmistakable smell of formaldehyde. The intricate mosaic on the floor pointed the way to the morgue with tiny black skulls like it was death itself they were going to meet.
In Helden, it was not uncommon for police stations and morgues to be connected by underground hallways. Many years ago it was the most efficient way of communication between important institutions, be it for protection or secrecy. Sometimes, even hospitals had their own private networks, but most of them were closed after many bizarre incidents.
The tunnels had never been modernized and retained their original beauty, appearing like a step into the past to any new visitor.
Ori did not say another word as they went past all the doors that stretched in a long line. Most were archives, server rooms or labs, but the very last one was the morgue.
Three tables took the central stage inside, but only the one in the middle had an occupant.
The body was clean, and strangely paler than before, almost entirely white.
Myra could not help but stare at it, the same way she did years ago. Such strange circumstances made her wonder just how far the similarities ran between the two cases, whether even the stitches were in the same place as before.
"Oh, it's you Tamon," said the mortician, as soon as she heard the footsteps circling the body. "What a deja vu, huh? Oh, and you must be our special guest. Lovely to meet you. I'm Doctor Avva Katen, the mortician in these parts."
She fixed her glasses and outstretched her hand over the body to shake Ori's.
"It's bizarre," said Myra, now fully convinced that it was not a trick and that history has indeed repeated itself. "Like we're back at the beginning."
"Well, yes," returned Avva. "Of course it is. But not entirely. I must say, it is strange enough to make you wonder, but when you get deeper inside, like really deep, it kind of gets, I don't know… boring."
Ori took a deep breath and laughed, covering his mouth with the sleeve of his coat. He did not want to admit why it was so funny, but deep down he knew he had the same thought.
"What are you saying?" Myra felt lost between two morbid minds that appeared to have made a connection and left her out of their mad logic. "More facts, less metaphors please."
Avva smiled, tucked her curly grey hair behind her ears and disappeared behind the door to the laboratory. When she returned she was carrying a thick white envelope.
"I'll send you the official report once myself and my minions have put it all together, but here's the outline I already showed the Captain. Naturally, the first thing I did was compare the injuries from the first case and this one. I don't know what I was hoping to find but the conclusion was that even though they are very similar, there are some major differences."
She presented them with a set of photographs, almost all of which were of the victim's back. She began arranging them on the empty table, like a puzzle that was meant to form the shape out of paper.
Then, with the help of her assistant, she turned the victim's body over and let the obvious truth come to light.
"Not the same," concluded Myra, as she stood in between, comparing each cut like it was a challenge in the daily newspaper.
"Both the size and depth. These three lacerations were made while the victim was standing," she said tracing the long pale wounds, "and so they are the least precise. The stabs made later, while he was on the ground were much better placed, and deeper, especially the killing blow at the base of the neck. In the original case, it took five cuts to force him down, and then another four to finish the job. It's hard to make any solid conclusions yet, but I'd say there was much more certainty with the killer this time."
"What about the angles?"
"Left-handed. Same height I'd say, same angle of entry, same force applied, taking into account what I just said."
She proceeded to make a small mimic of how the victim was stabbed using the red pencil from her lab coat and another of her assistants. They made it quite a convincing act.
An awkward silence took the room before Ori decided to break it.
"Same killer?" he asked.
"Judging by the fact that the first one was never caught, I'd say the possibility is very high." Avva returned smiling.
"And what about the elephant in the room?" Myra growled pointing to the two instances of the same thing that were laid out around her. "How does either of you explain the same person being killed twice?"
"Necromancy?" said Avva looking at Ori with sparkling curiosity in her eyes. Her eyebrow was raised almost as high as the corner of her mouth. She looked like a woman of science but she certainly indulged in interesting hobbies.
Ori shook his head in denial. "No. You would have a rotting corpse on your table. The first victim had been dead for far too long to look this fresh."
"Worth the try," Avva whispered and crossed her arms. "Some sort of cloning or duplicating perhaps?"
"A possibility but very hard to track. Even so, he'd have to be alive for that to work."
"Shapeshifter?"
"It would have reverted to its original shape upon death. And I don't think there's been a shapeshifter around for several centuries."
The conversation made Myra increasingly anxious, as the two kept making loose assumptions without any conclusive outcome. She resorted to holding onto the ridges of her coat as the only thing that kept her from freezing to death.
"It's your turn wizard," she said abruptly. "Do you sense something now? Some magic residue of whatever it is you look for?"
"Oh, oh, like a magic fingerprint?" said Avva excitedly. "Is that even possible?"
"Yes, though highly inconclusive and unreliable. Such findings cannot be used in court because they can be highly subjective to the caster. Plus, there are people who…-" he stopped once he realized that he was inevitably prolonging his unpleasant stay in Helden with every word he said.
He felt Myra's fiery gaze upon his cheek and instead of talking he took off the glove from his left hand and lifted it over the dead man's body.
"Fine."
He closed his eyes and let small, almost invisible flashes of electricity enter the pale skin of the victim. They bounced around the body, making it light up like a summer storm. It got so saturated with energy that the neon light above the table began to flicker.
After a few rapid flashes, the light exploded into pieces with such strength it would have made them suffer more wounds than the dead man.
But, before the glass could hurt anyone Ori clumped it back together with one swift move and let it fall to the floor in the form of a thin layer of dust. He turned back to Myra with a peculiar expression on his face.
"What was that?" she said in utter horror. The speed at which it all happened left no time for her to react and the best she could do was grab the cold metal of the table behind her and hold onto it.
The last thing she needed at that point was to be reminded of the consequences of magic.
"Something that was not supposed to happen," said Ori raising his head to where the neon lamp once hung. "Have you personally tested the DNA?" he turned to Avva, who was trying to shake off the shock from her face.
"Yes... yes of course. Why?"
"Could you do me a favour and test it again tomorrow?"
"Care to enlighten us?" Myra intruded, breaking their eye contact. "Is there something there? Did you find something?"
"I have to entertain a thought," Ori said quietly. He put his leather gloves back on and clenched his fists several times as if to check his fingers still worked. "If I'm right, we might have something to go on."