Kathrine opened her eyes and the bliss of getting her Vitamin Apollo wore off hastily as she swatted at Talia. "Stop Shaking Me!"

"Eep!" Talia screamed as she dodged the hand before yelling frantically. "The scary men are here! They turned off the colour downstairs! I tried to tell them your condition had flared up, but they weren’t having it. They were very insistent."

Kathrine sighed. "Very well. Do I look decent enough for guests?" She inquired as she got off the bed.

"Yes, Boss wife. You are going to have them wishing they were Apollo." She said, prompting Kathrine to smile at the Sepiida for the perfect answer to her question.

"Fine, let’s get this over with."

...

"Must be nice to be from a first gen family, hey Thorne? If this is the type of hotel room they book." Malone commented looking around the black and white two floored penthouse suite.

Throne also looked around, all he could see in the classic Spartari architecture was blood money and greed. He knew what all these noble houses were like, he was once a part of one. He knew what they were capable of...

But sadly, he also knew how dug in, how significant they were to keeping Spartari aloft. So even when one is found guilty of murdering a rival. Little to nothing happens and it sickens him.

"Just keep your wits about you Dean." Thorne said before their attention was drawn away.

"Hello detectives, sorry to keep you waiting. I have a condition that I cannot control."

The two detectives turned to the staircase the voice came from and one of the duo’s jaws dropped to the floor.

In the sea of monochrome. A crimson radiance began to descend the stairs. Her flowing hair and matching dress sucked in attention from all other sights in the room." As she descended Malone forgot to breathe, but Thorne,

"Ah yes. Your sudden onset of narcolepsy. We have heard about that. I am glad your condition only lasted a short while today, we are very busy tracking down a serial killer after all."

Kathrine then arrived at the bottom of the stairs and smirked at the two detectives. "My eyes are up here, Detective Malone." Kathrine said with a sultry giggle and watched as the man’s cheeks lit up on his colourless face.

"Sorry, that was unprofessional of me. Forgive me."

"Nothing to forgive. I know how I look. Now then you two. Shall we find somewhere to sit?"

...

The trio made their way to the lounge and sat down. Thorn then spoke. His voice, calm and authoritative. "So, you have your ex husband’s Sepiida playing maid? Why is that?"

Kathrine immediately frowned. "First off, all three of those sluts are mine, not his. They were rewarded to the family for my contributions to the empire. I gave him the other two in the divorce and Talia left for her own reasoning. Second. This has nothing to do with Axel Belnevis’ death so can we get to that please?"

"Whoa, feisty one. Ok, noted. No chit chat. Let’s get started then. What do you know about Axel?" Thorn said, getting out his data pad and Malone his notepad.

"Do you mean before he tried to have me assassinated? Not much. He was an Archon, but not a powerful one. Not really in my social hierarchy."

Malone, recovered from his previous mistake, leaned forward and asked. "So how did it make you feel to be targeted by an assassin sent by him? I am sure you did your due diligence in tracking down who was sent after you, did you perhaps seek revenge?"

Kathrine immediately scoffed. "Is this your first day on the job as a detective? This isn’t the first attempt on my life, detective and it won’t be the last. But I will say this. If I hypothetically responded to every assassination attempt on my life, especially against those of a weaker standing than myself, well that would make me look weak. And the Hyllus women don’t do weak. I would rather just kill any assassin sent after me and leave it there. As I like to keep things legal. Hehe."

The detective duo began to write things down. Murdering assassins was legal, but confessing to it was a little taboo. So Kathrine’s declaration was basically saying she had nothing to hide on that matter.

Thorne then asked his next question. "So, you don’t like to interact with those below your station, correct?"

Kathrine shrugged her shoulders. "I wouldn’t say I dislike it, I am just a busy, influential woman, I don’t need people at my heels begging for scraps."

"Hmm." Thorne hummed inquisitively. "So tell me about your new partner, Apollo Lambdason. Until recently he was nothing but a fallen Archon. Well below your social standing. How in the empire did that relationship bloom?"

"Keep his name out of your filthy little mouth." Kathrine said in cold rage. "He is not a part of this investigation.

"With all due respect lady, in this investigation, we have full authority to ask anyone anything. So are you going to answer the question, or are things going to get complicated?"

Silence overwhelmed the room to the point all that could be heard was Kathrine’s angered breathing. She calmed down quickly however, the last thing she wanted to do was make trouble for Apollo.

"Apollo and I met through a mutual acquaintance."

"A lady Sophia on Ecumenopolis four, correct?" Malone interjected.

Kathrine smiled coldly. "The one in the same, and before you ask. No, I am allowed to withhold business and company secrets, so you can shove that one up yours. It was a surprise meeting, but I then needed a Psionic wielder on the cheap for my upcoming mission and with Apollo being new to town, I took advantage.

Love was never on the cards, but things bloomed and now I am happier than I have ever been. What next? Should I discuss our private life too? Because I can go into great lengths of detail no holds barred."

Thorne wrote that down. "So you say you are in love? How did Mr Lambdason take news of the attempt on your life?"

"How would you take it if your partner was almost killed? He was furious. Naturally. But Apollo is at college. He couldn’t have done anything so why are you asking this? I thought the Sanguine Butcher killed Axel?"

Malone then sat forward. "We are not accusing Apollo of anything, my lady. We already checked his whereabouts through the college records, we know he has been there for months. But you are right. The Sanguine Butcher is the killer. With it being such a high profile case, we need to cover any and all angles and right now, you are the strongest lead we have."

Kathrine raised her hands up and shrugged her shoulders. "Then I am sorry to tell you I have nothing noteworthy for you." She then proceeded to stand up. "Now, if you have any other questions for me, now is the time. I am already running late for dinner with Archon Tia as it stands."

The detectives then stood up and Thorne spoke. "No further questions for now Lady Hyllus. Though if you think of anything that might become relevant to our investigation, feel free to reach out to us." he said and handed over a card.

"I’ll keep that in mind." Kathrine said and escorted the men to the door. "I do hope you find your killer, who knows when she will strike again?"

"Thank you. Have a nice evening."

...

The two detectives left the room and made their way to the elevator. Once they were in, Thorne’s power subsided and colour returned. "Did you pick up on that?" Thorne asked.

Malone nodded. "For someone who keeps to her hierarchy, why would she know the gender of the butcher? We only shared that information internally and not to public sources.

Thorne frowned. "I’m not sure how much she knows, but she certainly wasn’t involved in the murder directly."

"So what’s our next move?"

"We hit the college, talk to her boy toy, then if that doesn’t pan out, get a meeting with this Lady Sophia. I have a gut feeling Dean... These aren’t straws we are reaching for here."

"I feel the same Sterling. I feel the same. I just hope we get to the bottom of this before she kills again. Do you think she has her next target already?"

Thorne nodded. "I do. And if I was a gambling man, I’d wager it would be another that has tried to assassinate the lady in red back there."

...

"Hahahaha! You guys are so slow! Come on, I am so teeny tiny. You cannot be outdone by me!"

She watched from the observation window as the Psionic elites were training. Most were College dropouts, trying to find a career, useless. But one had caught her eye. One running laps around the rest of them, taunting them the entire time. It amused her.

"Who is the one taunting?" She asked the room, no one in particular, a moment later she was given a data pad.

"Denise... No family name? Interesting power..."

She mulled over her thoughts as she continued to watch over the training.

"Set her on specialised training. If she survives the next few months, contact me again."

Her eyes then went back to watching the new recruit. She was perfect for her needs. No backing, no official training and most importantly, expendable. She just needed to make sure the trainee was up to her standards.

And if that means Denise’s death in the process? So be it